Tour Dates: Melvins Summer Tour

New Melvins tour dates, anyone? This tour is looking awesome and it's about time the Melvins came back to Canada. I'll more than likely make it to one or two of these. (I should really just rename this blog "the Melvins News Source" and get it over with. Just wait until the new album drops.)

Jun 1 2010 - Casbah San Diego, California
Jun 2 2010 - The Clubhouse Tempe, Arizona
Jun 3 2010 - Launch Pad Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jun 5 2010 - Emo’s Austin, Texas
Jun 7 2010 - Warehouse Live Houston, Texas
Jun 8 2010 - Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jun 9 2010 - One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, Louisiana
Jun 10 2010 - Bottle Tree Birmingham, Alabama
Jun 12 2010 - Bonnaroo Festival Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 14 2010 - 40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia
Jun 16 2010 - 9:30 Club Washington D.C., Washington DC
Jun 17 2010 - T.L.A. Philladelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 18 2010 - Webster Hall NYC, New York
Jun 19 2010 - Music Hall Of Williamsburg Brooklyn
Jun 20 2010 - Paradise Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 21 2010 - Paradise Boston
Jun 23 2010 - Grog Shop Cleveland
Jun 24 2010 - Small’s Detroit, Michigan
Jun 25 2010 - Double Door Chicago, Illinois
Jun 26 2010 - High Noon Saloon Madison, Wisconsin
Jun 27 2010 - House Of Bricks Des Moines, Iowa
Jun 29 2010 - Ogden Theatre Denver, Colorado
Jul 2 2010 - Sled Island Festival Calgary, Alberta
Jul 3 2010 - Sled Island Festival Calgary, Alberta
Jul 5 2010 - Rickshaw Theatre Vancouver
Jul 6 2010 - Showbox At The Market Seattle, Washington
Jul 7 2010 - John Henrys Eugene, Oregon
Jul 9 2010 - Blank Club San Jose, California

Album: Ufomammut - "Snailking"

Here's Ufomammut's 2nd full length titled "Snailking". Ufomammut hails from Italy and produces some really experimental, psychedelic and crushing metal. This is what stoner rock would be if you took it into an apocalyptic, empty world and buried it under a thick layer of dirt and fuzz. This album plods and drones on with cosmically mammoth riffs, spaced out vibes and really minimalistic yet effective vocals; in fact, there's a really perfect variation between misery soaked, hollow, spacey tracks and bulldozingly riff-heavy, sludgy ones which makes this album fully satisfying for any fan of experimental or heavy music. "Snailking" was released in 2004 and is definitely recommended for fans of Sons of Otis, Electric Wizard and Neurosis.

1. Blotch

2. Hopscotch

3. Lacrimosa

4. Odio

5. God

6. Alcool

7. Braindome

8. Demontian

DL: "Snailking"

Album: Truly - "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma"

I seriously mashed this album for most of my shift at work today and so I now feel the need to share it with you. "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma" was Truly's first full length released in 1995... if you're new to Truly they were kind of a 90's supergroup containing Hiro Yamamoto of Soundgarden and Mark Pickerel of the Screaming Trees. (I'm continuing with the theme of my last post here). This album is psychedelic in a chilled out, alternative way and somehow manages to be both sleepy and angsty at the same time. There are also some surprisingly brutal, heavy parts which will definitely put a grin on your face if you aren't expecting them. And you usually won't.

1. Blue Flame Ford

2. Four Girls

3. If You Don't Let It Die

4. Hot Summer 1991

5. Blue Lights

6. Leslie's Coughing Up Blood

7. Hurricane Dance

8. Angelhead

9. Tragic Telepathic (Soul Slasher)

10. Virtually

11. So Strange

12. Strangling

13. Chlorine

DL: "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma"

Single: Sub Pop Edition #12 Gary Lee Conner - "Grasshoppers Daydream / Behind the Smile"

Here's a single from 1999 from (ex Screaming Trees guitarist) Gary Lee Conner. I always really enjoyed his bluesy-psychedelic style of guitar playing and was therefore stoked to come across this single. This is seriously awesome and if the fact that it's Gary Lee Conner isn't enough for you this also features Josh Homme, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. You gotta love how this kind of bridges the gap between the Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age. My only complaint is that there aren't more tracks.

