(2007, Magazine/DVD/Mp3, PAL format)
Bad Acid – Tab 4
(2007, Magazine/DVD/Mp3, PAL format)
From Aural Innovations #36 (May 2007)
It took him nearly a decade to pick up where he left off, but Dave Gedge has finally published issue (TAB) 4 of his Bad Acid magazine. And having picked up the ball in the new millennium with the internet in full swing and the whole concept of multi-media in flux, the new Bad Acid is no mere magazine. What we have here is sort of DVD case with a 104 page print magazine accompanied by a video and mp3 packed DVD.
The video portion of the DVD includes 10 bands, with promotional videos by Circulus, Witch, Grand Magus, Witchcraft, Isis and Ufomammut, interviews and live footage with Church of Misery and Sourvein, and an outstanding 1995 spaced out studio jam by Farflung. And there are very cool introductory animated videos before each band with a style that’s like a mixture of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. (Actually the character is based on a short film done by Gav Sodo & Harry Shotton called The Curse of Dr. Caligari which you can view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkPRZrb1yCQ)
The mp3 portion of the DVD includes a whopping 5 ¾ hours of music by a ton of bands, all contributing 1-3 tracks. Stylistically we’re all over the map, though everything is in some way out there and/or extreme. We’ve got all manner of space rock and psychedelia from Sula Bassana, Sula Bassana and the Nasoni Pop Art Experimental Band, Zone Six, Liquid Visions, Dragon Tears, Vibravoid, On Trial, Farflung, Oresund Space Collective, Morkobot, Lento, Total System Failure and Unimother 27. We’ve got a hodgepodge of metal from Grand Magus, Teeth of the Hydra and Motheater. Thrash metal from Black Eye Riot and The Versus Project. Doom metal from Ramesses and Indesinence. Electro doom from Farest Zombee. Various forms of punk and metal from Amazon Saliva (very cool prog-punk), Koresh and Guided Cradle. Hard/Stoner/Psych rock from Witch, Olde Crone and Witchcraft. Electronica (noise, soundscapes, drones) from Novahead vs. Chickentron, Olmo, Subcutaneous Drone, Larva 108 and Ondo. Folk based adventurous music from Transcendental Organic Magical Objective, Rose Kemp and Circulus. And avant-prog-jazz from Chrome Hoof.
And the 104 page printed magazine has articles/interviews with every one of the bands on the DVD. Dave is charging £8.50 for this gem. More if you’re in the US but even with with extra for shipping and exchange rate it’s still just over $20, which is a bargain for all that you get. Folks in the US should note that the DVD is PAL format, but I think most newer computers will play that (and I’ve got a code free DVD player).
For more information and to order a copy you can visit the Bad Acid
Myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/badacidmagazine.
Email publisher Dave Gedge at: badacid@hotmail.co.uk
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz