[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot24-comping-the-comps.xml]

Yes, that’s right. It’s a compilation of tracks from compilations. Is your mind blown yet?

If not, I might recommend you checking out Sleep covering Black Sabbath‘s “Snowblind,” John Garcia‘s acoustic track from the first MeteorCity release ever, Solace paying solo-laden homage to Godzilla, some of the very earliest Queens of the Stone Age recordings, or any number of the other off-album cuts, covers and rarities included here. Compilations — much as they’re a pain in the ass to review — afford bands opportunities to do things they never could on regular albums. Pentagram covering Captain Beyond? Ufommamut psych-jamming on Blue Cheer? It’s the stuff of practice room shenanigans put to tape.

It’s not all covers here, but since tributes are an essential part of the compilation experience, I wanted to make sure plenty were included. Some of the other stuff might just be album tracks — Sungrazer, Spirit Caravan, etc. — but comps are also a great way for a label to highlight its releases, so that’s part of it too. Ditto rarities, alternate versions, unreleased material, and so on. I’ve had comps on my mind a lot lately, whether it’s getting my hands on the Blue Cheer tribute or the Trouble tribute, or whatever else. They’re an essential part of this genre, and have been going back to the late ’90s when that wave of heavy/stoner rock was really coming together in the wake of Kyuss. It’s amazing how many of these releases are from 1997-2000. Both in the US and in Europe, it seemed like everybody was getting on board for this thing, heading in a specific direction.

You can factor in the rise of the internet as an exchange of musical ideas there (not to mention the music itself), and you’d probably be right to do so. But it’s important to note that when they wanted to make it count, the songs were pressed to disc. Either way, some of these comps are relics at this point — Burn One Up, Welcome to MeteorCity, Stone Deaf Forever — and I’ve found some killer bands over the years in the “V/A” section, so I wanted to bring a little of that out in the listening experience here. I hope you dig it.

A note to anyone who heard last month’s podcast: I didn’t talk on this one. I had neither the time nor the desire to sit at my office this weekend, plus with it being all comp stuff, I wanted to keep to that feel — there are a couple samples, but that’s it — and discussing the tracks as the thing moved along would only take away from that. If you dug that, maybe next time.

Stream audiObelisk Transmission 024 on the player above; download it by clicking the flier at the top of this post or by clicking here. Full tracklist is after the jump, as always.

0:00-6:12 Meatjack, “Shevil” (Melvins cover) from We Reach: The Music of the Melvins (Fractured Transmitter, 2005)

6:12-12:23 Hazard County Girls, “Birthday” from Treatin’ ‘em Right Since ’69: A Tribute to Handsome Joel Svatek (Arclight, 2005)

12:23-19:13 Rebreather, “Rebreather” from Emissions From the Monolith (Maduro, 2003)

19:13-23:45 J.M.J. (aka John Garcia), “To Believe” from Welcome to MeteorCity (MeteorCity, 1998)

23:45-29:26 Sleep, “Snowblind” (Black Sabbath cover) from Masters of Misery: Black Sabbath: The Earache Tribute (Earache, 1997)

29:26-33:32 Mammoth Volume, “Seagull” from Inhale 420: The Stoner Rock Compilation (Spitfire, 2000)

33:32-36:47 Clutch, “Willie Nelson” from High Volume: The Stoner Rock Collection (High Times, 2004)

36:47-40:31 Puny Human, “Raze the Leghorn Bar” from Judge Not… (Underdogma, 2000)

40:31-44:21 Lowrider, “David William Hughes” from The Mighty Desert Rock Avengers (People Like You, 2002)

44:21-49:50 OJM, “Har(d)ucks” from Vincebus Eruptum: Acid Sounds Vol. 1 (Vincebus Eruptum, 2012)

49:50-56:14 Ufomammut, “Peace of Mind” from Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer (Black Widow, 1999)

56:14-1:00:27 M-Squad, “Steps Away (Steamroller)” from Stone Deaf Forever (Red Sun, 1999)

1:00:27-1:05:08 Akris, “Kentucky Russian” from Son of the Transcendental Maggot (Tsuguri, 2011)

1:05:08-1:10:45 Impure Wilhelmina, “Cold Fever” from Falling Down II (Falling Down, 2010)

1:10:45-1:19:17 Solace, “Mother Godzilla” from Destroysall: A Tribute to Godzilla (Shifty, 2004)

1:19:17-1:28:31 Soulpreacher, “Remember the End” from Dreams of What Life Could Have Been (PsycheDOOMelic, 2004)

1:28:31-1:32:39 Naevus, “R.I.P.” (Trouble cover) from Bastards Will Pay: A Tribute to Trouble (Freedoom, 1999)

1:32:39-1:38:25 Truckfighters, “Analougus“ from The Ultimate Fuzz Collection Vol. 1 (Fuzzorama, 2004)

1:38:25-1:42:10 Fu Manchu, “Ojo Rojo” from Stoned Again! (Bong Load, 1999)

1:42:10-1:47:52 Bakerton Group, “The Mack” from In the Groove (The Music Cartel, 1999)

1:47:52-1:50:43 Winnebago Deal, “Venomized” from Road to Nowhere (Poison Tree, 2007)

1:50:43-1:56:35 Greenleaf, “Sold My Lady (Out the Back of an Oldsmobile)” from Molten Universe Volume Two (Molten Universe, 2000)

1:56:35-2:00:50 Pentagram, “Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)” (Captain Beyond cover) from A Thousand Days of Yesterdays: A Tribute to Captain Beyond (Record Heaven, 1999)

2:00:50-2:05:14 Buffalo, “Odyssey” (Kyuss cover) from Listen without Distraction: A Tribute to Kyuss (Dias de Garage, 2004)

2:05:14-2:13:48 Sungrazer, “Zero Zero” from Cowbells and Cobwebs (Planetfuzz, 2010)

2:13:48-2:18:25 Spirit Caravan, “The Departure” from Rise 13: Magick Rock Vol. 1 (The Music Cartel, 1999)

2:18:25-2:29:55 Sadhus, the Smoking Community, “Foondamentalist” from Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager (Spinalonga, 2010)

2:29:55-2:37:30 Leviathan A.D., “Breathing Rust” from Doom Capital (Crucial Blast, 2004)

2:37:30-2:42:15 Colour Haze, “One Way or Another” (Cactus cover) from Sucking the ‘70s: Back in the Saddle Again (Small Stone, 2007)

2:42:15-2:45:33 Queens of the Stone Age, “18 A.D.” from Burn One Up (Roadrunner, 1997)

Click here to download audiObelisk Transmission 024

Tags: audiObelisk

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2012 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.