Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Pick of the week: Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

I originally meant to write this months ago but didn't have time or didn't feel up to it. Mostly, I guess, I didn't have time. But here it is now!

I originally found out about Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats through an IRC channel I frequent. Someone posted a youtube link for "Death's Door" and I was convinced. I promptly ordered the cd-r edition of Blood Lust that was out at the time, only to sell it to someone else after it had sold out and I'd acquired myself a copy of the vinyl edition, which also had sold out by that time. And now it's out again, on cd, released by the band's own label, Killer Candy, and distributed by Svart Records.


Anyway, onto the music. For it is a lot like it came straight from the sixties or seventies. I'm no expert on those decades, but I hear echoes of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple on Blood Lust, with lyrics that take Sabbath's flirtation with the occult and turn it into full-on embrace, not unlike what Electric Wizard have been doing lately. Lyrically, Ghost might be an apt comparison, but musically Uncle Acid sounds rawer, dirtier and, in my opinion, simply better.

I suppose this kind of music somehow trendy these days, and some people urge us to listen to the original seventies bands instead of these modern day retro acts, but I think an important element in the sound of Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats is that they live in a world where the 80s, 90s and 00s have happened, and it has contributed to how they approach their music. In other words, this band's music couldn't have been made much earlier.

Blood Lust is available as CD from Svart Records.


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Pick of the week: Author & Punisher - Drone Machines

So, yesterday my band Ever Circling Wolves' drummer posted a link to this youtube clip that was about a guy who'd built himself, quite literally, drone machines: a setup with which he could perform multi-layered drone music by himself, even live. Naturally, this grabbed my interest and so I watched the clip. Afterwards, I was convinced I needed this guy's music in my life and his bandcamp page came to my assistance.

Author & Punisher has made 3 albums, of which I grabbed the newest, Drone Machines (2010). I've yet to give it but a cursory listen, and too quiet at that, since it's the middle of the night, but I'm convinced nevertheless. The sound is thick, fuzzy and surprisingly organic for stuff that, due to the instruments it's performed with, could sound much more like industrial. I suppose it is because there is still a human body running these drone machines.

This awesome album can be obtained digitally from http://authorandpunisher.bandcamp.com/ or on cd from http://www.authorandpunisher.com/ (if they still have them in stock; I didn't manage to add the cds to my cart).

The video clip I mentioned is here: