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EightMilesHigh
08-01-2006, 02:58 AM
I made a thread about goth rock a while ago, and it was pretty successful. But this is more of a recommendations thread.

I'm looking for the bleakest music you can think of, preferably post-punk or early goth rock. I've been really into Joy Division for a while, and I just got Unknown Pleasures. It's ****ing amazing, plus it has my favorite Joy Division song, She's Lost Control.

I've also been obsessed with Bauhaus as of late. I'm beginning to be a Peter Murphy fanboy, I love the relentlessly bleak sound of Bauhaus. I need to find one of their albums.

I wouldn't call Joy Division goth rock, but I would definitely call them the gateway for it. And I would considering both bands pretty dark.

I'm looking for music along those lines. The most haunting music possible, preferably post-punk or goth rock. Basically, I'm looking for something that makes The Birthday Party sound like The Dead Milkmen.

Any suggestions?
Surf
08-01-2006, 07:43 AM
Johnny Cash - A Hundred Highways.

may not be punk, but its a great album and its pretty damn bleak; he was dying as he recorded it.

so there's my unhelpful advice
slack
08-01-2006, 08:10 AM
Dead Can Dance's earlier stuff, like their s/t album and Within the Realm of the Dying Sun, are pretty bleak. One of my favorite bands.

Remnants of a Deeper Purity by Black Tape for a Blue Girl is pretty decent, too. More operatic sounding than, say, Joy Division, but still good.

Check out Amber Asylum as well.
blueyxd
08-01-2006, 09:37 AM
Anathema, yeah, so I recommend them every 2nd thread, but they can be pretty bleak. The best songs to get in this case would probably be Shroud Of Frost, Radiance and Alternative 4.
ATM
08-01-2006, 11:03 AM
Swans - Children of God

Pretty creepy album.
AlienEater
08-01-2006, 12:26 PM
Anything by the Swans, or solo Gira is incredibly bleak.
EightMilesHigh
08-01-2006, 09:46 PM
Johnny Cash - A Hundred Highways.

may not be punk, but its a great album and its pretty damn bleak; he was dying as he recorded it.

so there's my unhelpful advice

That's a fantastic album. I got it around the time it came out, when I heard his cover of "If You Could Read My Mind", my throat tightened up. Really beautiful.

I'm definitely gonna check out Dead Can Dance.
DFelon204409
08-01-2006, 11:19 PM
Khanate.
Scuba_Steve
08-01-2006, 11:36 PM
I've always found The Velvet Underground creepy in a weird sort of way.
masada
08-01-2006, 11:40 PM
Bleak doesn't equal creepy.
DFelon204409
08-01-2006, 11:50 PM
Ya, I don't think many people who posted in this thread got that man. Whatever. Nothing can be bleaker than most doom metal. Maybe if you had a 60 minute CD of purely the sound of tumbleweeds rolling around a post-apocalyptic world with one violin playing, then yes you could beat Khanate, but otherwise no.
slack
08-02-2006, 12:20 AM
Khanate doesn't have such a good reputation on Sputnik. :upset:I've also been obsessed with Bauhaus as of late. I'm beginning to be a Peter Murphy fanboy, I love the relentlessly bleak sound of Bauhaus. I need to find one of their albums.er, do you have Gotham yet? I love the version of God in an Alcove, and there's just a bunch of great tunes on it. And I think Press Eject and Give Me the Tape has the best version of Bela Lugosi's Dead, which is probably their best song.

Check out Love and Rockets if you haven't already. Some of the guys from Bauhaus are in it.
A Spoonful Supreme
08-02-2006, 02:59 AM
Seconds after reading the thread title I thought "Joy Division."
masada
08-02-2006, 10:38 AM
Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols is pretty bleak. Most SY's their early '80s stuff is.
AlienEater
08-02-2006, 11:42 AM
Yeah, a lot of no wave stuff is kinda bleak.
masada
08-02-2006, 11:52 AM
Truth.

Nobody's mentioned Swans yet.
sketchyjoe
08-02-2006, 12:14 PM
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are-A Changin' and Twelves Curses (the Times' outtakes which are even bleaker than the album)
Robert Crumb
08-02-2006, 05:34 PM
Scott Walker.
masada
08-02-2006, 05:37 PM
yes yes yes
ATM
08-02-2006, 07:46 PM
Truth.

Nobody's mentioned Swans yet.

Swans - Children of God

Pretty creepy album.