Thanks to Steven for sending this over!

1. Grasshopper's Daydream

2. Behind the Smile

DL: "Grasshoppers Daydream / Behind the Smile"

Live Recording: Nirvana - 1.23.93 - Hollywood Rock Festival - Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

today would've been kurt cobain's 43 birthday

so i'm going to share with you a little something to show my appreciation for the man and his music

in my opinion...nirvana always came off better in a live setting

and i'll admit that when the world was first going through the nirvana mania...i wasn't so impressed...the first time i saw the video for "smells like teen spirit" on the mtv...it didn't leave any sort of impression on me (hell..what did i know...i was a shitty little metalhead back then)

i even passed up a chance to go and see nirvana during the NEVERMIND days (maybe i should've eaten a bullet for that...oh yeah...i went there)

but somewhere down the line...this dirty little caterpillar emerged from it's iron maiden (see what i did there?) and that stuff called grunge washed over me (luckily...i didn't really need to change the way i dressed for that business)

but enough about me

onto the music

there's a lot going on during this show (which was sponsored by a tobacco company)...from the on stage banter...to the first unveiling of the song "heart shaped box"...to an "intoxicated" kurt spitting on tv cameras and trying to destroy stage props and equipment (though you can't see that here...you'll have to go and watch your copy of LIVE! TONIGHT! SOLD OUT!!!...you do own a copy of that,yeah?...if not..there's this thing called the internet that will allow you to either watch it or perhaps find a copy of it for you)

1 - intro/school
2 - drain you
3 - breed
4 - sliver
5 - in bloom
6 - come as you are
7 - love buzz
8 - formaldehyde
9 - lithium
10 - polly
11 - about a girl
12 - smells like teen spirit
13 - on a plain
14 - negative creep
15 - been a son
16 - blew
17 - heart shaped box
18 - scentless apprentice
19 - sweet emotion jam*
20 - dive
21 - lounge act
22 - aneurysm
23 - territorial pissings

*=an aerosmith "cover"

DL: nirvana@hollywood rock festival 1.23.93

"aneurysm" from this very show

Split: The Mystick Krewe Of Clearlight / The Obsessed

Here's something awesome and kind of fun for this Saturday evening - a split single with the Obsessed and Mystick Krewe of Clearlight in which both bands cover Lynyrd Skynyrd tracks. For those who aren't familiar with the Mystick Krewe of Clearlight they're basically a supergroup containing members of Down, Eyehategod and Crowbar, but despite the sludged out members they play some really jammed out, psychedelic rock n roll. And the Obsessed is, well... I won't insult your intelligence by going into that one. (Although I guess I could be really insulting and start explaining who Lynyrd Skynyrd are.)

1. Cheatin' Woman - Mystick Krewe of Clearlight

2. On the Hunt - The Obsessed

DL: "MKoC / The Obsessed Split"

Album: God Bullies - Kill the King

Here's the God Bullies' fairly hard to come by last full release called "Kill The King" from 1994. Like most bands the God Bullies got a little more easily accessible by the end of their career but in their case it was really a matter of them taming their frantic edge into some really well written songs. This is probably the tightest thing they ever released and they clearly really had their shit together while creating this album. It's still really spastic and twisted but not as all over the place as past works - so enjoy the wonderful wierdness, the sarcasm, the comedy, and the violent catchiness that is the God Bullies!

1. Neighborhood Kid

2. King Of Sling

3. How Many Times

4. Detain My Brain

5. She's Wild

6. Pretty On The Inside

7. Space Kid Zoom

8. You Have Been Warned

9. It's Him

10. Artificial Insemination By Aliens

11. Hate

DL: "Kill The King"

Feature: Funeral Circle

This is a pretty eventful day as I've finally finished my first real feature for this site and it's with up-and-coming Canadian doom giants Funeral Circle. This is a band that creates crushing doom metal from it's purest source with influences like Saint Vitus, Pagan Altar and Candlemass. Their material is satisfyingly slow, intricately evil, dripping with heaviness... and of course serves up a nice helping of misery on the side. The band has provided an upload of their mammoth song "Homunculus" here, and you can listen to the furious EP title track "Sinister Sacrilege" here. I suggest you listen to both as it will be worth your while! I seriously can't uptalk this band enough.

