Posted in Whathaveyou on July 1st, 2020 by JJ Koczan
In their newly-unveiled two songs, follow service providing professionally written dissertations. You will graduate this year! Lewis and the Strange Magics manage to tell us two important things about their forthcoming full-length, essay writer jobs Distinctive Voices Thesis Statement argumentative essay writers dissertation spirituals The Gloomy Corner. “Eva in St. Tropez” brings confirmation that at least on some level, the Barcelona weirdo psychedelic rockers will continue the narrative methodology of last year’s delightful and strange third album, Need Help Higher English Essay Writings? Browse profiles and reviews of top rated editors and have your writing professionally edited today. Melvin’s Holiday (review here), which was their first LP with a direct story centered around a main character. That was Melvin. This is Eva. Melvin, meet Eva. Eva, meet Melvin. Did I just write the plot of their next record? Sorry for the spoiler, if so.
So that’s one. Second thing comes particularly with “Cluttered Room,” which is an instrumental cut and speaks to some of the more cinematic elements at play. This isn’t necessarily new ground for Speedy Essay is a top leading online firm in UK to write your essay soundly. Just ask us, please http://www.oalth.gr/dissertation-on-credit-risk-management/ and get quality cheap paper on-time. Lewis and the Strange Magics, whose craft is certainly thoughtful if not pretentious enough to be considered progressive, but the hypnotic and psychedelic aspect of it, the jam-meets-drone feel of “Cluttered Room,” is an engaging slice of natural-feeling exploration and it suits the band well. I’m left wondering how much of that will feature on Looking for the Thesis In Marketings? Youre on the Right Track! How many times have you been completely uninspired by college essay topics? The Gloomy Corner and where the balance will ultimately tilt between the impressionistic versus the structured.
And of course, that’s the point of the teaser in the first place, so at very least, the band chose their lead tracks well. “Summer 2020” is what they have listed as a release date for nursing case study hypovolemic shock Informative Research Paper Topics online gambling issue essays university admissions essay The Gloomy Corner, so I’ll hope for more to follow soon.
Till then:
Lewis and the Strange Magics NEW SINGLE
Listen to our new double single Eva in St. Tropez / Cluttered Room, taken from our upcoming fourth LP, The Gloomy Corner, and immerse yourself in a psychedelic nostalgia.
New single from our upcoming fourth LP out now!
Artwork by Marta N. Lloret – Art and Luis Pomés.
Lewis and the Strange Magics, Eva in St. Tropez / Cluttered Room
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 25th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Spanish heavy rockers Top quality UK writers available 24/7 for your support, so why are you confused? Just Ghostwriter.nu Preise online from us and shine yourself as a star. Horizon will release their third album, Original Custom Essay; US ABOUT order an place you time every and each services writing essay outstanding provide to strive and writing academic The White Planet Patrol, through http://www.uk-officesupplies.com/resume-for-recent-phd-graduate/.Buy essay not plagiarized.Cover Letter Phd Student.Someone to write my paper for me Cursed Tongue Records this Fall. I’m not allowed to show you the cover for it yet or I would — it’s pretty cool — and there isn’t any audio yet to go with the announcement — the audio’s pretty cool too — so I guess you’re going to have to take my word for it at this point. The LP version that help with my assignment uk on our Best Writing Service NerdyEssays.com, that youll be proud to submit at really astounding prices. Become our regular customer Cursed Tongue is putting out runs eight tracks and the CD/DL has two more cuts on top of that, bringing the full beast up to 53 minutes long, but the Alicante, Spain, trio spend their time and yours wisely, meting out heavy rock with a fluid variety in pacing and intent and atmosphere. It’s the kind of thing that, if you dig it, you’re gonna dig it. That’s about all I can tell you.
If you’re up for some tunes, you can check out Professional Research Papers On Mozarts. Trusted By 3000+ Corporate Clients. Start in 30min. 12 hours delivery. From 29 $/hr. Horizon‘s 2019 EP, We understand the need of every student in their request for Critical Thinking Paper Sample and therefore, strive to offer the best online writing services. All Pigs, at the bottom of this post. I’m sure you’ve already heard it, because you’re down with the Bandcamping like that, but just in case.
