This fun compilation released in the US by Runt Records (and originally in Italy by Abraxas) showcases the work of Francesco De Masi, Bruno Nicolai, Lallo Gori, Mario Migliari, and Vassil Kojucharov. The first three composers make up most of the compilation, with Migliari and Kojucharov only getting one track each on the album.
The sixteen tracks span films ranging from many of the Sartana franchise including Nicolai’s gorgeous title tracks to C’e’ Sartana…Vendi la Pistola e Comprati La Bara! (There is Sartana…Sell the Pistol and Buy a Coffin!) and Buon Funerale Amigos…Paga Sartana (part 1) (Have a Good Funeral, Friends…Sartana Will Pay). “Stranger,” with its bold vocals, is a fun track.
Many of the DeMasi pieces are collaborations with famous Italian guitarist and composter Alessandro Alessandroni, whose fine guitar work is all over tracks like “Monetero’s Plan” and “Vento e Whisky” (which has a great horn section that sounds like it wandered from the set of an Italian crime thriller to play on the score for Stranger).
Migliardi’s title track for Prega il Morto e Ammazza il Vivo (Pray for the Dead and Shoot the Living) sizzles like a rattlesnake on a warm rock. Nicolai’s title track for Gil Fumavano le Colt…Lo Chiamavano Campsanto (They Call Him Cemetery) is a classic with its expert whistling, symphonic strings, hollow-body guitar work, and vocal chorus all mixing together for a perfect blend. The vocals on DeMasi’s “Gold” are so bold they’re almost over the top and ridiculous, but they hold back just enough to make them amazing in their own right. His title track for 1963’s Il Segno del Coyote (The Sign of the Coyote) could fit on practically any John Ford film.
It’s a collection that’s over too soon, even with sixteen tracks on it, and a good reminder that Ennio Morricone (God rest his soul.) wasn’t the only formidable composer of spaghetti western soundtracks.
Recorded entirely in her Bethnall Green flat, Lu.Re‘s Ruminate EP is a five-song exploration into obsessive compulsive disorder mixing house beats with viola and heartbreak.
“Hold On” has Lu.Re singing encouragement to a lover she doesn’t want to lose (“I know you want to make it better, baby. Hold on to me.”), possibly while they’re on the dance floor (or anywhere else, really) judging from the wicked beats she lays on the track. “These Days” continues the theme of looming heartbreak (“All you need to know is that we can bring it back to these days.”) as Lu.Re uses her break-beats to reflect the popping and locking thoughts in her head.
There are two versions of the title track, and the first is “Ruminate 2 Step.” Its beats are so peppy that you can barely keep up with them as Lu.Re sings, “I need someone to settle my mind.” The song ruminates on rumination, making an interesting Mobius strip (the mentioned “figure eight” in her lyrics) as it propels you to dance. The original version is a bit slower, but not by much, and has more of a soulful feel to the vocals and rhythm (and the inclusion of simple piano chords is a great touch).
“Nostalgia” wraps up the EP with tick-tock beats and melancholic viola as Lu.Re admits she has trouble living in the present when her past weighs so heavily on her (“I don’t want to be haunted.”).
It’s an impressive debut that lets everyone know two things: 1. You are not alone in your struggles with stress and mental health. 2. Lu.Re is poised to be one of the slickest producers and house musicians on the scene.
I went to the first of two shows A Place to Bury Strangers, Glove, and Ganser were playing at Chicago’s Empty Bottle beginning on the evening of Memorial Day. The holiday Monday night crowd was small, as many people were still returning home from the weekend or still gone on vacation, and due to every restaurant in the area being closed. I had to walk over twenty minutes to find an open Jimmy John’s.
Shame on you if you missed the show due to being hungover from a backyard barbecue or stuck at some family gathering full of drama and your bigoted uncle rating while he spilled mustard on his shirt. You missed a wild show.
Chicago’s own Ganser were first up, and they put on a solid set of post-punk that had influences of Joy Division and The Cure all through it. Their guitarist, Charlie Landsman, seems to play like he has no idea what he’s doing, but that’s kind of the point. My friend, Rafael (bass player for Chicago death metal band Asphyxiator), marveled at the sound Alicia Gaines got out of her bass throughout the whole set (“Her bass tone is really good!”).
Ganser
Glove were up next, and they reminded me of a heavier version of Ladytron. The throbbing synth beats mixed well with their post-punk guitars and krautrock vocals. Their set grew a bit darker as it went on, which was all right by me.
Glove fitting well on stage.
APTBS as always, came out and demolished the place. I wondered how loud it was going to be, as they’re one of the loudest bands out there and the Empty Bottle is a small venue. Sure enough, my feet were vibrating by the time they got to the heaviest version of “Oceans” I’ve heard them play.
Oliver Ackermann in his natural element – using a strobe light to play his guitar like its a washboard.
One of the best parts of APTBS‘ set was seeing how much fun they were having. Ackermann told me early in the evening that he was happy to be back out on the road and seeing everyone. He and his friends, the husband and wife duo of John and Sandra Fedowitz, were grinning through a lot of the set and having a blast as they melted faces and minds. You can always tell who is attending one of their shows for the first time because they always have the same “What the hell is happening?” look on their faces. I saw a lot of that.
A Place to Bury Strangers exploding heads in Chicago.
Go catch them if you can. You won’t regret it.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Steven at Dedstrange for the press pass!]
I scored this lovely and bargain-priced (twenty bucks!) mini-set of five classic albums by bossa nova queen Astrud Gilberto while on a late winter trip to California. The set covers records released by Gilberto (Yes, the first wife of Brazilian composer João Gilberto and stepmother to Bebel Gilberto.) from 1965 to 1969. In particular, they are her first (The Astrud Gilberto Album – 1965), third (Look to the Rainbow – 1966), fourth (A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness – 1966), sixth (Windy – 1968), and seventh (I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do – 1969) records, and all of them are delightful.
The first album pairs her with the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim, who wrote her famous hit “The Girl from Ipanema.” Like that song (which is not on this record, but rather on the other classic Getz / Gilberto), this album is an instant mood-changer. Starting with “Once I Loved,” and Gilberto singing that “love is the saddest thing when it goes away,” everything around you adapts to her voice. Her duo with Jobim on “Agua De Beber” is another song that brings a smile to your face, and Joao Donato‘s piano on it is a delight while Jobim’s subtle guitar strumming hits harder than most metal records. Gilberto sings about the nerves associated with new love on “And Roses and Roses” while snappy percussion sizzles and soothes behind her. “How Insensitive” is heart-breaking yet alluring. “Dindi” is a bossa nova standard, and Gilberto does a great version of it here.
Look to the Rainbow is full of stunning arrangements by Gil Evans. Opener “Berimbou” would fit into a 1960’s Bond film with its lush horn section and exotic strings. The horns on “Fervo” might inspire a wild party in the streets. “Maria Quiet” is, I’m sure, being played in a Tiki bar somewhere right now. “Bim Bom” is peppy and bouncy, sure to flood a dance floor in that Tiki bar. “El Preciso Aprender a Ser So (Learn to Live Alone)” is one of those songs Gilberto pulls off so well – longing and yearning mixed with Zen-like detachment.
A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness teams Gilberto with the Walter Wanderley Trio. Wanderley was an organ maestro who played on “The Girl from Ipanema,” and his band (Jose Marino – bass, Bobby Rosengarden – percussion, Claudio Slon – drums) are all sharp pros. The first two tracks are the double title tracks and both are bossa nova lounge classics. Wanderley’s organ riffs on “Nega” are the sounds of a hundred drive-in intermission countdowns, and Gilberto’s playful vocals on it are a delight. “So Nice (Summer Samba)” is another bossa nova classic, and it’s great to hear Wanderley strut his stuff on it while Rosengarden adds some spicy beats Any melancholy you might be feeling is wiped out by “Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza).” If the closer, “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” doesn’t cheer you up, I don’t know what will.
