Everyone in Australia doesn't surf or work as a life guard. In fact, some of them play the hardest doom blues you will ever come across. I'm referring to T.K. Bollinger from Melbourne. The music of T.K. Bollinger has an unmistakable gothic streak over it, which makes it eligble for this "gothic country" site. Doom from Down Under, is that conceivable? Of course it's conceivable. “Gothic country” and its genre cousins thrives in all time and climate zones, so also in the Southern Hemisphere. T.K. Bollinger is labeled "sadcore" (a branch of "slowcore"). It's a jumble without precedent anyway. T.K. Bollinger has been an important part of the Melbourne underground scene for over 25 years and the discography is impressing. Some of the albums are available on Bandcamp. On his equally tasteful and informative website you can read about his long and winding road along musical projects, names and constellations. The latest project is T.K. Bollinger & That Sinking Feeling. The band consists (naturally) of T.K. Bollinger (vocals and guitar), R.S. Amor (bass and engineering) and Vis Ortis (drums). A caveat is in place. The music is dark and depressing located in the absolute outskirts of what this website deals with. However, I like it.  

When you're steadily rooted in the doom genre you expose yourself for a considerable risk of mannerism, overplay and theatricality. But the doom and the gloom is here balanced with a considerable proportion of fragility. T.K. Bollinger's latest album "A Catalogue of Woe" took three years to complete and was released in August 2014. It's literally pitch-black. The album cover is in fact so dark that I had to adjust the brightness of the album image (see right) so it would be possible to distinguish the motif. The music is even darker, but not beyond what you can take with a normal emotional setup. The album contains nine songs. The song titles are witty and ironic. You would expect a title that starts with "That which does not kill me..." to be followed by "makes me stronger", but instead it's followed by "gives me cancer". Another example is "Tortured by a Racialised Folk Devil". The best songs on the album are "Betting On Your Dying Day", "Tortured by a Racialised Folk Devil", "Rich Man's Heaven", "That Which Does Not Kill Me Gives Me Cancer", "Wearing Down My Devotion", "Fools Walk Were Logic Fear To Tread" and "Were You There When They Crucified My Love". The album moves between extremes. In some songs they almost goes beserk (where they remind me of Neil Young's band Crazy Horse in their messiest and loudest moments) while other songs have a more delicate and restrained expression. On these latter songs, the vocals of T.K. Bollinger are more heartfelt. The album "A Catalogue of Woe" is (besides digitally) released as a limited edition cd and as a limited edition cd including a book with illustrations. Both editions are very affordable. You can listen to the album and buy it (bottom left).   

If you click on the icons below they will open in a new window, from left to right: T.K. Bollinger's Bandcamp page, T.K. Bollinger's Facebook page, T.K. Bollinger's homepage and T.K. Bollinger's Myspace page.

Quotes, quotes and quotes. Quotes are everywhere and hard to avoid. They even pop up in the electronic invoice system at my workplace. Their purpose seems to be to light up the day with both inspirational and sprightly exclamations and share thoughtful life wisdoms. Unfortunately, they have the opposite effect on me since I tend to get annoyed with sententious drivel. If I can understand them. Sometimes the quotes are completely incomprehensible. Of course, there are quotes and there are quotes. Very few quotes reach the standards of Oscar Wilde (the true master of sardonic one-liners). However, I'm very amused by the quotes within in the "gothic country" genre. They were never meant to be quotes and are just "cut out" as quotes by yours truly. A quote requires some universal insights. The injustices in the "gothic country" genre are numerous, extensive and outrageous so there's no lack of topics to extract quotes from. The "cut out" quotes are often self-ironic and sarcastic and contain a large dose grim humour, but are for some reason never bitter. Soldiering on no matter what. For this, the artists and the bands have my unreserved respect. Here are the top ten quotes. 

