Various Artists

Album Title: Mesmerized In Madison
Record Label: Bright As Night
Review by Sal Serio
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Various Artists - Mesmerized In MadisonVarious Artists - Mesmerized In Madison

Bright As Night Records have taken on a hell of an undertaking with this quite varied various artists compilation featuring some of the more “fringe” artists in the sprawling Madison, Wisconsin, music scene. This project resulted in a limited run of 100 CDs and 400 vinyl pressings. Since there’s just so much wild stuff on here, much of which almost totally defies conventional description, I decided to go track by track, giving a spontaneous one-to-two sentence spiel of what I felt listening to these compositions.

Side A: SAMANTHA GLASS – “A Traveler’s Price” – percolating transponder beams sent me to the dark side of Tuxedomoon. VANISHING KIDS – “Eyes Of Secrets” – intense film noir-type edgy swamp cabaret… contact David Lynch now! SARDONYX – “Mystic Sister” – a human sacrifice performed inside of a fire hydrant with the aid of a massive effects rack. ZEBRAS – “Books Of Gold” – angry and relentless tortured emotion within a riff-heavy context of brutality and lack of remorse. KLEPTIX – “Electrolysis 2” – like being shaved from head to toe by a living Swiss Army vibrator. THOSE POOR BASTARDS – “Getting Old” – nightmarish carnival themes meet polkaholic bed spins.

Side B: DIATI – “Mourning Dove” – cavernous sci-fi rock odyssey that blasts Tony Iommi’s cryogenically preserved human shell in to the 23rd century. PANTHER – “Diamond Bitch” – staccato machine gun spitfire tiger shark speed metal with a UK DIY punk attitude. DB PEDERSON – “Natural Poppa” – lounge crooning spun backwards while recovering from a near-fatal valium/bourbon overdose. AUSCULTATION – “Leaving” – soundtrack to a cross-country pursuit including dangling from a polar skyway car. RED MUSEUM – “Spellmask” – ‘Blade Runner’ credits slowly rolling by while an ever-increasing close-up pan of Sean Young’s eyes fill the screen. EMERALD DOUGLAS – “Hermes Returns From Egypt” – naked sorcerer dances around his castle turret enclave while ectoplasmic faces rise like vapors from his magik cauldron.

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