Cephalic Carnage are a bunch of stoners from the mid-west who make really demented death-grind. They also have a killer sense of humor which has resulted in everything from genre pastiche ("Black Metal Sabbath" off Lucid Interval) to outright parody ("Dying Will Be the Death of Me," the "hit" metalcore joke song off Anomalies). These guys can and will play anything that they want, which is one reason why they put out this little-known EP in 2002. Halls of Amenti showcases the band's brilliant stoner-doom stylings and was recently reissued by Relapse so you'll have a much easier time finding it in stores now.
Balls 'n Cabbage is my college band, we haven't played together since May of last year (but we did party together and it was glorious)! We play a thumpin' mixture of funk, jazz and psych rock that lends itself to jamming (like a 14-minute Maggot Brain cover).
The band features a rotating cast of characters, including Mike "Tiny" Skladel on guitar, Mike Tobey on the Bass and Ross Procaccio on the drums. Sometimes Mr. Adam Zucker joins on the vocals and Jon Ellis on the sax. The full-length album, "Passion of the Cabbage" also has guest horns from Gary, Guido and Justin of Marx Revolution, flute by Forgy and piano by Mr. Tristan Fields.
There are also a few outrageous tapes of these gentlemen out there, including a jam where BnC was joined by Michael Krause on the oud, Sam Giovannini on another bass. They did Bill Cosby and an outrageous groove fest dubbed "Space Plumper." Nobody knows where these are and it kinda sucks, because those jams were fun. There are also some recordings from February 2008 when Chris Smith came and recorded us in Dodds practice room 104. It was electric.
Morricone, one of the most popular and respected film composers has a career spanning more than five decades including some of the greatest and most acclaimed films of all-time. Everything from Westerns (his work with Sergio Leone on the Dollars trilogy, Once Upon A Time in the West and Duck, You Sucker; The Great Silence), mob films (The Untouchables, Bugsy), to countless other films (White Dog, The Thing, The Mission, The Exorcist 2, Salo). Although mostly known for his evocative and uplifting string pieces Morricone also draws from a wealth of other influences. Many of the pieces in this two-disc collection come from giallo films (some by legendary director Dario Argento) of the late sixties and early seventies and draw heavily from psychedelic rock sounds of the time, making this the ideal primer on the composer for those into rock and the avant-garde.
Hip-hop with industrial and noise elements. The beats are really chaotic and interesting, full of weird textures and even some extended noise jams. Dalek's stream-of-consciousness lyrics and low voice complement the music without being its focal point.
My good friend Colin "Poopy" Roberts once accused Slayer of ripping off the opening riff to this album. Which wouldn't be surprising except this album came out in the early seventies in Japan. To say this is one of the greatest things I've ever heard is an understatement. Gotta love hearing other cultures' takes on our savage rock 'n roll traditions.