blak is better

Back in August of this year, Bear Funk released Blakula!'s very fine debut album 'Permanent Midnight'. Recorded in Rome, the Italian duo's soundtrack to an unmade Vampire film has to be one of a small number of 2010's masterpieces, yes I said masterpiece. I know I do go on a lot about Bear Funk's genius status, but there really are very few labels who come close to their kind of depth of vision. 'Permanent Midnight' is a peak amongst peaks for the supreme Bear Funk.

It turns out Blakula! are in fact Simon Maccari and Andrea Bellentani aka The Diaphanoids. Once you know this, listening to these 10 original and unique tracks can only expand on one's sense of the duo's considerable talent, as well as add further excitement to the experience. I love The Diaphanoids, but here, with the help of more than 25 other musicians and vocalists, they venture forth with the spark of genius, into the heart of darkness... or, as we are told, they soundtrack the journey of a Hawaiian vampire's fall into a bewitching 1970's art world. Blakula! is a hybrid beast, meshing real Jazz, Blues & Rock with synth Disco & Gothic motifs & atmospheres, all done with ease and style, with deft articulacy and proper tunes. There are tracks here which will work very well on the dancefloor, but the intense detail and scene building nature of the entire set makes this a record to be entirely seduced by. I could go on, but let me just say if you haven't gotten your hands on this primo album yet, do so at once... oh and maybe check out the track below...

Blakula! - Miss Morgue