Last Of 2007 Purchases

I had the itch to go to the record store and pick up some CDs and records at Lou's. I hit up the used section first and finally bought Mr. Bungle's California on CD. On LP I found some nice gems - Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage Act I, The Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn, and Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow.

In the new store I picked a limited edition 7" from Mick Barr's Octis project and a 10" from Tim Hecker I've never seen before. On CD were 2007 releases from Citay, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, and Richard Youngs. Older discs included last years debut from Citay and the collaboration between UP-TIGHT and Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mothers Temple fame.

So coming in the new year will be my Best Of 2007 list along with information on my music project. For Christmas I received an MBox2 Mini from Digidesign that comes with ProTools and loads of plugins. I've working on compositions that center around my two bass guitars and now I'm trying to add new elements into the mix. 'Til next year...

Christmas Haul

Not a big haul, but I received some new jazz discs for Christmas. Except for a couple tracks released on compilations, the recordings from the Trio Of Doom have finally been released. The Trio Of Doom is the probably the ultimate power trio with John McLaughlin on guitar, Jaco Pastorius on bass and Tony Williams on drums. Unfortunately the album is short but there is plenty of mind blowing playing on it.

Also released this year was The Complete On The Corner Sessions from Miles Davis. The box set comes in tin slipcase with the cover painted on both sides along with a huge booklet and the six discs. A lot of the material recorded during these sessions went on to be released on many other Miles Davis albums. Can't wait to dig through it all.

The Most Expensive Short Album (Ever)?

While I'm glad to have new release from Buried At Sea, their new album 'Ghost' is a single track clocking in at 29 minutes and 58 seconds. The problem is that it's being sold as a full length album at a full length price. Directly from the label it's $14 but I was able to get it for $15 (and with free shipping) from Amazon after purchasing a separate Christmas gift. I'd expect the price would be a lot better coming from an independent record label. The price could of been forgiven if the disc came packed in some awesome packaging but all you get is a standard jewel case. Oh well, at least the music is crushing.

Last Order From ATH In 2007?

With a good sized stack of CDs on my desk, I'm hoping I received my last order from ATH for 2007. It's been one of the best years of music since probably 2004. The only new release that I need to get from this year is the latest from Burning Saviours. Other than that I can't think of any more new albums on my "to buy" list. Here's the latest haul:

CDs
Suma - Suma
Rosetta - Wake/Lift
Lento - Earthern (Deluxe Edition) - This is the latest piece of artwork from the Malleus' Supernatural Cat label and the best looking and constructed one yet.
Golden Death Music - Ephemera Blues (freebie)
VA - Road To Nowhere (freebie)

LPs
The Sword / Witchcraft - Split 12"
Burial Chamber Trio - WVRM 10"

20 Buck Spin Sale

20 Buck Spin has a sale going on and I just had to take advantage of it. Since I have a good chunk of the label releases, I bought only distro items that I probably couldn't get cheaper anywhere else. I picked a couple of Acid Mothers Temple ('Wild Gals A Go-Go' reissue and 'Minstrel In The Galaxy') and Circle ('Panic' and 'Arkades') releases. Apparently the 'Arkades' jewel was broken, so Dave threw in a disc from Ryokuchi as a freebie. I have no idea who that is so it should be an interesting first listen.

Also coming in the mail from Robotic Empire was the first full length LP from Behold... The Arctopus. The LP comes with a pressed CD of the album which is something I hope more labels will be doing in the future. And since it took so long to ship, they threw in the disc of the Torche self-titled album. I already have that album, but it was a nice gesture.

Turkey Week Roundup

Back from a nice Thanksgiving in the mountains, there were some packages waiting for me.

From Crucial Blast were a pair of reissues, that of Grey Daturas' 2004 album 'Dead In The Woods' and a remaster of Skullflower's IIIrd Gatekeeper.

Public Guilt have released the debut full length album from French occult psych rock band Aluk Todolo so I picked that up along with one of the latest albums from Finland's Circle. They also threw in the sampler disc featuring bands on Public Guilt and Implied Sound.

An order from the fantastic label/distro Eclipse Records came a couple of new CDs from Drag City - Sir Richard Bishop's second release of the year 'Polytheistic Fragments' and another new album from Six Organs Of Admittance titled 'Shelter From The Ash' (an appropriate title for where I'm at after 1/3 of the county burned down in October). On vinyl came the latest from Bardo Pond side project Alasehir, a new 45 from Wooden Shjips, and a split 7" from Jack Rose and Silvester Afang.

Massive Week In Review

Not getting anything last week in the mail and the holiday on Monday, several orders arrived between Tuesday and Thursday.

From Archive CD came three surprise releases that to my knowledge weren't know until they went on sale on the website. A reissue of the first UP-TIGHT album along with a couple of bonus tracks, and two collaborations - Astro, Jazkamer, and Hair Stylistics for a long track and Todd Merrell, Aidan Baker and Patrick Jordan for some mellow tracks. From the distro I bought the new Boris with Merzbow live album 'Rock Dream', a reissue of Circle's first album 'Meronia', South Saturn Delta's debut album, and expanded editions of Sunn O)))'s 'Flight Of The Behemoth' and 'The GrimmRobe Demos'.

Coming from Constellation Records was their two releases from Hrsta (featuring members of Godspeed You Black Emperor), one of them a new release and the other I finally got around to picking up.

From Kranky Records came a load of CDs by Charalambides, including their two most recent releases, 'Likeness' on Kranky and 'Electricity Ghost' on Wholly Other that features outtakes from the 'Joy Shapes' sessions.

After not being able to find them in a couple of trips to the record store, I reluctantly put in an order to Souther Lord Records for the latest albums from Orthodox, Wolves In The Throne Room, Oren Ambarchi and Deathspell Omega.

Earthless, Danava, Saviours and Witchcraft at Brick By Brick, San Diego November 6, 2007

First time I've been to Brick By Brick to see a show and the lineup for the Tuesday night gig was stellar. After seeing all the shows at the Casbah, Brick By Brick feels gigantic in comparison. It was nice to have some room to roam around between sets. The downside was they opened the doors about 45 minutes late. I believe the everything did start on time however.

First up was Earthless and their broken-finger-playing guitar player. Back from a US tour (which they said was great), Earthless started off their jam in similar fashion but went into different territories afterwards. Starting with some fretboard acrobatics, they eventually went into some heavy jamming for most of the set. Definitely the heaviest set I've heard from them as it featured less guitar effects, but the excellent soloing was still intact.

Next was Danava whose first album from last year was a welcome surprise when I got it as a freebie. I loved that their bass player was out in front and playing all over the fretboard (fingerstyle!) for their seemingly brief set. My complaint about them, and perhaps this was the soundman's fault, but I couldn't hear the electronics/keyboards/synths very well. Either they really wanted them blended into the sound or something was off at the mixing board.

Saviours, the only band that I wasn't really familiar with, ripped their doom-tinged "classic" style of metal. They certainly had a nice contingent of fans for their set but I couldn't get into them. There wasn't enough uniqueness to their sound to differentiate them from the pack. It was solid metal but nothing that hasn't been done already.

The headliners for the night coming all the way from Sweden was the Black Sabbath and Pentagram influenced Witchcraft. One thing is clear right away is that they are much heavier live than on their records. Once again I loved the fact that their bass player was playing fingerstyle and all over the fretboard. It was their first showing in San Diego and the good turnout for a Tuesday night was excited they were in town. Witchcraft played a great set of tunes from their three full length releases. They seemed to be having a great time playing and hopefully they'll be back again.

New Important Records

A big order from Important Records finally arrived with new CDs and LPs from the always diverse label.

The CDs included another live album from Suishou No Fune (Archive just recently released a live album by them as well), a new (very short for a) full-length from LSD March and the self-titled (debut?) album from Sky City who features Robert Horton, Tom Carter, and Lisa and Lee Ann Cameron.

ImpRec has put out the new Citay album on vinyl and I decided to pick that up. I still need to get their first album. However this second album sounds fantastic. Getting some buzz on the music forums was the self-titled LP from A Place To Bury Strangers. Haven't given it a spin yet but I'm curious to hear what "New York's loudest band" sounds like. The collaboration between Oren Ambarchi and musician-producer Chris Townend, dubbed simply Sun. I'm not sure if this is the first Sun release, but I've enjoyed Oren's past work.

From The Archive Distro

A couple of new discs arrived from the fantastic Archive distro. After releasing a live CD/DVD combo on the Archive label, Kousokuya have released another live album that was recorded a few months before the passing of their guitar player. Just about all the info in the liner notes is in Japanese, so a translation would be helpful.

