Monday, January 31, 2011

Album: Clutch - The Elephant Riders



now i couldn't very well just mention clutch and not post anything by them (and in case you're wondering where they've been mentioned...just take a peek down yonder)

i hope that clutch doesn't really need any sort of explanation as to what they're all about,yeah?

one thing i've noticed about the clutch discography is that each album somehow leads into the one after it

"what are you talking about,sir? are you on something?"

what i meant by that was...take this album for example...it combines the punk energy from TRANSNATIONAL SPEEDWAY LEAGUE with the rawk of SELF-TITLED

and this leads into the JAM ROOM album where they completely head off into the meat and potatoes territory

still confused?

well...i can't seem to make it any clearer than that

just do yourself a favor and snag this up

DL: the elephant riders

Album: Sixty Watt Shaman - Seed Of Decades



this is one of those albums that you can't seem to just listen to one song from (it's like that for me anyway)

this is the kind of action that you want going down during a backyard bbq (and it'll put bbq sauce in your beard...and if you don't have a beard already...it will make you grow one just so you can put some there)

i was supposed to see these guys play in chicago back in '03 with clutch and a band called flybanger...i was stoked as i had just gotten into sixty watt shaman...and i'm a HUGE clutch fan (as we all should be)...but...the girl i was with at the time apparently thought it would be a bad idea to drive 2 hours in a snowstorm (and yes...i called her a sissy)...so for weeks afterward i was taunted by 2 unused tickets...and from what i'd heard about the show...there were only about 20 people there

that was a good story,grampa

if you consider yourself a fan of anything that's been posted here...you really REALLY need this as well

fine...i'll throw a few band names out there to help in the selling of the band:

alabama thunderpussy

karma to burn

the mighty nimbus (vocalist dan soren was a member at one time...and drummer pete campbell currently plays guitar in the band)

kyuss

post-1994 corrosion of conformity


did that work?

thought so

DL: seed of decades

Live Recording: Queens Of The Stone Age - 12.11.00 - Roseland Ballroom - New York,NY



this is the band opening for some band called the foo fighters

1 - intro
2 - ode to clarissa
3 - feel good hit of the summer
4 - quick and to the pointless
5 - infinity
6 - better living through chemistry
7 - monsters in the parasol
8 - how to handle a rope
9 - you can't quit me baby
10 - the lost art of keeping a secret

DL: qotsa @roseland ballroom

Interview: Soundgarden



this was an interview with the band that was part of the PRETTY NOOSE single given by alain johannes and natasha shneider of the band eleven

did you know that they'd considered calling the DOWN ON THE UPSIDE album COMIN' ATCHA! or MR. BUNCHY PANTS?

true story

DL: soundgarden interview

Friday, January 28, 2011

News: Kyuss Vinyl Pressings on Tee Pee Records


KYUSS VINYL ALERT. There are some limited pressings of "Blues For The Red Sun", "....And The Circus Leaves Town" and "Welcome To Sky Valley" available on the Tee Pee webstore now. Limited to 400 pressings each on 180 gram vinyl - it may just be another stop on the recent Kyuss money train but they'll sound oh so sweet. Move fast if you want a piece of the action!

http://www.teepee.hasawebstore.com/

Thursday, January 27, 2011

News: ATP "I'll Be Your Mirror" - New York 2011


So the lineup for ATP New York is starting to unravel again, but I'm not nearly as giddy as I was last year at this point. The lineup so far looks alright (Shellac, Bonnie Prince Billy) but I don't see myself buying a ticket and putting my life aside to travel to New York for it like I did last year. (Which was amazing.) I guess it's not really my cup of tea this year but I can see certain people being really stoked on this. Also, the festival is relocating to Astbury Park in New Jersey.

From ATP's website: "All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic Asbury Park waterfront. For the inaugural American I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate the Saturday and Sunday and headline their first East Coast shows since 1998!"

