So I guess it wasn’t the best thing to try and fall asleep last night to Manhunter. I mean its a pretty awesome movie in context even for its soundtrack and pretty goddamned hypnotic in pacing. I did fall asleep a couple of times which was my intention. I woke up to William Petersen’s character rambling on and on in profiler speak which sounded creepy, stilted and unnerving. It put a whole weird vibe on the day today, one not really helped by the cold grey sky.

So I figured it’d be a good idea to fix my bike seat. Irv’s wasn’t open so I had to make the trek through maxwell street to Cozy’s cyclery. It wasn’t that major of a surgery but whatever mood I was in was dragging me around like a zombie. I felt the best thing for it was subjecting my body to some crispy air and a long ride up to the square and back.

I ended up stopping at reckless out of boredom and a severe need of getting my toes warmed up. I couldn’t resist picking up this self titled Khanate record on Southern Lord from 2001. The album is fucking amazing though I can’t really suggest it to anyone. Its a record that speaks volumes to how my brain seems to work, more specifically the chemicals therein. The best way to describe it is similar in nature to the other Khanate record I have “Capture/Release” in which lead vocalist Alan Dubin writhes in absolute anguish over a bed of bubbling tar. Steven O’Malley’s (Sunn O))) fame) guitar work in Khanate paired with Plotkin’s gives the seemingly droney ambience a more indie bent than metal.

Which is why I sometimes seemingly prefer Khanate over Sunn O))) in context. Its not that I don’t appreciate the dark metal aspects and cloaked dramatics. Its just that Khanate seems to evoke a more accurate representation of evil and hysteria. Its pretty much the soundtrack for mental illness… and Capture/Release sounds like an alternate soundtrack for Manhunter when it comes right down to it. We’re not talking pagan rituals or horned gods here… we’re talking people that could live right next to you with scary fucking capabilities.

Now that probably says something about me in some sense and I’d agree it would if I were less together mentally. But what I really like about Khanate more than anything is the exploration and deconstruction of rhythm. There’s another band someone turned me onto recently called Spektr which takes the whole concept and runs it into a deep festering hole. I can’t honestly say I’ve been able to get into that album yet as much as Khanate mainly because of the drums. Tim Wyskida is goddamn near symbiotic with the rest of this entity. He’s able to create this organic substrate of cymbals and snares that kind of buzz around the plodding guitar fuzz like angry hornets.

I can’t imagine cooking a sunday brunch to this shit, although it would probably be amazing if the company was right. Then again, I couldn’t imagine falling asleep to Manhunter… and I’m probably going to do that again tonight. You really shouldn’t worry too much about it.

Maybe when my body clock finally resets I’ll be longing happy thoughts and flowers.

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