Volcano the Bear - Classic Erasmus Fusion (2006)
forget anything you have heard before, here is volcano the bear. with an overall idea in mind when playing songs(whether live or studio) of just making music regardless of form, they are one of the very last bands with the balls to do so. with droneish landscapes that turn into psychedelic frenzies, and folkish sounds that seem as if they were derived from serbia/bulgaria/greatmotherlandrussia, classic erasmus fusion is a trip of its own. really cool release and most definitely one of the most interesting things that was released this past decade. very similar to sun city girls and cerberus shoal, if only in approach. trust me, you have never and will never hear anything like this again. and for some reason they have also been compared to no neck blues band, jackie-o motherfucker, etc.
Each song has eluded me from understanding this band, yet curiosity keeps me from moving on. Call it a morbid fascination with awkwardness or bad taste, I like what I'm hearing. Some parts have induced intense dream flashbacks. I would love to use their music in any films I make in the future. Thanks for sharing!
this is a great blog - thanks again!
Midnight toker said it best.
This album is incredibly good and I can't for the life of me understand why noone I know has heard and/or recommended me this. Thank YOU for doing so..
Should I stop at this, or are there other albums that should be heard by this band? What I mean to say is this; where to start?
@ Freakazoid...They have another two albums that are just as essential as this, "The Idea of Wood" is probably their best, touches of Nurse with Wound, This Heat and, of course, something completely different. "500 Boy Piano" dumbfounded a lot of serious Volcano the Bear fans when it came out, apparently they found it " a little too commercial" (in English that means that it had more vocals and hooks). Yeh, so Classic Erasmus Fusion and The Idea of Wood are their best I'd say, then 500 Boy Piano. There are, however, a multitude of CDR releases too, which range from absolute rubbish to absolute brilliance. As far as I can remember, most of their stuff was available through Beta Lactam. There is also a band who are a quite similar in their organic approach, and sound in some instances, from Manchester called The Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra (their fav instrument being, of course, old bicycles). Dunno if they have a label yet but if you like the Volcano sound then I'd recommened them too. I'm sure their debut is available as a free download from the band themselves.
Anyway, to the blog owner now...This is excellent mate! I have just found this blog today and plan on spending a long time sifting through all your stuff. Thanks for the music and keep up the important work!!!! :0)