Mikelangelo And The Tin Star : The Surf And Western Sounds
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

Mikelangelo And The Tin Star : The Surf And Western Sounds

mikelangelo-surf.jpg

The whole surf-western thing doesn’t make a lot of intuitive sense. Indeed, the very notion of taking your longboard for a spot of surfing in a remote arid location is about plausible as deep-sea fishing for wild cacti off the Californian coast. But for whatever reason the spaghetti western twang of Ennio Morricone has formed a natural, if incongruous symbiotic relationship with the wiry surf melodies of Dick Dale.

And such is the aesthetic foundation of Mikelangelo And The Tin Star. The Surf and Western Sounds of Mikelangelo And The Tin Star is every bit the western-surf soundtrack it promises, spliced with eclectic and amusing instrumental and narrative themes: there’s B-grade action movie humour ( Action (Is My Middle Name)), Eastern European surf scenarios (Balkan Beach Party), Iberian beauty and decadence (The Armada ), The Break-ish Floodhouse and freaked out Misirlou-inspired wonderment (No Sign Of A Pipeline).

But for all of the instrumental spice on this record – and around every corner can be found another lick over which to salivate – it’s the cinematic edge and lyrical themes that make this more than just another surf-garage-spaghetti western record: check out The Axeman’s Jazz -meets-Oedipus Le Torro, the down, dirty and desperately depraved Floodhouse and the Gainsbourg-noir of Midnight Rip for proof positive. It’s haunting, elegant and invigorating – and what more could you want?

 

Key track: Balkan Beach Party .

If You Like These, You’ll Like This: DICK DALE, ENNIO MORRICONE.

In A Word: Spaghetti-surf.