Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Right on, second edition of Rhüne Mountain Festival. The Ontario-based festival — a mere six and a half hours by car from my home; yes, I looked — has made its second or third or 14th lineup announcement what are numbers anyway who knows how they work?, and brought with it affirmation of a good and heavy time. Ian Blurton’s Future Now, Gozu, WyndRider and Biblical feature in the new round of adds, but they’re already joined by Dopethrone, Sons of Arrakis, Greece’s Acid Mammoth, Sons of Otis, Ecstatic Vision and others, making the whole so-far lineup for the three-day event something of a monster with more apparently to come. Anytime Sons of Otis do just about anything, anywhere, it’s worth hoping someone gets video. Canadia’s ultrastoner pioneers remain undersung in my mind, and the more humans they flatten in-person the better to rectify that.
That’s not to dicsount Indian Handcrafts, Doomboyz or R.I.P. and The Death Wheelers — labelmates who, if they’re touring together, would make for the most attitude-soaked one-two punch of your show-going year — as there’s certainly more than one angle in terms of appeal. I’ll do my best to keep an eye for the next round of ads, but I’d been seeing the poster around and that’s a logo that’s gonna catch your eye, so when it came down the PR wire, well, you know the rest.
Poster rules, by the way:
Rhüne Mountain Festival Announces Next Wave Of Bands
With only a few short months to go until launch, Rhüne Mountain Festival has today unveiled the next wave of bands confirmed to play the festival. In addition to the already-announced artists, today the festival confirms that R.I.P., DOOMBOYZ, GOZU, IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW, BIBLICAL AND WYNDRIDER will all perform.
Set to take place on June 26-28th in Dunnville Ontario, Rhüne Mountain Festival is set to become the premiere destination for the doom/stoner rock scene in North America.
The line-up so far is: DOPETHRONE SONS OF ARRAKIS INDIAN HANDCRAFTS ECSTATIC VISION ACID MAMMOTH THE DEATH WHEELERS SONS OF OTIS R.I.P. DOOMBOYZ GOZU IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW BIBLICAL WYNDRIDER.
Posted in Reviews on December 10th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Day two. I mean, it’s work in the sense of it takes effort to put together these posts and structure thoughts into hopefully somewhat coherent sentences, etc., but at this point the Quarterly Review is a pretty important tool for me to hear records that, generally once I hear them, I feel like I want to be covering. Sometimes the intensity of that feeling varies; there are things that don’t “fit” with the stoner-and-doom adjacent foundations of what this site does, but the format allows for that flexibility as well, and I credit the QR for helping broaden the perspective of the site as a whole and making me push my own boundaries.
Admittedly, the trade for covering so much — 50 records in five days is a lot, if it needs to be said — is that I can’t always get as deep as I otherwise might, but as I’ve said before, the fact is that I’m one person, and if writing about a lot of this stuff didn’t happen in this way, it probably wouldn’t happen at all. It’s still never going to be everything I want to cover, but doing it this was is often more suited to the subject at hand than a longform writeup would be, it gives me a chance to explore, it’s a consistently challenging undertaking on multiple levels, and it’s satisfying like little else around here when you’re on the other end of one and immediately start building the next.
I’m not entirely sure why I felt the need right there to justify the existence of the entire Quarterly Review thing as a part of this site. If you care, thanks. If not, I can only call that understandable. Thanks for seeing this sentence and whatever you came here for anyway.
We march on, into day two.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
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Fuzz Sagrado, Cold Remains
As Christian Peters has gradually embraced his inner rocker over the last couple years with Fuzz Sagrado, rediscovering the sacredness of tone, if you will, and using an expanded palette of synth and keyboards to build on the project’s beginnings while tying it together with his prior outfit, the heavy psych rockers Samsara Blues Experiment, it’s fascinating how much the respective personalities of the two acts still shine through. On Cold Remains, along with the new song “Snowchild” that leads off, Peters showcases three until-now lost pieces that have their origins in his former band but were never released: “Cold Remains,” a grim-lyric title-track given due heft of low end, the short “Morphine Prayer,” which intertwines acoustic strum and electric leads and drops the drums for an even more open feel, and “Neurotic Nirvana,” which clues you into the grunge of its central riff in the title but stretches outward from there across six minutes with particular bliss in the solo for a hopeful second half. It sounds like reconciliation, and in that, it fits well with the ongoing growth of Peters‘ Brazilian period.
From the punkish opening shove of “Rat Race” and “Manic Street Ballet,” 24/7 Diva Heaven‘s second full-length for Noisolution, Gift, unfolds a style that’s both raw and dense enough to carry a heavy groove, straightforward but nuanced in craft and threaded through with attitude born out of ’90s-era riot grrrl noise rock, but able to temper that somewhat with a mellower, more melodic rocker like “Crown of Creation” — some influence from The Donnas, maybe? — before the sharp-edged intensity of “Face Down” and the thrust of “These Days” precede the centerpiece title-track’s quiet-grunge trading off with careening, hard-hitting punk rock in a way that works. No worries, as “L.O.V.E. Forever” and the Godsleep-esque aggro-rocker “Suck it Up” follow at what might be the start of side B, with a highlight bassy groove in the QOTSA-meets-Nirvana catchy “Born to Get Bored,” staying in a heavy rock modus but nonetheless faster and kind of threatening to throw a punch in “Flawless Fool,” the piano-led “Nothing Lasts” capping with duly wistful minimalism. Killer. It’s 11 tracks in 32 minutes, wastes zero of its own or your time, and has something to say both in sound and its lyrics. This band should be on all the festivals.
