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Mos Generator Stream “Beyond the Whip” from In Concert: 2007-2014; New Lineup and Tour Dates Announced

Posted in audiObelisk on February 4th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

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Though it shares a basic cover design and a partial title with it, Mos Generator‘s upcoming Listenable Records live album, In Concert: 2007-2014 — out March 23 — isn’t to be confused with the 2013 In Concert (review here) on Lay Bare Recordings. That outing was one concert, captured on the Port Orchard, Washington, trio’s European tour with Saint Vitus, whereas the new release, as its title hints, is more of a compilation of material culled from years of gigs around the world, as early as Roadburn in 2008 and as recent as Freak Valley last year. Founding guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed explains it in the quote below.

Says Tony Reed:

“This release is compiled from five different shows over seven years and is a great representation of what we have sounded like live. It has at least one song from each of our albums and also showcases jams and the evolution of song arrangements from studio to stage. It was a challenge to mix these recording from different shows together to make it seem like one live experience but i think the result captures the energy and chemistry that was happening between the three of us on stage during these years. A few of our finest moments were captured here including songs from Roadburn Festival in 2008 and Freak Valley Festival in 2014. It’s also cool that this will be coming out just in time for our European tour in April of 2015 to get everybody in the spirit for live MOS GENERATOR.”

mos generator in concert.jpgWhat Reed doesn’t mention there is that In Concert: 2007-2014 also serves as the capstone for an ending era of the band. In the wake of 2014’s Electric Mountain Majesty (review here) and with a desire to tour more than they have in years past, Reed has parted ways with drummer Shawn Johnson and bassist Scooter Haslip, bringing on board the rhythm section of bassist Sean Booth and drummer Scotty VanDweller (a touring name if e’er was one). Accordingly, ReedBooth and VanDweller have Mos Generator‘s first full-US tour booked and set to begin this month, and after that, the plan is to head to Europe and make their presence felt there.

It’s entirely possible that at the end of 2015, one might think of Mos Generator as a completely different band than, say, the one that made such a righteous comeback in 2012 with the Nomads (review here) full-length on Ripple Music, but if anything’s certain at this point it’s that this is a year of change for the stalwart heavy rock specialists, and that the new lineup are meeting that change and the challenges it might bring head on. As a fan of the band and of Reed‘s work in general, I’m looking forward to finally getting the chance to see these songs played live.

If you’re in a similar boat, Listenable has offered up “Beyond the Whip” from In Concert: 2007-2014 for your streaming pleasure. As it was the opening track on Electric Mountain Majesty, presumably this comes from last year’s stop at Freak Valley, and it sounds like a damn good time. Please find it on the player below, followed by the live album tracklisting, the announcement from Reed about the new lineup and the tour and the dates for the US run.

Please enjoy:

Mos Generator, In Concert: 2007-2014 Tracklisting :
1. Lumbo Rock
2. Cosmic Ark
3. Lonely One Kenobi
4. Silver Olympus
5. On The Eve
6. Godhand Iommi
7. This Is The Gift Of Nature
8. Beyond The Whip
9. Step Up / Jam
10. Acapulco Gold
11. Breaker
12. Sleeping Your Way To The Middle / Jam
13. Dyin’ Blues
14. Electric Mountain Majesty

We’ve got a few big announcements coming at ya today. First off we have a nice run of U.S. tour dates coming up and we have posted the dates and a few fun posters to help promote the tour. We would like to thank all of the promoters and bands that have helped us book many of these dates and we would also like to thank Elder and Tone Deaf Touring for bringing us along on what will be the first ever east coast tour for Mos Generator. Plans are in the works for more touring in the U.S. and Europe during the first half of 2015. We would like to make it out to see all of you this year.

The second announcement doesn’t come easy for me. After 14 years, 8 albums and hundreds of shows together I have had to part with the original rhythm section of Shawn Johnson and Scooter Haslip. Touring is imperative to the success and public awareness of any band and we couldn’t do the work that it takes to rise above the countless bands out there putting their passion to the test. We made amazing music together, but that is not enough, not for me anyway. I want to show it to the world. Mos Generator will never be the same in the absence of Shawn and Scooter but challenge and growth are also a musician’s nature and with that I announce Sean Booth (Bass) and Scotty VanDweller (Drums). Sean and Scotty have spent years attending Mos Generator shows and admiring the playing of their respective instrumentalists. That respect and understanding will help us perform the older material with much of the energy and power as it had with the original band and soon we will be writing and taking the sound of Mos Generator to new and interesting levels. That is something I am truly looking forward to.

Cheers
TR – Feb. 2015

MOS GENERATOR US Tour Feb/March 2015
mos-generator-tour-poster2/13 Seattle, Wa @ Columbia City Theater
2/14 Port Angeles, Wa @ Coo Coo’s Nest
2/18 Fort Worth, Tx @ The Grotto
2/19 Austin, Tx @ The Lost Well
2/20 El Paso, Tx @ Low Brow Palace
2/21 Tuscon, Az @ The Rock (Borderland Fuzz Fiesta)
2/23 TBA
2/24 TBA
2/25 TBA
2/26 Grants Pass OR @ G Street Bar
2/27 Eugene, Or @ Black Forest
2/28 Portland, Or @ World Famous Kenton Club
3/3 TBA
3/4 TBA
w/Elder*
3/6 Providence, RI @ As220*
3/7 Peterborough, Nh @ The Wreck Room*
3/8 Rochester, Ny @ Bug Jar*
3/9 Pittsburgh, Pa @ Gooski’s*
3/10 Columbus, Oh @ Ace of Cups*
3/11 Indianapolis, In @ 5th Quarter*
3/12 Chicago, Il @ Reggie’s*
3/13 Texarkana, @ Silver Dollar*
3/14 Dallas, Tx @ Double Wide*
3/16 Corpus Christi, Tx @ Boneshakers
3/17 Austin, Tx @ The Lost Well
3/18 Houston, Tx @ White Swan
3/20 Tulsa, Ok @ Downtown Lounge
3/21 TBA
3/23 Anahiem, CA @ The Doll Hut
3/24 San Diego, Ca @ The Merrow
3/25 Sacramento, Ca @ The Press Club
3/26 San Jose, Ca @ The Caravan
3/27 Oakland, Ca @ The Golden Bull (Ripple fest)
3/28 Arcata, Ca @ The Alibi

Mos Generator on Thee Facebooks

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Mos Generator, In Concert: Travelers in Time

Posted in Reviews on October 10th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

In 2012, Mos Generator guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed engineered the Saint Vitus reunion album, Lillie: F-65. The two bands had also done shows in Mos Generator‘s native Pacific Northwest together, and when it was time for Vitus to head to Europe in support of the album, Reed, bassist Scooter Haslip and drummer Shawn Johnson went along for the full month’s run as the supporting act, and it’s from that tour that the new In Concert live album — the first release on Lay Bare Recordings — comes. Issued 180 gram vinyl-only in an edition of 300 with some black and some in a pink and white swirl, In Concert was recorded at Rockfabrik in Nürnberg, Germany, on March 25, 2013, by Dirk de Zibel for Eraser Pictures, and with a mix and master job from Reed himself, it makes a rousing answer to Mos Generator‘s 2012 comeback long-player, Nomads (review here), which emerged via Ripple Music and was among the year’s best heavy rock releases. Highlights from Nomads including the ultra-hook one-two of “Cosmic Ark” and “Lonely One Kenobi” show up on In Concert, as well as the closer “This  is the Gift of Nature,” which fits well at the end of side B of the vinyl as well. The fluid mix between the new material and opener “Lumbo Rock,” as well as “Silver Olympus,” “On the Eve” and “Godhand Iommi” — all of which come culled from a variety of the band’s releases in their first run, whether it’s their self-titled debut in the case of the former or 2006’s Late Great Planet Earth for “Silver Olympus” or any number of self-released demos, session singles, etc., that the band did before going on hiatus in 2009 as Reed embarked on ’70s revivalist rockers Stone Axe and several other projects, including HeavyPink, whose 7″ was released on The Maple Forum — only underscores how little of a step Mos Generator missed upon their return.

The Rockfabrik show was the third date before the end of the tour, so it was the perfect night to capture the band at their best. Sure, the end was in sight, but at that point, you wouldn’t run into any end-of-tour antics, they wouldn’t be thinking yet about getting home and back to real life in a way that might distract from the set, and in terms of their performance, they’d be a machine. So it is on In Concert. For having sand every night for 20 days, Reed‘s voice sounds fresh and crisp as “Lumbo Rock” moves into “Cosmic Ark,” and even by the end of the set, he’s still able to reach for the notes in “This is the Gift of Nature” without straining. The recording itself is crisp and full — one does not come out of the vinyl wondering where Haslip‘s bass was — and though it’s a professional delivery of a well-honed set, Mos Generator still seem to be enjoying themselves, whether it’s Reed asking for a drink on stage and letting the crowd know they’re, “running out of fun” or asking Rockfabrik to turn the house lights on at the end of the set to get a picture of the crowd (the latter seems to have been a nightly routine, if the band’s Facebook posts are any kind of tell). A relatively darker start to side B with the apocalyptically-themed “On the Eve” is complemented with a subsequent turn to the ultra-Sabbathian blues jam “Godhand Iommi” — Haslip and Johnson are duly righteous for both — which takes parts of “Wicked World” and gleefully dashes off with them in a swirl of rhythmic tightness, and though when they’re finished with “This is the Gift of Nature,” the LP feels short, it was an opening set after all, and there’s not much left to ask that’s not delivered.

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Mos Generator Release In Concert Live Vinyl on Lay Bare Recordings

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

Recorded earlier this year in Nuremberg, the new live vinyl In Concert captures revived Washington heavy rockers Mos Generator on their tour earlier this year with Saint Vitus. It’s also the first release on the newly-formed Lay Bare Recordings, which is a label project spearheaded by Désirée Hanssen of Roadburn/Burning World Records. Ms. Hanssen posted the following update this morning, and as you can see, her new label is off to a gorgeous start.

Mos Generator are also in the process of recording a new studio album, so stay tuned for more on that:

I am extremely delighted to announce that i made it to start my own record label. Let me introduce you to:

Lay Bare Recordings
from low ‘n slow to hard ‘n heavy!

Lay Bare Recordings is focussed on VINYL and supports bands that i think have an added value in the underground and unconventional music scene. I am very devoted to bring those sounds to a wider audience.

The music styles that Lay Bare Recordings will be promoting, are from artists who put their heart and soul in their music. Songs and music made with passion, vigor and quality.

Do you know a band, or are you part of a band that will feel at home in what Lay Bare Recordings represents?

Send me a link & message. I am always looking for new bands & songs that speak to me.

So spread the news or give me your thoughts.

LBR 001: Mos Generator in concert (live at Rockfabrik Nürnberg, 25-03-2013)

Tony Reed comments: “This was show 21 in a row of a 26 city tour. We were in the best shape we have ever been in as a live band and i think it shows on this recording.”

Its a Limited Edition run of 300 handnumbered units pressed on 180g virgin vinyl, single LP with some fine artwork from Mr-Frumpy Frumpedia. And the beautiful label art from Igor van Vijfeyken. The releases will be distributed by Burning World Records.

http://burningworldrecords.com/artist/mos-generator

Mos Generator, “Cosmic Ark” official video

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