Forbidden Place Records Update

Forbidden Place Records has reached Ludicrous Speed. All of that maniacal laughter you hear in the distance? That's FPR, reeling in the good feels from all of the fine doings that are doing. On top of the miraculous number of releases out now, there's a whole slew of stuff in the works. Ideally, if one were wise, one would keep checking back from time to time to see what's up.
Much of Forbidden Place Records' released music is NYP on Bandcamp, and vinyl options are available for the grown-ups. Each link below is a passageway to another listening experience, each set to detonate inside your brain within seconds of hitting the "Play" button.

The Black Furs - Doomed Blues
https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-furs-doomed-blues-blue-vinyl-record-pre-order 

 

Monje - S/T
https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/monje-s-t-compact-disc-pre-order 

Stone Disciple - Lost Comm

https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/stone-disciple-lost-comm-pre-order-compact-disc

Sleeping Tigers - 7"

https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-tigers-7-record-luxurious-mellow-yellow-vinyl-pre-order 

Franck Racket - Screaming Skull

https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/franck-racket-screaming-skull 

Flying Disk - Urgency

https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/flying-disk-urgency-compact-disc-lp

LàGoon - The Unwelcome

https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/l-goon-the-unwelcome-pre-order

Bandcamp Blitz - March 15th, 2019

Crazy month thus far. So many new releases, I'm playing catch-up with everything. Forbidden Place Records has been super busy with new releases, and I've had a little something in the works to make a few of you freak out. As I work up an update on the goings-on at Nerve Salad & Forbidden Place, here's a little list to keep you occupied until then. Meanwhile, stay tuned! A few surprises in the works!

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Glued - Cool Evil
https://glued.bandcamp.com/album/cool-evil-2
(Hefty, meaty post-punk/indie/noise from St. Louis. Lots of dirty basements and greasy garages are sewn into the sound. Fractured, anti-melodies protrude like a shattered limb. Ouch.. and Yum..)

Blues Arcadia - Carnival Of Fools
https://bluesarcadia.bandcamp.com/album/carnival-of-fools
(Soulful, skillful, swayful, spoonfuls of smoothness. Real Delbert McClinton vibe going on with the vocalist, and a super groove happening throughout the entire album. It's likely you could pick yourself out a soul/r&b/rock influence, and you'll find it here. It's kinda one of those albums that if you play it loud, you're doing the right thing, but if you play it softly, as background music for dinner or casual gatherings, you're also doing it right. Big thanks to Bucky Brown for hepping me to this one. One thing's for sure: These Aussies can give you a case of the incurable feels. Smooth AF. )

The Mighty Trumpet Company - The Strength And The Courage
https://mightytrumpetcompany.bandcamp.com/album/the-strength-and-the-courage
(Hey now... watch out... this is infectious stuff. Alt-Americana/power pop/alt rock. A few spiritual/Biblical overtones in the lyrical delivery, plenty of alt-warm fuzzies to keep you feeling fresh and clean. Do not even think for a moment that this is "another Christian band"... you would be criminally mistaken. This album is a jubilant jaunt through styles and genres, and does not take very many moments to breathe. Tuck your napkin into the front of your shirt, grab your fork and knife. A bountiful harvest, this.)

Crypt Trip - Haze County
https://crypttrip.bandcamp.com/album/haze-county-3
(If I need to explain why this is on this list, or any list, it's beyond you. Crypt Trip gets better with each album. Their previous album killed me.. I was done for. I play it all the freaking time. It's one of the best albums ever. Haze County surpasses Rootstock and previous albums by LIGHT YEARS. Into the Best Of List, and staying there. Bands are going to have a hard time following this up for the remainder of the year... sorry, other bands. Crypt Trip's latest album Haze County is a blazing masterpiece. Bow before them.)

I Was A King - Slow Century
https://iwak.bandcamp.com/album/slow-century
(Fine jangle pop from Norway! Produced by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, this is a shimmering effort. On the surface, the tunes appear quite simplistic, but scratch away the top layers, and there's the winning number underneath it all. Quite good.)

Magic Circle - Departed Souls
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/departed-souls
(Doom. Doom. Doom! Classic sounds, unearthed from a cosmic tomb. Drop out, light up,  bliss forth. Rock & roll that will hunt you in the night and eat you alive. Don't miss this.)

Found Wild - Found Wild
https://foundwild.bandcamp.com/album/found-wild

(Sublime, breezy alt-country. Beautiful tunes, classy songwriting, seasoned musicianship.. all surrounded by a package I can't resist. That brilliant cover... Sold. That killer vinyl pressing... Sold. The sophisticated music... Sold!)

