Instanika - Moon Rain

Instanika is a 4 piece which hails from Toronto.  The band is a mix of blues and alt rock with an edge.  They have recently just released the debut record Moon Rain, which contains 10 hook laden tunes.  The band has kind of a garage rock feel to it, which would be cool, if they were playing in your backyard.  Their sound reminds me of some of the bands that came out of the post grunge movement.  They are not grungy, but their not alternative either.  A cool thing for these guys, is that they infuse some blues to round out their sound.

Moon Rain started off a little slow with me, but has gotten better with a few more spins.  The first track to grab me, was Vroom Vroom, which is one of the heavier tracks, that contains a really cool groove.  The songs are pretty well structured, but could use some tightening up.  I see this with many bands.  They have a good idea, but they don't finish.  Make sense?  Either that, or they try to mash up too many ideas into one song, which ends up leaving you unsatisfied, like with the track Helium.  With additional work, these guys could be on to something really cool.

Standout Tracks: Vroom Vroom, Filipina, Living It All

Bottom Line: The songs on Moon Rain are okay, but could use some tweaking.  The songs are pretty basic, but do have melody.  If you're looking for a band with some garage rock attitude, then these are your guys.  If you're looking for something more polished, then this one may not be for you.

-Ragman could see these guys being a fun bar band.

Podcast #193: America

As their post-summer-sabbatical house cleaning continues, join Genghis & Ragman as they catch up and un-hatch some recent chats they had with 2 new stellar bands:

Lars Johansson (Fat.Mo.Mac, Candlemass) joined the guys to tell them about his latest blues project Fat.Mo.Mac featuring an incredible array of talented musicians all over this debut. He also discussed the latest goings on in Candlemass.

Brandon Baumann (Diamond Lane) sat in with the boys to chew the fat about their latest release Terrorizer and discuss how the band's quick rise to success has not affected them in a bad way as well as when and where they'll be in your town.

Video of the Show: Whitesnake - Live at Donnington 1990

Beer of the Show: Dragon's Milk Stout (New Holland Brewing Co.)
	Appearance: 4.0 Aroma: 4.0 Palate: 4.0 Taste: 4.0 Overall: 4.0	"There's no shortage of barrel-aged stouts these days, but this one's oaky malt base finishes with some nice vanilla notes."

Featured Tracks: Riverdogs - America; Keel - 4th of July; Alcatraz - God Blessed Video; Whitesnake - Love Ain't No Stranger; Fat.Mo.Mac - Walk Alone, Kick Back, So Bad it Feels, Cold Woman, and Memories is All There Is; Diamond Lane - The Enemy, Drift, Cheating Death, and Hopeless Romantic

- Ragman is still dusting off the cobwebs, but it's gettin' there...

Podcast #193: America

Ace Frehley - Galactic Explorer

I am a sucker for a good interview.  I wouldn't necessarily going looking for a CD, of interviews, from one of my favorite artist, but if I stumbled across one, then I would be intrigued, to at least check it out.  Well, that said, I just stumbled across a new release, containing some un-cut interviews, from one of my favorite guitar players, Ace Frehley. 

Frehley has recently released a compilation of interviews, with him discussing his first two, post Kiss, solo records.  The title is Galactic Explorer.  This is a cool release, which interesting to hear from the man, himself, as to how those records came together.  My only complaint, is that is wasn't longer.  I also hoped to hear him talk some trash, about some of his former bandmates, but that didn't make the disk.  Overall, it was an interesting listening to hear how those first two solo records came together,  This is a must for Kiss fans.

Bottom Line: Ace giving us the skinny, on his first two releases.  It was very interesting to hear him speak candidly as to how the band was put together as well.  Kiss fans, will eat this one up with a spoon.

-Ragman is about to have a Frehley's Commet weekend.

American Gunea Pig - Bouquet of Guts and Glory

Apparently, American Guinea Pig is a series of highly grotesque and twisted films, which are about to take the horror genre by storm, well at least they hope.  The film I was lucky or unlucky enough to see was Bouquet of Guts and Gore.  The film is about a couple of girls, who are abducted by some wanna be snuff film makers.  The premise is cool, but the film really doesn't go anywhere.  I think it was made just to gross out the viewer.  The one good thing I can say, is that then did a good job of transitioning from 8MM film to video; it added a nice effect.

Like I said, these two girls get abducted, they are drugged and then dissected by a sick individual.  While these two women are tortured, two of the kidnappers film, the mutilation, while the 3rd guy dissects them, like a frog, in lab class.  All of the guys are wearing masks, like something out of The Purge, which is cool, but unfortunately, it is very hard to comprehend what they are saying. 

Like the title says, this is a gore fest, and with the way they filmed the movie, you'll cringe, because of the realism.  The special effects are spot on, which made this movie work.  As far as the plot goes, cool idea, but just gets stale after awhile, because there is no real story.  Just one guy slicing and dicing up these two women like lab rats.  Other than that, not much to it.  Lastly, if you watch this thing, make sure you watch to the end to see something really messed up.

Bottom Line: If you like your horror gory, and with not a lot of plot line than this one is for you, but if you're looking for a horror film with more substance, than you might want to look elsewhere.

-Ragman actually had to look away a few times.  This thing did what it set out to do, gross you out.

My Sleeping Karma - Moksha

This may or may not be Ganesh giving us a horns up. You decide.I won't claim to have useful knowledge about Eastern mysticism. I mean, I am aware of Vishnu and Ganesh as deities in the Hindu pantheon. But the closest I've come to any exposure would be Keanu Reeves' Little Buddha (1993). In any case, German quartet My Sleeping Karma gives instrumental psychedlic rock an appealing Eastern flavor on its fifth studio joint Moksha. In Hindu tradition, Moksha is one of the four goals of human life and basically means emancipation, liberation, or release. So, it wouldn't at all surprise me if this was all some grand concept album, perhaps spurred on by one of the band's members for personal reasons.

Either way, this is some fantastic groove rock, replete with contemplative interludes that sound amazing. Which isn't to say that they took a stoner rock template and threw in some sitars and tablas for an instant Indian vibe. This is still pretty straightforward instrumental tripping, but it seems to have a more elevated purpose to it. Maybe it's just me. But I thoroughly enjoyed this album from the opening track Prithvi's hypnotic verse riff, through the introspective interludes, and down to the final track Agni's energetic finish.

The Bottom Line: My Sleeping Karma's instrumental trip Moksha feels like a journey to musical enlightenment and ultimately release as the album's title implies. This German group knows how to take psychedelic instrumental rock to the next level.

- Genghis is definitely getting a t-shirt with this album's awesome artwork on it...