Buddy Miles, Them Changes (1970)

He’s probably best known as the drummer for Jimi Hendrix’s short-lived-but-unspeakably-righteous Band of Gypsys, but Buddy Miles was a side-man for years prior to that, for Wilson Pickett among others, and even at the time of Hendrix’s death, he had already begun to establish himself as a bandleader, if one who led from behind a kit. Listening to 1970’s Them Changes, with its hard-hitting rhythmic drive, classic soul vocals from Miles (“Them Changes”), forays into Beatlesian lovelorn acoustic balladry (“I Still Love You Anyway”), and James Brown-style horn flourish (“Memphis Train”), bass-led, guitar-fuzzed funk (the Neil Young and Crazy Horse cover “Down by the River”) and excursions into psych-rock jamming (“Paul B. Allen, Omaha, Nebraska”), one gets a picture of just how fluidly Miles was able to cross genre lines. As much as he’s at the center of it, vocally in the swing of his drums and with his name and picture out front, there’s a full-band feel throughout — Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox plays on the title cut — and Miles readily invites everyone to get in on the party.

And what a party it is. Them Changes is just 33 minutes long, and it follows two solo records from Miles — 1968’s Expressway to Your Skull and 1969’s Electric Church — but it has a clarity of intent that even in its quiet stretches like “I Still Love You Anyway,” which is as classic a second-track ballad as I’ve heard on any heavy ’70s rock offering — Cactus‘ “My Lady from South of Detroit” comes to mind as a comparison point, Miles having previously worked with Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty in The Buddy Miles Express, an earlier solo incarnation (hence “Expressway…“) — is hell-bent for a good time. With closer “Your Feeling is Mine” rounding out its brief stretch, the final statement Them Changes makes is lighthearted in its intent and almost pushing back to a nostalgic kind of sweetness, Miles‘ voice recalling Pickett as much as it seems to be presaging Stevie Wonder‘s glory days later in the decade.

Miles died in 2008 at the age of 60, but his legacy in blues, funk, soul and of course rock continues to thrive. As always, I hope you enjoy.

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Didn’t think of it when I picked the album — I promise, I didn’t — but Them Changes is pretty apropos to my having started work this week, of which I don’t mind saying even just four days kicked my ass. Memorial Day, which was this past Monday here in the States, feels like a lifetime ago. Today was my shortest commute to the office and it was an hour door to door. Mostly it’s been in the 75-80 minute range. Each way. In I-95 traffic with the other sad-looking 30-somethings wearing button downs in lines as straight as our descent into middle-aged mediocrity. It has not been a simple adjustment — and it is by no means one I’ve finished making, if the late nights writing reviews for this site are anything to go by; much, I think to The Patient Mrs.‘ chagrin, though as usual she’s been wonderful even if her silence is glaringly loud — but so it goes. I’ve had to leave the little dog Dio at home thus far. That might be the most heartbreaking of all. Even when I worked in an office, she always came with me.

I’ve also had to wear headphones. There are three people in this office currently, and I’m one of them. It’s strange not just blaring music at will. I need to get a pair of non-buds though because I think I’ve given myself an ear infection. I’m happy to have a job after so long unemployed, and the people I work with seem like down to earth, reasonable, non-dramatic types, and that alone is a boon. Everything else will sort itself out, I’m just not there yet.

The magazine I’m working for, if you’re wondering, is a trade journal covering the commercial gases industry — basically everything but oil, natural gas, gasoline. I’ve read more about hydrogen and helium in the last four days than in the entirety of my 33 years prior. I think even the people who work in the industry would tell you it’s not thrilling stuff, but apparently it’s how the world works. For what it’s worth, I’m fueled by coffee and compulsion. That’s how I get by.

Next week, track stream from Bison Machine (whose album was already out digitally but is getting the vinyl/official release treatment), video premiere from Kings Destroy (old friends will also be announcing tour dates either in conjunction with the premiere or close enough to for me to fake it), and reviews of Old Indian, Demon Head and Weedeater. Ambitious, right? I also work full-time. Eat it, existence. I’d rather obliterate myself writing than be conscious anyway.

To that end, I’ve worked here four days, and yesterday and today both, I’m the last one in the office. So it will go, I think, at least for a while. They gave me keys, so I guess they’re not looking to can my ass in the immediate. Mark that a win.