Holy smokes that’s a vibe. Even at its most active — which would be “Grey Smoke,” if you want specifics — the heavygaze-adjacent psych blues rock of Germany’s Mount Hush holds an encompassing sense of atmosphere, and while cuts like “All I See” or the smokey “Blues for the Dead” can trace some of what they do to the likes of All Them Witches, Queens of the Stone Age, Colour Haze, and so on, the material is inventive, unrushed and explores outward from a solid foundation of craft, leaning perhaps deepest into psych on “Celestial Eyes,” featuring a classy bit of flute in the penultimate “54” and going big in melody and tone for the finishing move in “Blood Red Sky,” working in Eastern scales for a meditative feel while staying loyal to its own distortion and post-Uncle Acid swing; one more part of the not-slapdash pastiche Mount Hush build as they take a marked breadth of influence, melt it down and shape something of their own from it. Gorgeously. Flowing with grace at no expense to the impact, II is a striking and forward looking point of arrival waiting to be caught up to. This is a band I’m glad to have heard, even before you get to the RPG.
Wherever you’re headed, Luna Sol are ready to meet you there. David Angstrom — also of Hermano — leads the bluesy heavy rockers with a slew of choice, family-style cuts. Granted, with 15 tracks and more than 50 minutes of material, there’s room to move around a bit, but whether it’s the Leaf Hound cover “Freelance Fiend” or Mountain‘s “Never in My Life” or the delay-laced verses of not-a-cover “Surrounded by Thieves” later on, Vita Mors offers both scope and craft around the heavy blues framework. That can get a little meaner tonally in “Watch Our Skeletons Die” or fuzzily back a bouncing groove on “I’ll Be Your One,” and the songs will remain united through Angstrom‘s vocals and the trust the band as a whole earn through the strength of their songwriting. It’s not a minor undertaking in an age of short attention spans, but given their time, Vita Mors‘ songs can very easily start to live with you.
Taut in their two-guitar drive and going big on hooks and harmonies alike, Ian Blurton’s Future Now‘s second album, Crimes of the City, is a heart-on-sleeve heavy rocker brimming with life, purpose in its construction, and a sense of celebrating the riffs and metals of old. With Blurton himself on guitar/vocals, guitarist Aaron Goldstein, bassist Anna Ruddick and drummer Glenn Milchem — Gregory MacDonald is also listed as ‘The Goose’ in the credits — the four-piece don’t touch the four-minute mark once in Crimes of the City‘s succession of 10 bangers, despite coming close in “Cast Away the Stones,” and as one could only expect, the songs are air tight in structure and delivery. And just when it seems to run the risk of being too perfect, Blurton drops the layers for the verse of “Nocturnal Transmissions” or exudes sheer delight in the ’80s metal of “Seventh Sin of Devotion,” or the whole band rides a groove like “School’s In,” and it’s all so open, welcoming and vibrant that it can’t help but be human in the end. Killer at any volume, but more don’t hurt.
Prone to a psych-garage freakout, willfully jagged on the swaying “Two Birds,” indie drifting to the Riff-Filled Land™ and the neighboring Epicsolosburg on “Ten Lies” and righteously horny/not creepy on “Woman,” Mirage is the first full-length from South Africa’s Moskitos, and while it has some element of sneer as a facet inherited from in-genre influences, “Ryder” still feels sincere as it departs what Moe called a “carhole” one time in favor of a more open landscape. There’s intricacy in the rhythm of “Believer” if you want it, and the set-up-for-contrast relative patience of opener “Umbra,” which, yeah, still twists the cosmos a bit by the time it’s done, is a highlight as well, and “Trigger” shifts between quiet parts and putting a shuffle beneath its melodic ending, but some of the most effective moments here are more about the soul behind it all. The feel is loose, but they’re not without a plan, and while there’s no shortage of haze between here and there, it will be interesting to hear how Moskitos build on ideas like the expansive-but-not-unpoppy-till-the-payoff “Ten Lies” and what new ground they find as they move forward.
This Halloween-issued sequel to Deer Lord‘s early-2023 EP, Dark Matter (review here) unfolds across six tracks broken into two sides of three each. Each begins with its longest track (immediate points), and uses the spaciousness cast in “Dark Matter” (8:11) and “Intelligent Life” (7:24), respectively, to bolster the atmosphere of the rockers that follow, “Faster” and “Dogma” on side A, the swinging cosmic blowout “Blade” and closer “Pay” on side B. If that makes it sound somewhat orderly, this symmetry is contrasted by the loosen-your-head psychedelic drive of “Dogma” or “Faster” sounding like Clutch as beamed from Voyager 1 hitting a gravity wave on the way. The now-trio of guitarist/vocalist Sheafer McOmber, drummer Ryan Alderman and bassist Jared Marill hit on a sonic niche of earthy fuzz meeting with spaced plasmatic volatility. It’s big and it moves! It would be more of a surprise if they weren’t signed by somebody or other by the time they get around to their debut full-length.
Following up on their 2023 self-titled-if-you-go-by-apparent-pronunciation LP, Tiefenrausch, Book of Circles sees instrumentalist three-piece TFNRSH make a striking entry into the admittedly crowded German and greater European sans-vocal heavy psychedelic underground. Standing out through a proggy use of synth, the second album offers “Zorn” in the place the first put “Slift,” and while it’s true the band remain not without influence from the modern European heavy psychedelic ouevre — some of the twists in “Zemestån” feel Elderian, as an example — they’re distinguished not only by how heavy “Zorn” eventually gets or “WRZL” is at its outset, or by Julius Watzl‘s stellar hold-it-together drumming amid the currents of synth being run by both guitarist Sasan Bahreini and bassist Stefan Wettengl there, but also by the float and patience of “Ammoglÿd” — imagine a mid-period Anathema intro but it unfolds as the whole song and it works — which only underscores the progressive mindset underlying all of this material. The kind of record that won’t hit with everybody but will hit with some very, very hard.
While based largely in doom, Altareth‘s Passage: The Welfare Sessions absolutely soars in the solo of its centerpiece track “Singapore,” picking up from a mellower kind of lumbering brood and answering the lift of its middle with a push to the finish. Passage: The Welfare Sessions may be worth the asking price for that alone, but that hardly means that’s all the Gothenburg five-piece have on offer, when there’s acoustic to layer into the subsequent “Pilgrim” or the blend of murk and impact in the rolling leadoff “Passage,” the way “The Stars” holds to its crawling tempo but offers a sense of payoff anyhow, or the psychedelia that runs alongside the march of “Recluse,” which rounds out the reportedly live-recorded proceedings with emotive melancholy and a final stretch of quiet, sample-topped guitar. Produced by Kalle Lilja and Per Stålberg at Welfare Sounds, hence the title, Passage: The Welfare Sessions speaks even more boldly to the band’s potential than their 2021 debut, Blood (review here). Don’t be fooled by smooth transitions and a subtlety of scope. Altareth are onto something.
If you find yourself wanting to applaud in the couple seconds of silence between “Bat Trip” and the pointedly doomjazzy “Piosenka o przemijaniu,” at least know that you’re not alone. Antropocen is the debut full-length from Kraków, Poland’s Jarzma, and with it, the band invent a style of playing that is immediately their own, basing their arrangements around nyckelharpha and imaginative percussion and drumming either folkish or not, voices coming and going through songs that don’t just sound the way they do as a novelty, but break their own rules from the very outset in the poppish dance hook of opener “Big Heat.” It’s brazen, it’s masterful in terms of performance, and it’s made from a place of wanting to add to the scope of the genre that birthed it (doom/heavy) and represent something about its place to those outside. I guess you could call it experimental in terms of sound, but that’s not to say there’s anything haphazard about it. Given the range of what they’re doing — the band is comprised of Piotr Aleksander Nowak on the aforementioned nyckelharpa and drummer/vocalist Katarzyna Bobik, and there are guests throughout — it’s kind of astonishing for how clearly the plan comes across, actually. When you want something in heavy music you’ve never heard before, Jarzmo will be waiting.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Comprised of 10 sharp, catchy, tight songs that get in, make their mark on the proceedings, and are gone while the chorus is still imprinting itself on your brain, Crimes of the City is coming in hot for a Nov. 15 release just two years after Ian Blurton’s Future Now offered 2022’s stellar Second Skin (review here). Like that record, the band’s sound centers around a classic rock ideal, and Blurton — guitarist, vocalist, producer of his own projects and so many others, songwriter and here credited with “songplay”; I honestly don’t even know what that means; he recorded all the instruments? — touching on metal in soaring solos and Priestly chug, but here even in comparison to the last record going b-i-g on harmonies and melodic presence.
But where in hands of less skillful craft, that might result in an LP that’s needlessly grandiose or self-indulgent, Blurton as a songwriter strikes a balance between breath and immediacy. The material is heavy but daringly poppish, a succession of mostly uptempo bangers that might not be released in summer but will surely remind of warmer days and brighter suns. Rest assured, that intangible nostalgia is part of what makes it work.
Two songs are up now and as the opener says, “There’s no time to waste,” so have at it. The full thing will apparently stream on Wednesday:
Ian Blurton’s FUTURE NOW Announces New Album Crimes of the City
Ian Blurton’s FUTURE NOW is set to release their highly anticipated new album Crimes of the City this fall, bringing their raw, live energy to a brand-new collection of heavy, guitar-driven rock. The album will be available digitally on October 30, with a limited vinyl and cassette release to follow on November 15 via Toronto’s Pajama Party Records. A run of 300 vinyl records—150 black and 150 blood splatter editions—will be available alongside a super-limited cassette release from Northern Haze.
Produced and recorded by Blurton and FUTURE NOW at Toronto’s ProGold Studios, Crimes of the City strips rock back to its primal roots: Marshall amps, roaring Gibsons, and double-kick drumming. The album’s 10 tracks, spanning just 33 minutes, were recorded to capture the raw power of a live performance, with no autotune, no samples, and no studio tricks. According to Blurton, the goal was to create something “real, human, and visceral.”
“We spent a lot of time on the songs, but once we’d narrowed 20 demos down to 10, we just put them down,” says Blurton. “This time we didn’t want to go crazy with too many mics on everything or get too caught up in editing or overworking things. We just wanted a record that felt really human. We don’t use backing tracks, or any kind of ‘tricks,’ live. It’s just the band. Four people with a lot of very unique and disparate musical experience and some trusty tube amps. And that’s what this record is about.”
Described as a blend of influences like DANZIG, CHEAP TRICK, BUDGIE, and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, Crimes of the City promises to deliver an unrelenting wave of heavy riffs, soaring harmonies, and hook-laden choruses. Fans of FUTURE NOW’s 2022 album Second Skin will find a leaner, more direct approach on this new release, with a focus on capturing the essence of rock stripped of its excesses.
Also joining the band on Crimes of the City is guest vocalist Gregory Macdonald (SLOAN), who adds lush, Queen-inspired harmonies to the record’s hard-hitting tracks.
Track Listing: 1. Ends Of August 2. House Of Lords 3. Cast Away The Stones 4. Nocturnal Transmissions 5. In Broken Lines 6. School’s In 7. Search For Tomorrow 8. Seventh Sin Of Devotion 9. Halfway Between Heaven And Hell 10. Assailed By The Sun
Blurton and FUTURE NOW will hit the road in November to support the release, with a series of shows across Ontario and Quebec, culminating in an official album release party at Toronto’s The Garrison on November 23.
Upcoming Tour Dates: Sat, Nov 9 – London @ The Rec Room (w/ TUMBLE) Fri, Nov 15 – Peterborough @ Bar 379 (w/ TUMBLE) Sat, Nov 16 – Sudbury @ Cosmic Dave’s Fri, Nov 22 – Hamilton @ The Casbah (w/ THE GOLDEN SHITTERS + TUMBLE) Sat, Nov 23 – Toronto @ The Garrison (Record Release Party w/ BIBLICAL + TUMBLE) Thurs, Nov 28 – Ottawa @ House of Targ (w/ DOUBLE TALKER + TUMBLE) Fri, Nov 29 – Montreal @ Turbohaus (w/ LOW SIXES + SICK THINGS + TUMBLE)
More Canadian dates will follow in 2025.
starring Glenn Milchem as The Drummer Anna Ruddick as La Bajista Aaron Goldstein as Guy With Guitar Ian Blurton as Himself and introducing Gregory Macdonald as The Goose
Produced and Directed by Future Now Songplay: Ian Blurton Director of Photography: Kelly Shee Production Designer: Brad Boatright Visual Effects: Johny Bekavac Stunt Department: Tom Patterson Prop Department: Wolfgang Gray Model Rendering: Louis Durand Sound recording: ProGold (Toronto)
Posted in Questionnaire on November 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ian Blurton of Ian Blurton’s Future Now, UWUW & More
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Guitarist/vocalist/engineer/producer/mixer/arranger/song and dance man. I’ve been doing it since I started singing into a skipping rope pretending it was a microphone at the age of five.
Describe your first musical memory.
The Banana Splits and Monkees tv shows had a profound effect on me and were my first exposure to music. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was watching Zappa and Tim Buckley guest on Monkees and listening to songs written by some of the best writers of all time. It also gave me a lifelong love of Michael Nesmith.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Tough to pick just one but guesting with Randy Bachman was a highlight. I have been a Guess Who/BTO fan since I was a youngin’ and even use the same fuzz (Garnet Herzog) that he used on American Woman. Not Fragile is a total jam!! Seeing Sonny Sharrock (who is one of my fav guitarists) in the 90s was huge too.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Ummm…… every day.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I think if you leave yourself free to experience everything, artist progression should take you into unexpected areas. I try not to edit myself while writing so I’m open to the unknown.
How do you define success?
To me success is a series of small victories so…..writing a good song, having a great show and connecting with people because of that is success. I would also add following and being true to the path in life you feel comfortable on is success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Everything bad I’ve seen has shaped my life experience so while I would have rather not seen some things I also realize they are part of what life offers.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
And give away my secret project I hope to do soon? I don’t think so.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Communication of ideas. I also love how different people can see the same piece of art/hear the same song and come away with their own idea of what it means or how the idea of a piece can change for the artist over time.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Big fan of Honey’s ice cream (Toronto) and in general good food and good times with good people.
[Click play above to stream Ian Blurton’s Future Now’s Second Skin in full. Album is out Friday, July 15, on Seeing Red Records and Pajama Party.]
Ian Blurton on Second Skin:
While not a concept album per se, it does have reoccurring musical and lyrical ideas. Lyrically it’s mostly about moving forward from things you don’t want to live with, hence the theme of rebirth, the idea of rejecting what you don’t believe in and also saving things worth saving from destruction and the idea of progress. Cover artist Jeremy Bruneel has taken a number of these lyrical themes and painted them into the cover so they are represented visually as well.
Once we had been accepted as Artist in Residence at The NMC in Calgary we knew that we would have a proper Mellotron at our disposal so I began writing with that in mind. That brought forward the idea of making a more proggy record than the last and having three or four longer songs.
One of the themes of the record is community and that became real-life when we put out a call for amps as we were recording in Calgary/flying there. Local Calgary bands and musicians (Woodhawk, Ramblin’ Ambassadors, etc) offered up gear and we are forever indebted to their kindness. This same sense of community also made us realize that this record wouldn’t have happened the same way without the contributions of the artists, musicians, engineers, mixers, etc each who believed in it and added their own touches until the project became a whole.
In a world and a time of antiheroes, Ian Blurton is a hero. Where so much of the art that surrounds us on a day-to-day, be it commercial creative work on television, movies, videogames, music videos, and so on, or the literature and fine arts we as humans engage with, authenticity is regularly judged by the darkness of a work, the ‘grittiness’ factor that makes things that are difficult, challenging or traumatizing feel truer to life than those that aren’t. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, and I’m not calling for a change or a reversion back to some false ideal of a time when it was different. No. All I’m saying is that Ian Blurton, based in Toronto and on the cusp of releasing the second album with Ian Blurton’s Future Now, is a hero.
This is because, where so many others are not, Blurton is willing to take the risk of creating something fresh that diverts from the expectations of its own era. Something that is neither fluff to be tossed off when done, nor saccharine in its sweeter aspects, nor void of substance or message because it isn’t violent or dark or depressing. Second Skin is the sophomore long-player from this incarnation of Blurton‘s long-established persona behind 2019’s Signals Through the Flames (review here), a sweaty-summer-sun collection of nine songs playing out across 44 minutes of brazen heavy rock informed by classic metal riffs — Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, ’80s-style dual-guitar grandiosity between Blurton (also vocals, keys, production) and Aaron Goldstein — and an abiding classic groove channeled through bassist/vocalist Anna Ruddick (City and Colour) and drummer/vocalist Glenn Milchem (also Blue Rodeo).
Blurton‘s storied history as an artist and producer — working in bands like Public Animal, Cowboy Junkies, and so on, as well as being who in Toronto you want to record your heavy rock album, as demonstrated through records by Electric Magma, Cursed, Blood Ceremony and many, many others — is on display in the songwriting and performance here. But the truth is that even if you have no idea who he is or what he’s done in his career going back nearly four decades, the barriers to entry on Second Skin are nil. It could not be easier to get on board.
Like the best of pop, Second Skin is able to turn a three-minute song into an epic and make a seven-minute track feel like a breeze. It does this immediately upon pressing play, with the careening “Like a Ghost” (3:13) and the subsequent, damn-near-power-metal-except-it-isn’t title-track (7:12) establishing quickly the spaces in which Blurton, Goldstein, Ruddick and Milchem will work. Urgent in their delivery but unhurried either in tempo or in their movement between verses, choruses and showcasing depth even unto Milchem‘s ride cymbal taps after the two-minute mark in “Like a Ghost” or perfectly timed snare nod amid the starts and stops of the later “Beyond Beholds the Moon.” “Second Skin” rolls out with leads over central riffs, and its shove isn’t to be understated, building metallic momentum with heavy rock fuzz and an according breadth of melody as it arrives at the title line, finally, that release. Keyboard sets up the movement into the second half of the track, and the balance in mix, the resurgent rhythm, and the intensity that ensues en route to the next chorus is nothing short of masterful. There’s a reason that in Toronto, so I’m told, he’s referred to as “Sir” Ian Blurton.
Second Skin is universally crafted at this grade. No letup. “The Power of No” (3:51) chugs and swings with graceful ease, rooted in rock traditionalism in their side A momentum build, and as the the stomping “When the Storm Comes Home” (3:12) hands out its Scorpions-via-grunge-jangle progression, the effect is a guitar highlight standing apart from a slew of compatriots, as well as a shift into “Orchestrated Illusions” (4:51). rightly placed as the centerpiece for its nestled-in groove, expansive melodicism and memorable, likewise open chorus. At the presumed end of the side A and peppered with gorgeously toned solos in its second half, “Orchestrated Illusions” feels very much like the arrival that the the first five songs of Second Skin have been pushing toward, and its long fade and resonant acoustic guitar/keyboard ending is wholly earned.
So too is the quick reset as side B’s “Denim on Denim” (3:57). “It’s like heaven on heaven,” according to the lyrics, and kind of like “Looks That Kill” in its midsection riff, and fair enough. Another righteous hook, another metal-turned-into-rock movement, and another strong showcase of craft, pulls the listener back to ground after the hypnotic finish “Orchestrated Illusions” and before the closing trilogy of “Beyond Beholds the Moon” (6:30), “Too High the Sky” (5:03) and “Trails to the Gate/Second Skin Reprise” (6:36) round out the offering by pushing farther outward from the foundation “Denim on Denim” provides — a Mellotron early in “Beyond Beholds the Moon” is a sign of the shift into the album’s next stage, but it’s by no means the first keys, as noted. Growing burly by its finish — the aforementioned snare groove included — there’s no dip in the quality of craft.
Rather, set up earlier by “Second Skin,” “Beyond Beholds the Moon,” the harmonized unfolding of the proggy and fluid but still in motion “Too High the Sky” (with guest Sean Beresford on guitar) and the ’70s-futurist-meets-slow-Slayer finish of “Trails to the Gate/Second Skin” (with Robin Hatch on piano in its latter reaches) are in clear conversation with what preceded them on the record as well as off, and the final lyric, “It’s just a second skin,” resounds with no less vitality than the opening line of “Like a Ghost,” which was, “Do you want to believe?” If you ever did, there are no shortage of reasons to in these songs. Because that’s what heroes do. They make you believe.
The narrative of Second Skin (blessings and peace upon it) tells that Ian Blurton’s Future Now made the album on the Rolling Stones Mobile studio — used not only by Rolling Stones to create Exile on Main Street and Sticky Fingers, but also ultra-classics from Mk. II Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and others — as well as a slew of accordingly pedigreed vintage gear at Canada’s National Music Center in Calgary, Alberta. Whether it was bringing energy from their live shows to this setting or Blurton‘s own vision as producer, Second Skin indeed communes with these spirits while boasting a level of class that is simply its own. Rock and roll is lucky to have it.
Ian Blurton’s Future Now, “Like a Ghost” official video
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Frickin’ Ian Blurton gets it. That’s not news if you’re from Toronto, I guess, but hot damn, that is a song. I don’t mean that that it’s just catchy or whatever — it is, but that’s beside the point — but if you listen to “Like a Ghost,” which is the opening track from Ian Blurton‘s Future Now‘s upcoming second album, Second Skin, you can hear the mapped out structure, see the parts on the board as the song came together, or at least how it was arranged in the finished product, as Blurton and company remind that just because something is heavy doesn’t mean it can’t sound clean. If dude wants to be heavy rock’s own Ric Ocasek songwriter, he’s on his way.
So anyway, I dig the track, I guess.
There’s a fair amount of info below but I’m including all of it here because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna want it later. In any case, from the PR wire:
IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW To Release Second Skin Full-Length Via Seeing Red Records July 15th
Second Skin will be released digitally and on black vinyl via BLURTON’s own Pajama Party label in Canada HERE: https://ianblurtonsfuturenow.bandcamp.com/
And on Aside/Bside (Color Merge) and Color-in-Color Splatter vinyl via Seeing Red Records HERE: http://www.seeingredrecords.com
Legendary Canadian artist/producer IAN BLURTON and his FUTURE NOW project will release latest studio album, Second Skin, via Seeing Red Records on July 15th, today unveiling the record’s artwork, track listing, and first single!
If you’re a fan of any kind of ’70s heavy rock – Southern boogie, NWOBHM, MC5/Stooges Detroit punk, Junk Shop glam, or straight-up classic rock – we are willing to bet IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW has something for you. If you’re the kind of person who might geek out on the vintage gear used to record that music, we’ll double down on that wager.
A mainstay in the Canadian scene since the 1980s, IAN BLURTON may have come along after hard rock’s heyday, but he has parlayed his love of the era’s musical sensibilities into a career as both a musician (Change Of Heart, C’mon, Public Animal) and a producer (Cursed, Tricky Woo, Weakerthans, Cauldron). For the follow-up to his acclaimed solo debut, 2019’s Signals Through The Flames, he is pulling out all the stops, sourcing the best of the best for all elements. Formed to tour in support of Signals… FUTURE NOW features some of the top talents heard on that record: drummer Glenn Milchem (Blue Rodeo) and bassist Anna Ruddick (City And Colour). To complement the powerhouse rhythm section and recreate live the Wishbone Ash/Judas Priest–inspired harmonies that define the album, Aaron Goldstein was been recruited for second guitar.
In tandem with the Signals Through The Flames tour, BLURTON was accepted as an artist in residence at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, in Calgary. The residency presented an opportunity to pack up the band – hot from a string of live shows – and head west to track a follow up album with the country’s most enviable collection of musical equipment.
Second Skin was recorded using the famed Rolling Stones Mobile (the studio The Rolling Stones used to record Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street, Led Zeppelin’s III and IV, and Deep Purple’s Machine Head) as well as the aforementioned National Music Centre. With the institution’s selection of rare guitars formerly owned by Randy Bachman, amps from Neil Young, and an array of vintage gear borrowed from Calgary friends, FUTURE NOW had the ingredients for a dream session. Throw in an early ‘80s Mellotron, and the band had all it needed to cook up a crushing collection of sludgy riff-driven rockers and prog epics, all with clean vocals, thunderous bass/double-kick, and the kind of guitar solos you wish you could play. Second Skin was mixed by Daryl Smith at Chemical West, mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, and features artwork by Jeremy Bruneel. The record will undoubtedly make for a fine Summer soundtrack.
In advance of the release of Second Skin, today IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW unveils a video for first single and album opener, “Like A Ghost.”
Comments BLURTON, “In ‘Like A Ghost,’ poet Baudelaire and god Poseidon inhabit a world in need of shelter from the past attempting to take over their future. It is about being present in a world that doesn’t want us to be. As the first track on Second Skin, it sets up the theme of the record that sometimes it’s best and ok to leave bad ideas behind.”
Second Skin Track Listing: 1. Like A Ghost 2. Second Skin 3. The Power Of No 4. When The Storm Comes Home 5. Orchestrated Illusions 6. Denim On Denim 7. Beyond Beholds The Moon 8. Too High The Sky 9. Trails To The Gate/Second Skin Reprise
IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW: Ian Blurton – vocals/guitar/keyboards Glenn Milchem – drums/vocals Anna Ruddick – bass/vocals Aaron Goldstein – guitar Guests: Sean Beresford – guitar on “Too High The Sky” Robin Hatch – piano “Trails To The Gate”
Got my laptop back. Turned out the guy had to give me a new hard drive entirely, clone all my data on it, and scrap the other drive. I’m sure if I took it to another technician they’d have said something completely different, either for better or worse, but it was $165 and I got my computer back, working, in a day, so I can’t really complain. Worth the money, obviously, even though it was $40 more than the estimate. I assume that was a mix of “new hard drive” and “this is the last thing I’m doing before a four-day weekend.” Either way, totally legit. Bit of stress on my part, but what’s a Quarterly Review without it?
This ends the week, but there’s still one more batch of 10 reviews to go on Monday, so I won’t delay further, except to say more to come.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Elizabeth Colour Wheel, Nocebo
A rare level of triumph for a first album, Elizabeth Colour Wheel‘s aesthetic scope and patience of craft on Nocebo result in a genre-spanning post-noise rock that maintains an atmospheric heft whether loud or quiet at any given moment, and a sense of unpredictability that feels born out of a genuinely forward-thinking songwriting process. It is dark, emotionally resonant, beautiful and crushing across its eight songs and 47 minutes, as the Philadelphia five-piece ebb and flow instrumentally behind a standout vocal performance that reminds of Julie Christmas circa Battle of Mice on “Life of a Flower” but is ultimately more controlled and all the more lethal for that. Bouts of extremity pop up at unexpected times and the songs flow into each other so as to make all of Nocebo feel like a single, multi-hued work, which it just might be as it moves into ambience between “Hide Behind (Emmett’s Song)” and “Bedrest” before exploding to life again in “34th” and transitioning directly into the cacophonous apex that comes with closer “Head Home.” One of the best debuts of 2019, if not the best.
Ancients is the third full-length from Baltimore’s Black Lung, whose heavy blues rock takes a moodier approach from the outset of “Mother of the Sun” onward, following an organ-led roll in that opener that calls to mind All Them Witches circa Lightning at the Door and following 2016’s See the Enemy (review here) with an even firmer grasp on their overarching intent. The title-track is shorter at 3:10 and offers some post-rock flourish in the guitar amid its otherwise straight-ahead push, but there’s a tonal depth to add atmosphere to whatever moves they’re making at the time, “The Seeker” and “Voices” rounding out side A with relatively grounded swing and traditionalist shuffle but still catching attention through pace and presentation alike. That holds true as “Gone” drifts into psychedelic jamming at the start of side B, and the chunkier “Badlands,” the dramatic “Vultures” and the controlled wash of “Dead Man Blues” take the listener into some unnamed desert without a map or exit strategy. It’s a pleasure to get lost as Ancients plays through, and Black Lung remain a well-kept secret of the East Coast underground.
This just fucking rules, and I feel no need to couch my critique in any more flowery language than that. Driving, fuzzy heavy rock topped with post-Homme melodies that doesn’t sacrifice impact for attitude, the self-released, self-titled debut from Perth, Australia’s Giant Dwarf is a sans-pretense 35 minutes of groove done right. They may be playing to genre, fine, but from the cover art on down, they’re doing so with a sense of personality and a readiness to bring an individual sensibility to their sound. I dig it. Summery tones, rampant vocal melodies in layers, solid rhythmic foundation beneath. The fact that it’s the five-piece’s first album makes me look less for some kind of stylistic nuance, but it’s there to be heard anyway in “Disco Void” and the bouncing end of “High Tide Blues,” and in surrounding cuts like “Repeat After Defeat” and “Strange Wool,” Giant Dwarf set to the task before them with due vitality, imagining Songs for the Deaf with Fu Manchu tonality in “Kepler.” No big surprise, but yeah, it definitely works. Someone should be beating down the door to sign this band.
Land Mammal‘s debut outing is a 14-minute, proof-of-concept four-songer EP with clarity of presentation and telegraphed intent. Marked out by the Robert Plant-style vocal heroics of Kinsley August, the band makes the most of a bluesy atmosphere behind him, with Will Weise on wah-ready guitar, Phillip PJ Soapsmith on bass, Stephen Smith on drums and True Turner on keys. On opener “Dark with Rain” and closer “Better Days,” they find a pastoral vibe that draws from ’90s alternative, thinking Blind Melon particularly in the finale, but “Earth Made Free” takes a bluesier angle and “Drippin’ Slow” is not shy about nor ashamed of its danceability, as its lyrics demonstrate. For all the crispness of the production, Land Mammal still manage to sound relatively natural, which is all the more encouraging in terms of moving forward, but it’ll be interesting to hear how they flesh out their sound over the course of a full-length, since even as an EP, this self-titled is short. They have songwriting, performance and production on their side, however, so something tells me they’ll be just fine.
Even before they get to the ultra-“N.I.B.” patterning of second track “Stand in the Sun,” Skunk‘s Sabbathian loyalties are well established, and they continue on that line, through the “War Pigs”-ness of “Goblin Orgy” (though I’ll give them bonus points for that title), and the slower “A National Acrobat” roll of “The Black Crown,” and while that’s not the only influence under which Skunk are working — clearly — it’s arguably the most forward. They’ve been on a traditional path since 2015’s mission-statement EP, Heavy Rock from Elder Times (review here), and as Strange Vibration is their second album behind 2017’s Doubleblind (review here), they’ve only come more into focus in terms of what they’re doing overall. They throw a bit of swagger into “Evil Eye Gone Blind” and “Star Power” toward the end of the record — more Blackmore or Leslie West than Iommi — but keep the hooks center through it all, and cap with a welcome bit of layered melody on “The Cobra’s Kiss.” Based in Oakland, they don’t quite fit in with the Californian boogie scene to the south, but standing out only seems to suit Strange Vibration all the more.
Like countrymen outfits in Vokonis or to a somewhat lesser degree Cities of Mars, Gävle-based riffers Silver Devil tap into Sleep as a core influence and work outward from there. In the case of their second album, Paralyzed (on Ozium Records), they work far out indeed, bringing a sonic largesse to bear through plus-sized tonality and distorted vocals casting echoes across a wide chasm of the mix. “Rivers” or the later, slower-rolling “Octopus” rightfully present this as an individual take, and it ends up being that one way or the other, with the atmosphere becoming essential to the character of the material. There are some driving moments that call to mind later Dozer — or newer Greenleaf, if you prefer — such as the centerpiece “No Man Traveller,” but the periodic bouts of post-rock bring complexity to that assessment as well, though in the face of the galloping crescendo of “The Grand Trick,” complexity is a secondary concern to the outright righteousness with which Silver Devil take familiar elements and reshape them into something that sounds fresh and engaging. That’s basically the story of the whole record, come to think of it.
Comprised of guitarist/vocalist/engineer Vessel 2 and drummer/vocalist Vessel 1 (also ex-Mühr), Sky Burial release their debut EP, Sokushinbutsu, through Break Free Records, and with it issue two songs of densely-weighted riff and crash, captured raw and live-sounding with an edge of visceral sludge thanks to the harsh vocals laid overtop. The prevailing spirit is as much doom as it is crust throughout “Return to Sender” (8:53) and the 10:38 title-track — the word translating from Japanese to “instant Buddha” — and as “Sokushinbutsu” kicks the tempo of the leadoff into higher gear, the release becomes a wash of blown-out tone with shouts cutting through that’s very obviously meant to be as brutal as it absolutely is. They slow down eventually, then slow down more, then slow down more — you see where this is going — until eventually the feedback seems to consume them and everything else, and the low rumble of guitar gives way to noise and biting vocalizations. As beginnings go, Sokushinbutsu is willfully wretched and animalistic, a manifested sonic nihilism that immediately stinks of death.
One finds Montana’s Wizzerd born of a similar Upper Midwestern next-gen take on classic heavy as that of acts like Bison Machine and Midas. Their Cursed Tongue Records-delivered self-titled debut album gives a strong showing of this foundation, less boogie-based than some, with just an edge of heavy metal to the riffing and vocals that seems to derive not directly from doom, but definitely from some ’80s metal stylizations. Coupled with ’70s and ’90s heavy rocks, it’s a readily accessible blend throughout the nine-song/51-minute LP, but a will toward the epic comes through in theme as well as the general mood of the riffs, and even in the drift of “Wizard” that’s apparent. Taken in kind with the fuzzblaster “Wraith,” the winding motion of the eponymous closer and with the lumbering crash of “Warrior” earlier, the five-piece’s sound shows potential to distinguish itself further in the future through taking on fantasy subject matter lyrically as well as playing to wall-sized grooves across the board, even in the speedy first half of “Phoenix,” with its surprising crash into the wall of its own momentum.
The core of Ian Blurton‘s Signals Through the Flames is in tight, sharply-executed heavy rockers like “Seven Bells” and “Days Will Remain,” classic in their root but not overly derivative, smartly and efficiently composed and performed. The Toronto-based Blurton has been making and producing music for over three decades in various guises and incarnations, and with these nine songs, he brings into focus a songcraft that is more than enough to carry song like “Nothing Left to Lose” and opener “Eye of the Needle,” which bookends with the 6:55 “Into Dust,” the closer arriving after a final salvo with the Scorpionic strut of “Kick out the Lights” and the forward-thrust-into-ether of “Night of the Black Goat.” If this was what Ghost had ended up sounding like, I’d have been cool with that. Blurton‘s years of experience surely come into play in this work, a kind of debut under his own name and/or that of Ian Blurton’s Future Now, but the songs come through as fresh regardless and “The March of Mars” grabs attention not with pedigree, but simply by virtue of its own riff, which is exactly how it should be. It’s subtle in its variety, but those willing to give it a repeat listen or two will find even more reward for doing so.
“Lackland” is the first new material Berlin three-piece Cosmic Fall have produced since last year’s In Search of Space (review here) album, which is only surprising given the frequency with which they once jammed out a record every couple of months. The lone 8:32 track is a fitting reminder of the potency in the lineup of guitarist Marcin Morawski, bassist Klaus Friedrich and drummer Daniel Sax, and listening to the Earthless-style shred in Morawski‘s guitar, one hopes it won’t be another year before they come around again. As it stands, they make the eight minutes speed by with volcanic fervor and an improvised sensibility that feels natural despite the song’s ultimately linear trajectory. Could be a one-off, could be a precursor to a new album. I’d prefer the latter, obviously, but I’ll take what I can get, and if that’s “Lackland,” then so be it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 24th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Way back in January, you might recall a track was premiered from Ian Blurton’s Future Now called “Space is Forever.” That first single will be issued as a 7″ next month and even when that was being posted, it was intended as a lead-in for Blurton‘s upcoming solo-ish record, Signals Through the Flames. Well, I got the album yesterday and the short version is it kicks ass, which is why I’m writing about it now. It’s due out June 7 and I’m sure there will be preorders and advance public audio all that fun stuff, but consider this a heads up. If you’re not from Toronto or the surrounding area, maybe you’re less familiar with Blurton‘s three-decade-plus career in bands and producing, and that’s fine. Don’t worry about it. That context is nice, but in listening to Signals Through the Flames, the songs stand on their own. I’m going to hope to have more on the record before it’s out, but yeah, just early warning here, that’s all. It’s the kind of record that’s really going to hit with some people. I think I might be one of them.
Art and PR wire info follow:
Ian Blurton – Signals Through The Flame – Pajama Party
Release: 7 June 2019
It’s time for a veteran to show the new generation how it’s done. After 35+ years in the Canadian music industry, playing in over 40 bands and producing, engineering and mixing over 100 albums, Ian Blurton is finally releasing a solo record. You’ve probably seen Blurton play in your town, fronting Change of Heart, Blurtonia, Bionic, C’mon, or the still-active Public Animal. If you missed those bands, his name is still likely to pop up somewhere in your record collection; you’ll find Blurton’s producer credit on career-defining albums for Blood Ceremony, Cursed, Tricky Woo, the Weakerthans and more. Or you may have caught him guest with acts as diverse as Richard Lloyd, Buffy Sainte-Marie , the Sadies, Teenage Head, Twink or The Viletones.
It’s no surprise that Blurton’s inaugural solo effort pulls from an impressive pool of talent and a range of influences. In 2017 a sudden torrent of inspiration brought him a slew of songs best suited to a power-trio format. Enlisting friends who also happened to be some of his favorite drummers and bassists, he set out on a quest to create a combination of dark pop hooks, molten riffage and ambient soundscapes that is his heaviest work to date. Between Blurton’s layers-upon-layers of guitar, a plethora of gifted musicians such as Mike Armstrong (King Cobb Steelie), PJ Dunphy (Iron Giant), Eric Larock (Tricky Woo), Glenn Milchem (Blue Rodeo), Damon Richardson (Danko Jones), Anna Ruddick (Randy Bachman), Nick Sewell (Biblical), and Darcy Yates (Flash Lightnin’) all make appearance on Signals Through the Flames. The result is a heavy music melting pot with one foot in the past and the other planted firmly in the future.
Mixed by Daryl Smith (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) at Chemical West and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Signals Through The Flames will be released by new Toronto imprint Pajama Party digitally, on vinyl and cassette June 7, 2019.
The first single, Space Is Forever b/w Upon Yesterday, is out May 4 on Yeah Right! Records, launching at a release show at Toronto’s Dakota Tavern and can be heard here: ianblurton.bandcamp.com
The live band, Ian Blurton’s Future Now, draws from the same talent as the record, and currently features drummer Glenn Milchem, bassist Anna Ruddick and Aaron Goldstein as second guitarist. This spring and summer sees the band playing dates between Montreal and Calgary, including appearances at Sled Island and Hillside Festival.
Tracklisting 01 EYE OF THE NEEDLE 4:55 02 SEVEN BELLS 3:34 03 DAYS WILL REMAIN 3:30 04 THE MARCH OF MARS 4:18 05 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE 3:16 06 ICQ 2:58 07 KICK OUT THE LIGHTS 4:53 08 NIGHT OF THE BLACK GOAT 4:47 09 INTO DUST 6:37
Tour dates May 1 Montreal – Turbo Haus w/ Dead Quiet, Mountain Dust May 4 Toronto – Dakota Tavern w/ Sick Things, Rough Spells May 17 Peterborough – Gordon Best Theatre w/ Mokomokai June 6 Toronto – Sneaky Dees w/ Spirit Adrift June 7 Kitchener – The Starlight w/ Hawkeyes June 14 Toronto – secret show NXNE June 17 Sudbury – The Townehouse June 18 Thunder Bay – The Apollo June 19 Winnipeg – The Handsome Daughter June 20 Saskatoon – Amigo’s June 21 Edmonton – The Rec Room Edmonton South June 22 Calgary – The Palomino/Sled Island Festival June 23 Regina – The Club at The Exchange July 14 Guelph – Hillside Festival July 19 Hamilton – This Ain’t Hollywood July 20 Toronto – The Horseshoe Signals Through The Flames record release
