The Anthill - Anteater's Reviews of the Curious & Obscure (lyrics, ticket)

Anteater · 02-03-2009, 06:45 PM

Okkkay then...here's another review for the hell of it.

The Vampires of Dartmoore - Dracula's Music Cabinet (1969)

Track Listing

1. The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sex (2:04)
2. Crime And Horror (2:48)
3. The Fire-Dragon Of Hongkong (2:38)
4. Murder In The Ohio Express (2:34)
5. Dance Of The Vampires (2:34)
6. Hallo, Mister Hitchc*ck (2:06)
7. The Executioner Of Dartmoore (2:29)
8. Killer's End (2:17)
9. The Soaked Body (2:38)
10. A Handful Of Nitro (2:08)
11. Dr. Caligaris Creeps-Cabinet (2:54)
12. Frankenstein Greets Alpha 7 (2:25)

Of the various obscure bands in my collection, stuff like this ranks among the weirdest for sure. The Vampires of Dartmoore were a short-lived psychedelic, garage-Krautrock outfit who put forth this single release before vanishing off the face of the planet soon after (1969 must not have been that great year for German rock bands = /). Unfortunately, I can't tell any of you much about the band itself: there's like, no information ANYWHERE about the members on the web, which makes this album's existence even more mysterious/dubious than normal. I mean sure, there were as many one shot bands back in those days as there were stars in the sky, but with a group like this, it just seems really odd that there's no background info...

*cough*. Anyway... as the title suggests, Dracula's Music Cabinet is something like a soundtrack to a kind of low-budget 1960's horror movie, featuring screams, evil cackling, sounds of torture and moans amidst the bass, guitar, sax, freaky sounds, industrial drumming and moody Hammond organ which all mix freely into something that sounds...novel to say the least, even 40 years after its creation. Dogs barking, the laughter of a mad scientist, the looming of an old house against the terror that a full moon brings...it all just visualizes so easily as you are drawn into record's groove, and I generally have difficulty visualizing any kind of scene when I listen to music of any sort.

Basically, the whole experience of going through this album is so strange, sleazy and different from the usual fare (and this is coming from a love of avant-garde here), that I can only consider it a masterpiece. Its left that strong an impression on me within a year.

So on a final note, I'll personally PM Dracula's Music Cabinet to anyone who is interested/brave enough to give it a try. Love it, hate it, care less for it...I can say with certainty that once your ears get a taste of it, you won't forget it. Ever.

Album Verdict: 7/7

Oh yah, here's a video some fan made with the track "Dance of the Vampires" as the background music.

Sneer · 03-10-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Okkkay then...here's another review for the hell of it.

The Vampires of Dartmoore - Dracula's Music Cabinet (1969)

Track Listing

1. The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sex (2:04)
2. Crime And Horror (2:48)
3. The Fire-Dragon Of Hongkong (2:38)
4. Murder In The Ohio Express (2:34)
5. Dance Of The Vampires (2:34)
6. Hallo, Mister Hitchc*ck (2:06)
7. The Executioner Of Dartmoore (2:29)
8. Killer's End (2:17)
9. The Soaked Body (2:38)
10. A Handful Of Nitro (2:08)
11. Dr. Caligaris Creeps-Cabinet (2:54)
12. Frankenstein Greets Alpha 7 (2:25)

Of the various obscure bands in my collection, stuff like this ranks among the weirdest for sure. The Vampires of Dartmoore were a short-lived psychedelic, garage-Krautrock outfit who put forth this single release before vanishing off the face of the planet soon after (1969 must not have been that great year for German rock bands = /). Unfortunately, I can't tell any of you much about the band itself: there's like, no information ANYWHERE about the members on the web, which makes this album's existence even more mysterious/dubious than normal. I mean sure, there were as many one shot bands back in those days as there were stars in the sky, but with a group like this, it just seems really odd that there's no background info...

*cough*. Anyway... as the title suggests, Dracula's Music Cabinet is something like a soundtrack to a kind of low-budget 1960's horror movie, featuring screams, evil cackling, sounds of torture and moans amidst the bass, guitar, sax, freaky sounds, industrial drumming and moody Hammond organ which all mix freely into something that sounds...novel to say the least, even 40 years after its creation. Dogs barking, the laughter of a mad scientist, the looming of an old house against the terror that a full moon brings...it all just visualizes so easily as you are drawn into record's groove, and I generally have difficulty visualizing any kind of scene when I listen to music of any sort.

Basically, the whole experience of going through this album is so strange, sleazy and different from the usual fare (and this is coming from a love of avant-garde here), that I can only consider it a masterpiece. Its left that strong an impression on me within a year.

So on a final note, I'll personally PM Dracula's Music Cabinet to anyone who is interested/brave enough to give it a try. Love it, hate it, care less for it...I can say with certainty that once your ears get a taste of it, you won't forget it. Ever.

Album Verdict: 7/7

Oh yah, here's a video some fan made with the track "Dance of the Vampires" as the background music.

Send this my way, im intrigued

Anteater · 03-17-2009, 11:03 PM

It's certainly nice to see so many people interested in Drac. Music Cabinet. Incredibly inaccessible even to more adventurous listeners, but thats part of the charm I guess.

