Track Listing: Into A Swan, About To Happen, Here Comes That Day, Loveless, If It Doesn’t Kill You, One Mile Below, Drone Zone, Sea Of Tranquility 5:11, They Follow You, Heaven And Alchemy.

Classic Siouxsie. It’s all here, from her patented brand of hard sensuality to her tongue-in-cheek sarcasm... the odd Asian touches and funky bottom end... the introspective lyrics with their unexpected twists... the bitter edge... the desire.

The band is tight, and highly adept at creating atmosphere. Listening is like watching a train of floats trail past in an outre parade from some lost land. Even hardcore Siouxsie fans will find a few surprises. The grand dame is, like fine wine, aging well... and of course she is a fortified wine, like Amontillado.

For more info, visit the album website or the MySpace page.

Track Listing: The Greatest Show Unearthed, Buried Alive, Aim For The Head, Six Foot Deep, A Gorey Demise, Look To The Skies, How To Serve Man, Bound And Gagged, The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth, Corpse In My Bed, Such Horrible Things.

Just what it suggests. Horrible creatures come slathering, drooling, and gnashing at you out of the haunted darkness. A freak circus. A demented calliope driven berserk by the gnarly fingers of spectral players. A monster romp. Well played and enjoyable fun. Even though you have heard it all before, it still manages to push the bizarreness envelope a bit farther out.

For more info, visit the band website or their MySpace page.

Track Listing: St. Michael, Heaven’s Map, Ocean, The Lovers, 4, Swanlike, The Knife, Chains Around My Heart (Again), Concordia, Her Violence.

Though they are now a legitimate, cohesive band, this Finnish group’s first release, Nude, is nearly all the work of the founder, Jaani Peuhu, working alone. Already the producer of many of Finland’s best darkwave acts, the artist was compelled by creative necessity to release his own music. The result is 80s swirly goth resurfacing from a pop Sargasso Sea bedecked with streamers of other influences. The ghost ship sails well.

Though the content is all about angst drenched, sensitivity and drama, Janni himself seems to exude energy and self confidence, at least where artistic endeavors are concerned. The music is haunting, hypnotic, dreamy. The singer’s voice is compelling; almost feminine at times, yet driven by a decidedly male urgency. This androgyny begets an emotional freedom for the spirit when dealing with the sundry constraints human existence forces upon us... and this freedom begets beauty.

For more info visit the band website or their MySpace page.