As you might have guessed from the title of this post it is time once again for Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts. This years theme is quite dark and not very festive. With all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Putin and his pedo gimp in the White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing maybe, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me.
The end of the world track for day 1 of this series is “Welcome To The Disco” by one of Yorkshire’s (and possibly the UK’s) finest purveyors of dark, electro rave anthems, the Apocalypse Disco! So without further adieu put your head between your legs, kiss your arse goodbye and say hello to Armageddon!
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The Apocalypse Disco just released their debut EP ‘Welcome To The Disco’. If you need something to soundtrack the impending apocalypse (thanks America), then this is it! The EP kicks off with “Revelation”. It has biblical levels of keys from Ian and an end of world impassioned vocal from Robin. Believe me, if you follow my advice you will be dancing when the world ends. The second song is the title track of the EP. The band’s bio claims that they make Apocalyptic Discotechno and based on this track that is 100% true. It features superbly crisp production. Neil Mclellan, who has worked on some great albums, produced this track. He was the engineer on the Prodigy’s ‘Fat Of The Land’. This track is the perfect tune to lead us into a pre-armageddon party and it will definitely feature on my end of the world playlist. If this is the last track you ever hear, then trust me, you have left this mortal coil on a good note! But there are more fine tracks on the EP. Next it is previous single “Alive” which has a highly hopeful chorus which is impossible not to sing along to. “Alive” is simply a joyous slice of electro and it makes me want to stay alive. The line “God loves a sinner, thank fuck for that” is a perfect line in such a great dance track. Dance to it and tell the four horsemen of the apocalypse to fuck right off!
“Army” has an excellent marching beat with what sounds like foot soldiers marching at the start. The last time that sound was heard in a great tune was probably back in 1977 when the Sex Pistols released “Holidays In The Sun”. This is another Prodigy style dance workout, but this one leans toward the border with the Land of Chill. But the dark undertones and zombieish lyrics take it up a few hundred notches. Right now “Thunder” is my favourite track on the EP, but that might be different tomorrow. Imagine the Prodigy joining forces with the Chemical Brothers and going in a kind of glam rock direction and utilising David Bowie’s “secret” band from the ‘Earthling’ tour, the Tao Jones Index, well that is what “Thunder” sounds like to me. But it is not just homage and definitely not a facsimile, it is banging, beat-laden, and bloody bonkers. Right up my street, in fact. Play this track (or in fact anything on the EP and you will have no choice but to shake your booty and dance like nobody is watching! The streaming version of the EP closes with “The Bridge” which gives a stylish nod to Erasure in its sublime hook. The way the keys build up the hopeful but explosive tension is a joy to experience.
I am the lucky owner of the CD version of the ‘Welcome To The Disco’ EP and that means I have an extra secret track. It is a cover of a song called “Art Of Dying” which was written and originally recorded by a little know scouse musician who was in a beat group in the 60s. I think his name was Hari Georgeson! If the second reign of Trump is the herald of the apocalypse, then bow to your inner illegal rave soul, grab your glowsticks, and smash it until the end of the world with the ‘Welcome To The Disco’ EP as your soundtrack!
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You wait for ages for a Mayhem singles round-up and then two turn up in ten days! Here is the second for 2023, it includes a massive fifteen songs that have been passed on to me or recommended during the previous few weeks and months, there are some bloody spiffing tracks here. It features five artists and bands that have appeared on Mayhem’s pages before. Let me know what you think of this fine selection of tunes! You will find a YouTube link to each song in the title and a link to the artist’s website or one of their social media pages when you click the artist’s name. You can also find the link to a Spotify playlist of all these songs by clicking here.
Possibly the best single from the Sheratons, it leans towards early Arctic Monkeys in the sheer scale of riffage and has more hooks than you might find in a professional anglers kit bag.
