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Review & Track Premiere: Brant Bjork, Europe ’16

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on July 26th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

brant-bjork-europe-16

[Click play above to hear ‘Controllers Destroyed’ from Brant Bjork’s live album Europe ’16, out Sept. 22 via Napalm Records.]

One severely doubts it’s a coincidence that a Brant Bjork set would start with “Buddha Time (Everything Fine).” That laid back, instrumental, rolling desert groove speaks to an aspect of Europe ’16 that’s apparent before the needle even hits the wax of the Napalm Records release, and that’s the manner in which Bjork — whose career pedigree in as drummer/songwriter in Kyuss and Vista Chino, drummer in Fu Manchu, guitarist/vocalist in Ché and multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and songwriter in the various incarnations of his solo work from Brant Bjork to Brant Bjork and the OperatorsBrant Bjork and the Bros. and Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band has made him the undisputed godfather of desert rock — directly acknowledges the stoner side of who he is and what he does.

It’s right there on the cover of Europe ’16, which is the first official live album of Bjork‘s nearly-20-year solo career which began with 1999’s Jalamanta (discussed here; also here) on Man’s Ruin, a full-length that continues to resonate and inform his soulful, funk-infused delivery to-date, and while so many others of Bjork‘s ilk, geographical cohort and generation have tried to distance themselves from a “stoner” tag, he’s made it a part of his aesthetic. Some might say an essential part, and it’s become a defining piece of the ultra-laid back, groove-ready persona he showcases throughout Europe ’16, which captures 12 tracks and 85 minutes of Brant Bjork on the road last year with The Low Desert Punk Band supporting his two studio albums for Napalm: 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here) — both of which, it’s worth noting, were of a similar leafy theme in terms of their artwork.

Is it fair, then, to think of Europe ’16 as the third in a trilogy of offerings for NapalmBjork has said openly that Tao of the Devil was the final studio outing on his contract for the Austrian imprint, and if one presumes a three-album deal, then it’s quite possible Europe ’16 is the farewell piece. If so, it marks a righteous summary of what Bjork has accomplished as a songwriter and performer over the last few years, returning to solo output after a successful run with Vista Chino following much tumult around touring as Kyuss Lives! and the also-Napalm-backed issue of 2013’s Peace (review here) offering with that band.

Highlighting cuts from Black Power Flower like “Controllers Destroyed,” the aforementioned mindset-setting opener “Buddha Time (Everything Fine)” and the later “Stokely up Now,” and even more from Tao of the Devil in “Humble Pie,” “Stackt,” “The Gree Heen,” as well as the later and more extended jams “Dave’s War/Dave’s Peace” (based on “Dave’s War” from the record) and “Biker No. 2,” Europe ’16 finds Bjork, guitarist Bubba DuPree (formerly of Void), bassist Dave Dinsmore (Ché) and drummer Ryan Güt at the proverbial top of their game in terms of chemistry, and of all the times Bjork could have issued a live album over the last decade-plus, it’s easy to hear why now would be an obvious choice.

brant bjork photo kip dawkins

Joined by guest vocalist Sean Wheeler in the second half of the set, this incarnation of Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band saunter through pieces from Bjork‘s substantial catalog like “Low Desert Punk” and “Lazy Bones/Automatic Fantastic” from Jalamanta, “Freaks of Nature” from 2007’s Somera Sól and “Let the Truth be Known” from 2005’s Saved by Magic, and while live albums rarely exist that don’t make the performing act come out on the positive side — that is, nobody wants to put out a shitty-sounding show — neither does Europe ’16 shy away from the rawer side of the band’s presentation, especially as regards Wheeler‘s vocals in “Biker No. 2” and “Freaks of Nature” and the natural movement and flow of the group’s jams, which unfold beginnings and endings organically here, sounding unretouched and all the more engaging for that. Whether or not it’s the last in a series of three, Europe ’16 is a document of an era in Bjork‘s career that has not only seen a rise in his profile, but resulted in some of the most memorable material he’s ever written.

To wit, songs like “Stackt” and “Humble Pie” not only stand up to the landmark riff of “Automatic Fantastic,” but they underscore the progression that’s played out over time and a span of 11 LPs in Bjork‘s approach, and by embracing a jammier vibe later in the set in “Dave’s War/Dave’s Peace,” “Biker No. 2,” “Freaks of Nature,” “Low Desert Punk” and “Let the Truth be Known,” which includes a finale take on the Rolling Stones‘ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” Europe ’16 sets an immersive trajectory that feels true to the live experience. Of course, there’s a big difference between watching a band onstage and soaking in an 85-minute live record, and the latter process is no minor undertaking, but even if one thinks of Europe ’16 as a fan piece, it more than earns its place in Bjork‘s catalog, and the poise with which the band handles its turns and the commanding presence of Bjork at the forefront speak to not only the well-earned maturity of his craft but a showmanship that a studio outing simply wouldn’t be able to bring into focus.

Not saying much in terms of stage banter throughout, the man himself gets on mic before the get-your-ass-stoned advising of “Let the Truth be Known” to thank Berlin specifically after several “dankeschön”s earlier on, and that brings to mind the relationship between desert rock and the EU heavy underground. There’s a bit of irony there, since the Palm Desert scene, as it was in the ’80s and early/mid ’90s and as its legacy has grown in the years since, is so much based on the Californian landscape and American suburban culture, but no question Bjork has become the key ambassador for that movement and for the unique creativity and sound those sands helped to foster.

