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.