Beginnings....

As mentioned in my last post of 2007, I've started to do some recordings with an MBox2 Mini using ProTools with the plugins it came with. Going directly into the box, usually through my Double Muff and/or custom "furr" pedal worked well. But what I really want to do is mic my cabinets, so I bought Carvin's CTM100 condenser tube microphone (along with a telescoping boom mic stand).

A trio of demo songs I did in before the start of 2008 are now part of a music project I've named R³. You can go to the obligatory myspace music page, located here, to sample the music I've done.

I have a couple more pieces of equipment coming and I'll have a nice recording setup.

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.