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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 53

Posted in Radio on February 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

Two hours, two songs. It’s become a novelty in the Gimme Metal chat that I play long songs. I don’t know if anybody actually asked, but (maybe) ask you shall receive.

I feel unfortunately compelled to point out that these jams offer quality as well as quantity. Hot Box Sound Machine are based in Chicago and offer 48 minutes of improvisational running, careening up and down and loud and quiet sort of in the post-Earthless vein, but less planned out. As for Oulu Space Jam Collective — well, for starters, they’re from Oulu, Finland, and they’re a space rock/jam collective. Go figure. Their “Side A: A Pastoral Paradise” runs over an hour on its own and the actual vinyl release of the Harvest Sage album from whence it comes had to feature an edited version of the original track even to fit it on two sides. To put it mildly, it is a journey. Watch out for the sitar.

So there you have it. I’m deeply appreciative to Gimme Metal for giving me this space to do weird shit like this and to get on the air with my kid and all that kind of stuff. It has become an outlet I value greatly, and if nothing else at all, these posts give me one more chance to recommend bands for people to check out. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. I can’t control that, but at least I’m here doing the thing.

Thanks for listening and/or reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 02.19.20

Artist Song Album
Hot Box Sound Machine Hot Box Sound Machine Hot Box Sound Machine
VT
Oulu Space Jam Collective Side A: A Pastoral Paradise Harvest Sage

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is March 5 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Thee Facebooks

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Oulu Space Jam Collective Releasing Harvest Sage 2LP on Aug. 10

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 20th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Last heard from, Oulu Space Jam Collective — not to be confused with Øresund Space Collective, who as it happens are also plenty jammy — released the triple-vinyl Drug Rings of Saturn in December through Adansonia Records. That significant offering is still available from the label, and the Finland-based collective are following it up with a live 2LP called Harvest Sage that was recorded at an outdoor show in 2017. Going by the description below, it seems to have been like an art fair, or a kind of town festival, and given what I know of this group — never seen them live, but it’s not hard to imagine how their style might translate, being jams and all — a park as part of a spirited creative group endeavor seems like it would be precisely their element. Sounds like it would’ve been a cool show, in other words. I know I’m desperate at this point — is Finland doing gigs yet? — but it seems as though this might’ve been a special night for them. All the more worth documenting after the fact.

The vinyl info follows, courtesy of Adansonia:

oulu space jam collective harvest sage

Oulu Space Jam Collective – Harvest Sage – DLP 2020 – AR 037

In 2017, the Finnish Oulu Space Jam collective took part in the annual Oulu Art Nights and presented a two-hour outdoor concert at the Lyötynpuisto park in Oulu. At this event, musicians, actors, dancers, writers and artists take over public spaces and parks and offer unique experiences for everyone. The double album “Harvest Sage” was created on the basis of these recordings.

It contains four long improvised space jams, each spanning a full side length and takes in space rock, krautrock, oriental and snippets of spoken word which all come together to make something special – Oriental Oulu Kraut. Another high quality space rock jewel – mastered by Eroc at his ranch.

Details:
– 222 x classic edition, black vinyl, 180g, inlay, hand-numbered – 29€
– 111 x exclusive label edition, transparent blue – splatter green, orange vinyl, inlay, hand-numbered – 32€

https://www.facebook.com/Ouluspacejamcollective
https://ouluspacejamcollective.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/adansoniarecords/
https://www.adansoniarecords.de/

Oulu Space Jam Collective, Drug Rings of Saturn (2019)

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Oulu Space Jam Collective to Release 3LP on Adansonia Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 24th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

I’m not sure what exactly is going to be on the triple-vinyl that Adansonia Records will release from Finnish cosmic-improv unit Oulu Space Jam Collective, but apparently there will be plenty of it. I mean, it’ll be jams one way or the other, since that’s what the band — such as they are — does, but they do it pretty often, so maybe it’s the full-length they put out in September, Drug Rings of Saturn, or maybe it’s a collection of other material or some other past release or maybe it’s something new. A group like this, you never really know. Could be a 3LP pumped out every time they get together. When your ethic is “plug in and go,” adding a step to hit record along the way isn’t such a huge ask.