...And do I still have more to say, you ask? Of course I do! Below is an interview I conducted with the guitarist of Funeral Circle with whom I've shared a good number of conversations about doom metal, fruitlessly debated what stoner rock should be called and (of course) worshipped at the Pagan Altar with. He's full of interesting information and so you should take the time to read this if you're into doom or heavy music at all, or want to hear about the newest heavy metal supergroup called Motorvenom Sabbathead. Enjoy.

Cara: Hey - first off I’d like to say thanks for taking the time for answering a couple questions. Funny how I used to talk doom with some of you guys in metal forums while you were just releasing your first tracks on MySpace. You seemed to get an overwhelmingly positive response then and now you have recently released an EP that’s still getting a lot of positive feedback. I’m sure things haven’t been as smooth-going as it’s seemed though - how has it been getting to that point?

Pilgrim: The pleasure is all mine, Cara. Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview.

To start off, getting to where we are now was only because of lots of hard work. When I formed this band, I didn't want it to be some "project" or some other nonsense like that. I was always a huge admirer of bands that understood metal as more than just music, it was a lifestyle to them. Funeral Circle is a huge part of my life, because as you well know, metal is my music and is an immense source of inspiration for me. I act more protective about it than I probably should, but I suppose anyone defends something they are very passionate about, well, very passionately...

After many line-up changes and playing a virtually non-existent form of metal in a city where horrid "extreme metal" projects rule supreme, it felt shitty to not get recognized the way I wanted to be. Before playing our first gig, I was thinking there would be real headbangers up front recognizing what we were doing, but of course that's far from reality.

However, we persisted and instead of investing all of our energy in the pathetic local scene (as I'm sure every local scene everywhere is equally as shit) we decided to take our music onto the internet (which was the only real way you could communicate with people around the globe who liked such music) and bring it to the Doom Metal circles. We recorded our first real demo which was some horrid rehearsal tape and it received a mild/lukewarm reception. This made me pretty happy, but I knew that we had something which was going to blow their minds away.

Fast forward a year or so, and another line-up change had occurred. We had gotten a new bassist, an old friend of mine, and we recorded our EP entitled "Sinister Sacrilege" which was released on The Miskatonic Foundation from the UK. It's still selling on both CD and 12" formats and the reception is has gotten blew me away completely. I wasn't expecting such great feedback. I just know that with our next release, we'll be taking things much higher and I am positive our strongest work is yet to come.

Cara: What have you been listening to lately? Anything that’s been influencing you or that you’ve been really enjoying that’s worth mentioning?

Pilgrim: My inspiration for this band derives from NWOBHM and Epic Heavy/Doom Metal. Albums that have had a huge impact on me are Solstice's New Dark Age, all of Pagan Altar's albums, Bathory's Hammerheart, Witchfinder General, Mercyful Fate and King Diamond (too much to name, simply amazing...), Saint Vitus' S/T, Satan's Court in the Act, Candlemass' Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, and of course the more obvious classics like works by Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc.

One album in particular that stands out lately is Scald's The Will of the Gods is Great Power. What a fantastic album, so much character and depth to it... It really reminds me why Doom Metal is the greatest music in the world (at least, to me). Such passion and emotion, and the atmosphere is unmatched. Most of all, it's Metal the way I like to imagine it. Stuck in that time where only the quality of the songs mattered, there was no desire to place experimentation above anything else (especially song writing).

Also, one band that really had a huge impact on the songwriting and attitude of Funeral Circle was The Lamp of Thoth. The way they had a very energetic and charismatic approach to Doom Metal was great to hear, it gave it the music a character that I had never heard. I was floored with them, and they continue to excel. Real masters of this form of music, they should be far more appreciated by fans of any and every genre in metal. Props also to bands such as Orodruin, Slough Feg, Dark Quarterer... and many other I haven't mentioned. Really, I shouldn't be asked this questions! Too many great albums flood into my head!!

Cara: It’s not often you see legitimate doom metal bands hailing from Canada which is why it’s awesome to see a band like Funeral Circle doing so well for yourselves. While I’m on that topic, do you have any opinions about the doom metal scene here in Canada?

Pilgrim: Well, I can certainly comment on Canada's metal scene. It seems like the doom scene is finally starting to take shape with bands like Dark Covenant, and another one I discovered called Father which I thought was cool. They are both from Quebec and the Maritimes, respectfully.