1. "Let’s be honest: this type of music is an acquired taste"– Christian Williams (about the limited interest in gothic country from major record labels)

2. "I find it easiest to write what I know about. Religion is king where I grew up... I'm never left without source material." - Zebulon Whatley (about the source of his creative output)

3. “Musicians are generally pretty terrible people” – Slackeye Slim a.k.a Joe Frankland (about the difficulties finding musicians to work with)

4. "Social media ain't country" – American Sinner (about their social media strategies and activities)

5. "A typical Reverend Glasseye show is typical only in that it's fairly atypical" - Reverend Glasseye (about their live performances)

6. ”All of the hiss, noise and defects from the original recordings have been retained for your listening displeasure.” – Lonesome Wyatt (from the liner notes on the triple-cd Moldy Basement Tapes)

7. "I pick the songs and adjust them for my needs, trying to hammer them into a shape where I can sing them without being phony or a wanna be.” - Uncle Sinner (describing his working methods)

8. ”I see that in the scene are some pretenders who are "so daaaark" and others who appear to be very truthful in their expressions.” – Dad Horse Ottn (about the future for artists/bands in the gothic country genre”)

9. "There are two kinds of gigs. Normal gigs and weird gigs, I hate normal gigs.” – Reverend Elvis and the Undead Syncopators (about their live performances)

10. "What’s the difference between a musician and a large pizza? A large pizza can support a family” – Josh T. Pearson (about being a struggling musician)

A take refers to successive attempts to record a song. The concept comes from the need to obtain a complete and at the same time acceptable take, which was especially important in the years predating multi-track recording and dubbing techniques. Musical takes were numbered sequentially. An alternate take refers to different versions of the same song from a single recording session. After the introduction of multi-track recording it's no longer necessary to obtain a complete single take. You can patch it up afterwards. With digital recording, you can refine or pervert the recording in infinite ways. Nowadays, an alternate take often refers to a demo or experimental version before the artists decides what shape and form the song should have and how it will be finalized. It's often very fascinating and instructive to listen to earlier versions and compare it with the original song. The original version is almost never outshined by an alternate take. However, it's the exception that proves the rule. In the rock music genre one such example is the demo version of "Candidate" recorded on New Year's Day 1974 by David Bowie (a.k.a. "Candidate 1" and "Alternative Candidate"). The original version of "Candidate" was released on the album Diamond Dogs the same year. The demo song was released as a bonus track on Rykodisc (RCD 10137). It's very elaborated for a demo. The versions are very different musically and lyrically. The demo version have only one line and a title in common with the original “Candidate”. The demo version is 5,05 minutes long, while the original version is only 2,40 minutes. Anyway, the demo version wipes the floor with the original version.

This phenomenon also exists within the "gothic country" genre. There are no shortage of candidates. The obvious choice is the early version of ”Cora” by Christian Williams (recorded in May 2006 and digitally released on "The Long Winter B-sides and Alternate Takes in September 2008). The original version of "Cora" was released in September 2008 on the debut album "For My Mind, It Was Flying". The song has the same rhythm and structure in both versions. However, there are important differences. The original version is catchy and upbeat, banjo-driven and ends with a fade-out. The song is 2:32 minutes long. The alternate take is slow and subdued, guitar-based and ends with a plucking chord. The song is 3:32 minutes long. You can listen to the two versions below and compare them. In which aspects does the alternate take outshine the original version? An answer would be that the original version is bad, but this is not really the case here, on the contrary. The alternate take is just as good as it gets. This version is made up by a perfect interplay between dark baritone vocals and restrained guitar strumming. The philosophical and thoughtful lyrics also becomes more prominent in this early version compared with the original version. The harmony sways and floats throughout the song. But, the attribute that is crowning this song, besides the vocals, is the simple but beautiful guitar strumming after the fourth and sixth (and last) verse. In my opinion, the sound board of a Martin guitar have never amplified a more deep and full-bodied sound. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". There is nothing to take away here. Of course, there's nothing to add or alter either.  

Here are the lyrics of “Cora” in its entirety: One mornin' 'bout the break of day/ I heard my loving pappy say/ By the Lord above this old oak tree/ Don't let me rest in no six-by-three/ No matter what your momma thinks/ I won't be bound by no chain link/ And when it's time for soul to die/ I want my ashes to fill the sky/ You can spill me from a moving train/ Or let me fall from an aeroplane/ However you do it, I don't care/ Just promise me I'll be in the air/ My eyes'll see New York's skyline/ While my legs stretch past the Great Divide/ My ears'll hear Congress debate/ while what counts is already in the Pearly Gates/ I asked, What of the preacher man/who says that we belong in the land?/ Ashes to ashes and all that stuff/ that we gotta go back to where we came from? / He said, The way I see it my curious son/ in heaven this old body won't serve no one/ If all I need is my heart and soul/ why not let these old bones circle the globe?

