#Vanja Obscure

[serpentsaints]

In Mute

[hkpeng]

Vanja Mervič: take-it chew-it throw-it 4 – 25 November 2022 Opening: 4 November, at 7 pm Exhibition curator: Mojca Grmek Vanja Mervič is a painter by training, even though he works in different media, as he believes that every idea has its own form of expression. His works generally deal with the world beyond the visible layers of materiality. On the one hand, he explores what becomes visible only with the help of modern technology (such as the electron microscope and the Kirlian camera), i.e. the micro-structure of matter, and on the other hand, the world of the immaterial, of ideas, thoughts and energy. Accordingly, his art practice shows an affiliation to the modern scientific, material world view and at the same time a commitment to something primordial, eternal, inexplicable that lies beyond the material. In this exhibition entitled take-it chew-it spit-it-out, the artist presents various works that deal with chewing gum as a metaphor for today's consumer society. He warns that humanity has made an incredible technological leap in the last two centuries, but that parallel to this process it is rapidly losing the values that make the world a pleasant place to live in. Recently it has become increasingly clear that so-called progress has got us nowhere; we are shuffling along, wrapped up to our necks in one disposable product or another. We are surrounded by impenetrable piles of objects that we immediately throw away after their first use, while at the same time drowning in information, advice and ideas that we quickly take in, chew and spit out again – like chewing gum. In the exhibited works, the artist treats chewing gum – this perfect representative of waste – as an artefact and in this way tries to find meaning in its nonsense. In keeping with the gallery space, he divides the works into three groups. The first, entitled Topography of the Daily, includes frottages, an artist's book and a tray object with chewing gum intended for visitors. The second group, entitled Obscure Passage, consists of a series of photographs composed of SEM microscope images, sound and video. The third, entitled Aftermath, presents works in progress – paintings and objects with collections of used chewing gum that visitors to the exhibition can also add to. ──────────── Vanja Mervič (1973) initially studied Painting at the academy in Venice, before transferring to the academy in Milano, where he graduated in 2001. He continued his master's studies at ALUO in Ljubljana, obtaining a master's degree in Video and New Media in the class of Prof. Srečo Dragan in 2008. He furthered his studies in Belgium (Hoogeshool, Ghent), New Zealand (UCOL, Wanganui) and Austria (FH Digitale Medien, University of Applied Science, Hagenberg), and has taken part in several artist residencies in France, Italy and Russia. His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. He has received several awards and recognitions, including the ZDSLU Award 2015, the Silver Snowflake of Sarajevo Winter 2018 and the Jury Prize at 60Seconds Festival 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark. He lives and works in Nova Gorica.

[parkerbombshell]

Ice Cream Man Power Pop And More #458

Mondays 10am EST bombshellradio.com  bombshellradio.com#IceCreamManPowerPopAndMore #PowerPop #Mod #NorthernSoul #Punk#60sClassics #Ska #60sGarage #Surf#Itunes#BombshellRadio #recordcollector #musiclover#powerpopgrunge #powerpopgirls #newmusic #rocknroll   Kurt Baker - Don’t Go Falling In Love (Brand New Beat LP) Gavin Guss - Come Over (On High LP) Laurie Biagini - On With The Show (Stranger In The Mirror LP) The Left Banke - I Haven’t Got The Nerve (Single) Pink Snot - The Truth Is Out There (Demo Single) Fast Cars - Everything About You (Single) Ian Person - I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Austin City Limits Serenade EP) Old Town Crier - You (You EP) Diane Lewis - Keep A Hold On Me (Single) Drool Brothers - Far Out Girl (Bring Your Trunks EP) Bus Stop Lovers - Joanie’s A Peach (All Fall Down LP) Vista Blue - Marcia (Stay Gold LP) Marc Valentine - Electric Chains (Future Obscure LP) The Lillingtons - Oh Boy (Shit Out Of Luck LP) London n’ The Bridges - It Just Ain’t right (Single) Eruption Artistique - Hiha (Single) The Freshies - Yellow Spot (Rough ’N’ Ready LP) The Tweeds - I Need That Record (Single) Vista Blue - Paul Newman and A Ride Home (Stay Gold LP) Love Dolls - Come On (Single) The Vanjas - Blast Off (The Vanjas Sing and Play Rock ’N’ Roll LP) Read the full article

[queens-of-scream]

Flesh for Shredder

Status: Active

Former Vocalist(s): Vanja “Obscure” Plavšić; Marina Yelo; Joan

Country: Spain

Genre(s): Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore

[whimsicaldragonette]

ARC Review: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

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Publishing Oct 19, 2021

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl... Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love--and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself. The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed. Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life. Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of "The Goose Girl" about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.