Here’s the announcement:
SPACE STONER ROCKERS HORIZON SIGNS TO CURSED TONGUE RECORDS FOR A GLOBAL VINYL RELEASE OF THEIR THIRD ALBUM OCTOBER 16 2020
Cursed Tongue Records is very happy to announce the signing of Alicante, ES based trio Horizon and look forward to release their new album entitled ‘The White Planet Patrol’ on premium vinyl. Horizon is no new acquaintance to Cursed Tongue Records as we have been fans of the band for years and were among some of the first to support the band and buy their debut album ‘Last Man in Terminus’ back in 2014 once it (initially self-released by the band) was put out on vinyl.
We were mesmerized already back then, by the groove and riffs a plenty that seem to flow from the band in endless streams. It thus only requited little to no brain-activity (a pleasant change, ha ha) to decide on a collaboration when the band approached the label some months back earlier in 2020. We can, with confidence say that ‘The White Planet Patrol’ is the most accomplished, coherent and straight-out rocking material the band has conjured up to date and we super excited for all of you to hear it when the floodgates opens in October for the full ordeal.
Luckily, you will not have to wait that long as the band has prepared a nice release schedule with lots of chunks of tasties along the road to the release in October. This way it has seeped from the Horizon HQ that a first single should be ready and dropping in early July.
This album will once more remind the Heavy Underground why this Spanish trio is not easily forgotten and why they are a fuzz tour-de-force to be reckoned with. On this their third album Horizon delivers their most focused and heavy album to date, packed to the brim with metal-tinged, yet warm and fuzzy riffs, pulsating bass and hard-hitting grooves. The White Planet Patrol takes you on mind-melting trip through familiar territories to the outskirt of our planet of stoned out heavy retro desert rock.
While Cursed Tongue Records handles the vinyl only release, the band has kept busy and ensured that, the Spanish labels La Rubia Producciones, Aneurisma Records, Aladeriva Records, and Surnia Records undertake the CD format release of ‘The White Planet Patrol’. As novelty act, the album also releases on cassette tape by the Polish label Three Moons Records.
Horizon’s third full-length album ‘The White Planet Patrol’ releases digitally on Bandcamp and all major streaming outlets on October 16 2020. Same day sees the release of the album in all sort of tangible media including 180 grams vinyl, CD and cassette tape formats – Get Psyched!
ALBUM BACKGROUND
“The White Planet Patrol” is the name of Horizon’s third full-length album of which we cannot give you any further details yet, but those who have been fortunate enough having been given the opportunity to listen to it and to give it some thought can testify that we are still faithful to our constant riff salad style.
Recorded in Red Records Estudios and mastered by Tony Reed (Mos Generator) and counting again with the artwork of Creu Estudio (“Pigs”) this album also counts with the collaboration of two greats of the scene and already known as they are Judit Aliaga (Violins) and Juan Angel Slang (Synths). Mastered for optimal vinyl playback by Tony Reed (of Mos Generator, Seedy Jeezus, many more) at HeavyHead Rec.
Horizon is: *Paula Dominguez // Drums *Nicolás D’Andrea // Voice and Guitars *César Tenorio // Bass and Synths effects
When We offer top quality do you do your homeworks to college, university students. Enter the college of your dream with our application essay writers Moura released their self-titled debut (review here) earlier this Spring through Professional English proofreading and editing services dissertation proofreading service, a basic http://beylikduzu-cicekci.com/?homework-helpline-pinellas-county-schools; Spinda Records, that offering already found their heavy progressive rock steeped in influences of Galician folk and psychedelia, so it’s not a surprise to find them doing likewise with a quick-turnaround follow-up single. But “Quen Poidera Namorala,” which is based on a poem by Álvaro Cunqueiro (1911-1981) and draws on an arrangement from 1975, plays to a mellower kind of vibe and was recorded by the band using I guess their phones or tablets or whathaveyou and mixed altogether to make the video below. You’ll note the clip is tagged with “versión confinamento” — which translates from Galician to, of course, “confinement version.”
