Blakula! - Permanent Midnight

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  • Like a lover that has seen it all and can't get in the mood without external stimulation, The Diaphanoids can't seem to make music sans concept. On Astral Weekends, they were lost in the wilds of space. As Blakula!, they're soundtracking the trials and tribulations of a black vampire thawed out in late '70s New York City. More likely than not, Andrea Bellentani and Marco Maccari simply made a song in the studio and talked about it. "Sounds like a classic horror film soundtrack." "John Carpenter, right? But funky." "Yeah." "Yeah." "...Yeah." The duo have dreamed up enough hijinks for Blakula! to fill Permanent Midnight's ten tracks with a variety of sounds. He poses for Robert Mapplethorpe, writes with William Burroughs, shares spray cans with Jean Michel Basquiat, jams with The Velvet Underground, dances with Andy Warhol at Studio 54, but you'd be forgiven if you weren't able to tell which song corresponded to which adventure. Or if they corresponded to any adventure at all. Despite the remarkable narrative, Permanent Midnight has a coherent sound laid out by opener "Witches Crew." Four-to-the-floor beat from a loose live drummer, elastic bassline holding things together, squalling horns or synths over top. The latter bit creates the menace. The rest, as you might expect, keep you dancing—or at least thinking about it. (Good luck with the slow, stomping "Where the Angels Fear to Tread.") Like many soundtracks (real or imagined), the songs are short. Here, though, it's almost frustratingly so. At less than three minutes, "Miss Morgue," "Slash Me Tender" and "Permanent Midnight" feel like they're over before they've even begun. Especially the title track, which sounds like a Map Of Africa outtake. Sketches or short mood pieces are exactly the point, though. In a format where you're intensifying action elsewhere rather than acting as the main event, it's important not to get in the way. In that respect, Permanent Midnight is perfectly suited to the format. In the absence of a movie version of Blakula! to give the album further shape, it's up to the listener to fill in the blanks.
  • Tracklist
      01. Witches Crew 02. Vampire State Building 03. Where the Angels Fear to Tread 04. Any Soul You Could Buy 05. Miss Morgue 06. Feed Your Demons 07. Blood Supreme 08. Slash Me Tender 09. Surrender to the Shadows 10. Permanent Midnight
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