In a positive way The Funeral March (Of The Marionettes) remind me a lot of The Danse Society, esp. as Joe Whitaker's voice is not to far away from Steve Rawlings'. In England this 1987 founded project might have been a lot more succesful than in Rockford, Illinous, USA. From the mid-90ties the band was on hiatus but got reactivated in 2017 and released a string of Singles & EP's with It All Falls Apart being the final one recorded already in 2023 and issued now with additional Remixes.
Produced and recorded by William Faith (Faith & The Muse, Mephisto Waltz, ..) this is classic darkwave stuff; the melodramatic, romantic "Stars At Night" opens the original 5 songs, followed by "Shadow Games" fittingly aided by a chorus not far away from Modern English. "Bobblehead" is a bitter ballad about being left behind with heavy bass foundation. "Save Us" is for me the highlight, a punchy hymn starting with ranting lines:

Can’t trust the TV station
Talking heads divide the nation
Blood…
In the ratings war
No restraint on aspiration
Plumb the depths of degradation
Pride…
Goes before the fall...

This one and the title song benefit from real drums supplied by Robert Hyman of [melter] supporting the trio; guitarist Wayne Thiele, and bassist Darius McCaskey alongside singer, keyboarder J. Whitaker.
"It All Falls Apart" is also remixed twice and was published as lead track with video. The Bellhead remix is an extended version with an Love Like Rockets like choir but the real treat is the Joy Thieves Remix, shifting from the more dramatic approach into post punk urgency with added emphasis on the guitar work.
Both versions of "Stars At Night" remixed by Tweaker add a more cinematic feel and some electronic percussion - just enough to keep the original euphoric mood intact.
It All Falls Apart goes out as final statement of The Funeral March due to the untimely death of Joe Whitaker in May 2024.

Sadly the band is now no more but a compilation of the various releases from that productive 2nd phase including their brilliant cover of "Mirror People" from 'The Work Of Sinners, The Work Of Saints (A Tribute To Love & Rockets And Tones On Tail)' would be welcome.

Those Holy are a duo from Liverpool which released their debut track in November 2024 on soundcloud which got the proper EP treatment now.
"In Shadows" consists of female mesmerizing vocals paired with a nearly hypnotic electronic rhythm structure remiscent of eerie 80's which could have been a little more to the forefront without harm but undoubtly a refreshing melancholic song.
After the groovy but haunting coldwave original the first remix comes from Autums, who has an impressive discography in nearly all styles of alternative electronics. His version adds more pressure to the beat and such sharpens the contrast to the ethereal vocal parts used here prominently. Was there ever a Cocteau Twins Remix album? it might have sounded not to far away from this.
Next is the 'Shadow Time Remix' from Tolouse Low Trax, which stays beat orientated but adds various samples reminding of running time as dub effects giving the song a different space to breathe not unlike some of the darker trip hop classics.

Overall a very satisfying and varied listening with a coherent gothic electronic pop flair.

This is a limitied 10", hand-made by renowned cutters Lathe To The Grave, just in case you don't have to worry about customs duty. Otherwise you still can get easily a digital copy for a decent price.

To call this release a surprise is a serious understatement. I reviewed his first LP 'Wanton But Windblown' about 35 years ago, sent to me straight from Hamster Records back then when the internet was still a futuristic rumour.
I loved it dearly as I never had heard some experimental ambient paired with a shanty spirit before and cherished it over the years even more. I hadn’t heard of the artist before and it took years to find out a little more, actually Melvyn Z Pad was not an alias of Terry Burrows but the other half of Push-Button Pleasure and also active as Enski Boski. Berbel Nobodius was his alter ego to explore a different musical direction: leftfield melodic ambience. Indeed there was no discogs back then in the dark ages of the 80's and if no interview, magazine, press info or knowledgeable pal was available the background of a release with only a few credits remained mysterious.. which fitted some releases pretty well and added to their value too (obscurity nerd bonus) as long as you didn't try to sell it in a 2nd hand store.
The soft pastel coloured aquarelle like looking artwork did not give anything away but a certain timelessness, contrary to the new album which still it has some aquarelle leanings but forms a bridge with a gazillion of bugs into the now.