And naturally, the confinement is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has proved to be the cause of much restlessness on the part of bands around the planet, resulting in videos like this one — perhaps not as well edited, but still of the members-shot-individually style — as well as live streams, virtual Q&A sessions, listening parties and so on. It is a challenging time to reach an audience, and especially for a band like Medical Billing Business Plan - Quality and cheap essay to make easier your life forget about your fears, place your assignment here and get your Moura, releasing their debut full-length, it’s a moment where reaching their audience is especially pivotal. If a video for “Quen Poidera Namorala” is one more means of doing that as well as being a complement to the album and as well as being melodically gorgeous, with a steady line of keys behind the acoustic guitar, bass, traditional percussion and melancholy vocals, then all the better.
It’s not as lush as are parts of the narrowly-preceding album, but it suits the quarantine spirit and the folkish intent that it shouldn’t be. If nothing else, it feels of the moment in which it was made, which is all the more impressive considering the roots of the song itself.
I hope you enjoy:
Moura, “Quen Poidera Namorala” quarantine video
Moura on “Quen Poidera Namorala”:
Despite the many technical and personal difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic that, among other things, prevented the participation of Luis Casanova (drums), this is our free adaptation of the poem “No niño novo do vento” by Álvaro Cunqueiro set to music by Luis Emilio Batallán in the year 1975.
Recorded with mobile devices and mixed by J. Gutierrez in May 2020.
Moura are: Diego Veiga (guitarra, voz) Pedro Alberte (baixo, voz) Hugo Santeiro (guitarra, voz) Fernando Vilaboy (órgano Hammond, sintetizadores) Luis Casanova (batería, percusións)
With their seven members spread throughout three different cities in Spain, flute-laden progressive psych rockers Abstracción seem to be out to prove that something doesn’t necessarily have to be still or staid to be peaceful. Their self-titled debut was originally set to issue on April 3 but has been pushed to May 29 owing to the inevitable manufacturing delays, and it’s only understandable that, however serene a song like “Asinergia” — the visualizer/video for which is premiering below — might come across, they’re getting somewhat restless. There’s only so much sitting-on-hands one can do while waiting for something to happen.
I don’t mind admitting “Asinergia” is my first exposure to Abstracción, who put the vocals of Catalina Requena at the forefront of their melodicism, carrying across a human presence amid what would feel like willfully nature-minded surroundings, accordingly organic in their production style. Casual swirls of guitar and keys, the flute and backing percussion all add to the fluidity of the track as a whole, while Requena‘s voice brings a folkish element that calls to mind the early interplay between folk and prog stylistically, as, say, British folk grew more complex at the same time heavy rock was looking to express something more mature as well. Abstracción are in an in-between place when it comes to style, but they skillfully draw from one side or another as need be in “Asinergia,” and — in a fashion that has me very much wanting to hear the rest of their self-titled — they turn an otherwise unassuming four-and-a-half-minute track into a mood-altering journey that finds cohesion from what could just as easily be opposing elements.
Such unity of purpose is especially noteworthy given that Abstracción is their first offering, but crazier things have certainly happened than a band coming out of the gate knowing what they want to sound like. Still, “Asinergia”‘s effect on mood is no less striking than the colors of the Tumulus Design cover art for the record, once again calling to mind the natural world, the world beyond and maybe even the eyes that we as human beings use to see both of them inside and outside of ourselves. For a band who thus far eschew the tradition of promotional photography — there are a couple in-studio shots on their social medias, but nothing of the lot of them; what even is a band that doesn’t cross their arms in front of a brick wall, I ask you (sarcastically)? — they have no trouble putting an image in the mind’s eye.
Preorder info for Abstracción and more follows, courtesy of the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Abstracción, “Asinergia” official video premiere
We continue to fight the elements that stand in the way to make the release of our debut a memorable event. And we’re getting closer to getting it!
