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The end of any year always brings a barrage of best-ofs. Lists, radio shows, award ceremonies, and even podcasts. What no one tells you about any of them is there’s no fucking way they can ever be comprehensive. My Top 20 list? It was damn good and I worked really hard putting it together, but was I toiling under the delusion that it was going to be an accurate and complete representation of everything 2013 had on offer? Hell no. That’s why we have the Readers Poll, the Albums Unheard list (still to come) and all the rest of the wrap-up stuff.

So as you check out this happens-to-be-the-last-of-2013 podcast, please keep in mind that though it does feature a sampling of some of 2013’s most killer songs from some of its most killer albums, it’s not at all intended to be a total roundup of this year. It’s a part of it, and I’m cool with that if you are.

It’s Xmas Eve as I put this together, and it’s looking like this’ll be my only post for today, so I’ll take another opportunity to wish you a happy holiday if you’re celebrating. Please be safe and enjoy time with family, gift-giving, and of course, good music. I don’t know if grandma would really get down to some Phantom Glue, but seems like it’s worth a shot.

First Hour:
Clutch, “D.C. Sound Attack” from Earth Rocker (2013)
Monster Magnet, “Last Patrol,” from Last Patrol (2013)
Church of Misery, “Cranley Gardens (Dennis Andrew Nilsen)” from Thy Kingdom Scum (2013)
Phantom Glue, “Bow in the Dust” from A War of Light Cones (2013)
Pelican, “The Tundra” from Forever Becoming (2013)
Young Hunter, “Trail of Tears” from Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain (2013)
All Them Witches, “The Death of Coyote Woman” from Lightning at the Door (2013)
Black Thai, “Doors to Nowhere” from Season of Might (2013)
Gozu, “Charles Bronson Pinchot” from The Fury of a Patient Man (2013)
Geezer, “Ancient Song” from Gage EP (2013)
T.G. Olson, “Unsung Everyone” from Hell’s Half Acre (2013)

Second Hour:
Fuzz, “One” from Fuzz (2013)
Wooden Shjips, “Servants” from Back to Land (2013)
Fever Dog, “Lady Snowblood/Child of the Netherworlds,” from Lady Snowblood (2013)
Samsara Blues Experiment, “Brahmin’s Lament” from Waiting for the Flood (2013)
Vista Chino, “Planets 1 & 2” from Peace (2013)
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Valley of the Dolls” from Mind Control (2013)
The Golden Grass, “One More Time” from One More Time b/w Tornado (2013)
Beelzefuzz, “Lonely Creatures” from Beelzefuzz (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:04

Thank you for listening.

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If you’re in the States and celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I thought maybe a new podcast would be good to have along for the travel. Maybe you take it with you on the road, or maybe put some headphones on in one of those need-to-get-away moments that invariably crop up over the holidays. I always get very stressed out at this time of year. I’d be lying if putting this together wasn’t a bit of therapy for my own anxiousness, but I also thought that if someone else was in the same boat, they might also appreciate it. Or maybe not and you just want to rock without using it as an escape for deep-rooted psychological issues. That’s cool too.

This one has a lot of good stuff that I’ve come across lately, from the opening Foghound track on through the Clamfight single that was featured here a couple weeks back, and on to the B-side of the single that Ice Dragon released just this weekend, finally rounding out with the closing track from Uzala‘s new album, Tales of Blood and Fire, “Tenement of the Lost,” which was so captivating when I saw them in Providence last month. It’s a wide variety, but it flows well from song to song and I think it’s a good time.

Hopefully you agree. I’m especially happy with how well the last three songs, which make up the bulk of the second hour, came together. My hope is you’ll be too hypnotized by one song to realize when it’s gone into the next. Whether or not that happens, please enjoy.

First Hour:
Foghound, “Dragon Tooth” from Quick, Dirty and High (2013)
Lizzard Wizzard, “Total Handjob Future” from Lizzard Wizzard (2013)
Summoner, “Into the Abyss” from Atlantian (2013)
Groan, “Slice of that Vibe” from Ride the Snake EP (2013)
The Vintage Caravan, “Let Me Be” from Voyage (2013)
Run After To, “Melancholy from Run After To/Gjinn and Djinn (2013 Reissue)
Clamfight, “Bathosphere” from single release (2013)
No Gods No Masters, “Lie to Me” from No Gods No Masters EP (2013)
Horseskull, “Arahari” from 2013 Promo
Gudars Skymning, “Gåtor I Mörkret” from Höj Era Glas (2013)
Ice Dragon, “Queen of the Black Harvest” from Steel Veins b/w Queen of the Black Harvest (2013)
T.G. Olson, “Return from the Brink” from The Bad Lands to Cross (2013)

Second Hour:
EYE, “Lost are the Years” from Second Sight (2013)
Øresund Space Collective, “Black Sabbath Forever in Space” from Live at Loppen 2013.11.19
Selim Lemouchi and His Enemies, “The Ghost of Valentine” from Earth Air Spirit Water Fire (2013)
Uzala, “Tenement of the Lost” from Tales of Blood and Fire (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:03

Thank you for listening.

