MADELINE GOLDSTEIN + VASCHA + SNOWY MOUNTAIN – DALTONS, BRIGHTON 3.2.25
Well this was certainly a mega-scoop for Brighton based promoters Paradise Noir as they only managed to talk Los Angeles based electronic artist Madeline Goldstein into performing her first ever concert outside of the mainland American continent! She’s here this evening at Daltons which is located right on Brighton Beach under the zipwire. It’s a venue that is putting on more and more concerts of late, in fact I was even here yesterday, read that review HERE.
After this evening Madeline will be whizzing around Europe until the end of April and taking in dates in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Czechia.
Formerly of synth-tinged Portland band Fringe Class, frontwoman Madeline Goldstein went solo in 2019 having discovered Ableton to free herself of the traditional band format and relocated to Los Angeles, California.
With emotion and a strong ear for pop melody, Madeline echos the energies of new wave, dream-pop, and dark wave, all while showcasing the vocal range and passion of femme pop icons and 80’s theatrics. Dancing somewhere between new-romantic eccentricity and punk influence, she explores body music in its more dreamy realm, with a touch of theatrical pleasure.
She dropped her debut solo album in early 2020, which was titled ‘Forget This’ and consisted of nine decent cuts. 2021 witnessed the release of her ‘Lost In Heaven’ single and a year later her ‘One More Day’ single was unleashed, and was followed by her ‘Seed Of Doubt’ tune on the last day of 2022. May 2023 her debut ‘Other World’ 4 track EP hit an unsuspecting world and now she’s back at it with her current ‘1996 Expectations’ single. Check out the video for this tune HERE and also have a listen to her releases on her Bandcamp page HERE.
Tonight we are in Madeline’s company for 54 minutes from 10:04pm to 10:58pm and during that time she and her friend Margot Rhodes, (who assists with guitar and vocals) perform ten tracks for us lucky punters. Madeline takes care of lead vocals as well as Korg synth and Roland SP-404SX Linear Wave Sampler. Their performance commences with, as far as I can tell, an unreleased number titled ‘Intro Song’. The number benefits from repetitive keys and vocals that remind me of the forgotten and criminally under-rated Poeme Electronique outfit. This is a very very good start! I think Madeline also sensed it and on finishing the track she uttered “Whoa..first song ever off the continent of USA”.
The next two compositions I believe are also yet to be recorded tunes. The first of these being ‘Perpetual Care’ which offers up another booming beat and features swirly synths and Madeline’s “I Don’t Want To Be Here” vocals nudge my brain into remembering Regine Fetet (RIP) of hard CORPS. My notes at this point read “Oh this is wonderful stuff!”. The next track, ‘Dream 2 Die, actually gave me the tingles despite never hearing it before! It’s a slower tune with Margot putting her guitar down in favour of concentrating on added vocals. This has a true retro sound and musically it reminded me of German act Celebrate The Nun, who morphed into happy hardcore legends Scooter.
The first of all four numbers from Madeline’s ‘Other World’ EP was up next, this being ‘Death’s Door’, which is a slowish darkwave style number with borderline operatic vocals and a nod to New Romantic artist Ronny when Madeline delivers the almost talky spoken lyrics. ‘Edges Of The Lines’ another electronic corker from the same EP is the following selection and the Korg goes into serious overdrive. We then get the newest offering in the form of the booming beat of last year’s ‘1996 Expectations’ single, which goes down very well indeed.
Madeline then plays the final two numbers from her ‘Other World’ EP, the first of these being the slower atmospheric title track with its silky vocals and dramatic slow controlled body movements akin to watching a ballerina. The second number was ‘Seed Of Doubt’ which greatly benefits from dramatic synth sounds similar to heyday Gary Numan, but this number has an added constant booming beat atop. For me it just about peaks above the trio of other tracks on the EP. The final song we are informed is a new composition that is getting its second ever live performance this evening, this is called ‘1 Star One Body’ and this has a slow chugging beat and one that leaves us wanting more.
Clearly this was the end of the set, but the punters were extremely eager for more. Madeline capitulated and we were given a choice of one more tune, a slower recent number of an old dancey number. The latter was our preference and it was dutifully performed solely by Madeline, but sadly I’m not aware of its title. It had an almost Hi-NRG beat and was a great way to sign off. I, like many present, absolutely enjoyed Madeline’s material and a swift dash to the merch stall afterwards lightened my wallet and secured me a signed copy of the EP. Best live set of the year so far!
Madeline Goldstein:
Madeline Goldstein – vocals, synth, samples
Margot Rhodes – guitar, vocals
Madeline Goldstein setlist:
‘Intro Song’ (unreleased)
‘Perpetual Care’ (unreleased)
‘Dream 2 Die’ (unreleased)
‘Death’s Door’ (from 2023 ‘Other World’ EP)
‘Edges Of The Lines’ (from 2023 ‘Other World’ EP)
‘1996 Expectations’ (a 2024 single)
‘Other World’ (from 2023 ‘Other World’ EP)
‘Seed Of Doubt’ (from 2023 ‘Other World’ EP)
‘1 Star One Body’ (unreleased)
(encore)
“Unknown”
There were two support artists this evening with the first of these being Brighton-based Snowy Mountain who we have only reviewed once before and this was last June. Technically, Snowy (which is now her real name) is a solo artist, but for live concerts she is accompanied by frequent co-collaborator Max Earl (aka Prince Vaseline). There is an active social media presence for Snowy Mountain, but the music is only currently available to listen to on YouTube which is a great shame. This evening the duo perform seven numbers for us and this runs for 32 minutes from 8:16pm until 8:48pm.