When it comes to Canadian metal overall... I think we have a very rich history of unique sounding bands, and great Heavy Metal... especially here in Vancouver! Bands like Thor, Black Knight, Assault... Fantastic!! Even stuff like Slaughter, Razor, Witches Hammer, Blasphemy, and Voivod... Absolutely devastating metal, Canadians always seem to raise the bar when it comes to that sort of stuff. In the East they also had great old-school bands like Overlord, Sword, Witchkiller/Aceium... All fantastic stuff, I just wish Canada was in that time instead of all this atrocious technical death metal we're known for... Fucking rubbish... We can't forget RUSH as well, very great band.

I also want to make note of those elusive bastards in Tales of Medusa, a great old-school heavy metal band from Vancouver who hide in the shadows... I am at least happy there has been more vitality in the original spirit of metal.

At the end of the day, we aren't too concerned with the doom community in Canada. It would be very nice to have more doom metal bands, but I think the people in Canada are more into extreme stuff... that being said, we ourselves in Funeral Circle have tons of good times doing what we do. We don't do what we do because it hasn't been done before, there is no point to that - It's because it's what we like to do more than anything else.

Cara: Have there been any cool/surreal moments or experiences that have happened to you as a band that stick out as worth mentioning?

Pilgrim: Well, I can definitely say the most surreal moment was having Rich Walker from The Miskatonic Foundation ask us to release our EP. I've always admired him as being a total "no compromising" mother fucker who says what he means and means what he says. It's way to hard to find people like that when it really shouldn't be. His vision of metal is in tune with ours because we think crushing posers and telling assholes in shit bands to fuck off while playing in our own bands is the way to live out the rest of our lives... haha!!

Playing live is always great too! It's great to finally have some fans in town who cheer to certain sections of our songs and pump their fists in the air... Very metal!! I like it!!

Cara: Here’s a kind of tired out question that I always enjoy asking anyways - what would be your dream line-up for a band if you could pick and choose absolutely anyone for any instrument? (You can’t just say Black Sabbath, either!)

Pilgrim: The original line-ups for Venom and Discharge back together! Also, they need to rewind their brains back to 82. Wait does that count? Okay, so seriously... my dream line-ups for a band... heh, can I say Pagan Altar? Sorry, I'm very unimaginative!!

Maybe we could mix the members of Black Sabbath, Venom and Motorhead together in one band? Yeah... I like that, Motorvenom Sabbathead... Very crushing!!!!

Cara: Lastly, what are your plans at the moment for any releases or tours in the future?

Pilgrim: We have two splits in the works with some great bands that will be announced in the future, and we also have a full length in the works which will be our best effort, I guarantee it! Also, to all you Europeans reading this, expect to see us playing there soon enough!!!

Lastly, thank you Cara for the interview. Take care, and Doom On!!!

Do you like what you hear? You can order their EP "Sinister Sacrilege" from:
http://www.hellridemusic.com/ (CD)
or http://www.katholicmagick.org/ (vinyl)

EP: Melvins - "Sludge Glamorous" (Nude With Boots Outtakes)

This wasn't really widespread news for some reason but an awesome 12" of Melvins outtakes from "Nude With Boots" was recently released by the label "From The Nursery". The outtakes include a longer version of "Dies Iraea", a remix of "It Tastes Better Than The Truth" and a cover of "Youth of America" by the Wipers. This was released only on vinyl format but it's your lucky day as I got my hands on some MP3s thanks to the Melvins BBS forums (the source of a lot of my Melvins related aquisitions and a lot of my geeky knowledge about the band) and have uploaded them here for your enjoyment.

As far as I know this is still readily available to order online but if you're wanting a copy of this you should probably jump on it soon as only 2000 were pressed on silver/grey vinyl.