My Review:

★★★★★

This book was SO GOOD. I love how it took a somewhat-obscure-but-still-familiar fairytale plot and turned it on its head so many times it was hardly recognizable by the end. Everything about it was so unique and fascinating, and I absolutely adored the characters. Vanja is a force to be reckoned with, and her dry commentary was a joy to read. I highlighted SO MANY passages, especially the ones that contrasted the vaguely medieval Germany fairytale setting with some very modern phrasings. Emeric, too, was a delight, especially when he and Vanja forgot to be annoyed at each other while sharing the joy of a chase/investigation and their own cleverness. Ragne was wonderfully baffled at human customs, frequently disdaining them, and Gisele grew on me by the end, and I hope we get many more of this foursome's adventures. I loved the taste we get of Death and Fortune and I hope they, too, will show up in future adventures. The villains (minor and major) were quite dastardly and it was so nice to see them get their comeuppance.

The writing is utterly gorgeous, with plenty of Margaret Owen's signature unexpected phrases that are devastating in their simple truth. This is a story I know I will be revisiting. *Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an e-arc for review.

Favorite Quotes

The piper she's interrupting looks both delighted and furious, and I have to agree with her earlier assessment: Her archnemesis is unreasonably handsome.

---

I am not going to smile at him. I refuse on principle. (The principle is: I've already met my emotional availability quota for the day.)

---

"Sorry--sorry--I'm not looking--" Emeric starts to back out of the room, spots the nachtmahr, and proceeds to visibly cycle through both fight and flight instincts at a speed heretofore unobserved in the common man.

---

(It might not surprise you to know the two most popular urns are copper and coal. Maybe that says something about human nature, but I also think it says something about personal budgeting. Buying good luck? In this economy?)

---

I want him to stay like this. Close to me, touching my face feather-light, like I am something precious, I am worth taking care. Like I deserve to live without wounds, not despite them. I want this moment trapped in amber, so I can hold it tight when I need it most.

---

There's a shimmering, intoxicating kind of thrill to it, this game between us. I am his puzzle and he is my lock, and it's an arms race to solve the other first. But somewhere in all the knots and twists and trapdoors, he turned to an arsonist, leaving his embers in my veins, smoke on my tongue, a fire burning softly in my heart. And it will not die easy.

---

I cannot believe I'm attracted to a human civics primer.

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You would think the most formidable thing in Castle Reigenbach wouldn't be a reedy law library incarnate, but in that moment -- he is, because I believe him.

---

It's not a challenge; it's a quiet, immovable fact. For all my schemes and facades and artifice, I am not prepared in the slightest for the simple, devastating intimacy of being believed.

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I don't know what's worse: that he's slipped into my heart like a knife, or that I like the feel of him there.

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I'm at a loss for words. Probably because I'm having an extraordinary and overwhelming number of feelings right now, and chief among them is outrage that I am this attracted to a personified pocket ledger.

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The oak door gives a surly rattle, creaking open with absolutely no regard for the heart attack I'm having. "You're coming in, ja?" croaks the withered turnip of a doorman, before muttering something about frisky teenagers.

---

His voice echoes over the Gottenmarkt, which looks like someone sucker punched the treasury, and it spewed all over the plaza. (Adalbrecht. Adalbrecht was the one doing the punching.)

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Above her floats Truth, who has taken the form of a wheel of eyes today. (As one does.)

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Justice looks down, and while a skull can't frown, she is absolutely nailing the same feeling.

---

(This is where I have to admit I'm impressed he's coming up with the rhymes on the fly. Not bad for, you know, a horse.)

