Thursday, 14 December 2023

David Lynch & Dean Hurley - Slow 30's Room


David Lynch & Dean Hurley - Slow 30's Room (2017)
Where the world's of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Mark Fisher, haunty-ology and The Caretaker further intertwine.


Angelo Badalamenti - The Fireman (2017)
Also from Twin Peaks: The Return Part 8 which was the cinematic event of the last twenty years even though it was on the telly. Despite Badalamanti tunes being scarce during the eighteen hours of Twin Peaks: The Return, one of his best ever compositions was actually commissioned for Part 8. It's unbelievable to think Lynch only procured four new Badalamenti compositions for this epic 2017 telly-visual saga, when for the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, Angelo made over six and a half hours of music. Perhaps he was indisposed! I don't actually know the story behind why such a small amount of Angelo's music was recorded for the show. Anyway The Fireman is primo cosmic, epic and emotional organ musick.

Monday, 11 December 2023

The World Spins · Julee Cruise


Haley's Comet's come and gone...
...Falling through this night alone


*A supreme pop culture moment...well several really: Inclusion on the Floating Into The Night The LP, Twin Peaks Episode 14 and Twin Peaks: The Return Part 17.




Laura Palmer's screams echoing throughout the woods endlessly. 


Angelo Badalamenti - Dark Space Low
The final piece of music in Twin Peaks ever. 


Carrie Page, Laura Palmer doppelgänger and/or Laura Palmer.

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

MOON WIRING CLUB ~ SCATTERBRAIN 9


It's Christmas season that means one exciting thing: There's a new Moon Wiring Club album.  

This is some hallucinogenic shit. A psychedelic musique concrète dub miasma, Scatterbrain 9 is like the perfect soundtrack for 2023's dysphoric overload. It feels like the noxiousness of the relentless psychological warfare placed upon us by our overlords has permeated this once playfully spooky project giving it a different type of nefariousness this time. A deleterious force has contaminated this once enchanted village, in the most glorious way of course. Delirious. 

No one in the 21st century has the synergy of sound & vision honed to such an impeccably specific degree that Moon Wiring Club does. Ian Hodgson's Moon Wiring Club is an aesthetic triumph

Monday, 4 December 2023

Chasin' the Voodoo · Al Di Meola


Al Di Meola - Chasin' the Voodoo (1978)
Congas. Congas. Congas. More drivin' Al Di. This time it's a cinematic cosmic car chase to track down the voodoo. 

Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Billy Cobham - Solarization


Billy Cobham - Solarization: Solarization / Second Phase / Crescent Sun / Voyage / Solarization - Recapitulation (1974)
Oh boy here we go for another lively, mind melting and visceral fusion journey. This is avant-garde, it's psychedelic, it's jazz, it's symphonic, it's easy listening, it's fast-funky heavy rock and it's ultimately great fun. All of the things and more including flugelhorn, marimbas and congas. 

This was so on, nothing could stop the alchemy of synergy. 

Peak audacity. 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Stanley Clarke - Life Suite


Stanley Clarke - Life Suite (1974)
Clarke starts out the gate on the final track of his self-titled LP by bringing all the dark drama with an incredible brass and string arrangement! Then Tony Williams puts on his best ever drum clinic, absolutely supreme drummage with added percussive goodness from Airto Moreira. How much fun are Clarke and Williams having. On the keys it's synth star Jan Hammer. Stanley's bass tone in the final movement (post-7:07 mark) is just phenomenal as he plays a heavy captivating hook. This is rare and emotional bass playing. I mean how many bassists can you say that about. The best part though, might be the stellar guitar heroics supplied by the underrated Bill Conners. Like all the best fusion this out-progs the most progg-iest of proggers and like all the best art it transcends any constraints you wish to place upon it. 

Something else. 

Monday, 27 November 2023

Al Di Meola - Race With The Devil On a Spanish Highway


Al Di Meola - Race With The Devil On a Spanish Highway (1977)
Strap in for some funky freeway fretwork fireworks.

Peak rockin' fusion!


"Oh Al Di is it you or me who are the elegant gypsy?"

Friday, 24 November 2023

What You Can Do In Your Life · Petalouda


Πεταλούδα - Τι Μπορείς Να Κάνης Στη Ζωή Σου (1973)
An absolutely archaic and dusty wah-wah monster with extra wind tunnel fuzz and a funky drummer break. All your psych-funk needs are taken care of here. When they say psychedelic funk what they mean is funky psych and this is the kind of jam you hope for. This Greek group did just the one 7 inch side. If you are going to record just one song this is the way to do it.

Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew


Miles Davis - Side A Wednesday Miles - Bitches Brew/The Theme (1970)
So the four sides of Miles Davis At Fillmore double album were originally 25 minute condensed edits of each consecutive night's set named after each day of his June 17-20 1970 residency at New York's Fillmore East. Later in the 90s the cd version divided up the days into seperate tracks which were either passages of tunes, tunes or medleys of tunes. Miles also used to go from one song to another continuously at this stage without breaking up the momentum of the music. So it's hard to tell how much of this was real to the live audience and how much is a virtual performance edited by the splicing maestro Teo Macero. In the end it doesn't really matter does it unless maybe your apple or spottily is throwing in ads at crucial points of the record but hey go and buy the actual album if that's the case.

So this section of Wednesday Miles is the last half of side A and it's basically a shortened version of Bitches Brew and strangely a thirty second snippet of a 1956 golden oldie. The Theme being a track from a 1956 session that ended up being released on Prestige's Miles (1956) LP. Anyway it's all played inna fine style by this 1970 line-up of Miles' band. 
 

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970)
As far as these live versions go Black Beauty's unhinged version might be even more better. It's a totally destroyed feedback and wah-wah drenched end of your tether abyss of a tune. I don't even get where the feedback or wah-wah are coming from as there's no guitarist here so it's either Chick's keyboard, Miles' trumpet or Dave Holland's bass. Holland and Davis were both renowned at this stage for utilising wah-wah so perhaps they are both the wah-wah culprits! Twins of wah-wah doom! 


Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1969)
Still it's hard to go past the original epic brew of Bitches Brew. The siren-ing trumpets echoing across the apocalyptic night sky are still the most most pertinent soundtrack to our times. I'm pretty sure Miles is still way ahead of everyone...