this weeks new stuff

Mark Sandman - Sandbox
Mark Sandman was most known for being the frontman for the drums, 2 string slide bass, sax trio that was Morphine. They were fantastic, sort of bluesy I guess but not really, I think Mark Sandman described the stuff he did as 'Low Rock'. He knew that the bass could be used as a lead instrument, that the more interesting side of the piano keyboard was the left hand side, and he wrote lyrics that could contain these brilliant mini naratives that would keep you enthralled. He was also very prolific writing and performing in many other groups such as Treat Her Write and Either/Orchestra. Sadly he had a heart attack on stage in 1999, this double CD and DVD set collects some of his unreleased work from all of the bands he was in, I think it makes a fitting tribute to his work...

MP3: Cocoon

Fantamos - Suspended Animation
Another CD from Mike Patton - The Wire had a big interview with him this month, hence the sudden interest in his work. If you know of the Naked City album that was released on Earache (I can't remember the name of it, but it had the best song titles ever - Jazz Snob Eat Shit springs to mind) you'll love this: it's a thirty track tribute to April which basically mixes thrash metal with incidental cartoon music. It also comes with a wonderfully illustrated one month calendar, today is Motherhood and Beauty Day in Armenia apparently!

MP3: 04/07/05 Thursday