Dolomite...

Apologies for the unannounced week long break from the blog. I hadn’t planned on disappearing for that long, but it didn’t seem like there was much going on anyway so I figured it would be a good time to do it. I want to try and avoid that “burned out” feeling if all possible. On top of that I had a bit of a hard drive problem which took some time to sort out. All is well now though and I will hopefully have a few updates for the week ahead.

Dolomite was an experimental/noise-rock group from Chicago during the early to mid-nineties. The group featured members Neil Rosario (vocals/guitar), Rian Murphy (vocals/drums), Doug DeMers (bass), and John Whitney (vocals/guitar). Some might recognize the name Rian Murphy due to his association with Will Oldham and his session/production work with label Drag City. However, Dolomite was way before any of that. The band was originally a trio when they released their first single “Tarantula”, which I think came out through Fiasco Records. The same label would put out their first album …Of the Angels, clocking in at whopping 25 minutes that presented the band at their noisiest stages. Full of wandering noodling and random spurts of tortured feedback, it’s definitely a product of its surroundings and is unsurprisingly partly produced by Steve Albini.

Thrill Jockey picked up the band after the release of …Of the Angels and it was followed up by the release of an EP titled The Gift Horse Acetate in 1994 that is pretty much a middle ground between where they started and where they ended up. The bands second full-length Easter Someday was released in 1995 through Thrill Jockey. It’s an interesting turn in sound compared to their earlier recordings, and even what’s found on the EP preceding it. Easter Someday is a an almost completely scaled back affair when looking back on their noisier beginnings and in fact reveals a much folksier and blues influenced version of the band. The Thrill Jockey site even dubs it their “Americana” record, which seems appropriate. It’s an interesting and quite good album that if it were released today would probably have a completely different and possibly larger reception than it did when it originally came out.

I’ve provided a full album upload to the bands first semi-full-length Of the Angels. It’s a bit harder to track down the bands other two releases.

...Of the Angels:
Dolomite - ...Of the Angels (full album)

The Gift Horse Acetate:
Dolomite - This Future Conditional [MP3]

Easter Someday:
Dolomite - Don't Toss Us Away [MP3]

After Dolomite split up in the 1995, Rian Murphy went on to form Chestnut Station and as previously mentioned done work with Will Oldham. He does session/production work with Drag City as far as I know these days. Neil Rosario spent a brief amount of time in Red Red Meat before forming his own band Fifteen Couples however the band never released anything. Rosario later formed The National Trust that also featured fellow Dolomite member Doug DeMers and former Zoom member Mark Henning. John Whitney has since gone on to record a number of solo albums and also played with Murphy’s Chestnut Station.

For anyone looking to pick up Dolomite albums, most of them can be had over at Amazon for fairly cheap, however used. Definitely pick these up if the tunes above peak some interest.

Blood Meridian - Liquidate Paris

Earlier this year I took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Vegas. We opted to drive, which took us through parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. It being my first trip out there I wasn’t really prepared for how barren and desolate those areas are. Every once and awhile I would drive past these tiny little communities that somehow inexplicably sprung up in the middle of the desert. And every so often you’d see one lonely bar placed off to the edge of the highway, which made me begin to wonder what it would be like to spend my life in one of these places. Trust me, I had plenty of time to think about this as it was all I saw for hours upon hours of scorching hot highway. Pictures of lonely nights sitting with maybe one or two other patrons at a bar staring face down into the bottom of my drink emerged from time to time. And then other times I just envisioned taking the truck I was driving and pulling off onto one of the number of dirt roads that shot off from the highway and then driving aimlessly for miles and miles with the windows down. The only thing missing from this was the perfect soundtrack, which sadly I didn’t have for the trip. However, I believe I have found it, albeit a few months late, but regardless now when I recall those same images all I have to do is put on Liquidate Paris the third and latest album from Vancouver’s Blood Meridian.

I know many albums have encapsulated the idea of the west and its reputation for hard living, blood shed, and the mourning that comes along with it. However, there is something special about the way Blood Meridian has gone about doing it on Liquidate Paris. While their previous album Kick Up the Dust was another fine dose of blues tinged Americana, it’s the slightly added element of smoky psychedelia that truly puts this one on the map for me. While practically all of Blood Meridians music emits a haunting vibe to it, Liquidate Paris hones in on it and delves deeper than ever before. The album contains nine songs that are meant for the scattered mess of broken liquor bottles, cigarettes, and shotgun shells.

Blood Meridian – Walk Through the Door [MP3]

For those looking to pick this up, it’s available currently over at Elevation Recordings. I would suggest picking it up quick as Liquidate Paris has a limited run of only 1000 on both CD and vinyl, so these might not last long. It’s well worth checking out.