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Master Musicians of Bukkake

Far West

Written by: BV on 23/05/2013 18:54:35

Whilst the members of Master Musicians of Bukkake’s identities are largely unknown to the public, there have been many speculations and rumors going around, stating that MMOB does indeed contain members from bands like Sun City Girls, Earth and Burning Witch. – while this may or may not be true, I can tell you for sure that Master Musicians of Bukkake will soon release their new album ”Far West”. “Far West” is an overtly introvert release where the vast and noisy textures of this mightily peculiar ‘progressive folk’ band take a turn into new territories in a mostly successful attempt at exploring new sounds to integrate into their already booming soundscape.

Album opener “White Mountain Return” immediately lures the listener in with its otherworldly sounding mix of electronica, acoustic guitars and sinister, rattling percussion sounds. The music on most of the album - and on “White Mountain Return” in particular, is very scenic and could easily be a beguiling soundtrack to a movie that has yet to be written. Obnoxiously pompous as that may come across, the sound suits the band and the whole aura of mystique around them quite well – adding to the already alluring mythology of a band like this.

“Circular Ruins” is a slightly mellower track that has an acoustic sound to it and a melody that is somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd. The vocals are deep and ‘pretty’ sounding – offering up many a chance to give up your physical entity and float away to the sounds of ‘progressive folk’. As the ‘swooping’ guitar sounds enter this piece of music, I am finding myself thinking that this piece of music, this very piece, is one of the most enthralling, calming and, oddly enough, unnerving pieces of music that I have heard in quite some time now – which again goes to show the multifaceted beast of sound that MMOB is.

Whilst many of the sounds on the album can certainly be deemed psychedelic, I think it is definitely worth noting that this isn’t your everyday happy hippie Let’s gather in the park and sing happy songs while dancing kind of psychedelic music. It’s actually a much more sinister and gloomy soundscape that is being offered up by Master Musicians of Bukkake – in fact, the sound is so sinister that I would dare say they are borderline ‘bad trip’ sounding quite a long way through the album, save for mellower tracks like “Circular Ruins” for instance.

MMOB are kind of hard to get into, but I definitely think it is worth the trouble in the end. While they are not wildly innovative, they do offer up a pompous and almost theatrical soundscape that is certainly interesting to revisit on a regular basis, as I feel that the soundscape ‘broadens’ with each listen.

Download: Circular Ruins, Cave of Light – The Prima Materia, White Mountain Return
For the fans of: Hookworms, Pink Floyd, Burning Witch
Listen: Facebook

Release date 10.06.2013
Important Records