Posted in Whathaveyou on March 1st, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Yawning Man recently finished a plenty-extensive North American tour — I saw them in Brooklyn; they ruled — and were in Europe as recently as last September, so it’s safe to say they’re in high gear at the moment, though one might not know it from the ultra-serene sounds that actually emanate from the stage when they play. The Californian desert rock forebears will return to Europe this summer in genuine working-band-making-a-go-of-it fashion as they continue to support 2018’s The Revolt Against Tired Noises (review here), and we already know that after this run, which features stops at Black Deer Fest in the UK, as well as Stoned from the Underground in Germany, Red Smoke in Poland and Burg Herzberg in Germany, among others, and before they even go, they’ll be in CA this May to appear at their label’s first-ever US edition of its Heavy Psych Sounds Fest. To say they’re keeping busy would be understating it.
But they are. Keeping busy.
I’ll be interested to see what their Fall plans are, if they’ll do another US run or maybe put themselves in full album-cycle mode and start writing again ahead of more touring in 2020. I guess we’ve got some time before we get there. But right now, it seems like Yawning Man are the most active they’ve ever been, and for a band with more than 30 years’ history, that’s saying something.
Sound of Liberation posted the Euro dates thusly:
Yawning Man will be back in Europe next summer! Here are the first dates! More will be added soon.
13.06.19 Amsterdam | Melkweg 14.06.19 Achterhoek | Manana Festival 15.06.19 Liège | La Zone 16.06.19 Bristol | The Lane 18.06.19 Manchester | Rebellion 19.06.19 Glasgow | Audio 20.06.19 Coventry | The Phoenix 22.06.19 Tunbridge Wells | Black Deer Festival 25.06.19 Hamburg | Markthalle 26.06.19 Köln | Sonic Ballroom 27.06.19 Karlsruhe | Alte Hackerei 29.06.19 Vitoria | Hell Dorado 02.07.19 Barcelona | Rocksound 03.07.19 Bilbao | Satelite T 04.07.19 Bordeaux | Astroshøw Open Air 06.07.19 Leuven | Sojo 10.07.19 Cottbus | Zum Faulen August 11.07.19 Wien | Arena 12.07.19 Salzburg | Rockhouse 13.07.19 Erfurt | Stoned From The Underground 14.07.19 Pleszew | Red Smoke Festival 23.07.19 Munich | Free & Easy Festival 25.07.19 Breitenbach | Burg Herzberg Festival
YAWNING MAN IS Gary Arce – Guitar Mario Lalli – Bass Bill Stinson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Let’s get right to it: Colour Haze are going to begin recording their next album in April. I was thinking the other day they might have something in the works to follow-up 2017’s In Her Garden (review here), and it’s all the more fitting that they do, as they’re also celebrating their 25th anniversary on a previously announced tour this Spring that includes stops at Desertfest in London and Berlin both. New Colour Haze, all the more as the trio has expanded to a four-piece, is among the most welcome things a given year can bring. To say it’s one to look forward to is like saying you look forward to vacation. Of course you’re looking forward to it. It’s vacation. That’s how it is with new Colour Haze.
They’ll also have a new live album out that was recorded at Duna Jam in 2007 — which puts it square in the Tempel era; win — as well as a reissue of Los Sounds de Krauts that will also be remixed. I’ll be interested to hear how that album changes in the new version. Other digital reissues are currently in progress as well.
And I haven’t heard yet, but one assumes they’ll be at Keep it Low in Munich this October for their annual appearance there — one more reason to want to go to that fest — and they may have more anniversary touring in the works as well. We’ll see. Either way, the more active they are, the better a place the planet is to be.
From the PR wire:
25 years Colour Haze
In August 1994 Tim Höfer, Christian Wiesner and me founded Colour Haze. After uneasy first years Mani and Philipp completed the band in 1998. Last year Jan Faszbender joined us. After more than 450 shows all over the world, 2 live- and 12 studio-albums foremost we wish to say:
THANK YOU! Thanks to all who went to our concerts and bought the records. Thanks to our crew, the promoters, local staffs and all who helped. Thanks to all the bands who shared the stage with us and all the musicians who contributed to our recordings. Thanks to all who wrote and spread the word. Thanks to our families who tolerate and support all this!