Thanks to everyone who checked in this week and especially everyone who downloaded the podcast. We’ll pass 100 downloads today, which is four days it’s been up. I think that’s the fastest we’ve ever hit that mark. Much appreciated.

Off to Connecticut for the weekend, so an hour-plus home, then two hours south, so yeah, I’ve put in some road time this week. Past 210,000 miles in the Volvo of Doom. I expect to hit 211k much quicker than I went from 209 to 210. So it goes.

Have a great and safe weekend. Please. Do that. Also enjoy the Buddy Miles and check out the forum and radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Ambient ritualists Ides of Gemini have a handful of shows booked in June, a slot at Crucialfest 5 in Salt Lake City alongside Goatsnake, Mothership, Eagle Twin, SubRosa, Uzala, Cold Blue Mountain and others, as well as a gig for Demon Lung‘s new album release and two shows with Oxbow, but it’s in July that they’ll really hit the road again, hitting up the West Coast for 10 shows with Clay Rendering.

The trio are still out supporting last year’s Old World/New Wave (review here) and have a new 7″ that came out for Record Store Day as well. News comes from the PR wire and goes like this:

IDES OF GEMINI Announces Summer Tour With Clay Rendering, Performance At Crucialfest And More

IDES OF GEMINI are very pleased to announce their latest bout of West Coast live ceremonies. Set to commence on July 14th in Oakland, the journey will coil its way around ten cities through California, Oregon, Vancouver and Washington, coming to a close on July 24th in Glendale. The band will be joined by blackened dream pop duo, Clay Rendering. As a precursor to the expedition, the ethereal trio will play two shows supporting Oxbow next week. Two weeks later the IDES will head to Salt Lake City for a performance at Crucialfest alongside Rosetta, Norska, Disforia and more followed by slot on the Demon Lung record release show in Las Vegas June 20th.

The latest round of IDES OF GEMINI rituals follows the band’s run supporting acclaimed indie rockers, Mountain Goats, which was cut short due to a medical injury sustained by drummer Kelly Johnston-Gibson. “After the disappointment of having to drop off the Mountain Goats tour last month,” issues guitarist J. Bennett, “we’re looking forward to getting out on the road again. Unfortunately, Kelly’s injury is still healing so she won’t be able to join us for the June shows with Oxbow and Demon Lung or our appearance at Cruficalfest in Salt Lake. The good news is that our friend Sash Popovic, formerly of [singer/bassist] Sera’s [Timms] old band, Black Math Horseman, will be filling in for those. He’s a killer drummer and a great guy, so we’re very thankful that he’s agreed to help us out. If all goes according to plan, Kelly should be back in action for the July run with Clay Rendering.”

IDES OF GEMINI:
6/05/2015 Brick & Mortar – San Francisco, CA w/ Oxbow
6/07/2015 The Echo – Los Angeles, CA w/ Oxbow
6/19/2015 Crucialfest – Salt Lake City, UT
6/20/2015 Dive Bar – Las Vegas, NV Demon Lung Record Release Show
w/ Clay Rendering:
7/14/2015 Golden Bull – Oakland, CA
7/15/2015 Club 66 – Ashland, OR
7/16/2015 Wandering Goat – Eugene, OR
7/17/2015 Ash St Saloon – Portland, OR w/ Jex Thoth, Atriarch, Barrowlands *
7/18/2015 Media Club – Vancouver, BC
7/19/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA
7/21/2015 Press Club – Sacramento, CA
7/22/2015 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA
7/23/2015 Sweet Springs – Los Osos, CA
7/24/2015 Complex – Glendale, CA
* no Clay Rendering

IDES OF GEMINI released their critically-hailed, Chris Rakestraw (Danzig)-produced Old World New Wave full-length last September via Neurot Recordings as well as a special, limited Carthage/Strange Fruit seven-inch via Magic Bullet Records last month in honor of Record Store Day.