:smoke:
Zesty Mordant
08-02-2006, 09:57 PM
Matthew Good is pretty ****ing depressing.
Sexymuffin Vol. 2
08-05-2006, 04:59 AM
Dead Can Dance's earlier stuff, like their s/t album and Within the Realm of the Dying Sun, are pretty bleak. One of my favorite bands.

Remnants of a Deeper Purity by Black Tape for a Blue Girl is pretty decent, too. More operatic sounding than, say, Joy Division, but still good.

Check out Amber Asylum as well.

Black Tape for a Blue Girl \m/
slack
08-05-2006, 11:53 PM
Black Tape for a Blue Girl \m/:)

TS might like Ordo Equilibrio as well. They're kind of an obscure band, but The Triumph of Light ... and Thy Thirteen Shadows of Love is incredibly dark.

edit - samples here

http://www.sweettracks.com/Music/ordo_equilibrio/the_triumph_of_light_and_thy_thirteen_shadows_of_l ove.html
Anxious
08-06-2006, 12:32 AM
Swans - Children of God

Pretty creepy album.
That album makes me physically hurt.

Get this one 8miles.
PECOAE
08-06-2006, 01:01 AM
Leonard Cohen - Early-ish Partisan style.

Donnie Darko soundtrack and score definitely.

The whole movie's good for a bleak atmosphere.
slack
08-06-2006, 02:49 AM
yeah I second the Swans album

"In My Garden" is dark shiti need to get this
Robert Crumb
08-06-2006, 03:09 AM
I'm pretty sure I had the right answer.
Anxious
08-06-2006, 03:18 PM
DNA, the no wave band.
pixiesfanyo
08-06-2006, 03:23 PM
Yeah. Robert Crumb is pretty spot on with Scott Walker and his two releases The Drift and Tilt.

Two doom metal bands, Esoteric and My Dying Bride are pretty ****ing depressing.
Jude
08-08-2006, 06:12 PM
The Sisters of Mercy are kind of bleak. Well, their first album (First and Last and Always) is. People often call them goth-rock.

And bleak doesn't have to equal sloppy recording and minimalism. Pineapple Thief is really bleak.
pixiesfanyo
08-08-2006, 06:16 PM
John Frusciante's first two solo releases, mainly Smile From The Streets You Hold are fairly bleak.
slack
08-08-2006, 07:09 PM
Along with My Dying Bride you could check out Katatonia. I got into both bands at about the same time. Discouraged Ones and Last Fair Deal Gone Down are okay.
Happymeal
08-09-2006, 12:42 AM
Current 93's Thunder Perfect Mind
Anxious
08-09-2006, 12:34 PM
http://sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=9069
The vocals sound to upbeat for me :\
slack
08-09-2006, 06:23 PM
Current 93's Thunder Perfect MindNice.

Do you have Soft Black Stars? I love that album. Sadly, it's also the only Current 93 album I own. :upset:
Tyrion
08-09-2006, 10:38 PM
Gloomy Sunday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloomy_Sunday
Syncratic
08-10-2006, 07:49 AM
Sunn O))) is pretty bleak. I had to suffer through "My Wall" and I kinda hate them because of it. That guy speaking freaked me out.
americanfootball
08-10-2006, 08:33 AM
Jandek, Lotus Eaters and Winter.
joshmay
08-10-2006, 09:19 PM
haha i dont know if you wanna go in this direction, but if you want the bleakest music possible, i would say go with like dark noise / ambient done ****... some LUSTMORD is epic as ****, ****ed up... then right now im jammin some old honky tonk, and its blue as hell haha
3rdplanet
08-11-2006, 07:08 PM
Dead Can Dance's earlier stuff, like their s/t album and Within the Realm of the Dying Sun, are pretty bleak. One of my favorite bands.

I'm 2nding the Dead Can Dance recommendation.

Or get some Stockhausen on the go and follow it up with a big serving of Phil Niblock's stuff.
Bukowski
08-11-2006, 07:43 PM
Swans Swans Swans
Happymeal
08-12-2006, 07:49 PM
Nice.

Do you have Soft Black Stars? I love that album. Sadly, it's also the only Current 93 album I own. :upset:

I'm afraid I don't. Thunder Perfect is the only album I have from that guy as well, along with a couple of songs.
Amit
08-12-2006, 08:02 PM
kryzstov penderecki
slack
08-12-2006, 08:42 PM
I'm afraid I don't. Thunder Perfect is the only album I have from that guy as well, along with a couple of songs.It's a piano album, mostly. I don't know if that is much of a change from his other work. Really quite stark at times.

Apparently amazon.com has three copies left. :amaze: