Volcano The Bear — Classic Erasmus Fusion
The album is split into two disks; disk one takes in shorter pieces and two longer pieces. Through out the album keeps you off balance, your never sure what to expect next, be it; a weird take of jazz, bizarre-o pop, droneing eerier cinematics, odd sound puzzles, or strange rhythmic sound dances, and lots more along the way. The album seems so, wonderfully loose as well; keeping the difficult balance between improvised and traditional song structure. As I said earlier they sound quite unlike anyone else, but I guess the best way could be to describe them as a very English mix of jazz, strange ritual music, bizarre end of the prier musical hall act, with flourishers of strange ethnic music from a land that doesn’t exist. Also sprinkles of odd pop music sensibilities. Mix all this with a keen ear for sound painting, mixing liberal dabs of bizarre sounds into the mix, at their own whim.
Good example of this audio misplacing is Hey Judo; that starts off with someone pouring a nice long drink mixed with meditative tones. Then just as your getting comfy and a bit odded out, your assaulted by what sounds like banjos and a ships creaking sound. It’s like your sliding back and forth on the deck of an ancient ship, and a one legged man is playing manic banjo, as the track builds up it becomes, like very strange folk music, almost making you want do a little jig on the carpet. Then the track exits, with the sound of the ship finally going down. Else where their in strange pop mode with; Did you ever feel like Jesus? Which marries off kilter, bare stringed interstrument repetition, with strange harmony vocals, under neath there's a rug full of odd sounds and swishing curtain balladlic soring touches. It all leaves you strangely moved. The droning and hypnotic, bassy tones of Lifetime, seem to be trying to drag you into an odd trance like state, snoring and strange muffled vocals make up the back ground. As it's sloppy tones slide into your ears, you feel very strange indeed.
The second disk takes a different tact; for the most part it homes in on the more meditative , droning elements of their sound. That's not to say there is any lack of surprise here; it’s still there, but this feels more like the world of the first disk, but under the influence of some odd reality changing drug, that seems to drag time out, and alter and melt landscapes and environments into one another. Hail to the new memphisto ushers in a throaty trumpet like call, like a strange snake charmers song, which slowly melts into a march like drum pounding and varying pitch drone, it feels like their summoning up some very unusual spirits indeed, around the orange and green flickering flames of a fire. Slowly but surely a panoramic drone, makes it’s way in, whisking you above aged roof tops, you twist and turn in the ragged night sky clouds, this element stays present for the remainder of the track, and exits with the sound of burning fires rained down on by heavy rain. Maybe the city you drifted above has now burned down . Erasmus, the queens dentist has a strange air of crudeness, and ugliness about it ,balanced with a sweet other world beauty. Like watching a strange deformed creature cracking out of a misshapen egg, it’s body twisting and arching to rid it’s self’s, of it’s shell prison and all of this is going on a stage, in the middle of a breathtaking field filled with many coloured roses, the gorgeous heads lulling in the slight breeze.
So in summing up, you need this record, it’s every thing a great album should be: intriguing, unique, and many layered, that invites you in again and again to discover new depths and more audio puzzles to solve. To have a little taster of Classic Erasmus Fusion, go here and of course you can buy direct too.