Dock Boggs - "Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings (1927-1929)"

I found out about this collection after buying the American Primitive CDs available on Revenant Records which, although i bought primarily for the blues recordings, had an amazing variation of country blues and bluegrass aswell. This sparked my interest in the whole pre-war bluegrass movement whereupon i stumbled upon this gem. Also out on Revenant Records, this insight into a long forgotten master of the banjo really pricked my ears up and got me heavily into the old country-esque sound.

More of a hidden influence on the country music of today than people realize, like Charley Patton is on blues, and Albert Ayler on Jazz, Dock Boggs is sadly pretty much unheard of nowadays. Although i hear there is still an annual festival in the states which is named after him which brings great country and bluegrass musicians from all over the world to play, which is nice.

Anyhow, here are a couple of songs from the collection. Bearing in mind the year(s) in which these songs were recorded, it must be noted that the originals have been polished up somewhat and sound surprisingly crystal clear, although his voice can sound a little "tinny" in places. Enjoy:

New Prisoner's Song
Hard Luck Blues

Now, this is another rare one nowadays, and the CD still fetches over £200, with the Vinyl still managing to reach around £100 (i would have thought the other way round, but nevermind), so happy bidding! Failing that, you can always ask me for a copy. Nicely! ;)

Recommended if you like: Bayless Rose, Stanley Brothers, Two Poor Boys.

Crystal Lake - "Dimension" (2005)

Crystal Lake are a melodic metalcore band from Tokyo, Japan who are criminally unheard of in the whole metal/hardcore scene. Shying away from the monotonal one-chord beatdown songs that plague most metalcore bands' discographies nowadays, this band are more akin to the late 90's Florida metal scene than anything, although even that is actually a far cry from what this band are all about.

Although they are not exactly mosh-unfriendly, even the brutal parts have beautiful underlying melodies that both talented guitarists churn out with incredible ease. And those vocals; man they're evil! Haha. Great stuff all round, and a breath of fresh air if you're sick of the Nu-metalcore hanging in the air right now.

Here is my favourite song on the album. Acoustic guitar, gang vocals, crushing riffs, amazing melody; this song has it all. If you like this, go support the band by purchasing the CD. They also have a couple of splits available on iTunes and from decent online stores:

The Burden

Buy the CD/Myspace

Recommended if you like: Naiad, A Jealousy Issue, Strongarm.

Carolina Gospel Quartets (1938 - 1939)

Now, this is a beautiful compilation of three pre-war Gospel quartets from Carolina. I actually stumbled across this CD by accident whilst trying to unearth more information about another pre-war Gospel group named "The Delta Big Four". Needless to say, this collection of wonderful songs brings just as much nostalgic bluesy vocal noodling as anything of this ilk that you are likely to hear.

In a time before commercial radio, agencies and pop music, these groups were amongst blues musicians, big bands, jazz musicians, bluegrass banjo players and country singers all on the streets just trying to make some money to get by. Some were lucky enough to get picked up for recording sessions. These groups were some of the lucky few. If the crackling of the shellac and the shaky, almost eerie melodic harmonies don't make your hairs stand on end, then nothing is likely to.

Here is a song from each group. I hope you enjoy them as much as i do:

Spartanburg Famous Four - "I Know My Time Ain't Long"
Shelby Gospel Four - "New Burying Ground"
Gospel Light Jubilee Singers - "I Can Tell The World About This"

Buy the CD

Recommended if you like: The Golden Gate Quartet, The Beach Boys, The Four Freshmen.

Teen Cthulu - "Ride The Blade" (2003)

This band are well respected within both hardcore and black metal circles, for having each foot rooted equally in both genres. Black metal fans enjoy the blast parts, ethereal keyboards, and the screeched vocal sections, whilst the hardcore enthusiasts enjoy the slow mosh parts, the barked vocals, and the chugging riffs.

Being an avid fan of both genres, i can see why. These guys are way too chaotic, fast and spooky to be labeled hardcore, yet have too many chugga riffs, slow sections and gutteral vocals to be called black metal. I suppose i should let the music do the talking, so here are a few of my favourite cuts from the album.

I will be uploading only a couple of songs from the albums i post on this blog, but due to the short tracks these guys made, and how seriously awesome they were (they split up in 2003, sadly) i thought i would post three. Enjoy:

The Aquaducts Will Run Red With The Blood Of The Caeser

Burning Fields

I'm Going To Fucking Kill Myself

I will also be posting links for you to buy the albums i post, but seeing as this album is as rare as rocking horse shit, you're better off looking on ebay!

Recommended if you like: Song Of Zarathustra, Knives And Greenwater, Fauna.