audiObelisk Transmission 043

Posted in Podcasts on December 23rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

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Since I don’t do theme podcasts or anything, the thoroughly unofficial subtitle of this latest one is “SOME of the Best of 2014.” Truth be told, it’s four hours long and I feel like I barely scratched the surface, so definitely the emphasis should be on “some.” By no means is it meant to be comprehensive, or am I claiming that it’s all the best and the rest sucked or anything like that. But some of the best stuff is here, so, you know, I hope you enjoy.

My intent was to make it three hours long, and then I got there and it just didn’t feel done without another hour’s worth of extended psych jams. That’s an odd habit to have. Could be worse. For what it’s worth, I was thinking of this as a companion for some of the year-end coverage that’s already been posted and is still to come. Some of this was inspired by picks from the Readers Poll, the submissions for which are still open. If you haven’t added your list yet, I’d greatly appreciate it.

And once again, hope you dig it:

First Hour:
YOB, “Nothing to Win” from Clearing the Path to Ascend
Fu Manchu, “Radio Source Sagittarius” from Gigantoid
Radio Moscow, “Death of a Queen” from Magical Dirt
The Golden Grass, “Stuck on a Mountain” from The Golden Grass
Monster Magnet, “No Paradise for Me” from Milking the Stars: A Reimagining of Last Patrol
Pallbearer, “The Ghost I Used to Be” from Foundations of Burden
The Skull, “Sick of it All” from For Those Which are Asleep
Electric Wizard, “Time to Die” from Time to Die
Orange Goblin, “The Devil’s Whip” from Back from the Abyss
Moab, “No Soul” from Billow

Second Hour:
Sleep, “The Clarity” from The Clarity 12”
Mars Red Sky, “Hovering Satellites” from Stranded in Arcadia
Floor, “Rocinante” from Oblation
Slomatics, “And Yet it Moves” from Estron
Conan, “Foehammer” from Blood Eagle
Druglord, “Feast on the Eye” from Enter Venus
Apostle of Solitude, “Die Vicar Die” from Of Woe and Wounds
Pilgrim, “Away from Here” from II: Void Worship
Blood Farmers, “The Road Leads to Nowhere” from Headless Eyes

Third Hour:
Lo-Pan, “Regulus” from Colossus
Elephant Tree, “Vlaakith” from Theia
The Well, “Mortal Bones” from Samsara
Lucifer in the Sky with Diamonds, “Counting Time” from The Shining One
Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, “Stokely up Now” from Black Power Flower
Joy, “Driving Me Insane” from Under the Spell of Joy
Greenleaf, “Depth of the Sun” from Trails and Passes
Mothership, “Priestess of the Moon” from Mothership II
Truckfighters, “Get Lifted” from Universe
Mos Generator, “Enter the Fire” from Electric Mountain Majesty
Mammatus, “Brain Drain” from Heady Mental

Fourth Hour:
Øresund Space Collective, “Beardlandia” from Music for Pogonologists
My Brother the Wind, “Garden of Delights” from Once There was a Time When Time and Space were One
The Cosmic Dead, “Fukahyoocastulah” from Split with Mugstar
Montibus Communitas, “The Pilgrim to the Absolute” from The Pilgrim to the Absolute

Total running time: 4:02:57

 

Thank you for listening.

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Mammatus, Heady Mental: Sign from Space

Posted in Reviews on January 23rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

The third long-player from Santa Cruz County space rock three-piece Mammatus, Heady Mental, came as something of a surprise. Its November 2013 release came with little fanfare, not much promotion and hardly seemed to acknowledge how long it had been since the band were last heard from. It just beamed in, suddenly materialized. Their sophomore outing, The Coast Explodes, was issued in 2007, a year after they made their self-titled debut (both albums were on Holy Mountain), and was a triumph of raw West Coast heavy psychedelia, exploratory and progressive but still dirty and noisy when it needed to be. They toured with Acid Mothers Temple to support, and then, otherwise absent, they played a few shows in California over the stretch, and as early as Spring 2009 there was some discussion of a third full-length being recorded by the trio of guitarist Nicholas Emmert, bassist Chris Freels and drummer Aaron Emmert. Heady Mental is that album, reportedly written in 2007 and 2008, recorded in 2009 and mixed for release late last year on vinyl through Spiritual Pajamas with word that the band has returned and were once again at work on new material to follow the three tracks included here, “Brain Drain” (7:39), “Main Brain” (8:17) and “Brainbow/Brain Train” (16:39).

When and if that newer material will surface will have to remain to be seen, but it’s worth noting that although Heady Mental is older recordings — in case you were wondering, 2009 was half a decade ago — it’s still the band’s most recent output. It’s not like they recorded a bunch of newer songs and then went back and dug these three tracks up for a stopgap. What momentum they had coming off Mammatus and The Coast Explodes dissipated when they became so inactive, so it seems curious that Heady Mental would surface at all if they didn’t have any interest in releasing more new music. And though they’ve undoubtedly progressed in the time since it was recorded, Heady Mental‘s tracks show considerable growth from the first two albums. If we take it from their having started the songwriting process shortly after The Coast Explodes, it becomes even easier to read the “Brain”-centric trio presented on two basically evenly-split sides here as a purposeful shift in direction. Mammatus have always worked in extended forms, but the thematic switch between “Brain Drain” and “Main Brain” and the likes of the three-part “Dragon of the Deep” that carried across both of their first two outings is as palpable sonically as it is in the titles. They’ve jumped from fantasy to sci-fi.

