Product Description
- Black Tape For A Blue Girl – Sailor Boy | MP3 | from 10 Neurotics
- Weep – Ever Shy (Nov. Mix) * | MP3 | remix of a track from Never Ever
- Makaras Pen – Currents * | MP3
- Unto Ashes – She Binds Away the Night * | MP3
- Spiritual Front – Jesus Died in Las Vegas | MP3 | from Armageddon Gigolo
- Rome – We Who Fell in Love with the Sea | MP3
- The Twilight Garden – Dead Adults | MP3 |from A World We Pretend
- Katzenjammer Kabarett – Romance | MP3 | from Grand Guignol & Variétés
- Curtis Eller – Sugar in My Coffin | MP3
- Soriah (with Ashkelon Sain) – Tonacayotica (Remix) * | MP3 | from Atlan
- Lux Interna – Blossoms | MP3 | from [a lantern carried in blood and skin]
- Black Tape For A Blue Girl – Halo Star (2010) * | MP3
* = previously unreleased - Black Tape For A Blue Girl – Halo Star (2010) * | MP3
This compilation Under the weight of light follows in the tradition of Projekt’s successful budget-priced CDs. Not just a label sampler, this disc opens the pandora’s box of Projekt founder Sam Rosenthal’s eclectic music obsessions diving into neo-folk, dark-pop & shoegazer territory.
Included within the 12 tracks are unreleased songs from Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Unto Ashes and Marakas Pen (the new band which evolved from Tearwave), as well as an exclusive remix from Soriah (featuring Ashkelon Sain of Trance to the Sun).
Under the weight also includes an exclusive remix from WEEP, the return to music by Doc Hammer, co-writer of the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros. Many will remember Doc as the musical force behind two darkwave legends, Requiem in White and Mors Syphilitica. In WEEP’s shoegazer approach, you can sense snippets of influence from My Bloody Valentine, The Sisters of Mercy, Cocteau Twins, and late 80s era The Cure.
Cult European acts Spiritual Front and Rome (from the Trisol label) and Katzenjammer Kabarett make appearances with neo-folk/pop tracks complimenting music from Projekt’s own Lux Interna and Black Tape for a Blue Girl. Indie/Americana darling Curtis Eller proudly displays why he is billed as New York City’s angriest yodeling banjo player. Under the weight also introduces Projekt’s new signee, The Twilight Garden, blending old school European synth-pop, cold wave and post-punk into a modern, atmospheric, accessible darkwave sound.
Under the weight of light is a beautiful sampling of the captivating new sounds on the poppier side of Projekt’s world.
Under the weight of light was Projekt’s early 2010 sampler, released on January 11, 2010. This is the jewel box-packaged edition which sells for $6.98 in retail stores. 500 copies of this album were packaged in a 5″ cardboard cover and included free with Projekt.com orders; that version is now out of print.
Cover images of Reven by Chip Willis
Reviews Editor –
From Gothic Paradise
Here is the latest sampler from this long-time favorite label for us and many of our listeners. This sampler goes beyond just a small collection of songs from latest or upcoming releases, unless the label is expanding more than I’m aware of. The selection is diverse and includes many new favorites for a dozen tracks in all, making it well worth picking up.
The music ranges through a broad spectrum of styles, including Sam’s seemingly new favorite style of music in cabaret, not something I’m particularly fond of and so like The Cure when they shifted away from their dark and moody sounds to what they release today, Black Tape for a Blue Girl and the other new cabaret bands and albums recently released drop off of my favorite list of bands. I realize there are those gothic-oriented fans that like this style, and there are a few that are enjoyable such as a few works that we do feature and enjoy here.
With that behind us, the favorites are many on this disc including Doc Hammer’s latest project Weep which we’ve featured here before. The alternate mix of “Ever Shy” is a nice addition with it’s driving guitars that mix well as a male version of the popular female-fronted counterparts in the ethereal shoegaze arena. Right along these lines is a new project called Makaras Pen with “Currents” that is absolutely spellbinding with the layers of guitars and stunning female vocals gliding over a moving beat. I look forward to an album from this group, I’m sure it will be a great addition. Another upbeat favorite piece is “Dead Adults” from the recently signed artist The Twilight Garden with more of an electronic style mixed with dark wave.
Leaving the driving guitars and percussion behind we have several dark folk pieces that have also become favorites. We’re introduced to an unreleased piece from Unto Ashes titled “She Binds Away the Night”. This piece continues on in the dark, moody male-fronted folk sounds we’ve enjoyed with their most recent releases. ROME is a new favorite dark folk band of mine and the selection “We Who Fell in Love with the Sea” provided on this disc is also a favorite from their recent album. This piece displays their soft, yet moody style of acoustic folk music with deep, somber vocals. This is an excellent match with the other somber folk track “Blossoms” from Lux Interna. Listeners will also pick up on the unique newly added talents of Soriah (with Ashkelon Sain) with the gutteral droans layered over mystical ambient soundscapes. The selected remix of “Tonacayotica” is a nice addition to this sampler and gives a good idea of what this project is like.
These highlights should be enough to entice the average listener to pick up this sampler, often offered free or for a very low price when purchased with other material from the label’s website. Rating: 4/5