Mystick Krewe of Clearlight are one of those bands who, once you hear them, you just want more. And to that impulse, the only answer is really “too bad,” because there just isn’t that much out there. The band, led by Jimmy Bower of EyeHateGod/Down, only ever released one full-length — a self-titled in 2000 on Tee Pee — and splits with Acid King and The Obsessed (the latter a single with A and B side Lynyrd Skynyrd covers) before fizzling out. As late as 2004, they had a track appearance on the High Volume compilation released via High Times, but that’s the last heard from the instrumental classic heavy rockers to date. Once you’ve heard it all, there’s no place else to go.

In that regard, that makes the two tracks they included on the 2001 Acid King split all the more special. Featuring guest contributions from Wino on vocals and ebow, the two tracks “Buzzard Hill (My Backyard)” and “Veiled” that made up Mystick Krewe‘s portion of the split — which was subtitled The Father, the Son and the Holy Smoke in ultimate stonerly fashion — were a moment never to be repeated. At the time, Spirit Caravan were releasing their second album, Elusive Truth, and the next year, Bower would return to Down to record and release Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, leaving little time for a lower-profile project like Mystick Krewe of Clearlight, however righteous their jams may have been.

And while those who got down with their organ-heavy boogie the first time have held out vague hopes for a follow-up full-length, it’s yet to happen. Never say never in a world where even Black Flag can reunite, but I’m not exactly holding my breath for new Clearlight material anytime soon. Call me crazy.

So enjoy “Buzzard Hill (My Backyard)” for what it is. Wino gives an especially killer performance, and if you’ve never had the chance to check it out, I think you’ll find it’s worth the time. Happy Wino Wednesday:

Been waiting for this one. Back in September, Dutch fuzzers The Machine and Sungrazer announced they were teaming up for a split LP and a tour that, in keeping with the former act’s apparent Lebowski fetish, they decided to call “Strikes and Gutters.” As The Machine seemed to come the most into their own yet on their 2012 album, Calmer than You Are (also a Lebowski reference; review here) and as I’d heard Sungrazer play some new material earlier in the year at Desertfest London, I knew good things were in store, and indeed, the split does not disappoint.

Comprised of six tracks (three each) totaling over 47 minutes, The Machine and Sungrazer‘s joint effort was recorded by The Machine guitarist/vocalist David Eering, who makes a good argument here for becoming the in-house engineer at Elektrohasch. Each band gets three tracks, and both use their time to craft a huge wall of fuzz, jamming out open, glorious heavy psychedelia, organic and rich. The Machine begin with “Awe,” a massive riff put to good use as the base from which the band wanders and then fluidly returns, Eering‘s guitar sounding an alert while drummer Davy Boogaard and bassist Hans van Heemst lock in a firm groove beneath. Watch out for the slowdown.

On the other side, Sungrazer affect desert rocking warmth on “Yo la Tengo” that comes across like Yawning Man doing a take on The Beatles‘ “Sun King.” Dreamy, psychedelic and honing a wide expanse, the cut departs from some of the thickness of its compatriots “Dopo” and “Flow through a Good Story” to underscore Sander Haagmans‘ soothing multi-layer vocal with a slowly unfolding surf tone, the bassist incorporating fills that wind up leading the song as much as Rutger Smeets‘ airy guitar even as they ground it, drummer Hans Mulders moving from lighthearted rim clicks to driving crash rhythms — and back — with ease.

With permission from the bands, it’s my extreme pleasure today to be able to premiere “Awe” and “Yo La Tengo” for streaming. The split LP between The Machine and Sungrazer is due out on Feb. 14, the same day their Strikes and Gutters tour begins at the 013 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Please find the songs on the player below, and enjoy:

[mp3player width=470 height=200 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=the-machine-sungrazer-split.xml]

Sungrazer and The Machine are set to begin the Strikes and Gutters tour Feb. 14 and will release their split that day as well. More info at their Thee Facebookses:

The Machine on Thee Facebooks

Sungrazer on Thee Facebooks

Anticipation is ramping up for the spring and summer festival season, and the latest check-in comes from Desertfest in London, which announced earlier that Norwegian doomers Tombstones have joined the 2013 lineup. Seems it’s all I can do these last couple weeks to keep up with fest news, but I’ve yet to come across one announcement that didn’t make me more stoked on the event, whatever it might be.

More on Tombstones below, courtesy of the Desertfest website:

NORWEGIAN HEAVINESS CONFIRMED FOR DESERTFEST

For the first time ever in the UK, Desertfest presents the ultra-heavy Norwegian three-piece; TOMBSTONES.

Although Norway is more famous for its beastly blasting Black Metal, TOMBSTONES turn this musical concept upside down: slow, downtuned, stoned and buzzed out doom is on the menu. TOMBSTONES have two albums under their belt. “Volume II” was released in 2010 by Transubstans Records, and their latest piece “Year of the Burial” was dropped spring 2012 by Soulseller Records. The norwegian doomsters toured Europe with their new album last fall, and have played Mudfest, Death Doomed The Age and Robustfest.