After reading the review on fakejazz.com, the latest album from Mammal sounded like an interesting release in the world of noise music. So I decided to make an impulse purchase in hopes of it being a good album. Scott from Archive liked and I'll take his word on it.

Lou's Again + ATH

Went back to Lou's Records to pick up some stuff they didn't have in last time. While they didn't have almost any of it in, I did manage to pick up many CDs and LPs.

CDs:
Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond
Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless
Wooden Wand - James & The Quiet
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
The White Buffalo - EP
Bartenders Bible - Rimrock Recording Sessions

LPs:
Heavy Winged - We Grow
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willie And The Poor Boys
Jefferson Airplane - After Bathing At Baxter's
The Moody Blues - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
The Moody Blues - To Our Childrens Childrens Children


And the latest order from All That's Heavy featuring a couple of new releases. Everything is on CD:

Witchcraft - The Alchemist
Los Natas - El Universo Perdido de Los Natas (2CD)
YOB - Elaborations Of Carbon
Blind Dog - Captain Dog Rides Again
The Ribeye Brothers - If I Had A Horse...

Cuneiform Records And More

It's been on my "to order" list for a long time, but I finally placed another order to Cuneiform Records to fill out the rest of the proper Heldon discography. Not only have they released the Heldon and Richard Pinhas albums, but they have also released the latest album from San Diego's Upsilon Acrux. Although the lineup has changed, Upsilon Acrux are still playing that jazz-punk-King Crimson-math rock influenced music.

I must have missed it when I ordered the other two Jandek tributes, but Summersteps Records has a third tribute album in their handmade series that contains cuts that didn't make it on the first two releases. I think 'Corwood Variations' might actually be the best of the three.

On a trip to Best Buy to buy a new external hard drive, I picked up the latest album from Down along with the special edition of the Mastodon's latest album (includes a making of DVD).

Back To Lou's

Now that summer is over with and traffic on the freeway is not insane, I finally made a trip to Lou's Records in search of some new releases. All but one of the CDs was a recent release and I managed to score some good vinyl.

CDs:
Area C - Haunt
Kawabata Makoto - INUI 4
Nadja - Radiance Of Shadows
Om - Pilgrimage
Deathspell Omega - Kenose

Vinyl:
Oren Ambarchi - Stacte Motors
Oren Ambarchi & Scott Horscroft / Hado Ho - Split
Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks (gold vinyl)
GHQ - California Night Burning Dreams (plus 3" CD-R)
LSD March - Shindara Jigoku
Silvester Anfang - Echte Vlaamse Geiten

Arriving the mail during the weak was another vinyl release from Three Lobed Recordings. Under the name of Basalt Fingers, Elisa Ambrogio, Ben Chasny and Brian Sullivan play some improvised guitar-only music that take up both sides of the record. I previewed a bit of the music just hear what it was like (different from what I expected) so I still need to sit down with this one for a spin. Love the fact that a pressed CD of the vinyl material has been included with the silk screened packaging.

ATH Order

Will some new releases out and some excellent deals to be had, an order to the All That's Heavy online shop was due.

New releases from Expo 70 (who I've never heard of but liked the reviews), Truckfighters and The Perfect Rat have come out in the last few weeks. Truckfighters continue to be the best of the new fuzz rock bands that have come out of Sweden. The Perfect Rat features a mix of SST and desert artists like Greg Ginn, Gary Arce and Mario Lalli. An interesting mix that has set to sink in yet. Expo 70 is just a dude playing improvised ambient and drone music with a slew of instruments.

For older albums I picked up Eternal Elysium's two albums on Meteor City. The blend heavy blues rock with psychedelic/stoner rock. After reading some positive reviews and with a very cheap price I also picked up the self-titled album from Sir Hedgehog.

Earthless and Jesu at the Cashbah, San Diego October 4, 2007

Wolves In The Throne Room were scheduled to open up the show but apparently they broke down on the drive to the gig. While I did see them back in July, I was looking forward to hearing them again and buying their latest album. Instead of pushing up the other two bands, they stuck to the original schedule which meant more sitting around doing nothing until 10pm. Making things worse the Jesu merch table wasn't open before the show started. I was probably going to buy a couple CDs but ended up buying nothing.

Earthless went on a little after 10pm and dig right into a 50 minute jam of 'Godspeed', the first track on their new album. This was my fourth time seeing the band and they are continuing to play phenomenal sets. They did different intro than I remembered hearing the previous time and it works well.

I've enjoyed Jesu up until the last album, but being from the UK, I figured I won't have many opportunities to see them live. I wasn't sure what kind of configuration Justin Broadrick would have; turns out they are a trio with help from a laptop providing the noises and keyboards. Perhaps it was because of the location as was at, but the mix just wasn't working for me. The drums were way too loud and the guitars needed to be turned up - way up. I was expecting to bathed in washes of guitars but it was not to be. They played (from what I can tell) mostly new material including the best tracks from 'Silver'. Not sure if there was anything from the self-titled album or not. The encore song, whose name escapes me, was by far the best part of the set.

Nil Recurring

Just a quick update this time.

Arriving from the UK was the latest release from Porcupine Tree. An EP called 'Nil Recurring' featuring four tracks that didn't make the cut on their recent album. Robert Fripp contributes some lead guitar work on the title (instrumental) track. The EP really shows the diversity of the band throughout the four songs. A welcome edition to the PT catalog.

New Archive CDs, An Order From Aquarius and A Couple Discs Lost In The Shuffle

Slipping through the cracks was a pair of releases by Half Makeshift that arrived earlier in the month. A one-man project, Half Makeshift uses piano and organ as lead instruments to create atmospheric and at times heavy music (such is the case on the 20 Buck Spin release). The other release on the new CD-R label Small Doses maintains the more atmospheric and ambient drone side of Half Makeshift and makes for some excellent background music.

Continuing to try different ways of packaging a CD, Archive has released two new albums that come in vellum overlays with graphics by Chase Middaugh. A three song, single live track from Japan's Suishou No Fune has the group in duo form drenched in echo performing an excellent set that I like much better than their last release. Heavy Winged's second release of the year is more psych-noise jams that go over 10 minutes each. I also picked up the new James Plotkin CD (part of Utech's Arc series) through the distro.

Finally arriving from Aquarius Records is the debut full length CD from San Francisco's Wooden Shjips. The limited edition includes all of their vinyl releases on a second disc which is a great to have a pressed CD of all that material. Their new material is a bit different from the vinyl but I think I'll like it just the same. After enjoying a track with a split with Hush Arbors, I ordered the new album from Voice Of The Seven Woods. Certainly a heavy Six Organs Of Admittance influence apparent on the full length album.

20 Buck Lore

Couple of orders arriving in the mail on Monday from Profound Lore and 20 Buck Spin.

Profound Lore has recently released sophomore albums from Atavist and The Angelic Process. Atavist sounds very similar to earlier Sunn O))) but with more going on behind the subsonic riffage. The Angelic Process reminds me of a mix of Jesu, The Goslings and Nadja.

From 20 Buck Spin one of their new releases is a split CD from Grey Daturas and Monarch!. The former I've never heard before while the latter has a huge Thorr's Hammer/Khanate influence to them. Turns out Grey Daturas also have similar influences but go with instruments only. I also picked up some distro items like the debut EP from Zoroaster, the 3-way split from Discordance Axis, Corrupted and 324 and Deathspell Omega's 'Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice'.

Week In Review

Lots of new stuff arriving this week in the post. First in was the latest vinyl release from Three Lobed Recordings. A 12" from Sarin Smoke (the duo of Peter Swanson and Tom Carter) along with a CD EP live recording is some mellow, "meditative" guitar duo work that works great as background music or something to relax to. Nice silk screened black and white artwork and thick heavy black wax make for another solid release from Three Lobed.

Coming from No Idea Records, who are mostly a punk rock label, was three albums from Atom And His Package ('Package' being his sequencer) and the second "lost" album from Floor. Atom is someone who I heard about years ago in college and I finally got around to buying some of his albums. I've not heard Floor's 'Dove' yet but hopefully it's as good as their self-titled album.

Forgetting that I was going to see them on Thursday, I made the mistake of ordering the deluxe edition of High On Fire's new album from Relapse. It comes with a "making of" DVD that hopefully is worth the few extra bucks. But I did finally order the latest full length from Zombi, who I saw live last year. The album is good but it doesn't match the experience of their live show. Also coming in the order is the remaster of Sun Dial's 'Other Way Out' psych rock album along with an outtakes disc titled 'Other Way In'. They sort of fit in with the Spaceman 3/Spiritualized side of psych rock.