IDES OF GEMINI’s Old World New Wave is available on CD and digitally via Neurot Recordings and on vinyl via SIGE Records. For CD orders, point your browser HERE and for T-shirt bundles, point your browser to THIS LOCATION. The seven-inch is currently available on limited black and clear wax at THIS LOCATION. Desirers of the digitals visit Magic Bullet’s BandCamp page HERE or iTunes HERE.

http://www.idesofgemini.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/IdesofgeminI
http://www.idesofgemini.bandcamp.com
http://www.neurotrecordings.com
http://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings
http://www.magicbulletrecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/magicbulletrecords

Ides of Gemini, “Strange Fruit” official video

Glaswegian two-piece Ommadon will release a follow-up to their well-received 2014 outing, V, this July on Golden Mantra. Titled Empathy for the Wicked, it’ll be their sixth record and is available now to preorder from the label at the link below. For those who took on the crushing depth of V, Empathy for the Wicked will be one to look forward to in darkening the summer skies, but their first four outings — titled I through IV — have also been released through Tartarus and Witches on Fire Records in a limited hand-made wood box housing two cassettes in an edition of 100. I don’t know if there are any left, but it might be worth asking.

The PR wire has more info:

OMMADON: UK Drone/Doom Duo To Undrape Empathy For The Wicked Via Golden Mantra This July

Following the crushing doom of their critically-adored, 2014 double LP, V, UK drone/doom duo, OMMADON, continues their perpetual quest to achieve sonic annihilation of the self through unadulterated heaviness with Empathy For The Wicked. Boasting just one earth-rupturing track broken into two parts, Empathy For The Wicked was recorded live, mixed by OMMADON and mastered by recording legend, Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Zoroaster, Eyehategod, Taurus, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth etc.), who gave it the final crushing touches it deserves.

Where OMMADON’s previous scores were all recorded in the Highlands of Scotland surrounded by forest, Empathy For The Wicked marks their first release to be recorded on an industrial estate in urban Northumberland surrounded by the dregs of humanity. The first track from Empathy For The Wicked was originally recorded for the cassette split with Horse Latitudes and Coltsblood. During that session, OMMADON decided to continue recording through the night and drone out the riff which became the second side to Empathy For The Wicked.

Empathy For The Wicked will be released on 12″ vinyl via Golden Mantra on July 15th, 2015 with preorders available at: www.goldenmantra.co.uk. Teasers to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

OMMADON Personnel:
David Tobin – guitars
Ewan Mackenzie – drums, noise

http://www.ommadon.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ommadon/122816124443493
http://www.twitter.com/OmmadonDoom
http://www.youtube.com/user/OmmadonDoom/videos

Ommadon, V (2014)

I didn’t want to look, but in the end curiosity won out. April 17 was the date of the last batch of radio adds, so yes, it’s been more than a month. Not for lack of stuff coming either, just the want of time. As such, and not knowing when I might get the opportunity to do something like this again, I’ve got 31 records added to the playlist this afternoon — you can see them all at the Playlist and Updates Page — and as you can tell both by the below and by that list, it’s a mix of bigger and up and coming names, a couple older records, and a few singles and other things maybe not as widely available. If you find something you dig, then killer. If not, there’s always next month. Ha.

The Obelisk Radio adds for May 29, 2015:

All Them Witches, A Sweet Release

It is getting increasingly difficult to chart the discography of Nashville’s All Them Witches, between self-released live outings, hosted bootlegs, represses, physical vs. digital releases and one-offs like A Sweet Release or their last EP, 2014’s Effervescent (review here), but something tells me they like it that way. A Sweet Release was issued as something of a surprise on April 20, and collects mostly live jams that, though they listed it as an EP, actually runs longer than either of their two full-lengths, Lightning at the Door (review here) or their debut, Our Mother Electricity (review here). At 58 minutes, the five-track outing mostly invites the listener to get immersed. That is, it’s less about songs and more about jams, and that’s true from the two-movement-split-by-manipulated-stage-banter exploration of “It Moved We Moved/Almost There/A Spider’s Gift,” the opener and longest cut included at 24 minutes (immediate points), to the quiet guitar noodling of two-minute closer “Sweet Bear.” In between, extended pieces like “Howdy Hoodee Slank” and “Interstate Bleach Party” (both over 11 minutes) find the four-piece of bassist/vocalist Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod, Fender Rhodes-ist Allan van Cleave and drummer Rob Staebler comfortable and well in their element, their onstage chemistry having developed them into one of the most promising acts in American heavy rock — yes, I mean that — while “El Paso Sleep on It” proves a singular highlight with its laid back unfolding, the interplay of guitar and bass begging further development into what might on a regular release be called a song. A holdover to their third full-length? Maybe, but that doesn’t stop A Sweet Release from living up to its name, and for the already converted, new All Them Witches of any sort is unlikely to rouse complaint, the band having established in their early going that anything can and might happen both in terms of what they put out and what sonics they set in motion on their releases. All Them Witches on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.

