"Pet Sematary" - Helalyn Flowers (cover of The Ramones)

Helalyn Flowers did a cover of "Pet Sematary"? That's good to know.

"Purple" - Lovelorn Dolls (Helalyn Flowers remix)

I hadn't heard this remix of "Purple" until just now, and I have to say that I really like it. Lovelorn Dolls were right when they said this is a totally different song though. This feels a lot more sharp and hard and has a lot more bite than the original.

Helalyn Flowers - "White Me In Black Me Out"

I like how Helalyn Flowers has modernized their sound in this. This song feels like a departure from the mid-2000s futurepop sound of their older stuff. It sounds very clean, very crisp, not minimalistic.

Helalyn Flowers ReverbNation playlist

Apparently, Helalyn Flowers is doing really well in Italy, being top on the ReverbNation Rome IT Alternative charts. As such, I figure you all would like to see what the big deal is about. My favorite song of the bunch is "Voices", and I think that might be a lot of people's favorite. It's a bit catchier than most of their stuff, which is why I like it. But check it all out.

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Industrial charity

(Public Domain License)

One thing that I wanted to highlight for a while now has been the different charitable things people within the goth-industrial scene have done. Although this is drastically not a comprehensive list of nice things that musicians have done ever, this just gives you a taste of their humanity.

Honestly, what finally got me off my duff to write this post is the fact Spider Lilies joined Music for Good on ReverbNation today to give a portion of their proceeds to charity: water, an organization that focuses on making it so people in developing nations have access to potable water.

I:Scintilla gave a portion of their proceeds from the sales of the Dying and Falling EP to help the victims of the 2011 Tohuku earthquake in Japan.

Helalyn Flowers donated music in 2012 for "The Greenlight Bundle" on groupees.com, which donated proceeds to War Child International, Make a Wish, and the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.

Trent Reznor raised money to help someone pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses incurred from a heart transplant in 2009.

Finally, Emilie Autumn released a charity single, By the Sword, after the events of 9/11 to raise money for AmeriCares and the American Red Cross.

Like I said, I'm probably only just scratching the surface here, but the goth-industrial community does a lot of good things for people. If you know of other musicians who have given to charity or performed other charitable acts, let me know!

Seven songs that motivate me

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Although it was very tempting to make this a three-video Thursday, I practiced restraint and decided to make a post discussing ten songs that get me going while I'm at work. I have a day job, and while I'm at my desk or walking on my way to and from work, there are some songs that just get me going. Now, I've completely fawned over some of those songs in previous posts, but I want to talk about the songs that might not get as much love elsewhere. Mind you, there are also plenty of videos or album reviews that I post of songs that I like, but I might not listen to very often. This is a list of things that I listen to on a daily or nearly daily basis. In a way, this is meant to be an "about me" post.

(One thing to note is that these songs are also not in any particular order.)

1. "Playing the Fool" - Unter Null - From Sacrament, this song gets me particularly pumped up when I'm in a less than stellar mood, especially in regard to things in my personal life. The lyrics clearly state that a former significant other has been so deplorable that it has caused Erica to completely lose respect for him and remove him from her life. It's not the kind of song that I play for inspiration as much as it is to channel irritation, particularly the kind that is specific and pointed, into something tangible and stop thinking about it.

2. "Better Off" - Alice in Videoland - I won't lie. This song is kind of depressing, but it has a certain calming beauty to it. Although there is discussion that floats around about what the real meaning of this song is, I think it simply has to do with having to put up a happy front when you're feeling sad or depressed and getting emotionally drained by it. By the end of the song, it seems like the narrator just doesn't care about putting that front up anymore. This song has a fair bit of that kind of chiming, whistling Swedish electronica charm to it, and I think that's part of what makes me feel happy, even though the song is really very melancholy.

3. "Once in a Lifetime (Extended)" - Wolfsheim - If you went to goth nights in the early part of the 2000s, you probably noticed this played almost every week. This song is dark, with snappy, clicking beats in the foreground and synth bass in the back. It brings in a mood of pure despair about how a man who has lost his family to the ocean in some sort of tragedy is contemplating suicide, because nothing can console him now that he lost everything that matters to him. Obviously, this is another grossly depressing song, but it brings about this sense of nostalgia for me from a good time in my life, back when I started getting into the goth scene.

4. "Hydroelectric" - MDFMK - As far as I'm concerned, this is one of Lucia Cifarelli's best vocal performances. This song seems to be about a general sense of being able to give yourself up to someone. Although the imagery that MDFMK provides is very "them", when you move all that aside, you actually get an emotionally charged song that can make you feel good.

5. "Voices" - Helalyn Flowers - This song holds more value in its beat and melody than in its lyrics. I always want to bob my head or tap the desk whenever this song pops up. There is a definite futuristic sound to this, but it also sounds like it could be pop music, given a different circumstance. The way the song seems to want to beat you in the head with the fact that everything is done with electronic or synthesized guitars, drums, and other instruments almost creates a sort of novelty to it. I admit that I've gone the whole song not even paying attention to the lyrics sometimes, just trucking along with the task at hand while letting the beat sizzle through me.

6. "Liar" - Emilie Autumn - This is my favorite song from Opheliac. Let it be known here that Emilie Autumn is probably one of the best (if not the best) musicians I've ever heard in regard to being able to convey high drama in music form. "Liar" is probably her best song for that. That scratchy violin cuts through me like a knife. All the booms and pings add incredible atmosphere. And she has a singing style that just runs me over. I love listening to this on my walk to work. It gets the blood flowing and wakes my brain up in a way that feels more like having a healthy breakfast, instead of something merely loud and banging, which is more like waking up with a Monster drink and a donut.

7. "Unicorn" - Apoptygma Berzerk - This is the token sappy love song of the list. Well, it's as sappy as Apoptygma Berzerk can be, I guess.

So, anyway, if you want an idea of what I listen to on an everyday basis (and I went out of my way to not put in an I:Scintilla or Tying Tiffany song), here's a good sampler.

Helalyn Flowers - "Hybrid Moments"

Who likes Helalyn Flowers? If you do, here's a song for you.

The song is appropriately named with the repetition of juxtaposed "beautiful" and "horrible" in the lyrics. This is definitely "bob your head with headphones on" music. I guess you could dance to it, too, but this seems more like the kind of music that I'd like to listen to while I'm at work. The kind of hollow percussion in the back really gives it a nice touch.