High On Fire, Mono, Panthers, Coliseum at the Cashbah, San Diego September 20, 2007

It was a sold out show at the Casbah last night as High On Fire and company kicked off their tour. Coliseum, hailing from Kentucky, started the night playing their punk-tinged doom metal. After breaking a snare drum on the first song and dealing with other drum issues described by their singer/guitarist as their "broken drummer", they ripped their set. Not quite my type of music but it was they were a good opener. Hope their drum issues get worked out for the rest of the tour.

From Brooklyn, New York Panthers were slotted next. After a couple songs apparently the power went out on stage left and the guitarist had a broken string. Panthers have that New York garage rock sound mixed with the heaviness of Black Sabbath for a sound I haven't come across so far. Usually with their type of music the vocals are never melodic, but their singer brought a Strokes-like vibe with his delivery.

Continuing with the diverse lineup was the New York-via-Japan instrumental band Mono. This was the second time I've seen Mono and they put on a hell of show. Perhaps it was because it was my second time seeing them, but I thought their set wasn't quite as good this time around. They've been touring for a long time and starting to tire of it. Nonetheless they played some of their best tracks incorporating the quiet to loud formula to perfection.

Closing out the night was the mighty High On Fire whose fourth album came out on Tuesday. The trio is getting huge and probably could have played a much larger venue. This was my first time seeing Matt Pike and company and they sounded great with their new bass player. New songs like 'Death Is This Communion', 'Turk' and 'Rumors Of War' were highlights of the show. An interesting note is that Mike is playing a 9-string guitar on these tracks. That certainly helps fill in the gaps that a trio usually has.

Robotic Empire

Picked up a CD and double LP from Robotic Empire. After being out print for years now, RE has reissued Isis' epic 'Panopticon' on vinyl. I went for the silver wax. The CD is the self-titled album from Floor, who no longer exist but whose members went on to form Torche. Floor certainly shares a similar sound.

The New Rig

Getting a nice bass guitar and having to play it on a cheap combo amp was just not going to work. So the search began for a new amp. My uncle had two cabinets from DeCuir loaded with 15" JBL K140 drivers that he's not using so I only needed to find a new head. At the Carvin showroom I played my bass on their BX1200 dual mono amplifier that was getting good reviews in the bass magazines.

So upon further testing on the BX1200 and their other bass amp (the BX1500), I felt the BX1200 was the right choice based the price and features on the amp. So I have my work cut out to find a tone that I like.

Next on the want list is a quality tuner (in pedal form) along with a fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedal.

Heavy Stuff

The latest batch of purchases focuses mostly on the heavy side of rock music. I picked up the new Baroness album simply titled 'Red Album'. A departure from their two EPs as the aggression has been turned down for more varied songwriting. Nadja's millionth release of the year is an EP called 'Guilted By The Sun' that is probably the heaviest thing they have done so far as well as their shortest release and individual songs. Valkyrie's self-titled debut album came recommended and after liking the first track I ordered the CD. I still need to listen to the whole thing.

For some older albums I picked up The Mystick Krewe Of Clearlight's self-titled album that has some fine southern-inspired (instrumental) swamp jams on it. For a freebie I got Stinking Lizaveta's album 'III' which I believe is all instrumental as well. The lone LP in the group is a reissue of Sleep's coveted second album 'Sleep's Holy Mountain'. Comes in nice gatefold sleeve with original artwork and lyrics. Nice to see this hit the wax.

A New Toy

At the end of June I made the decision to get a new bass guitar. I've had a cheap Squire P-Bass since 2000 but I've never gotten around to learning how to properly play the damn thing. Now that I have time to play, looking at the Squire didn't give me much inspiration.

So after a quick trip to Guitar Center to see what they had, I went to the Carvin factory here in San Diego. After playing a few of their basses I knew I had to order one. Being left-handed limited my selection so ordering a custom bass was the way to go. I decided on the IC5WP, a 5-string with piezo pickups on the saddle and walnut wood. For options I went with the 5 piece maple neck with walnut strips, abalone black inlays, stainless steel frets and black chrome plated hardware.

Now the search begins for a new amp as my cheap 50W combo isn't cutting it. Oh and now I have to learn to really play...

Trio Of CDs, Part 2

A couple of new releases plus a three year old album arrived in the last few days. The latest from Japan's Mono collects rare and out of print EPs on a single disc. A wonderful collection of tunes but I don't know why they decided to put 'Yearning' on it since it was on their last album as well. It's a fantastic track but I'm sure there were other tracks that could have been included instead of it.

The other two CDs are by Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls fame. Under the moniker Sir Richard Bishop, he plays some impressive acoustic guitar in the tradition of John Fakey, Leo Kottke and Robby Basho. 'Improvika' is just solo acoustic guitar but on his new album 'While My Guitar Violently Bleeds' he uses other instruments to compliment his acoustic playing.

Conifer & Ocean

Important Records has released a split 12" with new material from Portland Maine's Conifer and Ocean. Apparently both bands have shared members and are good friends, but also musically it makes sense to pair them up on a split. Both bands feature a single 20 minute track that explore many of the different aspects of heavy music. Full length albums from both bands are expected to hit next year and I will be looking forward to hear what they come up with.

Trio Of CDs

For the weekend three CDs arrived.

First in was the latest from Three Lobed Recordings. Heavy Winged makes their debut on TLR with 'Blacc Lust' which collects a pair of CD-R releases that are probably long out of print. I heard about Heavy Winged before but never had a chance to listen to their music. Someone described them as Bardo Pond mixed with The Goslings and that's probably a decent description of what they are doing. It has the long psych-ish jam of BP mixed with the intensity and noisy abrasive side of The Goslings which creates an interesting sound. They are like the link between psych rock and noise rock but take the better qualities of each side. This one needs to get more spins to really sink in.

Two years ago Bass Communion and vidnaObmana (aka Steven Wilson and Dirk Serries) got together for a collaboration titled 'Continuum'. They are now back with 'Continuum 2' and a much different sound. The first in the series was minimalist ambient work while the second release goes in the complete opposite direction and sounds more like a mix of Sunn O))) and Black Boned Angel with ambiance of the first release underneath the wall of guitar.

Zoroaster released a self-titled EP last year that reminded me of Electric Wizard and Sleep. While I still need to pick up that album, I ordered their first full length CD titled 'Dog Magic'. I haven't given this one a spin yet, but from what I've read it's supposed to have more of a psychedelic tinge to it.

TempResLtd

Finally the package containing some new and old releases from Temporary Residence Ltd. showed up in the post yesterday. On clear red wax comes the second collaboration between Hydra Head and TRL, a split 12" from Jesu and Eluvium. The other new release is from Maserati who make their debut TRL release with 'Inventions For The New Season'. The certainly will fit in on the roster along with Explosions In The Sky, Grails and Mono. I also picked up a couple of older CDs from Eluvium, 'Talk Amongst The Trees' and 'Lambent Material'.

Roundup Of Last Week

Last week saw the arrival of many packages in the post.

From Relapse came the reissue of the very hard to find Harvey Milk album 'The Pleaser'. Not only does it contain a bonus track, but also included is a second disc containing the rare live album 'Live Pleaser'. I also finally got around to buying High On Fire's 'Blessed Black Wings' in anticipation of their upcoming album.

Robotic Empire had a few new releases for order. A remastered and remixed version of Torche's debut album with a bonus track was reissued along with an EP of new material. Coming in gorgeous glossy gatefold sleeve is a colored 10" record in one sleeve and a CD in the left panel. Just a fantastic release by RE. The debut from Pygmy Lush also came out. It's one of those records that cannot be classified under one genre. The songs range from folk to punk rock, often alternating between styles through the tracklist.

From All That's Heavy the came the following CDs:
Solace - The Black Black (one of the better albums this year and that's saying a lot)
Tonerlow - Tonerlow (some doom mixed with psych rock)
Gas Giant - Mana (another album from Elekrohasch, the best label for heavy psych rock)
Suma - Let The Churches Burn (heavy stuff influenced by Kyuss, etc.)
Solarized - Driven (fuzz rock from Meteor City)

And coming all by itself was an officially released album from Beatallica. As the name suggests these dudes play songs by the Beatles in the style of Metallica with all new lyrics. The contains mostly older songs that have been re-recorded along with a few new gems. A rather bizarre listening experience if you've never heard them before.

Jandek Box Set

Another first arrived from Corwood Industries today - a four disc box set from Jandek chronicling the two live sets performed in Brooklyn, New York on September 7, 2005. According to Seth Tisue's website, the Representative played electric guitar (a fretless for the second set) and Matt Heyner and Chris Corsano joined on double bass and drums respectively. I have no idea what this sounds like so I'm looking forward to putting it on.