You can check the full announced lineup here, and I'll be posting regular lineup updates like I did last year.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Album: Druid Lord - "Hymns For The Wicked"


Here's an album the good people from Orlandoom Promotions sent over to me - an almost shockingly crushing release called "Hymns For The Wicked" by Druid Lord. Although I hate the term "death doom", (it's slow so it must be doom, right?!) this is fitting of the description if anything is. I rarely post anything that gets sent to me anymore but this one kind of blew me away and is definitely worth looking into. Just really satisfyingly heavy stuff and it streams for free.
Enjoy.

1. Chamber of Ghastly Horrors
2. Witchfinder
3. Castle of Count Sadist
4. Awakened by the Dead
5. Baron Blood
6. Eerie Ways
7. Gorgon Witch
8. Circling of Vultures

Monday, January 24, 2011

Tour Dates: Chris Cornell "Songbook" Solo Acoustic Tour


It was just announced that Chris Cornell will be doing a solo acoustic tour around North America this spring.

I have a good feeling that this will be a really good show for anyone who is a Cornell fan in any regard - in the end I will probably always be a one despite a few of his more unfortunate recent releases; and really, sitting through a few tracks about his family life and the inevitable "Black Hole Sun" singalong with lighters flaming in the air will likely be worth it just to hear some choice tracks. It's just a shame that the ticket prices are so exceedingly high (I guess Soundgarden reuniting somehow justifies the regular ticket price to triple?).

Aaanyways, here are the dates and tickets are available for pre-sale now! (Go to www.chriscornell.com). The password to buy them is "songbook".

April 1 Austin, TX Paramount Theatre
April 2 Houston, TX House of Blues
April 3 Dallas, TX House of Blues
April 5 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
April 6 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
April 8 Bridgeport, CT The Klein Memorial Auditorium
April 9 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Hall
April 10 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre
April 12 New York, NY Town Hall Theatre
April 15 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel Casino
April 16 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
April 17 Washington DC Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
April 19 Poughkeepsie, NY Bardavon
April 20 Toronto,ON Queen Elizabeth Theatre
April 22 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 23 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
April 24 St. Paul, MN Fitzgerald Theatre
April 26 Edmonton, AB Winspear Centre
April 27 Medicine Hat, AB Esplanade Arts & Heritage Center
April 29 Victoria, BC Royal Theatre
April 30 Coquitliam, BC Red Robinson Show Theatre
May 1 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
May 3 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
May 4 Los Angeles, CA John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
May 6 San Diego, CA Humphreys Concerts by the Bay

Friday, January 21, 2011

News: More Kyuss Lives! Tour Dates + An Album?


I'm only just now catching myself up on Kyuss Lives! news (it's times like this that I really miss stonerrock.com for their great updates on this sort of thing) and have some European dates to post. Apparently this will be a worldwide tour (?!?!) so I'm really excited to see what North American dates are to come.

3/11 Bergen, Norway - Rökeriet

3/12 Oslo, Norway- Rockefeller

3/13 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Medis

3/15 Hamburg, Germany - Docks

3/16 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Halle

3/17 Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage

3/18 Basel, Switzerland - Z7

3/19 München, Bayern, Germany - Backstage Werk

3/20 Budapest, Hungary - Gödör

3/22 Vienna, Austria - Arena

3/23 Milan, Italy - Live Club

3/24 Frankfurt, Germany - Hugenottenhalle

3/25 Paris, France - Elysee Montmartre

3/26 Athens, Greece - Fuss Club

3/27 Brussels, Belgium - AB

3/28 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall

3/29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso

3/31 Nottingham, United Kingdom - Rock City

4/1 Wolverhampton, United Kingdom - Wulfrun Hall

4/2 London, United Kingdom - The Forum


Also, ready yourselves, there's some talk of a new album. I'm not sure if this is set in stone yet or how to feel about it but hey. A quote from the man John Garcia himself: "Our rehearsals are going so well that we’re thinking of doing another record… Brant [Bjork], Nick [Oliveri] and myself have collectively agreed that once everything is done live and we're done with our solo projects, we're going to do another record." Scintillating.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Album: Freedom Hawk - "Sunlight"


Well, there are a ton of things I've been meaning to blog lately but I recently discovered this band and everything else is getting pushed aside for now. This is "Sunlight" by Freedom Hawk. If you haven't heard this band yet you can go ahead and imagine a stellar combination of Fu Manchu blended with Ozzy era Black Sabbath and sprinkled with a hint of space rock that will tide you over until your next Hawkwind fix. (Everyone has those, right?)