This is a gorgeous slice of chilled funk featuring Parliament/ Funkadelic royalty in Garrett Shider a.k.a. Starchild Jr. It retains a retro feel but is definitely made for the 21st Century. That guitar sound is at times Santanaesque and makes me dream of summer
This sounds like the Sisters Of Mercy bumped into Bring Me The Horizon in a dark, mucky Chicago back alley and started a fight which was refereed by Dave Grohl. It has goth in its veins but heavy rock in its brain
This is the second single from Ian’s next album, ‘Defiance Part 1’ which is scheduled for release on 21st April. At 83 this bloke still rocks and still writes great songs. The message of “I Hate Hate” is profoundly positive too. I am very excited about the new album now. Check out the previous single, “Bed Of Roses”, featuring Ringo Starr and Mike Campbell here.
This is Laura’s third release under the Kindelan name following “The Other Side” and “Hazel Frustration”. This is a sumptuous slice of chilled dream pop. The music evokes Lemon Jelly and the softer end of Groove Armada while Laura’s voice is close to perfection and a few times I found myself comparing it to some of Tracy Thorn’s finest moments. I love the way that food is used in describing relationships.
The Apocalypse Disco’s bio claims that they make Apocalyptic Discotechno and based on this track that is 100% true. It has superbly crisp production, courtesy of Neil Mclellan, who has worked on some great albums, including being the engineer on the Prodigy’s ‘Fat Of The Land’. This track is the perfect opener to lead us into a pre-armageddon party and it will definitely feature on my end of the world playlist. If it is the last track you ever hear, then trust me, you have left this mortal coil on a good note!
A fine slab of heavy and hard riffage with an undercurrent of 80s European rock from Finland’s Blind Channel. The band has said this about the song, “Flatline is Blind Channel on steroids. We captured the energy of last year’s 130 shows into one song and threw it to a Berlin rave”. Steroids at a rave? Yeah, that works for me!
Pitou, who is Dutch, releases her debut album next month, and if all the tracks hit as high on the qualityometer as “Devote” it will be something wonderful. This is a beautiful tune with some gorgeous multitracked vocal harmonies. Her voice has stunning clarity and occasionally made me think of Lana Del Rey and Liz Fraser.
Aussie rockers DZ Deathrays have been around for 13 years and they get better and better. “King B” hits you like an anvil on the head and doesn’t let up. This is a great track for some epic air drumming and headbanging. I hear there is a new album on the horizon, possibly.
This is a hypnotic, haunting track that delves into the spirit of Mike Oldfield before moving into illegal rave territory. Probably one of the most wonderfully composed and constructed instrumentals I have heard in a while.
Kid Be Kid is a Berlin soul and jazz singer, piano virtuoso, and human beatbox. “Naked Times” is not just soul, jazz, piano, and beatboxing, it is so much more! Damn it is such a great tune. Her vocal performance is off the scale! If Bjork and Laurie Anderson had a love child it might be Kid Be Kid. The video for “Naked Times” is well worth watching.
UK rap was often the poor relation of US rap. Then along came Mike Skinner, then later Stormzy, Dave, and many others. Now there is Fendry! This kid has some great tracks with “Poseidon” the best so far for me. Great beats, a great atmosphere, and stunning ciphers. He is also from my adopted home city of York and the video for this track was filmed in York city centre.
Is it country? Is it blues? Is it gospel? No, it is Leah Marie Mason’s stunningly brilliant new song “Holy Water”. It is a deep, dark song about what sounds like a relationship gone really bad. I love the line “no the Devil ain’t in Georgia, he’s here in Tennessee” This will be on rotation for me for quite a while I think.
Does Eve love her ugly cowboy or not? I vote probably not. But whether she does or not this track has the feel of a classic dance banger, one for which it is the law for you to get off your seat and shake your tush!
British band Empyre release their new album next month, “Hit And Run” is a sign that the album will be well worth a spin. Melodic rock with a slight sprinkling of prog. Overall it is a huge sound with a band that sounds on top form and vocals that launch passion and emotion grenades at the listener with every breath. I like this song a lot!
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