Today's review deals with more of an underrated than obscure work. Still proggy though-

Yes - Going For The One (1977)

Track Listing

1. Going For The One (5:30)
2. Turn Of The Century (8:58)
3. Parallels (6:52)
4. Wonderous Stories (3:45)
5. Awaken (15:38)

Pretty strange really, the scarcity of Yes album reviews on MusicBanter. Is it because they're universally accepted as awesome by everyone, or is it simply due to a lack of interest on the part of the users?

In any case, this is one group who is undeniably responsible for some major masterpieces of the 70's, stuff that even now is nearly impeccable even to those who look down on prog. rock. The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge and Relayer are all known and loved with great fervor among fans and enjoyed by everyone else to at-least some degree.

But even after all of those works came and went, Yes had still one true innovative classic left in 'em as that decade came to a close. Strangely forgotten in light of most of their other albums, Going For The One has everything a Yes fan could want; intricate almost jazz-fusion level interplay between Howe's guitar and Wakeman's keyboard antics, killer bass from Chris Squire, the soaring intensity of Jon Anderson's vocals, and some real trippy lyrics that border closely to the surreal rather than the nonsensical. Hell, we even have the +15 minute long 'Awaken', a track that Anderson himself even today to be the band's best and most complete song ever recorded. The only thing missing was Bill Brufod and an album cover by Roger Dean.

The title tracks starts us off with an almost country-like riff from old school RnR, setting Anderson off nicely as the keyboards peek out from below the bass. Turn of the Century features nice acoustic work from Howe, Parallels begns with an organ and carries a heartbeat all the way up to Wonderous Stories, which has Anderson singing angelically in a manner reminicent on King Crimson's Lizard. This of course eventually fades into Awaken, which pulls together everything Yes had ever been or could have been in a breathtaking farawell to the decade befitting of their talents. The beginning and ending sections respectively are incredible if you have a decent surround sound system or speakers that aren't ****.

Really, unless you are into the rather obnoxious sort of pomp and studio-wizardry which would take hold of Yes's sound in the 80's through today, Going For The One should be considered the the last album any self-respecting fan should have in their collection alongside Close to the Edge, Fragile and the rest of their 70's output. Awaken may be the must-have/listen song from this work, but the album on the whole definitely has enough strong moments besides that one track to elevate it alongside their other records.

Hence, this is a worthy grab for a fan of the band while at the same time being accessible for new listeners. It may not reach the heights of Close to the Edge, but then again what does?

Album Verdict: 6.3/7

Here's the first half of Awaken being performed live. It's very awesome!

TheCellarTapes · 03-19-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Okkkay then...here's another review for the hell of it.

The Vampires of Dartmoore - Dracula's Music Cabinet (1969)

Track Listing

1. The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sex (2:04)
2. Crime And Horror (2:48)
3. The Fire-Dragon Of Hongkong (2:38)
4. Murder In The Ohio Express (2:34)
5. Dance Of The Vampires (2:34)
6. Hallo, Mister Hitchc*ck (2:06)
7. The Executioner Of Dartmoore (2:29)
8. Killer's End (2:17)
9. The Soaked Body (2:38)
10. A Handful Of Nitro (2:08)
11. Dr. Caligaris Creeps-Cabinet (2:54)
12. Frankenstein Greets Alpha 7 (2:25)

Of the various obscure bands in my collection, stuff like this ranks among the weirdest for sure. The Vampires of Dartmoore were a short-lived psychedelic, garage-Krautrock outfit who put forth this single release before vanishing off the face of the planet soon after (1969 must not have been that great year for German rock bands = /). Unfortunately, I can't tell any of you much about the band itself: there's like, no information ANYWHERE about the members on the web, which makes this album's existence even more mysterious/dubious than normal. I mean sure, there were as many one shot bands back in those days as there were stars in the sky, but with a group like this, it just seems really odd that there's no background info...

*cough*. Anyway... as the title suggests, Dracula's Music Cabinet is something like a soundtrack to a kind of low-budget 1960's horror movie, featuring screams, evil cackling, sounds of torture and moans amidst the bass, guitar, sax, freaky sounds, industrial drumming and moody Hammond organ which all mix freely into something that sounds...novel to say the least, even 40 years after its creation. Dogs barking, the laughter of a mad scientist, the looming of an old house against the terror that a full moon brings...it all just visualizes so easily as you are drawn into record's groove, and I generally have difficulty visualizing any kind of scene when I listen to music of any sort.

Basically, the whole experience of going through this album is so strange, sleazy and different from the usual fare (and this is coming from a love of avant-garde here), that I can only consider it a masterpiece. Its left that strong an impression on me within a year.

So on a final note, I'll personally PM Dracula's Music Cabinet to anyone who is interested/brave enough to give it a try. Love it, hate it, care less for it...I can say with certainty that once your ears get a taste of it, you won't forget it. Ever.

Album Verdict: 7/7

Oh yah, here's a video some fan made with the track "Dance of the Vampires" as the background music.

This sounds excellent man, its now on the list for the next record hunt

Cheers