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Friday Full-Length: Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Of all of Yawning Man‘s releases — which go back the better part of 40 years if you count the demo collection The Birth of Sol (discussed here) — I’m not sure I’ve ever heard their tones sound as warm as they do on Live at Giant Rock (interview here). That’s true of Gary Arce‘s guitar as it floats in signature style over Mario Lalli‘s bass in near-15-minute set opener “Tumbleweeds in the Snow,” and it might even be truer of the bass than the guitar, but it extends to Bill Stinson‘s drums as well. It’s like they recorded the sunshine they were playing in, and even if you’ve never seen the video of ArceLalli and Stinson jamming in the Mojave Desert at… wait for it… Giant Rock, the audio experience is as immersive as any of their work on ‘not live’ studio LPs.

It’s like the Platonic ideal of Yawning Man. It maintains a heavy underpinning in Lalli‘s bass and is ultra-fluid in its instrumentalist groove, searching and if not improvised then working more from a blueprint than a strict sense of structure. The CD edition of Live at Giant Rock runs 47 minutes — the video and download are five minutes longer, the vinyl shorter without the bonus track “Space Finger” — but there’s really no wrong answer when it comes to hearing it. “The Last Summer Eve” howls out its guitar over a steady, terrestrial roll, guitar and bass each moving their own way but complementary, not playing two separate songs but not playing the same thing the same way either and both feature in the mix while the drums round out and punctuate. Recorded by Johnathan Weber with a mix by Mathias Schneeberger, there’s more dimension to Live at Giant Rock than most live albums. If they had released it as ‘Giant Rock Session’ or just called it ‘Giant Rock’ and pitched it as a regular old full-length, I’m not sure I’d be able to argue. It blurs that line in sound, which isn’t really anything new for Yawning Man, I suppose.

The recording was filmed on May 18, 2020, by Sam Grant and released that October through Heavy Psych Sounds, and its poignancy as a document of a time when live music culture was swept out from under the feet of the audience and artists alike isn’t to be lost, and certainly “Nazi Synthesizer” as a wordplay is maybe even more relevant now than it was shortly before the 2020 US presidential election — though it was definitely relevant then as well, what with all those fascists around; the difference is now they’re in Congress — and while I’m pretty sure there’s no actual synth on it, just effects, the song’s balance between more intense moments of wash and atmospheric spaciousness is emblematic of exactly how Yawning Man helped found the style of desert rock. Add yawning man live at giant rockpunk to “Nazi Synthesizer” and you pretty much have it.

But although Live at Giant Rock was made and issued as a result of the fact that live shows couldn’t happen, serving also as a precursor for the streaming series Live in the Mojave Desert, which featured Earthless, Nebula, StönerSpirit Mother and Mountain Tamer, its resonance goes beyond that, and while I won’t discount the plague or the generational trauma it caused and continues to cause on humanity in general though on a lesser scale and definitely less present in the news cycle, what Yawning Man accomplish here is outside of time. Just past its midsection, “Blowhole Sunrise” seems to grow even broader in Arce‘s guitar. Stinson and Lalli are right there, the structure, a foundation, and then the drums drop out for a moment and the guitar seems to fly away, its ringing lines like the waves that would turn the Cali desert into the seabed it once was. It’s hypnotic, but the real trick is that it never quite stops moving as much as it seems to, and even as one measure is echoing out, the next is happening, so that Yawning Man always feel like they’re a little ahead of you, which, well, also nothing new. Fair enough.

And of course the band’s tie to the desert, to the legacy of generator parties out in the wild or at some abandoned skatepark, whatever it was, is a presence here. That context is useful to appreciate what they’re doing, I guess, but if you didn’t have it, I’m not sure it would do anything to detract from the languid motion of “Space Finger,” the way the bass goes down and the guitar goes up and the drums hold the two together — the essential dynamic of Yawning Man‘s style and the very balance they most toy with throughout Live at Giant Rock — or the fact that this is a band playing at their best in a rare situation and setting. Like all of the live records that came out when shows weren’t happening — and there was a pointed, delightfully contradictory abundance of them — it’s pandemic-era in terms of timeline, but there’s so much more to it as a piece and declaration of who Yawning Man are as a band, the impact and influence they’ve had and continue to have on the shape of a genre in which they only ever partially reside. “Space Finger” hums to an unpretentious finish and is gone like the moment itself. Even good shows end.

Yawning Man reportedly have a new record in the works to follow 2019’s Macedonian Lines (review here), and in the meantime, Lalli has been out with Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers touring far and wide, and Arce has been collaborating with Bob Balch of Fu Manchu and others in Big Scenic Nowhere and the forthcoming Yawning Balch, so there’s never really any lack of activity even if Yawning Man aren’t always in full-time all the time, go-go-go momentum. Wouldn’t really suit them if they were, anyway. They are and remain a treasure held by desert rock itself maybe too much an underground secret, but all the more valued for that by those who appreciate them. I’ll put Live at Giant Rock up there with their best work, gladly. It’s in good company.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Kid coming downstairs as I typed that last sentence above. That’s a 5:45AM wakeup. I got up at 4, as usual. Tomorrow I might sleep late, which means I’d get up whenever he does.

I know everyone is tight on money, but if you bought any of the new Obelisk merch this week, thank you. That support goes a long way. It’s linked below and is at: http://mibk.bigcartel.com/products

While I’m plugging and dropping links: New episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs at 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com. I’d recommend the app, but however you get there, thanks if you do.

Kind of a blur of a week, but the writing was easy enough. I’m behind on news stuff already for Monday and have more to do for today as I write this, but so it goes. At some point this morning — or what I hope will be this morning — Hippie Death Cult will announce their next tour with their new drummer who they announced yesterday. In the meantime, I have other stuff waiting to go up.