Next week we will dive back into the abstract maelstrom to continue knowing its intricacies. This will be a raid that can be perceived through the sense of ear, and sight.
Official video of Asinergia, song belonging to the debut of Abstracción. Release Date: May 29, 2020. Pre-order on Bandcamp:https://abstraccion.bandcamp.com
Music by Luis Monge, lyrics Catalina Requena and arrangement by Abstracción. Recorded, produced and mixed by Pablo Bermejo at the studio 20.000 Leguas de Montilla (Córdoba). Mastered by Ernesto Santana.
Abstracción are: Catalina Requena: vocals Luis Monge: electric guitar José Gálvez: sitar, acoustic guitar and percussion Pablo Bermejo: Hammond, Farfisa and Fender Rhodes Pablo Abarca: concert flute Rafa “Chico Jr.” Paredes: bass Paco García: drums and percussion
Posted in Features on April 24th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.
Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Igor Etxebarria of Melmak (Sopelana, Spain)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?
Hi! We have been surprised by all this situation. We live each in different cities so we stay in our respective homes with our families. No rehearsals for an undetermined time.
We had planned to give a show on April 3rd and continue with the process of creating the songs that will be part of the new album to celebrate our 10 years as a band, but now everything it’s in the air because of this situation. We already have about five songs finished but we have some more to finish. We have to wait for all this to end to know what steps will be the next.
All the members of the respective families are well, healthy (except the typical matters of the age).
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
The rules here are very strict. We can only leave our homes to go to the supermarket or the drugstore. You can only go to work in companies that are related to essential goods, so I work from home. We have been locked up at home for 2 and a half weeks and begin to notice mental fatigue….
How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?
Wow, everything we knew has changed (maybe forever). This situation brings out the worst and the best of the human being and there are people who have become the police on the balcony and many other people who help others in whatever way they can.
In music, we have to wait all this to end to see in what situation is the underground, which was bad before. Many festivals around Europe have been canceled and we don’t know how and when concerts can be organized in the future.
I organize the Inkestas Rock Festibal in September and I still can’t know if it will be possible or if there will be bands that have to cancel. Bands like Hexis, Rosy Finch or Black Tundra have been confirmed until now but everything is in the air…
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
We are well, waiting for what the future will be like both as a band and on a personal level. Meanwhile, I am trying to capture a personal project with songs in a different style than what we do with Melmak. There is more free time, and we need to distract ourselves with something to spend our free hours. That and enjoy being with my wife and my son full-time.
Posted in Reviews on March 24th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Alarm went off this morning at 3:45. Got up, flicked on the coffee pot, turned the heat on in the house, hit the bathroom and was back in bed in four minutes with an alarm set for 4:15. Didn’t really get back to sleep, but the half-hour of being still was a kind of pre-waking meditation that I appreciated just the same. Was dozing when the alarm went off the second time, but it’s day two of the Quarterly Review, so no time to doze. No time for anything, as is the nature of these blocks of writeups. They tend to be all-consuming while they’re going on. Could be worse. Let’s roll.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Khemmis, Doomed Heavy Metal
Denver four-piece Khemmis have made themselves one of the most distinctive acts in metal, to say nothing of doom. With strong vocal harmonies out front backed by similarly-minded guitars, the band bring a sense of poise to doom that’s rare in the modern sphere, somewhat European in influence, but less outwardly adherent to the genre tenets of melancholy. They refuse to be Paradise Lost, in other words, and are all the more themselves for that. Their Doomed Heavy Metal EP (on 20 Buck Spin and Nuclear Blast) is a stopgap after 2018’s Desolation (review here) full-length, but at 38 minutes and six songs, it’s substantial nonetheless, headlined by the Dio cover “Rainbow in the Dark” — capably done with just a flair of Slough Feg — with a take on Lloyd Chandler‘s “A Conversation with Death” and “Empty Throne,” both rare-enough studio cuts, for backing, as well as three live cuts that cover their three-to-date albums. The growls on “Three Gates” are fun, but I’ll still take the Dio cover as the highlight. For a cobbled-together release, it feels at least like a bit of thoughtful fan-service, and really, a band could do worse than to serve their fans thoughtfully.