This is an understated performance which doesn’t scream “Look at me aren’t I brilliant and famous”, in fact it’s a very sedate affair with even at times Snowy letting Max do some of the talking between tracks. Thus Snowy’s shyness is endearing and doesn’t detract from her music. She’s clearly a clever person as she has studied Classical Music and English Literature at Bath Spa University. The duo quietly commenced their unreleased songs set with an 80’s vibed synth number called ‘Back To The Future’, which gives us the first tasting of Snowy’s dreamy vocal style. This is a positive start!
Their second composition was ‘My Dreams’ which featured shared vocal deliveries and a slow intro prior to the beat kicking in and this too has a retro vibe going down. Song three was ‘The Sound Transit’ and the vocal delivery was mellow and a little wistful as if recounting a memory or a dream. When the keys changed beats it then reminded me of material on the ‘Some Bizarre’ label compilation album from back in the day. The slow brooding ‘Plain Rise’ truly builds rather nicely throughout its duration and it offers the fullest sound composition to date and reminds me of Slowdive and it’s my fave tune thus far.
‘Earth II’ is an amalgamation of wonderfully sharp electronic beats offset by dual dreamy Julie Cruz-like vocal deliveries. There are swirly sounds that remind me of the work of Sussex based synth duo Vile Electrodes, which is a very good thing indeed. The penultimate song was titled ‘Space Peaks’ and was another slowie but with an almost darkwave beat. They left us with ‘Don’t Force’ which had a circa 1980 Ultravox intro beat with repeated keys riffing until the faster beat kicked in, and as always was accompanied by Snowy’s dreamy vocals. This number really does build wonderfully and is a true set highlight. Hopefully they decide to perform a few more local concerts, so that I can enjoy further Snowy Mountains dream-pop synth laden material up-close-and-personal.
Snowy Mountain:
Snowy Whittle – vocals, Moog Rogue keyboard
Max Earle (aka Prince Vaseline) – vocals, two Casio keyboards, Roland SP-404SX Linear Wave Sampler
Snowy Mountain setlist:
‘Back To The Future’ (unreleased)
‘My Dreams’ (unreleased)
‘The Sound Transit’ (unreleased)
‘Plain Rise’ (unreleased)
‘Earth II’ (unreleased)
‘Space Peaks’ (unreleased)
‘Don’t Force’ (unreleased)
www.instagram.com/snowymountain
The second support act this evening is another Brighton based artist in the form of once seen never forgotten Vascha who we first encountered at last year’s ‘Homegrown Festival’. Back then we succinctly reported thus “Vive-la-trans… or should that be vive-la-trance? Vascha knocks out a beat-laden dance-track that definitely deserves a bigger, smokier, bassier venue than The Prince Albert… although this will do for now… techno, techno, techno is the order of the day, and it may be slightly weird… but it’s weird in a really fun way…. Pride Events will eat this up!!!”
Our second encounter was at the Dust venue last October where she was supporting the brilliant Canadian artist TR/ST. Vascha is a solo artist that uses a SubZero Mini MIDI Controller with Knobs Buttons and Faders, as well as a laptop and the vocals are live in the house. Encouragingly I learn that despite only witnessing Vascha just over three months ago, tonight’s set is going to be totally different or as Vascha informed me “We like to mix it up a bit!”. This evening we are rewarded nine songs across a 37 minute set that runs between 9:07pm and 9:44pm.
Vascha is a tall slender androgynous figure with long black hair, black underwear with a skimpy outfit and donning Orbital style sunglasses. The quality of the sound is pleasingly crisp and powerful and clearly the new house soundsystem is paying back in dividends.
‘Puddle’ from 2024’s ‘Shockmuzik (I)’ album is the selected opener which has a long autotuned vocal intro with wind effects atop, prior to the fast swirling electronic booming beats kicking in. Vascha is a captivating artist and one who it is hard to avert your eyes away from. The second offering is introduced, it’s ‘Hell And The Flood’ which can be located on last year’s ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ album and it is an aural assault on the senses. ‘Kyrie’ from 2023’s ‘Magna Cvnta’ EP arrives and it dawns on me that Vascha’s vocals are akin to a conglomeration of wailing Arabic, Gregorian Chants and that of the rather wonderful Ebbb. ‘Temptation’ is then introduced as coming from the debut album ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ that came out last year. Vascha’s body writhes to the music and by now is often hitting the deck for extra effect.
After the unreleased ‘Conscious And Earthbound’, the set was rapidly moving towards a full-on dance club experience, beginning with ‘Hell Remix’ which came out on last year’s ‘V In The Mix: Visions Of Hereafter’ album. Another as yet to be recorded track was up next, this being ‘Alibi’ and after this Vascha gave us the 2023 single ‘Ghost Town’ and signed off with another cut from ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ album, with this time around it being ‘Unearthly Delights’ complete with the heavy beats booming out of the speakers. It had been a captivating sissy hyperpop performance and if you fancy a Valentine’s night special, then head on down to The Rossi Bar where Vascha and several others will be in action.
Vascha:
Vascha – vocals, SubZero Mini MIDI Controller, laptop
Vascha setlist:
‘Puddle’ (from 2024 ‘Shockmuzik (I)’ album)
‘Hell And The Flood’ (from 2024 ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ album)
‘Kyrie’ (from 2023 ‘Magna Cvnta’ EP)
‘Temptation’ (from 2024 ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ album)
‘Conscious And Earthbound’ (unreleased)
‘Hell Remix’ (from 2024 ‘V In The Mix: Visions Of Hereafter’ album)
‘Alibi’ (unreleased)
‘Ghost Town’ (a 2023 single)
‘Unearthly Delights’ (from 2024 ‘Visions Of Hereafter (II)’ album)