[borisbubbles]

20. MACEDONIA

Eye Cue - “Lost and Found” 41st place

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

So, we have finally crossed the junction where I openly ~Like~ the songs remaining. It appears to be a pretty arbitrary line, right between Macedonia and San Marino but eh; I never promised there would be any rhyme or reason to why I like certain acts more, other than gay intuïtion and the crippling fear I won’t be able to rationalize my taste in a way that makes me appear intelligent and credible. =)

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

I suppose the nuanced difference between “Lost and Found” and “Who We Are”, to me at least, is that the former is a great entry that played out as an entertaining mess and that kinda beats out acts like San Marino’s which were advertised as entertaining messes from the get-go and ended up... slightly less entertaining and messy than promised? But whatever, neither of them is a DoReDoS, that’s for fuckin’ sure. (more on that when I rank them in like... October or summat)

As for Eye Cue, they have been consistently enjoyable to me! I loved their backstory: how Macedonia was ready to be relegated from this year’s Eurovision, only for them to come up with this REALLY obscure indie duo nobody had ever heard of or had expectations for. How said indie duo had apparently bought their entry in to Eurovision to showcase an experimental song that was... a third reggae, a third electronic dance and a third indiepop <3 

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

Hilarity aside, “Lost and found” is... a pretty great song? (Definitely greater than the 5-6 songs I’m going to eliminate next): The reverse gear change between the dance chorus and the reggae verses are freaking hysterical and that chorus is more infectuous than Chlamydia. There’s a reason why I’m using it as punctuation in this write-up. Which reminds me, 

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

Added bonus was that Eye Cue were pretty fun people themselves. Given that they have no real careers to speak of, we got to see a fair bit of Marija and Boian during the preshow - I’ve forgotten most of their moments (such is the fate of anyone who isn’t AWS, Queen Lea or the Gfeller Zibbz) but I will forever cherish how Eye Cue unwittingly foiled Almaia (remember them? of course you don’t) during one of their many confirmation-seeking ploys. (See my Spain entry for more details)

The live probably left a lot of be desired, but eh, I didn’t mind too much. Eye Cue’s purpose was to serve as entertaining death fodder for the better acts in that semifinal and they accomplished their role swimmingly The simulated teleportation and Microsoft PowerPoint intersitials between camera cuts were fairly nifty (though not as nifty as, say, Lea forcing a break in her song and making it work BOTH times <3) Marija’s schmuck-frock of a hideous, fuschia backwards jacket, only to reveal the literal boob sweater underneath <3 

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

Rarely has a BDex been so well-earned <3  Speaking of which, between Marija losing and, ironically, not finding her voice and the hagfish trio which “supported” her (the Middle Ginger doesn’t even bother pretending to sing at certain intervals <3), if there were a BDex for vocals, they probably would have won that too <3 Retroactively, I do wish I had put them a bit higher for comedic effect, but-

♬ HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT? WE WENT TOO FAR, NOW THERE’S NO WAY BACK, NO WAY BACK ♬

RANKING SO FAR

20. Macedonia(Eye Cue - “Lost and Found”)

21. San Marino (Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening - “Who We Are”)

22. Sweden (Benjamin Ingrosso - “Dance You Off”)

23. Austria (Cesár Sampson - “Nobody but you”)

24. Latvia (Laura Rizzotto - “Funny girl”)

25. Azerbaijan (AISEL - “X my heart”)

26. Israel (Netta - “Toy”)

27. Norway (Alexander Rybak  - “That’s how you write a song”)

28. Montenegro (Vanja Radovanovic - “Inje”)

29. Armenia (Sevak Khanagyan - “Qami”)

30. Poland (Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer - “Light me up”)

31. Greece (Yianna Terzi - “Oniro mou”)

32. Georgia (Iriao - “For you”)

33. Belgium (Sennek - “A matter of time”)

34. Italy (Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - “Non mi avete fatto niente)

35. Romania (The Humans - “Goodbye”)

36. Ireland (Ryan O'Shaughnessy - “Together”)

37. Croatia (Franka - “Crazy”)

38. Belarus (ALEKSEEV - “Forever”)

39. Russia (Julia Samoylova - “I Won’t Break”)

40. Spain (Amaia & Alfred - “Tu canción”)

41. Iceland (Ari Ólafsson - “Our choice”)

42. Australia (Jessica Mauboy - “We Got Love”)

43. Czech Republic (Mikolas Josef - “Lie to me”)

[hairong]

Eight Aspects of Interactive Advertising

Reflections and Expectations from the Founding Editors: Hairong Li and John Leckenby

Interactive advertising has experienced a sea of change since the journal was launched. These data present an opportunity to reflect on this transformational process while calling attention to what we believe are eight aspects of interactive advertising that should be covered within JIAD in the future. Two of these were the initial focus of the journal, which are interactivity and modality. A key difference between interactive advertising and conventional advertising is the level or degree of interactivity. Subsequently, JIAD has helped distinguish three dimensions of interactivity over the years, including the depth, width, and speed of response, which is the degree of speed a user may customize a message. Interactivity has also evolved from clicks to touchscreens to gestures in virtual reality, with endless new ways emerging. Regarding message modality, a parallel development has taken place from text, graphic, audio and video, to 3D, virtual reality, and mixed reality. Thus, the journal has adequately explored the effects of interactivity and modality.

