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Friday Full-Length: Various Artists, Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer

Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 27th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

The enduring legacy of Blue Cheer — who did no less than shepherd the transition between the ’60s rock and the heavy ’70s, setting a significant blueprint for the latter in terms of tone and bluesy approach — need not be recounted here. Along with the likes of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and others who took a more volatile turn on the era’s psychedelia and volume push, they were a pivotal act and the work they did in their original run from 1966-1972, as well as in various periods thereafter, continues to resonate, with 1968’s Vincebus Eruptum and 1969’s OutsideInside (discussed here) rightly considered landmarks in the aforementioned temporal and stylistic shift. In a word, they were “important.” They mattered.

There have been plenty of Blue Cheer covers along the way, from artists across the globe, but as regards tribute albums, 1999’s Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer (also discussed here) stands in singular testament to the band’s affect on underground heavy rock and roll and doom. Issued by Italy’s Black Widow Records, it was 16 songs from 15 separate artists, totaling about 78 minutes of material with the following tracklisting:

Various Artists Blue Explosion A Tribute to Blue Cheer1. Pentagram, “Doctor Please”
2. Internal Void, “Parchment Farm”
3. Hogwash, “Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger”
4. Thumlock, “Out of Focus”
5. Natas, “Ride with Me”
6. Fireball Ministry, “Fortunes”
7. Norrsken, “Pilot”
8. Garybaldi, “Fresh Fruit & Iceburgs”
9. Rise and Shine, “Sun Cycle”
10. Wicked Minds, “Just a Little Bit”
11. Standarte, “Sandwich”
12. Space Probe Taurus, “Second Time Around”
13. Drag Pack, “Come and Get It”
14. Vortice Cremisi, “I’m the Light”
15. Ufomammut, “Peace of Mind”
16. Pentagram, “Feathers From Your Tree”

Obviously a few immediate standout names in there. First (and last) is Pentagram, who open and close the proceedings with “Doctor Please” and “Feathers From Your Tree” — two choice cuts as regards the Blue Cheer catalog. It ain’t “Summertime Blues,” which is probably Blue Cheer‘s most known single, but you’ll notice no one takes that on, and that seems like a purposeful decision on the part of the label in terms of staying away from the obvious move. Either way, as regards Pentagram, it’s important to consider the timing. This isn’t Pentagram in 1985 or even in 2009. Victor Griffin is nowhere to be found. This is many years before Sean “Pellet” Pelletier would take over as frontman Bobby Liebling‘s manager/caretaker, and despite the best and noble efforts of Joe Hasselvander handling drums, guitar and bass, Liebling sounds like a human being in the throes of a well-documented heroin addiction. Pentagram were signed to Black Widow at the time, and in 1999 they issued Review Your Choices, which was followed in 2001 by Sub-Basement, and if you know those records, they sound like rough years. You can hear that here too.

Highlights, however, include early-Ufomammut‘s psychedelic rendition of “Peace of Mind,” Internal Void paying simultaneous tribute to Blue Cheer and Cactus with “Parchment Farm,” the shimmering proto-proto-metal of Sweden’s Norrsken — the predecessor that birthed both Witchcraft and Graveyard — doing “Pilot” from 1970’s The Original Human Being, Fireball Ministry‘s “Fortunes” and Rise and Shine‘s “Sun Cycle.” Add to that list Argentina’s Natas, who would soon enough be known as Los Natas, doing a rare song in English with “Ride with Me,” since as far as I’m concerned the guitar tone there is worth whatever price of admission the secondary market might be charging for the disc. If you ever question why I’ll listen to anything Sergio Ch. ever puts out, ever, ever, ever and forever, just listen to that guitar and you’ll have your answer as to how that loyalty was earned.

Further, the fuzz blast of Wicked Minds‘ “Just a Little Bit” and the rawness of Drag Pack‘s “Come and Get It” offer good times to fill out the second half of the disc. These, along with the ’90s post-grunge doom roll of Vortice Cremisi‘s “I’m the Light” and the sure tone of Thumlock earlier on, mean that more than just the bigger names on Blue Explosion have something to offer. There’s a lot to dig, and yeah, some of it is pretty uneven in terms of relative volume and production-style changes from one band to the next — going from Wicked Minds to Standarte is notable, as is Thumlock to Natas, but if you take it as a collection of artists coming together on their own terms to celebrate the legacy of one of heavy rock and roll’s formative acts — i.e., if you take it for what it is — Blue Explosion is both a solid listen and worthy mission.

In my mind, it’s always paired with the 1999 Freedoom Records tribute to Trouble, Bastards Will Pay (discussed here), which I bought around the same time, and which also features Rise and Shine and Norrsken. The latter of course are of particular note because of the paucity of material they actually released — a few demos between 1996 and 1997 and a single in 1999 — and the legacy they cast across Sweden and the rest of Europe in the members’ igniting the continent’s vintage-rock movement. That is an influence that continues to spread, and while Blue Explosion might feature still-active and still-influential bands like Pentagram and Ufomammut and Fireball Ministry, as well as others, the opportunity to chase down output from Norrsken is itself an appeal for the disc as a whole.

I was fortunate enough to see Blue Cheer on what would be their final run as they supported their 2007 release, What Doesn’t Kill You…, which was the same era captured on their 2009 DVD Rocks Europe (review here) — I think the Rockpalast performance is on YouTube at this point, but get the DVD for the bonus interviews with Dickie Peterson, as his stories about Janis Joplin and Grateful Dead are nothing short of amazing — and though of course it wouldn’t have been the same as seeing them some 40 years earlier, it was a chance to relish in and pay homage to the legacy of a crucial band. They were, I can say without reservation, loud as hell. Everything The Rolling Stones were never brave enough to do more than hint at being.

Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer isn’t the same kind of experience, of course, but it’s the same impulse, paying homage to the legacy. Whether you dig in for the academic appeal, curiosity, or just to hear some unfamiliar takes on familiar riffs, I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

Xmas wasn’t bad. The Pecan learned the word “presents” and how to open same, and he liked the stuffed Pete the Cat and Little Blue Truck and various other such and sundry things — mostly trucks — we and others in my and The Patient Mrs.’ respective family branches got him, so that’s a win. Dude has plenty, plenty, plenty to keep him occupied. The Patient Mrs.’ sister and mother, as well as our niece and nephew on that side, stayed an extra day as well, and my sister’s oldest son came back yesterday to play video games — ace call on my part to tell the CT branch of the family to bring the Nintendo Switch — and my mother, sister, her husband and other nephew came over last night for pizza and leftovers, and it was great having everyone around. There’s a room in this house — the room I’m in now, as it happens — that’s pretty much made for hosting, and I like hosting. And I think The Patient Mrs. does too. So it works out. I dread the holidays. I really do. Got off relatively light, and got a new coffee grinder and mug to boot. So yeah.

New Year’s is next, which means nothing to me except getting used to writing 2020 instead of 2019, which usually takes at least a month, then The Patient Mrs. is going away to a conference in Puerto Rico for a couple days in January — though she’ll be working, I suspect she’ll find the relative change in climate somewhat restorative; at least that’s my hope — and I’ll be on solo duty with Pecan: Toddlerian. Dude and I spent plenty of days on our own this semester as his mom settled into her new job, so I’m not really nervous about it or anything. I’ll be tired. Big change.

I’m gonna punch out in a minute, but a couple quick things:

— The Quarterly Review was originally going to be next week. I’m pushing it back a week. It’ll start Jan. 6.

— The Best of the 2010s poll is being extended for a week. I want to give it more time beyond the Best of 2019 poll.

— There may be a new Gimme Radio show next Friday? I’m not sure yet.

— Going to see Clutch at Starland Ballroom on Monday. That’ll be good.

Thanks for your support in the Best of 2019, Song of the Decade and Album of the Decade posts this week. You warmed my heart, really, and I promise you, promise you, promise you, I don’t take that support for granted. Thank you.

Hope everyone who celebrated Xmas had a good ‘un, and if New Year’s is a party for you, have fun and please be safe. If you need a ride, get one.

FRM: Forum, Radio, Merch at MiBK.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

 

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Space Probe Taurus to Release Mondo Satan in April

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

space probe taurus

Originally announced almost a full year ago for a Summer 2014 release on Ripple, the second album from Swedish heavy rockers Space Probe TaurusMondo Satan, has now been given an April 28 arrival date from the label. The four-piece, who trace their roots back to the early ’90s, released their first, self-titled long-player through Buzzville Records in 2008, and so yeah, it’s been a minute. One can’t help but wonder when Mondo Satan was actually recorded, but I guess that’s what liner notes are for finding out.

To whet groove appetites — groovepetites? nah… — the PR wire has seen fit to unveil “The Iguana” as the first audio to come from the album, and it comes accompanied by announcement of the release date. Apparently the first run of CDs has already sold out on preorder (and here I thought I was the last person on the planet who gave a crap about the format), but one imagines more are in the works. If you dig, then dig:

space probe taurus mondo satan

Space Probe Taurus to release new album Mondo Satan this April via Ripple Music | Listen and stream ‘The Iguana’ now

This April, acclaimed hard-hitting acid rockers Space Probe Taurus congregate with fellow psych worshippers Ripple Music to release their latest foray into the world of biker-flicks, lysergic rock ‘n’ roll and feral fuzz.

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present for your listening pleasure ‘The Iguana’, taken from their soon to be unleashed new album Mondo Satan.

Originally formed as Snake Machine in 1992 it wasn’t until a name change and shortening of their songs in ’97 that the band settled into doing what they do best; preaching the gospel of dirty garage rock. Swedish style.

Often compared to the likes of Mudhoney, The Stooges, MC5 and Blue Cheer – the latter of whom SPT paid tribute to with a ripping cut of ‘Second Time Around’ on Black Widow Records’ Blue Explosion – their music is influenced by late ’60s psych rock and low-budget B-movies like Psychomania and Angels From Hell. A dual obsession that quickly led on to the band contributing music to the 2005 “snuff documentary” Actress Apocalypse and revenge thriller I Am Vengeance in 2012.

Mondo Satan is the band’s follow up to their self-titled debut album from 2008 and will be released worldwide via Ripple Music on 28th April 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-Probe-Taurus/267503979145
ripple-music.com
facebook.com/pages/Ripple-Music/369610860064
ripplemusic.bandcamp.com
youtube.com/user/GroovesandRipples/
twitter.com/RippleMusic

Space Probe Taurus, “The Iguana”

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Space Probe Taurus to Release Mondo Satan this Summer on Ripple Music

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 17th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

I managed to find Space Probe Taurusself-titled Buzzville Records debut at the since-defunct Bullit Records in beautiful Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 2012, and it wasn’t a purchase I regretted making. Today the news has come down the PR wire that the Swedish heavy rockers have inked a deal to release their forthcoming sophomore outing — some six years in the making — on Ripple Music this coming summer. Exact date is TBA, but though Space Probe Taurus have done numerous soundtrack and compilation appearances over their many years, it seems reasonable to expect they’d be in a hurry to get Mondo Satan out after so long.

Dig it:

Cult Acid Fuzz Rockers SPACE PROBE TAURUS Sign Worldwide Deal With Ripple Music!

New album “Mondo Satan” to be released in summer 2014!

RIPPLE MUSIC is proud to announce the signing of acclaimed, hard-hitting acid biker heavy rockers, SPACE PROBE TAURUS to their ever-expanding roster!

Space Probe Taurus has been around in one form or another since 1992, but it wasn’t until a name change and shortening of the songs in 1997 that the band settled down into doing what they still do today: preaching the gospel of dirty garage rock Swedish style. Their music has been called Biker Movie Acid Fuzz and that sums it up as well as anything we could say!

Since the release of the Blue Cheer tribute CD “Blue Explosion”, by Black Widow Records, the band has been part of many compilations. And the year after saw the release of their first own record, the “Insect City” EP on Game Two/Slowdive Records. The band has also been involved deeply in the American low budget movie scene, first providing a song for the “I Am Vengeance” soundtrack (released by Meteor City Records in 2001), then having 12 songs in the movie “Actress Apocalypse”. Upcoming in 2014 is the movie “Franklin” which will include yet another song (a demo version of the song “Mondo Satan”).

In 2008 it was time for the first album, a self-titled debut released by the Belgian label Buzzville Records, which got outstanding reviews from all over the world. Since the release of the album the band has kept writing new material, played live and kept recording new demos. In 2012 the general feeling was that a new album needed to be done, and after a long process of deciding on the songs the band started to record, what would become the album “Mondo Satan”, scheduled to be released on Ripple Music in summer 2014!

On “Mondo Satan” Space Probe Taurus are:
Sjöberg – vocals, guitars
Tömte – guitars, backing vocals
Enberg – bass, backing vocals
Boman – drums

“Mondo Satan” tracklist:
1. Scorpio Queen
2. Kill City Death Cult
3. Spahn Ranch Motherfucker
4. Make Me Bleed
5. Galaxy Travelin’ Blues
6. Superfuzzed
7. Mondo Satan
8. Dust Joint
9. The Iguana
10. The Righteous One

For the growing ranks of Ripple fans, known as the Waveriders, Space Probe Taurus will be another must-hear addition to the ranks of bands that already include such heavy rockers as Volume IV, Devil to Pay, Mothership, or Ape Machine.

For More Info Visit:
http://on.fb.me/1lGw9X4
http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceProbeTaurus
http://www.reverbnation.com/spaceprobetaurus
http://www.ripple-music.com

Space Probe Taurus, “Mondo Satan” demo

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2012 Adventure, Pt. 14: Beyond Figure Out

Posted in Features on April 11th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

04/11/12 — 22.41 — Wednesday — Hotel in Eindhoven

As a means of giving my wanderings some direction, I tried and failed twice this early afternoon to find the correct route to Memory Music here in Eindhoven. That whole no cellphone thing biting me in the ass really for the first time this whole trip. Embarrassed for myself to myself,  I stopped in at a sushi joint in the marketplace area and got a few rolls to drown my sorrows in. Crab and corn, tuna salad. Stuff you can’t get at home. Some gyoza, which were exceptionally good.

My lunch suitably devoured, I fired up the laptop to one more time give a shot at finding this record store, when, in a moment of distracted email checking, I saw a comment from a lovely couple named Chris and Maggie, whom I’d met at Desertfest and seen again at the show last night — it was Chris who told me Gentlemans Pistols were the best band in Britain — asking me if I’d made my way yet to Bullit Records Well, I hadn’t, but upon looking it up and finding out that it was closer than Memory Music and that I knew exactly where it was because of my wanderings looking for the other shop, I was back on my way in no time.

Right on my way to finding the store with no trouble whatsoever after about a five minute walk listening to Queens of the Stone Age (having gotten an itch to do so at The Rambler), I ran into said couple, who were just on their way out and full of praise for the goodies Bullit contained. They made it easy to get my hopes up, and sure enough, I did manage to find a few decent records. Actually, strike that. I found a ton of really good records, and if I was buying vinyl, I’d have been up a creek, but a lot of it was stuff I already owned or could otherwise get back in the US for far less than 18 Euro.

Still, I grabbed the Skraeckoedlan album that was reviewed a while back, a Space Probe Taurus self-titled on Buzzville, a 1996 UK reissue of Hawkwind‘s self-titled, an album called Soulful Man by young German four-piece Cliffsight (there was a sticker on it that cited Colour Haze, so I figured I’d take a chance and it’s not too bad as of the 10-minute opener) and the original issue of 35007‘s Especially for You, which I mark as the find of the day, definitely. Killer to get that CD in this place, 35007 having been so pivotal to the Dutch scene. 1994 that disc is from. Almost 20 years old.

Great find, great recommendation, and as I spoke to the dude behind the counter at Bullit — who was very kind as everyone I’ve encountered here as been and even gave me a tote bag that I will take home for The Patient Mrs., who enjoys a good tote — about Roadburn, Desertfest and whatnot (I guess he pegged me from my picks) it occurred to me just how much more present heavy rock is here than back home. Bullit was not a big store, and it was mostly metal and rock, but even so, you’d be hard pressed to find a shop like that open in the US that’s even heard of a band like Backwoods Payback, let alone one that has not one, but two of their CDs just sitting on the rack. I guess it’s getting better than it was a few years ago — thinking of places like Armageddon Shop in Providence/Boston, Rock ‘n’ Roll Graveyard in Maryland, to a certain extent Amoeba in California (though any of those three stores is much bigger) — but still, it seems more integrated here as something that’s just a given. At home, if I can go somewhere and find Goatsnake in a CD store, that’s an event. I suppose it depends on where you shop, too.

There ain’t shit for rock and roll in Jersey, is the problem. And New York’s a hipster-filled pain in the balls.

Keeping in line with my emergent tendency to heed comments on this website on issues like train connections, record stores, etc., when I found out noodly, crescendo-happy Norwegian prog rockers Motorpsycho were playing in town and that the venue was, you guessed it, a five-minute hike from the hotel here, I immediately considered going as an option for how to spend my evening. Yeah, I know I was going to relax tonight ahead of Roadburn starting up tomorrow, but seriously, what the hell. What was I going to do, sit here and watch tv on my computer for eight hours until I finally fell asleep later than I wanted to because I was all pissed at myself for not leaving the room and fidgety because I hadn’t moved in all that time? Better to just take the walk. I knew I wasn’t drinking, and I didn’t feel like getting dinner, so fuck it. I’ll go stand in a place for a while. Couldn’t hurt.

It was a little after 20.00 when I walked in. I left both my camera and the iContraption at the hotel because I knew I didn’t want to task myself with reviewing the show and I knew that, if I had either, I wouldn’t be able to resist. Sure enough, I walked in, they came on stage at exactly the same time I got there, and I immediately regretted not bringing some picture-taking apparatus with me. For the best, though. The room at the Effenaar was packed out and people were nodding along. I wouldn’t have wanted to push my way through. The light show made me dizzy, which is something that’s never happened before. The program I was given at the door — because, yes, I was given a program at the door — billed it as “Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkkken perform The Death Defying Unicorn.”

Turns out The Death Defying Unicorn is their new double-CD, their 14th album, and they were set to play it front to back. “Ambitious” would be one way of putting it. “Noodly” would be another. But the crowd ate it up. I guess you don’t normally attend that kind of thing unless you’re a fan, and if you’re into prog like that, you’ve already got a pretty high tolerance level for self-indulgence — seriously, the program has little bios for each band member like they’re doing a play — for me, I liked the part that was slow and heavy and some of the droney stuff, but the “let’s play scales while the drummer tries his hardest not to keep time” thing, yeah, you can keep that. They did it well and the audience loved it, but it just wasn’t my thing. After about 20 minutes in, I got antsy and wanted to go see something else, which I’m taking as a sign I’m ready for Roadburn to kick off. I remembered seeing Motorpsycho there briefly in 2009 and their not really doing it for me. At least I’m consistent.

However, I’ll say it was probably still a better option than sitting here in the hotel and stewing on not having gone, restlessly waiting for the baseball game to come on so I can stream it online and trying repeatedly and to no avail to call The Patient Mrs. on Skype (not that I can’t use Skype, she just doesn’t pick up her phone). Star Trek and Game of Thrones will still be there when I get back home. Eindhoven will not. I didn’t really dig what Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkkken were doing, but hell, at least I went and found that out for myself. For a five-minute walk and a few Euros, I could’ve done a lot worse than I did.

Checkout of this hotel is at noon tomorrow, but I might try to get out a little earlier and catch the train to Tilburg, check in at the Mercure and give myself a little time to get settled before doors open at the 013 and Het Patronaat. We’ll see how that goes, but I’m looking forward to it either way. By now, I know what to expect, and the next four days are going to be absolutely insane, but this will be my fourth Roadburn and I’m absolutely stoked to be heading into it. If you’re going, hope to see you there.

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