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[mp3player width=480 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot31.xml]

There was a point during the making of this podcast when I stepped back for a second realized, “This is getting really heavy.” It kind of happened out of the blue, but it definitely happened, and though the thought occurred to me to maybe pull it back and get into some more rocking stuff in the second hour again, I decided instead to just run with it and have fun and go as all-out ridiculously heavy as I could think of. That’s when we get to Beast in the Field‘s 22-minute “Oncoming Avalanche.” I know I’ve had them in before, but if you’re going all out in 2013 releases, that’s where you’re gonna end up.

Plus, I figured there’s plenty of rocking stuff up front, starting with At Devil Dirt and the subsequent riff pushers in the first hour, and the whole thing rounds out with the psych-hypnosis of The Cosmic Dead, so though it’s far out by the conclusion, it does manage to come back from the ultra-weighted tones somewhat. Screw it. I was having a good time stringing together heavy songs. The bottom line of this whole thing is for it to be fun, and I was having fun, so there you go.

I hope you have fun with it too. Once again, we come in just under two hours with a slew of newer cuts and some stuff from earlier this year that maybe got missed along the way. Considering there’s so much pummel, it flows pretty well.

First Hour:
At Devil Dirt, “Don’t See You Around” from Plan B: Sin Revolucion No Hay Evolucion (2013)
Pigs, “Elo Kiddies” from Gaffe (2013)
Mutoid Man, “Scavengers” from Helium Head (2013)
Viper Fever, “Summer Time” from Super Heavy Garage EP (2013)
Sons of Huns, “I’m Your Dad” from Banishment Ritual (2013)
Blackout, “Seven” from We Are Here (2013)
Horisont, “Backstreet” from Time Warriors (2013)
Old Man Wizard, “If Only” from Unfavorable (2013)
Mother Susurrus, “Anagnorisis” from Maahaavaa (2013)
Coma Wall, “You are My Death” from Wood and Wire Split (2013)
Mollusk, “Hollowed” from Colony of Machines (2013)
Sea of Bones, “Failure of Light” from The Earth Wants us Dead (2013)

Second Hour:
Corrections House, “Dirt Poor and Mentally Ill” from Last City Zero (2013)
Rosetta, “Myo/The Miraculous” from The Anasthete (2013)
Beast in the Field, “Oncoming Avalanche” from The Sacred Above, the Sacred Below (2013)
The Cosmic Dead, “Djamba” from The Cosmic Dead/Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Split (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:29

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 031

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With no slowdown in the music coming out as we move into the fall, it’s time for another audiObelisk podcast. Like last month, the idea here was to keep it super-simple, not go too long or get lost too much in including stuff just for the hell of it. Whether it’s a big band or someone you’ve never heard of in this tracklist, it’s all quality, and most of it is new. A couple of these albums haven’t even come out yet.

Things get pretty dark in the second of the two hours, but I figured what the hell? It starts off rockin’ with Sasquatch and The Freeks and so on, so it seemed there was room to doom out for a while, and once I threw in The Body, there was nothing to do but plummet even further. As it winds down, there’s some transition back to more rocking fare though with Earthless, so it’s not like it gets totally lost and drowns in the mire of dark tones and sonic abrasion. I know you were worried. I was too.

Like last time, it clocks in at just under two hours long. I hope you download and enjoy the tracks. Here’s the full rundown of what’s included:

First Hour:

Sasquatch, “The Message” from IV (2013)
Monster Magnet, “Mindless Ones” from Last Patrol (2013)
The Freeks, “The Secret Pathway” from Full On (2013)
Red Fang, “Blood Like Cream” from Whales and Leeches (2013)
Pyramido, “Tiden är Kommen” from Saga (2013)
Hollow Leg, “Ride to Ruin” from Abysmal (2013)
YOB, “Ether” from Catharsis (2013 Reissue)
Seremonia, “Suuri Valkeus” from Ihminen (2013)
Aqua Nebula Oscillator, “Human Toad” from Spiritus Mundi (2013)
Jesu, “Everyday” from Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came (2013)
Ayahuasca Dark Trip, “To the Holy Mountain” from Mind Journey (2013 Reissue)

Second Hour:

All Them Witches, “Born under a Bad Sign” (2013)
The Body, “Prayers Unanswered” from Christs, Redeemers (2013)
Primitive Man, “Antietam” from Scorn (2013)
Windhand, “Cassock” from Soma (2013)
Atlantis, “Omen” from Omens (2013)
Earthless, “Violence of the Red Sea” from From the Ages (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:33

Hope you dig it. Thanks for listening.

