Posted in Whathaveyou on May 22nd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
French fuzz rockers Mars Red Sky will start a five-day run of gigs tonight in Dijon with White Fence before meeting up with Glowsun for a couple nights and playing on the 30th with Dinosaur Jr., which sounds like a cool way to spend an evening in Bordeaux should you happen to be out that way. This run kicks off the trio’s summer of shows in support of the new Be My GuideEP (review here), the rest of the dates for which you can find below, joined by the excellent news that Mars Red Sky will be recording a new full-length in the coming months and that they’re hoping to return to the US for a few West Coast dates later this fall, as well as hit South America for the first time.
As I don’t live in any of those places (perhaps most regrettably Bordeaux), the new record is what has my interest piqued, but take a look at the update the band sent down the PR wire and see where you’re at:
MARS RED SKY – News
Please find some infos about MRS !
– Next Shows : 05.22 DIJON (21) Le Deep Inside with White Fence 05.23 STUTTGART (D) Keller Club with Glowsun 05.24 ST GALLEN (CH) Rümpelturm with Glowsun 05.25 GRIES AM BRENNER (A) Floiten Jam with Glowsun 05.26 GRENOBLE (38) Drak-Art 05.30 BORDEAUX (33) Le Krakatoa with Dinosaur Jr 07.07 AUBANGE (Bel) Festival Wave 07.18 LILLE (59) La Péniche 07.20 WARSAW (PL) Day of Ceremony Festival 08.02 OR 03 STAMSRIED (D) Void Fest 08.10 GEEL (Bel) Yellowstock Festival 08.23 SANTA MARIA DEL PARAMO (SP) Taberna Belfast 08.24 MOLEDO (Pt) Sonic Blast
– We’ll record the new album in a few months and do some shows this next fall in Europe.
– We also working on a tour project in South America and West Coast of the US for end of sept/beg of october. Feel free to propose / share some cities / clubs / contacts….
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 23rd, 2012 by JJ Koczan
Going by the info below, one can surmise that it’ll be December before French fuzz mavens Mars Red Sky begin recording the follow-up to their excellent 2011 self-titled debut full-length (review here). In the meantime, the trio released a split/collaboration with countrymen post-black metallers Year of No Light this July that’s available through Headspin Records in a limited vinyl run, and if you live in Europe, you can catch them at any of the dates below, including at shows with Samsara Blues Experiment and Kadavar.
Consider yourselves lucky. The Patient Mrs. saw them back in March and was much impressed. Rightly so.
Here’s the latest, courtesy of the band:
Before recording of their new album, Mars Red Sky is going to do another tour in Europe this fall:
September 09.01. (SP) LEON Territorio Lunar Festival 09.07. (F) NANTES (44) Le Stakhanov 09.08. (F) CROZON (29) Ty Skol 09.14. (NL) TILBURG Incubate Festival 09.15. (F) ORLEANS (45) Infrared + Tang
October 10.21 TO 31 (Booking in progress) 10.22. (D) MUNICH Felerwerk + Samsara Blues Experiment 10.23. (CH) PRATTELN Galery + Samsara Blues Experiment 10.25. (A) LINZ (A) Kapu + Kadavar 10.26. (SI) MURSKA SOBOTA Mikk 10.27. (A) VIENNA Arena + Samsara blues Experiment 10.30. (F) TROYES (10) Festival Off Off Off
November 11.01. (F) LYON (69) Kraspek Myzik 11.22. (B) BRUXELLES TBC 11.23. (F) LILLE (59) Festival Tour de chauffe 11.30. (F) BIARRITZ (64) L’Atabal
Posted in Features on November 11th, 2011 by JJ Koczan
With a hometown show in Bordeaux tomorrow night (Nov. 12) to mark a limited 180 gram vinyl release, French heavy psych trio Mars Red Sky will embark on their latest European tour in support of their self-titled debut full-length. The album, in short, is a fuzz masterpiece. In the new European tradition, it melds heavy-weighted tonality with a laid back, natural vibe that comes through in hazy riffs and sweet melodicism. It is every bit the product of the desert sunshine in which it was created.
The band — guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras, bassist/sometime-vocalist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Benoit Busser — uses straightforward verses and choruses to build pyramids of undulating riffs and grooves. They did record in the desert, traveling to Spain‘s Bardenas in the south of the country and soaking in all of the atmosphere the mostly-barren landscape had to offer. As Pras describes in the interview below, part of the idea came simply from the need for isolation.
