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What Peter Jackson and King Kong are to the movie industry the Madeira
and Sandstorm are the surf industry. Both are among the most
anticipated releases of the year. Does the Madeira album have Naimo
Watts? Unfortunately no. So that is one point against the Madeira.
Does King Kong have heavily reverberated guitars or classical guitar?
I think not. The Madeira 2 and King Kong 1. So order Sandstorm on its
release date of Tuesday the 13th and go see Kong when it opens on the
14ths. Or don't see Kong if you hate CG in movies. Just remember
Sandstorm doesn't have CG.
If I have to compare The Madeira with any band it would have to be Jon
and the Nightriders. Just think Depth Charge. That isn't to say there
is no Space Cossacks sound in the music, Ivan Pongracic is the lead
gutiarist after all. For those wanting another Space Cossacks album,
its what I wanted, you aren't going to get it. This album is what I
would imagine what The Space Cossacks would have sounded like had they
been simply The Cossacks. I am not sure what gave the spacey vibe but
it is gone on this album. Instead we get an album that could have been
released in the '60s and it would have been huge. Perhaps we would be
paying $100 a copy on ebay. All of the tunes have really great
drums(drummers take note on the track Desert Drums) and rhythm guitar
on them and they perfectly complement the lead guitar. This leads to a
sound I can't really pinpoint. It sounds like a cross between Mid
Eastern, Eastern European, and Spanish at points. This works
incredibly well. Ivan, once again, amazes me that he plays a strat. I
wish I could make a strat sound good.
Kudos to Ferenc on the artwork. There is a great Lawrence of Arabia
vibe in the artwork.
As for the Space Cossacks' Nevermind the Bolsheviks Best of album. Who
doesn't own the Cossack's two original releases Interstellar Stomp and
Tsar Wars. Nevermind the Bolsheviks contains 24 tracks of which 6 are
probably something that the majority of us do not have. The remaining
18 tracks are all off of their two studio albums. All of those tracks
are excellent. Of the rare material there are two off of split LPs,
two live tracks recorded live in '98, and there are two unreleased
covers. Hava Nagila was actually released on Orbital Planetary
Strategic Command. Any actually own a copy of that? One of the live
tracks is Red Sunrise, one of my favorite tunes. The live version
might just be better than the studio version. The live energy and
great recording push it over the edge. Moroccan Adventures is another
of the live tracks recorded at the same gig and it is equally
impressive. Space Probe by the Chantays and Metsakukkia recorded by
the Blazers are the tracks off the EPs. Penetration and Hava Nagila
round out the release.
For those who don't know the Cossacks I beg you to pick up this album.
You haven't lived until you have heard Red Sunrise, The Jewel of
Duende, or Exolumina for the first time. I would suggest buying the
LPs that are still available from Musick records. That is the best way
to experiance Exolumina for the first time since it is track one on
side one of Tsar Wars.
