Under general circumstances, I wouldn’t call good albums being re-pressed news. If I did, this site wouldn’t have room for anything else. But as Heavy Psych Sounds brings the first two Los Natas albums, 1996’s Delmar (discussed here) and 1999’s Ciudad de Brahman (discussed here), back for a new pressing, the only insight I really have to provide is they shouldn’t ever be out of print in the first place.

Mind you, I don’t think they were. The point is Delmar and Ciudad de Brahman are two of the most essential desert rock records since the inception of the genre, and in 1996, the Argentinian trio were pretty much there at said inception. Delmar is the single album I use as an example of tonal warmth. It shoves like classic motorcycle engines and dares to be both loving and sweet at the same time; it is nothing less than a model of non-toxic masculinity wrapped in gorgeous and nearly-30-years-later-it-sure-seems-timeless fuzz.

Ciudad de Brahman, as the follow-up to this landmark debut, stands among the finest South American heavy rock albums ever made. Los Natas — then called Natas — were more directed, and they had clearly learned lessons from the first album. The songs were able to range further into desert psych, but the crunch that would take hold in their riffing and become characteristic as they continued forward was already there in the Man’s Ruin-released sophomore strut. I’ve gone on record on more than one occasion saying that, desert-island scenario, I’ll take Los Natas over Kyuss every time. These records are a huge factor in that.

I’m not here to sell you vinyl, and frankly, Heavy Psych Sounds does just fine in the promo department without my run-on-sentence-producing, so-much-needless-hyphenation ass muddying the waters of narrative. As of this writing, I don’t even know the details of these new pressings — the color of the vinyl, etc. — but I do know that no self-respecting desert rock house can call itself a home without these two providing comfort in the winter. Whether you’re in for “Trilogia” and “Alberto Migre” or “Carl Sagan” and “Tufi Meme,” as long as this is where you end up, there’s no wrong way to go except not going.

And right now I’m especially talking to younger listeners. Folks in your 20s, early 30s, if you’re out there and you don’t know these through simple generational crack-slipping, please know that you’ll be welcomed by the songs and you’re not late, you’re right on time for you. For older heads, who already know them and have lived with the material, I likely don’t have to say a word. Just know that my own revisit to them this week has been satisfying enough that I’ve now just spent 500 words gushing in a news post about what boils down to a record label filling out an order form and getting the mail. No regrets, if you’re wondering.

My genuine hope is that by the time I publish this, I have both received pressing information for the latest editions of Delmar and Ciudad de Brahman and remembered to cut and paste that in blue below. I have to acknowledge, the double-caveat there make it seems like a toughy. But even if this goes live with just some art, a curiously-placed “pl,” links and audio, the point is the music. In light of that, thanks all the more for reading.

Enjoy:

Heavy Psych Sounds Records&Booking is really proud to start the presale of 2 NEW REPRESSES

HPS373 *** LOS NATAS – Delmar ***
– REPRESS of the Los Natas legendary debut album in brand new coloured versions –

WORLD PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS373
USA SHOP:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm#HPS373

We are stoked to announce that Heavy Psych Sounds Records will repress the entire catalogue of the South American stoner legends LOS NATAS !!

Today we start the presale of the band’s legendary debut album DELMAR repressed in brand new coloured vinyls !!

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 31st

RELEASED IN
15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD SIDE A – SIDE B YELLOW/RED/BLACK SPLATTER VINYL
250 LTD ORANGE SOLID VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Samurai – 5:04
1980 – 2:38
Trilogia – 5:41
I Love You – 5:28
Soma – 6:44
SIDE B
Mux Cortoi – 2:55
Delmar – 4:04
Windblows – 4:55
El Negro – 5:36
Alberto Migre – 6:16

ALBUM DESCRIPTION

REISSUE of the legendary debut album in brand new coloured vinyls.

Delmar is the debut album of Argentine stoner rock band, Los Natas, released in 1998 under the legendary Man’s Ruin Records. This material was first released in 1996, on cassette, an independent edition the band put out containing eight tracks.

It’s a highly regarded stoner rock album, a masterpiece within the genre. It’s praised for its heavy riffs, beautiful melodies, and overall atmosphere. Fans appreciate its calming, meditative qualities, making it a great choice for relaxation and reflection.

