I was behind a car today that, in all capital letters, had “MAPS” on the back of it. Can only assume it was a Google-type thing, coming through taking pictures or whatever. That kind of thing doesn’t bother me. It was kind of in an obscure part of town though, out by where I currently still am in the Rockaway River valley because I can’t find a place to rent anywhere but in the flood plain. I was left wondering how long it would be before it wasn’t just pictures, but a 3-D topographical scan of everything that was transmitted. Until “Street View” might also include a 3-D rendering of whoever might be taking out the garbage at the time, or checking the mail. Or whathaveyou. I guess we’re not there yet. By the time we are, it’ll probably terrify me.

After their show in Philly last night — which, much to my chagrin, I didn’t get to because I had to work — Lansing, Michigan, experimentalist heavy rockers BerT crashed out my way. They played tonight in Boston, and as I’m in Connecticut with The Patient Mrs. for the weekend, I thought maybe I’d run up there and check out the set, but honestly, it was nearly four hours getting up here on a trip I’ve done in an hour and 45 minutes, so by the time I got here, there was really no way I was going to make it to Boston in time. I knew I should’ve left work earlier.

Thanks to everyone who commented this week, particularly the support on the Yawning Man Album of the Summer of the Week post. I think that kind of shit flies under a lot of people’s radars who maybe just pop on here and then pop off without actually reading or listening to anything, but for someone to read something front to back and feel compelled to show support like that, it is genuinely appreciated. I haven’t posted the numbers in a couple months, and that’s usually where I’d say this kind of thing, but I want to express and make it clear just how much that means to me. Really, thank you.

We close out this week with the entirety of II from Argentina’s Humo del Cairo. If you haven’t had the opportunity to get to know them yet, I hope you’ll dig in and hope you’ll enjoy. I reviewed this album right at the end of last year, and the band had numerous manufacturing delays on the physical pressing, but I just got it in the mail this morning, along with a t-shirt that’ll never, ever, ever fit me but which The Patient Mrs. will nonetheless look adorable in and a sticker and poster, and it was much appreciated that even eight months later, the band would remember the likes of me when they were putting packages together.

While I enjoy that (and, again, hope you do as well), I’ll be in Connecticut this weekend with The Patient Mrs., drinking good beer by the sea and trying to decompress. Still, this isn’t really me signing off for the weekend. As I previously noted, we’ll be starting that Blaak Heat Shujaa video series this weekend, and I’ll also have an exclusive track premiere from My Sleeping Karma, which I’m way stoked on. That album is gorgeous, and those guys never seem to fail to deliver, so make sure you check in over the weekend for that one, and stay tuned next week for an Hour of 13 interview with multi-instrumentalist Chad Davis, reviews of Enslaved, the aforementioned BerT, Coven and more. It’ll be fun, I assure you.

And in the meantime, be safe. I’ll check back in on Sunday, but I’ll be on the forum in the meantime if you want to say hey. Right on and thanks for reading.

Among the many things for which I’m a total sucker, a good poster definitely ranks. The below doodle, for a show Humo del Cairo and Poseidótica are playing together in Buenos Aires (unfortunately just a bit too far for me to get out and review it) on May 25, easily fits that bill. If my — and by my I mean Google’s — translation skills are to be trusted, this gig at the Niceto Club is serving as Humo del Cairo‘s CD release for their second album (review here), and the first 50 people through the door get a free poster.

Don’t quote me on that, because I’m way more of a sucker for a cool poster than I am, uh, able to read Spanish. More info on the show is available on Humo del Cairo‘s Thee Facebooks page, or the event page. Here’s that poster:

Reminds a bit of the cover to Earth‘s The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, though maybe that’s just a profile-of-an-animal-skull coincidence. Should be a good show either way, if you happen to find yourself in Buenos Aires. In case you don’t recall Poseidótica‘s Crónicas del Futuro, it’s reviewed here.

While it rested its strength in laid back desert atmospherics, the 2010 self-titled debut album from Buenos Aires rockers Humo del Cairo (review here) was more a show of potential than a distinguishing statement. It made the trio a band to watch. The quick-arriving follow-up, Vol. II (Estamos Felices), validates that anticipation. Humo del Cairo – guitarist/vocalist Juan Manuel Diaz, bassist Gustavo Bianchi and new drummer Federico Castrogiovanni – have stripped down their approach to the most necessary parts and presented a well-structured collection of songs that work as well individually as they do grouped together. It’s a rare balance, but Vol. II hits it, and where the self-titled had material that (purposefully) meandered into heavy jamming like the 11-minute “A Tiempo,” the longest song on Vol. II doesn’t quite hit seven minutes and is among the more direct and explicitly memorable riffs on the record. That the trio should be able to so quickly shift their approach between releases may or may not be a surprise – one never knows how long it’s been since the songs for the first record were written unless one asks, and I haven’t (yet) – but the confidence Humo del Cairo bring to their performance here and the sonic breadth they manage to cover while still maintaining relatively straightforward verse/chorus structures speaks to a distinct progression that’s admirable no matter the time span it happened over. Some bands don’t grow this much over the course of three albums, let alone one.

