Judd Madden - Everything In Waves (2014)

Judd Madden is a person. And, Judd Madden is a one man band. His impressive ant colony like work ethic is made apparent through the discography of the band; 7 full-length albums in the span of 5 years, and all of his releases are available for free download on the bandcamp page, what a gentleman! I bet you he donates to beneficial charities and helps old women cross the street too.

Instrumental sludge/doom at it's center, with some post-rock and THC soaked riffing to bang thy skull to. The guitar tone is washy and hypnotic but remains mega crunchy and those drums sound like fucking hells cannon fodder. Listening to this album makes you want to shotgun beers while riding on a woolly mammoths tusk into a snowstorm. It has cool artwork as well.

Toss a buck or two, or if you're broke enter $0, it is to my understanding that the downloads through the bandcamp page still help support the artist.

Judd Madden bandcamp

Kokomo - S/T (2013)

I just drank two heaping cups of coffee, which for me is the equivalent to dropping three pints of raw ether and washing it down with a bottle of bourbon… Bear with me as I search my scattered brain to formulate cohesive sentences. Also, I saw the remake for Evil Dead last night so 80% of my body's blood flow is still directed straight into my raging erection. Again, bear with me fuckface.

This is what I had to say about Kokomo's "If Wolves" a couple months back, and it still applies;

"Kokomo make use of no words. They speak through instrumentation in a whirring blend of ambient post-rock, and boy do they speak LOUDLY. It's as if you are watching the world end from a birds eye view… It feels bigger than you, it's beautifully somber and bleak and you can't look away.

The bread and butter of If Wolves is the atmosphere, a dizzying hypnotic drone of palpable emotion, it all feels profound and you can't understand it, you just feel it. Maybe you don't, but maybe you're vanilla as fuck. Listen to it for yourself, if you don't once become entrenched in a series of thoughts, or feel the unsettling yet uplifting ambiance through your blood, check your pulse - you're dead."

•  •  •

The recipe seems the same this time around for Kokomo's 2013 self-titled release, only this time seemingly more focused on something more minimalist in sound. It is still evocative, expansive, forlorn and entrancing as it ever was… It's not physically released yet, but the digital download is up for a 'name your price' option on the bands bandcamp. I paid a measly $2, well worth it.

KOKOMO (bandcamp)

Kokomo - If Wolves (2011)

Kokomo make use of no words. They speak through instrumentation in a whirring blend of ambient post-rock, and boy do they speak LOUDLY. It's as if you are watching the world end from a birds eye view… it feels bigger than you, it's beautifully somber and bleak and you can't look away.

The bread and butter of If Wolves is the atmosphere, a dizzying hypnotic drone of palpable emotion, it all feels profound and you can't understand it, you just feel it. Maybe you don't, but maybe you're vanilla as fuck. Listen to it for yourself, if you don't once become entrenched in a series of thoughts, or feel the unsettling yet uplifting ambiance through your blood, check your pulse - you're dead.

 If Wolves (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp/Buy

Miasma and the Carousel of Headless Horses - Perils (2005)

Strong compositions abound with an undeniably creepy atmosphere, that at times is almost laughably over the top. Here, allow for me to paint you a visual picture through my words.

Imagine you are strolling through a very ominously lit hallway, bulbs flickering away while the sounds of distant water pattering echoes the halls. This particular hallway belongs to an abandoned daycare for mentally challenged children. As you pass by each each doorway and gaze into the empty rooms flashes of distorted imagery invade your mind...until. Until you walk by one doorway that isn't unoccupied, you shake your head, hoping your imagination is once again playing tricks on you...but the young girl sitting in the chair ever remains. In her lap lay a dilapidated music box. She looks up at you and slowly begins to wind the rusty crank...

For this particular tale, we will say the song that played from the little girls music box was Peacock The Heretic. I suppose what I am trying to get at is this; shit is some ominous sounding music, that is entirely instrumental yet still seeming to tell a story. A very eerie story.


PERILS

Irepress - Sol Eye Sea I (2009)

This is beautiful, like looking right into the eye of a tornado. Instrumental post-metal with a plethora of genres to incorporate at their disposal. And that they do just that, rapidly, without warning. At one moment you are listening to a jazz section, suddenly your ears blink, and the song is ripping into a sludgy soup of melodic interludes.

That artwork is certainly no slouch either, created by illustrator Chad Lenjer. I had a chit-chat with this talented bloke just after the release of this album. He assured me that this album was no mistake, and this 5-piece from Massachusetts were the most down to earth dudes he ever worked for.

I don't want to sit here trying to rack my brain for ways to describe this sound, its pretty unique and excellently executed. Listen and interpret it however you choose. The use of the sound-clips from The Goonies puts a smile on my face.


Goonies Never Say Die!

Cloudkicker

Cloudkicker, not only is it a name that made me giggle like a schoolgirl due to the picture it painted in my head, but it also hauls more ass than David Duchovny. Ben Sharp, the bloke behind this one man band is quite the dude, he works as hard as anyone out there if not harder and then offers the end result for free (or the option to donate whatever the listener feels right).

Every single EP and LP this man has released has been nothing short of prolific. Shit, does it sound like I am begging you to like this? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe fuck your mother. Here is said discography, enjoy!

As always, give what you can!

Beacons (2010)

 

A New Heavenly Body (2010)

Portmanteau (2009)

The Map Is Not The Territory (2009)

The Discovery (2008)

Drudkh - Songs of Grief and Solitude (2010)

Here is a Drudkh album I bought on a whim in the summertime. The album is all instrumental and eclectic in sound, its quite nice actually. Throw this album on, light some incense, read a book, drink some tea, stare out your window, contemplate existence, these are all suitable things to do in the company of this album.

There really is nothing bombastic about this at all, it's really calm and soothing and can be enjoyed by anyone. You know when you walk into one of those strange eclectic shops that sell shit like goblin tongues in a jar and it kinda reeks of an everglade? That is where this album belongs, in a shop like that. Listen:

 Escape