Wednesday, March 2, 2011

From the Shelf, pt. 1: Gospel - The Moon is a Dead World (2005)

From the Shelf is a new series here at Mounting Frustrations. The object is to pick records that might be collecting a little extra dust on my record shelf, give them a spin, and then record my thoughts and reflections. A lot of these records will be obscure, and probably a little rough around the edges, but worth a listen for the open minded music listener.

Kicking off the festivities: the first and only full length from Brooklyn, NY quartet Gospel.


The Moon is a Dead World is some sort of triumph in the oft-maligned genre of screamo, while also drawing aspects from dreamy post-rockers, drugged out psychadelia and prog-rock. Gospel deploy atmospheric, angular guitar driven jam outs that bend and twist their way to emotional heights, only to see the beauty fade back and expose the dark, ugly spirit that is the true driving force of the music (and possibly drugs). The inclusion of keyboards, while uncommon among peers, brings depth to the music in a way that doesn't feel kitschy, and I wonder how much the final output would suffer were it to be taken away. Now, some listeners will never be able to appreciate vocalists who shout and holler over music, but when what's happening underneath is this good it shouldn't matter.

No upload for this, sorry, but here are some YouTube videos, for your consumption:


hmm... so..

okay, hey, hi!

so, I've been without internet and have neglected this thing. I'll try to get some content coming out, be patient...




what's up with Republicans though, right?

Is their plan to turn the US into India? I mean, it might put an end to shipping jobs overseas, but maybe a better solution is to come down harder on the wealthy 10% of Americans (who, btw, also control 75% of our nations wealth).. making life more difficult for the American Worker seems counter-intuitive.

I'm no politician though, so whatever, did anyone see the Oscars? Man, was James Franco stoned the whole time, or what?