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Dusted Features
Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists compiled by our favorite artists. This week: slo-metal champs Moss and afro-funk enthusiasts Karl Hector and the Malcouns.
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Listed: Moss + Karl Hector and the Malcouns
Moss
The UK trio of Olly Pearson, Dominic Finbow and Chris Chantler forge epic doom metal in 20-minute chunks. The band formed in 2001 and, in a manner befitting of the music, have only released two full-lengths in the years since. The first album proper, the two-track Cthonic Rites, took four years to gestate, but there were plenty of CD-Rs and cassettes in the meantime. Since 2005, Moss have kept it zipped, making the release of Sub Templum all the more anticipated – at least amongst avant-metal fans (the indie crowd, once in-tune with the downtuned, has since moved on to more … pleasant sounds). The band claims a “sub templum” is a form of underground worship, a “dirge mass,” which, if not exactly historically accurate, fits this music perfectly. It’s out now on Rise Above Records.
Pentagram - The Ghoul (1985)
Thin black and white lights flicker in the attic, casting odd hidden faces into the gloom, faces of the cowering hunchback, and the fat spiders scurrying slowly through the shadows and up the curtain and into the damp. Don't look in the mirror!
Delia Derbyshire - Blue Veils And Golden Sands (1970)
Nothing short of the moments of quiet mass reflective peace and contemplation that occur before the earth becomes an inferno. With just a hint of the dumb, terrified panic that follows. And then the dawn of the life from the ensuing primordial ooze. Lovely.
Thergothon - Yet The Watchers Guard (1994)
Journey over snow with broken legs; smell the distant breath of wolves. Finding comfort in the warmth of your own blood. Gradually.
Autopsy - In The Grip Of Winter (1991)
The same, but with more viscera and screaming. And of course the giggling fiends, the giggling fiends belching rancid green smoke. Rotting gargoyles. Frenzied and hysterical outbursts of attempted running, and the subsequent crack of collapsing limbs. And vomit, I should think.
Barbara Cartland - Mr Wonderful (1978)
A 90-year-old woman in her yellowing wedding dress dances with the skeletal remains of her husband who died years ago but she couldn't bear to be parted from him. He used to wallop her when he was pissed but she liked feeling dominated. She's nothing without him.
Tangerine Dream - Nebulous Dawn (1972)
The spaces may be hostile! Underwater sirens summon the train of fog; death line to the outer spiral arm and out through the throat, stretching with sick. Time and motion sick. There is no way of imagining these distances, they cannot be fathomed by the human brain.
Death SS - In The Darkness (1989) / Paul Chain Violet Theatre - In The Darkness (1986)
You went to visit the grave of your dead lover, but forgot the way back.. the path disappears, graves seem to appear where they weren't before, and darkness quickly falls.. stumbling, clawing your way around the cemetery, you make your way towards a flickering light only to find a funeral procession of the undead.. they are carrying an empty coffin, your coffin, and the last thing you see are the cold and dead eyes of the undertaker as the lid closes to seal your doom..
Incredible Hog - There's A Man (1972)
The sound of desperation, a dread that follows you no matter where you run or try to hide. Seductively optimistic, what unfolds is the truth behind one's undoing, and the subsequent fear drenched imminent aftermath.
Flower Travelin' Band - Satori Part IV (1971)
Bringing together all that is holy while single handily eliminating all competition. An endless acid trip induced by a spiked shot of absinthe, the night is young but the day will age you.
Cervix - Bloodbath (2007)
As harsh as the industrial revolution, continuous in its destruction and limitless with its imagination. Take note of the dark clouds forming, for it is most beautiful before the inevitable storm, whether you survive the storm or not is of little importance.
Karl Hector and The Malcouns
As much as om-metal has fallen by the wayside, African music has gained significant traction in the past couple years. Especially African music made by non-Africans (no hyperlink necessary). In the case of Karl Hector and the Malcouns, the music is supposedly made by ex-leader of the afro-funk group the Funk Pilots, though you’d have to take Stones Throw’s word on it. We don’t want to rain on anyone’s soul parade (especially since we aren’t African, either), so we won’t question Hector or his backing band any further. We’ll just mention that Malcouns guitarist J. Whitefield, member of the German funk band Poets of Rhythm, was the sole member of the group to take part in this week’s Listed. The band’s new album, Sahara Swing is out now on Stones Throw subsidiary Now-Again Records.
