Tee Pee Records has announced a trio of label showcases set to take place this Fall. The independent record company will grandstand its diverse family of artists this autumn at special events on both sides of the US and also in Canada.

Pop Montreal 2010 presents the Tee Pee Records Showcase
Saturday, October 2
Katacombes (1635 St-Laurent, Montréal, QC H2X 2S9)

Featuring: Priestess, Naam, Mirror Queen, The Main Street Gospel
Tee Pee Records and CMJ present:
The 2010 Tee Pee Records CMJ Showcase
Friday, October 22
Union Pool (484 Union Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211)
Featuring: Priestess, Naam, Quest for Fire, Mirror Queen, The Atomic Bitchwax, Hopewell, Weird Owl, The Main Street Gospel

Tee Pee Records proudly presents All Hallows Eve
Thursday, October 28 & Friday, October 29
Spaceland (1717 Silver Lake Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026)
Featuring:
Night one: Black Cobra, Ancestors, Black Math Horseman, Imaad Wasif
Night two: Big Business, The Fucking Wrath & two more TBA
*Special kick off performance by Jason Simon on October 27 @ Vacation Vinyl

Apparently yes, it is. I think about where this site was two months ago, or even one month ago, in that pastoral Vermont space that feels a hundred years away now, and take my solace in the fact that hits are up for the first time since May. And Yahoo‘s quoted 17,435 isn’t much more than July’s 17,053, but I’ll happily take it. Thanks for reading and for coming back.

According to the powers that be (i.e. Google) the site had 22,046 page views from all 50 American states and 112 countries abroad on all six inhabitable continents, including places as far away from my little river valley as Pakistan, Laos and Oman. Thank you all for visiting. I hope you liked what you saw.

If this last month brought tumult (and it did), September is going to be even crazier. Here’s a quick rundown:

The Maple Forum: The Kings Destroy record, titled And the Rest Will Surely Perish, goes to press this month. I’ve listened to the finished album and it’s seriously one of the best records I’ve heard all year. I don’t know what else to say about it than that. I can’t wait for you to dig on this band the way I’ve been digging on them.

In the meantime, I have one copy of Roareth‘s Acts I-VI left available for purchase. Anyone interested can hear and pick it up via this link. Ignore that headline though, because there is in fact only one left, and then my supply is gone.

Podcasting: That the Small Stone podcast was downloaded 57 times in its first two days live I consider a success and thank you for that. I have a theme picked out for October and it’s going to seem completely random when it’s executed, but I’m going to have fun with it and that’s all there is to it.

Facebook: If you have a Facebook page, well, me too. Here’s mine. Hit me up. I’ve gotten some very kind comments on there from people who’ve been reading the site and really, that means more than I can say. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Interviews: Oh, do I still do those? Yes, I do. Yawning Man goes live tomorrow, Friday at the latest, and there’s Man’s Gin and Masters of Reality in the can, plus, I spoke to Bob Pantella of Riotgod/Monster Magnet/The Atomic Bitchwax today, and that ruled, so it’ll be up in the coming weeks as well. Lots of good stuff to come there.

Reviews: Hard to see past my own typing hands as far as this goes, but on the docket are records from Kylesa, Del Rey, Poobah, Dusted Angel, BXI, Hypnos 69, Bibilic Blood, High Watt Electrocutions and more, so stay tuned.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of. If posts are light the next couple days, I apologize. The Aquarian is on early deadline for Labor Day and as I may have mentioned, class starts tomorrow, so please bear with me and understand I’m doing the best I can. The contact form works now. Feel free to get in touch.

Thank you as always, and as we move into the Fall, I’m gladder than ever to call this site my home.

Sincerely,
JJ Koczan
Heaping Potbelly Taskmaster

Kylesa‘s Spiral Shadow is due out Oct. 26, and the band join High on Fire and Torche for a five-week US tour starting Sept. 29. You’ll find the dates after the jump:

Savannah-based Kylesa have unveiled “Tired Climb,” a new track from their forthcoming Season of Mist debut, Spiral Shadow, on the band’s MySpace page.

