Black Snake Moan
Phantasmagoria
Black Snake Moan is a blues-psych one-man band. The man behind the project, Marco Contestabile, is a singer, guitarist and composer, a real artist. On 'Phantasmagoria' (no reference to the Damned 1986 album by the same title) the snake moves "thru the rhythm of darkened times" to quote Roky Erickson, almost dancing to a sensuous, hypnotic melody. Many episodes along this sullen, imaginary trip are reminiscent of the early Doors Indian raga guitars, the 13th Floor Elevators' reverberations and the white light echoes of The Velvet Underground. From vintage sixties sounds of the likes of the Electric Prunes and Ultimate Spinach via a certain '80s psych-wave brought by early Southern Death Cult, Opal or even Sister Of Mercy, Black Snake Moan crawls onto the neo-psychedelic movement build around BJM and The Black Angels. Eventually, 'Phantasmagoria' finds its way to look into the "future" as well, exploring space-age sounds with its one-man-band formula.