1. Nadi Qamar - “Mama Likembi” (Folkways)
This record is by a guy who assembled a couple of likembis (also known as kalimbas or thumb pianos) to a Mama Likembi in 1965. He’s playing it with eight fingers, apparently not using his thumbs as it’s usually done. It is very complex at times, but overall it has a very relaxed and trance-like feel. My favorite listen right now.
2. Maffy Falay / Sevda - “Jazz I Sverige ‘72” (Caprice)
Sevda is a unique fusion of Turkish music and Swedish jazz, which grooves naturally in exotic time signatures (like 7/8 and 9/4), blending textures, rhythms and swinging improvisations into an exciting whole. It was recorded live at a TV studio, and at the time nobody had any idea it would be issued as a record. On drums is the great Okay Temiz, who also played with Don Cherry for some time.
3. Menelik Wossenachew - “Chereka” (Amha)
Nice 45 arranged by Ethiopian legend Girma Beyene who also arranged the Walias Band LP. This composition is switching pulse in the middle section and the band executes the not-too-easy procedure very tightly. The sound is very similar to the Mulatu Astake recordings released on the Worthy label.
4. John Coltrane & Gene Ammons - Hooray For (Session Disc)
Crazy live recording of the two tenor giants jamming together. The back cover is plain and there is no info except the artist names and song titles on the front. It features a high-speed version of the Ammons classic “Jungle Strut” with an absolutely insane guitar solo by, if my research was successful, Mr. George Freeman. Before I found out, I assumed it was Pete Cosey, so if you know him, you know what I mean with “insane.”
5. Bennie Perkins – “Funky Feet” (B & M Records)
Probably the most lo-fi recording I ever heard on a funk 45. It sounds like a live jam from a small club probably somewhere in the Midwest (there is no info on the label as to where it might be from). The label says 1979, but stylistically it could have been recorded 10 years earlier. It’s so raw that it could almost pass as a punk record.
6. V/A – Como se Hace Ah! (Fuentes)
I love when people bring me records from their travels, and this nice present I got from my man Samy from the Analog Africa label. It’s a compilation from Colombia featuring Wganda Kenya’s “Shakalaode,” which was most likely inspired by Fela’s “Shakara” (but here credited to R. Veloz). It’s 7-plus minutes of Afrobeat action done Colombia style. The same band here also presents a really funny but tight cover version of the Fatback Band hit “Wicky Wacky.”
7. Richard McDonald - “I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More” (Tobin)
A reggae version of the Barry White classic with the best opening break I heard in a long time…
8. Sun Ra - We are in the Future (Savoy)
An ’80s reissue of the quite expensive Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra, which was recorded in 1961 when the Arkestra was about five years old. Originally instituted by Sun Ra as a rehearsal band with 10 years under its belt before going public, the group surfaced much sooner due to the members’ wishes. My favorite on here is the opener “Bassism,” which shows bass maestro Ronnie Boykins in great form. But the whole album is a great listen with many Ra classics like “The Beginning,” “China Gate” or “Space Jazz Reverie.”
9. Rski - “Get Down” (feat. P.E.A.C.E.) (White)
Thanks to Romanowski for letting me put his song on a 45 carver so I can play it on a turntable. It’s a super funky west-coast beat with vocals by P.E.A.C.E., best known from his work with the Freestyle Fellowship. I hope he will release it sometimes soon on his Trouser Trout label for everybody to enjoy.
10. Wilson Harris - “Smoking So Hard It's Right Funky, Pt. 2” (Black Soul)
I just got this rare 45 in a trade and unfortunately the condition is pretty rough, but as I probably never would be able to find and afford a clean copy, I happily took it. It’s just drums, bass and guitar jamming on a simple riff and Mr. Harris talking nonsense about “smoking” and “hot pants” on top of it. Honestly, I don’t really understand what he is talking about, but I dig when he gives the drummer some.
By Dusted Magazine
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