The band, who recently wrapped up a European tour with Converge, recorded the new album at the Jam Room in Columbia, SC, earlier this summer with band member and renowned producer Phillip Cope (Baroness, Withered) once again at the helm.

Kylesa is currently working on a video for “Tired Climb” and will return to the road on Sept. 11 with a performance at Raleigh‘s Hopscotch Festival before joining High on Fire and Torche for a five-week US trek.

Click “Read More” below for those dates and others.

Kylesa tour dates (Sept. 29 to Nov. 7 w/High on Fire and Torche):
09/11 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival
09/22 New Orleans, LA The Big Top Three Ring Circus (w/Torche only)
09/24 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory (Kylesa headline)
09/29 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
09/30 Pomona, CA The Glass House
10/01 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater
10/02 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
10/03 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
10/05 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
10/06 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
10/08 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Co.
10/09 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
10/10 Chicago, IL Riot Fest @ Metro
10/11 Bloomington, IN The Bluebird
10/13 Newport, KY Southgate House
10/14 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
10/15 Cleveland, OH The Grog Shop
10/16 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
10/17 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
10/19 Halifax, NS The Paragon Theatre
10/21 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
10/22 Providence, RI Club Hell
10/24 New York, NY Webster Hall
10/26 Philadelphia, PA Starlight Ballroom
10/27 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
10/29 Gainesville, FL The Fest 9
11/07 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest
02/26 Brisbane, QLD Brisbane Soundwave Festival
02/27 Sydney, NSW Sydney Soundwave Festival
03/04 Melbourne, VIC Melbourne Soundwave Festival
03/05 Adelaide, SA Adelaide Soundwave Festival
03/07 Perth, WA Perth Soundwave Festival

Nonetheless, I finally picked up Nitroseed‘s Molt, at the recent Earthride show in NYC. The band’s name was one I’d been hearing for years — bassist Rob Hampshire also plays in Earthride and Gary Isom, who drums on Molt, has been with Spirit Caravan, Valkyrie, Pentagram and at least a dozen others over the course of his career — and may or may not have seen them in or around Maryland at some point and just not bought the album, but however it came about that I didn’t own the album, it was a situation easily-enough rectified with $10. Money well spent.

On Molt, Nitroseed offer 10 tracks all within the three-to-four-and-a-half-minute range of straightforward instrumental heavy riff rock, with some highlights to be found in the tone of guitarists Shane Balloun and Tucker Orr, who on “Combined Forces” — appropriately enough — emit a groove worthy of Karma to Burn‘s Americana-gone-distortion and find it backed up by the capable hands of Hampshire and Isom, whose strength as a rhythm section lives up to their collective pedigree. The band self-released Molt in 2006, and if it was going to turn into the shape of Heavy to come, it probably would have by now, but Nitroseed still have plenty to offer instrumental buffs or riff-obsessives, as it’s essentially a showcase for the quality of the performances it contains.

Most of the material on the album could have just as easily had vocals, and apparently Nitroseed agrees, since their newer material reportedly features them. Isom has also since left the band and been replaced by Woolly Mammoth‘s Phil Adler, so when their second album materializes it will most likely find them in different shape than does Molt, if the ensuing four/however-many years wouldn’t have already. Still, as a means for getting introduced to the band, I’m glad to have picked up the record and glad I can finally say my catalog boasts an album with a track called “Gut Butt” on it. That’s got to be worth something.

The title Trip Outside Your Mind might lead you to believe we’re going to be dealing with far-out space reverb psychedelia, 13-minute expansive songs that delve into Hawkwindian self-indulgence, but Satellite Beaver are more earthbound than that, rocking like Earthride or a half-speed High on Fire, the vocals of guitarist Simon the Beaver leading the arguments in favor of the comparison. On opener “Fat Man in Wellingtons,” he and his fellow Beavers (each member takes “The Beaver” as their last name) begin with about 45 seconds of noise before actually starting the song – a bold move on a release that’s only 15 and a half minutes total – but once they get going, the groove is palpable, the tones are thick and the vibe is stoned. Fellow guitarist/backing vocalist Tom the Beaver contributes to the heft of “Fat Man in Wellingtons” and the quicker “OD&D” with bassist Marian the Beaver and drummer Mad the Beaver proving more than capable of following the guitars wherever they may take the songs along whatever path they choose to get where they’re going.

