If you’ve used WinAmp to play digital music files at some point, you may be familiar with the MilkDrop visualizer that was packaged with it. MilkDrop was always impressive, but other developers have taken it to new heights in recent years.

MilkDrop3 is still in active development as of this writing, and takes full advantage of modern computers. Although I still use WinAmp, that’s not required for this version. It’s an independent application that detects any music your computer is playing, even in a Web browser.

I’ve included a couple sample screenshots here but they really aren’t representative of what MilkDrop3 is like in motion. It initially opens in a window but you can press Alt + Enter to make it full screen and then Alt + Shift to spread it across multiple monitors if you have them.

You can get MilkDrop3 here:

On the GitHub page:

1. Click MilkDrop #.## under Releases in the right pane.
2. Click MilkDrop3.exe in the file list.
3. Run MilkDrop.exe after it downloads to extract it wherever you want.

About ten years ago, I created an entry in this Web log about “witch house” music. Since then, I’ve discovered a lot more things that fall in that category. I guess it’s become one of my favorite genres, though I’m still not sure exactly how to define it.

The following are a few things I’d recommend to someone curious about this type of music.

Some witch house music combines modified versions of existing songs from various genres with additional layers. Lovedied is a good example of this. Unfrotauntely, this Australian artist took his life not long before I stumbled upon his music.

Here’s another example of that approach by another musician, using a Ladytron song. (The original song is good, too. As is most everything by Ladytron.)

(Dark Sea)

My favorite tracks by this artist are the comparatively long ones.

I could go on listing musicians, but I’ll just end with a few selections from a series of compilations on the МYТАНТФАНK (Mutantfunk) record label. Some of these compilations are free and each of them includes a generous number of tracks.

The image at the top of this entry is an image that I generated using Midjourney. (I also got some nice haunted houses from that prompt.)

These are a few synthpop albums that I like. These are not ranked, but just presented alphabetically. I plan to post additional lists in the future, including albums that I like at least as much as these ones. I’m starting with some that are not as well-known as say, Depeche Mode, Erasure, or Pet Shop Boys.

If you don’t like one of these, you might like another. Or you might not like any of them at all.

And One is a German group that’s clearly inspired by Depeche Mode. While their lyrics bug me at times, I like their music. Bodypop is my favorite of their albums.

• “Stand the Pain” (Youtube link)
• “Military Fashion Show” (Youtube link)

While Tales from Another World is a “best of” compilation album with tracks from earlier releases, it’s the best introduction to German group Beborn Beton that I know of. They often have a science fiction theme to their lyrics, such as the song “Ambush” that’s based on science fiction novel The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

Beborn Beton is releasing another album very soon (as of this writing) that they’ve been working on for eight years. It’s called A Worthy Compensation, and I’m looking forward to it.

• “Newborn King” (Youtube link)
• “Poison 2002” (Youtube link)

Deine Lakaien (German for “Your Lackeys”) is one of my very favorite music groups. I’d love to see them perform live (especially one of their performances with an orchestra) but they don’t seem to do any shows outside Western Europe, and that’s very far from where I live.

It’s difficult to choose a single album to represent them, but Indicator is a good one. My single favorite song of theirs is “Supermarket (My Angel)” (Youtube link) from April Skies.

• “Blue Heart” (Youtube link)
• “Gone” (Youtube link)

Diary of Dreams is yet another German group. (I’m choosing these somewhat randomly, but Germany is the source of a lot of the synthpop music that I like.) It’s primarily the work of Adrian Hates.

• “O’ Brother Sleep” (Youtube link)
• “She” (Youtube link)

Before I came across this album, the only thing I’d heard by The Echoing Green was a Joy Electric cover (Youtube link). This is group based in the United States, not in Germany.

• “Heaven (The Devil in the Details)” (Bandcamp link)
  

• “Battered and Bruised” (Bandcamp link)
  

Moulin Noir is a Swedish group led by Anders Wikholm. Boy in Darkness apparently gets its name from Mervyn Peake’s book in the Gormenghast series, which just makes me appreciate it more. I’m hoping to see another Moulin Noir album one day, despite the closure of the A Different Drum record label.

I had a hard time finding songs from this album on Youtube, but you can hear samples on the Moulin Noir Web site.

• Moulin Noir Web site
• Samples from Boy in Darkness