Cologne

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Hidden Empire’s “Black Beauty”

Hidden Empire's Branko Novakovic and Niklas Schäfers. Photo sourced from artist's Facebook.
I've been away again, lost in another week-long project of mindless intensity and drawn-out hours. The first part is how I felt, the last being what it was. That's my excuse for skipping the last seven days. But I'm back now, recovered and recuperated. So during that time, while slaving away, I was also background …

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Holygram @ the Wiltern on 12.13.18

Holygram perform @ the Wiltern on 12.13.18.
Earlier this month, I posted a piece about this Cologne five-piece, focusing on their energetic indie single "Still There." In short, I found it to be a breath of fresh coldwave air, a slick slice of retro-alternative sound, adrenalized yet approachable. You can revisit that here.A few weeks ago, Holygram were in town performing with …

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Holygram’s “Still There”

Holygram. Photo by Yves Christelsohn; sourced from artist's Website.
I'm really enjoying this resurgence of '80s-styled new wave, goth and alternative rock, these days bundled into categories like coldwave, darkwave and post-punk.  There's this retro-futuristic vibe underlining the entire movement.  The old-school spirit remains firmly conjured, while a slicker, smoother style is applied, not quite mainstreaming the end result, but definitely making it more …

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