And they do move, I’ll stress that. “OD&D” is still in the realm of mid-paced groove, but it’s not slow by any means, and where “Fat Man in Wellingtons” had a plod appropriate to its name, in thinner tones and with less gruff vocals, “OD&D” could probably pass as a slow thrash number. But you know, take away all the stoner elements and it’s not stoner anymore – not exactly saying much there. More important is that both of the first two tracks, if you remove the intro from the opener, are roughly the same length, which shows Satellite Beaver as being able to inject multiple approaches into roughly the same song structure. Not a bad thing going forward. As they move into closer “Mighty Sasquatch,” which nearly touches the six-minute mark and is the longest track at 5:57, once again they’re hardly hitting unheard territory for the genre, but the expanded lead guitar plays off the vocals and the song in general feels more developed than the two before it. Mad the Beaver’s crash cymbal sounds like it’s blowing out the speakers, and the band as a whole affect a surprising bombast given the relatively laid back feel Trip Outside Your Mind has thus far harnessed. Good to hear.

As they grow more into their own, expect Satellite Beaver to expand the psychedelic elements in their sound, because they’re there, amidst a heady desert influence and driving rhythms. For now, the three tracks on Trip Outside Your Mind show Satellite Beaver as a band with charm and confidence behind them, and that’s going to go a long way toward establishing them in the international and constantly-growing scene. Being part of a healthy contingent of acts – bands like Broken Betty, Luna Negra and Vagitarians – is going to help in terms of both friendly competition and mutual influence, and I can’t see a reason why not to expect good things from whatever Satellite Beaver choose to do next, be it a full-length, EP or split with any of their countrymen acts.

Satellite Beaver on MySpace

So there.

Here is the aforementioned plethora of dates, complete with comment from Graham on the work ahead, all courtesy of the PR wire:

Brooklyn kings of atmospheric doom, A Storm of Light, are gearing up for a short stint of US tour dates next week that include performances with experimental metal/noise exhibitionists Today is the Day and reunited stoner metallers Sleep before heading to Europe for a month’s worth of shows in October.

Said guitarist/vocalist John Graham of the upcoming shows: “The next couple of months are going to be a lot of fun for us. We’re lucky enough to share the stage with the legendary Sleep, brutalists Today is the Day, and then embark on our fourth European tour. Awesome!”

A Storm of Light US/Europe tour dates 2010:
08/31 31st St Pub – Pittsburgh, PA w/ Today is the Day
09/01 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD w/ Today is the Day
09/03 Santos Party House – New York, NY w/ Today is the Day
09/04 AS220 – Providence, RI w/ Today is the Day
09/07 Starlight Ballroom – Philadelphia, PA w/ Sleep
09/08 Brooklyn Masonic Temple – Brooklyn, NY w/ Sleep, Lichens
10/01 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
10/02 Whelans – Dublin, Ireland w/ Stand up Guy
10/03 The Spring and Airbrake – Belfast, Ireland w/ Stand up Guy
10/04 Captain’s Rest – Glasgow, Scotland
10/05 The Croft – Bristol, UK
10/06 The Underworld – London, UK w/ Sedula, Sons of Alpha Centauri
10/07 Nouveau Casino – Paris, France
10/08 Simplon – Groningen, Netherlands
10/09 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands
10/10 Juha West Matinee Show – Stuttgart, Germany
10/12 Rhiz – Vienna, Austria
10/13 Kset – Zagreb, Croatia
10/14 Randall – Bratislava, Slovakia
10/16 Firlej – Wroclaw, Poland
10/17 Powiekszenie – Warsaw, Poland
10/20 Nabaklab – Riga, Latvia
10/21 Nosturi – Helsinki, Finland
10/23 Garage – Oslo, Norway
10/24 Debaser – Stockholm, Sweden
10/25 Loppen – Copenhagen, Denmark
10/26 Hafenklang – Hamburg, Germany
10/27 Feierwerk – Munich, Germany
10/28 Spazio – Turin, Italy
10/29 Urban – Perugia, Italy
10/30 Init Club – Rome, Italy