Thanks for all the friendship we found and could share!
And we have a lot of plans for 2019: – we keep on working through our back-catalogue and will add more remastered Hi-resolution downloads to our webshop. – After all the old digital data could be restored Los Sounds De Krauts finally will be remixed and reissued on DLP, 2CD and download. – Live Vol. 2 will be released soon – recordings from Duna Jam 2007 – parts of the legendary Tempel-concert and a wonderful session on the beach…. – For April we already booked the studio for the basic-track recordings of our upcoming album….
And we want to play live a lot – a first tour is already booked – after the shows with Jan were received so very well last year you can look forward to see us as a fourpiece again in May ; )
02.05. Nürnberg, Hirsch ( + Monkey 3) 03.05. Berlin, Desertfest 04.05. NL-Nijmegen, Sonic Whip 05.05. UK – London, Desertfest 06.05. F – Paris, Petit Bain ( + The Devil and the almighty Blues) 07.05. Aachen, Musikbunker ( + Monkey 3) 08.05. Hannover, Musikzentrum ( + Monkey 3) 09.05. Leipzig, Werk 2 10.05. Stuttgart, Universum ( +The Devil and the almighty Blues) 11.05. Passau, Zauberberg
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Congratulations to Colour Haze on 25 years of making the world a better place, and yes I mean that. I get asked every now and again who’s my favorite band, and no matter mood or any other factor that might come into play, Colour Haze always seem to be in the conversation. The forebears of European tonal warmth and heavy psychedelia didn’t start out as the progressive monolith they’ve become over time, but through their formative years and their heavy rocking era and into the brilliance that’s followed, the band has never stopped moving forward and have remained unflinchingly committed to challenging themselves as players and songwriters.
That’d be worthy of celebration in and of itself, but the fact of the matter is their work is still unparalleled. Up to and including the 2017 outing, In Her Garden (review here), and the expansion to a four-piece four the subsequent touring that included keyboardist Jan Faszbender alongside the core trio of guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek, bassist Philipp Rasthofer and drummer Manfred Merwald, they’ve succeeded not only in growing their sound and becoming an influential act in and out of Germany, but in maintaining a level of excellence that stands among the most reliable to be found anywhere. Few phrases can elicit the joy to match that of “new Colour Haze.”
I hope to hear that one soon, speaking of.
They’ll be at Desertfest Berlin and London as part of the 25th anniversary tour, and they’ve got dates with The Devil and the Almighty Blues and Monkey3 as well, so all the better.
From Sound of Liberation via the social medias:
***Colour Haze – 25th ANNIVERSARY TOUR***
Friends! No big explanations needed:
The legends gonna celebrate 25th years of Colour Haze in 2019 and invite YOU to celebrate with them! Tour dates below.
DATES: 02.05.19 Nürnberg | Hirsch * 03.05.19 Berlin | Desertfest 04.05.19 Nijmegen | Sonic Whip 05.05.19 London | Desertfest 06.05.19 Paris | Petit Bain ** 07.05.19 Aachen | Musikbunker * 08.05.19 Hannover | Musikzentrum * 09.05.19 Leipzig | Werk2 10.05.19 Stuttgart | Universum ** 11.05.19 Passau | Zauberberg
* with monkey3 ** with The Devil And The Almighty Blues
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 27th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Hey, if it works, don’t mess with it. Poland’s Belzebong and France’s The Necromancers toured together this past Fall and they’ll head out once more in March on an apparent second leg of their run together. The shows are presented by Sound of Liberation, and with Belzebong having released Light the Dankness (review here) in the meantime as The Necromancers continue to support their second LP, Of Blood and Wine (review here), it’s all the more an occasion. One assumes the bands must have gotten along pretty well or the tour wouldn’t be happening after the first one, so that’s kind of an awesome atmosphere to think of. Shows are better when the bands playing are having a good time. Thus spake science.
