Radio Moscow – Magic Dirt (Alive Naturalsound Records)
As a huge fan of Radio Moscow, I was exceedingly excited to hear through the grapevine that a new album was in the making. Even more pleased was I when I received an email last week, detailing the whereabouts of the aforesaid album. ‘Magical Dirt’, the band’s fourth album, was released June 17th. The title is drug-inspired; such psychedelia could not have occurred any other way. In guitarist Griggs’ own words, ‘”There was an old compost troft in the garden area. I poured old pre-used pot soils on top of it and a few weeks later hundreds of panaeolus subbalteatus magic mushrooms grew up out of it! I couldn’t believe it. They lasted me all summer and gave many crazy trips.”
The first track, ‘So Alone’, opens with a wiry guitar and a pounding, intersecting bassline. In true Hendrix fashion, guitar builds upon guitar in a mosaic of psychedelic dreams. Raspy, rock vocals overhang and break up crazed guitar hooks. ‘Rancho Tehama Airport’ is a slightly groovier offering, again with manic guitars fuzzed up and faded on. ‘Death Of A Queen’ opens with a guitar, it’s strings plucked to an almost angelic screeching. ‘These Days’, speaks of ‘falling in love with the unknown’, stating that ‘don’t you know these days, so crazy’. In acid, messy nostalgia exists the bands appeal. ‘Bridges’ makes use of a tapped out drum beat, which soon merges back into sweet riffs and wahwah wonder. ‘Stinging’, the finale to the album, traces itself back to more bluesy roots. What seems like a semi acoustic guitar strums out the rhythm, with the occasional swooning of an electric guitar. A mighty fine end to a mighty fine album.
Radio Moscow’s music is suggestive of back door exits, beer bottle fights and manic acid trips. They are very reminiscent of Hendrix, which in my opinion is all the more reason to give them a listen. One slight gripe is that instrumentals detract from lyrical content, but that is rather a compliment to the guitar than a criticism of the vocals themselves. The impressionable, be warned; this album may have you heading straight for the nearest bar. 8.5/10
Jamie Morrell
Listen to ‘Death Of A Queen’