The Blessed Beat – ‘MiV’ [Review]
Understatement of the day: Charles Bukowski is a little bit influential. Hailed as a literary hero after publishing his debut novel Post Office at the age of 50, Bukowski’s fingerprints can be found all over Californication (the hit US TV show whose protagonist, Hank Moody, was partially based on Bukowski); legendary journalist Neil Strauss’s disturbing seducer’s memoir The Game; and now, this album of beyond unsettling, straight plain fucked up instrumental jazz-rock.
MiV is primarily influenced by Bukowski’s short story The Copulating Mermaid Of Venice, Calif. – a not exactly family friendly tale about a couple of guys who steal a female corpse from a hearse and…the rest is best left to be discovered by the curious. That said, you can’t review an album without mentioning the track titles, and choice cuts like Doesn’t Look Dead To Me and Best Fuck I Ever Had pretty much spell out the story.
According to The Blessed Beat’s press release, the aim of MiV is not only to illustrate said plot, but also to conjure up tonal atmospheres that accurately reflect the tone of Bukowski’s writing. Dank, harsh, and deeply unnerving, it definitely succeeds. This is not an album to listen to before you go to sleep at night, but as a musical and artistic statement it works perfectly.
TMMP RATING: 78%
Links
MiV drops on August 16. Visit The Blessed Beat’s website for more details.
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