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Black Mare & Lycia, Low Crimes/Silver Leaf Split

L.A.-based vocalist Sera Timms, known for her work in Black Math Horseman and Ides of Gemini and who also has a full-length due this year for the Gary Arce collaboration Zun, is the sole driving force behind Black Mare, and the otherworldly transit of “Low Crimes” makes a worthy answer to her 2013 full-length under the moniker, Field of the Host (review here), even if it is just one song. For this new Magic Bullet Records split, she works with bandmates from Ides of Gemini and MGR and partners with Lycia on the B-side, long-running Arizona outfit Lycia offer a sampling of their darkened atmospherics on “Silver Leaf,” holding to an edge of gothic drama in their spoken word vocals but setting it to a straightforward, near-minimal rhythm for a feel distinctly American. By its very nature, it’s a quick release, over in about 11 minutes, but both acts offer ethereal moodiness that seems to effect the listener even after play as ceased, the waves of electric guitar and tom rolls in “Low Crimes,” not to mention Timms‘ own far-back vocals, and the interplay of voices and subtle backing chimes and other elements of “Silver Leaf” complementing each other in a way that seems to enhance the enjoyment of both. Black Mare on Thee Facebooks, Lycia on Thee Facebooks, Magic Bullet Records on Bandcamp.

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Bell Witch, Four Phantoms

For a release as outwardly heavy as Bell Witch‘s Four Phantoms (on Profound Lore) is, the follow-up to 2012’s Longing (review here) has surprised all the more because its primary impression isn’t of aural, but of emotional weight. The four-track, 66-minute offering plays two 22-minute cuts off two 10-minute cuts, and there are themes running between them alternating between “Suffocation” and “Judgement,” but for all the harsh death-doom crawl that a song like opener “Suffocation, a Burial: I – Awoken (Breathing Teeth)” has, and for all its growling lurch, the woeful riffing and mourning leads from bassist Dylan Desmond (also Samothrace) set a resonant, melancholic course that the album continues to develop throughout, hitting a particularly striking moment when it brings in Erik Moggridge (also known as Aerial Ruin) with Desmond and drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra (Sod Hauler) for a guest vocal spot on third track “Suffocation, a Drowning: II – Somniloquy (The Distance of Forever)” that’s as gorgeous as its chanting is dark. Minimalist stretches in “Judgement, in Fire: I – Garden (Of Blooming Ash)” only add to the spaciousness of Four Phantoms‘ overall feel, and closer “Judgement, in Air: II – Felled (In Howling Wind)” seems not to deconstruct so much as to will itself into an oblivion of a plod, bass aping a guitar lead over wide-gap crashes in true dirge fashion. It’s a no-doubter to feature on many year-end lists, but however loud the hype gets, the genuine expressiveness Bell Witch bring to a sound usually thought of either as cold or overly theatrical puts them in a class of modern doom alongside their labelmates in Pallbearer and Loss. Bell Witch on Thee Facebooks, Profound Lore on Bandcamp.

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Lasers from Atlantis, Lasers from Atlantis

Running a line somewhere between extendo-heavy-psych jamming and more concrete heavy rock and doom impulses, London foggers Lasers from Atlantis seem more than content to play one off the other on this Extreme Ultimate issue of their self-titled, originally recorded in 2010. Classic prog and kraut-ish space idolatry rules the day on “Reverb City,” down to the Hawkwindy thrust out of the atmosphere, but by the time they get down to “Protectress,” track five of the total six, they’ve completely given over to low-end rumble, feedback viciousness and a still-swinging-but-much-much-darker groove. That might make the middle two cuts, “Illuminated Trail” and “Hopi Lori,” the most interesting of the bunch, and it’s especially on the latter where the two sides seem to meet, but it’s in “Hopi Lori” even more that the transition seems to take place and the band — Volkan Kiziltug and Aubrey Jackson Blake on synth, Theo Alexander on guitar/vocals and Pat Oddi on drums — make the turn toward consuming darkness that continues to ooze forth in “Protectress” and closer “Slaves,” which though it’s somewhat faster than the cut before it, is pure, high-order psychedelic doom. A band so willing to let go of their progressive edge when it suits them is a rare thing, which makes it a bummer that Lasers from Atlantis seem to have called it quits, but if it’s a posthumous release, their self-titled at least shows they were up to something interesting in their time together. Lasers from Atlantis on Thee Facebooks, Extreme Ultimate on Bandcamp.

