Magenta- Art & Accidents (2009)

One of my favorite albums of 2009 has to be Magenta's 'Art & Accidents'- along with Midnight Resistance's 'Remote,' I've been playing the shit out of it more than anything else for months. For those uninitiated into their musical magick, Magenta hails from Norway, and is composed of songwriter/guitarist Anders Odden, guitarist Daniel Hill and vocalist Vilde Lockert.

I've always been a big fan of Magenta's sound- their early stuff (i.e: 'Secret Sky,' 'Eccentricity', 'One Mind') comes off like a trippier, goth version of Garbage- a sound aptly demonstrated on their 1997 Magenta EP. Their newest sound, heralded by the song 'Friendly Fire', the B-side on the now classic 2005 Apoptygma Berzerk single 'Shine On,' is what I consider their best yet. Combining the winding, chugging guitars and aura of FALAA era Sisters of Mercy with the catchy synthpop hooks of Human League, 'Art & Accidents' finds Magenta improving upon the irresistable synth-rock formula of Apop's 'You & Me Against the World' (a formula Anders Odden helped pioneer, as he co-wrote 'Y&MATW's more memorable tracks, such as 'Into the Unknown' and 'Tuning into the Frequency of Your Soul'), and giving it a harder, more metallic shean in places.

'Darkest Dream' gets your attention right away: an urgent drum machine and "spooky" gothic keys lead you into a false sense of security, until thundering guitars rain down upon the landscape and drag you into one of the catchiest dark pop choruses ever as Vilde implores: "Send me to heaven." The ballad 'Untouchable' starts off similarly, with heavenly keys and an incredibly heavy synth bass led on by fercious Sisters-esque guitars verging on metal; Vilde leads what sounds like a children's choir in the chorus as she tells the object of her affection "you own my soul."

The Sisters have been mentioned quite a few times in this review; that's because 'Arts & Accidents' is permeated with their influence- nowhere more evident than in the track 'To Die For.' The guitars wind up and down much like a FALAA track such as 'Nine While Nine' or 'Floodland's 'Driven Like the Snow' until erupting into a chorus worthy of 'This Corrosion' It's a good track, but what ruined it for me was the pseudo-Eldritch vocals in the chorus; something all goth bands should take heed of and realize only Von Eldritch himself can pull this off. Here, it just sounds silly, and I prefer the original version, which is included at the end of the album, without the cheesy male vocals on top of Vilde's already great voice.

'The One' is another great synth rock ballad, perhaps closest to Magenta's early sound, but also in that irresistable formula with its eccentric drum machine and thundering synth bass, accompanied by a Human League-esque chorus and more rocky guitars. 'In Your Arms' 'Black Tomorrow,' and the amazing 'Fallen Angel' continue the metal elements Magenta adds to the synth rock equation, while 'Massive Enigma' stands and falls on being the most experimental track on 'Art & Accidents.' 'Wasted Heart' is decent- if a bit predictable- gothic rock which fails to match the majesty of the other tracks here. 'No One is With Me' is a great way to end things, being the most quirky and "synth pop" song on the record, with a great chorus and playful lyrics about post-apocalypticism and love, with Vilde singing how "the world is ending- now, today... I know no one hears me, there's no one here anymore." 'Art & Accidents' is rounded out by a metal Oingo Boingo-sounding track I didn't really dig called 'Electric Fear (Elec This Mix)' and a cool electro remix of 'Darkest Dream,' as well as the superior original version of 'To Die For.'

There are two kinds of people: those who hated Apoptygma Berzerk's 'You & Me Against the World,' and those who absolutely fucking loved it. I fall into the latter camp. If you do too, then check out Magenta's 'Art & Accidents', because it's a natural progression of the sound Anders Odden helped create there. To put it another way- if 'Rocket Science' was a step in the wrong direction, 'Art & Accidents' is a step in the RIGHT one, and takes it a step further. Hell, even if you have no fucking clue who Magenta is- or even care- check out ''Art & Accidents'. Its irresistable combination of synth rock and dark, catchy choruses and thundering guitars is simply too good to be ignored. You can check out their myspace page @ http://www.myspace.com/magenta

I went to see the TSOM this past tour, and found myself scratching my head, for several different reasons. One, I have been more or less OBSESSED with the Sisters since I first discovered them, and there was a feel of dreaded disappointment; a feeling I fought hard mostly from fanboy devotion than anything else. The sound was muddled, at times horrible, inaudible and mixed way too low at others. However, there are ALWAYS moments of shear brilliance and what rock should be when you see the Sisters. Sadly, the enchantment began to wear off after another round of monotonous drum machine beats and hard metal guitars bashing out decade old hits and unrecorded gems. I felt kind of like in 2006 on the 'Bite the Silver Bullet' tour, when I wondered how many times they could churn out a three minute version of an eight minute song, and rush through their setlist. I could not, however, say the show sucked.


It's the nature of the Sisters as an entity of rock history now, and their place (or lack of place) in a music industry that never really moved with them- forward. The Sisters embody frustration for those devoted to their idiosyncratic form of pop: they refuse to release records, even though they have more than enough material for it; they have the chops to put on absolutely mindblowing shows, but choose to bury it beneath dry ice, poor sound, and apathy. Their shows, anyone can tell you, range from the ecstatic to the excremental in quality, sometimes in the same gig, or one after the other. As they pounded through Dominion, I pondered walking out and didn't feel sad (and that makes me sad) because I felt I wouldn't really miss anything and I had seen this before from them. I felt the same way during Summer. And then Flood II. And then Something Fast. And Vision Thing. And then it was over, and I was frustrated because I felt like I had been tricked again, suckered into bed by this charming entity that is the Sisters. And they left me with a disconnected phone number and a disheartening realization that Eldritch and company really can't continue on doing music the same way they've been doing it and still be the Sisters as we remember and love them. I felt the same way in 2006. "The Sisters are a joke now." I wrote. It is something the 2008 me returned to often during the show, but also the excited 16 year old fanboy was side-by-side with his jaw on the floor. I came to the conclusion that the Sisters are like that friend you can't give up on. Or maybe that's just bullshit. It's the Sisters, man. Take them for what they are, or don't. I choose to.

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