Cora (original version)

Cora (alternate take)

Annus Horribilis is here. This is namely the year the cd really died. It was just apparantely dead before. The death cause was unnatural death induced by a combination of new technology and a change in consumer demand. However, CD sales peaked worldwide already in 2000 and it has been a very long and painful death struggle. An inevitable gasp, wheeze and death twitch could be noticed last year. This was particularly noticeable in Sweden, a country full of anxious early adopters, and supported by sales statistics. In 2014 3 895 000 cd albums were sold in Sweden. That means 0,4 cd albums per capita. I bought 133 cd albums in 2014 (I admit, this was a poor year). In 2013 and 2012 the sales figures were 5 795 000 and 8 440 000 respectively. In 2000 as much as 23 838 000 cd albums were sold. The interesting thing isn't the sales decline in itself, but the pattern the last three years. You would since 2000 expect some large shifts in sales and then a proportional decline. You would also expect smaller and smaller decreases, when you reach the segments of hard core buyers like myself. But this is not the case, on the contrary. Calculated as percentage change versus previous year, the drop in sales has actually increased the last three years, despite lower and lower absolute sales levels. The change in sales is -15 percent 2012, -31 percent 2013 and -33 percent 2014 (!). I'm a full-blown reactionist when it comes to formats, but I have reluctantly come to accept that the cd format is dead. However, I'm not going to change format. The master plan, until now, has been to buy uncompressed physical files and then burn them on long-lasting and high-quality cd-r. I have to force myself back to the drawing board again, since digital sales also is dropping rapidly but have now stabilized. The change in sales is -25 percent 2012, -23 percent 2013 and 3 percent 2014 (!). The revenues from digital downloads now accounts for less than five percent of total sales. Who knows how long uncompressed digital downloads will be available for sale until streaming takes over completely. Let me for the sake of clarity declare: I hate streaming very deep and intensely, especially Spotify. Ugliest music streaming service I ever seen, no fair reimbursement to the artists and the sound quality is terrible. I don't know what I will do when there's only streaming left. In worst case scenario, I will decelerate and only listen to music that has been released in cd format and join a group of cd death conspiracy theorists. CD is a highly slandered format. In my opinion, it's a practical format by which you can to listen to an album in its entirety without any break (just as the artist intended) with adequate sound quality (most important no scratches or hissing). Annus Horribilis is here. If you want peace, prepare for war.

Uncle Sinner has now released his second proper album with the title "Let the Devil In". Hereby the concept of "firmly arbitrary deadline" got a new and deeper meaning. The exact phrase was formulated in the summer of 2011 as "I think I will set December 2011 as a firmly arbitrary deadline for "let the devil in". Since then, the schedule for the release has been postponed several times due to external and internal factors. However, deadlines are only deadlines and must be changed when reality takes over and you can't control all the variables. Uncle Sinner also dislikes deadlines and the feeling that he owe people something. The factors beyond control and the attitude towards deadlines and other peoples expectations means that the album will be ready when its ready and not before. However, six years have elapsed since the release of the debut album "Ballads and Mental Breakdowns" on legendary but now defunct Devil's Ruin Records. Uncle Sinner did actually release a collection with outtakes and rarities, "A Pocketful of Glass Eyes" (digitally only) as a fundraiser in March 2014. However, Uncle Sinner's opinion was that it varied in quality and didn't form a proper album. Anyway, it was rough and stripped down to the bone. In another context Uncle Sinner expressed that “Let the Devil In” will sound much better than the tracks on "A Pocketful of Glass Eyes" and for the most part the tracks will be a bit more complex (but not too complex). The moment of truth is now here.   