Advances in technology involving interactivity and message modalities have also ushered in the emergence of new devices, which began with personal computers (PC) and mobile phones, only to make way for smartphones, tablets, interactive TV, outdoor LED/LCD, and, more recently, wearables, such as Apple Watch and Samsung Gear. In fact, new or alternative forms of interactive advertising always seem to coincide with the acceptance of new devices. For example, mobile advertising, or what was commonly referred to as text ads, which started with short message service (SMS), has become almost obsolete today. In a similar way, the theory of virtual experience in nonimmersive 3D visualization as simulated on the PC has been updated involving immersive-mix reality on wearable devices, like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Digital media and information technology–based devices will continue to innovate the way users engage with content, including advertising messages.

Another important aspect of interactive advertising not to be overlooked is that of context. With the rise of mobile computing (e.g., laptops, smartphones, tablets, wearables) location-based services (LBSs) have become a natural feature of mobile apps and mobile advertising. By considering time and location as the macro context of interactive advertising, identifying editorial messaging of the ads as the micro context becomes natural. Better congruency of interactive advertising with its micro context gives rise to what is called “native advertising,” which is advertising that is very similar to its surrounding messages in both content and format. In addition, the effectiveness of native advertising is often enhanced by personalization, which is discussed next. As such, new research on both macro and micro contexts is highly recommended.

Related to the context is the platform in which advertising appears. Interactive advertising first appeared on websites, which were populated with publisher-generated content. New genres of platforms have since emerged in that each mobile app or social media outlet constitutes a platform. Platforms within a genre then share common affordances as well as possess unique affordances. For example, Facebook differs from Twitter in terms of why and how consumers use these platforms, despite the fact that both are saturated with user-generated content. Thus, a native ad that was originally created for Facebook would not be the same when it is transplanted to Twitter or Pinterest; each native ad must be developed in light of a platform’s unique affordances. More important, as the use of social media outlets has increased in our daily lives, users have formed various virtual groups. A networked society has been established with its fundamental ramifications for advertising not fully understood yet and certainly requiring more exploration.

When the journal first began, display advertising was firmly in place as the dominant form, so advertising delivery received little attention. Partly because banner ads were first “hard coded” in an HTML page and then linked and served from ad servers, with minimal programmatic activity compared with today’s standards. A few years later, though, search advertising emerged from obscurity given the popularity of Google AdWords and marked the beginning of computational advertising. The journal published one of the first articles on Google AdWords when the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) started in 2008. Computational advertising, which takes advantage of user profiling, algorithms, and various tools, has evolved from auctions involving search/display advertising to programmatic buying of many forms, including within digital television. The use of computational methods has not only changed the way advertising is placed but also how advertising is created, resulting in the emergence of the computational creative practices richly in need of further study.

Like advertising delivery, a focus on data or what is commonly referred to as “big data,” is a natural byproduct of digital media. Such online data can be overlaid with offline transactional information to develop richer user profiles so that ad delivery is more precise. In addition, online data, especially involving social media, have been increasingly utilized for consumer insights in almost every phase of business, such as new product development, advertising campaign planning, promotional offer design, and service quality assessment. For researchers, big data have opened a new route of discovery and, along with “small data,” allowed scholars to achieve the breadth and depth of exploration in almost all areas of advertising in unprecedented ways.

The final aspect that needs further consideration is the outcome of interactive advertising. With big data, outcomes of an ad or campaign can be assessed not only on a large scale but also in more granularity. For example, search advertising can be analyzed in terms of the path to purchase, including exposure, clicks, navigation patterns, conversions, purchase, and even return. Such a dynamic process exists in all forms of digital media and deserves more research. Further, the engagement of social media advertising often consists of static, one-shot measures, such as likes, comments, and shares. In contrast, it is important to point out that engagement is a process, which can be better illuminated with interactive advertising. For instance, on WeChat, the most popular social media platform in China, an ad allows users to see likes and comments along with emojis posted only by their friends, and when new likes or comments are added, the users will see a notification on the top of the newsfeed, often resulting in repeated interaction, thus enhancing the effect of the ad. Such a dynamic process can be revealed in field experiments in collaboration with service providers designed to measure both positive and negative outcomes of interactive advertising.