And though Pras (also an accomplished solo artist and a member of Calc) is described by Kinast as the “brains of the operation,” each member of the band has a distinct role to play in creating the sound. Without Busser‘s insistent bass drum and deft snare work, “Way to Rome” would fall flat in its militarism, and as they form the crux of Mars Red Sky‘s aesthetic, Pras‘ and Kinast‘s tones are majestic and consuming all at once. I reviewed the album in August and it’s been on a short list of releases to which I keep returning. Though the songs are simple, they lose none of their appeal with repeat listens.
As such, I was thrilled to be able to send Pras some questions for the following email interview. In it, he discusses how Mars Red Sky came together, the process by which the songs on Mars Red Sky were created and the assemblage of effects and amplifiers that results in such engrossing tones, the appeal of the contrast between the instruments and the vocals, and much more.
Complete Q&A (plus the tour dates) can be found after the jump. Please enjoy.
Posted in Reviews on August 29th, 2011 by JJ Koczan
Making their home in the rich dirt of France’s Bordeaux region, the trio Mars Red Sky specialize in gorgeously-toned and natural-sounding fuzz that comes on huge and overwhelming, but is rife also with engaging melody and psychedelic flourish. Guitarist Julien Pras (also Calc) is like the non-evil distant cousin of Electric Wizard’s Jus Oborn, the massiveness of his sound and his ability to turn a simple melody into something memorable come across immediately on Mars Red Sky’s self-titled full-length debut (Emergence). Preceded only by a 7” called Curse, the album is going to be the band’s first exposure to most listeners, and I’m hard pressed to think of a finer opening statement. In 39 minutes, Mars Red Sky – Pras, plus bassist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Benoit Busser – affect the kind of perfect laid back atmosphere that Dutch peers Sungrazer have been able to harness, blending Hendrix fuzz, Sabbath riffs, Kyuss’ keen sense of desert sun, Dead Meadow’s subdued melody and a rolling low end groove into a brew both inviting and heavy. Whether it’s Pras‘ sweet, high-pitched croon on “Strong Reflection” or “Way to Rome,” Kinast’s bluesy David Eugene Edwards-style vocal on “Marble Sky” or overdriven tone on “Falls,” the album is a riff worshiper’s dream and easily one of 2011’s best debuts.
They work in a few different modes. The aforementioned “Strong Reflection” opens the album and is one of its strongest tracks, boasting a straightforward structure and setting up the rest of Mars Red Sky’s tonescape. Pras’ vocal works surprisingly well over the guitar and bass, adding a lighter air to the verses, and the chorus, “But when I go upstream/I’ll meet you in a dream/And when I try to land/Please let me hold your hand,” is both sweet and catchy, Busser keeping a steady march underneath and transitioning between parts with capable but not overdone fills. Right away, groove is central to Mars Red Sky. Kinast’s bass plays a large role throughout the album, first filling out the guitar-less verse of “Strong Reflection” and providing heft across the board, but also keeping the flow going during Pras’ solos. The beginning of “Curse” reminds a bit of Colour Haze, but Mars Red Sky eschew airy spontaneous jams in favor of a shuffling groove that’s faster than that of the opener, but loses nothing of the tonal richness. Their adherence to structure throughout the album lends a sense of coherence to the listening experience, a feeling that you don’t mind going where Mars Red Sky take you because you know they’re in control. And they are. That said, the songs strike an excellent balance between the two sides – structured and open – and don’t come off as formulaic or more predictable than they should be.
“Curse” is the shortest track on Mars Red Sky at 4:04, and varies from the other material mostly in its pacing and in substituting the laid back feel of the first track with a more active vibe. The slow unfolding of “Falls” restores the softer touch Mars Red Sky prove so adept at throughout, building ever so slightly to another fuzz-fronted riff exploration, this one the first of the record’s two instrumentals. Kinast hits the wah to cut the bass through underneath Pras’ lead and Busser keeps steady hits on the ride cymbal, and if the purpose of the track – which caps in an undulating, moaning riff and tom hits – is to secure the listener’s full attention and confirm what the first two tracks stated, then it’s a purpose met. The intro to “Way to Rome” echoes Hendrix at his softest, but the song soon takes off on a mid-paced riff-centered groove with another landmark chorus, the stripped-down, “Ride/The dark horse/Through the fire/Through the storm,” reminding of how much can be accomplished when a band has a firm grip on the essentials of songwriting. Pras nails a solo after 2:40 with Kinast again driving home the groove on bass, and before you even realize the song is the album’s centerpiece – and worthy of its placement – you’re hooked by the repeated verse lines, “As we’re sent to die/On our way to Rome,” etc. Hard to pick between “Way to Rome” and “Strong Reflection” for which is the high point of Mars Red Sky, but both make a considerable argument.