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Been a while, right? Tell me about it. Although I love, love having The Obelisk Radio streaming 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I’ve been wanting to bring back podcasting for a while now. I always thought it was fun, it just got to be time consuming and to be perfectly honest, the response over time took something of a shit.

Well, the idea here is to start with a clean slate. Anyone who’s listened to audiObelisk podcasts before will notice this one doesn’t have a title. There’s no theme running throughout — though I wanted to keep it focused on new stuff as much as possible — and though others ranged upwards of four hours long, this one clocks in at just under two. I gave myself some pretty specific limits and wanted to start off as basic and foundational as possible. I haven’t done this in a long time, and it seemed only appropriate to treat it like a new beginning.

Something else I’m keeping simple is the intro, so with that said, I hope like hell you download at the link above or stream it on the player and enjoy the selections. Here’s the rundown of what’s included:

First Hour:

Mystery Ship, “Paleodaze” from EP II (2013)
Carousel, “On My Way” from Jeweler’s Daughter (2013)
Ice Dragon, “The Deeper You Go” from Born a Heavy Morning (2013)
Black Mare, “Tearer” from Field of the Host (2013)
Beast in the Field, “Hollow Horn” from The Sacred Above, The Sacred Below (2013)
11 Paranoias, “Reaper’s Ruin” from Superunnatural (2013)
Vàli, “Gjemt Under Grener” from Skoglandskap (2013)
Beelzefuzz, “Lonely Creatures” from Beelzefuzz (2013)
Dozer, “The Blood is Cold” fromVultures (2013)
Toby Wrecker, “Belle” from Sounds of Jura (2013)
Shroud Eater, “Sudden Plague” from Dead Ends (2013)
Luder, “Ask the Sky” from Adelphophagia (2013)
Eggnogg, “The Once-ler” from Louis (2012)

Second Hour:

Colour Haze, “Grace” from She Said (2012)
Borracho, “Know the Score” from Oculus (2013)
The Flying Eyes, “Raise Hell” from Split with Golden Animals (2013)
Demon Lung, “Heathen Child” from The Hundredth Name (2013)
Vista Chino, “As You Wish” from Peace (2013)
Across Tundras, “Pining for the Gravel Roads” from Electric Relics (2013)
Black Pyramid, “Aphelion” from Adversarial (2013)
Church of Misery, “Cranley Gardens (Dennis Andrew Nilsen)” from Thy Kingdom Scum (2013)

Total running time: 1:57:54

Thanks for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 029

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Aside from Two-Face from the animated Batman series — which, make no mistake, there is an entire generation of males that swears by — contained in the banner for this month’s podcast is a pedal designed specifically in honor of this year’s Stoner Hands of Doom fest. This is the 12th installment of SHoD, and we trickle closer to being just three weeks away from the fest’s taking place at the El ‘n’ Gee club in New London, Connecticut, I couldn’t be more thrilled to count myself among the presenters and couldn’t be more thrilled to unveil this podcast dedicated entirely to bands playing the four-day fest, which kicks off Thursday, Aug. 30.

The pedal was screenprinted by Gr8 Scott Graphics and the design is the same as you can see on Skillit Art‘s poster for the fest itself. The lineup of the fest boasts upwards of 40 bands over the course of its four days, with shorter shows Thursday and Friday and full days Saturday and Sunday, and in making this podcast, I did the best I could to keep it manageable. Sad to say, I don’t own music from all of these bands (yet), but I culled together 25 tracks that I hope give some sense of the spirit of this year’s SHoD, and most of all, make for a cool listen.

It’s a manageable two and a half hours, and a pretty killer assemblage of bands. We start off with Earthride, because when it comes to SHoD, I don’t know if there’s any single band who captures the ideology of the fest as well as they do, and follow up with a track from the 2012 self-titled EP from Roadsaw, which I chose to represent SHoD moving out of its Maryland home for the uncharted territory of New England. From there, it goes into the first recorded output of Black Pyramid to feature guitarist/vocalist Darryl Shepard, and there ensues a long stretch of some of the finest in riff-based doom.

As always, I hope you enjoy. For more information on SHoD, check out the fest’s website here or hit them up on Thee Facebooks. I’ll have more coverage leading up to the fest as well, but for now, check out the SHoDcast streaming on the player above, click the banner to get the file, or simply follow this link to the download page.

Complete tracklisting (with timestamps) is after the jump. Thanks for reading and thanks for listening.

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It wasn’t when I was standing in Ramalama Records in Toledo, or when I took my stack of goodies up to the counter at Flat, Black and Circular in Lansing, but by the time I left Days of the Doomed II in Wisconsin, I knew I had enough to make a new podcast from all the assembled bits of Buried Treasure. I guess it’s not so dissimilar from the last podcast, but instead of covering two weeks in Europe, it covers about three days in the Midwest. Wow. Say it like that and the trip seems pretty intense.

And so it was. The resulting podcast follows suit. You’ll find it heavy on the doom — perhaps somewhat predictably — with tracks from fest performers like Blizaro, Orodruin, Sanctus Bellum and Earthen Grave, and there’s a lot of newer stuff featured from what I picked up. If you missed the Apostle of Solitude stream the other day, their “Die Vicar Die” from the new Demo 2012 shows up here, but even some of the stuff I picked up record shopping falls under a doomier mindset — see new Candlemass, which starts us off, as well as Paradise Lost, Unorthodox, Saturnalia Temple and Solitude Aeturnus. Must have just been the kind of headspace I was in.

Either way, listening back to it now, I think it’s a cool mix. How many times in your life are you going to go from Amebix to Pelican in a one-two punch? Six? Well, let this be one of them. You might notice that around the two-hour mark, things start to get a little tripped out, with Diagonal, Funkadelic, Hawkwind, Six Organs of Admittance, Amon Düül II and Master Musicians of Bukkake. That’s on purpose. By the time I was about three hours out on my drive home, I was so doomed out that all I wanted to listen to was psych and drone and weirdo stuff, so those were the records I put on. As that was something of the trip I hadn’t yet covered — about the only thing — I wanted to make sure that side of things was represented. Total coverage, dude.

But whether you’re mired in psychedelic indulgences or doomly woes, I hope you enjoy listening. The final tally was 26 songs in two hours and 51 minutes, which is fitting, since I didn’t actually want it to be long enough for a 15-hour drive.

Please stream audiObelisk Transmission 027 on the player above and download by following the link embedded in the flyer at the top of this post, or by clicking here to go to the archive.org download page. Full tracklist with timestamps is after the jump.

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The last time I snapped a picture of it, which was after the second day of Desertfest in London, the CD stack looked like this. Not too shabby for a weekend’s haul. There’s some good stuff in that pile, and had I returned home that Monday after the fest with that batch of goodies, I’d in no way be able to say I lost out. Here’s what it looked like after Roadburn.

I don’t know the count exactly — I’m not buying for quantity, I’m buying for quality — and anyway, it seems superfluous. It’s a fuckload, and that’s as close an estimate as I need. It’s as epic a haul as I’ve ever had, and there are some discs in there that I happened into, people gave me to review or something like that, but there’s much more that was picked up specifically because I saw a set I liked, or it was someone’s album I was waiting to buy, or something along those lines. Purchases on purpose, in other words. Nothing in that stack wound up there by mistake.

Trouble is, with a backlog of albums waiting to be reviewed, I don’t get to just sit and listen to records much these days, so in a way, this podcast is me trying to squeeze in some of that, as well as share with you just what the title says: the spoils of my recent adventure to London for Desertfest and to the Netherlands for Roadburn. It’s a mixture of the lineups for both fests, and comprised almost entirely of stuff I picked up along the way rounded out with some performers whose records I already owned and so didn’t need to buy (Orange Goblin, YOB, Black Cobra, etc.). A lot of people at Roadburn were only selling vinyl — looking at you, Internal Void — but between the merch area and bands’ tables, I wound up with more than enough material for this podcast.

Great as they were, though, the fests weren’t the whole experience. I also included a track from 35007‘s Especially for You, which I picked up in Eindhoven at the shop Bullit Records, and at various intervals you’ll hear clips from the BBC audio collection of Michael Palin’s Himalaya, which I bought at the Music and Video Exchange in London, along with Paladin, who are also included here. I know it’s supposed to be about the shows, but this weekend having been Record Store Day, I didn’t think anyone would begrudge me a couple inclusions from these stores. They’re part of the adventure too.

And at more than three and a half hours of music, this thing is pretty much an adventure in itself. Still, I think it turned out to be a really cool mix and if you were also at either Roadburn or Desertfest in London, I hope you find it gives some flavor of either or both. If nothing else, it’s a collection of killer heavy tunes, with new stuff you might not have heard yet from Conan, Ancestors, Roadsaw, Stone Axe, Farflung and Trippy Wicked. You kind of can’t go wrong in checking it out.

Stream audiObelisk Transmission 026 by clicking play on the player above. Download the file here, or by clicking the banner at the top of this post. The complete tracklist, as always, is after the jump.

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