Nope, not an Osmonds cover, as was the song of the same title once taken on by underrated New York rockers Puny Human. The Vintage Caravan‘s “Crazy Horses” is an original, taken from their third album, Arrival, which is out now on Nuclear Blast. If you were to ask me just what’s happening in the clip, I’d probably hem and haw for a while before I mumbled something about different lives intersection at a show at which The Vintage Caravan, while being GoPro’ed, rock the house thoroughly. I know there’s a bonfire, and it looks like someone had their breakfast burnt, but yeah, if there’s an overarching theme, it’s probably about that show, some measure of release there maybe.

Or maybe that’s me reading into it. You’ll have to watch for yourself if you’re so inclined to see where you’re at. The Icelandic trio have a round of European tour dates booked for this summer that includes several festivals, among them Montreux Jazz Festival and Sonic Blast Moledo, among a considerable swath of others, and if the production value they bring to their performance is anything like that of the video for “Crazy Horses,” which has a pretty straightforward bluesy heavy rock push from which it kicks into higher and more punkish gear in an enticing and catchy bit of back and forth — plus funny faces! — it should be quite a time.

Clip follows here, with tour dates and more info after. Enjoy:

The Vintage Caravan, “Crazy Horses” official video

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN – RELEASE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “CRAZY HORSES”

Icelandic classic rock trio, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, have released the official video for the song “Crazy Horses” from their brand new album, Arrival.

Óskar Logi Ágústsson, singer and guitarist for Iceland’s classic rock trio THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, played a key role in the new Icelandic dramatic film, Metalhead. The movie has drawn a lot of attention not only from the rock and metal community but also from mainstream audiences.

Directed by Iceland’s famed Ragnar Bragason, Ágústsson plays the older brother of the main character that dies a gruesome death, leading his sister to adopt the his musical lifestyle. Metalhead is out now playing in the U.S. and is available on-demand.

The Vintage Caravan:
Óskar Logi – Guitar and vocals
Alexander Örn – Bass and backup vocals
Stefán Ari Stefánsson – Drums

The Vintage Caravan on tour:
Jun 10 Ulmer Zelt Ulm, Germany
Jun 12 Willemeen Arnhem, Netherlands
Jun 13 Kempenerpop Aalst, Netherlands
Jun 13 Retie Rockt, Retie, Belgium
Jul 05 Montreux Jazz Festival Montreux, Switzerland
Jul 11 Eistnaflug Festival, Fjarðabyggð, Iceland
Jul 24 Rock Im Wald, Neuessen, Germany
Jul 25 Flörsheim Open Air, Flörsheim, Germany
Aug 15 Sonic Blast, Moledo, Portugal
Aug 23 Turock Open Air Essen, Germany
Sep 04 Pitcher, Dusseldorf, Germany
Sep 05 Metallergrillen, Bisterschied, Germany
Sep 12 Raismes Fest, Raismes, France

The Vintage Caravan on Thee Facebooks

The Vintage Caravan at Nuclear Blast

A few more dates added to Icelandic genre-spanners Sólstafir‘s previously-announced North American tour with Ancient VVisdom. The Reykjavik four-piece, who also play two sets at Roadburn this week and who will appear at Wave Gotik Treffen and a host of other European fests over the course of the next several months, head out once more in support of 2014’s stunner full-length, Ótta (review here), which is a cause as worthy of support as any I can think of. And yeah, the place I live gets the shaft this time around, but it’s hardly the first time and hardly anything to hold against the band. So dig the tour dates off the PR wire and catch these dudes where and when you can.

The time is now:

SOLSTAFIR announce new North American tour dates

Enigmatic Icelandic rock band SOLSTAFIR have added new dates to their previously announced North American tour. The band are touring across the US and Canada, adding shows to Elko NV, Portland OR, and Mesa, AZ. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.

SÓLSTAFIR are different. Their unique blend of metal with beautiful melodies, psychedelic moments and a strong undercurrent of classic / hard rock comes as varied and at times appealingly bizarre as the landscapes of their native Iceland. Their fifth full-length “Ótta” is the logical continuation of the musical course this four-piece adopted on the highly acclaimed forerunner “Svartir Sandar” (2011). Expect the unexpected, such as seduction by subtle strings or a hypnotic banjo. None of this was apparent when SÓLSTAFIR released their album debut “Í Blóði og Anda”, which translates as ‘In Blood and Spirit’ in 2002. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spit forth vitriolic crust-like vocals and the ripping guitars were clearly black metal inspired.

Yet the band was as clearly identifiable back then as now and along their way with the next albums “Masterpiece of Bitterness” (2005) and “Köld” (2009) introducing new elements in a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR’s music is as much the product of Arctic blizzards as of red hot volcanic magma, erupting geysers, lush green pastures, and salty waves. With “Ótta” the Icelanders touch something ancient and timeless, while defying easy categorisation. This album needs to be heard again and again to peel back layers of details, each different and yet always revealing the same: great songs – all of them.

