Black Mountain - Black Mountain (20th Anniversary Edition) (Clear Shadow Wave Vinyl) NAD25

Black Mountain, the front-line soldiers for the Black Mountain Army—an arts collective from Vancouver, British Columbia—write, perform, and record music that speaks (and sings) to this realization: that solutions are rarely simple, that the world is as complex as it is ambiguous, and that music sprinkled with an inoculating dose of madness may well be the Pied Piper that takes us all back into the primordial mountain, where our hearts can be made steady and our minds can be set free.

Their debut self-titled record, like a space probe built of erector set parts and transmitting secret and arcane messages to Earth by string, charts territories unknown yet remains grounded by the roots of classic rock and roll. It’s easy to discern these roots: Black Sabbath, Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Can. Principal songwriter Stephen McBean’s vocals are a smoother, bluesier amalgam of the voices of Neil Young, Mick Jagger, and perhaps James Brown loaded on cough syrup. And when Amber Webber’s voice joins Stephen’s, the combination brings to mind the potency and chemistry of Richard and Linda Thompson singing together on Shoot Out the Lights, or of Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley howling together on Bat Out of Hell.

1. Modern Music

2. Don't Run Our Hearts Around

3. Druganaut

4. No Satisfaction

5. Set Us Free

6. No Hits

7. Heart of Snow

8. Faulty Times