It’s definitely cool for the band though, whatever might ultimately manifest, so right on. Details are apparently forthcoming, but good news is good news, so here’s good news:

oulu space jam collective

Oulu Space Jam Collective – New release on Adansonia Records

It’s been quiet here for a while and now it’s high time for a new fantastic release.

In the meantime a new band has joined the roster of Adansonia Records. Please welcome Oulu Space Jam Collective from Finland.

Oulu Space Jam Collective channels cosmic streams of the universe through a great variety of instruments, which they choose for their jam sessions. It’s their intention to celebrate extended Space Rock Jams with jazzy grooves and Krautrock experiments. Sounds like they are in good company at Adansonia.

We have managed to prepare one of their numerous recordings for release on vinyl. It is the first official physical release of Oulu Space Jam Collective! The package of test pressings arrived yesterday and is just waiting to be checked. We expect to be able to deliver an incredibly spacey 3LP box in early December. Very soon detailed info…

Check them out!!!

Oulu Space Jam Collective in photo above:
Petri Loukusa
Antti Yrjö Olavi Ylijääskö
Olli Niemitalo
Kalle Veikko
Markus Pitkänen
Joonatan Aaltonen
Jani Pitkänen

https://www.facebook.com/Ouluspacejamcollective
https://ouluspacejamcollective.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/adansoniarecords/
https://www.adansoniarecords.de/

Oulu Space Jam Collective, Drug Rings of Saturn (2019)

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Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia 2017: Electric Moon, Jess and the Ancient Ones, Albinö Rhino and More to Play

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Oh, don’t mind me. Just posting about another awesome and totally weirded-out festival happening in Europe with a range of bands from the improv psych of Electric Moon to the anti-genre E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr and back again through the post-Sleep lumber of Albinö Rhino and the cultistry of Jess and the Ancient Ones. The 2017 Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia as fodder for daydreams? You bet your ass. Book my flight. I’ll be there in a second. Mind if I sleep on your floor? Hope typing at night doesn’t keep you awake. Ha.

I’ve never been to Finland — neither have Electric Moon, as it happens; Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia 2017 will mark their first appearance there — but Oulu (aka Uleåborg in Swedish) has consistently had cool stuff happening. Tampere, which is about six hours further south by car, gets a lot of the credit as a hotbed, and fairly enough so, but acts like Oulu Space Jam Collective and Deep Space Destructors are clearly trying to make something happen up north, and their efforts here are more than admirable in pulling together bands from all over Finland and beyond.

Full lineup and fest schedule follows, as thankfully translated via the PR wire:

uleaborg-festival-of-psychedelia-2017-schedule

ULEÅBORG FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA 2017

Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia is a collision point of new music and art, which is to be held third time on 14th and 15th of July in Oulu, Finland.

The two day festival reveals new experiences, re-finds what has been forgotten, questions the deadlocks of the mind and ultimately provides fun experiences in a colourful company.

Open your mind, now is the time.

Line-up

Friday 14th of July:
Jess And The Ancient Ones
Tähtiportti
Boar
Missikisat
Getsemane
E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr
Horte
Internet

Saturday 15th of July:
Electric Moon (first time in Finland)
Risto
Mara Balls
Esa Kotilainen
E=SA2
Albinö Rhino
Kap Kap
Pekka Tuomi & Orfeuksen Lapset
Punaisen Kuningattaren Periaate
Hazard Wings
Oulu Space Jam Collective

http://www.uleaborgfestivalofpsychedelia.com
https://www.facebook.com/UFOpsychedelia/
https://www.facebook.com/events/2067803673445931

Electric Moon, Stardust Rituals (2017)

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Quarterly Review: Pallbearer, Dread Sovereign, Lizzard Wizzard, Oulu Space Jam Collective, Frozen Planet….1969, Ananda Mida, Strange Broue, Orango, Set and Setting, Dautha

Posted in Reviews on March 27th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

cropped-Charles-Meryon-Labside-Notre-Dame-1854

Here we are, on the precipice looking out over a spread that will include 50 reviews by the week’s end. Somehow when it comes around to a Quarterly Review Monday I always end up taking a moment to ask myself if I’ve truly lost my mind, if I really expect to be able to do this and not fall completely flat on my face, and just where the hell this terrible idea came from in the first place. But you know what? I haven’t flubbed one yet. We get through it. There’s a lot to go through, for me and you both, but sometimes it’s fun to be completely overwhelmed by music. I hope you agree, and I hope you find something this week that hits you in that oh-yeah-that’s-why-I-love-this kind of way. Time’s wasting. Let’s get started.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Pallbearer, Heartless

pallbearer heartless

Three albums and nearly a decade into their tenure, Pallbearer stand at the forefront of American doom, and their third outing, Heartless (on Profound Lore), only reinforces this position while at the same time expanding beyond genre lines in ways that even their 2014 sophomore effort, Foundations of Burden, simply couldn’t have done. A seven-song/hour-long sprawl is marked out by resonant melodies, soulful melancholy conveyed by guitarist/vocalist Brett Campbell – the returning lineup completed by guitarist Devin Holt, bassist Joseph D. Rowland and drummer Mark Lierly – and tonal weight set to a mix by Joe Barresi, who from opener “I Saw the End” onward arranges layers gorgeously so that extended pieces like “Dancing in Madness” (11:48) and closer “A Plea for Understanding” (12:40) become even more consuming. What comes through most resolute on Heartless, though, is that it’s time to stop thinking of Pallbearer as belonging to some established notion of doom or any other subgenre. With these songs, they make it clear they’ve arrived at their own wavelength and are ready to stand up to the influence they’ve already begun to have on other acts. A significant achievement.

Pallbearer on Thee Facebooks

Profound Lore Records website

 

Dread Sovereign, For Doom the Bell Tolls

dread-sovereign-for-doom-the-bell-tolls

With the considerable frontman presence of Primordial’s Alan Averill on vocals and bass, the considerable riffing of guitarist Bones (also of Wizards of Firetop Mountain) and the considerable lumber in the drumming of Johnny King (ex-Altar of Plagues), Dread Sovereign make some considerable fucking doom indeed. Their second album, For Doom the Bell Tolls (on Ván Records), follows three years behind their debut, 2014’s All Hell’s Martyrs (review here), and wastes no time giving the devil his due – or his doom, if you prefer – in the span of its six tracks and 37 minutes. Atmospheric and seemingly on an endless downward plod, the 13-minute “Twelve Bells Toll in Salem” is a defining moment, but the trad metallurgy of “This World is Doomed” rounds out side A with some welcome thrust, and after the intro “Draped in Sepulchral Fog,” “The Spines of Saturn” and the thrashing “Live Like and Angel, Die Like a Devil” play dramatic and furious intensities off each other in a manner that would seem to truly represent the fine art of not giving a shit what anyone thinks about what you do or what box you’re supposed to fit into. Righteous. Considerably so.

