Archive for March, 2011

Album of the day: Crumbling Ghost – Self-Titled

Posted on Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Sleeping Shaman: This is a band that has existed for a couple of years and over this period of time have grown in strength, confidence and appeal. Their first gig was an enviable affair for many kraut-rock acolytes when they were invited to be the backing band to Can’s Damo Suzuki. Coveting genres such as progressive rock, folk, and doom the band have since then found a way to breach inevitable obscurity by releasing this self-titled album on Withered Hand Records.

So what do we have here with this release? In the press release they liken themselves to Pentangle, Sleep, and Electric Wizard. After hearing the album I am convinced the cited influences reflect the band’s tastes rather than directing listeners to bands with applicable commonalities, instead I would point those people looking for similarities in the direction of kraut-rock monsters, Can, Amon Duul II, or closer to home Comus, Tea and Symphony, and Mark Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex, believing these evoke less typical and yet more exciting and accurate comparisons.

‘The Collector’ kicks off the Crumbling Ghost affair, swaying to the might of flares and sweat, this is a song to be played in seedy clubs while burning josh sticks. Embedded dynamism is only measured by the radical changes between full on rock and more kraut orientated rock. My preference and favourite parts rest with the more experimental interludes.

As one will discover this is an album that was recorded at different times in different studios. The tales of two cities really makes this an odd collection of tracks. ‘The Collector’ has a distorted guitar sound that would be more at home on a lo-fi black metal album or a noise not music punk record.

Continue reading: The Sleeping Shaman – Crumbling Ghost – ST CD 2011.

Tags: Album of the day, Crumbling Ghost, Pete Hamilton-Giles, The Sleeping Shaman, Withered Hand Records
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Album of the day: Baby Woodrose – Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers

Posted on Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: When we last heard from him, Copenhagen preacher of the lysergic Lorenzo Woodrose was telling us to turn on, tune in and fuck off with the collective Dragontears. Now back under the moniker Baby Woodrose – the band taking its name from the Hawaiian baby ...read more

Download Wino’s Seeds of Inspiration Mixtape (Self-Titled Magazine)

Posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

As first reported in the New York Times’ Playlist column yesterday, the cassette culture blog Terminal Escape recently got its hands on one hell of a mixtape: Seeds of Inspiration, a two-sided beast that explores the influences of doom-metal demigod Scott “Wino” Weinrich (The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Hidden Hand, ...read more

Album of the day: Wizard Smoke – The Speed of Smoke

Posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Praise for Wizard Smoke‘s The Speed of Smoke from Creative Loafing Atlanta: Wizard Smoke’s second coming weaves the doom and marijuana riffage of its Live Rock in Hell debut, with prog tendencies that carry the music to higher places. The production is stepped up all around, from songwriting and conceptualization ...read more

Jesu: Birth Day Available For Streaming (Stereogum Premiere)

Posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Like 2009’s Opiate Sun EP, Justin Broadrick’s next Jesu collection, Ascension, is coming out via Mark Kozelek’s Caldo Verde on may 10. This new 10-song offering, his third proper LP amid all those EPs and splits, is his first “traditional” longplayer since 2007’s Conqueror: Remember, 2009’s Infinity was one 50-minute ...read more

Wovenhand’s Tiny Desk Concert at NPR Music

Posted on Monday, March 28th, 2011

On tour with a full band, Wovenhand‘s Dave Eugene Edwards stopped by the NPR Music offices to perform a solo set at Bob Boilen’s desk with his mandolin-banjo hybrid, a unique instrument made in 1887 by luthier August Pollman. He performs his fiery Americana, as well as a plaintive take ...read more

Album of the day: VYGR – Hypersleep

Posted on Monday, March 28th, 2011

Praise for VYGR‘s Hypersleep from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: It’s been a while since we’ve been excited about a post metal doomgaze post Neur-Isis outfit… It was a sound that, we, and lots of other folks got pretty obsessed with, mixing the mathy sprawl of post rock with the doomy ...read more

Roadburn Festival 2011: David V. D’Andrea’s Shrinebuilder And Black Mountain Posters

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

We’re proud to unveil David V. D’Andrea‘s next installment of his Roadburn series: the Shrinebuilder and Black Mountain posters. David comments:  “The four members of Shrinebuilder are like titans, too iconic to fuse into one, visually and aesthetically. All four respective bands have been mountains of inspiration for me at ...read more

Altar Of Plagues: Feather And Bone (Stereogum Premiere)

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Since forming in Cork, Ireland in 2006, the intelligent, expansive ambient black metal quartet Altar Of Plagues have put the EP form to good use: 2007’s Through The Cracks Of The Earth, 2008’s Sol, and especially 2010’s Tides (my No. 2 EP of the year) are some of the strongest ...read more

Album of the day: Mamiffer – Mare Decendrii

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Praise for Mamiffer‘s  Mare Decendrii from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: The last few months have given us a flurry of Mamiffer releases, first a split with Aaron Turner’s House Of Low Culture, then another split with dark drone-noise heavies Oakeater, and now a brand new full length. With a pedigree ...read more