All in all this is a really fun release from a band I will definitely be keeping an eye on from now on.

1. Executioner
2. Land of the Lost
3. Sunlight
4. Stand Back
5. Lightning Charge
6. Going Down
7. Palomino
8. Grab A Hold
9. King of Order

Monday, January 17, 2011

Album: Snail - Blood



i predict that once you start listening to this...give it about a minute...and you'll be asking yourself "um...am i listening to the queens of the stone age SELF-TITLED album?"

not to worry...that's a good thing

if you consider yourself a fan of anything that falls under the "stoner rock" heading...do yourself a favor and snag this up

everything about this is so meaty and syrupy

actually...this entire album is like smoking pot with the first queens of the stone age album inside of a shag carpet lined amplifier

"really? another mention of that album?"

yes...really...that album is awesome

"yeah...it's ok...i guess"

come on,man..."regular john"..."avon"..."how to handle a rope"..."hispanic impressions"....

but i digress

syrupy...meaty...queens of the stone age...snail...blood...

DL: blood

Live Recording: Sleep - 1.30.94 - The Limelight - New York,NY



it's sleep

they play "dopesmoker" (though a slightly shortened version)

'nuff said

1 - from beyond
2 - dopesmoker
3 - the druid

DL: sleep @the limelight

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Album: Ararat - "Musica De La Resistencia"


Here's a really cool psych album by Ararat - a side project stemming from Los Natas - called "Musica De La Resistencia". I needed to give this album a listen after hearing their atmospheric trip of a track called "Gitanoss" on the Welcome To Meteor City comp and am far from being disappointed. "Musica De La Resistencia" is experimental and entrancing. Highly recommended!

1. Gitanoss
2. Dos Horses
3. El Carrusel
4. Little Grissy
5. Ganar-Perder
6. Magia Negra
7. Castro

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Interview: King Buzzo (for LA Times)

I haven't posted an interview in a while, but this one of King Buzzo by the LA Times got my attention as it's a really good read. I always like reading/hearing what he has to say.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/01/buzzo-interview.html

Pop & Hiss: Since we’re just days into 2011, what’s the Melvins' main goal or resolution for the new year?

Buzz Osborne: The first goal is to actually survive as a band. That’s the first goal, which it is every year. We're just continuing to work and continuing to make music is another. And that encompasses a whole lot of things. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I don’t necessarily trust the outside world and their opinions. So it’s having the faith to be able to thrust yourself forward and make sure that as long as you think it’s good, everyone else will. And if you don’t, there’s nothing you can do about that.

Looking at the residency schedule that you guys have, the show seems to evolve every week. What conscious decisions went into planning the residency at the Satellite (formerly Club Spaceland)?

It’s one of the things I thought might be kind of a cool trend to get into, is this trend of bands playing whole albums. It gets people excited about the bands for one reason or another and it makes people feel like they’re gonna see something they don’t normally see. We’re always looking for something new and weird to do. So a residency for us at a club in L.A. is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.

To me, the only way to make that make sense is to have it be a little different [each week]. So this is one way to do it. So we’re gonna do normal Melvins stuff as well as specific records. We’re doing the specific records as normally as we would [laughs] … which is to say not exactly how everything is [on the record].

You’re opening the residency with a few of your classic releases, “Colossus of Destiny,” “Lysol” and the “Eggnog” EP. Because you have so much material, was it hard to choose which records you are performing this month?

