Live Review: SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: Black Vanilla

Sydney based trio, BLACK VANILLA are truly tapping into the dark electronic band scene. Their aesthetic creates a sense of wild abandon while maintaining a certain level of mystique that delves into a raw masculinity.

Their latest offering entitled 'Black On Black On Black' truly epitomises the ghoulish sounds they produce set amongst stoic vocals and complex lyrics. Juxtaposing all of this darkness is the intriguing titles of their tracks. From 'Jack'd Up' to the ultra smooth 'Call Your Husband', BLACK VANILLA seem determined to throw you off the scent.

They recently shared with us some of their favourite tracks on Soundcloud right now, which seem to reflect their influences quite well. From original remixes to saxophone solos, let BLACK VANILLA guide you through the dark recesses and show you the light.

FRIENDSHIPS 'Ghost Hear'

"Friendships, our friends from Melbourne. Stunning, gorgeous, confounding, fucked, wondrous, wrenching."

ALEXANDER CROSS 'Love Delay' (Kirin J Callinan cover)

"Full Disclosure: I play keyboards in Alex Cross's band, but mostly out of fear. He's more spectre than human, but a well-dressed spectre, a Patrick Bateman clone gone horribly wrong. In this stunning cover of Kirin J. Callinan's Love Delay, he shows his ugliest side (not that there is any other side to this monstrous human). Corporate goth at its worst." 

CASSIUS SELECT 'Test And Recognise' (Seekae Remix)

"This is Lavurn, my co-member here at Black Vanilla, remixing Seekae. He's extremely good and continues over and over again to astound me with his imagination and enormous capabilities."

Kelela x Le1f x P Morris - 'OICU'

"I always love the sound of star powers at one with each other. Visionaries on the edge."

BEN CAREY  'Live on Ears Have Ears'

"Here, you're hearing Ben Carey, virtuoso saxophonist and electroacoustic composer at war with himself using a computer program I believe "learns" the actions of its accompanying performer."

PEAKING LIGHTS 'Breakdown'

"I think everyone would like to be Sade, and this song is no exception. The cover art has a rainbow striking through garish Hawaiian kitsch, which is kind of like covering a colouring book with neapolitan ice cream vomit - an apt descriptor for Peaking Lights' sound."

BING & RUTH 'The Towns We Love is Our Towns'

"A gaze through an archway from the label RVNG Intl. It feels this kind of lush indulgence is almost ironic in tone, awkwardly embracing idealistic, ambient dreams and a future in ruins."

LES SINS 'Bother'

"This is from Toro y Moi's other project, Les Sins. What is this? I'm annoyed by the way it presents itself. I'm also glad about that. Ambivalence seems embedded in this strange track's conception. And good on it."

CARIBOU 'Our Love'

"New Caribou. It burns slowly. What a satisfying mix, perhaps a little beige, but what's wrong with a life without excitement? I often ask myself this question and it's a little difficult to answer normally. Listening to this, however, I understand."

TOPS 'Outside'

"You might remember Tops from Degrassi Junior High. In that they must have been there, they must have absorbed its soundtrack and understood every character as if they embodied their everything, so that they could have spat out this song that so accurately reflects its spirit of youth and its ghostly sense of time passed."

Words by Darren Ng

CHECK OUT MORE SOUNDCLOUD WRAPS HERE

SEE ALSO:

SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: CL MOONS

SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: JUST A GENT

SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: NICKY NIGHT TIME