aOT13

Pretty self-explanatory, this one. I don’t know what’s going on climate-wise in the part of the world you live in, but here in the Northeastern US, it has snowed like a bastard for the last month, and it’s not showing any signs of letting up. I wanted to capture that feeling of winter where you’re so cold it feels like you’re never going to get warm again. The kind of cold that makes your blood move slower.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of doom.

But it’s not all downers. Occasionally winter can offer small triumphs — snow days, good soup, an extra excuse not to leave the house when you didn’t want to anyway — and there are some songs in this 13th audiObelisk Transmission that embody that idea: Scissorfight, Lords of the North, Grand Magus, but basically, I wanted this month’s podcast to sound cold. Some of these bands are here because they’re from cold places (Celtic Frost, Yearning, Candlemass), and others just sound like winter to me (Neurosis, The Awesome Machine, Anathema). Hopefully my personal seasonal associations carry over. I think they do, but I’m hardly unbiased.

Most of this stuff is pretty recent. There are a couple deeper cuts, but the majority is from the last decade at least. I didn’t realize it while I was picking out bands and albums, but 2008 features heavily for some reason. Maybe it was especially cold that year, or maybe I just listened to a lot of music that winter. Who the hell knows.

Like last month’s podcast, I hid a couple off-kilter picks toward the end. That’s where you’ll find Celtic Frost, Bathory, Enslaved, Primordial. I like the thought of changing things up to finish. All told, the podcast is 30 songs, just over three hours’ worth of material. Certainly long enough for you to revel in your wintertime malaise as I did while putting it together this afternoon. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Full tracklist is after the jump. To listen, click on the player above, follow this link, or grab the file by clicking the banner.

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aOT012

Not like the reveal is any big surprise, but I’m still really excited about posting the January podcast. It’s not even that it’s the first of 2011, or, that as the 12th, it marks a full year since I did the first audiObelisk Transmission — which also had an octopus banner — but just because of all of them, this has the best flow yet. One track to the next, it’s smooth in a way I’ve been trying to achieve but haven’t quite until now. I hope you agree and I hope you enjoy.

We’ve already covered 2010 to death, and a simple flip through the blog pages will show that. I have more to come, but in terms of wrapping up the audio side of it, I tried to jam as much as possible into this podcast. Like last month’s, it’s 31 songs, although with the inclusion of tracks like Aquilonian‘s half-hour-long “Symphonica de Levita” from their split with Sollubi, it stretches a full 45 minutes longer, all the way to three hours, 50 minutes. Like 2010 was, it’s a monster.

I don’t know about you, but I think what I’m going to do one day at work this week is download this podcast and play it right in a row with the last one. It’s nearly a full seven hours between them, and as the soundtrack to a day of office-dwelling, I know it’s time well spent. Just a suggestion.

Things get a little off-kilter toward the end, getting into stuff like Les Discrets and Alcest, Crippled Black Phoenix and Master Musicians of Bukkake, and though there’s some hits up front from big names like Earthride, Melvins and Monster Magnet, make sure you don’t miss the Clamfight track, as it’s a personal favorite, along with Droids Attack and Samsara Blues Experiment. Like I said, I really do believe it’s the best podcast yet.

Listen to audiObelisk Transmission 012 by downloading it via the image above, following this link, or streaming it on the player under the banner. The full tracklist, with time stamps, is after the jump.

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TRANS11

Please keep in mind, I’m not claiming this is everything that was killer this year. In fact, I can think of about 30 awesome releases that weren’t included here at all… which is why it’s going to be a two-part podcast. This month and next month’s will both focus on the best of 2010.

There were a lot of great releases this year, and even two podcasts won’t be enough to cover all of them, but I think we’re off to a strong start with this one, anyway. It’s got 31 songs in a little over three hours, with Kings Destroy as a bonus at the end for anyone who wants to stick around that long and listen to it. Or skip right there and then go back and listen to the rest. Your call. However you want to do it.

It’s been a crazy year, and with my top-albums countdown on, it’s not over by a longshot. There’s still plenty to come, including the second part of this Year in Review, but for now, enjoy this. I wanted to include a couple surprises people may not have heard but that stood out to me as highlights (Backwoods Payback, The Giraffes, Infernal Overdrive), but with High on Fire, Electric Wizard and Zoroaster kicking things off in that order, there’s plenty of what you’d expect as well.

As ever, I hope you enjoy it and come back for more in next month’s audiObelisk Transmission. Please click the image above to go to the download page (or right here, if you’d prefer), or stream it on the player above. Full track list is after the jump.