HPS374 *** LOS NATAS – Ciudad De Brahman ***
– REPRESS of the Los Natas legendary sophomore album in brand new coloured versions –

Ciudad de Brahman
WORLD PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS374
USA SHOP:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm#HPS374

Today we also start the presale of the LOS NATAS sophomore album CIUDAD DE BRAHMAN repressed in brand new coloured vinyls !!

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 31st

RELEASED IN
15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD YELLOW TRANSP. BACK. SPLATTER IN BLUE-RED VINYL
250 CYAN BLUE VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK

TRACKLIST

SIDE A
Carl Sagan – 3:42
Meteoro 2028 – 4:32
Tufi Meme – 5:56
La Ciudad De Brahman – 4:54
Siluettle – 2:14
Brisa Del Desierto – 2:09
Paradise – 4:12
SIDE B
Alohawaii – 4:18
Adolescentes – 4:25
999 – 1:58
Resplandor – 3:01
Rutation – 3:06
Polvareda – 3:44
Nadha – 3:03

ALBUM DESCRIPTION

REISSUE of the band’s sophomore album in brand new coloured vinyls.

“Ciudad de Brahman” is the second album by Argentinian stoner rock band Los Natas, released in 1999. It’s considered a landmark album in their discography and a key release in the South American stoner rock scene. The album is praised for its blend of stoner rock with psychedelic, progressive, and space rock elements. Reviews often highlight the album’s instrumental passages, trippy atmosphere, and the band’s unique sound.

LOS NATAS was
SERGIO CHOTSOURIAN (guitar & vocals)
WALTER BROIDE (drums)
GONZALO VILLAGRA (bass)
and
JOSE “EL TOPO” ARMETTA (vocals)
CLAUDIO FILADORO (bass)
MIGUEL FERNANDEZ (bass)

https://los-natas.flashcookie.com/
https://sasrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/losnatas_official/
https://www.facebook.com/LOSNATAS/

https://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Natas, Delmar (1996)

Natas, Ciudad de Brahman (1999)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before from this site (yes, you absolutely have, and more than once), but Natas‘ Delmar is a special album. The standard comparison I make is I would not trade the songs on this record for all the Kyusses who ever walked the earth, and any chance to hear any part of it is only something I find makes my day better. Every time.

I have a profound association with the album and its centerpiece, “Soma,” from the time I spent working in New York City at Metal Maniacs magazine, when such a thing existed. This was 2007-2008. I commuted by train from the Denville stop in NJ and the trip into Penn Station was well over an hour each way. But for the fact that nearly every penny I made at the gig went to the cost of traveling to and from it, and the loss of four hours of my daily life on the door-to-door, and the fact that the company that owned Maniacs was clueless about the value of the property, that fucking girl in the office with no indoor voice, the shitty jam bands that the other/bigger mag played on the office stereo, the fact that going to shows required going home first then returning to the city by car, and the generally oppressive nature of NYC on general, it wasn’t a terrible job. I continue to have nothing but love for Liz Ciavarella-Brenner, the editor with whom I worked most directly in the office.

On the whole, however, it was a situation that required one to take solace where and when possible. Delmar was a means by which I did exactly that. Every morning I put Natas on my portable CD player and listened through my Bose noise-canceling headphones (since deceased) and it allowed just the right amount of morning escape my probably-hungover self needed. I loved the record before that, but there was a bond formed on that train ride and it has lasted longer than that job, the magazine, or, really, print media itself. I continue to hold it in a regard I hold few full-length albums.

New video for “Soma,” you say? First official video ever from Delmar to honor the next re-press of the 2018 reissue through Argonauta Records, you say? Yes, obviously I’m going to post that.

Enjoy:

Natas, “Soma” official video

VIDEO OFICIAL DEL DISCO DE LOS NATAS – “DELMAR”
PRODUCIDO POR PICHON DALPONT VIDEO
REALIZADO POR SERGIO CH.

LOS NATAS is a trio formed during 1994 in Buenos Aires/Argentina. Their musical influences are numerous and varied, having the base of the raw and psychedelic sound of 1970s bands such as The Doors, Black Sabbath, The Who, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, among others. Los Natas propose a journey made of basic elements: valvular equipment and vintage instruments, they incorporate the use of the senses and perception of the listener as a part of a sonic trip.

