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25 June 2012

Nox Arcana


Nox Arcana is an American Neoclassical darkwave/dark ambient musical duo, formed in 2003 by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski. Nox Arcana specializes in concept albums based on gothic fiction and classic horror literature. Such literary references include H. P. Lovecraft, The Brothers Grimm, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Allan Poe. Some of their albums also make reference to medieval themes and ancient mythology.



Their music is used by famous american theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Knott's Scary Farm and Universal Studios during Halloween for scenes and haunted houses based upon Nox Arcana album themes. 

Nox Arcana is influenced by New Age, classical, ambient music, rock music, and film soundtracks, citing other composers such as John Carpenter, Danny Elfman, AC/DC, Wojciech Kilar, Enya, Loreena McKennitt, Beethoven, Jerry Goldsmith, and Hans Zimmer.

Nox Arcana's music is melodic and moody, focusing on a dominant melody line. Instrumentation varies with each album as appropriate to the theme or time period of the album concept, and typically includes piano, bells, violin, pipe organ, harpsichord, timpani drums and other percussion.



Some albums also include cymbals, lutes, acoustic guitars, bagpipes and glockenspiel, depending on the theme of a given album. Enforcing the theme and the narrative is the use of sound effects, such as, for instance, a door creaking or a pendulum swinging on the Poe-inspired Shadow of the Raven.



Vocals and narratives are also used sparingly to help relate a story or serve as introduction to a musical piece, for example, the voice of "Jonathan Harker" and whispered female voices of "Dracula's brides" that beckon to the listener, a carnival barker with the indistinct sounds of an audience in the distance, or "Edgar Allan Poe" and a voice calling out from the grave after being prematurely buried, the gravelly voice of a "witch" casting a spell, and a variety of low Gregorian-style chanting and ethereal choirs.


Joseph Vargo is a renowned gothic-fantasy artist who has created an extensive portfolio of work ranging from album covers and books to posters, music cds, and other products that are distributed through his publishing company Monolith Graphics. Before forming Nox Arcana in 2003, Joseph Vargo produced two albums for Midnight Syndicate but left the band in 2000 to co-write Tales From The Dark Tower, a book that follows the exploits of a vampire during the First Crusade. He later published Dark Realms magazine and released a best-selling card deck, The Gothic Tarot. William Piotrowski had previously written the score for a video production entitled "Ghosts of Ohio", a video documentary about Mary Ann Winkowski, a medium who inspired the CBS television show Ghost Whisperer.






official site: www.noxarcana.com

13 June 2012

WGT 2012 - For those who missed it



Last month from 25th to 28th May, one of the world most famous and biggest gothic festival, the Wave-Gotik-Treffen , took place in Leipzig, Germany. I didn't have the chance to go there but for those who missed it like me, here's a site with almost 2000 professional photos of the event:

click this link --> WGT 2012 PHOTOS


Dank an alle WGT Damen fürs Posen von Erdt Manfred WGT 2012 -VI von Rabenschwinge


****WGT 2011**** von Marcel Sendig

WGT 2011 - 1 von Susanne Esser

04 June 2012

The Dresden Dolls - When theater, music and dark aesthetics combine


The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, bass guitar, vocals). The two describe their style as "Brechtian punk cabaret", a phrase invented by Palmer because she was "terrified" that the press would invent a name that "would involve the word gothic". The Dresden Dolls are part of an underground dark cabaret movement that started gaining momentum in the early 2000s. 



The duo formed a week after Brian Viglione witnessed Amanda Palmer perform solo at a Halloween party in 2000. Their live performances soon gained them a cult following. During these performances the two band members often wore dramatic make-up and fancy clothing that push their cabaret/theater aesthetic. They encourage fans to become involved at their shows, with the fans' own stilt walking, living statues, fire breathers, and other performance artbecoming an integral part of the show. The Dirty Business Brigade coordinated the fans' performances.




The band's first name was Out of Arms. At some point, the name became The Dresden Dolls. The name, according to Palmer, was "inspired by a combination of things," including the firebombing of Dresden, Germany and the porcelain dolls that were a hallmark of pre-war Dresden industry; an early song of the same name by The Fall; and a reference to the V. C. Andrews novel Flowers in the Attic, where the classically blond-haired and blue-eyed protagonists are called "the Dresden dolls". The name also evokes Weimar Germany and its cabaret culture. Additionally, Palmer "liked the parallel between Dresden (destruction) and Dolls (innocence, delicacy), because it is very much in keeping with the dynamics of the music, which sometimes goes from a childlike whisper to a banshee scream within a few seconds."



DISCOGRAPHY:


The Dresden Dolls (2003)
Yes, Virginia... (2006)


My personal favourite songs by The Dresden Dolls:
-Girl Anachronism
-Modern Moonlight


Official band site: 

(isn't the site amazing? :P)



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