Bohren & Der Club Of Gore

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4...according to our Clinton on Fri 17 Jun, 2011.

"Take care America, wherever you are". The words of Jack Killian as he wound down another edition of "The Nighthawk". This film noirish soundtrack would fit perfectly on an episode of "Midnight Caller" featuring sleepy Rhodes piano and vibraphone overlaid by wandering clarinet. Mike Patton adds terrifying vocals sounding at times like a mutant sheep on the cover of German hair metal band Warlock which like everything else Bohren related is slowed down to a pace even a snail would describe as sluggish (there's a joke there somewhere). This is an odd, mutant jazz crawl, like the soundtrack to the journey of a particularly sleazy sloth. The three tracks creep along in an eerie jazz noir manner.

Headstrong. Unconventional. Enigmatic. The kind of words you hear a lot when Bohren & Der Club Of Gore are around. This veritable cult band have stuck steadfastly to their very own trail for more than twenty years now. Just a few notes are required to create that captivating-sedating atmosphere which leaves the listener in no doubt.

The band have sought to extend its specific sound cosmos by introducing new instruments (vibraphone, various keyboards, tuba, bass trombone,choral elements) and new compositional strategies.

The latest opus bears the name ‘Beileid’, meaning “sympathy”, and comprises a title track just shy of a quarter of an hour, the slightly shorter ‘Catch My Heart’ and seven and a half minutes of blues in the form of ‘Zombies Never Die (Blues)’.

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore cover German hair metal band Warlock. ‘Catch My Heart’ appeared on their 1985 album ‘Hellbound’. It is worth pointing out that this is the first Bohren song with vocals and the Bohren treatment is far too idiosyncratic to let just anybody near the microphone. Time for a long-standing acquaintance of the band to step up: the incomparable Mike Patton, who offers aballadeer performance.