New Releases From Elektrohasch

New releases from German psychedelic rock label Elektrohasch arrived compliments of All That's Heavy. Although not new music, they reissued a pair of albums that came out a few years ago. Recorded by in the late 90s, 'This Is...' by The Beginning gets a reissue treatment with a couple of bonus live tracks. The other reissue is of Electric Orange's 'Platte' which might have been a vinyl only release. Included are a couple of long bonus tracks. The third Elektrohasch album I bought was the debut from The Kings Of Frog Island who feature members of Josiah and The Beginning.

For a freebie I received 'Spit Blood' by The Atomic Bitchwax which includes a sampler from MeteorCity.

Pair Of Important Records

Arriving in the post today was a pair of new releases from Important Records. The next in the Floating Frequencies/Intuitive Synthesis from Eleh comes on thick 200 gram black wax and is dedicated to Charlemagne Palestine. There's a warning that due to the low frequencies, side B must be played at a higher volume than side A. Side A reminds of the last record while side B has some nice low frequency pulses and gives the hi-fi a good low-end test.

The next release in their Arts & Crafts series comes from Barbez who I absolutely nothing about. It's a nice 7" on red wax with a nice instrumental on side A and apparently a sort of protest song on the flipside. Sounded pretty good on my first spin.

Red Sparowes Debut LP

I bought the repress of the debut double LP from Red Sparowes titled 'At The Soundless Dawn'. The LP features different artwork from the CD version. Robotic Empire did two color variations for it and I went with the "clear with smoke". The wax itself sounds awesome on my system so I couldn't be happier. This was one of my favorite albums from 2005 and still my favorite Red Sparowes release to date.

Trace Bundy, Acoustic Music San Diego, San Diego July 13, 2007

Having only seen a video on YouTube and a few snippets on his website, I got invited to go see acoustic guitar player Trace Bundy last night. I wasn't sure what to expect from him but the samples I heard were decent.

Hailing from Boulder, Colorado and taking a complete grassroots approach to music, Trace has released three CDs and has toured all over the country and overseas. Having an arsenal of five capos, he would pick, strum, bend and tap his way through classic pieces, traditional folk songs, modern covers and original compositions. His fretboard work was top notch as he constantly displayed his "ninja-like" attack. Most of his arrangements attempted to play the bass, rhythm and lead parts all at the same time as well as incorporating percussive beats on the body of the guitar and using a looping/sampling effects pedal to add a background for him to play over.

So going into the show not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised by his playing and rapport with a audience that had such a wide age gap.

Pair Of Collaborations And A New One From Three Lobed

Out on Supernatural Cat Records is a collaboration between Italian psychedelic doom kings Ufomammut and the "ambient postcore" (that what it says on the website) of Lento. Lento I have never heard of before but I love everything that Ufomammut has released so far. I bought the special edition which has been hand-printed and numbered by artist Malleus. I like what Malleus did with the Morkobot album and decided to get the limited artwork. The packaging isn't quite as good as the Morkobot artwork but it's still very nicely done.

The other disc is both a split and collaboration between Rosetta and Balboa titled "Project Mercury". Balboa goes first with three tracks, then Rosetta with a pair of songs and the final track is the collaboration between both groups.

The latest from the ever consistent label Three Lobed Recordings is a recording from Tom Carter, Robert Horton and Michael Shannon called Turnstone. Apparently they all got together for a five hour jam session and this disc represents the best material. There's definitely a jam type of vibe as the music just seems to be stream of conscious without much structure. There are all kinds of instruments used throughout which makes it harder to grasp the first listen through. Seems to be a continued thread in the recent crop of albums from Three Lobed that requires that the listener give repeated listens to uncover all the nooks and crannies of the album.

Wolves In The Throne Room, Weedeater, Earth and Sunn O))) at the Casbah, San Diego July 2, 2007

Southern Lord's 777 West Coast Tour kicked off in San Diego last night. I'm unaware if it was sold out, but there were many folks on hand to throw up some horns and doom claws.

Wolves In The Throne Room got things started with a couple of long songs. After their first song was over the guitarist/singer announced they were playing their last song of the night. About 20 minutes later they were done. The first thing I noticed about Wolves was that they don't have a bass player so their sound lacks the bottom end that I love so much. They have a blackish metal sound that incorporates some ambient and progressive rock elements. Not exactly my type of music but I they were good at what they do.

Next up was Weedeater from one of the Carolinas (I forget which one). They play a mix of doom and stoner rock with a their bass player handling frontman duties. The drummer and bassist put on a hell of a show but the guitarist seemed like he was going through the motions (I guess he's just a low-key type of guy). Despite falling in genres that I like, I couldn't get really into them. But I'd like to hear a record of theirs before I pass complete judgment on them.

Earth had a lineup of some kind of keyboard, drums, bass and of course Dylan Carlson on guitar. They played almost (if not entirely) new material from their new album which is due next February. The material continued where they set out with Hex, but with a bit more variety in the mix. The guitar parts had some nice fills and touches not present on Hex and the keyboards played a larger roll in the sound. The title track from their upcoming album and "Carrion Crow" are sure to be highlights. Can't wait to hear the finished album!

Sunn O))) capped off the night with something I didn't expect from them. Earth's keyboard player (who I believe is Steve Moore) joined the band along with an upright bass player and vocalist Attila Csihar. After a heavy amount of fog pumped out of their fog machines, Steve, Stephen (on guitar) and Attila took the stage for about 15 minutes that a mix of guitar noises, both Golem-like and Gregorian chant-like vocals and trombone. It's one of the better and unique songs I've heard Sunn O))) perform. Then came Greg and the upright bass player to add the low end to the performance while Steve switched from trombone to a Moog synth. Eventually they built up a massive drone that had long periods of the sound waves beating and Attila took a nap on the stage until coming back with Golem-like vocals in the end.

Having never seen Sunn O))) before, it certainly was an experience. I can't remember having felt the music so much as the speakers pushed enough air to vibrate my entire body. Along with the fantastic "tour only" merchandise from Sunn O))), it was a fantastic night of music.

New goods:
Sunn O))) - Oracle 2CD
Sunn O))) - Oracle LP

A Pair From Slimm

After releasing three new albums on his Archive label, Scott Slimm has kept the distro stocked with some great releases. Suishou No Fune have put out two fantastic releases and they have a new album out called 'Writhing Underground Flowers'. Three lengthy tracks make up the release that was produced by Bardo Pond's Michael Gibbons. I haven't been able to give this a listen yet.

I do like to buy directly from the label, but Slimm has the new two disc set by Australia's Whitehorse on 20 Buck Spin. I've heard some great things about this band and the previous releases Slimm had in stock sold out very quickly. Now just need to find some time to listen to both of these.

The Mars Volta and Related Projects

When I was looking at records in Amoeba Records in May I noticed that all of albums, the EP and single of The Mars Volta were all available. For some reason I thought their full length albums were out of print and never bothered to confirm this. Having spent enough money Amoeba I decided to hold off getting their recordings on vinyl. Until now... Also picked up some of The Mars Volta's guitarist's solo recordings and a CD from their dub side project.

LPs:

The Mars Volta - Tremulant EP
The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium 2LP
The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute 3LP
The Mars Volta - The Widow 12"
The Mars Volta - Amputechture 2LP
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (Picture Disc)
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Damo Suzuki - Please Heat This Eventually 12"

CDs:
The Mars Volta - Termulant EP
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume One
De Facto - Megaton Shotblast

Pair Of New Releases

The latest albums from Oxbow and Tomahawk have arrived in the post today. Tomahawk's 'Anonymous' comes in a gorgeously designed digipak that has raised lettering and graphics that perfectly fit the them Native American theme that runs throughout the disc. This will certainly be a controversial album for Tomahawk and Mike Patton fans who were probably expecting more of a rock record. I think came up with one of the more original albums I've heard in awhile.

Oxbow has put out a record in awhile and they're back with 'The Narcotic Story'. According to the liner notes it's the first part of a trilogy the will conclude with a film and soundtrack. I've only listened once but it sounded like a very solid album that might match what they did on 'An Evil Heat'.

aRCHIVE + SL

The next batch of releases from Archive are out and include a couple of Khanate albums. The first live album (aRCHIVE 13) they did for the label was limited to 500 copies and quickly sold out so Mr. Slimm has reissued it (slightly remastered). The other Khanate album released is a live show they did in Stockholm in 2004. The third release is a live album from Galax who are the duo of Hiroshi Hasagawa and Keichi Miyashita with quest Hiroshi Higashi on a track. Can't wait to hear what this sounds like. For distro items, I picked up the new Destructo Swarmbots' CD.

My order to Southern Lord was for the LP-only release from Burial Chamber Trio (aka Greg Anderson, Oren Ambarchi and Attila Csihar), the latest from Earthride, the reissue of Thorr's Hammer's only album, the reissue of The Obsessed's Incarnate and the new Southern Lord compilation as a freebie.

The stack on my desk is huge, time to get listening.

Trip To Lou's + TLR

Arriving on Thursday was the latest CD release from Three Lobed Records. Actually coming in a standard jewel case, the disc collects the best from three CD-R releases by Wooden Wand Hassara.

Titled Hassara 'Backyard I-III', the album features eight instrumentals that sounds nothing like I've heard from a Wooden Wand release. I had no idea what to expect on this release (would it be like the "free folk" of the Vanishing Voice albums or more like the folky singer-songwriter approach of the Sky High Band and Omen Bones Band) but find it's a bit of both styles with more of a psych rock approach. There are some nice long jams with most of the tracks over nine minutes in length. With only one listen under my belt, I've only scratched the surface. Should get better with more listens. Another solid release from Cory at Three Lobed. Can't wait for the Turnstone album.

Yesterday I went to Lou's to pick up a bunch of new releases that have come out in the past couple of weeks. The list:

CDs -

Do Make Say Think - Do Make Say Think :: finally completed their discography
Earth & KK Null Tour Split CD :: out of print so I had to snag a copy
Goon Moon - Licker's Last Leg
Grave Temple - The Holy Down
Michio Kurihara - Sunset Notes [2007 Reissue] :: finally released domestically for a much lower price
Nadja - Truth Becomes Death
Neurosis - Given To The Rising
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo
Pelican - City Of Echoes :: I found this to be a much better album than I first thought
Queens Of The Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Queens Of The Stone Age - The Fun Machine Took A Shit & Died (Single) :: Came with the above
Year Of No Light - Nord :: Domestically released by Crucial Blast

LPs -

Bardo Pond / Pre - Split 10"

Auction Wins

Someone on ebay was selling off a lot of their collection of stoner rock CDs that are long out of print and I won a couple of them. Dutch band Beaver's sorta self-titled album '13eaver' and a split CD from Nebula and Lowrider were had for good prices. I probably should have snagged the other out of print Beaver album as I ended up losing by a dollar. Oh well, hopefully that one will pop up again.

Catching Up

Been getting lots of new stuff this week, most recently orders in from Eclipse Records and All That's Heavy. Many new albums from this year in this batch. So far 2007 has been a fantastic year of releases. The list of new stuff:

CDs:

Acrimony - Tumuli Shroomaroom
Brant Bjork And The Bros - Somera Sól
Buried At Sea - Migration
Causa Sui - Free Ride
Nadja - Corrasion
Orange Goblin - Healing Through Fire

LPs:

Brant Bjork And The Bros - Somera Sól
Raccoo-oo-oon - Mythos Folkways Vol. 1
Wooden Wand/Hust Arbors - Split 7"
Hush Arbors/Voice Of The Seven Woods - Split 7"

B3G1Free

Last Visible Dog had a buy 3 get 1 free sale and I had to take advantage of it to fill the holes in my LVD collection. Due to some sort of screw up, my order got delayed but they threw a forthcoming compilation as a bonus. A truly fantastic label with great service. Here's the haul:

Miminokoto - Orange Garage
Miminokoto - Live
Tsurubami - Kaina
Fursaxa - Amulet
Eastern Fox Squirrels - Eastern Fox Squirrels
Black Forest/Black Sea - Radiant Symmetry
Ashtray Navigations - The Love That Whirrs
Tivol - Interstellar Overbike
Various - Crows Of The World Vol. 1 (2 disc set)

Also arriving in the mail was the debut demo EP from local San Diego band Astra. I caught their gig at The Casbah many months ago and loved their set. I usually don't buy CD-Rs but since it's their only release I had to get a copy. Three tracks and nearly 30 minutes of music on it. Can't wait to give it a spin.

Tequila Sunrise

Philadelphia's Tequila Sunrise Records has released a pair of LPs that were put out by Scott Slimm's Archive CD label and I couldn't resist getting them. Jack Rose's recent untitled/self-titled and LSD March's 'Empty Rubious Red' both come in heavy stock sleeves on 180 gram vinyl. I like the idea of having select Archive albums released on vinyl. I know Slimm mentioned about doing some vinyl releases, but I think he should continue to do the CD (and his current DVD projects) releases with TS doing the vinyl additions.

AMT

The latest releases from Acid Mothers Temple on Important Records arrived in the mail today. The new CD is the second with their new female vocalist is being called the "cleanest" AMT album to date. The LP is a tour edition that contains a track from CD and an exclusive song not found anywhere else. Can't wait to give these a spin.

Amoeba Music

No trip to San Francisco is complete without a trip to Amoeba Music. I could have spent all weekend in the store browsing the records, CDs and DVDs. Lou's Records is great, but the selection at Amoeba is unbelievable. I tried to buy mostly albums that were rare, that I couldn't at Lou's or those having a cheaper price than Lou's. Now to the long list, which was a deal considering many of those were cheap:

CDs:

Big Business - Head For The Shallow
Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
KTL - KTL 2
Tetuzi Akiyama - Pre-Existence
Tom Waits - Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits - The Black Rider

LPs:

Yawning Man - Pot Head (10")
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
Causa Sui - Causa Sui (2LP)
Brant Bjork And The Bros - Saved By Magic (2LP)
Tool - Opaite
Tool - Undertow (2LP)

DNT

I put in order to DNT Records for the latest from Raccoo-oo-oon, who happen to be one of my favorite bands at the moment. Arriving was their new CD 'Behold Secret Kingdom' on Release The Bats, a self-titled 7" from Gilgongo Records and the third entry into their 'Mythos Folkways' LP series on Woodsist. DNT also threw a freebie 7" from Shearing Pinx which was kind of them. I'm always looking for new tunes.

All That's Psych?

I had to put in a good sized order to All That's Heavy to pick up some new releases and take advantage of a couple of good deals. New release from two California psychedelic/space rock bands highlight the order.

California's Mammatus and Earthless (my favorite local band) certainly avoid the sophomore slump with the best music they've yet to record.

Another sophomore album, which has been delayed for a long time, comes from the reformed line-up of Sgt. Sunshine. I've read they have a different sound on this one, but I hope it's not too drastically different from their excellent debut.

For the deals, I picked up the first album from Wino's latest band The Hidden Hand along with their split with Wooly Mammoth. For a freebie, I chose Nebula's Dos EPs collection of a few new tracks and two of their older, out of print EPs.

Fu Wax

The new Fu Manchu album arrived on clear vinyl yesterday. Seems like I pre-ordered it a long time ago from Century Media. The artwork has been changed to fit with the larger space and it's nice to see the lyrics we also kept. My only complaints are that there is a bit too much noise at the start of 'Sensai Vs. Sensai' and a weird bit of noise after the end of 'Knew It All Along'. Not sure if that's the pressing or limited to just my copy. Other than that, it's one of the finest Fu Manchu albums in awhile and sound great on the turntable.

Package From Corwood

The latest Jandek album, 'Manhattan Tuesday', arrived on Wednesday. It's a two disc live set from a show that took place in New York on September 6, 2005. The representative from Corwood plays Korg synthesizers and sings and is joined on stage by Loren Connors (electric guitar), Matt Heyner (bass), and Chris Corsano (drums).

The songs form a singular piece of music, entitled 'Afternoon Of Insensitivity'. The style is more akin to his album 'Glasgow Monday' which features 'The Cell'. While 'The Cell' was mostly spoken, 'Afternoon Of Insensitivity' is half sung/half spoken and features some very haunting music. After one listen I'd have to say this will likely end up being one of the best albums in the Jandek catalog.

3 Lobed And More

The latest slabs of wax from Three Lobed Recordings and a couple of CDs from At A Loss Recordings arrived on Monday and Tuesday.

Three Lobed does vinyl just the way I like it - on heavy 180g black wax. GHQ's 'Crystal Healing' has a nice gatefold sleeve that feels like it's from the 70's and because I pre-ordered it, a nice 13 minute EP on CD was thrown in as well. I've only listened to it once so far, so I don't have a concrete opinion of it. I will say that it's their most varied release so far and that the title track is fantastic, a great way to close the album. Coming in a dark, hand silk-screened cover was the latest from Yellow Swans (who go by Descension Yellow Swans on this album). Again, only one listen so far. From what I've heard from Yellow Swans, this album is less noisy than their other work.

A big thanks to At A Loss Recordings for releasing the latest album from Blutch, 'Materia', stateside. I'm glad I didn't have to pay the import price for this fine album. The other CD from At A Loss was Minsk's 2005 release 'Out Of A Center Which Is Neither Dead Nor Alive' which I had download but didn't listen to recently. Minsk recently released a new album which I will also checkout in the future. Also a thanks goes out to Stickman Distro who through in some promos with my order.

Trip To Lou's + ATH

A trip to Lou's Records and then an arrival of a package from All That's Heavy means many new LPs and CDs today. Here's the list:

CDs -
Asbestosdeath - Dejection Unclean (EP)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange - You Take Me To The World
Grinderman - Grinderman
Growing - Vision Swim
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Nadja - Touched
Orthodox - Gran Poder
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
Sleep - Jerusalem
The Stars - Will
The Stars - Perfect Place To Hideaway
Viaje A 800 - Diablo Roto De...

LPs -
Boris & Merzbow - Walrus/Groom 12"
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Life Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! 2LP
Sunn O))) & Boris - Altar 3LP

O)))

Coming yesterday in the post all the way from Japan were two of Daymore Recordings' expanded editions of the last three studio albums from Sunn O))). While I have 'White1' and 'White2' on CD and the second pressing of 'Live White', I thought they were worth the high import prices.

The bonus disc for 'White1' is 'The Libations Of Samhain' and was worth having a second copy of 'White1'. 'White2' has two bonus discs, a 5" and 3" CD that contains 'Live White'. Since the official release of 'Live White' from Archive was on CD-Rs, it's very nice to finally have a pressed copy of this exellent live album. In fact 'Live White' might be favorite release from Sunn O))).

The third expanded edition, which I did not buy, was of 'Black One' and included the live tour CD 'La Mort Noir'. I'm a bit surprised they didn't make that a 3 disc release and include Solstitium Fulminate which was included in the limited 2 disc version released by Southern Lord.

While I Was Away

While I was on a weekend trip out of town I received packages from Temporary Residence Ltd and Archive. From Archive I picked up a couple of distro items, the debut CD from Philadelphia "biker doom" band Serpent Throne and the Death Unit full-length disc on Important Records. From TRL came the highly anticipated new album from Grails. 'Black Tar Prophecy Vol. 1, 2 and 3' was a fantastic release so I'm expecting even greater things on their latest. I also picked up a the new EP and CD from Eluvium.

Digitalis & 20 Buck Spin

Straight from Digitalis Industries came a couple of albums from Hush Arbors, a reissue/remaster of their/his self-titled album (originally available as a limited CD-R) and a double disc reissue/remaster of 'Under Bent Limb Trees' with the second disc being bonus tracks from other limited releases. Much thanks to Digitalis for bringing these back into print.

After a delay, 20 Buck Spin has released Rakhim's 'Crimson Umbrella' album. All I know is that's its somehow related to Finland's Circle. It's certainly different from the rest of the 20BS catalog but fits in nonetheless. I also ordered some other 20BS releases, Graves At Sea's debut EP 'Documents Of Grief' (thanks for the reissue) and a split CD Graves At Sea did with Asunder (20BS did the LP version of it). Having some excellent distro titles with good prices, I ordered up Monarch!'s recent double album (a CD version of two LPs) 'Dead Men Tell No Tales', Asunder's debut full-length 'A Calrion Call', a couple of Dead Raven Choir releases from last year, 'Selenoclast Wolves' and a double disc collection of rarities 'Cask Strength Black Metal'.

ATH (Again) Plus A Solo Disc

Another order to ATH, enough for a freebie. I order so much I think I might be keeping them in business. The main reason for the order was that Sgt. Sunshine's classic debut album finally came out on vinyl thanks to Elekrohasch. Limited to 500 copies on 180g vinyl, I had to get copy before they are gone. The record sounds awesome and is certainly worth the import price. Also arriving were two more Orange Goblin albums, 'The Big Black' and 'Coup De Grace', to finally complete their full length discography. The debut from Earthride, 'Taming Of The Demons', was also in the order. I still need to get their second LP which I've heard and think was a great album. For the freebie I picked up Autoa's self-titled album. It's on Alone Records and they are instrumental. That's all I know at this point. The description sound good so I'm hoping for a nice surprise.

Having been on a Raccoo-oo-oon kick lately, I've been buying everything they have in print. I found a distro in the States that had the 'Is Night People' remastered CD on Release The Bats. Apparently it was originally on cassette and sold by the band only. RTB is going to be releasing their new album soon.

Time-Lag

A couple of albums from Time-Lag records arrived today. I've been reading about Raccoo-oo-oon for awhile now and I finally got around to listening to them. I liked 'The Cave Of Spirits Forever' so much that I ordered it the day I listened to a digital copy. Having passed on it at the record store and then never seeing it again, I also ordered GHQ's first proper album 'Cosmology Of Eye'. Each release comes in an LP/Archive CD style jacket with the disc in a protective sleeve. A very nice job done by Time-Lag on these two releases.

Archive New Releases

Another batch of recordings from Scott Slimm's label has arrived. The lone studio recording this time around is from Alasehir which features members of Bardo Pond (the Gibbons brothers on guitars and Jason on drums) and a guest on electronics on a couple of tracks.

Guitarist Mason Jones, who I've never heard of prior to this release, jams with three different Japanese drummers under the moniker Numinous Eye. I have no clue what this will sound like but the description of "freeform droney psych jams" has me interested.

While Slimm has included 3" discs for several of his releases because of the time limitations of a regular disc, the Death Unit and Prurient double release (it's not a split nor a collaboration) on two 3" CDs is a first for the label.

I also picked up the first Suishou No Fune album from the distro items since I've yet to see it at the record shop.

From Beale Street To Oblivion

Clutch are on a roll. Having released their debut EP in 1992, not many bands this far into their career are producing records that surpass their early material. Starting with 'Blast Tyrant' in 2004, they've gone in a much bluesier direction while maintaining their love of the groove. And groove they do.

Other bands may have better riffs or better compositions but Clutch lays down the groove that those bands are sorely missing. Adding a keyboard player (primarily on Hammond B3 organ) for 'Robot Hive/Exodus' they've managed to evolve their sound by adding the influence of blues music to their trademark big choruses and rock solid rhythm playing. Last year drummer Jean-Paul Gaster played on Five Horse Johnson's album 'The Mystery Spot' and so FHJ leader Eric Oblander returned the favor and added harmonica to three of the tracks on 'From Beale Street To Oblivion'.

After two quick rockin' tracks, Clutch lay down the thick groove with The Devil & Me. The album just rolls along with fantastic track after fanstastic track with Neil Fallon's always entertaining lyrical content. After the short burner that is One Eye Dollar, the album looses it's momentum for three songs that lack catchy choruses or interesting riffs, but thanks in part to Oblander's harp on Black Umbrella the album gets back on track. Closing out the disc is Mr. Shiny Cadillackness, a title that certainly fits in with the rest of Clutch's catalog, with contributions once again from Oblander and guitar by Bryan Hinkley.

For me the album doesn't quite top 'Blast Tyrant' or their self-titled album from 1995, but it's yet another excellent release from a band that gets better with age.

Two Sides Of Noise

Arriving today was a split 7" from Yellow Swans and The Goslings. It's part of the Bored Fortress 7" club on Not Not Fun records. I probably should have subscribed to the whole series, but this was the only record that I really wanted. Unfortunately that means I might be missing out of some bands I've never heard of before. More info on the series here: http://www.notnotfun.com/bf/bored.html

Yet another order from ATH

That's right, another order from the All That's Heavy webstore has arrived. After getting the new Brant Bjork album 'Tres Dias' in clear yellow wax, I decided to also get it on CD. As a bonus they threw in a promotional postcard signed by Brant. Not wanting to pay the high tax and shipping fees of Southern Lord mailorder nor make a trip down to the record store, I also ordered the new CD/DVD release from Earth titled 'Hibernaculum'. The DVD is a documentary on the band's last European tour and the CD features some remakes and a different mix of their track on the limited Sunn O)))/Earth split LP. I also bought the 10" split from Hypnos 69 and Monkey3. Unfortunately the Monkey3 side is the Ennio Morricone cover from their latest album. But there are two new tracks from Hypnos 69 which might be the last material they'll release since they are no longer a band.

Vinyl and Compact Disc

A couple of orders arrived today, both having a CD and LP. From Three Lobed Recordings came the second LP from Bardo Pond's Michael Gibbons under the moniker 500mg. Along with the nicely pressed 180 gram record came a CD featuring 15 minutes more of 500mg material. Just another fantastic release from Three Lobed.

