How can I sleep with your voice in my head?

There was a British comedy show called 'The Fast Show', that I love beyond words and that every so often I'll do a complete rewatch of. One of the characters is a fella by the name of Jesse, who the show's Wiki describes as 'He's a verbally challenged country bumpkin who exits his shed and explains his strange diets (as seen in season 2 and a Christmas special), fashion tastes (season 3 only) and experiments (The Last Fast Show Ever).' What does that have to do with anything? Well, in Jesse's famous catchphrase... 'This week I are been mostly listening to hot goth ladies.'

Day 65 - Lindy Fay Hella & Dei Farne - 'Islet'
Known her since her Wardruna days, but never been a huge fan of them. Solo, though, I just love her. I still hadn't listened to her works with Dei Farne, though. And its very good, Lindy-Fay has an amazing voice that elevates everything she touches. Just a little over 33 minutes, never outstays its welcome. 8.5/10
Day 66 - Karin Park - 'Church of Imagination'
I've never been a fan of The Cure. Sure, I like a few songs here and there, but that's it, really.
And this album begins with a cover of 'A Forest', a song that I never liked, and that not even her voice can save. That said, I liked this album : poppy, some gospel-y, soul-y bits, but very dark. Not sure if everything here works for me, but a lot of it does. 7/10
Day 67 - Julie Christmas - 'Ridiculous And Full Of Blood'
The only other thing I'd listened from her was a collab with Cult Of Luna, which I found good, but not great. I actually have this record on vinyl, which I received by mistake, along with a couple of tees. Never gave it a listen. And... it's very shouty, sounds a bit too nu-metal-ish for me at at times. Overall good but not something I'd listen to on repeat. A generous 7/10
Day 68 - Brutus - 'Unison Life'
Some years ago, I was looking for new stuff to listen to, so for a few months I was listening to a lot of stuff from labels that I bought a lot of stuff from. One of those bands was called Brutus, and the very first time I listened to them, about ten seconds in I felt a huge sense of relief because I'd realized I wouldn't be into them. Then about thirty seconds in that all changed and I immediately went and bought everything they'd released. I still hadn't listened to this one though, and I think by now it's been out for 4 years or so. One thing I've always loved about Brutus is how Stefanie is the singer and the drummer! This one is just superb, Stefanie's voice and drumming are just kick ass, and to top it all off, it's got really great production. Album of the week, I'll give it a resounding 9/10
Day 69 - Midwife - 'No depression in heaven'
One of those bands I'd been meaning to check out for the longest time. Singer describes them as 'Heaven Metal', but no metal to be found here. Rather, this is the kind of slow, ponderous kind of shoegazing, slowcore/sadcore kind of thing. Good, but maybe not for everyday listening. 7/10
Day 70 - King Woman - 'Celestial Blues'
Yet another band that was on my list for a long time. After listening to it, i'm not sorry I didn't get to them earlier. I've never been a doom metal guy (unless, that is, it's coming from the likes of early Anathema / Paradise Lost / My Dying Bride), so I didn't really enjoy this record. I count maybe two good songs, and funnily enough, they're the only songs where I can actually like the singer's voice. Her 'harsher' voice I wasn't a big fan of, if I'm honest. This is by no means bad - I'm sure lots of people will find it great. But not me, and because it's not for me and because I really didn't like it, I'll give it a 4/10.
Day 71 - Ellereve - 'Umbra'
The thing about trawling through the backlogs/new releases of the labels I followed and bought stuff from - mainly Pelagic, Dunk! Records, Eisenwald, Sargent House, The Flenser) is that I ended up buying a ton of stuff I never really got round to actually listening to. So much of what I collected ended up just being shelved, and that's always been fine with me - I know that eventually I'll end up listening to them. I bought the first Ellereve album as soon as I saw its cover, and hey, what's not to like? Semi naked hot goth lady, shut up and take my money. And it's always called to me ever since, but I've always resisted its siren song. And just as I was about to listen to it, lo and behold!, I find out last year she released a new one! So I gave that one a listen and guess what? It's really fucking good. Amazing, amazing voice, great guitars and pretty soon I'll be diving back in again to listen to the first one! I'll give it a good 8.5/10


There's still another week to go with hot goth ladies, and then I'll *ngh* listen to some more 'modern' ladies, before I do the painful inevitable which will be listening to whatever the bands that shaped me in my youth have released lately. I do not relish that one bit.