Sound of Liberation posted the following dates before breaking for the holidays:
We couldn’t leave for our little x-mas/new year’s break without giving you one more tour set for the spring!
Just back from the road 3 weeks ago, BelzebonG & The Necromancers will team up again in March/April for the second leg of their “Purveyors of Dankness” Tour!
Still some dates missing, but most of the tour is here: 19.03.19 (D) Dresden / Chemiefabrik (Belzebong Only) 20.03.19 (D) Osnabrück / Westwerk (Belzebong Only) 21.03.19 (NL) Nijmegen / Merleyn 23.03.19 (FR) Le Havre / CEM (Belzebong Only) 25.03.19 (UK) Bristol / The Lanes 27.03.19 (UK) Glasgow / Nice N Sleazy 29.03.19 (UK) Cardiff / TBC 30.03.19 (UK) Manchester / Riffolution Festival 31.03.19 (UK) London / The Underworld 03.04.19 (D) Hamburg / Molotow 04.04.19 (DK) Copenhagen / Stengade 05.04.19 (D) Cottbus / Zum Faulen August 06.04.19 (CZ) Prag / 007
Polish heavy-doomfuzz-metal outfit BELZEBONG started in 2008, and since then they bring tons of evil weedian riffage for persistent ones. The band drowns themselves in a sea of distortion and fuzz, and after their appearances at prestigious festivals such as Stoned From The Underground, Desertfest Berlin & London, fans of Doom Metal have found a new hero in the scene!
From Progressive Rock to Doom Metal, THE NECROMANCERS’ music is a condensed hybrid of muddy influences emerging from fuzzy and mesmerising witchy riffs, metallic passion, and thickened doom. Think of an unhappy encounter between dark gods at the corner of a foggy street and you’ll get a feeling.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 24th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Not to be outdone by its London counterpart, Desertfest Berlin 2019 makes its own first lineup announcement, and once again it finds the two fests working under the same banner sharing a goodly portion of their bill. A big four names are showcased in All Them Witches, Witch, Earthless and Colour Haze, and as ever, each Desertfest brings a bit of its own personality to the proceedings, in the case of Berlin 2019 thus far with Hällas from Sweden bringing their traditionalist heavy rock and 24/7 Diva Heaven delving into ’90s-era riot grrrl noise. Between those and the bigger acts shared with London, it will once again be interesting to see how the two festivals develop their coinciding rosters. I can’t imagine trying to coordinate one fest schedule, let alone two, and oh hey because why not, Desertfest Berlin 2019 has a boat involved. And I defy you to find someone who doesn’t enjoy riffs on a boat. That’s a distinguishing factor right there.
Kickass poster art and the PR wire announcement follow, of course with more to come:
DESERTFEST BERLIN ANNOUNCES FIRST BANDS FOR 2019!
Legendary WITCH, ALL THEM WITCHES, COLOUR HAZE, EARTHLESS, HÄLLAS & 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN added to the first round of acts!
Desert rockers, it’s finally time to unveil the first bands for 2019, and WHAT a first start of acts this is! DESERTFEST BERLIN is more than proud to welcome the one & only, legendary J Mascis who will crash the ARENA BERLIN with his band mates in stoner metal icons WITCH!
Formed in 2005 by Dinosaur Jr. guitarist Mascis, in WITCH the distinctive pioneer of rock music goes back to his roots and takes over the drums. The band’s eponymous self-titled debut has been released in 2006, followed by the highly accclaimed ‘Paralyzed’ album back in 2008. We could not be prouder to welcome this unique cult band to our 2019-edition!
Rumors have been going on for a while, and yes they became true: ALL THEM WITCHES will be playing DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019! This rare gig the legendary rockers from Nashville will play in Berlin, will truly belong to one of THE live highlights in the history of DESERTFEST BERLIN and yours, too. With their heavy blues and psychedelic desert rock, ALL THEM WITCHES will literally put the ARENA on FIRE, don’t miss one of their only shows in Europe live at DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019!