They operate in a variety of moods and still have wind up inevitably comparable to hometown stalwarts Los Natas at times, but by and large, Humo del Cairo’s riffing has gotten thicker and tighter. Diaz and Bianchi’s tones are rich on opening duo “Fe” and “Los Ojos,” and even later on the instrumental layering interlude “Monte,” they seem to retain a character of increasing individuality. If every album has a narrative to it – and most do – then that of Vol. II is one of Humo del Cairo beginning to come into their own stylistically. Heavy rock is at the core of every move they make, and they weave in and out of stonerly atmospheres, but Vol. II is striking in terms of the variety of mood it presents and how well the songs work together. There are 11 tracks, and each justifies its inclusion by standing out in one way or another, be it a particularly engaging riff, a memorable vocal melody (all the lyrics are in Spanish), or in the case of “Fe,” an overall largess of tone that sets the course for the album as a whole. Castrogiovanni distinguishes himself right away with a heavy thud amidst the formidable rumble of Bianchi’s bass, and Diaz places an echoing vocal far back in the mix initially, bringing it up toward the end as a setup for the more straight-ahead drive of “Los Ojos.” He’s almost certainly double-tracked his singing, but neither the vocals nor the music surrounding are lacking for a natural feel; the fuzz Humo del Cairo emit is as organic as one could possibly ask without sacrificing clarity.

As catchy and uptempo as “Los Ojos” is, with Castrogiovanni setting a “follow the bouncing ball” snare beat and sticking by it, it’s “Tierra del Rey” that serves as the first real highlight of Vol. II, and really, it’s all about the riff. Immediate stoner nod meets with rawer vocals and massive groove – a classic formula given new life by the fervency with which it’s executed. Diaz takes a guitar solo following the second verse, and that leads to a kind of mini-jam for the next minute-plus, but the main riff takes hold again and opens into as classic a part as there is within the genre of stoner rock. Subtle lead notes pepper an encompassing riff and Diaz meters his vocals to match the rhythm as Bianchi and Castrogiovanni lock down the march under the ensuing guitar solo. There are several genuine triumphs on Vol. II – among them the more ambient shift that “El Alba (parte A)” and “El Alba (parte B)” bring about immediately afterward – but “Tierra Del Rey” might be the most potent of them. The comedown that follows feels entirely earned, and the less distorted, higher-register notes of “El Alba (parte A)” both allow time to process “Tierra del Rey” and shift the focus to more atmospheric songwriting. The song picks up, riff-wise, and leads directly into “El Alba (parte B)” as the titles would suggest, but it seems reasonable that Humo del Cairo would split the whole into two component tracks, given how well the second of them stands up as a single, particularly in terms of its chorus. It’s more than a minute before Diaz comes in on vocals, but when he does, he brings appropriate gravity and layers of backups only further the character of the song, which is perhaps the most directly comparable to Los Natas’ melodic methodology as Vol. II gets until the heaviness is cut short and an acoustic guitar concludes the last minute and a half.

Read more »

Not really much of a surprise that Argentinian riffly rockers Humo del Cairo would have a new video out, what with their new album, but what’s kind of “huh?”-inducing about the situation is that “Fuego de San Antonio” appeared on the first record — not the new one. Far be it from me to criticize (get it?), but it seems to make more sense to me to promote the newer release, which is appropriately called Vol. II, than the debut, righteous though it was.

But maybe that’s why I’ve never been in a killer Argentinian desert rock trio (that’s what’s been holding me back!). Either way, Humo del Cairo‘s video for “Fuego de San Antonio”– directed by Juan Pinnel — is available for viewing below. Hope you dig:

Humo del Cairo‘s Vol. II reportedly came out in October as was planned, though I can’t seem to find any info on how to obtain it. In the meantime, the band has made the new song “Tierra del Rey” available for streaming on Soundcloud, and you can hear it on this player:

At least according to the best translation Thee Googles has to offer, the second album from Argentinian heavy psych upstarts Humo del Cairo will be out Oct. 17. Their second album bears the appropriate title, Vol. II, and was recorded by Alejandro Ortiz (Carajo). No word as yet on whether or not MeteorCity will pick it up for a domestic American issue, but it’s out on Estamos Felices in time for Humo del Cairo‘s South American tour, about which you can find more info here.