Windy was cut while Gilberto was living in Philadelphia and raising her and João’s son, Marcelo (with whom she shares vocals on “The Bare Necessities”). A lot of the songs are the album are big and bold, suitable for a Las Vegas nightclub or your party’s hi-fi. Opening track “Dreamy” is a perfect example with its lively brass section. “Never My Love” exudes soft 1960s psychedelia. She nails the title track (a cover of the classic hit by The Association), taking on the identity of the mysterious, playful woman as her own. Her cover of The Beatles‘ “In My Life” is also lovely.
According to the liner notes, Gilberto calls I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do her “fireplace album.” She wanted to make a record that moved away from the aggressive sounds dominating the 1969 airwaves and could be listened to while curled up next to a fire. She did it. “He’s got a problem if he thinks I need him,” she sings on the opening title track. She had divorced João by this point, so you can’t help imagining her singing that in his direction. The soft, subtle horns on “Wailing of the Willow” mix perfectly with Gilberto’s haunting voice. “The Sea Is My Soil (I Remember When)” again makes you wonder why Gilberto never sang the theme to a Bond film. Everyone can relate to “World Stop Turning” at one point or another as Gilberto wishes time would stop so she could stay in bed with her husband just a bit longer.
It’s a wonderful collection, and a great way to be introduced to her music and bossa nova.
Recorded in 2019, Live at Freak Valleyby King Buffalo is a well-mastered and engineered document of a powerful set at that year’s Freak Valley Festival. It’s a great introduction to King Buffalo’s live sound if you’ve never heard it before and will make you want to seek them out at the nearest venue as soon as possible.
“Sun Shivers” sets off the show by launching us away from Earth’s gravity and into the endless sea of stars leading to the sun and beyond. They waste no time and get right to the cosmic riffs. “Longing to Be the Mountain” is a reference to a Chinese story about a stonecutter working on a mountain who desires to become the grand mountain that seems to be above all people, things, and concerns. He’s granted his wish but soon feels a tapping at his base. He looks down to see another stonecutter there chipping away at him. The stonecutter was caught by his own ego and delusions The song is a powerful as the lesson.
“Every day is the same,” they sing on “Repeater,” a fourteen-minute mind-melting experience that covers both existential ennui and Zen presence. By the time you get to “Orion” (“Can you hear me through the smoke and the haze?”), it feels like you’re drifting past his belt of stars. It’s a stunning track that must’ve been quite an experience for the lucky Freak Valley attendees.
“Kerosene” twists and turns around itself like some kind of heavy metal Escher drawing. They mention that A Place to Bury Strangers is up after them (which you can see here) before they get to the closer, “Eye of the Storm.” It’s a great closer that bridges the gap between stoner rock and desert rock for over ten glorious minutes. They encourage us to embrace the void without fear, for the eye of the storm is often the safest place.
If you’re looking for a good way to start off your trippy, heavy space rock record, why not do it with a song called “Blast Off?” That’s what Psychlona does on their cool Venus Skytripalbum.
The opening track builds with guitar notes sounding like a countdown clock that blend into actual rocket launch countdown recordings and rocket fuel-hot riffs and drum hits. The band’s love of Black Sabbathis evident from the opening riffs of “10,000 Volts,” which hits as hard as its namesake one moment and lulls you into a dreamy headspace the next as they sing about voices in their heads confusing their souls. “Blow” adds stadium rock riffs to the mix.
“Star” punches the accelerator the band’s starship to the floor and plunges us straight toward a red dwarf about to go nova. “Edge of the Universe” practically takes you there. You can probably guess the inspiration behind “Resin,” and it’s as trippy as you hope it will be. The reverb-laden vocals, the echoing guitars, and the cool yet heavy drums all combine to make a satisfying blend.