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aOT010

I set myself a couple rules for this one: No farther west than Texas, nothing north of Virginia and if a band features members of Down, they’re out. That means no Crowbar, no C.O.C., no Eyehategod or any of their other offshoots. Those are great bands, don’t get me wrong, but you get into that territory and next thing you know the whole podcast is full — ditto had I included Maryland — and I think once you take a look at the tracklist, you’ll see I was aiming for something else entirely.

When the idea was originally suggested, it was an exploration of the new Southern metal, bands like Baroness and their post-Mastodon Southern prog ilk. Later it was expanded to include a wide breadth of Southern rock and metal old and new. Well, the first was a little too narrowly focused (there just aren’t 30 bands — yet — playing Masto-prog), and the second was a little too wide ranging, so I took a middle course between them. You still get the bands like Baroness, Torche, Mastodon, and Zoroaster, and you also get some more straightforward rock-type stuff from the likes of Texas acts SuperHeavyGoatAss, Amplified Heat and Orthodox Fuzz.

I’m pretty sure you’ll agree it’s a killer mix of bands, and that it covers a wide ground, from the humid sludge of Sourvein and Ol’ Scratch, to the wide-eyed psych bliss of Tasha-Yar. All but one of the included tracks are from the latter half of the last decade (I’d argue the song from 2004 and the album from which it came were a big inspiration for many of the other bands present), and that was definitely on purpose, since this is a vibrant scene happening right now. I tried to be as timely with it as I could.

In that spirit, you’ll find new music included from Torche, Kylesa (finally found Spiral Shadow at an FYE; let the record show I tried two legitimate indie stores first), Elliott’s Keep, US Christmas, Kin of Ettins, Orthodox Fuzz and The Crimson Electric. To honor readers Josh and Jason who first presented and then expanded the idea, we start off with Weedeater, who are possibly the most Southern band on the planet.

Click here or the image above to get the file, or stream it on the player above. Full tracklist with timestamps and years of release is after the jump. I hope you enjoy it.

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aOT9

This is the mother of them all. Short of doing three songs in as many hours, which I could have done just as or even more easily, I don’t see how any audiObelisk Transmission could get heavier than this one. It’s just a little bit of an excuse on my part to have an easily accessible copy of Dopesmoker at all times, but with new music as well from Hypnos 69, a classic dirge from Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine and one of Boris‘ most avant garde moments, Transmission Zero Zero Nine is an absolute monster. I hope you dig it.

No need to hide the tracklist after a jump since it’s only four songs. Click the banner at the top of this post to get the file, or stream it on the player above. Here’s what we’ve got:

0:00:08 Sleep, “Dopesmoker” from Dopesmoker (Tee Pee, 2003)
There was no way I was going to make this podcast and not include this song. It’s the riff that launched a thousand clone bands, and Sleep‘s shining hour. Literally, an hour. Plenty of time to worship.

1:03:42 Hypnos 69, “The Great Work” from Legacy (Elektrohasch, 2010)
New music from these Belgian classic proggers. It’s the last cut on their new album, Legacy, and maybe their most aptly-titled song ever. Their sense of melody is second to none and the progressive elements in their approach have never shined brighter than they do here.

1:21:53 Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, “He Who Accepts all That is Offered (Feel Bad Hit of the Winter)” from Rampton (Southern Lord, 2002)
The lineup of Lee Dorrian (Cathedral), Stephen O’Malley (SunnO)))/Khanate), Justin Greaves (Iron Monkey/now-Crippled Black Phoenix) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake) only put out one album under this cumbersome moniker, taken from a song title on Earth‘s Earth 2. It’s a good thing. I don’t think the universe could handle a second without ripping in half.

1:51:35 Boris, “Flood” from Flood (MIDI Creative, 2000)
Is that guitar forward or backwards? Both? I doubt anyone really knows what Boris are getting up to for the entirety of this song, Boris included. I remember interviewing drummer Atsuo Mizuno a couple years back and he looked at me like my head was on backwards when I asked about it. See if you can figure it out.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 009 here.

aOT8

In honor of the label’s upcoming showcase in Philadelphia (info here) later in September, I’ve decided this month’s audiObelisk transmission should highlight some of the best contributions from Detroit‘s Small Stone Records. The biggest challenge in making this installment wasn’t deciding what to include in terms of bands, but where to stop. It’s about three hours long, and I probably could have gone another easily.

I wanted to include some of Small Stone‘s classic output, from bands like Acid King, The Men of Porn and Five Horse Johnson, and I had to make sure the current and new faces were represented as well: Gozu, Skanska Mord, House of Broken Promises. And just when I thought I was all set to go, I realized I’d forgotten to include Sasquatch. Don’t even ask me how. I was all converted, uploaded, labeled and live, and the next thing I knew I broke out III and ripped the opener, reconverted, re-uploaded, so on and so forth. I don’t know if that’s dedicated or dumb.

Either way, it’s worth being both, given all that Small Stone has done for the genre over the course of the last decade-plus. We start off with some love for Jersey, which the label has always been ready to show. Halfway to Gone, doing “Great American Scumbag.” It’s a song I think sums up a lot of what it means to be into this kind of music in this day and age. As always, I hope you dig it and the rest of the transmission, which is the longest yet at over three hours and featuring 35 bands. This one’s easily my favorite so far.

And if you’re wondering what the image is above, it’s the Detroit airport.

You know the drill: Full tracklist after the jump, stream the file above or download it here. As requested, I included time stamps for when each song starts.

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aOT7

The above image (apart from having the text added and a little cropping) is unedited. It is an aerial view of New Jersey from someone who I can only imagine was on their way to or from Newark Airport. What you’re seeing is the blanket of haze that rests over my beloved Garden State June to September every year. Pretty much all throughout July and August, you can’t see the sky except through the humidity. It is miserable and sopping.

The purpose of audiObelisk Transmission 007 is to honor (or perhaps, like a ritual sacrifice, appease) the summer itself. I’ve chosen tracks that embody different aspects of the season: sunny days (Unida, Fu Manchu, The Atomic Bitchwax), warm nights (Angels of Light, Six Organs of Admittance, Los Natas, Colour Haze), and some that just sound like they’re as wretchedly soaked through with sweat as I am these several months each year (Snail, Loop, Dead Meadow).

You’ll find a lot of the desert rock discussed in the last Where to Start post, new music from the likes of Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, Backwoods Payback and Brant Bjork, and, true to the title, some Blue Cheer and a little blues from Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson. As always, all are my rips from physical sources.

Click the picture up top to download or stream it above. Full list of tracks is after the jump.

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[NOTE: New posts will appear underneath this post for the rest of the week. You know the deal.]

audiObelisk Transmission 006

Truth be told, I was planning a special UK-only podcast even before Chris and Pete from Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight were so hospitable to me in April. There’s been a Post-It on my desk with a list of bands on it since February. Pretty sad, I know.

But it’s all the more appropriate that it goes live today, when Germany‘s psychic octopus proved correct and England was knocked out the World Cup. Having watched the US succumb to the unstoppable force known as the Ghanaian team yesterday, I can empathize. We bleed as one, except, you know, it matters to England.

As always, this audiObelisk Transmission is culled from my own rips, made with love in honor of the UK‘s many contributions to the heavy underground. Making your way through it, you’ll notice a couple glaring omissions, among them Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden. I wanted to keep it focused on stoner rock and doom (apart from the bonus track), and while I know these bands are vastly influential, I’d rather spend that time listening to Uriah Heep, Leaf Hound and Atomic Rooster. Yeah, there’s Deep Purple and Black Sabbath on the playlist. It’s a pretty fine line.

We start off (following a Snuff Box sample) with London‘s Kings of Frog Island, and I think it’s a pretty good flow of songs and styles thereafter. The UK has had so much diversity, sound wise, it was all I could do to hold it together. In my most trying moments, I thought of England.

Playlist is after the jump…

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NOTE: Gonna leave this post in the first spot for a couple days. New ones will appear underneath.

Since starting The Obelisk, I’ve made no secret of my unbridled fanboy status for all (or at least most) things Man’s Ruin Records. The now-defunct label headed by artist Frank Kozik put out some of the best music I’ve ever heard, and the bands released under the Man’s Ruin banner went on to influence an entire generation of underground rock, virtually defining and redefining The Heavy for the better part of a decade.

This podcast only scratches the surface of Man’s Ruin‘s impact crater. Some of the bands were Kozik discoveries, some were established acts he picked up for a release or two, but what is always assured with Man’s Ruin is that you’re going to get a work of quality, passion and genuine aesthetic. I can only hope Transmission 005 from the audiObelisk captures some of that. Like the banner above (made from an original Kozik poster), it was compiled in a spirit of reverence and with the utmost respect for those involved.

I didn’t exhaust my Man’s Ruin collection to put together all these songs, but also there are some things I just don’t own. Vinyl, for example. And Chrome. And Killdozer. And the first Desert Sessions. Nonetheless, these are all my personal rips from CDs and I think they’ve made for the best podcast yet. I’m optimistic you’ll agree when you download the file by clicking the image above, follow this link, or stream it on the player below.

aOT5

Just because I found the timeline interesting, I included the years the albums were released in the track listing. We start off with Tummler in 2000, and you’ll find the rest after the jump…

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Yeah, I know it’s late, but as I said, this one is worth waiting for. It’s a sonic salute to this year’s Roadburn fest, which is set to take place this coming week at the 013 Popcentrum (pictured above) in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Actually, even though it’s the longest podcast I’ve done yet — OVER THREE HOURS — it’s about half a sonic salute, since the playlist is really just scratching the surface of the great acts on the bill.