This time it’s Camden and Desertfest who will shiver from their loud and crushing, trance-indulging heaviness. Light you your bongs, and worship the riff!

When Sabbia came out in 2006, I was interested. I remember seeing it was around, and knowing that Brant Bjork was somehow involved, and that the desert, the fuzz, etc., but I never picked it up. You know how it goes. Some things just get by you, and when it comes to music DVDs, they’re cute once or twice, then you never watch them again. They sit on the shelf and collect dust. Brant Bjork‘s music is so visually associated in my mind with a specific imagery, I guess I wasn’t in a hurry to have something come along and screw that up.

Fair enough. Sabbia came and went, and it wasn’t until this past weekend that I finally stumbled on a copy, on sale for a whopping three dollars, and felt inclined to pick it up. Actually, I felt excited to pick it up, since it’s harder to get nowadays than when it was first released. I paid three dollars cash money and when I finally put in the disc, I quickly saw that Sabbia — which was directed by Kate McCabe and features Bjork both performing and wandering around a convenience store to pick up some beers — was more than just a standard music DVD. It’s more like a love-letter to desert weirdness brought to life as the music and the visuals feed into each other’s ideas.

There’s no narrative to speak of, though a thread runs throughout of a hottie making her way across the sands in slow motion, but through a series of vignettes based around songs — sections titled “Future Freak,” “Cobra Jab,” “Cool Abdul,” “Joint Ritual,” and so on — McCabe takes the viewer through a range of experiences, usually drenched in sunlight, and it’s everything from skateboarding to snow on cacti to dark-room dancing, trees, open skies, music, people, buildings, sunglasses, freaks, drugs, stars at night. It’s not about Bjork specifically, though he’s in a lot of it, but it’s a project where the editing is almost as much of a character as anyone appearing. Some voiceover, but no real dialogue to speak of. And scenery. Scenery for what feels like forever.

Obviously that’s the idea. And with grainy footage, quirky flourishes and a landscape to work with that’s as unmistakable as the grooves it has birthed, Sabbia runs 80 minutes of tripped-out pastoralia. It wanders in parts — again, that’s the idea — but it’s easy to get lost in its admiration and idolization of the desert, especially if you’re somebody who appreciates that place and the various freaks who’ve emerged from it over the course of the last two decades with a brand of rock and roll that nobody outside has been able to capture in quite the same way. The collaboration between McCabe and Bjork is almost even-sided, but unquestionably one is made fuller by the work of the other.

Being on the other side of the country and given to a certain brand of escapism, I can very easily see paying many return visits to Sabbia, though I’ll say already I’ve gotten my three dollars’ worth out of it and then some. Of course, the whole movie is up on YouTube at this point, so I’ve included it below if you’d like to check it out, with fervent recommendation for tracking down a physical copy so you can get the liner notes from the director and the composer on how their working together came about and what their mission was with the project, etc. It’s about as fitting a representation of the desert as one could ask for:

One of the best things about running back and forth between rooms and venues every year at Roadburn is getting the chance to check out bands you (or in my case, I) can’t really see anywhere else. The droney side-project of Amenra‘s Mathieu Vandekerckhove, Syndrome are the latest confirmation for the Roadburn 2013 lineup, and as I’ve been ignorant of their doings up till now (info about their second album is below), I’ll look forward to getting caught up in Tilburg. That’s pretty much the story of my year for the last four fests. Ha.

Dig it:

We’re excited to announce that Belgium’s Syndrome, the brainchild of Amenra‘s Mathieu Vandekerckhove, will bring his gentle ambient, drone and experimental musings to Roadburn Festival 2013 on Friday, April 19th at Cul de Sac, opposite of the 013 venue, in Tilburg, Holland.

For years this was a strictly personal endeavor, as the self-taught musician learned and studied his craft of songwriting and minimalistic soundscaping as a means to self exploration, meditation and as a way of channelling negative into positive energy.

Dedicated to his son Wolf, Syndrome‘s second album, Now and Forever, is a guiding light for his son to help find himself. This is accomplished via droning sounds that come in waves of engaging, dreamy (but also bleak), and introspective sounds created by the fluttering voices of layered guitar that create an environment conducive to finding strength, helping others, and knowing no matter how distant the expanse, be it physical or ethereal, his father is there in spirit.