“Tijuana” seems to be a story about the band encountering dangerous women, dangerous drinks, and other dangerous substances and people while on a trip south of the U.S. border. The whole thing sizzles like an annoyed rattlesnake on a hot rock. The album closes with “The Owl,” a grand, thundering piece that casts a bird of prey’s shadow over you and almost makes you quiver like a mouse in an open field.
This is a cool record, and I hope Psychlona gets us more new music soon. I’d happily go on another sky trip with them. How about Saturn next time, lads?
Keep your mind open.
[Blast over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
King Gizard and the Lizard Wizard are one of the few bands out there who could start off an album with a song that’s over eighteen minutes long and everyone would think that’s a perfectly normal thing to do. Their new record, Omnium Gatherum, does just that with “The Dripping Tap.”
The album almost sounds like a greatest hits record, as KGATLW move back and forth between genres, time signatures, tuning preferences, and distortion levels. “The Dripping Tap” is a wild psychedelic freak-out, the kind that first got the band noticed just a decade or so ago (although it seems longer due to the massive output the band has generated in such a short time). “Magenta Mountain” starts off with soothing keyboard tones and then drops in slick beats that are perfect for a stroll or cruising on a Jet-Ski.
The funky bass on “Kepler-22b” takes you into outer space and encourages you to have a good time there (as do the lyrics). “Gaia” takes us back to Earth with re-entry burn riffs. Then, just to confuse ads, they drops “Ambergris,” a bedroom slow-jam that would fit on a Thundercat record. “Sadie Sorceress,” believe it or not, is a rap track – and it works.
“Evilest Man” is electro krautrock mixed with roaring riffs and smashing cymbals that sounds like something they accidentally left off Nonagon Infinity. “The Garden Goblin” is a fun, bouncy track that could’ve been listed on Fishing for Fishies, as could “Persistence.” “The Grim Reaper” is another hip hop track, complete with trippy flute loops.
“Presumptuous” bounces with Outkast-like pep. “Predator X” is a return to hard-hitting thrash metal, countered nicely by the trippy “Red Smoke” and “Candles,” which literally has the band singing, “Wheee!” at one point. The album closes with an instrumental – “The Funeral,” an interesting name choice for the final track, and an interesting choice to close the record with a track that only has vocal sounds and no lyrics.
Omnium Gatherum is a great place to jump on the Gizzard Train if you’re new to the band. It showcases so many styles they can play, and play well, that you’re sure to like at least a few things here.
Fort Wayne was the place to be on May 10, 2022 if you were a fan of Primus, Battles, or Rush. No, Rush wasn’t playing, but Primus, apart from playing a full set of their music, played Rush’s A Farewell to Kings in its entirety as a second set.
There was a big crowd, as it was the first time Primus or Battles playing in Ft. Wayne, and it was great to see young and older fans alike there to see the show. Battles were first up and the two gentlemen put on a math rock clinic for their set. Ian Williams doubled on synths and guitars and John Stanier, one of my favorite drummers of all time from his work in Helmet, wowed the crowd, and I lost count of how many time signatures they played in during their set.
Battles dazzling everyone with more rhythms than we could almost handle.
Primus, who’d held a Q&A with VIP fans earlier, came out next and got everyone fired up right away with “Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers.” They then ripped through a set of classics that included “The Toys Go Winding Down” and a live version of “Mr. Krinkle” that sounded so good it was like being in the studio with them. They also played their newest single, “Conspiranoia,” which is delightfully weird and psychedelic.
Primus and blue collar tweekers ruling the town.Conspiranoia!
After a brief break, they came back with the Rush set. Apart from them having to do one song as an instrumental due to frontman Les Claypool having a bit of a scratchy voice (and wanting to save it for his vocals during the encore), they pulled off A Farewell to Kings without a hitch.
