Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 26th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It happens maybe once, maybe twice a year that a video will come along and some switch will flip in my sillybrain and I’ll put it on the tv to enjoy in its entirety. You see where this is going, of course. It’s been a crappy morning, and you should note that I say “morning” at like 1:30 in the afternoon. Yeah, I’ve done some laundry and wrote a review, got the kid out to school and this and that, but productivity on all fronts has been like pulling teeth and I’ve got way more to do at this point than I have time to do it. Sad to say the difference is today I answered email.
Anyhow, the point. With overwhelm looming, a full 40-minute Stinking Lizaveta concert set — captured at Milkboy in the long-running instrumentalist trio’s Philadelphia hometown and set to release on SRA Records as a live album on March 7 along with a host of catalog reissues — is a welcome excuse for escape. I’m not gonna pretend this is a review of the live album or anything more than me sitting in front of my tv enjoying Stinking Lizaveta instead of being stressed out about not getting shit done I was hoping to. Cheshire getting on mic after “The Heart” tells me I was right.
And as regards heart, there’s plenty of it there and in the subsequent “Sherman’s March,” which Yanni shouts out in the memory of Dave Sherman — a labelmate to Stinking Lizaveta when Spirit Caravan released their first album through Tolotta Records — to go along with the charm and chicanery that begins the set in “Serpent Underfoot” and “Electric Future,” a joy no less resonant than the wistful soloing of “Sherman’s March,” with Alexei’s bass locked in step with the drums for the sans-vocal chorus that follows.
Oh man, that sounds an awful lot like a review.
I’ll allow for the fact that if Stinking Lizaveta are inspiring, it’s not the first time. This clip landed in my email (also my DMs, also my social timelines, etc.) at a particularly welcome moment. I’ll get the laundry changed over. I’ll get the rest of the day done. And maybe tomorrow will be easier for the time I took to share the obvious delight Stinking Lizaveta bring to the breakdown in “L.B.J.” — Yanni laughing before they start about how it’s the “extended version” — with Alexei free-jazzing it on the electric standup; a definition of cool that didn’t exist until he made it — and a bit of freakout to boot before they charge, stop, goof off for a minute and then make a rocking return. Fucking hell this is a great band.
The latest-I’ve-seen confirmations for Stinking Lizaveta‘s upcoming European tour with Darsombra are included with the video info and live-album/reissues preorder link below, and if that all seems like a lot and you just want to put on the video and chill out for a little bit with it, I can tell you it definitely worked for making my day better.
Please enjoy:
Stinking Lizaveta, Live 2023 concert video
Stinking Lizaveta “Live 2023” full concert movie streaming now
Limited vinyl available in the pre-order packages for the Stinking Lizaveta reissues
Tracklisting: 1. Serpent Underfoot 2. Electric Future 3. Daily Madness 4. Nomen Est Omen 5. Shock 6. The Heart 7. Sherman’s March 8. L.B.J. 9. Let Live
Recorded August 31st 2023 at Milkboy in Philadelphia Live sound by Mike Moffitt Recording by Joe Smiley Mixed and Mastered at Red Planet by Joe Smiley Video by Mark @trimungus8653 Thanks Dysrythmia and Countdown From Ten
STINKING LIZAVETA / DARSOMBRA SUMMER EU TOUR 2025 updates here: DARSOMBRA.COM 23 – 24 May – GERMANY/CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND 25 May – Berlin GERMANY @ Desertfest Berlin CONFIRMED *26 – 27 May – CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND/GERMANY 28 May – Warsaw POLAND @ Mlodsza Siostra CONFIRMED 29 May – Wroclaw POLAND @ Kalambur CONFIRMED 30 May – Krakow POLAND CONFIRMED 31 May – Kosice SLOVAKIA @ Collosseum CONFIRMED 1 June – Budapest HUNGARY @ Auróra CONFIRMED *2 June – SLOVAKIA/HUNGARY 3 June – Vienna AUSTRIA @ Arena CONFIRMED 4 June – Linz AUSTRIA @ Kapu CONFIRMED 5 June – Nuremberg GERMANY @ Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse e.V. CONFIRMED 6 June – Potsdam GERMANY @ Archiv CONFIRMED 7 June – Dresden GERMANY @ Veränderbar CONFIRMED *8 June – CZECH REPUBLIC/GERMANY 9 June – Prague CZECH REPUBLIC @ Eternia CONFIRMED *10 June – CZECH REPUBLIC 11 June – Brno CZECH REPUBLIC @ Kabinet Muz CONFIRMED 12 June – Berlin GERMANY @ Schokoladen CONFIRMED 13 June – Brandenburg GERMANY CONFIRMED *14 – 19 June – WEST GERMANY/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS 20 June – Herzberg GERMANY CONFIRMED *21- 24 June – GERMANY/DENMARK/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS 25-29 June – Lärz GERMANY CONFIRMED *to be confirmed
Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
In troubling times, Stinking Lizaveta are a reminder of the good humans can do. As they close in on the 30th anniversary of their first album, 1996’s Hopelessness and Shame, the venerable Philadelphia-based instrumental doomjazz innovators will undertake an even more massive European tour in 2025 than they did in 2024, again keeping company with Maryland-based experimentalists Darsombra — a damn good pairing — and embark on a no less sprawling reissue campaign with SRA Records, the same label that put out their latest album, Anthems and Phantoms (review here), in 2023.
To commence said campaign, SRA will stand behind new editions of the aforementioned Hopelessness and Shame and its 1997 follow-up, Slaughterhouse, as well as two new outings, a live record, Live 2023, captured at Milkboy in their hometown fresh off tour, and 1994 Steve Albini Demo, which was cut prior to recording the first record, also with the legendary producer at the helm. That’s not new music, being 31 years old, but it’s apparently never been released. Oh, and the second record was tracked by Steve Austin from Today is the Day. What is it with artsy noise dudes named Steve?
Anyhow, there’s a ton of information here, but since it’s Stinking Lizaveta, I expect all details to be fully memorized, preorders to be deployed, and so on and so forth. Stinking Lizaveta remain a band to tell your friends about, so here’s me telling you. The PR wire backs me up:
On March 7th, Philadelphia Legends Stinking Lizaveta & SRA Records Kick Off Massive Reissue Project With Debut, Sophomore Album, & More
Legendary Philadelphia Instrumental Rock Trio Stinking Lizaveta Kicks Off Massive Reissue Project with Steve Albini–Recorded Debut, Hopelessness and Shame, Second Record, Slaughterhouse, Recorded with Steve Austin (Today Is the Day), Plus Early Albini Demo and 2023 Live Record — All Available on Vinyl for the First Time
• Albini recorded debut and demo is an essential document for Stinking Lizaveta fans and Albini enthusiasts
Three decades ago, a thunderous roar emerged from the West Philadelphia punk underground. Stinking Lizaveta assembled, a rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse fronted by the ferocious screaming of guitarist Yanni Papadopoulos’ black Les Paul and propelled by the growling electric upright bass of his brother, Alexi, and the pummeling assault of drummer Cheshire Agusta. Rocking with extreme abandon, they were iconoclasts, delivering instrumental music that matched the intensity of their hardcore forebears.
The band followed the template provided by Greg Ginn’s Gone—as well as the guitarist’s vocal-less explorations within Black Flag (The Process of Weeding Out and Family Man)—a rare precedent for instrumental guitar-driven rock in the heavy music scene. “We were just trying to find our place on the shoulders of giants,” recalls Yanni. “I was copying the previous generation, as was Greg—he was copying Mahavishnu Orchestra and other stuff from the ’70s that he dug.” The guitarist cites other influences, notably stoner-rock stalwarts The Obsessed and the Bad Brains’ I Against I. “That’s stuff you can’t escape that influenced the whole generation,” the guitarist says. “Anyone who started playing guitar in the ’80s, you just hear [Bad Brains guitarist] Dr. Know in there. Is it metal? Is it punk?” The same questions would apply to Stinking Liz.
