Welcome, bienvenue and wilkommen to my corner of the web. This is my place to share my passion for music and literature old and new.

I am a one-woman enthusiasm machine, a whirlwind force of nature who can and will spend the whole night at a club on the dance floor. I’m always interested in the latest releases, but I still love all the music I grew up with. My specialty is introducing people to music they are sure to love.

The last two years have been one hell of a ride, and it’s not over yet. What got me through it? After being out of the scene for years, I rediscovered music and met a wonderful assortment of like-minded reprobates via Twitch DJ streams. My Bandcamp bill is atrocious, yet my wishlist never gets any shorter!

I spend a lot of time walking around my neighbourhood (which includes a couple of cemeteries, of course) with nothing but my tunes and thoughts for company. I listen to new music, perennial favourites, and rediscover blasts from the past. Many of the latter have been remastered, so as well as “I’d forgotten about that”, there’s genuinely new layers to discover.

Now that live music is A Thing again, I’m back at concerts with a vengeance. The city where I live gets a fair few gigs, but I travel far and wide to see the acts I love.

I make a lot of brief music posts and book reviews on Facebook. I’ve been told they’re a valuable resource, but Facebook is a terrible platform for a fuller examination of anything.

As you have probably gathered from the title of this blog, I listen to a lot of goth, but I am genre fluid in my tastes. It’s of lilies and remains because I see the beauty in everything from the conventionally beautifully to the macabre to the extremely silly. None of these are “better” than another, just different.

On the subject of the G-word, my goth is a broad church which takes in everything from postpunk to goth rock via all sorts of 80s and 90s indie and shoegaze to neoclassical. With very few exceptions, if I like it, in my headcanon it is goth and I will die on that hill.

Going back to where it all began, my first and always love is David Bowie. Looking back, that was a clear sign that I was always going to turn out at least a little weird. I spent the winter of 2021/22 re-examining his live albums. (Did I mention random? I’m random. Also #genrefluid).

Currently, I’m so far down a deathrock rabbit hole that I can’t see daylight. Don’t send help, send snacks and fishnets. Next week, who knows?

I am a sucker for songs that are really two songs in one (such as the Chameleons’ Swamp Thing). Another sure-fire way to my heart is a song with a clean, single note guitar line, especially if juxtaposed with a crunchy or effects laden part.

Add into the mix the fact that in another life I was a classical guitarist and medieval historian. I know a thing or two about Baroque music, which in turn led me to search out increasingly early music.

Many of the books I read slot in thematically quite well with the music I listen to.

So come on a journey with me through the recesses of my brain. Hopefully you will discover something you didn’t know you need in your life.