Exclusive track premiere: Joel Shanahan’s “Staring Deep Into Nothing”

Portland-based producer Joel Shanahan, better known as Golden Donna, has just released “Staring Deep Into Nothing”, a new track from his ambitious upcoming ambient electronic album Frozen Clock Hovering on Ratskin Records. Shanahan’s newest release explores complex, esoteric rhythmic zones, electronic drones and otherworldly ambient spaces. “Staring Deep Into Nothing” begins with a delicate, ping pong arpeggiator reminiscent of early electronic recordings. Soon, that ping … Continue reading Exclusive track premiere: Joel Shanahan’s “Staring Deep Into Nothing”

crypticspeciesAugust 31, 2020August 31, 2020Leave a comment

Music

Even silence has a hum: Inside the blues of Black Daddy Slim

Photo credit: Ginger Photography I first noticed Black Daddy Slim when he dropped, with a bang, five albums at once on Juneteenth, 2020. Emerging as one of Oakland’s most prolific and multifaceted artists, his work so far ranges from blues to hip hop to punk, throwing in the occasional poetry or funk. His newest blues album, American Home, is both haunting and heartbreaking. In between … Continue reading Even silence has a hum: Inside the blues of Black Daddy Slim

crypticspeciesJuly 3, 2020July 3, 2020Leave a comment

Life

Where my witches at? Oakland’s dance diva Maya Songbird conjures up Maya’s Magic Shop

Already long recognized as one of Oakland’s most inspired – and most danceable – solo artists, Maya Songbird is also causing a buzz with her more recent endeavor: a candle shop, of course. While she has been making candles almost as long as she’s been making music, the candles have only recently graced the public with their presence. And though the two side by side … Continue reading Where my witches at? Oakland’s dance diva Maya Songbird conjures up Maya’s Magic Shop

crypticspeciesMay 13, 2020May 13, 2020Leave a comment

Music

Pilgrims of Yearning announce debut album ‘Forsaken Lands’, release first single “The Visitor”

Photography by Rachael Shorr Pilgrims of Yearning is one of those bands whose name seems strikingly apt. Comfortably embedded in the post-punk scene, Boston’s Pilgrims of Yearning have still created a sound that speaks to something more expansive than limited genre terms can describe. Atmospheric and brooding, Pilgrims of Yearning’s compositions lean toward the nostalgic – to a time when lyrics were poetry, to a … Continue reading Pilgrims of Yearning announce debut album ‘Forsaken Lands’, release first single “The Visitor”

crypticspeciesMay 13, 2020May 13, 2020Leave a comment

Music

Our Way Forward: Eight deathrock musicians on COVID-19 and the future of music

Not much is known right now, except that the new normal may last for quite a long time. While society as a whole is making sacrifices, what does it mean for musicians and music fans, and this fragmented landscape we call a “scene,” to not have events to gather at, to not experience live music, to not be able to see each other in person … Continue reading Our Way Forward: Eight deathrock musicians on COVID-19 and the future of music

crypticspeciesApril 21, 2020April 21, 2020Leave a comment

Videos

Watch VEX’s devastatingly gorgeous, ominously prescient video for “Deathbird”

As late capitalism progresses and as the world ends, nothing makes sense anymore except turning to the marginalized for wisdom on how to survive, how to cope, and for insight into what we need and have always needed. The artists behind VEX (Vortex Empath Xen), early groundbreakers and OGs of the Bay Area’s current deathrock and dark experimental music scenes, can offer just that at … Continue reading Watch VEX’s devastatingly gorgeous, ominously prescient video for “Deathbird”

crypticspeciesApril 9, 2020April 21, 2020Leave a comment

Music

Friday I’m in Love: Obscura Undead’s virtual nightclub might be the best club night of 2020

Photo by Six Bells Chime Art and Photography Obscura Undead, Florida’s popular gothic news website and dance club promotion company, has launched a unique way of keeping their fans and friends occupied in the past month. Band livestreams and Twitch DJ sets have become more popular in the past month as cancellation of events seems to become semi-permanent and more and more cities undergo COVID … Continue reading Friday I’m in Love: Obscura Undead’s virtual nightclub might be the best club night of 2020

crypticspeciesApril 8, 2020April 8, 20202 Comments

Videos

Exclusive Premiere: Headboggle x Malocculsion break down the end times in “The Collapse”

Headboggle x Malocculsion, two solo experimental artists of Oakland’s Ratskin Records roster, premiere a new video for their collaborative work “The Collapse”. Falling somewhere sonically between a haunted circus organ and the TV in Poltergeist, “The Collapse” combines post-apocalyptic sounds enmeshed in whimsically bright tones. Directed by Malocculsion and created under quarantine conditions, the video combines images of the artists’ instruments with abstracted imagery culled … Continue reading Exclusive Premiere: Headboggle x Malocculsion break down the end times in “The Collapse”

crypticspeciesMarch 30, 2020Leave a comment

Music

The Bedroom Witch celebrates the Persian New Year and mutual aid with the transcendent single “Rooze Roshan”

In celebration of the Persian New Year of the new decade, The Bedroom Witch has released a single that explores love, identity, and isolation. Funds raised by the track will be donated to members of the queer and trans community of color that are suffering financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sepehr Mashiahof, the artist behind The Bedroom Witch, explains: “I have a small list … Continue reading The Bedroom Witch celebrates the Persian New Year and mutual aid with the transcendent single “Rooze Roshan”

crypticspeciesMarch 28, 2020March 28, 2020Leave a comment