Bandcamp Blitz - March 1st, 2019

Jeez, February. There's an energetic crackle in the air, and it seems to be lighting up the year like ignis fatuus, a beacon to bring the rest of the year's music into the fold.
In other words: Jeez, February.

The List:



Iain Micah Weigert - Dust To Mud
https://iainmicahweigert.bandcamp.com/album/dust-to-mud
(Wonderful, heartfelt Cosmic Americana. Really a stand-out in terms of lyrics and execution. Definitely takes you through a dusty drive through the desert while you sort out your thoughts. Unearthly, phantom-doused, isolated, quietly flowing streams of consciousness skillfully put into little packages of mildly hallucinogenic, psych-y cosmic Americana/country and distributed evenly among the Arcadian macrocosm....)
  

Pinegrove - Skylight
https://pinegrove.bandcamp.com/album/skylight
(Okay, thousands of people like this band, apparently. I'm only just now hearing it. This kind of alternative country, alt-folk is pretty good. Something about the way everything fits together makes this a great album. I've heard the bands other albums, but for some reason, I like this one the best. Maybe it's because I heard it first, but these songs are really beautiful, poetic ditties that never stray too far outside of their comfort zone. Really a pleasure to listen to.)

Sleep Study - Miss America 
https://sleepstudymusic.bandcamp.com/album/miss-america
(Minneapolis power pop quartet making a few waves with their latest effort, Miss America. These songs are so catchy, you're gonna need an injection.)

Orbiter - Resist, Submit, Repeat
https://orbiterrocks.bandcamp.com/album/resist-submit-repeat
(Heavy AF proggy hard rock from Norway. Quite a few things happening at once. The overpowering groove, aggressive vocals, and snarly approach. Throw in some stonery moments, and it becomes a far out trip into the cosmos.)

Thursday's Pussy Dogs - Howlin' Like A Shewolf
https://thursdayspussydogs.bandcamp.com/album/howlin-like-a-shewolf
(Spain surges forward with another amazing hard rock band. Spain seems to be catching up to the rest of the psych/stoner/heavy rock pack with true panache. Intense, jammy, groovy, soul-drenched hard rock with some unruly Southern touches. Ka-BAM!!)

Black Vulpine - Veil Nebula
https://momentofcollapserecords.bandcamp.com/album/veil-nebula
(Dark prog. One track on Bandcamp showing signs of promise. Female-fronted heavy, busy, sludgy, stonery prog with monster riffs and some psych-y feels. REM-inducing music for headbangers.)

Thee Telepaths - The Velvet Night
https://theetelepaths.bandcamp.com/album/the-velvet-night
(Krautrock, proto-punk, psych from the UK. Tripped-out, fuzzy landscapes. Has a touch of '80s darkwave, which is to my liking. When listening as a whole album, one will likely be transported to some other garage in some other land in some other time.)

Bandcamp Blitz - February 7th, 2019

The List:




The Bogart Jones Band - 14th & Willow
https://thebogartjonesband.bandcamp.com/album/14th-willow
(Mighty fine tunes. Classic/funk/blues/soul, good-timey, hard livin', grit-infused, down home, heart-o-gold Southern rock & roll. A little something for everyone. Been a fan of these dudes for a while, and looking forward to what's next. I might have to mention the family ties, as my uncle plays the keys in this band, but the only bias here is the fact that this rocks, plain and simple.)

Sam Hoffman - Fair Weather
https://sam-hoffman.bandcamp.com/album/fairweather 
(Awesome psychy power pop! Just the sound I love and want when it comes to "power pop". No punky stuff here, no whiny lamenting... Just straight songwriting, groovy vocals, layered harmonies.)

 Half Stack - Quitting Time
https://halfstack.bandcamp.com/album/quitting-time
(Wonderful little discovery. Country Psych/Cosmic Americana. So good, I shared this with everybody I thought would appreciate it. Another album from last year that I feel like I missed out on when it came out.)

PowerPlant - EP
https://hailtheplant.bandcamp.com/album/ep
(Grungy stoner doom from Szczecin, Poland with some psych influences. A fine EP, with lots of depth, lots of groovy riffs, head nodding heaviness.)

Roger Røksund - Roger Røksund
https://roksund.bandcamp.com/album/roger-r-ksund
(Smooth proggy pop rock. Not in the sense you're thinking of. This isn't Toto. This is a little John Grant, a little Floyd. Coming in from Norway, we, of course, have some really interesting stuff going on here. The vocals are truly top notch (one of the strongest parts of the album), the songwriting is pleasantly plump, with wonderfully orchestrated instrumentation. Can get over the top for the sake of it, but never sounds like stunted grandiosity. Fine music.)

