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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead


It's been described as the goth-rock equivalent of "Stairway to Heaven" -- in fact, it's even longer than that particular song -- but what still remains especially astonishing about the title track is in fact how un-"goth" it is, at least in the clichéd notion familiar in later times. If anything, dub reggae is at the heart of the song, with Haskins' steady pulse and clatter interspersed with heavy-duty bass from David J. But what ultimately carries the day is the combination of Ash's swirling, crisp and snarling guitar work, a mini-masterpiece of art-rock in itself, and Murphy's deep black croon, singing what he described later as lyrics meant to be as much horror-movie parody as anything else, but which still conveyed a romantic majesty thanks to the performance. Until its appearance on the Crackle compilation in 1998, the EP was the only place to get the original studio version, making it one of the steadiest-selling singles in musical history as a result. Not to be ignored is the sharp B-side "Boys," a glammy recounting of dressing in drag which, with its astringent arrangement and massive bass/drum slams, stakes out a great balance between Wire and Gang of Four.

Track List:
1. Bela Lugosi's Dead
2. Boys

Download: Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (17.1MB)