True enough, the aural allusion to “heavy metal” in the title of the record is not lost in the scaly lead work of Nicholas Emmert‘s guitars throughout “Brain Drain” and “Brainbow/Brain Train,” but their classic metal influence meets with a wash of analog-sounding synth and pushes fast into a pulsating cosmos. “Main Brain” slows the engines a bit, and there’s a break between the parts of “Brainbow/Brain Train” that adds ambience to the neutron thrust, but the course of Heady Mental is set at a warp speed and the Emmerts and Freels have no problem keeping up as the stars stretch out before them. Heady Mental is the cleanest-sounding work Mammatus have yet released, and though vocals arrive buried on the opener in a host of effects, the human element is not lost. A short upward squeak that finds a downward companion following “Brainbow/Brain Train” opens “Brain Drain,” but they skip the countdown and launch immediately into heavy space rocking that takes varying forms across its span but never seems to lose sight of its central rush. Some thicker riffing arrives after the six-minute mark, but even this seems to move at a blinding rate, and soon it’s one more element in an ongoing melee as a noisy guitar solo comes to dominate the mix, leading to the quiet start of “Main Brain,” which again, begins slower.

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Extolling Ignorance: The Top 10 Albums I Didn’t Hear in 2013

Posted in Features on January 6th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Some of these, I just don’t have an excuse. Others, I have an excuse but it’s pretty lame. The basic fact of the matter is that the recently-departed 2013 brought an onslaught of gotta-hear-it-gotta-get-it records and I don’t care if it’s your full-time job and you actually get paid to do it, there’s no way you heard it all. I know I certainly didn’t.

I’m only one dude. I sit in front of this keyboard more or less all day, Monday to Friday each week, and I think the volume of output from this site and the fact that it’s just me (Hi, my name is JJ) putting it out speak for themselves. Maybe they don’t and that’s why I feel compelled to say it. Whatever.

Point is I do the best I can, but whether it’s my general and increasingly visceral disdain for digital promos or not being cool enough to be on somebody’s radar — or hell, even just the time factor, as in “there’s only so much of it” — some probably-killer stuff just slipped through the cracks. This list is me apologizing for not being everywhere at once and for having a limited record-buying budget. Again, I do the best I can.

List is alphabetical because it’s not like I can really rank them. Here goes:

1. Carcass, Surgical Steel

Man, Carcass kick ass. I know their early stuff is grind gospel, but even their last two records, 1993’s Heartwork and 1996’s Swansong, are fantastic. Why the hell wouldn’t I want to get on board with a new Carcass album? I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to download it, like it a lot, put time into reviewing it and then go out and have to buy it like a punk. Easier not to listen, so that’s what I did. Carcass on Thee Facebooks.

2. Carlton Melton, Always Even


When Carlton Melton got added to Roadburn 2014, I took a sampling of their wares and it sounded like really interesting stuff. Synth-driven kraut-psych with a touch of West Coast spaceout gets a hearty “right on” in my book. Mostly a budget concern as to why I didn’t dig further. I could’ve YouTube’d it, but that’s no way to get to know an album if you’re actually interested in listening to music. Carlton Melton’s website.

3. Causa Sui, Euporie Tide

I was actually given this as an Xmas present after having it on my Amazon wishlist and it’s fucking fantastic. Really, really, really good. I imagine at some point I’ll probably put together a Buried Treasure post that more or less touts the virtues of Euporie Tide‘s desert tones and progressive explorations, but I didn’t get there before the end of 2013, so here it is anyway. But seriously, wow. El Paraiso Records on Thee Facebooks.

4. Deafheaven, Sunbather

There was so much hype around Deafheaven‘s Sunbather that I was just completely turned off. Not much more to it than that. I probably could’ve chased down a promo download if I’d been so inclined, but what’s the point? The whole world’s already up its ass, I’d rather spend my limited-as-hell time not adding my voice to a chorus of hyperbole. Maybe it’s really cool. Okay. Deafheaven on Bandcamp.

5. Fuzz, Fuzz

In a bizarre twist, turns out I have heard Fuzz‘s Fuzz, the self-titled heavy psych debut from indie darling Ty Segall. It’s the reason I wound up ending last week with the Witch self-titled, because I think the two albums work in a very similar fashion. Cool release either way, something like a dirtier Radio Moscow. I probably won’t review it at this point, but it’s on my shopping list for next time I happen to have two cents to my name. Ty Segall on Thee Facebooks.