At first Covid marked a change and helped Melvyn Z Pad finding his way back into releasing music after 20+ years and now AI seems on the edge of taking over society in various shapes and the insecurity where this will lead to motivated 'Dreams To Disruption'. The first obvious difference in approach is now the shorter tracks are vocal, with prose recited and written mainly by Jasmine Darke.
The music composed for the album is in contrast to this dystopian tones often playful and less ambient, realised with Synths, Piano, Guitar and Bass but still minimal in approach. Field recordings are in a dialogue with jazzy undertones,
"Unmade Bed Of Roses" is a Piano led ballad without words while "Mad March Of Technology", "Splutter Into Life" and "The Lost At Sea Shanty" tend more into alien lounge music.
"Deep Heat Death" shows a dreamy unearthly peace close to another highlight - "Death Of Democracy" the pre-released track from 2022 which was inspired by the war in Ukraine.
While this album lacks the coherence of it's predecessor it still holds together as a mirror of the times we're living through, fragments with various interpretation possibilities, a steady flow of bizarre information and a general feeling of change steering into unknown territories.
A text sheet is included with the download but I'd like to add as excerpt the lyrics of "Narcissistic" to give an impression:

'Who is the real me?
Stand up!
You can not make me do that, pond reflection,
I sit, I’ll sit,
The real me has no stupefaction,
I’ll wait my time,
And you will see,
That who you look at, is the real me,
I wait, I’ll wait, I’ll watch you flee,
Darkness comes, the daylight fades,
Quietness as the night invades.'

BArAkA[H] is one half of Troum, the well known German masters of drone music in many shades active since 1997. Besides he keeps himself more than busy with the drone records label & distribution.
This ltd. LP reissues his deleted first solo outing released on ta'lem in 2020 combined with other yet unpublished works and as such spanning a timeframe from 2007-2024.
The album features 8 beautiful tracks recorded and produced using acoustic and electric guitars (which are hardly recognizable except on
"ÃTÃMON"), field recordings and the gusli, which is an old slavic instrument belonging to the zither family with a very string or harp like sound. The music of BArAkA[H] leads into dreamy, droney and otherworldly places. If something like orchestral drones would exist as category this is what I imagine it would sound.
The flair of romanticism and nostalgia surrounds the listener here from start to finish with a calm and balanced attitude, never too direct or impulsive. It flows on and off with a sudden edge in "GUSLOWA", the soundtrackish ambience then reaching it's highlight in "DÁKRYON" which could be interpreted as a respectful nod to David Lynch and finally closing with a drift back to nature utilizing a birdsong on "IN BRALVA AUGINS".
The track titles themselves give hardly away what the artist had in mind when creating these but to me it resembles to polished gems, shining brightly but it's near impossible to catch the essence and finding out what makes that special glimmer.
All are newly mastered by Aidan Baker and paired with artwork by Hitoshi Kojo this edition of 300 clear transparent LP's is a promising first release by this new French Label, visual and aural for those in search of a different harmony.

A few years ago I stumbled upon this one man project from Herr B., Paris, France. The artwork of it’s first release in tasty pink was surprisingly bizarre as the project title promising and I was lucky enough to get the CD so I realized the care which went into the sound design and the overall release.
In the meantime the return to Vinyl boom kept going and a reissue on fitting colored LP of ‘Lullabies For Babies’ is available, as will be his new album (in grey marbled) soon.
While the cover art seems to be more fitting to the overall melancholic mood this time in fact he kept his style of subtle experimentation and painting careful shades of grey, instrumental and with added lyrics where fitting.
Starting with "Whenever A Child Dies" the listener gets sucked in the otherworldly atmosphere, supported by bells chiming and echoes and a creepy but not too creepy vocal. A more ceremonial voice with added organ on "Shinj" lures me into a slo-mo moody state which is continued further in the following songs.
Some innocent childs voices are set against heavy bass drones in "Ashes Of Yesterday" and Herr B is even swinging a bit in "The Grave Is Where The Heart Is" which works as the centerpiece of this album.
Followed by equally careful crafted tracks which all share that special warmth in sound which does get assigned to analouge electronics mainly this is a pleasure to listen to up to the last song "As Hours Go By". I admit I really appreciate a classy finale rounding an album off.
The tracks themselves are surprisingly short and never outstay their welcome, leaving one even a little puzzled with the feel of having missed sth. due an early fade-out or the well used stylistic element of an aprupt ending.

'Life Is A Lonely Path' is a brilliant and coherent collection of temporary electronic neo gothic music consisting of slow and mindful movements and melodies setting a distinctive sign against the panic and hectic of modern everyday life…

Support the artist’s own label ‘Lonely Demon Records‘ and get it – or both – directly on his bandcamp, available on March 14th or as preorder.