I’ve been grooving on the two tracks on Volume Death Riot‘s MySpace page for the last week or so, and the energy they emit is every bit as frantic and unchained as the paragraph above. Everything about them is choppy except the songwriting. “Buer,” at a surprisingly quick seven minutes, is riffy without being cliche, and the kind of song you’d expect to be instrumental, but for the vocals. “Hell to Pay” is shorter, crunchier and more aggressive vocally, but still basically in the noise-rock mold. Of the two I’ll take the latter, as far as personal preference goes, and though I don’t know what the three-piece’s plans are as far as more recording, I’d sure like to see them play a gig with On the Radar veterans Dopefight.

Noise is about as unpretentious a sound as you can get, and Volume Death Riot definitely make good use of that workingman feel in their two present tracks. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep that kind of atmosphere going forward, as both “Hell to Pay” and “Buer” have a sincerity to their anger that’s not easily faked. They’re not changing the world, but they’ve got a cool sound, decent production, and potential. It’s worth keeping an eye on the MySpace to see where they go from here.

To wit, the memorable Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic opener, “Message from the Galactic Federation,” which manages to work both a catchy chorus and hyper-extended airy parts into its 15:14 length. My first time through, I waited the full three-plus minutes (not an unreasonable amount of time given the scale of the song) for the vocals to come on and ruin it, but guitarist Gianmarco Iantaffi didn’t disappoint, his delivery maintaining a balance between rough rock and melodic crooning that’s got just enough effects behind it to cut through the guitars, synth, bass and drums. Vocals aside, what sets Void Generator apart from the space rock hordes seems to be their willingness to rein in their jams, to bring them back to the songs, and where many bands seem to plow through their verses and choruses like they’re punching a clock waiting to get to the 10-minute go-nowhere jam – not always a bad thing, mind you – Void Generator remember they’re writing songs here, not just showing off or screwing around. “Message from the Galactic Federation” repeats parts at just the right times, and manages to remain what political pundits call “on point” for its duration. No small achievement.

If the opener sets the bar high, though, the rest of Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic delivers on its promise. The shortest track on the album, a mere 13:04, is “The Morning.” It’s more open-ended feeling than was the opener, but it’s also a show-off point for the rhythm section. Bassist Sonia Caporossi and drummer Marco Cenci (who plays on the latter tracks, while Marco Ricci played on the first) carry most the song, leaving Iantaffi and synth-specialist Cristiano Lodi to add flourishes and contribute to the gradual build, which they do in subtle, confident fashion. Toward the song’s end, Lodi’s work becomes especially apparent, and adds a soft melody to the driving rock behind it in the mix. As a setup for the ostensibly “final” cut, the wonderfully-named 18:12 overture, “The Eternaut,” it works immaculately and with considerable flow.

Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic could probably be taken in its parts, because each song is long enough and structured with its own build, apex and comedown, but I think the album is best as a whole, despite the considerable time investment it requires. “The Eternaut” opens quietly and unfolds to Void Generator’s most potent groove yet. By now, the band has established all their modes of attack, but I found the synth-led break between minutes four and seven to be an especially nice touch. Their balance of structure vs. indulgence gives way to a noisy ending that’s a surprise given the tightness of the rest of the album, but not at all out of place within the genre. And anyway, it’s only a couple minutes, which on the scale of Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic, isn’t much.