Dread Sovereign on Thee Facebooks

Ván Records website

 

Lizzard Wizzard, Total War Power Bastard

lizzard-wizzard-total-war-power-bastard

Noise, largesse of riffs and shouted vocals that distinctly remind of Souls at Zero-era Neurosis pervade the near-hour-long run of Lizzard Wizzard’s Total War Power Bastard, but as much as the Brisbane four-piece willfully give themselves over to fuckall – to wit, the title “Medusa but She Gets You Stoned Instead of Turning You to Stone, Instead of Snakes She has Vaporizers on His Head… Drugs” – songs like “Shithead Nihilism,” “Pizza” and the droning “Snake Arrow” brim with purpose and prove affecting in their atmosphere and heft alike. Yes, they have a song called “Nerd Smasher,” and they deserve all credit for that as they follow-up their 2013 self-titled (review here), but by the time they get down to the roll-happy “Crystal Balls” and the feedback-caked “Megaflora” at the record’s end, guitarists Michael Clarke and Nick McKeon, bassist Stef Roselli and drummer Luke Osborne end up having done something original with a Sleep influence, and that’s even more commendable.

Lizzard Wizzard on Thee Facebooks

Lizzard Wizzard on Bandcamp

 

Oulu Space Jam Collective, EP1

Oulu-Space-Jam-Collective-ep1

Should mention two things outright about Oulu Space Jam Collective’s EP1. First and foremost, its three songs run over 95 minutes long, so if it’s an EP, one can only imagine what qualifies as a “full-length.” Second, the Finnish outfit releasing EP1 on limited tape through Eggs in Aspic isn’t to be confused with Denmark’s Øresund Space Collective. Oulu is someplace else entirely, and likewise, Oulu Space Jam Collective have their own intentions as they show in the 57-minute opener “Renegade Spaceman,” recorded live in the studio in 2014 (they’ve since made two sequels) and presented in six movements including samples, drones, enough swirl for, well, 57 minutes, and a hypnotism that’s nigh on inescapable. I won’t take away from the space rock thrust of 14-minute closer “Artistic Supplies for Moon Paint Mafia” (also tracked in 2014), but the smooth progressive edge of three-part 24-minute centerpiece “Approaching Beast Moon of Baxool” is where it’s at for me – though if you want a whole galaxy to explore, hit up their Bandcamp.

Oulu Space Jam Collective on Thee Facebooks

Eggs in Aspic webstore

 

Frozen Planet…. 1969, Electric Smokehouse

frozen-planet-1969-electric-smokehouse

They freak out a bit toward the end of 12-minute opener “Ascendant” and in the second half of the subsequent “Supersaturation,” but for the most part, Aussie three-piece Frozen Planet…. 1969 play it weirdo-cool on their fourth full-length, the excellently-titled Electric Smokehouse (on Pepper Shaker Records). From those jams to the dreamy beachside drift of “Shores of Oblivion” to the funky-fuzz bass of “Sonic Egg Factory” to the quick noise finish of “Pretty Blown Fuse” – which may or may not be the sound of malfunctioning equipment run through an oscillator or some other effects-whatnot, the instrumentalist Sydney/Canberra trio seem to improv a healthy percentage of their fare, if not all of it, and that spirit of spontaneity feeds into the easygoing atmosphere only enhanced by the cover art. On a superficial level, you know you’re getting psych jams going into it, but once you put on Electric Smokehouse, the urge to get lost in the tracks is nigh on overwhelming, and that proves greatly to their credit. Wake up someplace else.

Frozen Planet…. 1969 on Thee Facebooks

Pepper Shaker Records on Bandcamp

 

Ananda Mida, Anodnatius

ananda-mida-anodnatius

Ananda Mida make their debut on Go Down Records with Anodnatius, fluidly working their way around heavy psychedelic and more driving rock influences propelled by drummer Massimo “Max Ear” Recchia, also of underrated Italian forebears OJM. Here, Recchia anchors a seven-piece lineup including two vocalists in Oscar de Bertoldi and Filippo Leonardi, two guitarists in Matteo Scolaro and Alessandro Tedesco, as well as bassist Davide Bressan and organist Stefano Pasqualetto, so suffice it to say songs like the subtly grungy “Passvas,” the dreamy highlight “Heropas” or the vaguely progressive “Askokinn” want nothing for fullness, but there seem to be moments throughout Anodnatius as on “Lunia” and the shuffling “Kondur” early into the proceedings where the band wants to break out and push toward something heavier. Their restraint is to be commended since it serves the interests of songcraft, but part of me can’t help but wonder what might happen if these guys really let loose on some boogie jams. Keep an ear open to find out, as I have a feeling they might be headed in just that direction.