A king’s crown for them and us.
As if two sets weren’t enough, Primus then came back for a four-song encore that included “My Name Is Mud” (which hits even harder than an aluminum baseball bat live) and “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver.”
It was a good show. It’s sometimes easy to get lost in Primus’ weirdness and lose sense of how good they can play. A live set by them is an instant reminder of that.
Congratulations to the young man who scored this set list. Thanks for letting me take a photo of it!VIP swag! A tumbler / thermos and a signed VIP-exclusive poster!
The irony that Blanck Mass has created the film score for Ted K, a film about Ted “The Unabomber” Kaczynski – the man responsible for multiple bombings done as a form of protest against modern technology – isn’t lost on Benjamin John Power (AKA Blanck Mass) or the film’s director, Tony Stone. Blanck Mass is known for creating bold, wild electro soundscapes that mix industrial sounds with ambient noise (or is it industrial noise with ambient sounds?) and being able to play an entire set with a laptop, a sequencer, a DAW, and a couple thumb drives. There are no wood winds on this score. There are no natural strings, drums made of scrap metal, or acoustic guitars. It’s all electronic.
It’s also all good. The main theme (“Montana”) is menacing. “Noise Destroys Something Wonderful” is surprisingly soft, while “Pesticides” creeps around you like a deadly fog. The first half of “ComTech” sounds like a kaiju approaching an oil refinery on the west coast of Japan, and the second sounds like the rolling smoke seen in its aftermath. “Greyhound” has a fuzzy edge to it that unnerves you just a bit. “Tell Me Your Heart” is a slow-dance song for tired robots.
“Dark Materials” is the soundtrack to a robot cat’s dream. “Becky’s Theme” is a song for a Montana woman who worked at a general store near the remote area where Kacyznski lived and befriended him somewhat. “Manifesto” starts out like an old single-propeller plane warming up and then becomes the sound of rising tension and smoldering rage. “Ranger Gary” is peaceful enough to enjoy while meditating next to a mountain stream, while and “At Peace / Freedom Club” starts that way but drifts into dread. By the time we get to “Skidders,” we’re into full-blown madness.
It’s another fine piece of work from Blanck Mass. I need to check out this film, which has garnered many good reviews – as should its score.
Combining the talents of members of Pill and Eaters, NYC’s P.E. easily weave in and out of psychedelia, post-punk, no wave, bedroom rock, and dream pop on their second album, The Leather Lemon.
Benjamin Jaffe‘s opening saxophone on “Blue Nude (Reclined)” automatically takes you into a cool headspace while Veronica Torres sings sexy lyrics. “Contradiction of Wants” is a perfect song for 2022. It’s about not knowing what you want, even though you already have everything you need. The bass line on it is wicked. I can’t tell you who plays it, because all the band members (Jonny Campolo, Jaffe, Bob Jones, Jonathan Schenke, Torres) are multi-instrumentalists and often switch axes from track to track. “Lying with the Wolf” goes into low rock and mixes it with synthwave and old school techno beats.
The title track is a short, proto-industrial puzzler. “Tears in the Rain” does invoke some Blade Runner imagery and has guest vocals from Parquet Courts‘ Adam Savage as he teams with Torres to give us a song of romantic hope in times that can be gray and bleak. “The Reason for My Love” is a hot dance track with yet another great bass line (The album is full of them.).
“Magic Hands” has plucked string instruments dancing around slightly loopy synths and drunken android vocals. The darkwave sound of “New Kind of Zen” is powerful and haunting. You’re never sure where the track is going to lead, especially when it floats into spoken word psychedelia. The instrumental “86ed” drifts into “Majesty,” which returns some of the musical themes from other tracks as Torres sings, “I don’t want that life. I don’t want that majesty.” and her bandmates reply, “I want everything.” It’s a neat loop to be in for a couple minutes.
The whole album is worth a visit. It sizzles, saunters, and seduces.