1. Dies Iraea / It Tastes Better Than The Truth
2. Youth Of America

DL: "Sludge Glamorous"

**edit - Feb 18/10: link replaced with a better quality version, enjoy**

Megapost: Sub Pop 100, 200 & 300

I'm now on my second day of rampantly uploading my music collection onto my new computer which has forced me to rediscover many old albums that have been collecting dust. Under a pile of horrendously abused Alice Donut and Melvins CDs I just found the black box with the "Sub Pop 200" compilation CD in it which has started bringing back memories of my first encounters with bands I now love such as Blood Circus, Beat Happening and Girl Trouble. This then triggered me to dig up the "Sub Pop 300" CD which was put out by MOJO as a way of promoting Sub Pop's 20th anniversary a couple of years ago, and of course the legendary "Sub Pop 100" CD. I feel that all these compilation albums are fairly perfect in representing the label's finest bands from each era (although SP 300 is in there mostly just for shits and giggles and all you completists out there).

The potential for discovering something great in these albums is off the charts and so hopefully you'll enjoy these as much as I do:

SUB POP 100 (1986):

1. Spoken Word Intro Thing - Steve Albini

2. Greatest Gift - Scratch Acid

3. Nothin To Prove (Live) - Wipers

4. Kill Yr Idols - Sonic Youth

5. Bananacuda - Naked Raygun

6. Gila - U-Men

7. Smile On Your Face - Dangerous Birds

8. Church In Hell - Skinny Puppy

9. Go At Full Throttle - Steve Fisk
10. Itsbeena - Lupe Diaz
11. Impact Test - Boy Dirt Car

12. Real Men - Savage Republic

13. One Day Of The Factory - Shonen Knife

14. Barry White Ending

DL: "Sub Pop 100"

SUB POP 200 (1988):

1. Sex God Missy - Tad

2. Is It Day I'm Seeing? - The Fluid

3. Spank Thru - Nirvana

4. Come Out Tonight - Steven Jesse Bernstein

5. The Rose - Mudhoney

6. Got No Chains - The Walkabouts

7. Dead Is Dead - Terry Lee Hale

8. Sub Pop Rock City - Soundgarden

9. Hangin Tree - Green River

10. Swallow My Pride - The Fastbacks

11. The Outback - Blood Circus

12. Zoo - Swallow

13. Underground - The Chemistry Set

14. Gonna Find a Cave - Girl Trouble

15. Split - Nights and Days

16. Big Cigar - Cat Butt

17. Pajama Party In A Haunted Hive - Beat Happening

18. Love Or Confusion - Screaming Trees

19. You Lost It - The Thrown Ups

DL: "Sub Pop 200"

SUB POP 300 (2008):

1. This Town - Green River
2. Sweet Young Thing Aint Sweet No More - Mudhoney
3. Wood Goblins - Tad
4. Shove - L7
5. Change Has Come - Screaming Trees
6. Retarded - Afghan Whigs
7. Braindead - Red Red Meat
8. Fanfare - Eric Matthews
9. Southern Anthem - Iron & Wine
10. New Slang - The Shins
11. Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
12. The Sun Comes Through - Kelley Stoltz
13. Bowie - Flight Of The Conchords
14. Caught Licking Leather - Pissed Jeans
15. Eraser - No Age

DL: "Sub Pop 300"

Split: Sons of Otis / Queen Elephantine

I'm sure everybody knows of the crushing and spacey Sons of Otis - well here's their split with Queen Elephantine, a younger, lesser known group of a similar musical branch. The first two tracks on this split are by Sons of Otis and plod and drone through a thick wall of sludge and sonic psychedelia, and the Queen Elephantine track is a tribally heavy, epic finish to this other worldly experience. All in all this split is apocalyptic, chillingly psychedelic and crushingly medatative... a perfect soundtrack to make this depressing and chilling month called February even more depressing and chilling.

1. Tales of Otis (Sons of Otis)

2. Oxazjam (Sons of Otis)

3. The Battle of Massacoit / The Weapon of the King of Gods (Queen Elephantine)

DL: "Sons of Otis / Queen Elephantine Split"

On another note I'm finishing up a couple of features for the near future that are worth getting stoked about so stay tuned.... and if you like what you're reading do me a favor and follow this blog! (I like being followed.) Thats all for now. Enjoy this.

News: ATP NYC Updates

Finally - an update on the ATP New York lineup.