Ananda Mida on Thee Facebooks

Go Down Records website

 

Strange Broue, Seance

strange-broue-seance

The heart of Séance – The Satanic Sounds of Strange Broue might come in the 11-minute sample dump that is “Cults and Crimes,” late into the second half of the 52-minute album. Capturing meticulously compiled news and talk-show clips from the late ‘80s, some of which talk about the Satanic roots of heavy metal, it gets to the ritualism that Quebec four-piece Strange Broue proliferate elsewhere on the record in the lo-fi post-Electric Wizard doom of “Satan’s Slaves,” “Kill What’s Inside of You” and the rolling opener “Ritualize” (video here). These pieces offset by other interludes of noise and drone and samples like “Satanic Panic,” “In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanis, Luciferi Excelsis,” the acoustic-until-it-gets-shot-in-the-woods “Las Bas,” the John Carpenter-esque “Séance IV – L’Invocation” and the extended penultimate drone of “Séance V – The Mystifying Oracle with Bells” ahead of the countrified pop gospel of “Satan is Real,” which finishes in subversive fashion, interrupted by more news reports and a finishing assault of noise. Like an arts project in the dark arts, Séance crosses some familiar terrain but finds Strange Broue on their own trip through cultish immersion, as psychological as it is psychedelic.

Strange Broue on Thee Facebooks

Sunmask Records webstore

 

Orango, The Mules of Nana

orango-the-mules-of-nana

Not much to argue with in the sixth long-player from Helge Kanck, Trond Slåke and Hallvard Gaardløs, collectively known as Orango. As they make their way onto Stickman Records (which also handled Euro distro for their last album, 2014’s Battles) with The Mules of Nana, the Norwegian trio deep-dive into harmony-topped ‘70s-style vibing that, well, leaves the bulk of “retro” bands in their V8-crafted dust. Mind you they do so by not being a retro band. True, the fuzz on “The Honeymoon Song” and “Head on Down” is as organic as if you happened on it in some forest where all the trees were wearing bellbottoms, but if you told me it was true, I’d believe Orango recorded The Mules of Nana onto – gasp! – a computer. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but “Heirs,” the sweetly acoustic “Give Me a Hundred” and motoring “Hazy Chain of Mountains” find Orango making no attempt to cloak a lack of songwriting or performance chops in a production aesthetic. Rather, in the tradition of hi-fi greats, they sound as full and rich as possible and utterly live up to the high standard they set for themselves. Pure win in classic, dynamic fashion.

Orango on Thee Facebooks

Stickman Records website

 

Set and Setting, Reflectionless

set-and-setting-reflectionless

There’s an undercurrent of metal that’s quick to show itself on Set and Setting’s Reflectionless. The instrumentalist Floridian five-piece delve plenty deep into heavy post-rock on cuts like the shoegazing “Incandescent Gleam” and subsequent “Specular Wavefront Of…” but they’re not through opener “Saudade” before harder-edged chug emerges, and “…The Idyllic Realm”’s blastbeating nods at black metal while the churning endgame build of closer “Ephemerality” holds tight to a progressive execution. While its textural foundation will likely ring familiar to followers of Russian Circles ultimately, Reflectionless finds distinction in aligning the various paths it walks as it goes, creating an overarching flow that draws strength from its diversity of approach rather than sounding choppy, confused or in conflict with itself. Not revolutionary by any means, but engaging throughout and with a residual warmth to complement what might seem at first to be a purely cerebral approach. It offers more on repeat listens, so let it sink in.