In summary, because the many aspects of interactive advertising continue to change, research exploring these areas must advance accordingly. New forms of interactive advertising will no doubt emerge in the years to come. If we can observe the latest developments of these eight aspects—interactivity, modality, device, platform, context, delivery, data, and outcome—while carrying out innovative research that extends our knowledge, we can aid in the healthy growth of the discipline of interactive advertising. It is essential to keep in mind that these aspects are often intermingled in any given interactive form. Thus, isolating the impact of one aspect while holding other aspects constant is oftentimes conceptually necessary. Ideally, though, examining the impact of interactive advertising in a natural setting using a combination of big and small data is likely to make new discoveries involving these aspects possible, which should be the goal of research moving forward. We certainly hope the journal will continue to play a distinctive role in the future, as it has in the past, and elevate the paradigm of interactive advertising research to new heights.

Excerpted from Terry Daugherty, Vanja Djuric, Hairong Li & John Leckenby (2017), “Establishing a Paradigm: A Systematic Analysis of Interactive Advertising Research,” Journal of Interactive Advertising, 17(1), 65-78.

[franwebsite]

ART GATES RECORDS (News)

ART GATES RECORDS (News)

ESTO ES LO NUEVO DE [IN MUTE]. ¡ESTO ES “CHAOS BREEDER”

[IN MUTE] han vuelto al ruedo con su nuevo disco “Chaos Breeder”. La nueva formación de los valencianos que incluye a Mike La Riva en la guitarra rítmica y las voces limpias y a Vanja Obscure como nueva frontwoman, nos ofrece un disco completo y complejo para los seguidores del Metal más exigente. Incluye temas muy destacables como “Chaos…

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 158: Consequential

In this golden age of obscure reissues and archival digging, Vanja Todorovic’s and Luka Novakovic’s Discom stands out for their focus on unearthing synth-pop, kosmische, fusion, post-punk, and cosmic disco from Yugoslavia and I am particularly enamored with their Yugoslavian Space Program collection of Yugoslavian space music as well as the recent adventure into the brilliant mind of Max Vincent with Beograd (featuring one of my favorite tracks all year…the over the top madness of “Gospodar Snova”). Discom’s newest set is perhaps their best yet as they take a deep dive into the work of Consequential and one of Yugoslavia’s first studios oriented primarily towards electronic music. The list of gear used by Zoran Jevtic and Nikolaj Bezek on MicroComposed 1980-86 is seriously impressive and the music they produced with it overflows with unbridled excitement and joy. There is a sense that the freedom offered by the studio, synths, sequencers, and samplers allowed the duo to realize the music of their deepest dreams and the ten tracks here carry me away to worlds of Kraftwerk-ian wonder, Italo hypnotics, Hi-NRG magic, and perfect synth-pop mesmerism.

Consequential - MicroComposed 1980-86 (Discom, 2018) In “I Love Her,” squelching bass loops, ascendent choirs, and powerful Berlin school sequences come together for an intro that would fit on Wolfgang Bock’s Cycles, though the vibe soon grows triumphant, with space age melodies rising through wild layers of overwhelming cosmic synthesis. Fiery Italo basslines pound away while melancholic vocoders and glorious leads encircle the swinging drums and it eventually locks into some dark and dystopian vision of Kraftwerk’s futuristic proto-techno. A hyper-energetic bass sequence leads “Magic Key,” with its gun fire repetitions underlying bell tones and bubbling kosmische acid lines. The voice incantations have shades of occult 60’s psychedelia as interpreted by androids from the future and the synths are so physical, almost violent, comprised of starlight drones and whooshing space noise. Tom fills fly out over a majestic prog bridge dominated by dark castle melodics and as we smash back into the electro-intoxication, the Kraftwerk vibes appear yet again by way of subtle string synths playing against the propulsive synth rhythmics. Cymbals decay endlessly over alien flutes while mystical desert synth patterns sit under a hallucinatory haze. This is “Behind the Soul” and we soon drop into a swaggering heavy prog plod hovered above by vocoded choirs seeking out a technological heaven, Arabic melodies heard through a mirage, and textured percussive pings and pongs. And there is a midtro of cosmic exotica leading to a total break down, as ominous string synths float untethered and robots sing shadowy lullabies. 