It was just announced that (film maker) Jim Jarmusch will be curating on the Sunday and his first picks are:

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
RAEKWON
GIRLS
FUCKED UP
WOODEN SHJIPS
THE BLACK ANGELS
VIVIAN GIRLS

Confirmed bands for Saturday are:

SONIC YOUTH
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
THE BREEDERS
FUCK BUTTONS
THE BOOKS
PAPA M
APSE

In case you missed it, Friday will be:

MUDHONEY
THE SCIENTISTS
IGGY & THE STOOGES
SLEEP

...And more to be confirmed for each day. Again I must say... hot damn. I also must say, wow I need to get tickets. I really can't wait to see who else will be playing.

Single: Sub Pop Edition #11 Black Mountain - "Lucy Brown / Shelter"

I can't believe I got this Black Mountain single in November of 08 and am only uploading it now. (You know what they say... better late than never.) This was the first single I recieved for the Sub Pop singles club and remains to be one of the best. Black Mountain has put out a lot of awesome material over the years but this single is definitely a favorite - you just can't fuck with it as it's some really well done, perfectly Neil Young-esque, catchy, psychedelic rock n roll.

1. Lucy Brown

2. Shelter

DL: "Black Mountain - "Lucy Brown / Shelter"

B-Sides: Mark Lanegan - Rare Material Part II

A little while ago I posted a decently sized collection of Mark Lanegan b-sides, and as a recent pleasant surprise someone sent a bunch of tracks that I missed the first time around so I thought I'd share them. (Thanks, Paddy). This contains some great rare songs including my personal favorite Mark Lanegan covers, "All Night Long" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy". I really can't get enough of Lanegan's signature low, bluesy swing so I was stoked to see a couple of tracks I hadn't previously heard on this collection. Enjoy.

1. Black River (w/ Bomb the Bass)
2, Black Out, New Hit (w/ Creature With The Atom Brain)
3. Crawl Like a Dog (w/ Creature With The Atom Brain)
4. Lonely Light (w/Creature With The Atom Brain)

5. All Night Long

6. Cafe

7. Death Don't Have No Mercy

8. Following The Rain

9. Man In The Long Black Coat

10. Slide Machine

11. Free To Walk (w/ Isobel Campbell)

12. Constant Waiting

DL: "Mark Lanegan B-Sides Part II"

Split: Screaming Trees / Beat Happening

If you haven't heard this split, the Screaming Trees and Beat Happening play these songs together and it sounds awesome. These are two bands that one wouldn't usually associate too closely (other than the whole late 80s/90s Sub Pop thing) but they actually share a lot of the same influences and find a unique style as they come together in this split. There's something that strikes a perfect balance with both band's styles here - the tin-can drums, steadiness and childish qualities of Beat Happening melding with the psychedelic guitars and keyboards of the Screaming Trees. This was released in 1988. Listen and enjoy!

1. Sea Babies

2. Tales of Brave Aphrodite

3. Polly Perrequin
4. I Dig You

DL: "Screaming Trees/Beat Happening split EP"

News: John Garcia Tours Kyuss Songs

Hey everyone - I feel the need to quickly post this news as it's pretty exciting... from stonerrock.com:

"Former Kyuss singer John Garcia announces tour with Kyuss songs

No need for a long and boring history, just a few names should cover it all: Kyuss, Sloburn, Unida and John’s most recent band Hermano. Plus: side projects with The Crystal Method, Danko Jones and countless others who embraced this great singer from the Southern California desert. Why?Kyuss, the inventors of Desert Rock, have been in the last ten years much more popular than when they were still around in the early nineties. So, due to massive public demand over the years to play songs from his old cult band Kyuss, John finally made the decision to give the fans what they want. He will do this unique project with a few hand selected musicians.

Why the fuck not? The last couple of years John Garcia thought often about reviving his Kyuss-legacy on stage. The more he thought about it, the more he really wanted to do this. John: “I don’t want to do this just for myself, but especially for the fans. Both for the ones that have seen Kyuss live back in the days, and especially for the ones who haven't had that chance. This could be as close as they could get to the real thing. Please bear in mind that this could be a one-off unique opportunity!”