There are shades of doom metal’s origins underlying Mutant Flesh‘s first release, the eight-song/33-minute Evil Eye, but the Philly troupe are too gleeful in their weirdness ultimately to be paying full homage to the likes of Witchfinder General, and especially in a faster song like second cut “Meteoric” and the subsequent lead-guitar-flipout-and-vocal-soar title-track, they tap into the defiantly doomed vibe of earliest Saint Vitus. That’s true of the crawling “Euthanasia” as well, which crashes and nods as it approaches the six-minute mark as the longest inclusion here, but even the penultimate “Blight” brings that twisted-Black–Flag-noise-slowed-down spirit that lets you know there’s consciousness behind the chaos, and that while Mutant Flesh might seem to be all-the-way-gone, they’re really just getting started. Maybe their sound will even out over time, maybe it won’t, but for what it’s worth, they do ragged doom well from the opening “Leviathan (Lord of the Labyrinth)” onward, and feel right at home in the unhinged.
Having just shredded their way across Europe, War Cloud took their set into the Earhammer Studio with Greg Wilkinson at the helm in an attempt to capture the band in top form on their home turf. Did it work? The results on Earhammer Sessions (Ripple Music) don’t wait around for you to decide. They’re too busy kicking ass to take names, and if the resulting 29-minute burst is even half of what they brought to the stage on that tour, those must’ve been some goddamn shows. Songs like “White Lightning” and the snare-counted-in “Speed Demon” and “Striker” feel like they’re being given their due in the max-speed-NWOBHM-but-still-too-classy-to-be-thrash presentation, and honestly, this feels like War Cloud have found their method. If they don’t tour their next album and then hit the studio after and lay it down live, or at least as live as Earhammer Sessions is — one never knows as regards overdubs and isolation booths and all that — they’re doing themselves a disservice. War Cloud play metal. So what? So this.
Void of Sleep return after half a decade with the prog-doom stylings of their third album, Metaphora (Aural Music), which stretches dramatically through songs like “Iron Mouth” (11:00), preceded by the intro “The Famine Years” and the shorter “Unfair Judgements,” preceded by the intro “Waves of Discomfort,” and still somehow manage not to sound out of place tapping into their inner Soilwork in the growled verses/clean choruses of “Master Abuser.” They get harsh a bit as well on “Tides of the Mourning,” which uses its 10:30 to summarize the bulk of the proceedings and close out the record after “Modern Man,” but that song has more of a scope and feels looser structurally for that. Still, that shift is only one of several throughout Metaphora, which follows the Italian five-piece’s 2015 LP, New World Order (discussed here), and wherever Void of Sleep are headed at any given moment, they head there with a duly controlled presence. Clearly their last five years have not been wasted.
As yet, Germany’s Pretty Lightning remain a well kept secret of fuzz-psych-blues nuance, digging out their own niche-in-a-niche-in-a-niche microgenre with a natural and inadvertent-feeling sense of just writing the songs they want to write. Jangle Bowls, which puts its catchy, semi-garage title-track early in the proceedings, is the duo’s second offering through Fuzz Club Records behind 2017’s The Rhythm of Ooze (review here), and seem to present a mission statement in opener “Swamp Ritual” before bringing a due sense of excursion to “Boogie at the Shrine” — damn that’s a smooth groove — and reviving the movement in “RaRaRa,” which follows. Closer “Shovel Blues” is a highlight for how it drifts into oblivion, but the underlying tightness of craft in “123 Eternity” and “Hum” is an appeal as well, so it’s a tradeoff. But it’s one I’ll be glad to make across multiple repeat visits to Jangle Bowls while wondering how long this particular secret can actually be kept.
