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Here's another Voodoo Rhythm Records band. I've been listening to a few of their tunes quite a bit in the past several days, and was hoping to find more info about them. However, I only found one review written in english...
"On the album, this record label describes itself as one that seems to take pleasure in releasing "Records to ruin any party"...it is not an easy listen but it really grows on you. The band is based in Geneva and this is their fourth album as far as I can tell. They describe their style as "Funeral Orchestra Mission". They helpfully suggest that it is a mixture of Gypsy music, Django Gypsy jazz, rock 'n' roll and country. The first thing that came to mind was a mixture of Vaudeville style music hall, blues, and what really sums it up for me is the phrase "gothic jazz/blues." There is the most bizarre mixture of song styles, instruments, banjo, trombone, steel drums, lap steel guitars, accordion, Indian prayer box, tuba, French horn. Then there are the various vocal styles, mellow, strangled, mournful and whispered. Rhythms vary from Greek swing, Waltz, shuffles and rock beats. There are songs in English, French and German. So not a "normal" blues album, but good fun if you are in the right frame of mind, legal or not!"
BLUES MATTERS (UK) 2006, Rick Lacey
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The Dead Brothers, in conjunction with Voodoo Rhythm Records & Slow Boat Films, have released a documentary about the band, and here's what they have to say about it...
"Death Is Not The End"
...is the intimate portrait of three men that couldn't be any more different. Alain Croubalian, son of an Armenian Immigrant and a Swiss nurse, Pierre Ohmer, son of an Indian Historian and a Genevan mother, as well as Delaney Davidson, a New Zealand native Troubadour and world traveller are the core of one of the most idiosyncratic and unique bands of our time - THE DEAD BROTHERS. This film however is not merely a music documentary; it's rather an exploration of their individual personalities and how their unique biographies have shaped their music.
Alain Croubalian explains what impact the Armenian genocide and the resulting Diaspora had on his family and ultimately on his personal development. He also describes how his life as an immigrant in N. American resulted in his die hard nonconformist stance. Pierre Omer offers a melancholic and at times ironic insight into his creative process and his personal battle between irony and tragedy. The bands' music reflects their Babylonian biographies; Blues meets Chanson, Gypsy Swing meets Vaudeville and Brecht & Weil go for a drink with Hank Williams somewhere in St. Pauli, New York or Marseille. The bands' provocative yet cheerful performances have meanwhile achieved world wide cult status. The film shows the band not only on stage at large clubs but also joins them at spontaneous street concerts and jam sessions. To wrap it all up, we'd like to say we believe to have made a paradoxal film, a balancing act between melancholy and exuberance, as well as existential questions and black slapstick humour. "The Dead Brothers welcome you on board the ghost train…"
Delaney Davidson openly discusses his own mortality and which role humour plays in dealing with it.View the trailor below.
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Video for 'I Can't Get Enough':
For more info, international tour dates, and free downloads see:
"The Monsters where formed in 1986 in small-town Bern, capital of Switzerland. Their sound is a fuzzedout mix between 60ies garage punk, wild teenage trash rockabilly and primitive rock‘n‘roll. Its 187% no MTV and top 100 shit!
Janosh - DiPutto - Swan Lee - Beat-Man
The actual lineup is guitar, bass and the so-called clonedrum: means 2 drummers with only 1 1/2 drums, hitting thhe same bassdrum from each side. Besides the countless shows in Switzerland The Monsters played extensive tours through Europe including Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, England, Denmark and Spain. In 2003 the band toured Argentina, Brasil and New York, and in 2005 they toured in Japan.
The Monsters are a kickass live band who will burn every stage down. Over the years The Monsters recorded 6 albums, several singles and ep‘s and apeared on countless compilations. The record „Youth Against Nature“ was recored in the now famous Toe Rag Studios (London) by Liam Watson and Robert Butler (Miracle Workers). "I See Dead People“ came with a 1000-piece puzzle, booklet, sticker and button and was already sold out during the tour.
The Monsters appear on Voodoo Rhythm Records, Switzerland. The label is as famous for it‘s taste and style, as it is for the beautiful artwork. Voodoo Rhythm is run by Beat-Man, who (by accident...) is also the singer and guitar player of The Monsters. Beat-Man played - and still plays - in other projects called Lightning Beat-Man, Reverend Beat-Man, Die Zorros and some more. As a one-man-band he toured all of europe, played venues such as Jazz Festival Montreux, Frat Shack, Dour Festival, Eurocene and Las Vegas Grind (USA) on the same bill with acts like Dick Dale, Public Enemy, Ramones, Prince, Ramstein, Bob Log III and more...."
*Photo & text borrowed directly from the Bio section of The Monsters website.
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I stumbled across Voodoo Rhythm Records randomly, and found a number of bands that I'm really excited about! I plan to do several posts on bands from this particular label within the next coupla weeks. Stay tuned!
For the inside scoop & a bunch of free downloads, check out:
Comments
That song should be Mog's theme. Against Nature are ill. The Monsters are pretty cool too. Nice post!
Personnel: Miles Davis Trumpet Barney Wilen Tenor Saxophone René Urtreger Piano Pierre Michelot Bass Kenny Clarke Drums
The session took place after the European tour (circa 1958), so we were used to playing together. We arrived at the Poste Parisien around ten, Jeanne Moreau was there, and we had a drink together.
Miles was very relaxed, as if the music he was playing wasn't that important. It was only later that I leaned he'd already been to a screening, and that he'd known about the project for several weeks. So he knew exactly what he wanted, and he also knew what he wanted from us, which is very much to his credit.
What was typical of this session was the absence of a specific theme. This was new for the period, especially with the soundtrack for a film
-Pierre Michelot, from the liner notes of Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud
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*Amazon.com essential recording
"Performed by a Miles Davis-fronted European band for a movie by Louis Malle, this music helped define the sound of film noir. It made viewers think the genre's films had always sounded just so, with slow-walking bass beats and muted, slithering horn lines miming the characters on the screen--and underlining their emotions. The melodies here are brief fragments, sometimes rising up only to disappear and then briefly return. This is Miles playing in the moment, improvising musical impressions as he watched the screen. And what he played managed to capture the era of postwar everywhere, while it offered Davis the freedom to test his on-the-spot compositional skills within a minimalist context. How many other beboppers who worked within the shadow of Charlie Parker could have ever recorded these little gems?" --John Szwed
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I lucked into a mono, vinyl copy of this released on Fontana, and I can't put it down. If you dig jazz, jump on this record! It's worth every penny.
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To hear excepts of every track in streaming audio visit Verve Records at the link below:
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/product.aspx?ob=disc&src=art&pid=10492
Comments
Agreed. Very minimalist, and (at least the CD version) replete with retakes. But a good record. "Elevator To The Gallows"
Yeah, I'd like to have the CD also, simply for the alternate takes.
Have you seen the film? Because I haven't yet.
Finally got a copy of this album on CD last week. What a jewel. A perfect pick to throw on before sitting down with a hot cup of mud and a pack of sawed-off cigarettes, and hunching over my old smith-corona to write the night away. Can't get enough of this record!
The film is equally enjoyable. A must-see for any foreign film lover. Good for a rainy day at home, or a late night wind-down.
MOGs That Trust Me (8 of 15)
MOG Meter
Comments
Fantastic! I'll have to get my hands on more of their music. Thanks!