Costa Rica’s leading goth / darkwave export Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos released their new live album Communion recently, through Tumbas Eternas Records in Peru. Marking ten years since the band’s formation, Communion doubles as not only a live album, but a “best of”, containing ten of the band’s most beloved singles and enduring fan-favourites from across the past decade. Recorded on 15 July 2023 at El Nico Baker: a small theatre in the trio’s hometown of San José, the new LP comes in a limited edition of 300: 150 copies are on black vinyl, and 150 on translucid blue vinyl. All are packaged in a gatefold sleeve featuring a photo album from the concert, inner sleeve with lyrics, and a poster included. To celebrate the Communion live album, bandleader Ariel Maniki spoke to Darkitalia about some of his favourite live albums by other artists.
“I guess I was not the only teenager who would lock in his room, play its favourite bands as loud as
possible and head-bang, sing and play fake air guitar jumping in its bed. As an aspiring musician I
think live albums were more suitable for these rituals. The imperfections, the energy and
the continuous sound of the cheering audiences filling up the room would put you in a state of
trance that could not be disrupted by outside noises until the end of the gig. Of course, I had
favourite albums for this and many of those still remain my favourite today. It is difficult to pick 5
and I definitively could not rank them by relevance or importance. But I can tell you a bit about each one and what made them special for me. Also, by been born and raised in Costa Rica, a small remote country in the waist of Latin America, context is important. Some music was more difficult to get and some of these bands might not be widely known in the Anglo world. Maybe this is a setup for an interesting combination. If you don’t know some of them, I totally recommend taking a quick listen.
Here you go, in no particular order, my top 5 (?) live albums.”
Heroes del Silencio: Senda ‘91
This Spanish band was really big in Latin América in the 90s. I decided to save some money and
purchase one of their albums: Senda ‘91. This live album sounded so different compared to their
studio stuff: darker, meaner, and so intense. Later I learned that the reason HDS would release a live album after every studio album was because they felt their early studio recordings were not a
proper representation of their actual sound. They weren’t satisfied with the work of their producers, and used the live recordings to capture what the band actually sounded like. And they were right.
Listening to Senda ‘91 was a whole different experience. Long medley interludes with dramatic
speeches in between, songs that never stop and just flow into the next one, starting a song all over
again because they messed up the intro, and a hidden message at the end of the album: what’s not
to love about that?
Bauhaus: Gotham
It was very difficult to find any descent alternative or underground music before the internet era in Costa Rica. You only had those top-of-the-charts artists, and from time to time, if you got enough patience and curiosity, you’ll find a second-hand gem in a music resale store. The way around to build a music collection was to copy whatever your friends got on CDs or cassettes. In this context there was a time when all I’ve heard from Bauhaus was Bela Lugosi’s Dead and maybe their Ziggy Stardust cover – just enough to be mesmerized by it – until one day I walked by a new age music store and did a very unlikely discovery. A double CD called Gotham. Pretty late I know, but this was my first deep journey into Bauhaus music, and therefore this album still holds a lot of significance for me today. You can’t deny that Bauhaus has a sound of their own, and this live rendition felt sharpened and in your face like nothing I’ve heard before, but also discovering songs so immersive as “Hollow Hills” and their Dead Can Dance cover of “Severance” was absolutely mind-blowing. I still get chills when I listen to this album.
The Cure: Paris
As with many of the music I love today The Cure is another band I discovered late and through a
slow process. The first handful of songs I’ve listened from Mr Smith’s band seemed nice but way too cheerful and poppy to me. I could dance and move to it but didn’t really catch my attention. Then someone gave me a CD with only the word PARIS on it. As soon as the opening drums of “The
Figurehead” burst through the cheering audience and hit me on the chest something happened, I
felt connected to it immediately. I describe the overall sound of this album as the sound of dying
slowly. Melancholic, velvety. And Robert’s voice just sits perfectly with this strange sadness we can
barely grasp. Back then I didn’t even know what the song titles were, but it was clear that the track
selection wasn’t exactly a “singles” thing. I keep going back to it very often.
Jaguares: Bajo el azul de tu misterio
By far one of the most important bands for me in every possible way are Caifanes from Mexico. This is the band I would recommend to anyone who would like to get into Latin American alternative rock since it holds a lot of Latino tradition and identity. I could go on for hours talking about the many ways in which I’ve been influenced by them, but this is not about that. Caifanes split up in the mid 90s and Jaguares was sort of a continuation of it. I got their second release as Jaguares in a double CD version, boxed in a soft plastic packaging that contained actual bubbles of air and blue water mimicking the cover art. Very unique. Disc number 1 was all great brand new Jaguares songs, while disc number 2 was a concert comprised of old and new Caifanes and Jaguares songs. I loved how many of the old songs had been reimagined in a way that would fit better their line up at the moment. The album was an immersive journey into songs I grew up listening to. Also they are the first band I ever got to see live, so listening to these songs always bring flashbacks of very enjoyable moments.
David Bowie: Something in the Air (Live Paris 99)
It was difficult to pick one last album to bring into the list, although it was pretty obvious it had to be Bowie, but there’s just so many live albums I have listened from Bowie over the years and many are absolutely amazing, so is not an easy choice. In the end I just picked the one I have more fresh in my mind right now because I stumbled with it very recently, but almost any Bowie live album could’ve been here. I don’t know much background about this one in particular. My understanding is that it was released just a few years ago even though the concert is from 1999. This is a solid show! It opens with “Life On Mars?”. Do I need to say more? No but I will. It closes with “Rebel, Rebel”. No seriously. This is not like a typical singles Bowie set. There are tracks from many periods, some are well established hits, some are cult gems, and some were just new at the moment of the performance. Bowie’s voice is in its prime. The guitar tone and sound comes out crisp and creamy.
And one of my favourite things is how you can experience and feel a bit of Bowie’s warmth and
charisma in those brief monologues in between songs. An absolute ear candy from top to bottom.
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