But there was some stuff I just couldn’t leave out. Kyuss in honor of Garcia Plays Kyuss, Goatsnake, Los Natas, new music from Tom G. Warrior‘s Triptykon, Samsara Blues Experiment, live Church of Misery from last year’s Roadburn fest (a different track than last time), Eyehategod, The Gates of Slumber and a ton of others. As always, all rips are my own, straight from physical media. No digital sources or recoding of files, and in the spirit of the schedule, which allows bands enough time to play full sets instead of shortened festival times, I haven’t shied away from including longer songs here — see YOB, Bong, Jesu, etc.

If you’re heading to the fest, I’ll see you there. I’ll be the fatass American with the laptop. If you’re not going, enjoy a collection of killer tunes. I figured either way, these bands kick ass and make for a good mix of music, so please, enjoy. Click the image above or here to get the file, or stream it here:

audiObelisk Transmission 004

We start off with Kyuss doing “Freedom Run.” Full playlist is after the jump…

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In case the references regularly dropped around here aren’t enough of an indicator, I’ll say it outright: The Big Lebowski is my favorite film of all time. Since it has an ever-growing cult behind it, I know I’m not especially unique in this regard, but I don’t care. It is my cinematic ideal.

I could but won’t linger on the topic of the film’s memorability, easily-impersonated lines and characters. Suffice it to say this is a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Since before I was podcasting. Since before there was The Obelisk. The idea is a relatively simple one — interspersing clips from Lebowski between songs — but the execution is much more complex.

Foremost, how to choose what to include? In a movie where virtually every line is pull-worthy, how does one decide what stays out? Was I right to sacrifice “I can get you a toe” for “I’ll suck your cock for a thousand dollars — Brant can’t watch though, or he has to pay a hundred?” I don’t know. All I can say is I did my best and I hope you enjoy.

Click here for audiObelisk Transmission 003: The Dude Abides.

Contained within, you’ll find new music from Sardonis, The Brought Low and Church of Misery (live), as well as classics from Kyuss, Melvins, Sleep, Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin and more. Full track list is after the jump…

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Well, there was enough of a response last time that I decided to go ahead and make another podcast. You’ll note the new banner in the sidebar and the one above, and yes, it’s Transmission 002 from the audiObelisk. And in case it’s not clear, the title is, “An Ode to Fuzz.”

aOT2

We can get to the tracklisting in a second, but first, the disclaimers:

? These songs are all my rips.
? With the exception of Sasquatch, they were ripped directly from physical media (CDs) to wav form, compiled in Sony SoundForge 10 and then converted to 256k bitrate mp3 for better sound quality than standard iPodular fare. Sasquatch was converted from an aiff file to wav, then to mp3.
? The file is 287mb, and there is just over two and a half hours’ worth of music.
? I once again chose not to inject myself into the proceedings in some kind of DJ form. I still reserve the right to do so in the future.

As you’ve probably guessed, it’s a collection of some of the best fuzz rock has to offer, from the doom of Electric Wizard to the high desertry of Kyuss and Natas. Some obvious, some obscure. It features new songs from Asteroid and Sasquatch. I don’t think there’ll be many complaints with the song selection.

Please enjoy the stream above or download the file. Full tracklist is after the jump, comments are more than welcome.

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[NOTE: As per Phaseinducer's comment, I've changed the host where you can get the file to Archive.org. Since they allow for direct linking, there's a player below. Thanks to all for reading and downloading.]

audioObelisk Transmission 001

You may have noticed the fancypants banner on the right of the page (or the one above). It’s true, I put together a podcast. Sort of. I know dick-all about podcasting, so it’s basically just a collection of killer tunes for anyone interested. Before you decide to get the file (or don’t), there are a couple things you should know:

? These songs are all my rips.
? They were ripped directly from physical media (CDs) to wav form — no digital sources allowed — compiled in Sony SoundForge 10 and then converted to 256k mp3 for better sound quality than standard iPodular fare.
? The file is 279mb, and there is two and a half hours’ worth of music.
? I chose not to inject myself into the proceedings in some kind of DJ form. If this becomes a regular thing, I reserve the right to do so in the future.
? If I don’t get a serious response from this, I likely won’t do it again, because it’s time-consuming all around. Please share with someone you care about and tell them where you got it.

Because I wouldn’t have you go into this thing blind, the track list is after the jump. If you notice some glaring omissions (off the top of my head, I can think of Katatonia, House of Broken Promises, Snail and Paradise Lost, though I’m sure there are others), it’s probably because I didn’t have a physical copy of the album. Can’t win ‘em all. Appropriately, we start with Clutch…

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