Here’s another one that got lost in the annual autumn avalanche of releases – Atabasca’s Cacopoulos. And you don’t need to be a fan of spaghetti westerns to detect that Atabasca most certainly are. Though if you happen to have soft spot for them, you might recognise Cacopoulos as the surname of Eli Wallach’s character in 1968 flick Aces High. You’ll also probably recognise the influence of that scene in The Good The Bad & The Ugly where Tuco (Wallach again) runs increasingly frantically from cross to cross in Sad Hill Cemetery in a not very systematic search for the grave where gold is buried. In the video for this one though, a Wallach lookalike runs increasingly frantically around in dry Mediterranean foothills – er I mean, the Tex/Mex badlands – away from a tormentor shining the sun’s reflection on him like a teacher avoiding an irritating pupil who’s just discovered the power of a watch face on a sunny day. Of course you’d only need the most rudimentary awareness of Spaghetti Westerns to recognise the musical influences – twangy, psychedelic fuzz guitar and rumbling drums that build from the tribal rhythm of the opening to a breakneck funk rhythm after the first minute or so. (Out now on Killer Groove Records)
