Mephiskapheles

Marlowe, “Spring Kick”

Marlowe, the collaboration between L’Orange and Solemn Brigham, put out their second album (entitled Marlowe 2) and continued in the same vein. It’s all gnarly breakbeats, surprising samples, and rapid-fire rhymes. Lovely stuff.

Hybrid, “Doomed to Failure”

There are a lot of bands named Hybrid, if you go looking for them. This one is the extreme metal band from the US who put out a couple of albums and disappeared. It’s more like tech death metal than anything, although they’re clearly going for a blend of a lot of different things. This bit where other, non-metal genres are blended in can work, but it’s tricky, and I’m not really sure they pull it off.

Mephiskapheles, “Satanic Debris”

As a statement of purpose for a band, it doesn’t get a whole lot stronger than this one. From the opening backwards masked vocals, to the dark lyrics, the subtle distortion of the guitar lending some additional menace, to the hallmark solo trading, you just have a perfect encapsulation of the (wonderful) Mephiskapheles aesthetic. The odds that a band named Mephiskapheles would turn in one of the finest albums of the third wave seems slim, but God Bless Satan is legitimately a treasure.

I’ve legitimately missed this. It was a bit of a grind at times, and I’ll have to find the right pace, but it’s nice to be back in the saddle. And it’s nice to explore the dusty corners of my music again. Here is today’s trip into the vault.

Edan, “Humble Magnificent”

One issue that I have with this thing is that I stopped doing “previously"s, which was a huge hassle, but I haven’t gone back and re-tagged everything. So, I’m not entirely sure what I’ve covered. At any rate, Edan is a rapper/producer/DJ out of Boston who has thus far only made two albums (Primitive Plus and Beauty and the Beat) and a mixtape, but it’s all magnificent. His beats in particular are fantastic, the perfect blend of dusty loops and filthy drums. One of the best pieces of music news in 2018 is Edan’s return to music, with a new album coming out soon. I couldn’t be more excited!

Still hanging in there on my streak. It’s been close for a few days!

Hattie Littles, “Here You Come”

I know nothing about Hattie Littles, but this song is such an exemplar of that early Motown sound, it’s hard not to smile. This comes from 1962, by the way.

Jets to Brazil, “Chinatown”

After Jawbreaker imploded, at least partially due to the pressure of their major label contract, Blake Schwarzenbach thankfully didn’t hang up his guitar for good. His next band, Jets to Brazil, continues in the same vein. While I think Jets to Brazil is a little more polished (and therefore I’m not sure I love them quite as much), they’re a worthy successor, and all three of their albums are worth looking up.

Shuffle’s kind of been killing it lately.

Marvin Gaye, “Your Unchanging Love”

Marvin Gaye, here on a single from 1967. It’s impressive to listen to the difference between this and what he’d make a mere four years later with What’s Going On.

Mephiskapheles, “Plan B”

I went to go compare the hi-hat intro here to the bit in “B-Boy Bouillabaisse” (at 8:01), and then realized the bit I was thinking of wasn’t just on the hi-hat, and then I got caught up listening to that song. And then I kind of got lost for a bit.

I’m going to have to make myself an index of these bands in order to keep linking back to previous entries, but I suspect I’ll be happy to have done that in the end.

Look out! Behind you! It’s a playlist!

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, “Laventille Road March”

The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band is a side-project/alter ego of The Mighty Mocambos, a funk group from Germany. For this album, the band has added steel drums to the arrangements as a lead instrument, giving the whole enterprise a pretty unique feel, while still very much being instrumental funk. It’s a fun project, and works better than it probably has any right to. This album is about half covers and half originals, and is recommended for anybody wanting more funk in their lives.

Writing these up is a little strange. In the end, it’s a way for me to tour through my music, remember assorted bands, and write down some stories for myself. It all feels pretty self-indulgent, but then again, I’m not really inconveniencing anybody. I guess I’m having fun, so that’s good enough. Links to the music? Why of course!

Skeletonwitch, “My Skin Of Deceit”

Let me just say, “Skeletonwitch” seems like the kind of name somebody would cook up just to mock metal. And the cover art! Are there be-antlered undead things screaming? YOU KNOW THERE ARE! It all seems like a parody act. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell with metal, really.