But we got way more sweet acts to be unveiled today and in this first band announcement every stoner rocker’s heart will beat faster for: Please welcome psychedelic rockers EARTHLESS to the 8th edition of DESERTFEST BERLIN! With their extensive jams, the Californian multi-instrumentalists will turn the ARENA into a psychedelic wonderland, join them for a long ride on their unique classic rock and jazzy Krautrock trips!
Another exciting band we like to unveil today: COLOUR HAZE will celebrate their 25th band anniversary live at DESERTFEST BERLIN! They belong to the oldest psychedelic institution and became the flagship of the German heavy stoner scene, the more we are stoked to welcome them to our next year’s line-up. With an additional keyboarder live at DESERTFEST BERLIN, COLOUR HAZE will take us on a magic sound landscape drown in the haze and true rock spirit. Let’s celebrate 25 years of the legendary COLOUR HAZE together with the band, live at DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019!
To close this first round of already stunning bands, we have added Swedish hardrockers HÄLLAS to our 2019-bill! Describing themselves as Adventure Rock, we cannot wait to join them on a live adventure noone of us will forget. Last but not least, ladies and gentlemen let’s start a Riot: With a delicate and true LO-FI sound, inspired by bands such as L7, Bikini Kill, The Melvins, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth, the ladies in 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN will bring their pure blend of Hard Rock, Grunge and Punk Rock which is all bounded by the legendary Riot Grrrl sound to our stage in 2019, be prepared!
DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019 will take place between May 3th – 5th 2019 at the ARENA BERLIN.
In 2018, Desertheads from over 40 different countries came to witness the premiere at the Arena in the heart of Berlin, rocked out and celebrated the almighty riffs of the Stoner, Doom & Psychedelic Rock. In the last weeks the DESERTFEST BERLIN crew put their heads together to discuss and improve the 2019 edition. As the festival organizers just recently commented:
“We listened to the critics, cause we love you and we worked on all topics: Besides a totally new banging soundconcept and much simplified paying methods (token anyone?), we will come along with more space for you to hang and chill. And that is just the beginning of a whole candyjar of more sweet and trippy extras! So now that we took the Desertfest to the water and we saw how much you enjoyed our boatride… remember that white ship, the “Hoppetosse” docking on the outside area ? For DF 2019 we inked a deal with the owner and are now able to use the “Hoppetosse” as an additional chillzone as well as a rock and party stage. We will have bands playing there during the day, but also we will also host the aftershow parties on board. Hope you like this great news. More news are to come in the next days , so stay tuned!”
A new sound-and payment-system on the ground, more space AND a chillout- and live zone on a boat, with this already stunning line-up DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019 will mark the best edition you have ever been to!
Start your trip to the heart of the capitol of the almighty riffs, we cannot wait to see you all at the ARENA BERLIN 2019!
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 13th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Keep it Low 2018 — AKA Keep it Low #6 — continues to add to its formidable lineup with New Orleans sludge forebears Crowbar and Italian psych-proggers Ananda Mida joining the bill. I like how even down to the lineup announcements, Keep it Low plays it a little more mellow than most other fests. It’s a Sound of Liberation product — see also Up in Smoke, the Desertfests in Berlin and Belgium, and any number of other tours and whatnots — so it’s not like they don’t know how to position it, but still, especially this year, the lineup announcements have come through more like a communique from one friend to another rather than a festival talking to its audience. How you frame these things matters. Not just as a part of branding, but as part of defining the experience of the fest itself.
To wit, as they add Crowbar and Ananda Mida — one band legendary and another band an upstart — the announcement makes the simple assumption that the person reading it knows who both bands are. It says quickly who the bands are and then moves on to plug the ticket link. This helps distinguish Keep it Low from other fests because it speaks more directly to the specific audience it’s working to capture. It’s a different way of saying “we’re fans too” than coming right out and saying it, and while I won’t take away from any other method a festival might choose to employ, it’s nonetheless an effective means of communicating that idea. And frankly, I believe it.