The song titles of “Ótta” form a concept based on an old Icelandic system of time keeping similar to the monastic hours called “Eykt” (“eight”). The 24 hour day was divided into 8 parts of 3 hours each. The album starts at midnight, the beginning of “Lágnætti” (“low night”), continues through each Eyktir of the day and ends with “Náttmál” (“nighttime”) from 21:00 to 0:00. This form of time keeping is more open than the relentless ticking of modern times, where each second is made to count, which turns humanity into cocks of the corporate clockwork. Now SÓLSTAFIR give you the antidote. Just lean back, close your eyes, take your time and lose yourself in this masterpiece called “Ótta”!

SOLSTAFIR North American tour dates:
04/22 Brooklyn, NY @ The Shop
04/23 Montreal, QC @ L’ail’ze
04/24 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
04/25 Toronto, ON @ Garrison
04/26 Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
04/27 Pittsburgh, PA @ 31st St Pub
04/28 Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups
04/29 Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
05/01 Minneapolis, MN @ Nether Bar
05/03 Chicago, IL @ Reggies
05/04 Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
05/05 Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge
05/06 Salt Lake City, UT @ Bar Deluxe
5/07 Elko, NV @ Club Silver Dollar
05/08 Spokane, WA @ The Pin
05/09 Vancouver, BC @ The Astoria
05/10 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
05/11 Portland OR @ Star Theater
05/12 San Francisco, CA @ Oakland Opera
05/13 Los Angeles, CA @ Los Globos
05/14 Mesa, AZ @ Club Red
05/15 Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
05/15 Fort Worth, TX @ Sons Of Hermann Hall
05/17 Austin, TX @ Red 7
05/18 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
05/19 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
05/20 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter

http://solstafir.bandcamp.com/album/tta
https://twitter.com/solstafir
http://www.facebook.com/solstafirice
http://season-of-mist.com

Sólstafir, “Lágnætti” official video

Icelandic trio The Vintage Caravan release their second album, Arrival, in June in Nuclear Blast. The label has just posted a lyric video for the track “Babylon” from the album that features a close, animated look at the David Paul Seymour cover art, and shows that the band haven’t lost their knack for catchy songwriting as they’ve begun to progress past the boundaries of their debut, Voyage, which was put out by the band in 2012 and issued as their Nuclear Blast debut in 2014.

Look for more on Arrival as we get closer to its… getting here. For now, here’s info and the video off the PR wire:

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN UNVEIL THEIR BRAND NEW SONG “BABYLON”

Icelandic classic rock trio THE VINTAGE CARAVAN unveil the brand new song, “Babylon,” from the band’s highly anticipated second album, entitled Arrival.

Watch the official lyric video for “Babylon” on the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIa4fudByeA

Excited about the upcoming release, the band stated:

“We are so excited for the release of the upcoming album. It is a bit different from our previous album – it’s a bit darker, a bit heavier, a bit more melodic but definitely all in a good way. It’s definitely a step forward. We are incredibly happy with how natural the recording process was and how well all of the songs turned out. Get ready for Arrival!”

The sophomore album was produced by Axel “Flexi” Árnason, who also worked with THE VINTAGE CARAVAN on the 2014 critically acclaimed album Voyage. Arrival was recorded in an isolated fjord where they converted an old ballroom into their studio.

Arrival is scheduled to drop in North America on June 2. Below is the stunning psychedelic cover by renowned American artist David Paul Seymour (www.davidpaulseymour.com).

Watch the official lyric video for “Babylon” as well as “Expand Your Mind” and “Meditation” on the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel: http://goo.gl/gqMkim

https://www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan
https://twitter.com/_VintageCaravan
http://www.youtube.com/user/theVintageCaravan

The Vintage Caravan, “Babylon” lyric video

FEB. 26: It is fucking snowing again. This morning, I came downstairs and opened the blinds and no light came in, just that oozing gray that has passed for daytime for most of the last several months in Massachusetts. Yesterday there was blue sky, and I could’ve danced. The days are getting longer, I keep telling myself and The Patient Mrs., looking at the math and almost believing it. We had a little melt this past weekend, so the lowest points of snow are down to about three feet. Piles where the plows have been, in parking lots and places like that, are over 10 feet tall. Some of them look like houses.

They say this isn’t going to accumulate much, but it doesn’t even matter anymore. Snow’s just an excuse to stay inside out of the cold. Another foot. Who cares? I must have been feeling particularly hopeful last night when I took my copy of Sólstafir‘s Ótta upstairs last night to put it on the shelf. The album, which the Icelandic band released last year on Season of Mist, has been an integral soundtrack for this winter to the point where I got so bothered at not having a physical copy of it that I ordered the CD during one of our several blizzards. Yes, deliveries still come, even though from what I hear the trains don’t run anymore.

