Goth Thursday. How Awkward.

I’m not sure if I really want to indulge in my closet penchant for Goth *every* Thursday, but I’ve been wanting to post these two songs for a while, and “Rural Juror“-like awkwardness of those two words together in the title strikes me as funny.

Before they O.D.’d on guitars and heroin and went all White Zombie on our asses with their limp proto-Industrial Metal (“Jesus Built My Hotrod”, anyone?), Ministry was rad. Nowadays every American chav and Suicide Girl-manquée at Mall of America looks like an Al Jourgensen clone, but at the time his post-Apocalyptic Road Warrior shtick fit perfectly with the dance/rock/goth/industrial/pop sound he helped invent. Both sonically and sartorially, for better or for worse, there’d be no Trent without Al. (Speaking of, check out the new Nine Inch Nails song at Fire in the Stereo).

But before he lost his marbles dropping acid with Gibby, Al wrote some super swell synth-goth ditties, a slightly harder-core Depeche Mode. Ministry’s second album “Twitch”, released in 1985, dabbles in the relatively new art of sampling and rhythmic noise in a pop context, and the result is catchy dark pop; even a bit, dare I say, funky (in a white way).

MP3: “Just Like You” – Ministry
Buy it on Amazon

I adore the Sisters of Mercy. Besides having the chutzpah to collaborate with fellow bombast-a-don (and Meatloaf collaborator) Jim Steinman, Andrew Eldritch is erudite, pretentious, and goddamn hysterical. In 1985 Eldritch produced a few tracks by a cat named James Ray and released the songs on his Merciful Release label. One track in particular, “Mountain Voices”, is fantastically dark and dancey, featuring very Sisters-like vocals, synthpop synthbass and beats, electric guitars and lots of melody. It’s pretty melodramatic and the chorus is kinda silly (sampled violins!) — and it even flirts with a Country twang. But it works.

MP3: “Mountain Voices” – James Ray and the Performance
Buy it on Amazon (for $39!!!)

I had to buy a filler-laden ‘best of’ CD for $20 on Ebay a few years ago to get this song, but now you can download it and every other song they recorded for free on the James Ray web site.

Now…I must go deposit my beloved Powerbook at the repair shop and pray for its health. I’ll be back with some cool new tracks next week.