Project Pitchfork - "Lament"

From an aesthetic standpoint, I think this is my favorite Project Pitchfork video. The song is pretty solid, too. The emotion gets across and sticks to me pretty well.

IMATEM - "Haven (feat. Ronan Harris)"

IMATEM is Peter Spilles's collaborative side project. From Journey is undoubtedly IMATEM's most popular song, "Haven", which has VNV Nation's Ronan Harris. (Note, like I said before in regard to MySpace streaming, MySpace likes to only give you a little circular button instead of a decent banner, like, say, Bandcamp. So, click the play button if you want to hear the song.)


Haven - feat. RONAN HARRIS

Project Pitchfork - "Existence" + tour date announcement

I'm in a very Project Pitchforkish mood right now, so I feel like you all should be, as well.



But there is more to tonight's post! I just heard that Project Pitchfork is coming to Empire in Springfield, VA on June 2. And that's not all! Ayria and Spider Lilies are going to be there, too! This event is going to rock your socks. You don't want to miss this.

Random videos

Do you like seeing your favorite musicians be entertaining in ways that have little or nothing to do with their music? Well, here's a video dedicated to that.

First, here's Erica from Unter Null practicing her French:




Here's a Santa Hates You video from 2011 that you might have to understand YouTube trends from that time to get:

The people from Psy'Aviah had to make a wine commercial for a school project. Here is what they made:

Santa Hates You - "Scum"

I've spoken before about how Santa Hates You is incredibly vocal about social issues in their music. "Scum" is no exception. They really despise oppression, and want you to know what they intend to do about it.

Project Pitchfork - "Rain"

The new Project Pitchfork video left me feeling a bit perplexed. On the one hand, the song is absolutely beautiful. It's powerful, and Mr. Spilles's vocals shine and boom. That being said, the video seems really random and kind of all over the place. You be the judge.

Santa Hates You - It's Alive!

I have a slightly interesting story about how I got to listening to this album and liking it.

(Property of Trisol and Santa Hates You, used under Fair Use for direct, substantial commentary on product)

I'm not going to lie. At first, I was incredibly skeptical. Before I started listening to this album, my only experience with Santa Hates You was watching the "Rocket Heart" music video. In what may be a severe understatement, I did not like the song or the video. To be a little more blunt, it actually turned into a running inside joke that a friend of mine and I shared. I found this bewildering, because Peter Spilles is touted as being a creative genius, and Project Pitchfork is fantastic.

So, a few days ago, I was looking around for some new music to listen to again, and I came across people talking about how great Santa Hates You's It's Alive! was. Needless to say, although I heard glowing reviews, I couldn't help but to still be unconvinced. I looked around for a way to listen to the album before committing any resources to it, because I had no reason to believe I'd enjoy this album, considering my previous experiences. But, in what may be a textbook example of what I talked about in my post about music evaluation, I came across Santa Hates You's official MySpace page and was pleasantly gobsmacked. The entire album is on there for streaming with every song in full. I listened to the whole album a couple of times on there, and I found myself absolutely wanting to buy their album (and doing so).

This album was chock full of substance, and I felt like every song had a fulfilling element to it. Of course, there was still a lot of the "goth-industrial cheese" that I expected, but my experience with this was as far removed from my experience with the "Rocket Heart" video as it could be. My favorite songs from this album were "Independence", "Scum", "How to Create a Monster", and "Skeletal Parade".

"Independence", "Scum", and "How to Create a Monster" feel related to one another with a general theme of fighting against a status quo of evil and despair. "Independence" feels like the anthem, "Scum" is the battle cry, and "How to Create a Monster" is a public service announcement.

In "Independence", Jinxy and Peter pump you up, making a stand in regard to having the right to be free from a world that chooses not to prescribe to a progressive point of view. They don't want to be part of, as they call it, a "killing machine". There aren't tons of lyrics in this song, but the point is clear. The tapping-tapping-tapping-booming percussion methods used in the background really serve to bring about the opening act mood of the song, too. As such, this is a perfect lead-in to "Scum".

"Scum" is the crown jewel of this album. (If you want to see the music video for this song, go here.) This is truly a powerful song that shows just how wonderful of an activist influence musicians can be. "Scum" is certainly not a song for those with sensitive sensibilities, but it gets the point across. The beat is sinister and angry, and the lyrics explain in full that the musicians feel like it's all over for people who want to oppress others, particularly for personal gain and purported religiosity and morality.

"How to Create a Monster" is all about power and how the quest for it creates corruption and evil. There is plenty of imagery of the immorally ambitious person creating justifications to himself or herself about heinous acts and oppression. Meshed with this is the intervention-like tone of the chorus, explaining to this hypothetical power-hungry person that swallowing all this power will turn him or her into a monster. At the end of the song, the idea comes across that no matter what the recklessly ambitious person tends to believe, in the end, the only evil who really needs to be vanquished is that person, himself or herself.

I like "Skeletal Parade" for different reasons than I like the other three. The tune is exceptionally catchy, and it makes a really interesting idea for the afterlife (assuming I'm not way off in regard to my interpretation). When someone dies, he or she goes to the moon and joins a parade of skeletons. It's a little off the wall, but it almost sounds like a dark mix of a children's song. If you didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics, you'd almost think the song was trying to come across the same way as "Bungalow Bill" for The Beatles. This song is oddly fun.

All in all, it's difficult to not enjoy this album. My opinion of Santa Hates You definitely changed after listening to It's Alive!, and I think this is a perfect case for making sure people are adequately informed to make decisions on music purchases. I can safely say that I would have not even considered buying this album had I not been able to hear the full songs, first.

Project Pitchfork - "Timekiller"

If you want an example of what I think a well-shot music video looks like that incorporates stereotypical goth-industrial "cheese" to its advantage, look no further than Project Pitchfork's "Timekiller".

(Look at all the gold stuff on his face!)

There are some bands that come across as appearing unoriginal and uninteresting in their videos when they try too hard to be goth and/or industrial and not hard enough to be good. Just because a musician has been efficient in cramming as many cues as possible about genre specificity doesn't mean there is inherent quality in the work. Project Pitchfork seems to understand this concept well, and the creation of the "Timekiller" video seems to put on a clinic about how to focus on making a video good, first, and how the creepiness and weirdness will come naturally.

First, admittedly, Peter Spilles has a natural voice and look that easily lends itself to the type of music Project Pitchfork makes. Having natural advantages goes a long way in anything. Second, he has a good song to work with. That goes a long way in making a quality video. I've watched videos before where the video has to do a lot of work in making the song seem less poor, and it gets pretty painful to watch. That being said, I think the video work in "Timekiller" brings the house down.

Those levitation shots appear so effortless. They look like something believable within the story that the video tells, and that's important. The insects, although kind of a trope, seem to add flavor to the video as opposed to forcing genre cues. The water pouring inside during the storm brings a different take to the depressing storms near-trope, too. There are a lot of different takes on what are normally cliches, and Project Pitchfork manages to put forth a truly creative work as a result. Even the subtle shots, such as the brief shot of the aspirin, bring value to the video.

I'm sure not everyone will agree with my assessment, but in my humble opinion, if you want to see a properly made goth-industrial music video, "Timekiller" is a splendid example.