I had caught wind of Ótta last year, via the usual too-easily-ignored digital promo, and the Reykjavík outfit received heaps of praise around its release, all duly earned. Their fifth full-length, the eight tracks of Ótta make for an hour-long masterpiece of melancholic heft. The lyrics are in Icelandic, but the melody transcends language barriers, and whether it’s the surge near the end of the title-track, which makes for one of the most particularly memorable standout moments, the understated drums of Guðmundur Óli Pálmason grounding the string sounds and keys as vocalist/guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason‘s croons become shouts, or the more frenetic vibe of “Miðdegi,” with Tryggvason‘s and Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson‘s guitars interweaving over a tense bassline from Svavar Austman, the atmosphere remains pervasive. This is true as well as they push through the quiet lushness of the penultimate “Miðaftann.” Just because I’d make a fool out of myself if I tried to pronounce any of it doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful.

The ebow to organ shift in 11-minute closer “Náttmál” and the waves of blastbeats that accompany the apex are something special, but for much of Ótta, it’s the softer stretches that create the ambience. Piano and subdued vocals start opener “Lágnætti,” which picks up soon enough but holds firm to a contemplative impression, and the wide spaces crafted by “Rismál” seem to bring to life the unceasing bitterness of winter’s cold. They don’t shout about it. It’s a kind of resignation, to which the subsequent “Dagmál” and “Miðdegi” add further emotional and sonic depth, Sólstafir holding onto a heaviness in sound but making an even more resonant impression with the album’s spiritual weight. To me, it just sounds like this interminable season, and I know that in years to come, that’s how I’ll identify it. Already it has proved a haunting presence.

So much so, that when the snow started to fall this afternoon, I had no choice but to go back upstairs and retrieve the Ótta CD, put it on and make my way toward and through the desperate thrust of “Nón” again. I’m sure it won’t be the last time before the snow melts. Yes, it’s brilliant and progressive and all that other shit “critics” say when they like something, but mostly, I’m glad to have the bit of comfort Sólstafir offer.

Sólstafir, Ótta (2014)

Sólstafir on Thee Facebooks

Sólstafir on Bandcamp

Season of Mist

Sólstafir, Ótta (2014)

Please note: For visual continuity with other Friday Full-Length posts, I’m using the YouTube post of the record, but the band also has it up on Bandcamp here, where it is available for stream and purchase.

I don’t usually like to close out a given week with something so recent, but after just really giving Sólstafir‘s Ótta album a shot the other day for the first time, I couldn’t really not. The Icelandic post-black metallers’ fifth full-length, it came out at the end of August on Season of Mist, and for somebody like me who’s always been a fan of Alternative 4-era Anathema, it plays off some of the same kind of melancholy well. It’s an undertaking at nearly 80 minutes — this version seems to have a couple bonus tracks — but worth the effort and though I’m late to the party, it’s one I’m glad I didn’t miss entirely before the year ended. I’ll probably have more in the next couple weeks, maybe a writeup with a radio add or something, just to basically get something in about it before too long as passed. But yeah, oof that’s good.

It’s Fall now, leaves changing and the dark getting earlier and the air getting colder, so something like this sits well with the season. And Sólstafir play to that cohesively, from the windswept cover art to the chill in the songs themselves. I’m only just really getting to know it, but I look forward to digging deeper into the songs. It made sense to me to close the week with it, both because it made such a strong impression when I posted that Roadburn update yesterday and in case maybe you hadn’t had the chance yet to check it out. Either way, of course I hope you enjoy listening.

—

In Jersey this weekend with The Patient Mrs. to see family. The lack of posts today is owed to the fact that what part of the day we didn’t spend on the road, we were sitting with my 99-year-old grandmother. That basically took priority on the day. It’s been a minute at this point since the last time I was down here — I popped into NYC from Connecticut to catch Uncle Acid a couple weeks ago, true, but drove back to CT that night, didn’t get into Jersey at all — and it’s good to see everybody. I’ve had a cold the last couple days, but I took some DayQuil and toughed it out because I have neither the energy nor the money to make this trip as often as I’d like, and I need to get it in while I can.

That could mean I’m starting next week at a deficit, but aside from being way, way behind on emails, I don’t think it matters. Tomorrow night is a big family dinner with my family and The Patient Mrs.‘ mother, who’s her only family around here at this point, so that will be good and maybe Sunday I’ll catch up a bit on email if I have the brainpower for it. Sometimes I even manage to put the computer down and not do stuff. It happens rarely, but on occasion.

Streams next week for Weed is Weed and Vodun. Reviews of The Asound and Alunah and probably one or two other bands who may or may not start with the letter ‘a.’ Maybe Monster Magnet. That’d be fun. Need to do a tape too. They’re starting to stack up.

For now though, sleep. Wherever you are and however good the pizza is there, I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Be well, enjoy, and we’ll see you back here Monday.

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