The trio has posted the track “El Alba (Parte A + B)” on the Estamo Felices Soundcloud page in the meantime, and it shows some shifts from the first record. The sound is a little darker, the vocals a little lower. It should be interesting to hear how the whole record plays out when it lands. Here’s the stream of the track if you want to check it out:

To be perfectly honest, I’ve been putting off reviewing the self-titled MeteorCity debut from Buenos Aires desert-style rockers Humo del Cairo for about a week now because I’ve wanted to try and glean some better sense of the album’s structure, form and methodology. I don’t know if I got all that for having taken the extra time, but with a record like this, which alternates between longer and shorter cuts and puts to use a ranging sonic approach, repeat listens can’t hurt.

Humo del Cairo does go back and forth between extended cuts and shorter pieces, at least for the first four of the total six tracks – the last two, “Errantes” and “Cauce” being about eight and seven minutes, respectively – opening with the 11-minute rocker “A Tiempo,” on which the trio waste no time earning a Los Natas comparison with driving rock rhythms. But soon the song opens up into a jam and the reasoning behind the longer track times is revealed. To the credit of the players — guitarist Juan Manuel Diaz, drummer Javier Murillo Gorchs and bassist Gustavo Bianchi – it doesn’t get boring, but the divisions between tracks become almost arbitrary by the end of this first 11 minutes, which is going to drastically change how you experience the album.

The upshot? That Humo del Cairo are best kept to full sessions rather than track-by-track listening. If you’re going to dig into the record, be aware that what you’re getting is a total-album flow. Each song has its grooves, but slower-tempo second track “Nimbo” is undoubtedly best experienced coming out of “A Tiempo,” and ditto for “Panorama,” which shows off Diaz’s nimble hand in another extended stoner jam. Among the usual suspects of ‘70s influences (your Floyds of Pink, Cheers of Blue and Crimson Kings), the band especially cites Pappo’s Blues as a point of particularly Argentine inspiration, and if that’s heard anywhere on Humo del Cairo, it’s heard on “Fuego de San Antonio,” which instead of opening into the by-now expected jam, keeps things straightforward and rocking for its shorter duration and ends as raucously as it begins before giving a kind of drone tone to lead into “Errantes.”

Read more »

Anyone out there have any records you’re really looking forward to hearing this year? Preview stuff is always tricky to put together because it’s either rampant speculation or shortsighted. The fact is no one knows how a year will play out as it’s just beginning. There are all these “Albums to Watch Out For” lists and it’s either stuff you’ll never see or everything is released by the middle of March.

But hey, it’s an unpredictable world. Maybe The Melvins will have a record this year, maybe not. And if they do, maybe it’ll suck. One can never tell what life is going to bring.

With the usual stipulations that this is in no way comprehensive or based on anything other than personal opinion (namely mine), here are five albums I’m looking forward to hearing in 2010, numbered for convenience, not necessarily preference:

01. High on Fire, Snakes for the Divine: Duh. It’s probably the biggest “stoner metal” release of the first half of the year, if not the whole thing, and if not one of the biggest metal releases overall. I don’t know how Greg Fidelman will handle the production — so help me Robot Jesus if I don’t get to hear every Des Kensell tom thud — but even if it’s not up to par with Death is this Communion, the new High on Fire is bound to kick at least some ass.

02. Sasquatch, III: These guys already have two fantastic albums on Small Stone under their collective belt and are more or less the Great American Hope for 21st Century stoner rock. No pressure, dudes. Nothing really riding on this except the future of your country’s output in the genre. Not like if it’s not the greatest thing ever the whole world is going to laugh at America‘s diminished riff prowess (you know Belgium‘s just been waiting). So yeah, just play it cool.

03. Solace, A.D.: Long time coming, but I have faith that the Jersey boys will get it done and out this year. I’m not sure why exactly I have that faith, but I have it nonetheless. I’ve heard some of this material live and it destroys. It’s high time Solace started getting at least a piece of the recognition they deserve, and getting A.D. out is essential to that process. This might be that whole “rampant speculation” thing though, because A.D. is at least three years in the works at this point.

04. Brant Bjork‘s new album: Doesn’t have a revealed title yet, but if I had a New Year’s resolution (I don’t), it would be to interview Brant Bjork. He’s also reportedly got a live record out sometime soon, and he’s touring Europe again this Spring, so there’s a lot going on there.

05. Humo del Cairo, Humo del Cairo: MeteorCity is doing an issue of the Argentinian trio’s self-titled debut, and if there’s one thing I like, it’s stoner trios from Argentina. Especially ones with grooves as massive as “Cauce,” which you can hear on the band’s MySpace. Could be a sleeper hit, or could just rule. Count me in either way. I could have sworn I’d written about them before, but apparently not. An oversight soon to be corrected, I’m sure.