IVSLYS: Zero Seven Four One Zero (2025)

If there is one thing you can rely on when it comes to the work of the entities known collectively as 夢遊病者, it’s their ability to surprise. We’ve heard dissonant noise and Frank Zappa-esque freak outs, shades of space rock and drone as well as classical and world elements on their last release. Now we have the veiled and impenetrably named offshoot IVSLYS, returning with their first new batch of tunes in seven years with the equally obtuse title Zero Seven Four One Zero. One thing that is NOT obtuse or ambiguous is the music: this might be some of the most accessible set of tunes to come out of this camp, with each of the four tracks settling into different moods that veer from dark noir-ish cinema to swirling psychedelic folk.

ChrisOctober 27, 2025Leave a comment

CD, Vinyl

Mahogany Rush: Child Of The Novelty (1974)

Out of the thousands (probably millions) of guitarists influenced by Jimi Hendrix, it’s a rare player that actually embodies Hendrix’s particular slippery vibe. Stevie Ray Vaughn was definitely one of them, and for my money Uli Jon Roth hits the same psychedelic fire highs. Frank Marino is another, and his early work with Mahogany Rush shows off just how indebted this muscular trio out of Canada was to that classic sound. I was unfamiliar with Marino and the band, but Child Of The Novelty hooked me at my local used shop with that killer cover art, so I took a chance on it. Slinky and funky, this is a killer early hard rock album that’s going to sit comfortably in my collection when I want to groove out to something like but not quite Hendrix.

ChrisSeptember 3, 2025Leave a comment

Norman Connors: Dance of Magic (1972)

I wasn’t planning on this being a jazz-heavy week, but after listening to the fantastic Les McCann album, I turned to see what other unlistened CDs and records I had lying around and recalled the 2-for-1 disc featuring the first two albums of drummer Norman Connors as a bandleader. Although he’d be more known for his smooth R&B soul jazz in a few years with hits like “Betcha By Golly Wow” and “You Are My Starship”, Dance of Magic shows the man in hardcore jazz mode with a killer lineup helping to bring his vision to life. Also like McCann, it features one massive side-long track followed by a few shorter numbers, but the improvisation and genre mixing goes in both a smoother and more avant-garde direction.

ChrisAugust 19, 2025August 19, 2025Leave a comment

Les McCann: Invitation to Openness (1972)

I didn’t know who Les McCann was, or what kosmigroov was as a genre, but somehow (I assume from Sea of Tranquility) I picked up a copy of McCann’s Invitation to Openness and haven’t looked back. Or forward, really: I’ve pretty much just stayed with this album, but if this is indicative of what the keyboardist/ composer does on his other albums and I’ll need to rectify that soon. Both meditative and funky, psychedelic and jazzy, it’s a gorgeous record that can match me when I need to send into the clouds or come down from the ledge.

ChrisAugust 18, 20251 Comment

Megadeth: Endgame (2009)

I guess this is how the story ends, to quote a song title from Endgame, the 12th album from thrash metal legends Megadeth? If true, and the forthcoming album and tour is to be Dave Mustaine’s last (under that moniker, at least), it’s good to see him not only leaving on his own terms, but with a body of work that — while it may include a few stinkers — contains more than enough killer albums to justify calling the “legend” tag and anchor their standing in the Big 4 of Thrash forever. And in Consuming the Tangible fashion, rather than mark the occasion with a bona-fide classic, I wanted to put the spotlight in Endgame, which doesn’t get nearly the praise it deserves as a top-tier Megadeth release.

ChrisAugust 15, 2025August 15, 2025Leave a comment

Blind Golem: A Dream of Fantasy (2021)

I said I’d been listening to a lot of recent Uriah Heep lately, but I’ve also been listening to a lot of reasonable facsimiles of Uriah Heep, too. Specifically Blind Golem, a band out of Italy who takes the classic hard rock band’s influence to heart so much so that Ken Hensley is not only featured on the album, but prominently displayed on the fantasy driven album art, to boot. A Dream of Fantasy takes the driving guitars, heavy organ, and proto-metal prog thunder and gives it a bit of that modern European polish for an effective tribute that also manages to make a solid statement on its own.

ChrisAugust 14, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

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Category: CD