Sickoakes - Seawards

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"Based in Stockholm, Sweden; Sickoakes are a six piece instrumental rock band and Seawards is their long awaited debut release. Since the release of an early recording of ‘Wedding Rings & Bullets in the Same Golden Shrine’ on the Pleasedosomething net-label some years ago there has been a bubbling interest in their next move... Taking the finest fragments of the ailing post-rock genre, and infusing this with vibrant orchestral flourishes, Seawards is a slow burning triumph.

Unsurprisingly for such an epic work, the band have based it around some kind of basic narrative. With their travels of the Eastern Bloc firmly in mind, they have realized the album as a kind of telegram; a message to themselves or a series of lonely photos. As non-participating viewers into something isolated and detached they can watch as the world slowly comes to an end, and then tries to pick itself up again. These sentiments are perfectly represented throughout Seawards, which reads from beginning to end flawlessly. Much more than merely seven anonymous tracks, it is a voyeur’s journey into an unconscious world. " - typerecords.com

TSS Honors Drummer Jerry Fuchs

I imagined Maserati's live show is a bit similar to that of NYC's The Turing Machine; the drums driving the live performance, giving the guitars something to work around and add to. And after a bit more research, this would make sense seeing as Jerry Fuchs contributes to both bands as the drummer. Up until I witnessed Turing Machine live, about every other band I saw live ended up being my "favorite live show" because the previous had faded from my memory before I saw another concert. But when it comes to TM's impromptu, single-song (granted it was 13 minutes) set opening for Death From Above, I can to this day say it was the sweatiest and most energetic set I've witnessed and definitely my "favorite set" of all-time. The drummer (Fuchs) did things with a single bass petal I had never witnessed before and have yet seen duplicated. The fills during the set still play in my head 3 years later. I remember the guitarist lifting his head after the end of the song and pools of sweat pouring from his foggy glasses as the crowd starred wide-eyed. You get the picture... it was a great show.
Well, Maserati's latest album features Fuchs at his best, defining himself as the centerpiece of yet another band. I've included Maserati's second full-length and Turing Machine's second full-length releases below. To the right is the only known photo of the mysterious, hermit-like drummer. Wherever you are, Jerry, we thank you for this great music.

Maserati - Inventions for the New Season (2007)

Turing Machine - Zwei (2004)
("Synchronicity III" seems to be missing a portion)

Mission Statement and radio plug

I'm Bruno and i'll be leading you through the slew of instrumental releases of recent past and present. This blog will also serve as 2-dimensional headquarters for my weekly college radio show (Wednesdays 3-5 a.m. EST/midnight-2 a.m. PST; streaming live @ www.kscr.org). I hope to spread the good gospel of today's instrumental trailblazers and maybe learn a little something along the way. If you hate my commentary, just download the albums I post. Have fun, leave comments, critique, object, download.