Obscure sorrows
This time in Sweden, Greece and even Doctor Who
Not so long ago I was introduced to The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by the American author John Koenig. In this poetic book you’ll find new words for emotions that many people are familiar with, but don’t have the language (yet) to express themselves. It’s so valuable to have words for these very common, but often strange and inexplicable feelings. Feelings sometimes we didn’t know we had them, because we couldn’t find the right words. An emotion I know many people around me are familiar with is sonder: the awareness that everyone has a story. It’s about the realization that every random person is living a life just as rich as your own with all its related complexities. This feeling, or realization, is particularly strong when I peek into my neighbours’ windows at night and see the lights burning in all those houses; people just minding their own business within their own unique interiors.
Another word that really struck me is licotic (adj.). It’s the feeling you have when you’re anxiously excited to introduce a friend to something you think is really great, which makes you stare at their face waiting for their inevitably satisfying reaction, only to cringe when you discover the work’s flaws shining through for the very first time. I am definitely familiar with this when I tell someone to see a specific movie or exhibition for example. But I also experience it with Sonic Nurse, even though I believe so much in the music I share with you. I think it always comes with a certain insecurity when you don’t hear back from the people you’re talking to. And that’s the hard part of writing newsletters: it’s one way traffic. So yes, although I enjoy it so much, I do feel a bit licotic in some way writing this third newsletter to almost sixty (!) subscribers. Please let me know what you think by commenting on this post in the Substack app, replying by email or just share your thoughts with me in person. Whether you enjoy the music, or have some suggestions: it all will be much appreciated 🖤
FEBRUARY 2026
Lena Platonos - Gallop
Lena Platonos (1951) is a Greek musician, pianist and composer. Being one of the pioneers of electronic music she paved the way for many Greek electronic musicians. Born on the island of Crete she began learning to play the piano at the early age of two and before her eighteenth birthday, Platonos was already a professional pianist. Her second album Gallop (1985) is quite all over the place, in a good way. There are some definite dance-floor bangers, there’s quite some experimental stuff and there’s this mysterious, sensual track called Bloody Shadows from Afar. Dominant on the album are the analogue synthesizers and the 808 drum machine producing strong beats and rhythms. Platonos hardly sings on Gallop, but narrates the songs reciting her lyrics.
electronic | wave | synth pop | experimental
Craven Faults - Sidings
Craven Faults explores the sounds of the impressive, rough landscapes of Northern-England and post-industrialism by slowly unfolding analogue electronic music. Sidings, the third full-length of this quite anonymous artist from Yorkshire, is just like his previous albums: an immersive minimal, instrumental composition with gradual shifts in both rhythm and dynamics. Listening to this pulsating, hypnotic, ongoing performance brings calmness. There seems to be also some Kraftwerk influences which you might notice in the track below. As all tracks vary in length - some over fifteen minutes, some around four - and since there’s no climax build-up you will ask yourself: Where did the time go?
minimal music | electronic | ambient | modular synth
Solid Space - Space Museum
The British duo Solid Space didn’t exist for a long time. They formed in 1980, released just one album on cassette two years later and split up right after release. The band is heavily influenced by science fiction - both lyric and music-wise - and in particular by the 1960 television series Doctor Who (check out the Space Museum record sleeve as well!). Thanks to the work of the San Francisco label Dark Entries, Space Museum got a re-release in 2017 and appeared for the first time on vinyl. Look forward to quite some happy tracks - that’s “happy” in the world of minimal wave music, of course. There’s a prominent place for the acoustic guitar alongside the synthesizers and drum machine, which makes Space Museum overall less melancholic than you’d expect from a minimal wave record.
minimal wave | synth-pop | sci-fi | post-punk | electronic
ShitKid - The Essential (Vol. 1)
ShitKid is the project of the 34 year-old Åsa Söderqvist from Stockholm. The project is not in its early stages, Söderqvist began ShitKid already in 2015. After her disappearance from the music scene in 2020 and thereby the completion of ShitKid, she now returns with this compilation album. Söderqvist is an autonomous artist who doesn’t seem to be concerned with traditional genre boundaries or song structures. By breaking these conventions, her music becomes very eclectic: expect heavy guitars but also elements of pop music and electronica - always with a punk attitude. The compilation also includes the striking Sugar Town, which is not exactly a cover, nor is it completely her own work as it features parts of the Sugar Town by Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazlewood.
garage | grunge | pop | punk
TRACK OF THE MONTH
Drowned (Dirk Wiertz Remix) by The Medicines
This eerie track from the Dutch guitar-wave band The Medicines had already two existing versions - the original one can be found on a Split EP with Lifeless Past (2017) and they released a new version in 2025. Just a week ago, I was blown away by this remix by Amsterdam DJ/producer Dirk Wiertz. The fine darkwave/goth vibe was already there of course, but the work of Wiertz makes this track stand out even more. It’s dark. It’s very danceable. It’s perfect for a great goth party. Just waiting for a vinyl release now and hoping for a long(er)-term collaboration between the two.
darkwave | goth | electronic | coldwave
There is no “old” music really - only music you have already heard and music you haven’t.