Our first taste of Hi-NRG comes with “Vasiona Desire” and its uptempo four-four, cracking snares, resonant tom cascades, and octave bass propulsion. An exultant melody repeats through several synths and spaghetti western whistles soar over epic arpeggiations…like a cinematic gallop through an extra-terrestrial vista. The phrase “I feel ready” repeats alongside crazed oscillations and angel choirs during a moment of rest, but we soon blast back into the pure cosmic heat, as if hearing the exercise music for beings of pure light. “Tokyo” features a journeying sequence accented by a cut-up drums with cymbals blasted into static, massive resonant toms, and snares splashing under water. Sub bass currents join in with cyborg voices as the drums grow muscular and jammed out, but then the rhythms pull away, leaving wobbling brass ascending over flashy cymbals and stumbling kick drums. And as we effortlessly transition back into the electro cosmic militance, satellite transmissions and interstellar ghosts fly all around the mix. We are back in the land of space disco energy for “Love to Me,” with a four-four and electro-shakers underlying the dazzling melodies and their galactic adventures. It’s energetic yet restrained…a methodical journey through the starry sky, and as the snare hits and the hand drums start bouncing, whirling synth winds move in slow motion around fantasy chimes and polysynth dreams, sunset strings are shrouded in deep phaser fx, and intergalactic brass melodies and their sky-seeking fanfares are joined by new age pan-pipes.

Huge kicks and wonky basslines support the fluttery synths and blissed out guitar lines of “Daydream,” which hits that mix of 50s pop dreaminess and futuristic electro that Chromatics would perfect decades later. Bright searing strings and brass chords merge into a flow of sunset bliss while chimes dance around the phrase “daydream,” which is repeated narcotically and trailed by soft polysynth streaks. Major key arps seek the soul of the stars while fuzzy synth leads dash and descend and flashing funk percolations background the smashing rhythmics. And towards the end, the track seems to lose itself in a futuristic meadow of heart-aching pop melodies as positive vibrations whirl all around. As good as the preceding tracks are, things really kick into high gear with “Danger Lover.” After a funked out intro of breakbeats, banging synthbass, and clavinets from another dimension, epic fantasy melodies intertwine with spaceage laser fire and joyous singing. The track heads towards ever more ebullient waters, with a playful bounce and loving positivity glowing off the robotic synth pop effervescence. Feminine mermaids and floating pad magic eventually transition into sultry sensual perfection...the kind of gorgeous and timeless melodies I dream about flying over pure propulsion and there’s no choice but to merge completely with the awesome stellar perfection. And as vivacious bass synths flow around percolating melodies of paradise fantasy, everything comes together with so much emotional exuberance as to reduce me to tears. 

Zoran and Nikolaj hit even harder with “Happy Together” and its smashing disco energy built from four to the floor kicks, crushing snares, tambourines, and 16th note hi-hat fire. Soaring strings carry away all fears...all bad energy…and there are sections where synthetic marimbas and vibraphones dance around each other. The vibe is of kingdoms in the clouds and forests glowing with golden light and this must be one of the earliest sampling’s of the “you make me feel so good” line from Mikey Dread’s “Comic Strip” (which most recently came across my radar on that hot Deep Dean 12”). A secondary diva sample is interwoven alongside, and there are so many gooey romance soaked melodies flying from all corners of the mix that it’s hard to keep up with it all. In the end it’s better to just surrender to the anthemic and uplifting clouds of melodic magic reaching straight into heart and the masterful synth pop rhythms gliding like shooting stars. The final track “Future” has multi-layered sequences colored in twilight shades diffusing into balearic futurescapes drifting above exotic rhythmic boxes. Polysynth strings and shimmering arps ride alongside further spaghetti western melodies played on wigged out ring modulated synths while hushed pads harmonize. Bells move across the stereo spectrum and there are melodic hooks for sunset drives in a flashy convertible that lead to a bridge of dark melodic sorcery and storming cosmic power. The track then breaks down completely into weird synth fx and sci-fi strangeness before launching back into the seaside body movements. 

(images from my personal copy)

[womenofextrememusic]

MartYrium

Harsh female vocalist: Vanja Obscure

Other vocalist: Pandemonia

Country: Malta

Genre: Melodic Black Metal

Featured in video 80: https://youtu.be/NBf4fY8BORM

Other links:

Official Website // Facebook // ReverbNation // Metal Archives // Last.fm