I’ll admit I didn’t even know gritty Greek heavies Dala Sun had a new record coming until I looked them up on the YouzTubes and found they not only did, but that they had it up for free download from their website. Fancy that. Their new album, Gegenschein, follows their much-dug 2010 self-titled outing and is available sans charge in 320 kbps mp3 right here. Pretty good service for a Saturday, if you ask me.

About that: Last night was a frustrating end to a frustrating week. True, I capped a post-happy hour at the office by watching baseball and having a few more beers — more or less the ideal — but I’d missed lunch, was drunker than I wanted to be and wound up paying with a headache that, fortunately, did not last till the morning. I say that’s fortunate, even if it did cost me pouring out most of my last Palm. Always hate to see a good beer go down like that.

Anyhoo, today’s considerably less dire and Dala Sun‘s aptly-titled leadoff track, “Sludge Machine” fits perfectly with just the undercurrent of chill in the air this late Saturday afternoon. They’re part of the nebulous Greek collective of bands that goes by Spinalonga Records — their last album came in a package from Spinalonga, anyway — who are worth checking out at their website, what with the supporting good music in an up and coming scene and all. Spinalonga also put out the Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager compilation, which was reviewed last year. Lots of really interesting things happening in Greece, in more than just global economic terms.

So enjoy that cut, grab that record and support Dala Sun if and however you can. Stick around too next week, as Monday I’ll be giving away three copies of the new High on Fire record, De Vermis Mysteriis (review here). Throughout the week, we’ll also have a track premiere from Viaje a 800‘s long-awaited (by me, anyway) new album, and a full front-to-back stream of the new Hong Faux record, which is killer straightforward Swedish rock — right up my alley and hopefully yours too. I’ve got the new Saint Vitus record slated for a review on Monday, and it’ll be followed by Ararat and The Mound Builders as the week progresses, hopefully among others, and New Zealand doomers The House of Capricorn have sent back their answers to my Six Dumb Questions, so that’ll be posted as well, along with Mario Lalli‘s second column, which is awesome.

The Patient Mrs. is also in Portland, Oregon, this weekend (very much wish I was as well, but the money and the timing didn’t work out) and she might be headed to check out Mars Red Sky tonight. As she put it, she’d go, “Unless I get drunk early.” Love that woman. If she makes it, I might see if I can coax her into filing some special correspondence on it afterwards. We’ll see. Either way, lots of killer stuff to come as we wind down March.

That said, part of the reason this week was so frustrating was that there was so much going on. I mean, seriously, just look at this page. The two Truckfighters reviews, the Ufomammut premiere, the Wino Wednesday clip, the Lo-Pan video, the Tasha-Yar jam — not to mention that massive Ancestors review — all the way up to premiering the Snail video with that interview yesterday. Put it all together with the full-time job and the part-time job and it makes for a pretty intense week. I know I do it to myself, and I have no regrets, so whatever. But I don’t wonder why I’m tired as hell all the time either.

Oh wait, yeah I do. What a fool.

In any case, while I rest up, I wish you a wonderful and safe rest of the weekend. I’ll see you on the forum and back here Monday for more riff-led shenanigans.

Self-financed, self-produced and self-released (they also did the art), the semi-self-titled 2010 debut from Greek four-piece Dala Sun does nothing if it doesn’t stand on its own. Imbued with a spirit of hazy psychedelia, the fuzzy riffs of Harris and Byron (the latter who seems to have been replaced since by Hristos, or maybe that’s the other way around; the CD credits Byron with “prana,” the MySpace page lists Hristos on guitar, and the Facebook says they’re a three-piece), lead the way through the eight-plus tracks of engaging stoner fare on Sala Dun, shifting between songs from languid to upbeat pacing but always keeping in mind a simplistic feel, whatever noises and swirls and effects might crop up. The rhythm section of bassist Tolas and drummer Adreas feature prominently, particularly the former’s rich low end, which is rightly weighted in the mix and a big part of what gives Sala Dun their warmth. Song-wise, the material is straightforward enough to have an apparent structure, but loose-feeling and jammed out all the same. Harris handles the vocals and has a throaty but still clean approach that’s well suited to songs like “Fuck it Away” and the bluesier “I Have a Better Way.” He’s shouting, mostly, but with the overwhelming crest of the two guitars and bass behind him and the drums cutting through, his voice never really veers into the abrasive, and when he pulls back a bit into half-spoken proclamations, as on “In Evil,” the effect is a standout.

Sala Dun has several highlights, among them the helpful advice of “Fuck it Away” and the laid back opener, “Black Karmageddon” – which has that perfectly stoned ooze to its tonality – but the album doesn’t reveal its full charm until the sixth track, “Drunk.” With a sound that lives well up to its title, it finds Dala Sun (presumably drunkenly) singing the riff to introduce it before the song actually gets going, backed by Tolas’ bass. It’s a simple thing, and it doesn’t last long – just two measures, really – but the lack of pretense it shows, the willingness on the part of the band to not take what they do too seriously, does a lot of work in driving home the atmosphere and overall feel of Sala Dun, which is casual and fun, but still markedly heavy, like earliest Suplecs slowed down and dirtied up some. They also bring it back at the end of “Drunk” with some breaking-bottle noises for another four measures, to underscore the inevitable end of the good times. Coming off the more winding stonerisms of “Sala Dun Theme” and leading to the soft/heavy tradeoffs of “My Girl My Time,” “Drunk” is just right for its place on Sala Dun. The album has a few such moments, despite some songs being more memorable than others ultimately. The closer, “Electric Magician” hits six minutes in length thanks to a sample at the end and is the only song on Sala Dun to do so, so although they leave plenty of room in their material for an open feel, Dala Sun never completely fall prey to psychedelic indulgence. Listening back, to the leads that top the ending section of “I Have a Better Way,” I almost wish they would. Maybe just once.

Read more »