In my mind there has never been any doubt that "Let the Devil In" would see the light of day. It has only been a question of when, how and what. The new album follow the modus operandi associated with Uncle Sinner. That is, take a couple of songs you adore from the copious well of root music, bring them to the smithy and forge them into a new shape and form, but still possible to discern. The songs are, as I have explained in the main article about Uncle Sinner, not covers in a traditional sense. They are something more and something else. Within the boundaries of total artistic freedom Uncle Sinner both add and subtract and takes liberties in changing the tune and lyrics. The album "Let the Devil In" is released in cd format and digital download will follow. The album is released at his very own Stomp the Bug Records (see bottom left for how to order). Kudos to Uncle Sinner for releasing the album in this doomed format. The physical disc is placed in an envelope-like album cover together with a 12-page booklet. The booklet contains notes about the songs, track credits and, last but not least, extraordinary photos of which some are from the Interlake region between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba (a.k.a. ”Sinterlake” in the world of Uncle Sinner). The album art is designed by Gal Stark Arad-Kabiri. A sinnerific painting was designed and intended for the album cover, but it wasn’t quadratic (see the cover here) and you don’t cut in a work of art in order to fit it within a frame. The album contains 13 songs of which one (the title track ”Let the Devil In”) is an original song. The selection of songs is almost faultless. In my opinion, two of the songs (”Little Girl in Rome” and ”Milkcow Blues”) could and should have been left out. They are not bad choices per se, but there are definitely more interesting songs in the well. However, it’s a peripheral remark. The rest of the album is solid. The album is similar to the debut album in terms of content and themes. However, some of the songs shines brighter than others. The songs with the highest luminosity are ”Blow, Gabriel”, Wolves A-Howling”, ”Jesus Was a Dying Bed Maker”, ”900 Miles” (a.k.a. ”Train 45” or ”Reuben’s Train”), ”Black Betty” and ”Oh Death” (not to be confused with the better known ”O’Death”). The original song of Uncle Sinner ”Let the Devil” stand the test of comparison with other songs on the album. No doubt about that. 

Uncle Sinner considers himself as an idiot when it comes to recording, mixing and other technical issues. But, with a little help from his friends he pulls it through. The arrangements and performance are wellproduced, but a bit raw. On the other hand, you don’t want an overproduced album from Uncle Sinner, if that’s even possible to imagine. The sound quality on the album is brilliant. Uncle Sinner is a multi-instrumentalist, but the songs are mostly banjo-driven (which is a good thing). On the new album he lives up to his previous artist presentation where Uncle Sinner “enjoys hollering, guitars, banjos, mandolins and rage." Uncle Sinner’s singing voice is at least as dark, raw and unpolished as on the debut album. The final song is ”Wayfaring Stranger”. This choice is associated with considerable vertical drop. I mean, there’s always room for another version of this traditional hymn, but at the same time what can possible be left to do with this overly covered song, especially after Johnny Cash once and for all raised the bar for how it should be done in his American Recordings series. However, Uncle Sinner surprise me, definitely you and maybe even himself in this very spectacular version. The song starts with a lingering and melancholic banjo loop for almost half a minute before the vocals start. Uncle Sinner give it all he got. No holding back or timidity here, on the contrary, it’s just brute force. The thing that makes this particular version of ”Wayfaring Stranger” so outstanding is the very long instrumental parts between the verses, where there’s only the banjo playing (and some muffled foot-stomping) slowly and majestically spreading out. It's also very gothic (which always is a good thing). The instrumental passages are moments when time almost stands still. The hymn "Wayfaring Stranger" goes smoothly over into ”Wabash Blues” after circa 5,35 minutes and the tempo increases markedly, but after a short while the song fade out quietly and in style. As you already may have guessed ”Wayfaring Stranger/Wabash Blues” is the clearly best song on the album. And finally, the overall assessment: does the album sound much better than the tracks on "A Pocketful of Glass Eyes" and are the songs for the most part a bit more complex (but not too complex). The answer is, of course, yes. The new album is at least as good as "Ballads and Mental Breakdowns". In fact, with "Let the Devil In, I can now wait six years for a third album. But then, I have been equipped with the patience that withstands a comparison with Job.  

If you click on the icons below they will open in a new window, from left to right: Uncle Sinner's Bandcamp page, main article on this website about Uncle Sinner, Uncle Sinner's Facebook page and Uncle Sinner's Myspace page