na: something wicked this way…

(Courtesy of Alex. I actually had this comic when I was a kid)

New on eMusic today: weirdness. Lots and lots of weirdness.

Bernardo Devlin, Circa 1999: As near as I can tell, Bernardo Devlin is the Portuguese Scott Walker. Which, to me, is some kind of awesome. It’s also sort of hilarious — never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d utter the phrase “Oh, man, that’s such a Scott Walker ripoff.” And, indeed, “ripoff” is a bit harsh. I like this a whole lot, for many of the same reasons I like Scott — it’s creepy and atonal and grounded in Gothy baritone. Check out the first track to see what I mean.

Birdsong for Sewers, Birdsong for Sewers: Grim, ominous ambient, weird atmospherics, spooky as a spectre floating over a pond.

Cursilllistas, Wasp Stings the Last Bitter Flavor: I love this. Unbelievably stark, ominous music, lots of low rolling tones, icicle-drip guitars and eerie, disembodied shrieks. This record is the sound of panic.

Hush Arbors, Under Bent Limb Trees: Ignore the “Country/Folk” classification. This is spindly skeletal guitar music with strained, willfully off-key vocals. There’s the barest hint of Appalachia to a lot of the songs, but this is ghost music, pure and simple.

VxPxC, Porchmass: More weird, creepy ambient music, this one a tiny bit more melodic and linear.

Ilyas, Between Two Skies & Towards the Night: My favorite album cover of the day. Once upon a time, in like 1815, there was a young mother who died in a house fire along with her two newborns. This is the record her spirit made.

Ben Reynolds, Outmospheric Arts of the Outmosphere: Sci-fi synth ululations — ladies and gentlemen, we are croaking in space.

Normal Stuff:

Blu & Sene are Patch Adams, BeSene: Blu is by far my favorite breakout rapper of the last few years, but he’s beginning to test the limits of my patience. First came his collaboration with Exile, Below the Heavens, which was near-perfect. Then came The Piece Talks with T’Raach under the C.R.A.C. moniker. Which was hit-or-miss. Then came his collaboration with Mainframe, Johnson & Jonson, which was solid. Now comes BeSene, which finds him collaborating with Sene under what is arguably the worst hip-hop name of all time, Patch Adams. This to me sounds fairly lackluster. Blu, if you’re reading this: it’s quality, not quantity. Don’t pull a Ghostface on me.

Let’s Go Naked, Insides: More “Joe Bait” from Yancey and, once again, he was right: similar to the Go-Betweens, cascades of guitar, dour melodies and rich vocals. That great guitar-pop sound from years gone by. Fans of the G-Bs, the dBs, the Bats or the Chills should adore.

Thunder Power, Love Yourself: Great, slightly wobbly indiepop with female vocals and strong melodies.

Brenn, Stack of Fears: Some perfectly serviceable Brit-inspired guitar rock.

Bear Country, Our Roots Need Rain: Light, lovely, ambling alt-country. A little under-polished, and the vocals are a bit thin, but the songs seem solid. Think a way lower-fi Rilo Kiley and you’re close…ish.