It’s been two years since Stockholm heavyweights New Keepers of the Water Towers released their sophomore full-length, The Calydonian Hunt, through MeteorCity, and that span of time has found them making a jump in more than just their label. Issued via Listenable Records, their third album, The Cosmic Child, finds New Keepers of the Water Towers a much more mature, more patient band, embarking on progressive psychedelic sprawl and incorporating acoustics alongside periods of the more expected weighted distortion. Tracks are by and large longer than either the second album (review here) or their Chronicles debut (review here), which compiled two self-released EPs into a 60-minute long-player rife with formative Mastodonic crush, and the three-turned-four-piece don’t shy away from including atmospheric interludes both within the songs and in the form of the closing title-track. All told, The Cosmic Child runs through six tracks in just under 47 minutes, and while there are times where it seems like New Keepers of the Water Towers have wandered beyond their capacity to restore structured order, there’s never actually a moment throughout where the songs get away from them, and the record winds up being as much of a success as it is a surprise, though those diametrically opposed to progressive indulgences will want to stay wary, as The Cosmic Child is full of them right from the beginning of opener “The Great Leveller,” which swirls to a march led by drummer Tor Sjödén and complemented by the guitars of Rasmus Booberg and Victor Berg (Björn Andersson has since joined on bass, but in this liner-noteless digital age, there’s no word on whether or not he’s actually playing on the album). “The Great Leveller” swells to a slow verse plod topped with melodic vocals and open, big-sounding guitar, gradually giving way to the chorus and a chugging rhythm playing out under a grandiose echoing, winding solo. The Mastodon feel isn’t completely gone from New Keepers’ sound – let’s not forget that they too “went prog” – but The Cosmic Child feels less outwardly concerned with showy technicality than it does with mood and atmosphere, “Visions of Death” setting a side-to-side sway in its guitar line that rests on a strong rhythmic foundation between the bassline and the drums.

There’s a current of excellent guitar leads throughout The Cosmic Child, and “Visions of Death” certainly has one in its midsection, but even these are never so over-the-top as to distract from the overall balance of the material, which rests between modern prog metal and heavy psychedelia. At nearly nine and a half minutes, “Visions of Death” presages much of what’s to come thematically from 12-plus-minute cuts like “Pyre for the Red Sage” (12:05) and “Lapse” (12:32), but each piece of the album has an identity of its own that simultaneously works to the benefit of the whole work. This is the best case scenario for a thematic, semi-narrative album, which The Cosmic Child purports to be (no lyric sheet with that download). Piano drives a transition between “Visions of Death” and the subsequent “Pyre for the Red Sage,” which opens with the same line and adds acoustic guitar for its introductory base. By the end of the first full minute, the song has unfolded its grandeur, but as big as it gets – it gets plenty big – there remains a grounding element in a catchy chorus and driving kick bass. Booberg, Berg and Sjödén all handle vocals reportedly, and on “Pyre for the Red Sage,” layers assure that as much largesse is carried across musically, it’s duly met with the singing. Before its halfway point, the track breaks to synth ambience and moves gradually, patiently, over its next couple minutes to post-Floydian prog metal, a thrashy riff running rhythm for a semi-shred solo that works because of the time spent getting to it. The guitar line that follows is one of the more memorable aspects of the song and indeed the album, and it’s met by far-off echoing vocals before a slowdown introduces the acoustics that will carry into “Cosmosis,” typified by a sweet vocal melody and rounding out with a darker electric guitar line that serves as a foreshadow to “Lapse,” the culmination of The Cosmic Child and New Keepers’ most ambitious single work to date.

Read more »

It hasn’t been that long since I last posted Samsara Blues Experiment news, and it hasn’t been that long since I last posted lineup news for Desertfest in Berlin, but when the two come together, frankly I’ve got little choice in the matter. Native to the fest’s home city, Samsara Blues Experiment will bring their trippy riff bliss to the Austra Kulturhaus the last weekend of April.

More Desertfest news to come later this week:

SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT (GER)

Here is the time for us to, and we are glad to introduce another band for the DesertFest 2013 line-up, our dear SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT !!

SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT is a Berlin based band founded in 2007, playing a blend of heavy psych, stoner and space rock, dominated by a playful dual guitar work, and a repetitive hypnotic touch in the tradition of krautrock. They allow the music to escape their control and lead them to wherever it may flow.

The band produced two appetizer EP’s during their first years, but they reached their potential with their long awaited first full-length album “Long Distance Trip” in 2010 thanks to World in Sound Records, which also released their second one “Revelation & Mystery” in 2011. This year, in April, they will release on Electric Magic Records a live record of their show at Rockpalast (October 24, 2012).

SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT is a very demanded live band in the meanwhile and participate at many European festivals such as the Roadburn, Yellowstock, Burg Herzberg and now at the DesertFest !

Get ready for a journey as you have never experimented before !

It’s probably fortunate that Orange Goblin decided to release their upcoming A Eulogy for the Fans CD/DVD/LP/8-track/Reel-to-Reel/Edison cylinder/etc. live collection in March, since as soon as they hit the road alongside Clutch they’re going to kill us all anyway. What a way to go. The British destroyers have this fine evening made public a video-type trailer for the release, which will be out on Candlelight and cull material from their 2012 performances at Bloodstock Open Air and Hellfest.

More details are available here, but before you click over, check out the trailer below: