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This one’s a couple minutes shorter than the last few have been, but lacks nothing for substance, and particularly after YOB‘s “Marrow,” anything I put at the end would’ve just been filler to meet some imaginary obligation on my part. If you feel like you’re lacking the four minutes, give me a call and we’ll chat about records for the rest of that time. It’ll be a hoot. In any case, I think there’s plenty here to sink into — stuff that for a lot of people, myself included, will be on year-end lists and albums for which 2014 will be remembered when all is said and done. Two of my four current contenders for Album of the Year are featured, first and last.

Parts of this podcast are gorgeous, parts are ugly, but I think everything here holds up in terms of quality and listening back, I like the way this one gets immersive with a mix of longer tracks and shorter ones, slower and faster, etc. As always, I hope you enjoy, and I thank you sincerely for taking the time to check it out.

First Hour:
Lo-Pan, “Regulus” from Colossus (2014)
Steak, “Liquid Gold” from Slab City (2014)
The Well, “Mortal Bones” from Samsara (2014)
Orange Goblin, “The Devil’s Whip” from Back from the Abyss (2014)
Kvlthammer, “Hesh Trip” from Kvlthammer (2014)
Snailking, “To Wonder” from Storm (2014)
Earth, “From the Zodiacal Light” from Primitive and Deadly (2014)
Pallbearer, “Watcher in the Dark” from Foundations of Burden (2014)
Sorxe, “Her Majesty” from Surrounded by Shadows (2014)

Second Hour:
Humo del Cairo, “Tres” from Preludio EP (2014)
Joy, “Miles Away” from Under the Spell Of… (2014)
Megaton Leviathan, “Past 21” from Past 21: Beyond the Arctic Cell (2014)
Bong, “Blue at Noon” from Haikai No Ku – Ultra High Dimensionality LP (2014)
YOB, “Marrow” from Clearing the Path to Ascend (2014)

Total running time: 1:53:47

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 039

I have more questions than I have answers about Humo del Cairo‘s next outing. The Buenos Aires trio’s first release since 2012’s excellent Vol. II full-length (review here) will be an EP called Preludio. Near as I can tell and going by what I was told, it’s the beginning point for a trilogy of shorter releases they’re putting out, presumably instead of a third full-length. I know Preludio is out Aug. 9 and that they’ll play a show that night in Buenos Aires with Bandera de Niebla and Bhutan. I don’t know if all three EPs are written and/or recorded, or if there’s a unifying theme running through them that’s furthered through this method of releasing, or a story being told. I don’t know if the art I have for it is the final cover. I don’t know how soon the next installment of the trilogy will be out, if there’s a regular schedule for them or not. I don’t know what Preludio might be the prelude to.

Basically, what I’ve got to go on is that they’re putting the EPs out themselves through a new imprint called Errantes and a minute of music included in the teaser video for Preludio below. For anyone who remembers Vol. II or their preceding 2009 self-titled, which MeteorCity picked up for reissue in 2010 (review here), that’s probably enough to go on, the band’s desert rock style beefed up through heavier tones and enough of a languid psychedelia to add character to the groove. The clip — no, I don’t know what song it features — seems to showcase even weightier riffing, but of course it’s just one snippet of what’s no doubt a diverse short release. And the first of three.

No substitute for keeping people guessing. I’ll look forward to finding out more about Preludio and its two follow-ups, and of course will keep you in the loop with what I know when I know it. Till then, enjoy the teaser below:

Humo del Cairo, EP 1 Preludio trailer

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Humo del Cairo on SoundCloud