Knivderby - Den första skörden
https://knivderby.bandcamp.com/album/den-f-rsta-sk-rden 
(Really good, powerful indie rock! A little power pop thrown in for good measure... Sung in Swedish. For those that don't speak the language, it's easy to enjoy this without knowing what they're saying. We're talking some serious songwriting here. According to the description, this is the band's 9th and last album. 9th album? Wow. Quite a dynamic band with a nice little history. Worth a listen.)

- Andy Benson

Bandcamp Blitz - February 3rd, 2019

The List:


Galaxy Chamber - Millennium Madness 
https://galaxychamber.bandcamp.com/album/millennium-maddness-ep 
(Avant Garde, bizarre, psych rock blowout. Wacky in all kinds of good ways. Bordering on horror film score-ish-ness. A total head trip.)

Svarta Stugan -  Islands / Öar
https://svartastugan.bandcamp.com/album/islands-ar 

(Mighty, thematic instrumental indie prog post rock. The melodies are what struck me right off the bat. Heavier than most, without being too metallic. Conjuring pioneering bands like Earth, Pelican, June Of '44, and such, we're treated to the right concoction of melodic nuances.)

JARS - ДЖРС II

https://jars.bandcamp.com/album/ii
(Superb, angry, noise rock/post hardcore from Russian Federation. There are no light moments, no pretty things, and no sleeping on the job here. Just unrelenting brashness. Coming soon on Forbidden Place Records)

Holy Whale - Adrift Through The Storm
https://holywhale.bandcamp.com/album/adrift-through-the-storm 
(Grungy, stonery Ukrainian hard rock. A little touch of AIC & friends, a little smidgen of other various alt-metal bands here and there, pinches of various genres. Strong effort.)

Dark Numbers - If It Was It Would Be So 
https://darknumbers-nadinerecords.bandcamp.com/album/if-it-was-it-would-be-so  
(Megablast of powerful, epic proggy alt-metal. Ridiculous melodic hammerings, great female vox, superb harmonies, atomic-blast, this-is-your-doom riffage. This is like Yes-meets-Baroness in a dark alley, and subsequently melds into Helms Alee and White Swan. Looking forward to the rest of this album, for sure. Bring it on, folks. Bring it on.)

Ryan Holweger - Gunmetal Sky
https://ryanholweger.bandcamp.com/album/gunmetal-sky
(Another little alt-country album that was real sneaky about it. Just came out of nowhere for me. Kinda swooped in like an intervention. Ryan Holweger, long-time member of the alt-country band The Western Fifth, stands out like a beacon on his first full-length solo work. With the help of a few buddies, he's created quite a stunning collection of tunes. A real keeper, this one.)

- Andy B.

Bandcamp Blitz - January 31st, 2019

Bandcamp Blitz

The new year has really kicked off well. In the short amount of time that has passed since the last list, it's become clear to me that this year is not going to let up.

It's Winter here at Nerve Salad Central. Normally, this is not that big of a deal, but we've achieved record lows this time around. We could officially say that we were colder than Antarctica. I look outside, and I see all of these woodpeckers fluffed up, all of the trees frozen over, the snow covering the ground is a solid sheet of glistening frost. It's -23°F. It's snowing again. I'm not going anywhere.

The List: 

Mooner - O.M.
https://moonerobr.bandcamp.com/album/o-m 
(This is some of the most driving heavy psych I've heard in a long time. I'm super glad I found these guys (and gal) when I did. FANTASTIC heavy psych, with a serious GO! GO! GO! attitude that I like. Perfect for cruising. Every song packs a wallop of riffs and psych-y noodling. Many flavors = Tasty Treats.)

Fauxhalla - Fauxhalla EP
https://fauxhalla.bandcamp.com/album/fauxhalla  

(When a pal of yours has an awesome psychedelic dream pop band and you don't know about it, you buy their stuff on Bandcamp immediately. Very diggable, lush, '80s electro-poppy pair of tunes perfect for getting lost in the woods.)

The Delines - The Imperial
https://thedelines.bandcamp.com/album/the-imperial 

(Such a fine collection of classy tunes. One of those last-minute discoveries for me. Cool band, great lyrics, smooth sound. Always has that "rainy-day-at-home-alone" feel to the tunes, giving the whole album a blissfully gloomy vibe that's hard to escape. An album full of "feels". I'm finding myself liking this band more and more as time goes by. Boone's lyrics are fantastic portraits of hard livin', poor choices, and empty dreams, among other tastefully dreary stories. I like to call this "24-Hour Laundromat Country Blues". Full album can be found streaming on other platforms, but just buy this one, and you'll get the full album.)

Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion
https://heronoblivion.bandcamp.com/album/heron-oblivion 
(Tasty experimental pop psych with touches of krautrock, noise, acid rock freakouts, and '70s prog. An album I kind of missed out on when it released. Likely something I would have jumped around about had I been on top of it.)