They make music that changes constantly, supported by long jams that give them a different meaning every time they execute them having that way a sense of freedom in the way of interpreting the sounds, making this experience extremely related to the sensations that both the musicians and the audience receive every time a show begins. This is the essence of what people knows today as Stoner Rock.

Los Natas on Thee Facebooks

Los Natas website

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records on Instagram

I wholeheartedly feel like it is to the benefit of everyone everywhere that these two records stay in print for as long as possible. Especially if you haven’t heard them before, they’re absolutely essential, both for sheer listening and for educational value. Especially now that we’re a full decade removed from their last proper studio album — there have been a couple collections since then, but nothing new — it seems like their contributions to heavy rock are in danger of being forgotten in place of an easy “it all came from California” narrative that’s taken hold. Not only for their influence in South America, but across Europe and the US as well, and for the continuing quality of these records, they’re just gotta-have. Both of them.

So get both.

That’s my take.

Info and links follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

LOS NATAS announce album re-issues with Argonauta Records!

Argentinian psychedelic rock trio LOS NATAS has announced a batch of album reissues with powerhouse label Argonauta Records! The band’s first and critically acclaimed debut album, Delmar, originally released in 1998, has sold out every single copy to date. Argonauta Records is proud to reissue LOS NATAS’ pathbreaking album in a second repress, coming in exciting Vinyl editions and remastered from the original tapes, on the 28th of June 2019!

Following up to the successful release of their ’98-full length debut, a year later LOS NATAS released their second studio album, Ciudad De Braham. Still featuring the original master by Dale Crover, Argonauta Records will be as well re-releasing Ciudad De Braham in a first repress since 1999!

Says vocalist & guitarist Sergio: „Since I met Gero and all the Argonauta Records crew I instantly felt them as family, and being part of something bigger than you, in any music and artwork experience, feels great and like home. I think we share a common truth, we have never done this for the reward or the recognition of the crowd, we always did it as a necessary way to keep our demons out, and also to share our joys and personal wars with other people.

20 years later here we are, re-printing our two first albums ever, with this great crew delivering premium quality LP vinyl and CD to the world. Its a true fact and reality we could have never dreamed of when we were kids, just delivering heavy riffs and deep trips into soundscapes. Hope you all enjoy these great releases and being part of our family too, and keep on sharing it with you people as well. From Argentina I personally wish you the best. Just for today let your past behind, let your mind enjoy the little nice things, let you spirit shine with the ones you love and care.“

Delmar tracklist:
1. Samurai
2. 1980
3. Trilogia
4. I Love You
5. Soma
6. Mux Cortoi
7. Delmar
8. Windblows
9. El Negro
10. Alberto Migre

Ciudad De Braham tracklist:
1. Carl Sagan
2. Meteoro 2028
3. Tufi Meme
4. La Ciudad De Braham
5. Siluettle
6. Brisa Del Disierto
7. Paradise
8. Alohawaii
9. Adolescentes
10. 999
11. El Resplandor
12. Rutation
13. Polvaredo
14. Nadha

Formed during 1994 in Buenos Aires, LOS NATAS various musical influences draw from the base of the raw and psychedelic sounds of 70’s bands such as The Doors, Black Sabbath, The Who, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind among many others. LOS NATAS take us on a journey made of basic elements: vintage instruments and equipment to diverse, laid-back and groovy songwriting skills, while the band incorporates the use of the senses and perception of the listener to be part of a sonic trip.

LOS NATAS creates music that changes constantly, dedicated to long and intense jams that give their sound a different meaning and magic every time they execute them, with a sense of freedom in the way of interpreting their tunes, making this experience extremely related to the sensations that both the musicians and the audience receive every time a show begins. LOS NATAS is the pure essence of what should became and titled Stoner Rock.