We knew we were gonna do the “Houdini” record. That was kind of a gimme. But people like that record for whatever reason, and it’s popular as far as one of the ones we do. We’re gonna do two sets, so the first thing is gonna encompass songs that aren’t on those records. We’ll concentrate on newer material maybe. And then we’ll do the specific records for the second set. So it’s gonna be a long show. One of the shows is gonna include the Melvins 1983, which is gonna include our original drummer, Mike Dillard, and Dale [Crover] is gonna play bass. One of the shows we’re gonna open as the Melvins 1983 playing some of the songs we played in 1983, the way we played them in '83 and then sort of jazz 'em up.

Is playing the really old stuff exciting for you, being able to recapture that early Melvins vibe? Do you feel like it’s more of a gift to the fans who have all those old albums?

A lot of people will think it’s cool and others will walk away from it wondering why we bothered because they think it sucks. I’m used to that [laughs]. If I listened to people, even people I know, about what we were doing, I would’ve quit a long time ago. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about people, it’s that everyone has an opinion about those types of things. But rarely is it an opinion that can do me any good. Usually, the opinions aren’t about things that will make things better, it’s about what you’re doing wrong. I’m not interested in constructive criticism, believe me.

On a side note, I saw that recent test pressing of 'The Bride Screamed Murder' vinyl you guys put on eBay reached $460. It was funny seeing some people online bitch about the price, not realizing they were buying a special music artifact, not just an album. Do you hear about complaints like that from people and does it irritate you at all?

The public dictated the price. People were mad because it sold as much as it did, but that didn’t have anything to do with us. It’s almost like they think we should have sold it for less and then let someone else sell it for that much money. Look, if people wanna spend that kind of money for something on eBay, who am I to argue? I don’t make social commentary along those lines. And how does that reflect badly on me? I’m not setting the price on eBay. This is what they don’t understand. We are focusing our attention on art. The problem with all this is that we are selling less records than ever before. Why do they think that is? The reason is because people don’t buy records anymore. They steal them for free off the Internet. I’m not gonna complain about that.

So how can I figure out something where we can still continue to make cool stuff, continue to make records? The only thing I can think of is to focus on something you can’t download, which is art. The music is free, which is the most important thing. But for people that want something specific, who want something physical in their hand, we’re gonna make smaller runs of all that stuff and it’s gonna cost more money.

And for even being a pretty big band, you’ve been really adamant about taking the art you create down to a very boutique level.

This is all stuff that we make. I don’t send stuff off to China to have it made. We make it ourselves. We make our box sets. It’s all in-house and handmade. We’re talking limited edition of 100. It’s not because I only want to make 100. It’s because that’s all we can physically make. I don’t want to stay underground for just the cool people. I want everyone to like our stuff. I would love to sell millions of records, but that’s never gonna be the case. We do what we can, not what we can’t. I’m not a complainer, I’m a doer.

Even though you're playing without any opening acts,do you have any bands that you’re particularly excited about this year or that you’re listening to lately?

Oh God, I dunno, changes all the time. I’m not sure who the hip, underground bands are at the moment. But I’m always looking for stuff like that. Anything that can get me excited, I’ll happily buy it. Here’s the funny thing, I’ve never downloaded anything off the Internet ever. Not because I don’t want to, but because I’d rather just buy it. I don’t really trust the computer to keep my stuff safe. I still have the first CD I ever bought, sounds fine. Money well spent in the '80s. And the other thing is it’s not gonna last for a 100 years, but who cares?

I wish that all my music would just be deleted the second I die. I don’t even want a tombstone, I just wanna have my carcass incinerated and spread out over ground and then vacuumed up in a Hoover. Actually, I’d prefer burial at sea, or just lay out in the desert and let the animals have their way.

-- Nate Jackson

Monday, January 3, 2011

Compilation: Melvins - Hostile Ambient Takeover B-Sides



as mentioned below...there's an interview with kevin rutmanis...and as mentioned below as well...there are 2 bands mentioned: the cows and the melvins

and for those of you out there that don't know what the hell it was i was talking about...i've already given you a gateway into the cows...

and now...the melvins

but you see...i'm not going to go into an explanation of who the melvins are...because simply put...if you don't already know...then you probably don't need to know (and really...why are you reading this blog?...are you in a public place trying to look cool?)

maybe i'm being a little too harsh and judgmental

maybe you just recently broke out of some serial killer's basement where you'd been locked away for the past 20+ years...and you're just reading this over someone's shoulder while you're waiting for help to arrive...

oh..by the way...this is a com-pew-ter

and no...the person holding this isn't a witch

but i digress

when asked in the interview about what he'd considered his best melvins moment...he'd mentioned the HOSTILE AMBIENT TAKEOVER album

but instead of posting that...you get this

and what this is are the b-sides (in case you hadn't already put that together for yourself) to the album's singles (the band released the album per song in 7" form as well...and the b-sides are covers...except for the song "foaming")

so you...reading this over the shoulder...when you finally manage to get your life back on track and whatnot...this will be here waiting for you

1 - foaming (fast version)
2 - return of the spiders (alice cooper cover)
3 - jerkin' krokus (mott the hoople cover)
4 - promise me (the gun club cover)
5 - today your love,tomorrow the world (ramones cover)
6 - arnie/white punks on dope (warlock pinchers/the tubes cover)

DL: hostile ambient takeover b-sides

Album - Cows: Sexy Pee Story



now some of you may have read the mention of the SGM interview with kevin rutmanin mentioned down yonder...and even though it's mentioned that he's played bass in the cows and the melvins...some of you may still be scratching your heads and saying "the cows? the melvins? what are those things?"

the cows were a band out of minneapolis,mn and were part of that whole noise rock thing back in the 90s

they released 9 albums...all mostly released on the amphetamine reptile label (this album being #6)

i chose this album because this is the band at the tippy top of their game (and SEXY PEE STORY is just an awesome thing to say...go on and try working in into everyday conversation: "will that be paper of plastic?" "sexy pee story" "excuse me?" "exactly")

and not only that...you even get a cover of the song "39 lashes" from the JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR album

all in all...this is a good way to spend some alone time

DL: sexy pee story

Interview: Kevin Rutmanis



cross pollination isn't usually suggested (as it ends up turning out horrible...cities crumble...countless folks lose their lives)...but you need to head over to SGM to read an interview with this guy

"oh yeah? who is this guy?"

well...the man played bass in the cows and the melvins

and really...that's all that needs to be said

a shiny grey kevin rutmanis interview

Compilation: Screaming Trees - Rarities



i was digging through the mounds of crap i have stored on my computer...and i came across this

this is a collection of "previously unreleased" stuff...some covers...some live stuff...

you know...the kind of stuff that usually makes up a rarities collection

and now i'm going to share it with you (don't worry...i've washed my hands)

1 - love or confusion (1)
2 - feathered fish (2)
3 - what goes on (3)
4 - tales of brave ulysses (4)
5 - (there'll be) peace in the valley (for me) (5)
6 - tomorrow's dream (6)
7 - morning dew (7)
8 - freedom (8)
9 - psycho (9)
10 - e.s.k.
11 - song of a baker (10)
12 - winter song (acoustic)
13 - maybe
14 - darkness darkness (11)
15 - working class hero (12)
16 - wasted time
17 - silver tongue (13)
18 - butterfly (live)
19 - dollar bill (live)
20 - caught between/the secret kind (live)
21 - watchpocket blues*
22 - paperback bible*
23 - dollar bill (acoustic)

1=jimi hendrix cover
2=love cover
3=the velvet underground cover
4=cream cover
5=johnny cash cover
6=black sabbath cover
7=tim rose cover
8=buffalo cover
9=the sonics cover
10=the small faces cover
11=the youngbloods cover
12=john lennon cover
13=deep purple cover

*=previously unreleased

DL: screaming trees rarities

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Album: Comets On Fire - "Bong Voyage"

If you're like me and were only familiar with Avatar and Blue Cathedral, this LP may come as a total surprise. It was for me after my friend played it. Forget everything you know. This record is far noisier and unpolished than their other material, but that just adds to how much rocking and face-melting occurs within these tracks. Self-restraint is let go as a total necessity to rock takes over. This was quite limited I gather, so here it is for your conveniance.

Download: "Bong Voyage"


Happy New Years.