And So, It Spreads Outwards...

The Ripple Effect - Volume 1: Head Music (2012)

The music industry and the internet have had a shaky history together, mainly because of the degradation of the cd and vinyl by mp3 downloads. But it’s this kind of thing that reestablishes my faith in the relationship between the two. What started out as a simple forum created by two music lovers, Todd Severin and John Rancik , 5 years ago has evolved into a full on record label, radio show, and a kickass website. And now to celebrate this timely benchmark, they’ve released a compilation of the best tracks they’ve put on their site and some other tracks from their favorite acts that haven’t been previously been released. This is the first time that I’ve had to review a compilation for the blog and I think that when you’re listening to the album itself, you have a different approach critically than if you were listening to an album by just one band. You have to be more open to variety within the album, but you don’t have to worry as much about quality because these songs were specifically handpicked because they’re good. The compilation truly is great, filled to the brim with southern fuzz, gritty vocals, reverbed psych bits and awesome bass lines. I’ve been listening to this album for a couple of days, and because of it I’ve pretty much found out about 10 different bands that I now love, I’m sure you will want to research each one of these bands further like I did, and maybe even visit the ripple effect site. JUST DON’T FORGET ABOUT US HERE AT RIDE WITH THE DEVIL! Especially because we have a compilation of our own, so stay tuned at the end of the year for it. The compilation is apparently the first of many and it’s available for free on the site’s bandcamp page.
~Bernardo

 For Fans Of; Orange Goblin, Asteroid, Torso, Stubb, DeepSeaGreen

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Volume 1: Head Music (320kbps)

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Full Of Body...

Torso - Inside (2012)

This is one of the most peculiar and unique things we've been sent in a long long time. Now I know that inherently whenever the words unique or peculiar are used it often translates to something sounding somewhat akin to a child with attention deficit disorder hitting a washing machine with a spanner while discordant jazz plays in the background. Luckily Austrian quintette Torso havent quite gone that far. In fact the guys have manage to create something pretty close to genius. Dark post rock harmonics clashing with groove oozing stoner riffs with the occasional smattering of lounge like licks and jams. It sounds borderline ridiculous on paper I grant you that but somehow (and don't ask me how) they've managed to not just make it work, but work really bloody well! The opening track One really manages to paint the scene for the following 32 minutes. Beginning with a distinct shoe gaze tone within a minute fuzzy riffs burst in and push it towards a latter day desert rock kinda feel. Soon joined with 90's Brit rock style vocals (very reminiscent of Damon Albarn) and a complementary wah or two of 70's psych inspired guitar licks, to say the first 4 minutes are varied would be a understatement of biblical proportions! This really is one of those rare examples where a band have just gone way off the deep end and mashed together about 6 different genres but have still managed to produce something totally fantastic. I can't be pretty certain that you won't find anything out there quite like this. But if you've even have a fleeting interest in prog rock, shoegaze, post rock, desert rock, classic rock, space rock, indie or stoner then there will be something here for you. It's dark, whaling and chock full of groove. If it doesn't win you over immediately just give it another few listens... You'll come around.

For Fans Of; Crippled Black Phoenix, Astra, The Desert Sessions, Blur, Russian Circles

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Inside (320kbps)