The other order was yet another from Important Records. On black wax with a text-less black label and a black on black front cover attached to an all white sleeve is a recording from Eleh, who I know nothing about other than they dedicated the album to La Monte Young and there's a second volume coming in the future. The CD is yet another one from Vanishing Voice, this time a pressed disc of their vinyl and CD-R release Nordic Visions from a couple of years ago. I like the fact that ImpRec is reissuing rare CD-R and vinyl-only material like they have recently with Slomo, Vanishing Voice, Grails, Axolotl, etc on factory pressed CDs. I refuse to buy CD-Rs and have missed out on too much vinyl.

LVD

A couple of new albums from Last Visible Dog arrived today. First up is a self-titled album from Transitional Phase who are a collective of musicians in the San Francisco bay area who got together and recorded some psychedelic jams. Also arriving is the latest from the self proclaimed NWOFHM (New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal), Circle. This album is a collaboration with a dude who goes by Verde and now has a logo stating N.W.O. NWOFHM. As usual with Circle, I'm expecting the unexpected regarding the music on this disc. I was going to also order the Tivol album on LVD but I forget. I'll have to get that with my next order from them.

Round Up

Since I was expecting a couple of orders to arrive and I planned on hitting up Lou's Records, I decided to do an end of the week round up of recently acquired records and CDs.

Middian - Age Eternal (CD)*
YOB - The Unreal Never Lived (CD)
A Silver Mt. Zion - Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward (CD)
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Myth Of The Love Electrique (CD)
Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks (CD)*
Blackfield - Blackfield II (CD)*
Do Make Say Think - Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead (CD)
Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet (CD)
Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn (CD)
Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust (CD)*
Ghost - In Stormy Night (CD)*
Orange Goblin - Thieving From The House Of God (CD)
Brant Bjork - Tres Dias (LP)*

* 2007 release

As noted there are quite a few albums from this year. So far this year has had a much better start than 2006 did. Some fine releases in the first 2 1/4 months that will surely make the best of 2007 more difficult.

ImpRec

Important Records just put out a bunch of releases and I ended up buying them all. The samples varied from "this has potential" to "this sounds fantastic", so I took advantage of their deal to buy them all. I've yet to listen to any of them so it remains to be seen if I made a smart choice.

Here's the list:

The Bark Haze - Total Joke Era CD
The Bark Haze - LP
Rameses III - Honey Rose CD EP
Baikal - Baikal CD
Axolotl - Memory Theatre CD
Vanishing Voice - Stone Tablet CD
Vanishing Voice - Stone Tablet LP
Major Stars - Portable Freak Factory 7"

Archons, Hostile Combover, Earthless and Om at the Casbah, San Diego February 24, 2007

Wow, back to back posts on gigs! I doubt this will happen again. Despite being located up in San Francisco, this was Om's first time playing in San Diego and I wasn't going to miss it. Going to the gig I knew nothing about Archons and Hostile Combover. I didn't want to do much research on them as to not have any bias seeing them for the first time. Turns out that both are based in San Diego along with Earthless.

First up was Archons, a trio of bass, drums and guitar. Their influences seemed to be from more traditional forms of metal along with it's subgenre of doom. They would trade doom riffs with a more fast style of riffing of traditional metal which made for some long songs that had some nice variations. Their sound reminded me of the recent High On Fire album which has a similar combination of metal influences to it.

Next was Hostile Combover, the second trio of the night. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a band with such a name and I'm still not sure who they'd compare to. They weren't heavy but have metal-esque riffing at times. They played too slow to be either punk or speed metal. For the most part their songs were long, but they didn't have the dynamics you'd see in the post-rock influenced metal bands. Their last two songs were the best when the guitarist and bassist switched instruments which created a more driving rhythm with their very solid drummer pounding away. He reminded me a bit of Dave Grohl in his style.

When Earthless came on there was more of a buzz in the room. Seems like the audience was really into them unlike the two previous shows I saw them. The played a blistering set as always that when on for a good 30+ minutes. Despite a mic problem on one of the bass amps, this was the finest set I've seen from them. I'm much looking forward to their new albums which is due in April.

Taking their time setting up, the ex-Sleep rhythm section that forms Om finally took the stage. Idiots yelling "Sleeeeep" and "play Dragonaut" peppered their set throughout. While it seemed that everyone showed up to see Om, the audience for the most part didn't seem to be into them. The set started a bit sloppy with the mellower track from their latest album 'Conference Of The Birds'. I thought it was a great way to start the show before getting into the more heavy tunes in their catalog. The wall of amps behind the duo was the largest I've seen in person and the bass filled the room and pounded on your chest, just the way I like it. I think a bigger venue with a better PA might have suited them better. I'm not sure if it was the band not into because the crowd wasn't great or vice versa, but they didn't quite live up to my high expectations for them. Still it was a very solid set and they played all my favorite songs. It was very hypnotic at times when you just close your eyes and forget everything.

So overall it was a great night. I don't think I'll ever go to a gig where actual bands (not solo artists) are playing and have the largest ensemble being a trio.

Astra, Earthless, and Red Sparowes at the Casbah, San Diego February 16, 2007

It's midway through February and finally went to my first gig of the year. On the bill was Astra, Earthless with headliners Red Sparowes. I had never heard of Astra prior to that night but apparently they used to go by Silver Sunshine until their lineup and sound changed. Both them and Earthless are bands local to San Diego with Red Sparowes up the road in L.A.

The previous times I've been to the Casbah there was a line out front waiting for the doors to open but this time there wasn't one. I though there might be a low turnout but eventually folks showed up. They started about 30-40 minutes late with Astra taking the stage first.

Astra reminded me a bit of less instense/noisey version of Comets On Fire with huge influence on psychedelic and progressive rock bands like King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind. The dummer was impressive on the kit and also doubled on flute (sometimes going through an effects box with it, hence the Hawkwind comparison). Along with a bassist and guitarist/singer was a keyboard player (Moog and mellotron) who also did backing vocals and played lead guitar. I enjoyed their ~50 minute set and am looking forward to their debut album. Nice to see there are some decent bands in San Diego these days.

Next up was Earthless, another band from San Diego. This was my second time seeing them (and certainly not the last) and they are loud power trio that played a ~45 minute set that contained all of one "song". With a some fuzzy, Geezer Butler-esque bass playing, manic drumming and some lead guitar playing that's a mix between Hendrix and Makoto Kawabata, it was nice to hear some new material from them. There was a bit less guitar soloing than the previous gig but the bass playing was more varied.

About ten till midnight Red Sparowes finally hit the stage with their three guitarists, bassist/pedal steel guitar player and dummer. Perhaps the because its such a small venue or the equipment isn't great, but the with all those guitars the sound was very muddy. While the wall of guitars was great and the bass thudding against your chest, the beautiful melodies they create were sometimes lost in the mix. I would have like to see more pedal steel playing and less of the three guitar attack. But as the set progressed the band really started clicking and had some very hypnotic and powerful moments of brilliance.

It was a nice gig overall despite running later than I'm used to and the fact that I forgot to bring ear plugs and I'm still paying the price with ringing in my ears a day later.

The New Fu

The new Fu Manchu album, 'We Must Obey', arrived today directly from the band. Since they're just up the road it got here way ahead of the street date. It's one of my favorite releases of the year so far. Just some fantastic tunes on this disc. I also pre-ordered this album on clear vinyl which is due in late April/early May.

Also arriving was yet another order from All That's Heavy. I got Acid King's 'III' for very cheap since it was part of their daily deals. I also gambled on a CD by a band called Saturnia titled 'Muzak'. Nik Turner of Hawkwind fame and David Allen from Gong each play on a track. That sample I heard sounded very much like early Pink Floyd. Hopefully it will be another great psych rock album from Elektrohasch Records.

Archive CDs

It's always a great day when the latest releases from Scott Slimm's Archive Records arrive in the mail. Being mostly a documentation of live shows, both of the new releases are actually studio works. First up is a collaboration between Carlos Giffoni and Lasse Marhaug titled 'Lesbian Brunch'. Second is a release from Aidan Baker under his Nadja moniker titled 'Thaumogenesis'.

I also picked up a couple of distro items he had: Titan's untitled album on Paradigms and a live tour-only CD from acoustic guitarist James Blackshaw titled 'Waking Into Sleep'.

Latitudes

While I do see the Southern Record's Latitudes series at Lou's, it's always hit and miss with what they had. So I put in an (expensive) order across the pond to Southern to secure Circle's 'Tyrant' full-length and the fabulous EP 'Interpretations Of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs From Around The World' by Grails. They did throw in a comp titled 'Southern Records Presents: We Got Actions Too' which has some songs I already have but for the most part contains artists I'm not familiar with.

