SONIC MASALA: Clan Destine Records

Friday, 1 February 2013

Gazing Down A Dead End

I haven’t been able to get ‘I Found The Ending’, the first taste of Dead Gaze’s self-titled compilation of past releases out of my head. A shimmering cross-section of 60s pop, 80s New Wave and Julee Cruise basslines, the song mirrors a time in the artist’s life (his mum calls him Cole Furlow) when he moved into a new house and realised that the things he held dear – material possessions, possessive ideas – weren’t what was important in life. It holds simultaneously a melancholic air, the realisation that so much energy has been put into meaningless tasks, and a release, a wary hope that things will be better after this epiphany. The whole song from concept to conception is stellar – a glossy pop bliss bomb.

Dead Gaze has put out many minor releases through the likes of Fire Talk and Clan Destine, all of which are long sold out, so its great to see Fat Cat imprint Palmist Records collate all these tracks together. Dead Gaze is a great record, but is exciting in that it puts an end to this chapter of Furlow’s musical life, as he prepares to venture out in the world with new material and a backing band to boot. Colour me excited.

Dead Gaze isn’t out until March – pre-order it here.

Monday, 30 May 2011

King Dude Rides By

This is the first of two Bathetic Records related posts this week - great way to start off a week of amazing music!

And Im starting with the absolute highlight (no offence to the other two releases...) I had no idea who TJ Cowgill was before hearing King Dude - in fact I still don't really. He apparently runs a clothing brand called Actual Pain that Kanye West is a fan of? Weird. (But check out the website - best opening page!) Anyway, King Dude is this guy's project - and it is pretty damn awesome. The debut release from this project, the My Beloved Ghost EP, was released on Bathetic first as a cassette. Since then King Dude has released the Black Triangle 7" on Clan Destine Records, as well as an LP CD-R on Disaro called Tonight's Special Death. But Im focusing mainly on this reissue. Released in a batch of 500 (100 of which is on white vinyl), this reissue features the three tracks from the Black Triangle 7" at the end of the B-Side.

King Dude is making, hands down, some of the best modern neo-folk. Its quite dark, slightly otherworldly, but never truly authentic - c'mon, he's called King Dude! However you perceive it, just try not to get these tracks stuck in your head. They'll nestle in there like burrs. This is music sung at the break of a Western dawn, in the silence of the crossroad, around a flaming campfire, as the Devil approaches. Pass me the whisky and the shotgun - its my turn to watch over us tonight...

He's got a full length album coming up on DAIS Records. Until then, revel in the dark haunted beauty of King Dude's beloved ghost.

King Dude - My Beloved Ghost
King Dude - Our Everlasting Life

About

It was early on a Sunday morning at ATP - A Nightmare Before Christmas 2009. After downing a fair few, at 4am we decided to cook a curry. It was during the consumption of this drunkenly delicious breakfast treat that we decided to actually do something about the music we talk about all the time.

So we started a blog – and Sonic Masala was born. Now into its seventh year, the blog has spread out to call both Australia and the UK its home (and the rest of the world), and has expanded to include gigs, festivals and a record label under its black umbrella. Come on, eat the noize.

If an mp3 is up here, it's because we have been talking about it, and think the whole world needs to know more. It's there to give you a little taste. Then, if you like, check out the band live and spend all your hard earned cash on their records. If we've posted up an mp3 of your stuff and you're not too keen on the idea, let us know and we'll happily take it down pronto.