The update follows here, courtesy of the festival’s social media:
Keepers!
We are stoked to tell you today that New Orleans’ sludge metal veterans Crowbar join the Keep It Low Festival 2018 line-up (on Saturday) along with Italian stoner/psych collective ANANDA MIDA (on Friday)!
Our line-up now features 19 bands split over the 2 days! 2-day passes are long gone, but you can still grab day tickets right here: www.keepitlow.de/tickets-keep-it-low!
Do not wait for too long, Keep It Low is sold out evey year!
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 3rd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
The lineup for Keep it Low 2018, which already feels like a birthday present with the likes of Colour Haze, Acid King, Elder, Lowrider, Wo Fat, Sasquatch and Child on the bill — among others — continues to get even richer. Two more bands have been newly added between German aggro sludge metallers High Fighter and Norwegian heavy blues purveyors The Devil and the Almighty Blues, and as distinct as the two acts’ sounds are, they each have a foothold in the capital-H ‘Heavy’ that unites them with each other and with the rest of Keep it Low‘s lineup, which might be the strongest I’ve yet seen from the festival in its six incarnations. And I don’t think they’re done adding bands, either.
High Fighter recently announced a string of UK dates for August supporting their visceral 2016 Svart Records debut, Scars and Crosses (review here), while The Devil and the Almighty Blues issued their second album, II (review here), last year via Blues for the Red Sun Records. I’m not sure if either appearance at Keep it Low 2018 will be part of larger touring plans, but it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility for either act.
Keep it Low 2018 is presented by Sound of Liberation and is set for Oct. 19 and 20. The latest announcement follows:
Keepers,
As promised, here are 2 new bands confirmed for Keep It Low Festival 2018: Heavy-Blues Rockers The Devil And The Almighty Blues that we are thrilled to have back in Munich on Oct. 19th after the incredible show they played at Feierwerk in May; and the ferocious High Fighter to fuel your appetite with mean and dirty Blues, Stoner, Doom & Sludgy riffs on Oct. 20th!
[Click play above to stream Yawning Man’s new album, The Revolt Against Tired Noises, in its entirety. It’s out July 6 on Heavy Psych Sounds.]
The California desert is fortunate to have Yawning Man as its soundtrack. For over 30 years in varying forms and degrees of activity, the instrumentalist outfit have been an entity unto themselves. Their sound today seems like the foundation for the laid back groove that is essential to desert rock as a style even in its most aggressive forms, and the tone of founding guitarist Gary Arce is a monument to open spaces. Together with bassist Mario Lalli — also guitarist/vocalist for Fatso Jetson, who are no slouches themselves when it comes to being desert rock legends — Arce resides at the foundation of the style, bringing elements of indie, punk, goth rock and more together into a brew that’s still potent these decades later. They’ve spent the better part of the 2010s touring periodically through Europe, and offered a surprise release in 2015’s Historical Graffiti (review here), which was something of an anomaly studio session in South America with an expanded lineup, but also the band’s first full-length since 2010’s Nomadic Pursuits (review here), so certainly more than a one-off or stopgap in reality.
Their new album, The Revolt Against Tired Noises, is their first release through Heavy Psych Sounds, which also issued Fatso Jetson‘s 2016 LP, Idle Hands (review here), and while its title is confrontational, the revolt Yawning Man — Arce, Lalli and drummer Bill Stinson — are ultimately leading is peaceful, rife with serene melodies in the guitar and unmitigated fluidity rife with purpose but carrying nonetheless an air of spontaneity, the in-deep-jam feeling that a track like side B opener “Violent Lights” can and will go anywhere its chemistry will allow, which is just about anywhere, period. The Revolt Against Tired Noises also includes vocals for the first time on a Yawning Man album from Lalli on the side A closer “Grant’s Heart” and the later “Catamaran” — the latter which was never recorded by Yawning Man but covered by Kyuss on 1995’s …And the Circus Leaves Town, thus codifying Yawning Man‘s influence on that seminal act. The singing turns out to be something of a footnote in the sphere of the entire eight-song/39-minute release, but it’s one more nuance to their work and provides listeners an anchor to each half of the album, so as not to simply drift into the ether, carried away by otherworldly tones and engaging, hypnotic rhythm.
