I was really stoked on czechin’ the new Lindsey Buckingham joint the other night, as L-Train and I are both huge Fleetwood Mac fans.  And after listening, we were very sad about it.  Now that Lindsey isn’t scoring blow and beating up his girlfriends, his tunes are slowly waning in smooth rock quality.  I don’t even remember what it sounds like now, my mind has repressed that shit really fast.  My brain’s fast like fast actin’ Tenactin.

So I was in a very bad way before pumping proper on the new Magik Markers jam hive.  It’s a recently dropped, limited release, comically titled EP called Gucci Rapidshare Download, part of Three Lobed Recordings’ Oscillations III series (with artwork by my friend Robert Beatty). Within two minutes, I had endorphins kickin’ in, the spunk came back, and I was in such a good mood, I was ready to rake some of my neighbors’ leaves as a random act of kindness. 

“There Is No Path Which Is Not Straight” is really gorgeous. The Raymond Scott-esque atomic age pinging space sounds replete with rich, jazzy percussion provokes Basil Kirchen at his least chaotic.  The first two minutes submerge you in silky ambient textures, and then it kicks in straight kraut style. The rhythmic punch of this number hits so hard that I’m going to pick up some Icy Hot while waiting in the breadline this evening.  Fluttering, melodic vocal chants and motorik timekeeping act impervious to all the swells of dissonance around (thanks to amplified violins in the vein of Burning Star Core).  This is a remarkable track.

“The Place Where What Has Been Taken Is Returned” is more sparse and gutteral, but certainly structured.  As mentioned, Magik Markers have adopted a serious smokey jazz vibe to their usual brainfuck psychedelic. The beautiful vocal harmonies, melodic tone, slight psych approach, and rock-it-till-it-collapses composition actually evoke sort of a noise-damaged Yo La Tengo or a gentler Bardo Pond.  I don’t think either comparison is a stretch.

This is some the finest output from Magik Markers yet. But you don’t have to take my word for it…

Anyway, you can grip this EP and other good stuff by subscribing to Three Lobed.  Do it!  And pass the hashish, por favor.

MP3 :::
Magik Markers – There is No Path Which is Not Straight
Magik Markers – The Place Where What Has Been Taken Is Return