So? So that being said, the Garcia Plays Kyuss-project (alias GPK) was born. Garcia, accompanied by these fine selection of musicians, Bruno Fevery (guitar), Jacques de Haard (bass) and Rob Snijders (drums), will kick you straight in the face with an all Kyuss set. Pure desert punk it is, nothing more, nothing less... The legend himself John Garcia (born in San Manuel, Arizona, September 4, 1970) is a vocalist who has been a member of Kyuss, Slo Burn, Unida and Hermano. His vocals have become synonymous with modern stoner rock and the desert rock sound. While still in high school, Garcia help start Kyuss (originally known as Sons of Kyuss) in 1989 with guitarist Josh Homme. The band produced five albums in total, all of which featured Garcia on vocals. In October 1995, just three months after releasing what could be argued as their breakthrough album ...And The Circus Leaves Town (thanks to MTV airplay), Kyuss broke up. Their last recording was a 10" vinyl on the now defunct label Man's Ruin Records, which was later re-released on a split CD with Homme's soon to be famous project Queens of the Stone Age. The band has been on an indefinite hiatus ever since and has reached a legendary status, influencing thousands of new young (rock)bands.

GARCIA plays KYUSS links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3VYaYwQ80

http://www.myspace.com/kyussmyspace

http://www.myspace.com/garciavsgarcia

GARCIA plays KYUSS tour dates:

Fr 28.05.10 DUBLIN Andrews Theatre

Sa 29.05.10 GENT Vooruit

So 30.05.10 AMSTERDAM Melkweg

Di 01.06.10 KÖLN Underground

Mi 02.06.10 LUZERN Schuur

Do 03.06.10 ARAU Kiff

Fr 04.06.10 BOLOGNA Estragon

Sa 05.06.10 MÜNCHEN Feierwerk

So 06.06-10 WIEN Arena

Di 08.06.10 BERLIN Festsaal Kreuzberg

Mi 09.06.10 KOBENHAVN Loppen

Do 10.06.10 HAMBURG Übel & Gefährlich Fr 11.06.10 FRANKFURT Batchkapp"

EP: Screaming Trees - "Other Worlds"

Here is the first effort by the Screaming Trees from 1985. (Can you tell by the album art?) If you're a fan of the band you'll really want to hear this - it sounds almost nothing like the band's famed later material but is a lighter, more literal take on their 70's psychedelic rock influence. I'm a big Screaming Trees fan and have only recently discovered this so I guess you could consider this a hidden gem, or I'm just living under a rock. Either way this is unquestionably an awesome early look into what would come to be a wonderfully unique, cohesive group.

1. Like I Said
2. Pictures In My Mind
3. The Turning
4. Other Worlds
5. Barriers
6. Now Your Mind Is Next To Mine

DL: "Other Worlds EP"

On a completely different note, I'm leaving to go to Vancouver tomorrow to do some hanging out, face all the pre-Olympics madness and watch Rocky Votolato play in a friend's basement. I probably won't be posting for a few days but in the meantime I'm sure your cousin Ipecac or uncle Daniel will feed your collective heads with some music related ramblings. Now I'll leave you with a picture of the Screaming Trees from way back when just so I can pretend that I stayed on topic.

Album: Big Chief - "Mack Avenue Skullgame"

I'm just going to come out and say it: fuck the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this is funk-rock done correctly.

Big Chief take elements of 70's funk culture and incorporate it beautifully into this album, and not in the "white boys attempting to have soul" kind of way. I mean... they are white boys, but they do have a lot of soul on this album; all the while throwing some jazz elements and a gritty rock n' roll attitude into the mix. They also incorporate a nice level of psychedelia and you get to enjoy some of Mark Dancey's brilliant dog-eat-dog cover art. So comb out your afro and crank up the stereo in your Cadillac... this is "Mack Avenue Skullgame".

1. Skullgame No. 3, Take 3
2. My Name Is Pimp (Mack's Theme)
3. Let's Do It Again
4. One Born Every Minute (Doc's Theme)
5. Sonica
6. No Free Love on This Street (Sonica's Theme)
7. Soul on a Roll
8. 10 Karat Pinky Ring
9. Have Another Glass of Brandy, Baby
10. Gaiety Lounge Punk
11. Cop Kisser (Mack Fucks up the Scene at the Freezer)
12. If I Had a Nickel for Every Dime
13. Mixed Jive
14. He Needs to Be Dead/Ten Easy Pieces (The Power of Ginsu)
15. Cut to the Chase
16. Meet the Man Day
17. O Woman (Mack's Lament)
18. Skullgame (Reprise)

DL: "Mack Avenue Skullgame"