Strand Of Oaks - Eraserland
https://strandofoaks.bandcamp.com/album/eraserland  
(Strand Of Oaks is a nice little project by singer/songwriter Timothy Showalter. He's been around the block a time or two. Previous albums are real jewels. He's been in league with the likes of Jason Isbell, and the Magnolia boys. This album is not yet out, but this track alone shows so much promise, it's worth getting the ball rolling.)

The Watch - Seven 
 https://thewatchprog.bandcamp.com/album/seven
(Italy's finest reincarnation of early '70s Genesis. As a follower of these guys for many years now, it's obvious when they release an album, you are going to get the sound you come to know and love. They are extremely good at it. Complete with a Steve Hackett appearance.) 

Prehistoric Pigs - Dai
https://prehistoricpigs.bandcamp.com/album/dai  
(After their first recordings, a split with Electric Taurus, and the following album, it was time to check in on the Pigs. Dai is as you would expect: Fuzzy psych, hallucinogenic jams, and wild riffage. Good stuff.)

Snog The Dog - Toxic Shock
https://snogthedog.bandcamp.com/album/toxic-shock
(Funk alt-metal extravaganza. Catchy tunes, heavy riffs, sweet leads, nice vox. A band that could go places with the right audience. Some little bump in the right direction would turn these guys into stoner rock heroes. A little Faith No More mixed with your Hendrixian panache. Truly something to be experienced rather than described. A real freakout, evoking memories of '90s grunge, and '70s hard rock. Turn this one up.)

  

Wulfhound - EP
https://wulfhound.bandcamp.com/album/ep 
(Really great stoner doom with underwater vox. The fuzziness is unrelenting, the doom is impending, and the darkness is just around the corner. I dig the "silver lining" in the open spaces. Lots of bass boomy fun for the AM routine)

  

Harmony Rockets w/ Special Guest Peter Walker - Lachesis​/​Clotho​/​Atropos
https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/lachesis-clotho-atropos
(Nifty side project/supergroup, full of sounds. Another one of those "listen instead of try to describe" albums. Lots of psych jams, raga rock, ethereal explosions, all put into one spacey affair.)

Bandcamp Blitz - January 16th, 2019

The List:

The Tunnel - The Blood EP
https://thetunnelsf.com/album/the-blood-ep

(Here it is... the new Tunnel EP! Killer deathrock with unrelenting noise rock punishment. 3 songs made to flay you in twain. Take your beatings now.)

 Vertical - Vol. 3

https://verticalrockband.bandcamp.com/album/vol-3 

(Holy ballsnuts, holy ballsnuts, holy ballsnuts!! These riffs! Those vox! This groove! So good, I could scream. This album hammers it down in ways I think I must have needed right now. This does not let up for one second, and completely shreds out melodic riffs, unrelenting groove, and class. Screw your morning coffee, this will wake your ass right up.)

 

 

 

The Torcido Monkey Dream -Kikazaru EP 2018

https://thetorcidomonkeydream.bandcamp.com/album/kikazaru-ep-2018

(They have to be dreaming about monkeys, because this music is bananas! Literally the most jarring, yet satisfying listening experience I've had in a while. Stoner/noise/metal/groove/junk rock. Has the occasional "proggy" thing happening here and there, but this ain't no Yes album. This more in line with Bungle or some other whacky Patton project. This is bananas AND nuts with a swirl of headshots.)

 

 

 

Wooden Dinosaur - Working Weather

https://woodendinosaur.bandcamp.com/album/working-weather 

(This little gem just jumped out at me whilst simply playing around in the Bandcamp sandbox. Enthusiastic, mature, catchy, bright and uplifting Americana/folk/rock. Some soul, some fire, a bunch of groove, a touch of Gospel. Bravo!)

 

The Hanging Stars - Songs For Somewhere Else

https://thehangingstars.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-somewhere-else

(Brilliant! Exceptional Cosmic Americana with a few nods to the Paisley Underground, and 60s psych. Just the way I like it.)

 

 

 Imperial Jade - On The Rise

https://imperialjade.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-rise

(Really fine classic rock! So much talent going on...  There's something special in the water in Spain. You want something influenced by Led Zep and the like, but does not sound like a ridiculously boring, weak clone? This is your band!)

 

 

This Pine Box - The Way Out

https://open.spotify.com/album/1ZblBJ41tFl9wyIUoAJMbd

(Indie rock with lots of '70s classic rock peppered in for good measure. If this band keeps the heavier tunes going, they'll get my eternal seal of approval. Good stuff. No Bandcamp for this album [yet?], but you can find it here and there.)