Set and Setting on Thee Facebooks

Set and Setting webstore

 

Dautha, Den Foerste

dautha-den-foerste

Primo short offering of pure, fistpump-ready, violin-infused doom traditionalism. I don’t know what Norrköping, Sweden’s Dautha – the five-piece of vocalist Lars Palmqvist, guitarists Erik Öquist and Ola Blomkvist, bassist Emil Åström and drummer Micael Zetterberg – are planning to do for a follow-up, but this Den Foerste (or Den Förste) two-tracker recalls glory-era Candlemass and willfully soars with no sense of irony on “Benandanti” and “In Between Two Floods” after the intro “Horkarlar Skall Slås Ihjäl,” and having already sold out a self-released pressing leaves little to wonder what would’ve caught the esteemed tastes of Ván Records. And by that I mean it’s fucking awesome. I’m ready for a full-length whenever they are, and from the poise with which Palmqvist carries the melodies of these tracks, the quality of the riffing and the depth of arrangement the violin adds to the overarching mournfulness, they definitely sound ready. So get on it. 15 minutes of dirge-making this gorgeous simply isn’t enough.

Dautha on Thee Facebooks

Ván Records website

 

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Oulu Space Jam Collective Announce EP1 Tape Available to Preorder

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 5th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

oulu space jam collective

Listening to the 57-minute opening track from the new Oulu Space Jam Collective tape, my brain feels like plastic that somebody put in the microwave. The song in question, “Renegade Spaceman,” comes accompanied by two others — “Approaching Beast Moon of Baxool” (24:07) and “Artistic Supplies for Moon Paint Mafia” (14:09) — which makes me think that the title EP1 of the limited-to-50-copies cassette release refers to “episode” rather than it actually being an “EP,” because frankly, if they were going to press it to vinyl, it’d be two 12″ records. Not exactly a short release.

Eggs in Aspic will have the tape out this Friday, but you can order it now, and if you caught that part in the paragraph above where I said they only made 50 of the suckers, you’ll probably want to jump on that. At least if you want your brain to do that whole plastic-in-the-microwave thing — which, frankly, I think we both know you do.

Info courtesy of the label, audio courtesy of the band:

oulu space jam collective ep1

Pre-order Oulu Space Jam Collective – EP1 Now!

Not much is known about mysterious Finnish psych outfit Oulu Space Jam Collective but that’s probably for the best. Since forming in the Northern Finnish city from which they took their name in 2014, the enigmatic sextet have been busy crafting their improvised new-age prog at a series of underground arts events across the city.

Proprietors of a sort of tribalistic, free-flowing nomadic-psych similar to fellow Scandinavians Goat, the group’s physical debut release on Newcastle cassette label Eggs in Aspic, brings together three of the band’s extended genre-hopping jams for the first time.

Clocking in at just under two hours, the cosmic vibes of Renegade Spaceman, Approaching Beast Moon of Baxool and Artistic Supplies for Moon Paint Mafia take the listener on an interplanetary trip to the outer reaches of reality.

Helmed by Joonatan Elokuu, Markus Pitkänen, Petri Lassila, Jani Pitkänen, Kalle Veikko, Olli Niemitalo and Petri Henell, the group’s self-styled ‘Oriental Oulu Kraut’ offers a heady mix of sitar, synths, percussion, lap steel, electronic wizardry and far-out guitars that chime together in shamanistic celebration.

Recorded across two nights at Oulu’s Deep Space Destructors’ Rehearsal Vortex and Etulyötyn Park’s Night of the Arts, EP1 will be released on 6 January 2017 in a limited edition run of 50 purple C120 cassettes featuring a laser-cut transparent J-card, metallic pin badge and digital download code.

Click here to pre-order the limited edition release now

https://www.facebook.com/Ouluspacejamcollective
https://ouluspacejamcollective.bandcamp.com/
http://www.eggsinaspic.com/product/oulu-space-jam-collective-ep1/
http://www.eggsinaspic.com/

Oulu Space Jam Collective, “Renegade Spaceman”

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