Much of what’s included is nothing less than gorgeous. With Mathias Schneeberger (Fatso Jetson, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Earth, Yawning Man, The Obsessed, so many others) helming the recording, opener “Black Kite” provides a genuine shimmer leading into the record, and even has a bit of an instrumental hook in its later going, its long fadeout giving way to the title-track, which seems to work in subtle layers but brings Lalli‘s bass and Stinson‘s drums forward along with the guitar, so that all three players stand toe-to-toe in the mix. That has an effect of making “Revolt Against Tired Noises” (which seems to have dropped the “the” from the name of the album) a heavier overall sound, but it’s still consistent with the rest of its surroundings in tone and overall approach, including a midsection that’s as trance-inducing as I’ve ever heard Yawning Man get and an evocative finish that emerges, bringing one back to semi-consciousness for the start of “Skyline Pressure,” which is an extended redux of the title-track to Yawning Man side-project Ten East‘s 2016 album (review here), though also has its origins in Yawning Man proper. At 7:40, it’s the longest inclusion on the record and builds to a head just before four-minutes in — I’d swear I hear keys in there too; anything’s possible — and then drops out to cycle through again, the second journey different and even more pleasing than the first as the song meanders to its ending.
As noted, there are two songs with Lalli singing on them, and they just happen to be the two shortest tracks on The Revolt Against Tired Noises: “Grant’s Heart” (3:18) and “Catamaran” (3:03). On linear formats — CD/DL — they appear with the six-minute “Violent Lights” between them, but they were clearly divided up to be included one on each vinyl side as well. Whether the origins of “Grant’s Heart” go back as far as those of “Catamaran,” I don’t know, but neither piece is out of place, and Lalli‘s voice is hardly jarring when it shows up, either for those who know the context of who these players are and what they do or for those who don’t. As riotous as Fatso Jetson can sometimes be, Yawning Man‘s vocals are more subdued, holding a melodic kinship to the guitar beneath them, and in “Grant’s Heart,” giving way to that guitar at about two minutes in, only to return in the fadeout a minute later. And while “Catamaran” will be familiar to desert rock heads from the John Garcia-fronted version, in Lalli‘s hands, it still has its chorus kick, but is more about flow than crunch, and very much Yawning Man‘s own, which is odd to say because it was their own in the first place. Especially coming out of the engrossing “Violent Lights,” which has some sense of foreboding in the low end around its halfway point but is otherwise much more about its howling wisps of floating guitar, “Catamaran” is something of a grounding force, but still coherent atmospherically with its surroundings.
“Misfortune Cookies,” which follows, isn’t much longer at 3:31, but reignites the album’s wandering-but-not-lost spirit and brings the guitar back as the center of the melody. An improvised-sounding jam, its run is linear and stretches outward, a long fade leading one to wonder just how much longer it might’ve gone before actually petering out. It leaves like a dream giving way to consciousness as it is, and as Stinson‘s drums start closer “Ghost Beach,” there’s all the more a sense of interaction between the real and the unreal. The Revolt Against Tired Noises may be fostering some kind of rebellion, but it’s doing so with the approach that Yawning Man trademarked a long time ago, and even if it takes them to new places, the paths they use to get there will be familiar and welcoming to longtime listeners and newcomers alike, the bouncing bassline of “Ghost Beach” and Arce‘s wailing, echoing leads both punctuated by the snare as the finale works its way toward dropping out the drums and letting Lalli‘s bass and Arce‘s guitar close out the last minute on their own, which is fair enough. Yawning Man have been perpetually underrated for 30 years. Any acclaim that The Revolt Against Tired Noises can bring them, they’ve long since deserved, but the album is more than just a showcase of legacy. It proves not only that Yawning Man‘s sound is timeless, but that it’s still growing, and that turns out to be its most righteous aspect.