He’ll head back abroad this fall (dates posted here) to mark the release of Europe ’16 and perhaps take a victory lap with The Low Desert Punk Band before moving on to other projects and ideas (or at least another outlet), but that stint, like this live album built from the last one, should only serve to reaffirm what Black Power Flower and Tao of the Devil continued to establish: that when it comes to desert rock, there’s only one Brant Bjork. Nobody else brings the same level of soul to their sound, the classic feel and the steadiness of vibe that he does, and on Europe ’16, some 17 years after first embarking on a solo career, he continues to show that in new and exciting ways.

Brant Bjork on Thee Facebooks

Brant Bjork website

Napalm Records website

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Brant Bjork Announces Europe ’16 Live Album & European Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 3rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

brant bjork

A Brant Bjork live record feels like a fairly obvious no-brainer. Am I wrong? Dude has been killing it the last few years (or decades, if you really want to put it in context) since putting together the Low Desert Punk Band and offering up the Black Power Flower (review here) and Tao of the Devil (review here) in 2014 and 2016, respectively, and anyone who’s seen him can tell you he absolutely owns every stage he steps on, so yeah, there’s just about no way a live album isn’t gonna work in this instance. It’s called Europe ’16, captures a set from Berlin, Germany, last year, and is out Sept. 22 via Napalm Records. Fair enough. Sold. Easy peasy.

To mark its arrival, Bjork and company — including steady guest vocalist Sean Wheeler — will head out on another European run this Fall. We kind of knew this was coming after he’d been confirmed for fests like Lake on Fire 2017 — which he’ll play next month as part of a shorter run of mostly-festival dates — Up in Smoke 2017 and Keep it Low 2017, but as always, confirmation is welcome, particularly alongside the news of the live release. He couldn’t stop piling up “fucking a” fodder if he tried.

From the social medias and the PR wire:

Brant Bjork – Europe ’16 & The Gree Heen Fall Tour

Welcome back the sweet scent of freedom. Breath in the greeheen! BRANT BJORK has come to revive your spirit: The Kyuss- and Fu Manchu legend has just announced his first live record ever!

From the opening guitar riff of “Europe ’16”, recorded in Berlin, one can sense the buzz of classic rock electricity that transcends into new spheres. This is controlled madness between trippy and doomy, groovy and sludgy!

Set for release September 22nd on Napalm Records, BRANT BJORK has now revealed the cover artwork and track list of his first and highly anticipated live record.

The track list reads as follows and will surely make every low desert punk heart beat faster:

1. Buddha Time
2. Controllers Destroyed
3. Humble Pie
4. Stakt
5. The Gree Heen
6. Lazy Bones-Automatic Fantastic
7. Stokely Up Now
8. Dave’s War-Dave’s Peace
9. Biker No. 2
10. Freaks Of Nature
11. Low Desert Punk
12. Let The Truth Be Known-Jumpin’ Jack Flash

“This record is live. Live records are ugly and they should be. When a band plays live, they let their hair down. Live is all that really matters. There are those moments in life when everything is ok and these are the moments when you are doing exactly what your here on the planet to do. You’re right where you are supposed to be with no shame, no fear, no regret, no envy, no hatred and no apology. I always say this band brings a feeling. The feeling is always primary and the sound, secondary. At least to me. In the book of Tao, there is a passage…”naming is the origin of all particular things”. I use here the term ugly to refer to my naming of my particular relationship with my soundscape. my my my. Why the term ugly? Because its the opposite of pretty. As the popular saying goes, “It is what it is”. As for my music, my band and this live record, I prefer to say, “it is what it isn’t”.” – Brant Bjork on Europe ’16.

Brant Bjork Aug. tour:
Aug 04 Los Almiros Festival, Almyros, Greece
Aug 05 Lake on Fire Waldhausen, Austria
Aug 06 A38 Budapest, Hungary
Aug 08 Sommer in Altona Hamburg, Germany
Aug 09 Universum Stuttgart, Germany
Aug 10 Bad Bonn Düdingen, Switzerland
Aug 12 FESTIVAL AREA DE LANGE MUNTE Kortrijk, Belgium
Aug 14 Palp Festival Rocklette Martigny, Switzerland

Brant Bjork, The Gree Heen Fall 2017 tour:
26.09.17 Stockholm | Debaser Strand
27.09.17 Stavanger | Folken
28.09.17 Oslo | John Dee
29.09.17 Gothenbourg | Sticky Fingers
30.09.17 Copenhagen | KB 18
01.10.17 Hamburg | Logo
02.10.17 Leipzig | UT Connewitz
03.10.17 Bielefeld | Forum
04.10.17 Amsterdam | Melkweg
05.10.17 Eindhoven | Effenaar
06.10.17 Pratteln | Up In Smoke
07.10.17 Aschaffenburg | Colossal
08.10.17 Brussels | Botanique
09.10.17 Rennes | Ubu
11.10.17 Bilbao | Kafe Antzokia
12.10.17 Porto | Cave 45
13.10.17 Lisbon | RCA Club
14.10.17 Madrid | Caracol
15.10.17 Barcelona | Bikini
16.10.17 Marseille | Jas Rod
17.10.17 Torino | Blah Blah
18.10.17 Ravenna | Bronson
19.10.17 Zagreb | Vintage Industrial Bar
20.10.17 Wien | Arena ( with Stoned Jesus + Beastmaker )
21.10.17 Munich | Keep It Low

Poster by: Pol Abran

https://www.facebook.com/BrantBjorkOfficial/
www.brantbjork.com
http://label.napalmrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Sound-of-Liberation-UG-183095098426785/

Brant Bjork, “The Gree Heen” official lyric video

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