Unwoman released yet another aural masterpiece. Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer released two “long players,” as he calls them, including one he considers his best. Professor Elemental gave us an art book and a new album produced with some of his Amazing Friends. Here’s a rundown of all the year’s musical highlights in the steampunk world.
More 2023 Year in Review coverage:
Books | Crowdfunding | Movies & TV | News | Video Games | The Year in Pictures
Unwoman’s Ninth
Erica Mulkey, the singer-songwriter-cellist who performs as Unwoman, released Desire Paths, her ninth album of original compositions. Along with her previous originals album—Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen—it appears to mark a new peak for her songwriting and production skills.
As with her other releases, the music consists of richly layered vocals, cello, and electronic instruments, all recorded in her home studio. With work like this, she deserves a much wider following, not just in steampunk, but in the music world at large.
She successfully crowdfunded the album’s production on Kickstarter, and for the first time, she made early drafts available for free download so her fans could offer feedback. She also discussed the album in Episode 7 of The World of Steampunk, our video series on YouTube and Vimeo.
Desire Paths is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and other music platforms.
She also released two EPs of cover songs, Everything Is Awesome and Music to Pine for Your Old Lady to, along with the instrumentals version of Of My Own Space and Time I Am Queen.
Music and More from Professor Elemental
This was another busy year for the Professor, but not all of it was music related. Along with frequent collaborator Chris Mole, he successfully crowdfunded, and then released, The Art of Professor Elemental, a 200-page full-color hardcover book.
The book showcased his comics, novels, art prints, and album art, as well as merchandise, unpublished sketches, and original pieces created for the volume. Featured artists include Charlie Adlard, Brian Kesinger, Jamie Keys, VV Glass, and Jenn Gyllblad. The Professor described it as his largest project to date.
The year also saw the public release of a board game inspired by the Professor’s 2015 album Apequest. The game, entitled Apequest: The Search for Geoffrey, puts players on the trail of the Professor’s orangutan butler Geoffrey along with a pair of stolen time trousers. The game was created by Mark Powell of Banbury, U.K. with cooperation from the Professor. Powell successfully crowdfunded the game in 2022.
But the chap hop maestro did find time to make music. In June he released Professor Elemental and His Amazing Friends 3, the third installment in his collaborative trilogy. It features the talents of Tom Caruana, Madam Misfit, Nick Maxwell, Captain of the Lost Waves, Rapscallion, Gaslight Troubadours, and more.
He also released two music videos from the album: “Kaboom,” an ode to comic book sound effects, and “Nerds Gone Wild,” filmed at the Sci Fi Weekender convention.
Then in October he released a vinyl EP containing six tracks from his 2021 concept album Nemesis. Side A consists of the original tracks remastered for vinyl, while Side B offers instrumental versions. His books and albums are all available from his website.
Two from Mr. B
Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, the inventor of chap hop, also had a busy year with the release of two full-length albums. First, in June, came Quid Pro Flow, which he described as “‘roots’ chap hop, in its most raw form. Just music hall samples, low fidelity beats, and dandy rhymes.”
Then, in November, he released National Treasure, a 14-track opus he described as “my best long player to date.” The titles include “Hourglass Fingers,” “Feeding The Ducks,” “No Wonder I’m Weird,” “Bring Back The British Hand-Swear,” and “Never Underestimate The Depth Of My Lack Of Depth.”
Along with these releases, Mr. B spent much of May and June on tour as the opening act for the legendary rock duo Sparks, with dates in the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium. The tour included two performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
You can find his music on Bandcamp and his website.
Frenchy and the Punk on Tour
Frenchy and the Punk spent most of the year promoting Zen Ghost, their 2022 release. They posted two music videos from the album: “Church of Sound” and “Gear Geist,” and spent much of July and August on a tour of the U.K. and Europe. The latter included performances at Whitby Steampunk Weekend and the Asylum Steampunk Festival.
Their U.S. dates included appearances at Dragon Con, Watch City Steampunk Festival, Chicago Steampunk Exposition, Galveston Steampunk Festival, and Steampunk Adventurers Weekend.
They also released a cover version of the Siouxsie and the Banshees hit single “Cities in Dust.” It came on Oct. 18, the 38th anniversary of the song’s original release. They’ve cited band as one of their inspirations.
Scott Helland, the “punk” of the duo, found time to release The Wave Files, his latest Guitarmy of One solo instrumental album. He described it as “10 cinematic instrumental songs inspired by surf guitar, spy noir, punk rock and movie soundtracks.”
In June, he ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund production of the album.
Abney Park Takes Live Streams to the Max
During the darkest days of the pandemic, Abney Park joined many other music artists in presenting live streaming shows as a way to make up for lost concert revenue. Apparently that’s worked out for the band, as they’ve continued to offer streaming performances even after returning to in-person gigs.
The band presented six live streaming shows in 2023, all of them funded by Kickstarter campaigns. Among them: A Halloween concert, a reunion show with former bandmember Jody Ellen, and “Songs from the Attic,” featuring some of their earliest songs.
They didn’t have any new albums this year, but did release a massive five-hour compilation of instrumental music. The download includes unreleased tracks along with selections from seven albums. The idea was to create an ambient soundtrack for gaming, reading, writing, and other activities. They also posted a nearly eight-hour loop of instrumental music on YouTube.
Steam Powered Giraffe Inches Back to Live Shows
It was a relatively quiet year for the singing automatons as they prepare to get back to live performances. They hosted an acoustic livestream concert in November and announced plans for their first live in-person show since the start of the pandemic.
It’s set for Friday, Jan. 26, at The Center Theater at California Center for the Arts in Escondido, California. That show is sold out, but they’ve booked another gig at the same venue, this one on Friday, March 29.
The band also released a double-LP vinyl edition of their 2013 album MK III, using a service from Bandcamp that allows artists to crowdfund the releases. Bandcamp then handles pressing and distribution.
The vinyl release is currently sold out, but a limited number of copies may be available in early 2024 through their online store.
Learn more on their website.
Ambient Sounds from Valentine Wolfe
Valentine Wolfe is mostly known for gothic metal music, but their major release this year was All My Nights Were Trances, a full-length album of dark ambient sounds suitable as background music. It consists mostly of Braxton Ballew's haunting bass with occasional soprano vocals by Sarah Black. They successfully crowdfunded the album in March.
Toward the end of the year, they also released Specter in the Frost, an EP consisting of five holiday-themed tracks.
Their music is available through their online store and Bandcamp.
More New Releases
Dust Bowl Faeries, the “dark carnival” band from New York’s Hudson Valley, released a six-track EP entitled Carnival Dust. They describe their sound as “a faerie-tale fusion of dark cabaret, delirious polka, and gothic spaghetti western music.” The EP is available for streaming and/or download from multiple music services, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify. Learn more on their website.
Dr. Ignatius Cole and the Brass Knuckle Steampunk Sinfonia released Skytropolis, his third album of “Epic Steampunk Music.” The music, he said, “ranges from quirky to emotional and cinematic, and is often rooted in something familiar; Doctor Who, War of the Worlds, Sherlock, Jules Verne, but also freely associated with any kind of retro-futurism.” All three are available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Victor and the Bully released two music videos based on tracks from Embrace the Disgrace, their 2022 album: “Wide Open” and “Automatic Hearts.”
Victor Sierra released three singles: “The Lost Symphony,” “The Hydrogen Queen’s Gambit,” and “The Open Sea.” The latter features the “Virtual Superstars Steampunk Choir,” including Frenchy and the Punk, Sarah Black of Valentine Wolfe, and Ben Henderson of Moth. You can stream all three tracks on Spotify.
The Cog is Dead released “A.I. Stole My Life,” described as “a satirical song about the coming AI apocalypse and how machines may take all of our jobs.” It's available on YouTube and Bandcamp.
Geverend Dee of A Halo Called Fred teamed up with Professor Adam Smasher of The Eternal Frontier on a new single, “Dominick Kissed a Robot!” It's the latest release from “Geverend’s Exquisite Cadaver,” a collaborative music project inspired by a surrealist art technique from the early 20th century.
The Eternal Frontier celebrated the holidays with “Santa Mouse,” a remake of an obscure single released in 1966. The lyrics follow the storyline of Michael Brown’s 1966 children’s book Santa Mouse. It's available now on Bandcamp.
Trouble at Bandcamp?
Many music acts in the steampunk world sell their releases on Bandcamp, and this proved to be a tumultuous year for the e-commerce platform. In late September, parent company Epic Games announced that it had sold Bandcamp to Songtradr, a music licensing service. A few weeks later, when the sale closed, the new owner laid off about half of Bandcamp’s staff.
In a statement to the music publication Pitchfork, a Songtradr spokesperson said the company was “committed to keeping the existing Bandcamp services that fans and artists love.” However, many of those fans and artists have gone to social media to express anger about the moves and concern about the platform’s future.
One popular initiative, Bandcamp Friday, appears to remain in place at least for now. That’s a day when the company waives its revenue share and the artists keep more of what you pay for their downloads.
Bandcamp, which instituted the promotion during the pandemic, announced that the next one will happen on Feb. 2, 2024. We maintain a list of steampunk performers on the platform to make it easier to find their music on the service.