Later now. Went swimming, showered, had a egg-on-chaffles sandwich. The primary update here is much the same as last week. Broke, overwhelmed. I know I’m not alone in that. It’s everybody who isn’t already super-rich. And kind of amazing that how isolated we all are and have been since the plague — it occurred to me that I used to just go out and do stuff sometimes — actually serves the purposes of the people who are ripping us off on everything. If everyone is at home staring at their phone, no one is in the streets demanding debt relief or subsidies to get by, or god forbid, that the artificially inflated costs of living and basic necessities are actually brought down. Why is it that prices only ever go up?

So yeah, thanks for buying merch.

Have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, hydrate. Stay warm or cool depending on your geography and preference. I’ll be back on Monday with that review no one’s gonna give a crap about and a bunch more.

FRM.

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Video Interview: Mario Lalli on Yawning Man’s Live at Giant Rock and More

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Features on November 20th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

yawning man mario lalli

Last month, desert rock progenitors Yawning Man issued the audio version of Live at Giant Rock through Heavy Psych Sounds, and on Nov. 20, they’ll follow-up with the video from which that soundtrack was taken. Filmed in the Coachella Valley in front of — you guessed it — a very big rock, the project helmed by Ryan Jones (see also: Stoned & Dusted) and the band is clearly intended to highlight the ties between the desert scenery and the music itself. Shots are fluid and languid, but like the graffiti on the rocks, there’s a sense of life throughout that goes beyond the trio of guitarist Gary Arce, bassist Mario Lalli and drummer Bill Stinson playing in the foreground.

Yawning Man‘s decades-spanning legacy and influence need not be recounted here. Suffice it to say that desert rock as it exists now would not without them. The three-piece were to have had a busy 2020 as they continued to support their 2019 studio album, Macedonian Lines (review here). In addition to having been booked for the Californian editions of the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, they were set to appear at Monolith on the Mesa, Stoned & Dusted, they did manage to tour in Australia and New Zealand, but were to appear at Keep it Low in Munich, Germany, which no doubt would’ve been part of a European tour and coincided with other festivals.

As an answer to that, Live at Giant Rock finds Yawning Man doing what many other acts have done in trying to make the most of what they’ve got. In the interview that follows, Lalli talks of course about this strange year, the process of making this unorthodox concert film, the creative process for Yawning Man in particular, his work in this band and Fatso Jetson, and more.

Thanks for reading and watching if you do.

Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock Interview with Mario Lalli, Nov. 19, 2020

Yawning Man‘s Live at Giant Rock video is out Nov. 20. The audio is available now and streaming below.

Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock (2020)

Yawning Man on Thee Facebooks

Yawning Man on Bandcamp

Yawning Man website

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Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Yawning Man Releasing Live at Giant Rock CD/DVD; Preorders Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

No brainer. Duh. Yawning Man performing live in the desert. Yes. Again, duh.

Preorders up. Fine. Take my money.

To answer your first and likely only question concerning this release, no Giant Rock is not where Kirk fought the Gorn. That was Vasquez Rocks. Two and a half hours east, according to the googlies.

Maybe you saw this performance air as part of the Stoned and Dusted virtual fest. If you did, you don’t need me to say anymore. If you didn’t, I’ll refer you to the first paragraph above.

From the PR wire:

yawning man live at giant rock

YAWNING MAN: “Live At Giant Rock” album pre-sale available!

Following their recent and memorable performance in the desert, Palm Springs instrumental rock giants YAWNING MAN have announced the release of their “Live At Giant Rock” album and DVD this October 30th, with preorder available now on Heavy Psych Sounds.

A longtime dream has been to capture YAWNING MAN performing in the very environment that so inspired their music. The opportunity arose in 2020 from the challenges artists and musicians faced during the Covid-19 Pandemic, social distancing forcing artists to creatively adapt to alternatives to express themselves musically and visually. Yawning Man ‘s answer to this calling is “Live at Giant Rock”.

This cinematic concert experience is intimately and beautifully captured by videographer Sam Grant in the environment that inspires Yawning Man’s spacious, expansive and cinematic music. Filmed live in the early morning hours of May 18th, 2020 in the visually stunning and mysterious landscape of Giant Rock.

In the spirit of Pink Floyd’s “Live at Pompeii” the performance is shot on location with no audience, just the band performing their instrumental meditations in the rugged beauty of the Mojave Desert. Giant Rock in Landers California has attracted Native American Nomads, Scientists, UFO Researchers, and travelers from all over the world, drawn by its magnetic spiritual energy.

“Live At Giant Rock” will be available on October 30th via Heavy Psych Sounds, and can be preordered now in the following formats:
– Ultra LTD Test Press vinyl
– Ultra LTD White/Blue vinyl (w/ alternative cover)
– LTD Neon Yellow vinyl
– Black vinyl
– Digital
– LTD edition DVD

YAWNING MAN “Live At Giant Rock”
Out October 30th on Heavy Psych Sounds

Preorder US: https://plasticactus.com/yawning-man-live-at-giant-rock/
Preorder EU: http://www.heavypsychsounds.com

TRACKLIST
1. Tumbleweeds In The Snow – 14:53
2. The Last Summer Eye – 8:58
3. Nazi Synthesizer – 7:37
4. Blowhole Sunrise – 17:41
5. Space Finger (CD bonus track)

YAWNING MAN IS:
Gary Arce – Guitar
Mario Lalli – Bass
Bill Stinson – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/yawningmanofficial/
https://yawningman.bandcamp.com
http://www.yawningman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com

Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock trailer

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