Search - Various Artists, Dark Cabaret :: A Dark Cabaret

Introduced me to three now favorite artists

Mitchell C. Loe | Salt Lake City, UT USA | 04/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, I'd like to say you don't need to be into "dark" or Goth music to love this.

How I didn't know about Dresden Dolls before buying this I'll never know. The first track on this excellent compilation, "Coin Operated Boy" has been a single and a video and is on their first official release. It's an excellent take on cabaret, as Dresden Dolls often are, it's funny and the voice and instrumentation are excellent. Amanda plays just enough with the form to make it sound extremely fresh. For me, best song on the compilation.

Then there's Nicki Jaine, who I had heard, and her collaboration with Projekt and Black Tape mastermind Sam Rosenthal as Revue Noir. I really want a full-length from Revue Noir, as the second track is truly excellent. I think Nicki's Marlene Deitrich/Dagmar Krause (but not as much of an acquired taste) is a natural for her style of music, and her solo track on here, "Pretty Faces" is very strong and will make you want to buy her solo album (which you won't find here at A, but I think you can guess where to look).The next new artist for me was Jill Tracy. She has an amazing voice. There are a few almost too-typical Goth (or really Dark Cabaret) lyrics, but somehow she pulls it off. Hearing this song was enough to make me want her CD. I'd also never heard of Katzenjammer Kabarett, and I'm not sure if they have a full length yet. But they should, because their track is simply great. They alter the female vocalist's voice, but only so that it sounds distant, or maybe a voice from the past. She sings very well, and the instrumentation is definitely Cabaret, though it is somehow dark and playful both.

Audra I'm familiar with, and I've never been a huge fan. The first jarring part about this is the male voice, altered in a very Audra way (as though on a radio or with just enough fuzz to make you wonder where he's coming from). On first take, I thought they should have left this off the album, but it really catches in your mind. I'm not sure I'll be buying an Audra album soon, but if someone plays me one as good as this track, I could be wrong. By having just a bit more beat, a bit more electronics, and the male voice, the track comes at the right time to break up the album and keep it going. The female vocals of Pretty Balanced seem to echo in an almost empty cabaret, and the piano work is perfect for the song. She tends to start quiet and occasionally build to a stronger sound, so you have to listen closely. I'd never heard of them either, but I think I need a little more exposure. I hope Sam, who I adore, won't be too unhappy with my next statement. The sound to this Black Tape mix is great, admittedly, but the lyric "knock three times on your coffin if you want my love" just turned me off. It comes across in a catchy way, but the lyrics as a whole seem too cliche. The male voice and the great instrumental to the song are well placed for the order, I'll say that. This is coming from a devout Black Tape fan, so you should just see this as nit-picking, probably. Not their best song. The next track, by The Brides, adds some different instrumentation without going into the electronic world (I think), and the woman's voice fits this album. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites, but again, it's well-placed, and you won't skip over it. Quite frankly, I'd given up on Rozz Williams quite a while ago. But this sparse song, with an actually moving and well-modulated voice and simple piano, is pretty damn good. And coming near the end, again, well-placed. The ThouShaltNot track, with a male vocalist, is definitely the Weimar style cabaret with a poisonous tone. It ends the album well, though if you have this CD in your car or on auto-repeat and let it go back to the incredible "Coin Operated Boy," I think you'll be happier.



All in all, for the price this album is one of the all time bargains. You may not be familiar with a single artist on here and yet you'll love it and want three or four albums by people on here. The production is excellent, the artwork with the beautiful cabaret temptress is perfect, and I can't recommend this any more highly than I have, which is basically, buy it, you won't be disappointed. Probably Projekt's best sampler ever, if you're familiar with them as I am, and that's saying a lot. I hope "Dark Cabaret" becomes a term that becomes a genre, because it would make me very happy."

Good Introduction to an Interesting Genere

Zekeriyah | Chicago, IL | 05/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Goth meets Cabaret, or rather Gothic music influenced by Cabaret. Thats the best way to describe this wonderful little release by Projekt. The eleven tracks here provide an introduction to the "dark cabaret" scene, and do so quite well. The first song, Coin-Operated Boy by the Dresden Dolls, is a great start, and the CD continues onward to devious Evil Night Together by Jill Tracy (which sets up a wonderful film noir mood) and on to the darker, electronic dance number Cabaret Fortune Teller by Audra, to a remix of Knock Three Times on My Coffin by Projekt veterans Black Tape for a Blue Girl. Along the way numerous other bands are covered.



Sam Rosenthal's side project Revue Noir makes their debut on this CD, with husky feminine vocals provided by Nicki Jaine, who also has a solo song (Pretty Faces) on the CD as well. Personally, I LOVED Revue Noir and find Nicki Jaine's voice to be quite alluring, but I also know some BTfaBG fans who dislike her vocals so you've been warned. But all in all, I think anyone with a task for the dark should check out this CD. At the very least, its a cheap and decent introduction to a whole new style, and thats always a good thing."

A different kind of darkness from Projekt

Jack Shear | 04/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Has Projekt traded dying elegance for deadly glamor? It is undeniable that Projekt has done a lot to preserve the winsome poetic mystery of the goth scene; releases from bands such as Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Lycia, and Mors Syphilitica managed to be brooding and beautiful without succumbing to cliches about black cats and creepy-crawlies. Even though Projekt arguably has the strongest roster of ethereal acts around, a diet of nothing but swirling shrouds and soaring vocals leaves one musically malnourished. Enter a new breath of life into the label's canon: cabaret.



A Dark Cabaret is gothic morbidity meets Wiemar decadence. The songs on this compilation are mostly based around seductive piano and evocative vocals, yet each band brings something unique to the mix. The Dresden Dolls lean heavily toward art-school post-modernism, Jill Tracy brings macabre heat, and Katzenjammer Kabarett add a distinct post-punk ethos to their brand of music hall dissolution. Top marks go to Nicki Jaine's solo track and her vocal work with Revue Noir; there is just something about her voice that completely encapsulates the feel of a culture that laughed in the face of fin du monde fascism. There isn't a reason not to playing this album at your next sordid soiree.

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