A quick tunecast: I was set up with some friends yesterday evening, with whom I am working on a small web application. Our plan was to talk about user interface issues. Unfortunately, this plan was rudely interrupted by the cocktail happy-hour of the establishment at which we met. We took advantage of the happy hour and ordered a round of drinks. That, in itself, is not noteworthy. Unfortunately, I made contact with the Zombie, of which I had only heard stories. Well, they are true; this drink is indeed dangerous. And while we had a nice evening (we in no way drank excessively), the aftermath is making it slightly difficult to focus, like my head is in a cloudy sky. Anyways… because music can sometimes hit spots that words don’t reach, I thought I would pick up the challenge to find a tune that adequately describes the effects of a zombie (that is, my mood right now). I walked down many paths, but ended up with a local act that will be unknown to most. From amidst the fog I bring you ‘A Word From Our Sponsor’ by the Münster/Osnabrück based band Instant Karma (off their last, officially unreleased album ‘Lost Album’). Incidentally, their singer Gordon and I formed ‘Sound Galaxy Washington’ a couple of years after Instant Karma. Anyways… this tune is truly ‘Zombiesque’ – in particular the singing saw samples, the over effected sighs, the backing ‘doo-doos’ and the ‘You see… it works just grrreat!’ part with the mechanical whirring sound of booting gadgetry. I believe Tom does the vocals on this one, and while it may sound like the topic is sex-related, I think he is reciting a vacuum cleaner manual in French. Be sure to check out their stuff over at instantkarma.to (website offers all material for download) – excellent band, IMHO. Finally, a word of advice: despite the innocent, thumbed-up appearance in the imagery at the top left, this one is a mean sucker…. beware of those zombies.