5 The Hard Way: Bohren & der Club of Gore

5 The Hard Way: Bohren & der Club of Gore

Bohren & der Club of Gore are easily one of my favorite active recording artists. Since 1992, the band have been making music using a creative blend of Twin Peaks inspired, slow-as-fuck downtempo jazz with elements of doom metal. Or is that doom metal with elements of jazz? Either way, you probably haven't heard anything that sounds like Bohren.

The band's sixth album, Dolores, was recently released in the US on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings (PIAS Group internationally), and it'll probably be one of the better albums that 2008 will have to offer. To give interested parties a quick primer of Bohren's sound up to this point, here's my personal list of the top five songs the band has ever recorded (excluding any material from the new album, of course). Enjoy:



5) "Skeletal Remains" (from Black Earth)
Bohren have always been masters of dark, moody music, but "Skeletal Remains" is one of most effective. More than just weird or creepy, this is downright unsettling, especially at the song's climax.


4) "3" (from Midnight Radio)
Midnight Radio is probably the most taxing Bohren album to listen to because of it's sheer length coupled with many of the song's shameless repetitiveness. But "3" is the type of song that could go on for an hour with absolutely no objection from me. That echoing riff effect is probably the sleaziest sound to ever come out of a guitar. It's completely intoxicating.


3) "Midnight Walker" (from Sunset Mission)
Not to diminish it's excellence, but Sunset Mission is the perfect album to drift off to sleep to, and if there's any song on that album that can put me in a relaxing mood, it has to be this one. The title of the song is right on, perfectly encompassing the mood it creates.


2) "Die Nahtanznummer, Teil 2" (from Gore Motel)
The band's full-length introduction to the music world and they nailed it. Four minutes of a creepy bass line that segues into...even more creepiness by way of organ. This is the auditory definition of the word "brooding".


1) "Black City Skyline" from (Sunset Mission)
I'll admit to being completely biased with my following statement: there are very few songs in the history of the recording industry that are more perfect than this one. Any description I could attempt to provide wouldn't do it the level of justice I feel it deserves. But let's just say that the new sound that Bohren brought to the table with Sunset Mission is fully realized and perfectly executed within these six minutes.