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Contra, Son of Beast

Son of Beast is the debut offering from Cleveland trio Contra, and its four tracks could just as easily constitute a demo or an EP, whatever you want to call it, but with the lineup of guitarist Chris Chiera (ex-Sofa King Killer), bassist Adam Horwatt and drummer Aaron Brittain (Fistula), they come across as having a solid idea of what they’re looking for sound-wise, and their first outing is a solid one. Production is clean but not overly so on the three shorter pieces, and the seven-minute closer “Humanoid Therapy” follows-up on the mid-paced stonerism of “Snake Goat” by alternating from slower push to a more rushing pace. Instrumental for the duration, one can hear the places a vocalist might go on “Bottom Feeder” or “100 Hand Slap,” but Contra — who apparently owned both regular NES and Super Nintendo — don’t overstay their welcome either, proving cohesive in their fuzz, schooled in their groove and ready to start their development as a band, wherever it might take them. Contra on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.

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I’m going to try very, very hard not to let it go so long before the next round of adds. When I fail at that, you can feel free to call me out on it. In the meantime, to see all 31 releases that joined the playlist this afternoon, hit up The Obelisk Radio Playlist and Updates Page. It’s a good time.

Thanks for reading and listening.

Following an earlier-2015 7″ release, a live outing and their 2012 DoomO EP (review here), French heavy rollers approach their first full-length, This Seed We Have Sown, with the classics in mind. As the new song “Relax, You’re Dead,” which you can stream below, can attest, the four-piece bask in ’70s traditionalism and organic tonality, and they’ve been well lauded for it since STB Records picked up DoomO for a vinyl pressing in 2013.

Accordingly, This Seed We Have Sown will see issue through both STB and Ripple Music over the course of the next two months, to be available no doubt in a variety of editions and on a variety of formats, the two labels having partnered to share releases between vinyl and CD. The exact numbers to come — as in “limited to X” — I’m not sure, but however many they make, don’t expect them to last.

More to come, I’m sure, but for now, off to the PR wire:

DoctoR DooM announce new album This Seed We Have Sown | Stream and share new song ‘Relax, You’re Dead’

Formed in the French town of Ariège in the Midi-Pyrénées by guitarists Jean-Laurent Pasquet and Jérémie Delattre, since their formation in 2011 DoctoR DooM have blazed an impressive underground trail for followers of new, authentically crafted hard rock, metal and progressive blues.

Having come together out of a shared appreciation for forgotten 60s and 70s music, it didn’t take long for the duo to find kindred spirits in drummer Michel Marcq and bass player Sébastien Boutin Blomfield as they sought to pull together the rhythm section required to knock out a monumentally heavy live set. Initially performing covers of Coven, Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple, out of the riffs and drum rolls of old grew new, original numbers that would later surface fully formed on their 2012 debut DoomO EP on STB Records.

Inspired by the recent wave of Scandinavian stoner/rock bands such as Graveyard, Witchcraft and Spiders, throughout 2013 and 2014 DoctoR DooM took part in a series of high profile festival appearances including Spain’s Riff Ritual Fest, Doom Over Karalis in Sardinia and Germany’s much-celebrated DesertFest before taking to the studio at the end of last year to record their very first LP.

This Seed We Have Sown by DoctoR DooM will be released worldwide on 24th July 2015 on Ripple Music, with a limited vinyl released on STB Records out toward the end of June.

DoctoR DooM:
Jean-Laurent Pasquet (Vocal, Guitar)
Jérémie Delattre (Guitar)
Sébastien Boutin Blomfield (Bass, Keys)
Michel Marcq (Drums)

https://www.facebook.com/doctordoom09
http://doctordoom.bandcamp.com/

DoctoR DooM, “Relax, You’re Dead”

I gotta be honest with you. I don’t know much about Sun Blood Stories other than they’re from Boise, Idaho, and the upcoming Twilight Midnight Morning is their third album, but god damn, the vibe is absolutely slaughtering me right now. Headphones in, the 10-tracker is a gorgeous wash that careens between minimalist openness, dual vocals that capture folkish intent with zero folkish pretense and psychedelic guitar howl, all the while swirling with experimental undercurrents and ambient heft — a weight that doesn’t force itself on you but has enough presence to pull you along for sure.