6. Ghost, Infestissumam

The single most misspelled title in the Readers Poll. My feeling on Ghost at this point is as follows: “Yeah, so?” You’re a costumed pop-cult act with insanely catchy songs and a massive promotional machine behind you. So what? I wound up ambivalent about the first Ghost album and I guess when it came to this there wasn’t anything Ghost was going to deliver that I couldn’t get in a more substantive package from Uncle Acid. Ghost’s website.

7. Grayceon, Pearl and the End of Days

If there’s anything on this list that I’m actually pissed off at myself for not having heard, it’s probably Grayceon‘s Pearl and the End of Days. Technically it’s an EP and this is a list of albums, but either way, I wound up loving their 2011 full-length, All We Destroy (unabashed fawning here), so I can only consider missing the subsequent release the result of some deep-seated character flaw on my part. It came out in February! I had all year! What a jerk.

8. Mammatus, Heady Mental

Didn’t even know this one existed until Spiritual Pajamas put it out in November. Nobody told me, and I guess it had been a while since I last checked in on the Santa Cruz County space jammers to see about a follow-up to 2007’s The Coast Explodes. Still hope to hear Heady Mental at some point. The sooner the better, since it’s another band whose work I’ve legitimately enjoyed in the past. Mammatus on Thee Faceboooks.

9. Purson, The Circle and the Blue Door

No question Rise Above puts out some of the best underground heavy the world over. Not an issue that’s up for debate at this point, and they’ve found a decent niche to mine through with cult rock that seems to resonate with their audience. All well and good. I guess when it came to Purson, everything was just a little too perfect, just a little too aligned for me to be interested. Maybe I’ll stumble on it at some point and regret having passed it up initially. Purson on Thee Facebooks.

10. True Widow, Circumambulation

Circumambulation is the same story as a lot of these. I had promo mp3s and they just sat there. If I’ve got people in Japan and Australia who are willing to mail me a CD or LP out of their own pocket, I have a hard time arguing with myself as to why I should bother with others who don’t care enough about my opinion to send the work they want to have evaluated. If I’ve missed out on good music in the process, well, I’m still alive,which is more than I can say for the fucking music industry. True Widow on Bandcamp.

There we have it. If there’s a takeaway from all of this downer cynicism, it’s how unbearably lucky we are to live in an age where (one) I could immediately access the music on any one of these albums if I really wanted to or immediately shell out for hard copies if I had the funds. I know I really missed out on some of these, but it’s also worth pointing out just how many incredible albums are out there that I could let some of these pass and still live with myself.

This is the last of the 2013 wrap-ups, so thanks for checking it all out.

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Mammatus Release New LP Heady Mental

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

I had to look up how long it’s been since Mammatus last released an album. According to the Excel file in which I carefully log each new addition to my collection according to artist, title, year of release, label, method of acquisition (promo or retail, sometimes gift), format and label catalog number, The Coast Explodes, their second album, came out in 2007 on Holy Mountain (catalog number 8516, if you’re curious). As it was preceded in 2006 by Mammatus‘ self-titled debut, it’s all the more striking that it’s taken six years for the band’s third album to manifest. Nonetheless, the day has arrived, and Heady Mental has been released on LP via Spiritual Pajamas for public consumption.

Mammatus had some decent momentum in the works coming off the second record, but six years is a long time. Heady Mental brings three new, probably extended tracks, and can be ordered through Spiritual Pajamas here by anyone inclined.

Here’s more info on the LP:

Mammatus / Heady Mental

Spiritual Pajamas

If you’ve seen mammatus clouds in person, you probably noticed the way those massive formations hang heavy like wilting and bulbous gray-blue sacs, bubbling from heaven towards us. Curiously, as monstrous as they look, these gentle giants are not portents of a storm; they cradle the sky, high above where they belong. How can something so heavy float?

If you’ve seen Mammatus the band in concert, you probably noticed how visual their sound is. Guitarist Nicholas Emmert sports a one-piece full-body flight-suit, bassist Chris Freels dons a space cape, and drummer Aaron Emmert steers the ship, staring straight ahead with flashing laser eyewear. The homespun wizard-cum-trippy-dad-at-a-campfire look that they’ve adopted softens the blow of the heavy aural trickery afoot.

Heady Mental is the perfect title for the third Mammatus album, for it rests heavily in the moldy caverns of heavy metal history, but doesn’t get too comfortable before revealing its true colors. This is music for flight, music for the sky, and music for the things that lie beyond. These men are searching for the source through sound. Repetitions of themes with variants spread over four separate songs that act as a whole. Heady Mental functions as a soundtrack to the Mammatus Brain: Heavy / Airy, Earth / Sky, Man / Creator, Complete and Grok’d.

For the obligatory band reference, one could start by imaging what The Fucking Champs’ IV would have sounded like if they had been more into the McLaughlin / Santana LP Love, Devotion, Surrender instead of Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind.

1. Brain Drain
2. Main Brain
3. Brainbow / Brain Train

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mammatus/78621323321
http://midheaven.com/item/heady-mental-by-mammatus-lp

Mammatus, “The Coast Explodes” from The Coast Explodes (2007)

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