The painted-blood-red cover of Rosy Finch‘s second album, Scarlet (on Lay Bare Recordings), and horror-cinema-esque design isn’t a coincidence in terms of atmosphere, but the Spanish trio bring a more aggressive feel to the nine-track outing overall than they did to their 2016 debut, Witchboro (review here), with additional crunch in the guitar of Mireia Porto (also vocals and bass) and bassist Elena Garcia, and a forward kick drum from Lluís Mas that hammers home the impact of a cruncher like “Ruby” and even seems to ground the more melodic “Alizarina,” which follows, let alone the crushing opener/longest track (immediate points) “Oxblood” or its headspinning closing companion “Dark Cherry,” after which follows the particularly intense hidden cut “Lady Bug,” also not to be missed. Anger suits Rosy Finch, it seems, and the band bring a physicality to the songs on Scarlet that only reinforces the sonic push.
Brutal, gurgling doom-of-death pervades The Haunting Continuum from Denver one-man-unit Ghost Spawn, and while the guitar late in “Escaping the Mortal Flesh” seems momentarily to offer some hope of salvation, rest assured, it doesn’t last, and the squibbly central riff returns with its extremity to prove once more that only death is real. Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kevin Berstler is the lone culprit behind the project’s first full-length and second release overall (also second this year, so he would seem to work quickly), and across 43 minutes that only grow more grueling as they proceed through the centerpiece title-track and into “The Terrors that Plague Nightly” and the desolate incantations of “Exiled to the Realm of Eternal Rot,” there are some hints of cleaner grunts that have made their way through — a kind of repeated “hup” vocalization — but this too is swallowed in the miasma of cave-echo guitar, drums-from-out-of-the-abyss, and raw-as-peeled-flesh production. Can’t get behind that? Probably you and 99.9 percent of the rest of humanity. For us slugs, though, it’s just about right.
It’s kosmiche thrust and watery vibes when Agrabatti go Beyond the Sun. What’s there upon arrival? Nothing less than a boogie down with Hawkwind at the helm of a spacey spaced-out space rocking chopper that you shouldn’t even be able to hear the revving engine of in space and yet somehow you can. Also synth, pulsating riffs and psych-as-all-golly-gosh awakenings. Formed in 2009 by Chad Davis — then just out of U.S. Christmas, already at that point known for his work in Hour of 13 and a swath of other projects across multiple genres — and with songs begun to come together at that time only to be shelved ahead of recording this year, Beyond the Sun sat seemingly in some unreachable strata of anomalous subspace, for 11 years before being rediscovered from its time-loop like Kelsey Grammer in that one episode of TNG, and gorgeously spread across the quadrant in its five-cut run, with its cover of the aforementioned Hawkwind‘s “Born to Go” so much at home among its companions it feels like, baby, it’s already gone. Do you need sunglasses in the void? Shit yeah you do.
Four sprawling doom epics comprise the 2019 debut album — and apparently debut release — from Illinois four-piece Dead Sacraments, who themselves are comprised from three former members of atmospheric sludgers Angel Eyes, who finished their run in 2011 but released the posthumous Things Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl (review here). Those are guitarist Brendan Burchell, bassist Nader Cheboub and drummer Ryan Croson, and together with apparently-self-harmonizing vocalist/guitarist Mark Mazurek, they cast a doom built on largesse in tone and scope alike, given an air of classic-metal grandiosity but filtered through a psych-doom modernity that feels aware of what the likes of Pallbearer and Khemmis have done for the genre. Nonetheless, as a first record, Celestial Throne shines its darkness brightly across its no-song-under-nine-minutes-long lumber, and affirms the righteousness of doom with a genuine sense of reach at its disposal.