Hey all you labels who pick up bands and put their stuff out on vinyl: If you’re reading this, you might want to pay attention. Meantime, I’m gonna go email Sun Blood Stories back and ask them if I can stream the whole record because that’s how much of it I think you should hear.

Info:

Sun Blood Stories to Release New Album, Twilight Midnight Morning

Sun Blood Stories (BOI), will release their new album, Twilight Midnight Morning on June 23, 2015. The new album will be the first full length released since the band’s 2013 vinyl release, The Electric Years – and they promise it will destroy the previous album in terms of overall awesomeness and heartfelt sonic cacophony. Over the past two years, Sun Blood Stories has kept busy performing locally, touring, and writing music for Ballet Idaho.

Over the past year, the band has been busy writing and recording new music for Twilight Midnight Morning in their basement. The lead single, Palace Mountain Mirage, has been spinning on Radio Boise, and other community radio stations across the country, since March 2015.

This summer they’re keeping busy on the road with 5 music festivals booked and a 2 week California tour.

May 29 The Sickhouse Idaho Falls, ID w/ Snoozy Moon, Lea…
May 30 Camp Daze Music Fest Missoula, MT
Jun 05 Deadbeat Records Olympia, WA
Jun 06 Big Bldg Bash Seattle, WA w/ Kithkin, Charms,…
Jun 12 Hogan’s Clarkston, WA w/ Snoozy Moon
Jun 13 Neato Burrito Spokane, WA w/ Stucco, Space Mo…

SunBloodStories.com
facebook.com/sunbloodstories
twitter.com/sunbloodstories
Instagram.com/sunbloodstories

Sun Blood Stories, “Palace Mountain Mirage”

In the works on one level or another since the second half of 2013, The Machine‘s fifth album arrives in the form of the 50-minute Offblast! via Elektrohasch Schallplatten, and marks a distinct turn for the band. The delay? A mix of technical trouble during mixing and personal life, and while that could easily mean the jam-prone Dutch trio have another batch of songs in the works to follow it up, Offblast! nonetheless resonates with a maturity that even 2012’s Calmer than You Are (review here) or their 2013 split with likeminded countrymen Sungrazer (review here) couldn’t claim, their songwriting process proving more cohesive as they explore the roots of stoner and desert riffing on songs like “Dry End” or “Gamma” and keeping the instrumental chemistry that even their early work — 2007’s debut, Shadow of the Machine, 2009’s Solar Corona (on Nasoni) or their first for Elektrohasch, 2011’s 80-minute jamfest Drie (review here) — housed, the lead guitar work of David Eering (also vocals and recording) as much of a calling card as the band has amid the fleshed out roll and bounce provided by bassist Hans van Heemst — whose tone has always been The Machine‘s secret weapon and is most of all on Offblast! — and drummer Davy Boogaard, who shows himself again malleable to whatever the changes in the six included tracks might require of him, be it the quick stops early in “Off Course” or the jazzy ride work in the spacious midsection of “Chrysalis (J.A.M.),” the sprawling, 16:25 opener that acts as the record’s immersive and in some ways defining statement.

With six tracks, it would just about have to be the longest of the bunch, and it is (immediate points to them for starting with their longest cut), living up to its spelled-out parenthetical with a breadth to match its runtime, shifting between its raucous first half and more swinging second fluidly, launching its later movement with a quiet break with some choice, naturally-toned wah from Eering. His affinity for Hendrix shows itself early and often on Offblast! as it has throughout The Machine‘s five LPs, but the influence seems more like an afterthought to the band’s identity here than it ever has. By the time “Chrysalis (J.A.M.)” is over, one feels as though they’ve listened to an entire album, and in a way, it’s true, but that’s only the beginning of the tale, and before the Rotterdam natives bookend their latest with the similarly-directed but noisier-finishing 12-minute closer “Come to Light” (the name of the song submitted by yours truly), they dance with sandy demons on “Dry End,” “Coda Sun,” “Gamma” and “Off Course,” which don’t add up to the two extended pieces time-wise, but still provide some of Offblast!‘s most lasting impressions in their hooks, fuzzy drive, and flourishes like sitar in “Dry End” and Boogaard‘s snare work in “Coda Sun” — not to mention vocals, which neither the opener nor the closer has. It’s not so outlandish a scope for a band to have, with two bigger jams and more straightforward material to complement each other, but it’s much to The Machine‘s credit in how they’ve structured the album that it not only flows front-to-back, but is so hypnotic at the start and still so memorable by the end. If you’re looking for evidence of the band’s maturity, it’s right there.

