I literally dreamt last night that I got to see Masters of Reality. And what do I wake up to find on Blabbermouth but this press release which, semi-disappointingly, I wasn’t cool enough to get on the PR wire, containing an August 24 release date for the long awaited Pine/Cross Dover. From what I read below, it sounds like it’s going to be awesome. Oh, and in case you don’t make it all the way to the end (because it’s a long one), the new track “King Richard LTH” has been posted on the band’s MySpace page. I just listened to it. It’s very good.

Here’s the release:

Masters of Reality will release its long-awaited sixth studio album, Pine/Cross Dover, on August 24 via Brownhouse/Mascot Records.

Pine/Cross Dover was recorded at the Hacienda in North Hollywood, California and features guest appearances by Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian “Big Hands” O’Connor and guitarist Dave Catching, as well as former Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Brendon McNichol, among others.

Masters of Reality leader Chris Goss stated about Pine/Cross Dover, “I did a rock ‘n’ roll record this time — I was able to exorcise a lot of different styles of music that are really important in my life. And not just Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Beatles, or Black Sabbath. It’s a lot of everything on this record. But proud to say, not one acoustic guitar — it’s all electric and very rhythm-oriented.”

The album’s origins can be pinpointed to a simple question. “It was in 2008 that Ed van Zijl, who is the head of [Mascot Records], wrote and said, ‘Do you feel like doing another record?’ So after a long period of recording it finally is done and I’m proud of it.”

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You can make whatever sound comparisons or analogies you want, to my ears, the debut from Yawning Sons is principally two things. First: mesmerizing. Second: warm. The band is end result of a fortunate ocean-crossing collaboration between Californian desert rock legend Gary Arce of Yawning Man and the UK?s Sons of Alpha Centauri. Presumably they went with Yawning Sons because ?Arce & Sons? sounded too much like they were electricians. In any case, their debut, Ceremony to the Sunset, released by Australia?s Lexicon Devil, is seven cuts of mostly instrumental experimental post-rock psychedelic hypnosis, with guest vocal spots from Fatso Jetson?s Mario Lalli, Wendy Rae Fowler (Mark Lanegan Band) and Scott Reeder spread throughout to act as trail markers.

The story goes that Arce and the four-piece Sons of Alpha Centauri had never met before he flew to the UK to produce a record for them, but when he arrived they jammed and over the course of a week, wrote and recorded Ceremony to the Sunset instead. Not to say the narrative lacks plausibility (Arce himself recounts it in the liner notes), but if that?s how it went down, the chemistry between Arce and Sons of Alpha Centauri members Nick Hannon (bass), Marlon King (guitar), Stevie B. (drums) and Blake (textures) must have been immediate. Otherwise the project would?ve fallen flat entirely — or, more likely, it wouldn?t have happened in the first place — and the intricate melodies that permeate ?Tomahawk Watercress? and closer ?Japanese Garden? would have nowhere near as much power as they do. Ceremony to the Sunset is a patient album, but it feels fast, spontaneous and exciting, striking a rare balance.

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Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama have put up a new video of them recording at perennial badass Scott Reeder‘s studio, The Sanctuary. Their new album is reportedly due in September. The jury is still out on whether or not it will feature any songs about King Platypus, but here’s the clip:

The truth is, I’ve always seen a resemblance between former Kyuss and Fu Manchu drummer, main Ch? songwriter and current bandleader of The Bros, Brant Bjork and Kung Fu star and noted Scientologist, David Carradine (note: that’s not true at all). As such, it’s only fitting that over at playthisriff.com, Bjork should be showing off how to play some of his best solo tunes, including “Dr. Special,” “Let the Truth Be Known,” “Low Desert Punk,” my personal favorite “Too Many Chiefs” and “Turn Yourself On.” He also gives a drum lesson for any of you percussive types out there. Yeah, you have to pay for the videos, but there’s a depression on and it’s been statistically shown that spending money on Brant Bjork-related items (even if virtual) is one of the best stimuli for economic recovery.

And while you’re paying for lessons from former members of Kyuss, there’s also a couple Nick Oliveri videos up there, including “Gonna Leave You” from Queens of the Stone Age‘s Songs for the Deaf. And if that’s not enough, there’s Fu Manchu, Pelican, Mike Watt, Helmet and a couple other, far less useful, far trendier bands. You can see for yourself by clicking the link.

Get schooled:

Okay. Fact is this: There was just about no way I was going to approach this album with anything even closely resembling objectivity after a first listen confirmed the track “King Platypus” was indeed about what the title advertised. So Dali’s Llama is a desert rock trio from Palm Springs produced by Scott Reeder (The Obsessed, Kyuss, Goatsnake, etc.) who are actually singing about protecting the habitat of wild platipi? “Leave king platypus alone.” Fuckin’ sold — what else ya got?

As the back cover of Dali’s Llama‘s Full on Dunes (Dali’s Llama Records), shown right, demonstrates, the band’s second album is almost entirely free of pretense. Zach and Erica Huskey (guitar/vocals and bass, respectively) and Jeff Howe (drums) rock with a “What you see is what you get” mentality, setting an expectation for high-end desert/stoner grooves and making good across the nine tracks that comprise the offering. There are elements of post-punk, but the simplicity of the band’s driving, groove-centric scope is the factor that carries the all-endearing approach across so well.

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It’s vaguely correct to call El Nuevo Orden de la Libertad, the new album by Argentina free rockers Los Natas a return to form. Their third offering for Small Stone, it sees a resurgence of the kind of catchy desert riffing that permeated early works like 1999’s Ciudad de Brahman and their classic 1996 debut, Delmar (both albums were on Man’s Ruin), but if a decade has passed since those days, it has brought changes with it that manifest themselves, as ever, unexpectedly on this striking new collection of songs.

Los Natas is not a young band anymore. Depending on whether you count the likes of Unreleased Dopes and M?nchen Sessions as separate full-lengths, El Nuevo Orden de la Libertad marks upwards of nine LPs over the course of a 16-year existence that has also brought forth numerous EPs, 7″s and splits with the likes of Dragonauta, Viaje a 800 and most recently Solodolor. Their creativity is unbridled on this newest album, but it’s also tempered with a maturity presenting itself in tighter songcraft than on their last studio offering, 2006’s El Hombre Monta?a.

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Tide yourself over to the end of the week with some live Fu Manchu. After taking on the solemn duty of checking out near every Fu video on YouTube, I decided this clip of “Evil Eye” from 1997’s The Action is Go kicked more than sufficient ass. The video itself seems newer than ’97 (can’t tell if that’s Brant Bjork back there or not, but I think not), but it rules anyway. Filmed live at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC. Things are looking pretty doomy around here as far as the next couple days’ worth of reviews go, so I thought this might brighten the mood a bit. I swear every time I see Scott Hill he’s wearing horizontal stripes…

Considering the sheer awfulness that was last week — losing my job, etc. — I figured best to start this Monday off right with something that kicks extra ass, and I’m sorry, but other than the concert that became Black Sabbath‘s Paris 1970 bootleg happening in my living room, this is about the coolest shit I could come up with. Kyuss playing “Gardenia” at a generator party in the desert in 1993. Note the shaky cam and how the guy shooting keeps panning over to get closeups of girls in the crowd. I can’t really blame him; there’s nothing quite as awesome as a lady into Kyuss. Enjoy the vid, and when you’re done, there are a couple others up on YouTube. Just search for “kyuss desert” and they’ll be right there.