Friday, August 31, 2018

Stone Rebel -- Magic Ball album review by Fuzzy Cracklins of The Swamp Records

Stone Rebel -- Magic Ball Stone Rebel -- Magic Ball album review by Fuzzy Cracklins of The Swamp Records
Stone Rebel -- Magic Ball
We're proud of our French heritage here in the heart of Acadiana. So it's always nice to hear from a French band. Especially when I need to calm down the swamp critters, and I can turn to the relaxing calming mellow psych tunes such as Magic Ball from the new group, Stone Rebel. Listen for free and read Fuzzy Cracklin's album review of the instrumental stoner Magic Ball by Stone Rebel below....

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Marco Di Stasio -- Lost In Time album review by Fuzzy Cracklins

Marco Di Stasio -- Lost In Time
Marco Di Stasio -- Lost In Time
Darn if those gators aren't making a fuss again, and they sure get cranky in the late summer heat. Must be another Marco Di Stasio instrumental metal album drop....  Stream the album for free and read Fuzzy Cracklin's review of the instrumental metal album Lost In Time by Marco Di Stasio below...

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Fuzzy Cracklins Presents ... Marco Di Stasio - Time Loop


I was tossing the crawdads into the pot today when I heard the gators out back raising a ruckus. I figured maybe they had finally got a hold of my nosy neighbor Claude but as it turns out what caused them to get riled up was the drop of the latest Marco Di Stasio album. Check out the instrumental rock and metal of Time Loop --


As you can see, I have embedded the entire album here for your listening pleasure and enjoyment. Marco's albums are meant to be listened to in a single go. They are like an extended song broken out into 6 tracks.

You can't go wrong for a buck so check out Marco Di Stasio's Time Loop on Bandcamp.

Now to get back to that crawdad boil....  and if you have any instrumental albums for me to check out, hit me up in the comments.

Bye from the bayou!

Friday, August 24, 2018

Zero-day-wareZ album review by Fuzzy Cracklins

From the instrumental metal jamming of Dos Brujos in Austria, let us now turn our ears towards Australia and the groovy funky metal jams of Zero-day-wareZ --

Zero-day-wareZ

Zero-day-wareZ

Two-Fisted Salute really funks out and gets the riffs in --


I was wondering about these lo-fi funky metal jams so I reached out to Mike (the guitarist) who had a great story to tell. These jams were recorded by the three guys (Mike - guitar / Ashe - bass / Ev - drums) back in college. Just them, their rig, and a single mic in the middle of the floor. But then a week later the drummer disappeared only to re-surface later in Germany! Alas, another lost rock n roll drummer. He was after a lady and we know what happened after that. So a few years later, Mike was going back through the recordings and cuts together what we have here in the album. But there probably won't be another Zero-day-wareZ album, at least not with the same line-up, unless the drummer decides to return from Germany. So enjoy these jams for now.



Blazed really gets its groove on. And for something a little more stoner, check out Dune Rider --



Is stoner jam a musical genre? If it is, then Dune Rider definitely qualifies.

The Bolt is downright funky --


Some of the tracks are heavier than the others, some are funkier, and well... you get the idea. Just start the album and enjoy an hour's worth of instru-metal jamming.

Check out the entire album over on Bandcamp where you can download it for free or throw a few Australian dollars their way to show your support.

Zero-day-wareZ

But wait, there's more! I might have got my cracklins crossed and Mike has a few updates --

We met in college and formed our musical appreciation together there. We recorded jams 1, 2 & 3 in College, then Jams 4 - 13 (where this album was cut from ) 10 years later, meeting up at rehearsal studios.

And Ev, the drummer, has been all over the Europe & Asia... he's actually in Finland right now! He split up with the girl he chased years ago and now he's roaming solo. Surely that means there's a chance he may return? Who knows. Ev is a mystery.
Oh - and I have more recordings to dig through - I may have another half a dozen tracks I could publish, maybe more. I'll see what I can find!

So that's great news -- there could be more tracks! I'll keep the crawdads boiling.

BTW these guys kind of remind of Electric Octopus -- instrumental, jams, funky & groovy, and really get the riffs on. Check out Electric Octopus on Bandcamp if you are into this kind of music.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Fuzzy Cracklins Presents ... Pelican Live at Dunk!Fest 2016

Pelican Live at Dunk!Fest 2016

Here's an album from a couple of years ago, but it's new to me. In fact, Pelican is new to me. I don't claim to be an expert on instrumental metal -- I'm just a big fan. And I'm here to share my discoveries with you.

This live recording from 2016's Dunk Festival has a good quality sound, and its set of tracks really covers the need for the loud doomy riffs. Without the vocals, of course.

Take a listen to the Pelican Live at Dunk!Fest 2016 --


Dunk!Fest takes place in Belgium and takes place in late May. There is also a Dunk Festival USA this October in Burlington, Vermont.

The album is a free download so check out Pelican on Bandcamp. Let me know what you think (or if you have an album to tell me about) in the comments.

Fuzzy Cracklins Presents ... Marco Di Stasio

As we know here in the bayou, instrumental metal (or instru-metal, get it?) is what gets our crawdad tails shaking. If you think the black metal sticks & strings duo of Dos Brujos has too many members, then you need to check out Marco Di Stasio. He's a one-man musical machine with over 120 albums to his credit. Here's his latest album, Walk In Desert --

Marco Di Stasio -- Walk In Desert
Marco Di Stasio -- Walk In Desert



How do you like the dark, bleak album cover? Pretty cool, right? Shamless plug -- I took that picture on one of my excursions out of the swamp. And I kid you not -- it was so hot that day and it was a 3 mile hike to the car ... for a while there I was seriously worried if I was going to make it back. It's the Amboy Crater in the Mojave Desert if you want to take a look on google maps.

So this album is the perfect soundtrack for that day! Full of doom and dark riffs, but it never gets boring or repetitive. If you have never listened to a Marco Di Stasio album before, you will notice they are actually a single composition that is divided into 5 or 6 tracks. Think of how a classical composition might be, except done with a distorted guitar and full of melodic, riffy doom metal.



Did you think I was kidding when I said Marco has released a lot of albums? Here's just a few of the tracks from his recent Best Of compilation -- be sure to scroll to the end of the track list for a killer Metallica instrumental cover!


Marco tells me he develops the melody for a song, and then records its guitar track. You can see in his videos that he is really killing it, too. So he kicks out an album pretty quickly. He lays down the bass, too and then wraps it up with some drum programming.

It's easy & cliche to say "underrated" in today's world with so many talented musicians and so few dollars to support them, but in Marco's case I truly believe that term applies to him. One day a lot more fans will have heard Marco's unique metal sound, so check him out now and be among the first.



Fuzzy Cracklins Presents ... Dos Brujos

Everyone out here in the bayou knows a screeching vocal can rile up the gators, so we mostly listen to instrumental music. Metal, of course. Black, thank you. And for black metal, we always turn to Dos Brujos.

Dos Brujos might be the kind of band you could only find on Bandcamp. How else does a boy from the bayous of Louisiana find a pair of black metal jammers in their hidden lair in Austria?

 Dos Brujos Wizards from Planet Jam
Dos Brujos Wizards from Planet Jam



The two wizards (it's just Arminaut on guitar and Dirtyromi on drums) record each jam once and it never gets played again. So if it turns out good or bad, that's it. So far I haven't heard any bad ones. Their style varies on the jams, from thrash to doom to somewhere in between. Sometimes there's a little phaser, too.



I lost count of the number of albums they put out over the past couple of years but I think it's around 40 or so. Which you can easily add to your collection since they are all Name Your Price (as in Free or more). But you'll want to kick over a little cash to these guys so that they can swill a few beers while they jam, and also some of the albums have bonus hidden tracks for those of you with a couple of extra dollars.


There is always a great cover, too. Some are science fiction featuring Bruce Pennington, others are old line art depicting some aspect of the dark arts.



Albums drop mostly on Fridays just in time for the weekend. That's weekly during their creative bursts and a few times a month when the wizards are on holiday.

Dos Brujos don't use vocals but they have used soundclips. Check out this great set of clips from Goodfellas --


Check out the entire catalog of Dos Brujos jams on Bandcamp.

Leave me a comment about Dos Brujos or if you have an album for me to check out. \m/,

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Fuzzy Cracklins Presents


I'm into instrumental guitar music, especially instrumental metal, melodic metal, instrumental rock. Also anything fuzz, stoner, and desert that is without vocals is something I will definitely check out.

My collection is on Bandcamp at https://bandcamp.com/cracklin

I'm looking for new instrumental metal / stoner / desert / fuzz albums to review and interview the bands and musicians. So hit me up!

Leave me a comment below, or drop me a line using the form at the side.