Mark your calendars, when Argonauta Records will reissue both first albums by LOS NATAS in new and stunning LP + CD editions June 28th! The pre-order for both records, which belong in every well-sorted psych and heavy rock record collection, has just started at: www.argonautarecords.com/los-natas-announce-album-re-issues/

https://www.facebook.com/LOSNATAS/
https://twitter.com/LOSNATASTWITER
www.natasrock.com
www.argonautarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://twitter.com/argonautarex
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

Natas, Delmar (1998)

Natas, Ciudad de Brahman (1999)

Be still, my beating heart. If you’ve been hanging around here for any length of time — longtime, shorttime, hardy any time at all — then you’re probably already aware of my feelings about Natas‘ 1998 debut album Delmar. One of the best records ever released. Period. Whether you’re talking desert rock. Heavy psych. Stoner rock. Heavy rock and roll. Whatever it is, that record is just unbelievable, and 20 years after its issue, it still in my opinion holds up to everything that’s come along since, from the trio’s native Argentina or anywhere else for that matter. It’s that fucking good. Actually, it’s better than that.

If you’re wondering why I might be so stoked on the prospect of a reissue of a record that — though it’s been out of print for some time — rest assured, I already own multiple copies of, first I’ll say: are you kidding? It’s another space on my shelf that can be taken up by Delmar and that’s an automatic win. Second, with Argonauta Records behind the reissue, the album has been fully remastered, and I feel like it’s a record I know well enough that I might actually be able to tell the difference from one version to the next, rather than just pretend I can like everyone does all the time. So yeah, way stoked.

More to come. Here’s word from the PR wire:

We’re beyond excited to announce that legendary LOS NATAS are now part of Argonauta Records family!

LOS NATAS is a trio formed during 1994 in Buenos Aires/Argentina. Their musical influences are numerous and varied, having the base of the raw and psychedelic sound of 1970s bands such as The Doors, Black Sabbath, The Who, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, among others. Los Natas propose a journey made of basic elements: valvular equipment and vintage instruments, they incorporate the use of the senses and perception of the listener as a part of a sonic trip.

They make music that changes constantly, supported by long jams that give them a different meaning every time they execute them having that way a sense of freedom in the way of interpreting the sounds, making this experience extremely related to the sensations that both the musicians and the audience receive every time a show begins. This is the essence of what people knows today as Stoner Rock.

LOS NATAS historical debut album DELMAR will see again the light during 2018 on CD and LP via ARGONAUTA Records, remastered edition from the original tapes.

More details to follow soon.

https://www.facebook.com/LOSNATAS/
https://twitter.com/LOSNATASTWITER
www.natasrock.com
www.argonautarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://twitter.com/argonautarex
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

Natas, Delmar (1998)

Natas, Delmar (1996)

I know there are those who swing other ways when it comes to Natas, the formative Argentinian desert rockers who’d later add a Los to the front of their name, but to my ears, their debut Delmar is one of the most gorgeous albums I’ve ever heard. Seriously. I have affection for that record over most. If you’re more into the second one, Ciudad de Brahman, or maybe Corsario Negro or something they did thereafter, that’s awesome too. I’m certainly on board for the whole discography — my most recent welcome addition was the Rutation collection of previously unreleased material — but tonight, with how sweltering hot it’s been all day, it had to be Delmar to close out the week. It’s like I can hear the heat bearing down on me. Or maybe that’s sunstroke.

My alarm was set for 5 this morning, but I woke up at 4:57AM and agonized for two minutes before preempting it at 4:59. I wanted to get to work early in no small part to post the Carpet review and that interview with Steve Janiak from Devil to Pay. No regrets, but holy fucking shit I’m tired. At noon, The Patient Mrs. — who was coming up to Boston anyway to attend a wedding tonight — met me at my office and we split out to try to beat traffic northbound. Six-plus hours of traffic and intermittently cutting out A/C later, the little dog and I checked into the hotel where we’re staying after dropping The Patient Mrs. off at the aforementioned nuptials. I was tired then. Then I went and saw Hey Zeus, The Scimitar and The Brought Low at Radio. I’m even more tired now as we push toward 1:30AM. Go figure.

