Blasting Rod to Release Mojave Green June 21; Premiere Title-Track Video
The earliest hours of 2024 found Japanese heavy psych heads Blasting Rod traveling from their hometown of Nagoya to make their North American live debut on Jan. 6 in Los Angeles. I don’t know how long the trip ultimately was, but I’m assuming that the recordings for their new album — the forthcoming Mojave Green out June 21 on Low&Slow.Disk — were done as part of the same flyover, with Dan Joeright (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere, the Live in the Mojave Desert series, etc.) at the helm in Gatos Trail Studio. At very least, if that were the case it would save the cost/hassle of traveling back.
Blasting Rod will celebrate and feature the release at Tokyo Doom Fest on May 11, playing alongside Hebi Katana, a solo set by Okazaki Yukito of the esteemed Eternal Elysium and others, and Mojave Green follows 2022’s Of Wild Hazel (review here) with suitably desert-hued vibing, its almost-10-minute title-track (edited for the video at the bottom of this post) veering between loose, hypnotic jamming and fuzzier, riffier push, as opener “YEA 24M (Cosmic Bash)” resolves with Sabbathian groove before the cymbal-wash finish, “Bowl of Shala” brings a more meditative aspect and “Grandon the Stone Cutter (OG Version)” closes with a funky groove led by the guitar that feels specifically in conversation with Brant Bjork.
Is it then desert rock homage made in the desert? There’s definitely that side to it, but Blasting Rod dig further into experimental noisemaking in the extended “Yao Tsu (Infinity Landing)” and are not so single-minded and are more immersive than such a supposition might imply. Perhaps homage in the sense of taking past ideas and reshaping them to suit their own exploratory purposes.
Info follows, video’s at the bottom. Deep breath before you dive in:
BLASTING ROD – ‘Mojave Green’
Releases June 21, 2024, on Low&Slow.Disk cassette tape, CD, and a limited edition of 100 on black Japanese audiophile vinyl at fine independent record dealers near you in Europe, from Dutch-based Shiny Beast mail-order, via the Blasting Rod Bandcamp site from Japan and the US, and streaming worldwide on every digital platform known to man. Some editions will include hand-printed blacklight artwork.
There will be a pre-sale at Tokyo Doom Fest on May 11. More info here: https://livehousesunrize.jp/events/18539
Recorded by Daniel Joeright at Gatos Trail Studio, Yucca Valley, California
Assisted by Aaron Farinelli
Mixed and Mastered by S. Shah at The Nest, Nagoya, Japan
Vinyl and other editions mastered by Dave Polster at Well Made Music
‘Mojave Green’ tracklisting
1. YEA 24M (Cosmic Bash) 05:13
2. Yao Tsu (Infinity Landing) 16:24
3. Mojave Green 09:54
4. Bowl of Shala 06:05
5. Grandon the Stone Cutter (OG ver.) 07:33
S. Shah also played guitar, made other funny noises, visual art and additional recordings, conjured riffs, and scribbled words and voiced them.
Chihiro played drums and other percussion, and generally called the shots as executive producer.
Yoshihiro Yasui played whatever he wanted on bass guitar, and inspired with cause for pause.
Special thanks to Yukito Okazaki at Studio Zen, Japan・Zoe Joeright・Buddy Donner・Tom Frankot・and most importantly to our intrepid road manager, Nancy Bukowski
Video Director: Chihiro
Second Unit: Yohei Yamamoto
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