“Dry End” (3:06) and the winding “Coda Sun” (5:34), Eering‘s vocals compressed and watery for use as another element in the psychedelic overtones, are met by “Gamma” and “Off Course,” both over six minutes, and while one comes to feel by the end of the latter that The Machine are setting the listener up for a return to heady reaches in “Come to Light” — and they are, make no mistake — both retain a distinctive feel. “Gamma” is marked out by van Heemst‘s bassline, which emerges in the second half of the song and seems to pay direct homage to Queens of the Stone Age‘s “You Can’t Quit Me Baby” from their 1998 self-titled. That album makes a solid comparison point for the tonal impression of Offblast! overall, as it happens, so the feel is purposeful and The Machine take the familiar line and work in layers of guitar building in volume en route back to a last measure of the chorus. While it has a longer solo from Eering, “Off Course” follows a similar structure, but its vibe carries some of the punkish undertone the band held aloft on their 2013 split thanks to the sharp starts and stops and an added layer in the chorus either of piano or keys (or something that sounds like them) deep in the mix, giving further urgency to the already forward progression. And when they get there, “Come to Light” is a more gradual unfolding than was “Chrysalis (J.A.M.),” but the end result carries no less vitality, the dynamic between Eering, van Heemst and Boogaard writ large over its organic and laid back but still engaging course. Perhaps most satisfying of all is that while it works on varying levels between its songcraft and its jams, Offblast! comes across with no lack of cohesion or choppy shifts. As “Come to Light” inevitably descends to effects noise and feedback to end the album, it seems to do little more than highlight the level of execution that The Machine have brought to their fifth outing and the satisfying path down which their development has led them and those who’ve been fortunate enough to follow along the way. If you’ll pardon the cliché, it was worth the wait.

The Machine, “Coda Sun” official video

The Machine on Thee Facebooks

The Machine’s BigCartel store

Elektrohasch Schallplatten

This one’s kind of a no-brainer. West Coast heavy psych on Tee Pee Records with Radio Moscow‘s bassist and Joy‘s drummer. Duh. I feel like the challenge for Sacri Monti isn’t going so much to be kicking ass — their Demo 2014, from which you can hear “Sitting Around in a Restless Dream” below, showed them as ready and willing to do that — but distinguishing themselves from the surrounding hordes from the San Diego area who also dip into some trippy, weighted sonics. Or, you know, if they wanted to not worry about it and just jam out, I’d probably take that too. If you feel like you wanna go space trucking, these guys sound like they do it every day.

To the PR wire:

SACRI MONTI to Release Self-Titled Debut LP July 24

Smoking San Diego Quintet Signs to Tee Pee Records

Encinitas, CA psychedelic heavy rock champions SACRI MONTI have signed to NYC’s Tee Pee Records. The five-piece, which features drummer Thomas Dibenedetto of JOY and Radio Moscow bassist Anthony Meier in its ranks, will drop its self-titled debut on July 24. Boasting a sound best described as “a mix of early 70’s underground hard rock, with psychedelic and krautrock elements”, SACRI MONTI joins a blooming Tee Pee roster that includes fellow San Diego associates Harsh Toke, JOY and the genre’s founding fathers, Earthless.

Roughly translated as “Sacred Mountains”, SACRI MONTI blazes a scorching trail of superb shredding and smoldering riff-o-rama on their impending debut. The record is a searing smorgasbord of muscular rock that boils ’70s guitar rock down to its purest essence while simultaneously skyrocketing a pathway towards the future of molten heavy psych. Fingers bleed, eardrums implode and craniums collapse when SACRI MONTI cranks up its bitchin’, blistering buzz. Tune in, turn it up and BURN!!

Track listing:

1.) Staggered in Lies
2.) Glowing Grey
3.) Slipping from the Day
4.) Sitting Around in a Restless Dream
5.) Ancient Seas and Majesties
6.) Sacri Monti

SACRI MONTI is Brenden Dellar (Guitar), Dylan Donavon (Guitar), Anthony Meier (Bass), Evan Wenskay (Organ, Synth, Echoplex) and Thomas Dibenedetto (Drums).

https://www.facebook.com/sacrimontiband
https://instagram.com/Sacri_Monti_Band/
http://teepeerecords.com/

Sacri Monti, “Sitting around in a Restless Dream” from Demo 2014