Next week though, a review of that show — spoiler alert: it was killer — and writeups on the new Trouble, The Flying Eyes and Black Willows records, one way or another. Also want to get something up on the Black Mare tape which is a solo-project from Sera Timms of Black Math Horseman and Ides of Gemini that’s ambientastic. Also a Lo-Pan check-in with drummer Jesse Bartz (always good to talk to him) ahead of next weekend’s The Eye of the Stoned Goat 3 in Brooklyn and I’m gonna put this one all in bold because I want it to stand out so someone might actually read it:

There’s a big surprise coming on Tuesday. I can’t say what it is yet but I think and hope you’ll dig it. Nothing’s ever 100 percent and things fall through, but I’m way stoked.

Speaking of things falling through, my housing plans. While we’re in Boston anyway, since we’re moving to Massachusetts in, oh, a week and a half, maybe it’s high time The Patient Mrs. and I found a place to live. After that house we were going to buy shit the proverbial bed — or at least poisoned it with carcinogenic gasoline additives — we now need to find a rental, and quick. Tomorrow’s the day. The truck and the movers are booked for next weekend. It’s tomorrow or it’s… well, Sunday, I guess. But definitely tomorrow’s preferable. The sooner the better.

So while we’re doing that, I hope like crazy you have a safe, terrific weekend. I’ll be back on Monday with more typo-laden riff worship.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Thought we’d do something a little different to close out this week. For my money, Natas‘ Delmar is probably the best album Man’s Ruin Records ever put out, and not to take away from what Kyuss accomplished — you could easily argue records like this wouldn’t exist without them and I don’t think you’d be wrong — but there have been many times where it’s one or the other and I wind up pulling Natas off the shelf instead. A full 16 years after its release, it remains gorgeous and has lost none of its potency.

The Patient Mrs. and I are in Boston for the weekend, which seems even farther away from the desert as I look out the hotel window and see it’s snowing, but I brought Delmar along for the ride and so it’s on my mind. No big change there, since it’s on the shortlist of my favorite albums ever, but with a couple listens through yesterday in the car, I figured another wouldn’t hurt. Still burns me that I haven’t been able to get ahold of the last Los Natas full-length, Rutation, that they released last year. With the band broken up though, what seems like distro only in their native Argentina and guitarist/vocalist Sergio Chotsourian moved on to the heavier but continually righteous Ararat — their second album, II (review here), has endured as one of this year’s finest — it doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon. Hopefully I’ll bump into it somewhere along the way.

A bit about being in Boston: I’m moving here. Well, not here exactly, but about 45 minutes south to or near a town called Bridgewater. My brilliant wife — whose smokin’ hotness is matched only by her devastating intellectual prowess — got a professor’s gig at a college down that way that starts next fall, and as this weekend was likely to be my last opportunity to see the place before the holidays hit and the usual chaos erupted, here we are. We’ll drive down there in a bit and the basic idea is to check out the scene ahead of making the move sometime next summer, though apparently there’s a house on the market with an outdoor bar, which is about as close as I’ve ever heard to paradise.

That’s the reason for the delay on the review of the High on Fire/Goatwhore/Primate/Lo-Pan show, which otherwise would’ve gone up yesterday. I also saw Six Organs of Admittance last night up here, figuring they rule and if I’m gonna be here I’d better start getting out to stuff. Both of those reviews will go up early next week, and as I’ve lagged on album writeups lately, I might see if I can do two one day or something like that. I also still need to get that Bell Witch interview up, which I said I’d do this week and then never did. A bit of upheaval over here, and more time than I thought got taken up by adding to The Obelisk Radio. If you click that link and notice albums haven’t been added for two days, it’s only because — whoops — I filled the hard drive. My intent is to pick up a couple terabytes this weekend and get back to it as this week starts up, Monday or Tuesday.

Speaking of Monday, it’s December now, which means time to start the readers poll to find out everyone’s picks for the best albums of the year. Last year’s poll was good times and I’ve been looking forward to seeing what records stood out to everybody. My own list I’ll probably put up somewhere in the middle of the month — just when everyone’s really sick to death of self-important critics’ top 10s and 20s — and I know there are some tough choices in terms of deciding what’s to be included and in what order. It’s been a pretty wild year.

And as it starts to wind down, I hope as always that you enjoy what I’m doing with this site, that you dig the Natas, that you check in on the forum, take a listen to the Obelisk Radio stream and check back here for that High on Fire review, readers poll launch and much more. The one thing that never seems to be lacking is adventure. I’ll take that.

Have a great weekend.