Imagine "Shimmering, Warm and Bright" era Bel Canto if they'd ditched the electronics and focused on their neo-classical side. This is what GOH reminds me of: operatic female vocals exploring darkly-hued, minimal soundscapes, full of double-bass, harps, violins and flute. Don't pay too much attention to the lyrics: like some of BC, they have a tentative grasp on English diction. Instead, focus on the exquisitely rendered mood. Hexperos has created a solid entry into the Heavenly Voice sub genre. Beautiful singing, indeed.

On their new album, Lovespirals have shed house/light electronica influence and created a fairly straightforward work. They mix folk, blues, jazz into their Brill Building pop sound, even adding a little country. The guitar playing is polished and confident; Ryan Lum has ditched the distortion and flanged guitar sound that was the hallmark of the earlier incarnation of the band (Love Spirals Downwards). The occasional bluesy lick finds its way into these mostly mellow songs. The production is crisp and clear, and the dreaminess both LSD and LS are know for comes from the song structures and performances,…

Irfan’s new album, Seraphim, is amazing. Mixing subtle electronics with Bulgarian and Middle Eastern instruments, they explore much of the same territory as Dead Can Dance. This is Denitza Seraphimova’s last album with the group, and she leaves on a high note. Her impassioned vocals soar, and she belongs in the same mystic sisterhood as Lisa Gerrard or Azam Ali.

Happy Rhodes, “Find Me.”

Happy Rhodes’ music reminds one of Russian nesting dolls. The outside doll is full of geeky swagger: processed guitars, ambient sound effects, complex polyrhythm and a deep, androgynous voice using imagery that wouldn’t be out of place on the cutting edge of speculative fiction. Crack open the doll, and you have the pure soprano, vulnerable voice of a child and the heart of a confessional folkie. While she does separate these two aspects, they often come together in the same song. In her lower register she sounds like Annie Lennox crossed with David Bowie; in her…

Siouxsie, “Mantaray” Probably the lightest music she’s ever recorded, and the most personal, with songs about aging and her divorce. The music is electro/techno with slashes of guitars. Her deep voice hasn’t lost its luster, if its lost some of its range. A relatively happy Siouxsie is a bit of shock. The imagery is psychedelic rather than brooding and macabre.

Electric Butterfly is Sally Doherty’s new project. It’s a sublime album. Doherty has the sort of high, fluttering, ornamental vocal style favored by Elizabeth Fraser. Her songs mix a wide range of styles, from jazz to…

Unwoman, “Wildness and Artifice”
http://www.unmediated.net/unwoman/WnA.html

Cellist-composer Erica Mulkey, taking her stage name from a Margaret Atwood novel has a produced an epic darkwave masterpiece in two parts. Her voice is pure crystal, and her compositions mix cello and electronics with a pop sensibility. Jorane, Tori Amos and Siouxsie Sioux come to mind. The lyrics have a political/feminist bent. Side one is electronic, side two is the same songs stripped down to piano and cello.

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, “Melody Mountain”
http://www.susannamagical.com/

Scandanavian singer Susanna has a hushed, tentative voice that reminds me of Margo Timmons of the Cowboy Junkies.…

Azam Ali's rock-oriented project with Tyler Bates (Roseland) has just released their debut album. Atmospheric, guitar-based darkwave rock over which Ali's beautiful voice soars, this reminds me of the prettier side of Siouxsie's oeuvre. The Indian/Iranian influences are mostly gone. The lyrics are gothy and the production updates the dark swirly 80s sound….

http://www.myspace.com/roselandmusic

Somewhere between gothic folk and ambient music, "A Hundred Birds" is a dark, mellow journey in myth and madness. The instrumentation (all performed by Ms. Alli) mixes electronics and acoustics (including banjo and zithers) into hypnotic, gentle and slightly disturbing soundscapes. Alli's near operatic voice vacillates between soaring highs and exploring the lower range of her voice. She sounds like a cross between Lisa Gerrard and Nina Simone. Her songs are filled with visionary images that linger in the mind. The opening song "Arrival" has a psychedelic feel. "Twilight" is a lullabye, the sweetest thing on this mournful album. The…

Hannah Fury’s new CD, Through The Gash, explores the dark side of the female heart in a variety of guises. The major theme here is revenge, swiftly followed by self-doubt, all shot through with her trademark dark humor. The first track has our heroine pushing a man out of the window, while sashaying! It is followed by “No Man Alive,” which describes a shrew archetype. Temptresses, and nascent Ophelias in throes of madness populate these songs, dispensing “carnival justice” to errant lovers and ponder romantic existentialism. (The vagina dentate pun of the title is fully intended).

The self-produced cd weaves…

.Dwelling: The architecture of darkness

Taking their sound from the mournful Portuguese musical form called fado, Dwelling's second album Ainde De Noite is a darkly beautiful recording. Dueling classical guitars, swirling violin lines and the rich, honeyed voice of Catrina Raposo all create a mesmerizing atmosphere