In “The Value Of Blaming Oneself”, your hosts, Jeroen and Goof, will take you on a scavenger hunt where we unearth several recent finds and a few forgotten classics. Let’s kick off with some reverb-drenched awesomeness!

The KVB – Pictures of Matchstick Men (2023)

A contribution in the “Cover me” section.

A super fresh track that was released just this month. But actually, it is a cover version of a song that is almost unrecognizable. The original “Pictures of Matchstick Men” is by The Status Quo, as they were still called in 1968. Back then, the Quo were a psychedelic band, wearing silk scarfs and shirts, way before their harder boogie rock sound and leather and denim outfits became a staple of the 70s.

This is a special song for me, as I used it for my first steps of learning to play the guitar. I remember being very proud that I could reproduce an actual song somewhat!

The KVB is a duo from the UK, now married, who released their first album in 2012, blending reverb-soaked shoegaze with minimalist electronic production to create a unique sound. They have been quite productive since then, as they have 11 albums available on the streaming services. This track was released as the single from their recent album called “Artefacts” (Reimaginings from the original Psychedelic Era). 

The Church – When you were Mine

We’ve covered The Church before. This time I selected a track of their earlier work. Long before their most famous album Starfish was released in 1988, this track is from 1982 called “When You Were Mine.” I like the energy and unpolished character of the song.

The Church is a band from Sydney, Australia, that peaked with Starfish in 1988. But they have much more to offer for people willing to discover more music by them. “Under The Milkyway, Tonight” is their most popular and well-known track, with 75 million plays on Spotify. Also, that track can be heard in the movie Donnie Darko, which has a great soundtrack overall.

Few bands enter their fifth decade of making music with all the fierce creative energy of their early years. Few bands can boast of having written 26 studio albums. Few bands are like The Church. I found out that I can only name 3 or 4 albums and have much catching up to do.

Illusionaut – Think it over (2021)

Time for a band you’ve never heard of. Of course, I can’t be 100% sure, but I’m saying this because they have only 219 monthly listeners on Spotify. Let’s listen to “Think it over” by Illusionaut.

This is recent work. Illusionaut released their first album in 2018 and is still around, having released their latest single last year in 2022. They survived the COVID period by writing new tracks and resurfaced with new band members on guitar and bass. The track you heard is from their latest album, “The New Body Electric,” mastered by long-time Pink Floyd engineer Andy Jackson.

Only 219 monthly listeners and only 51 plays on YouTube for this track. It’s a crime because this band really deserves a wider audience. If everyone that listens to this show plays one of their songs, we’ll already have doubled their audience. So let’s do it, dear listeners; let’s lift the bands’ spirits, and let’s all play some Illusionaut this month!

Deine Lakaien – Mindmachine

I first heard this track on our Dutch public radio, VPRO, in 1993, When I was still waiting with two fingers on my cassette deck’s record and play buttons to record new music. When I think back on it, in the early to mid-90s, they played so much great music I had never heard of. From Aphex Twin to stuff like this one from Deine Lakaien. There was no internet yet, so the best way to discover music was on Friday and Saturday nights by tuning in to shows like Villa65 and Cyber Radio.

So, Deine Lakaien, translated to “your lackeys” or footmen. Since their foundation in 1985, they have been leading figures in the international electronic avant-garde and dark wave scene.

The band consists of just two guys: Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov. Ernst is a classically trained composer, Theater pianist, and bandmaster. He wanted to make different music and wanted an experimental singer to join him. He placed an ad in the newspaper, and that’s how he found Alexander. The rest is history.

Thirty-five years after their founding, Alexander and Ernst’s creative drive is unbroken. They are always looking for new sounds. And they released their last album in 2021, called Dual.

Fixions – Malāmatiyya (2023)

The “Insta Outcast” for this episode.

Fixions is a synth-wave/dark synth/cyberpunk crossover band. The song is super fresh; the EP with this track was released just this month.

The track is about the Malāmatiyya, a Muslim mystic group active in 9th century Greater Khorasan, in Persia, currently the Iran/Afghanistan border area. The Malāmatiyya were not precisely a light-hearted bunch. At the root of their name is the Arabic word malāmah, which means “blame.” The Malāmatiyya believed in the value of blaming oneself. They thought that serving God should be a private matter and that being held in good esteem by other men was useless because it would only lead to worldly attachment. The Malāmatiyya concealed their knowledge and made sure their faults would be known to remind them of their imperfection before God.

This is quite a trip – Malāmatiyya—an epic track of precisely 11 minutes and 11 seconds. Enjoy the ride!

Fixions have been around since 2012. Fixions has released several albums, EPs, and a soundtrack to the dark and ultra-violent video game Mother Russia Bleeds. Fixions is inspired by science fiction and cyberpunk from the 80s and 90s, but many influences exist here, from black metal to darkwave.

Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch – Blue Frank

This song was only heard in the movie prequel to the series. People wanted more Twin Peaks and more closure about what really happened to Laura Palmer, so they made a prequel movie in 1992 called “Fire Walk With Me.” The film revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer. I’m assuming our listeners know of Twin Peaks, by the way. If not: Go check it out; it’s amazing.

Anyway. However, the track “Blue Frank” was not on the movie’s soundtrack. I looked for a long time for it but could not find any info about it. Until 2007 when all of a sudden, a soundtrack of season 2 was released. Seventeen years after that season last aired. Moreover, Blue Frank was not even played in the TV series, only in the movie. Where it blended in with “The Pink Room, another similar and great track, of these two tracks, I made an edit to help us float away into the night.