ATH Part 2

It's been a great week of new arrivals. My second order from All That's Heavy arrived along with an order from Robotic Empire. Both shops are excellent when it comes to mailorder.

The following are all CDs and include a couple of new releases:
Baroness - First (EP)
Baroness - Second (EP)
Neurosis - Times Of Grace
Orange Sunshine - Homo Erectus [2005 Reissue]
Orange Sunshine - Love=Acid, Space=Hell
Orange Sunshine - Bullseye Of Being
Reino Ermitaño - Reino Ermitaño
The Hidden Hand - Mother, Teacher, Destroyer
The Hidden Hand - Devoid Of Colour (EP) [2007 Reissue]
The Hidden Hand - The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote
Titan - A Raining Sun Of Light & Love, For You & You & You

CD and a LP

Back to back days of getting a CD and LP in the post. Today brings the first 500mg LP called 'Vertical Approach'. It's a split release from Galactic Zoo Disk and Eclipse Records. I bought it in anticipation of the new 500mg LP and CD coming out by the end of the month (or early next month) from Three Lobed.

The CD is Ulver's second release 'Kveldsfanger'. After releasing their debut album of black metal they completely went in the opposite direction and made a Scandinavian folk album. Lots of acoustic guitars, flute and strings (mostly cello) along with some traditional sounding vocals. Although the atmosphere is at times similar to black metal, the production is excellent. I only wish this album was longer than 36 minutes.

ATH Part 1

The first of my two recent orders to All That's Heavy showed up today which included the new 10" from San Diego's Earthless and a CD by the mysterious band Morkobot.

The live set from Earthless includes two excerpts from their 'Sonic Prayer Jam' and features some blistering guitar playing with a solid groove. I might be catching their gig later on in the month.

I know nothing about Morkobot other than they might be a side project from Italy's Ufomammut. The artwork is all hand silk screened from Malleus on thick cardboard-like paper. It's an absolute stunning CD package, one of the best I own. The music is not bad either. Pure instrumental music that ranges the spectrum from heavy to ambient. For more on Malleus' work go here.

Moving Sale

The All That's Heavy online store recently had a moving sale and many of their titles were $5 off. So I picked many discs to fill in my collection. Also arriving very quickly was the new Blood Of The Black Owl album. The first 50 copies came with a reissue of the demo EP on CD-R in separate, handmade packaging. Blood Of The Black Owl was formally known as Svart Ugle, one of the many projects from Chet Scott (Ruhr Hunter, The Elemental Chrysalis, etc.).

Today's massive haul on CD:

Blood Of The Black Owl - 2007 - Blood Of The Black Owl (with demo CD-R limited to 50 copies)
Clutch - 1993 - Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes And Undeniable Truths
Clutch - 1997 - Impetus (EP)
Clutch - 1998 - The Elephant Riders
Clutch - 1999 - Jam Room [2004 Reissue]
Clutch - 2004 - Blast Tyrant
Core - 1999 - The Hustle Is On
Down - 1995 - NOLA
Hawkwind - 1970 - Hawkwind [2001 Reissue]
Hawkwind - 1974 - Hall Of The Mountain Grill [2001 Reissue]
Jesu - 2005 - Jesu
Jesu - 2006 - Silver (EP)
Spirit Caravan - 2003 - The Last Embrace (2 Discs)
The Stooges - 1969 - The Stooges (2 Discs) [2005 Remaster]
The Stooges - 1970 - Fun House (2 Discs) [2005 Remaster]

And the loan LP:

Hey Colossus/dot(.) - Split LP

Ocean

Important Records put out Ocean's demo on limited edition vinyl (500 copies). The demo 'Monument/Fork Lashing Eye' was released on CD-R in 2004 and then the band went on to record the epic debut 'Here Where Nothing Grows' which came out in 2005. They did a fine job on the packaging which includes hand pressed foil stamps on both sides of the jacket. The jacket itself is flimsy, but did a Japanese-style resealable plastic cover which contains OBI-esque strip at the bottom. The wax is fairly hefty even though its probably not 180g but it sounds great. They are supposed to have an album coming out in 2007 so I'll be looking forward to that.

Relapse

Yesterday my relapse order came with a couple more Harvey Milk CDs. Somehow Relapse got in copies of their first album, 'My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment Of What My Love Could Be', and I was quick enough to order it before they were gone. I also ordered 'The Singles' which I believe collects all the songs they put on 7" vinyl and splits. So all that leaves is 'The Pleaser' and I'd say my Harvey Milk collection will be complete. I've heard that album goes for a ton of money on ebay so hopefully someone will reissue it. Troubleman Unlimited has said they are going to release an album they recorded years ago so I'm looking forward to that.

Three Lobed, Part 1

I received the Bardo Pond and Tom Carter collaboration from Three Lobed yesterda. For whatever reason they had a distributor return copies and I was lucky to snag it. I tried a couple of times to get it from ebay but the price was just too high.

At the same time I put in a pre-order for the new 500mg LP that comes with a bonus CD of more 500mg material. I'm very much looking forward to this.

Translation Loss

Back to back days of new arrivals. Today my order came from Translation Loss. I bought both of Mouth Of The Architect's albums. The have the Neurosis worship going on like Isis, etc. have but it's done well. Also included was the debut double album from Rosetta. I liked the sample on the TL website so I gambled a bit with it's purchase. $13 for a 2-disc set is a good deal though.

From Amazon's marketplace I ordered Finntroll's Jaktens Tid album. I'm not a huge fan of Viking metal but I love this album. The name says it all - they're from Finland and their songs are about Trolls. They also have some crazy polka-like breakdowns and some cool chanting on their tracks.

Today's haul:
Finntroll - Jaktens Tid (CD)
Mouth Of The Architect - Time & Withering (CD)
Mouth Of The Architect - The Time That Blinds (CD)
Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites (2CD)
Immolation - Harnessing Ruin (Promo CD sent with the Finntroll order)

Robotic Lore

A couple of orders came today. Robotic Empire put out the double vinyl LP of Isis' new album here in the US. I managed to snag a copy of the violet colored wax that is limited to 299 copies. The vinyl sounds fantastic considering it's less than 180g. Apparently the EU version was on 180g platters. The other order came from Canada's Profound Lore Records who reissued Nadja's Bodycage with a couple of untitled bonus tracks not found on the CD-R version and a copy of Asunder's Works Will Come Undone. I don't know anything about Asunder other then they play some long, epic doom metal.

All That's Heavy Order

I ordered up a couple of the new releases from Elekrohasch along with the new Burning Saviours album which I couldn't find at Lou's Records. I also picked up Rise Above's double CD reissue of the first two Orange Goblin records which contains 3 bonus cuts. Since my order was over $50, I took advantage of their freebie offer and got the debut album by Davana.

Order:
My Sleeping Karma - My Sleeping Karma (CD)
Phased - Medications (CD)
Burning Saviours - Hundus (CD)
Orange Goblin - Time Travelling Blues / Frequencies From Planet Ten (2CD)
Danava - Danava (CD)

The Viking Of Sixth Avenue

The last three or four times I've been to Lou's Records they didn't have any of the Moondog albums I've been looking for, but Amazon did and I ordered from them. I ordered them Sunday and received them today. Now that's fast!

Moondog - Moondog (1956)
Moondog - More Moondog (1956) / The Story Of Moondog (1957)
Moondog - Moondog (1969) / Moondog 2 (1970)

Trip To Lou's

It's been awhile since I've been to Lou's Records and I had some Christmas money and a gift card to spend. So here is today's haul:

Vinyl
Steven R. Smith - The Anchorite 12"
Hush Arbors - Since We Have Fallen 12"
Wooden Wand & The Sky High Band - Second Attention 12"
Bardo Pond/Buck Paco - Split 12"
Crippled Black Phoenix - Sharks And Storms 10"

CDs
Bardo Pond - Selections: Volumes I-IV
Can - Future Days (2005 Remaster)
Comets On Fire - Field Recordings From The Sun
Comets On Fire - Blue Cathedral
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Suishou No Fune - Where The Spirits Are
Victor Wooten - A Show Of Hands
Victor Wooten - What Did He Say?

Most of those CDs I have been putting off forever to buy so I'm happy to finally have them.

Corwood Order

The new Jandek album, 'The Ruins Of Adventure' (0787), and the DVD of 'Newcastle Sunday' (0783) arrived from Houston today. 'The Ruins Of Adventure' is a return to fretless electric bass and vocals that was last heard on 'Raining Down Diamonds'. I've always thought that bass guitar perfectly suits the style of singing and lyrical content that is found on most Jandek albums.