The remainder of the album’s total 70-plus minutes is filled by the untitled secret track, which begins with synth ambient for the first few minutes of its total 23:42 runtime. Vocals come more sparsely here, appearing for the first time around 10 minutes in, but Iantaffi fills out the melodic side of the song with plenty of soloing, and the slower pace gives a more laid back vibe,  so you’re not expecting the same kind of approach Void Generator showed on the other three tracks. Perhaps the band decided the song was best left to a secret track because of its more fluid nature, but it’s not so different tonally from anything else on Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic that it wouldn’t have fit in the tracklisting. Maybe they wanted to surprise anyone who thought their album was only going to be 45 minutes long. It wasn’t an unpleasant surprise, anyway.

This is my first experience with Void Generator, but I’m going to go back and try to get ahold of the EP and prior full-length if I can, because what I’m hearing on Phantom Hell and Soar Angelic is a band whose grasp on both ends of space rock (those being the “space” and the “rock”) is firm and brilliantly executed. As an introduction to what they do, I can’t think of anything to ask of this record that isn’t delivered.

Void Generator on MySpace

Phonosphero Records

I was in no hurry to get to the Millcreek Tavern, since it was just the two bands on the bill and I knew the show would be running late. Las Cruces went on first, playing tracks off of their latest, Dusk, as well as older material and a new song called “Egypt” that I shouted from the crowd was a keeper. And it was. There wasn’t much of an audience — apparently some fest was happening down the street — but the loyal few enjoyed what the four-piece had to offer, myself included, and when they played “Wizard” and “Cocaine Wizard Woman” back-to-back, I felt like life was doing me a personal favor. Two songs with “wizard” in the title — in a row! Doesn’t get more doomed than that, folks.

In general I consider myself a fan of a singing drummer, and Paul DeLeon of Las Cruces didn’t disappoint. While guitarists George Trevino and Mando Tovar (Pillcrusher) poured out killer riffs and solos and bassist Jimmy Bell windmilled a breeze enough to feel it from in front of the stage, DeLeon held down the rhythm and the melody of material both old and new. Dusk is the band’s first full-length in 12 years, but the band and the songs sounded fresh and they put on a righteous show despite the fact that there weren’t too many people in the crowd to see it.

A chicken cheese steak was enjoyed in between sets — no onions — and I had plenty of time to eat, as Iron Man took their time getting going. Vocalist Joe Donnelly must have been running late, or else waiting outside to make his grand entrance, since he came in just before the set started. Bassist Louis Strachan and new drummer Mike Rix (who has about four more toms in his rack-mounted kit than he needs for doom) make for a killer rhythm section, and Donnelly‘s Ozzy-style antics are well documented and always good for a laugh, but the essential component in Iron Man is Al Morris III, whose sheer presence while he plays guitar makes the whole set. I managed to get video of the opener, “I Have Returned,” which you can see below. Watch his solo and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Amazing.

Iron Man played a new song as well. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it’s good to know they’re working on material for a follow-up to I Have Returned. They were selling the recent Shadow Kingdom reissues of Generation Void, Black Night and The Passage as well, though I don’t know how many people were there who didn’t already have them. They played an 11-song set, which seemed like a bit much, but although it’s three days later and my sleep pattern is still thrown off, I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth the time or effort to get to the show. It was all the more special because of the sparse attendance, and with Las Cruces having come so far, and Iron Man having made the trip from Maryland, it seemed the least I could do to show up. I guarantee whatever else was going on in town that night wasn’t as doomed out as this show was.

Adding to the argument in favor of attendance was not knowing when Las Cruces would be back this way. Iron Man is killer, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve already seen them this year and worse comes to worst, Maryland is only three hours away. San Antonio is a little farther out from Jersey, and since I enjoyed Dusk so much (even the tracks not about wizards of any shape or form), I wanted to be there to support the band. I don’t know if it did them any good in terms of getting gas money to get to the next show, but there you go. Should have been a couple local acts on the bill to round it out and fill up the place, should have been more people there, but it was a killer gig and easily justified the ride down. No complaints out of me.