The Smokepeople
Dead End
You are quietly scrolling through posts on Experimental Melbourne, when suddenly you discover there are two new albums by Undead Magic User, called "The Smokepeople" and "Dead End". Not only are these so-called albums completely free to stream, but, even more tantalisingly, only five measly dollars to download and own forever. What do you do?
Roll 1d6:
1) You
ignore the post and go back
the way you came - you don't need to hear these synthesised drones or
immersive atmospheres. Life is fine the way it is. You check your
Facebook and forget all about it.
2) You're
intrigued by the oddly self-referential post on Experimental Melbourne,
and interested in the unusual imagery - you click on the links at the
bottom of the post. Suddenly, your browser reveals a Bandcamp
page, and there, right in front of you, are the albums you were
promised, completely unguarded. With titles like "Bog of Nostalgia" and "Polyps of the Unknown", you decide to listen to some tracks, cautiously,
your mouse-finger ready to release you should things
go awry. Tentatively, you stream the first track...
3) "Undead
Magic User"? You like the sound of that! Without any further thought,
you dive straight in, letting the long-form improvised disturbient
synthscapes wash over you like some kind of Drowish Magick. Within the
first few moments of "Dead End"'s opening track "Beyond the Mountains", you're so hooked that you find yourself pressing on the "Buy
Digital Album" button, almost without thinking, and purchasing both albums. "Why not?" you wonder, "After all, the artist has worked hard on this stuff, the least I can do is throw them a handful of small change. It
takes a lot of time and effort to generate art in a society so
ambivalent about culture, and five dollars is really not that much - and I
do so want to support the local experimental music scene." You
download both albums to your collection and enjoy the rich and warm
feeling of becoming a patron of the dice-ambient role-core musickal
arts.
4) You
rush your browser straight over to Undead Magic User's Bandcamp Portal,
and, in a berserker frenzy, buy not only the new albums "The Smokepeople" and "Dead End", but every single release, from "And Upon That Terrible
Throne" right through to "In The Mountains of U'Mu"! So overwhelmed by
the magick of this dark-ambient dice-core solo project from Australia
are you that you even chase down the very first album, "Master of
Dungeons", released on Rotten Shape records in America! With your swag
full of improvised RPG drones and synthesised 80s soundscapes, you return home,
your adventure an amazing success.
5) You
buy it all. But you don't stop there. No, this is a project that
moves you so greatly that you must share it with all your friends, your
family, your workmates - you even find yourself calling up your exes and
stopping random strangers in the street to share your glorious
discovery! You can hardly believe it's true, but here it is - Undead
Magic User is the musickal project your soul has been yearning for all
these years. You are finally complete.
6) You
give it a listen. It's okay. But it's got no real melody or rhythm,
and after trying a few songs - if they're even actually proper "songs" -
you find it all a bit samey. Drones, drones, blah blah blah. You shut
the tab and never think of Undead Magic User again.
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