The languid and trippy spirit in opener “Solar Flares” is something of a misdirect on the part of organ-laced, Cologne-based heavy rockers Smokemaster, who go on to boogie down through songs like “Trippin’ Blues” before jamming out classic heavy blues-style on “Ear of the Universe.” I’m not saying they don’t have their psychedelic aspects, but there’s plenty of movement behind what they do as well, and the setup they give with the first two cuts is effective in throwing off the first-time listener’s expectation. A pastoral instrumental “Sunrise in the Canyon” leads off side B after, and comes backed by “Astronaut of Love” (yup, a lovestronaut) and “Astral Traveller,” which find an engaging midpoint between the ground and the great beyond, synth and keys pushing outward in the finale even as the bass and drums keep it tethered to a central groove. It’s a formula that’s worked many times over the last half-century, but it works here too, and Smokemaster‘s Smokemaster makes a right-on introduction to the German newcomers.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Can anyone really blame them? Of course not. With governments across Europe and elsewhere telling people to stay at home, shelter-in-place and other foreboding-sounding shit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Madrid’s Kristonfest 2020 has pulled the plug on what was to be a killer lineup with Swans and Masters of Reality and C.O.C. at the top of a righteous one-day bill with Brant Bjork, MaidaVale and Norman Westberg rounding out. So it goes with just about everything. They’ve got ticket refunds going if you bought, but I think this is pretty indicative of the way things are happening right now, and as I’ve tried to keep up with the fest over the last few years, it’s a bummer to see. Not the first, won’t be the last. They’re smart to cancel outright rather than try to reschedule for the Fall, because who the hell knows what the situation will be in the Fall?
Here’s their statement, pulled from Thee Facebooks:
Kristonfest is still a project made with passion rather than with resources, with enthusiasm and crazy ideas rather than with head, that’s why this is a statement that hurts to write, but given the serious health situation we are suffering and the pessimistic forecasts that are being explaining for the coming weeks, we have no choice but to inform you that Kristonfest 2020 is cancelled.
We want to make it clear that this edition is not postponed, but is cancelled due to the impossibility of being able to match the artists on the same date in the coming months. That is why we open the return period of 30 days so that you can recover the money from your tickets through the Wegow platform. Those of you who bought your tickets at Escridiscos must have a little patience since, due to the State of Alarm decreed by the Government, record stores are not allowed to open within a minimum period of fifteen days.
Now is the time to assimilate and reflect on it, but also to continue supporting Swans, Masters Of Reality – Official, Corrosion Of Conformity, Brant Bjork, MaidaVale and Norman Westberg, who are losing a lot of money with all the cancellations that are taking place all over the world, as they depend on the concerts to keep going. That is why we ask that, as far as possible, you support them by purchasing their music and merchandising through their websites and social networks.
The good news is that this hard blow has not diminished our desire to continue working on line-ups at the height of the festival’s history. For this reason and starting today we are working on the edition of 2021, from which we hope to give you good news in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, take care of each other, follow the prompts of the authorities and act with responsibility and common sense. We will come out of this nightmare together and reinforced.
Posted in audiObelisk on February 28th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Spanish heavy progressive rockers Moura are set to make their self-titled debut on April Fool’s Day through Spinda Records. The A Coruña-based five-piece start the album off with a gentle meditation of keys and guitar, Floydian in atmosphere but duly modern in meditation, and soon enough are off into a thickened earlier-King Crimson mediation, guitar and organ working together, then apart, then together again with an insistent rhythmic backing and a vocal reminiscent of Moura‘s labelmates and countrymen on the Southern coast in Algeciras, Atavismo and Híbrido.
Moura, whose progressive elements are nonetheless presented in across a manageable 38-minute/four-track LP stretch, are comprised of vocalist/guitarist Diego Veiga, guitarist/vocalist Hugo Santeiro, bassist/vocalist Pedro Alberte, synthesist/organist Fernando Vilaboy and drummer Luis Casanova, and to coincide with their proggy movements, which are maintained throughout the just-under-nine-minutes-each opener “Eira” and “Da Interzona a Annexia,” there come fervent doses of psychedelia and folk sounds. “Da Interzona a Annexia” dips particularly into the latter in its second half, with harmonized vocals in a melody derived from Galician folk — the scales will sound Middle Eastern to many ears — with a lead line of Hammond following that ends up in a run alongside the guitar that is likewise gorgeous and effective in blending the different styles already put on display. This is, it has to be repeated, Moura‘s first album.
After “Eira,” which the band also released as a single in 2018, and “Da Interzona a Annexia,” the flip to side B brings the longest and shortest tracks on Moura, respectively, in “O Curioso Caso de Mademoiselle X” (13:43) and closer “Ronda das Mafarricas” (7:04). Both manage to successfully highlight the aesthetic aspects that side A brought to the table, but push further along similar lines as well, with the fluidity and patience of “O Curioso Caso de Mademoiselle X” bringing a stretch of molten drift in intertwining synth and keys as it moves into its second half after a duly flowing beginning, moving in its own time to a sweep of organ and full-toned guitar. The “full-toned” there should be read with emphasis, particularly as it relates to what Veiga, Santeiro and Alberte bring to the proceedings.
As much nuance as there is in what Moura are doing throughout these songs — and there’s plenty — there is also no lack of tonal presence as well, and that’s no less true in the longer cut than on either of the first two pieces before it or even the one after, though “Ronda das Mafarricas” is something of a departure as well in terms of how it shifts the balance toward the folkish side of their approach, reminding early on of some of Death Hawks‘ proggy key-laced melodic glories, but keeping an identity in step with the rest of the proceedings here. The shift into the verse is smooth and led more by the vocals than it might at first seem, and as “Ronda das Mafarricas” smooths out — such as it does — it taps into some of the rhythmic bounce of “Eira” and that feeling of perhaps-courtly (in the King Crimson-sense) chase the album indulged earlier on. The finale fades into folkish percussion but the organ and guitar aren’t ultimately done yet and they surge back for a last measure or two of bookending in a final nod to songcraft that speaks to a strength that’s been underlying the material all along.
The lushness of combining two guitars, organ and synth speaks for itself throughout Moura‘s Moura, and as the record will no doubt serve as the band’s introduction to many listeners who take it on, they leave an impression of encompassing dynamics that are only further bolstered by the kinetic rhythm that’s being fostered by the bass and drums. As to how Moura might develop going forward, their combination of varying influences makes it harder to guess and thus more exciting to imagine the possibilities, but listened back through “Eira” on another go and making my way toward “Ronda das Mafarricas” once more — as the LP makes for easy repeat visits — I’m less inclined to guess how their sound might wind up than I am to enjoy what they’re doing now. Tomorrow can be tomorrow, then. Today, we dance.
I’m grateful to the band and to Spinda Records for allowing me to host “Ronda das Mafarricas” as a streaming premiere, as it’s obviously a special piece of the album and for the band generally. You’ll find it on the player below, followed by more background on the band from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
MOURA is all about going into trance around the bonfire and get ready for the coven. Psychedelic rock, prog rock, traditional folk and lyrics in Galician go together in their debut album. Spanish band formed by Diego Veiga (vocals, guitars), Hugo Santeiro (guitars), Pedro Alberte (bass), Fernando Vilaboy (keys) and Luis Casanova (drums) give us the key to open ourselves and meet our souls once again, those ones that real life wanted us to forget.
Band members are not new at all in the Spanish music scene… Lüger, Jet Lag, Ictus, Guerrera, Saharah, Elephant Band, Fogbound and Holywater are some of the projects in which they were involved in the past. But the present is MOURA, a new band which is making a name in the scene very quickly. This can explain how they managed to play huge names as Resurrection Fest 2019 or Monkey Week 2019 even without any album on the market. 2020 will be their year for sure: debut album and many gigs (Esmorga Fest and Barcelona Psych Fest are already confirmed).
For their debut album, which is an excellent candidate to be part of many top albums lists at the end of the year, MOURA joined Spanish underground label Spinda Records (Viaje a 800, Híbrido, Bourbon, The Dry Mouths, Habitar La Mar…) and got surrounded by very close people and friends: José Gutiérrez (production, recording and mixing); Fernando Mejuto (mastering); Leo López (photography); and Hugo Santeiro (artwork).
Moura are: Diego Veiga (guitarra, voz) Pedro Alberte (baixo, voz) Hugo Santeiro (guitarra, voz) Fernando Vilaboy (órgano Hammond, sintetizadores) Luis Casanova (batería, percusións)