“We had two identities as a band at the time,” says Papadopoulos, recalling Stinking Lizaveta’s early days. “We had this overdriven guitar identity and this cleaner guitar identity. We used all the overdriven stuff for the first record and put the cleaner stuff on the shelf.” While on tour supporting their debut, they spent a night at Steve Austin’s house, who invited them to take advantage of his home studio. “We just recorded a bunch of stuff, and he’s such a creative person, he was able to capture this vibe in one night of unexpected recording.”
Austin’s recordings make more than half of their sophomore release, Slaughterhouse. These moody, bluesy excursions capture the late-night atmosphere. Effectively pre-dating the prevalent doomy jazz of Bohren & Der Club of Gore, or the proliferation of the slow-as-an-aesthetic guitar riffage in the hands of Earth, Slaugherhouse adds a new dimension to the band’s sound and reputation. On the record, the Austin recordings are mixed and matched with material recorded along the way at other sessions, which show the band’s rock focus was still firmly intact.
Newly remastered by Dave Eck, this reissue reconstitutes these tracks into a more cohesive-sounding form than ever before, delivering this necessary document in its highest fidelity. Along with Slaughterhouse—which will be pressed on gold vinyl—the first 100 copies purchased directly from SRA Records will include a copy of Live 2023, an all-new exclusive live recording of the trio performing a set of material culled from 2023’s Anthems and Phantoms at the height of their powers, fresh off a tour with Telekinetic Yeti, where they shared a bill with fellow instrumental underground rock legends and longtime compatriots Dysrhythmia at Philadelphia’s Milkboy.
Stinking Lizaveta’s trajectory is notably long and varied, but Live 2023 offers somewhat of a full-circle experience. Papadopoulos points out that much of the formula remains the same: Not only are they the same lineup, but they’re essentially all using the same tools—the guitarist has burned through a trio of Les Pauls but has not ventured from the model, and his brother continues on with the same electric upright. Yanni has gone through phases of heavier pedal exploration in his guitar sound but is back once again to using an elemental direct-into-the-amp approach as is heard on the first two records.
Following the band’s earliest demo recordings, capturing their sound in its infancy, to the big bang of their debut, through the sonic explorations of Slaughterhouse, hearing Live 2023 continues to deliver the same vitality and thrill that Stinking Lizaveta have become known for.
STINKING LIZAVETA / DARSOMBRA SUMMER EU TOUR 2025 updates here: DARSOMBRA.COM 23 – 24 May – GERMANY/CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND 25 May – Berlin GERMANY @ Desertfest Berlin CONFIRMED *26 – 27 May – CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND/GERMANY 28 May – Warsaw POLAND @ Mlodsza Siostra CONFIRMED 29 May – Wroclaw POLAND @ Kalambur CONFIRMED 30 May – Krakow POLAND CONFIRMED 31 May – Kosice SLOVAKIA @ Collosseum CONFIRMED 1 June – Budapest HUNGARY @ Auróra CONFIRMED *2 June – SLOVAKIA/HUNGARY 3 June – Vienna AUSTRIA @ Arena CONFIRMED 4 June – Linz AUSTRIA @ Kapu CONFIRMED 5 June – Nuremberg GERMANY @ Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse e.V. CONFIRMED 6 June – Potsdam GERMANY @ Archiv CONFIRMED 7 June – Dresden GERMANY @ Veränderbar CONFIRMED *8 June – CZECH REPUBLIC/GERMANY 9 June – Prague CZECH REPUBLIC @ Eternia CONFIRMED *10 June – CZECH REPUBLIC 11 June – Brno CZECH REPUBLIC @ Kabinet Muz CONFIRMED 12 June – Berlin GERMANY @ Schokoladen CONFIRMED 13 June – Brandenburg GERMANY CONFIRMED *14 – 19 June – WEST GERMANY/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS 20 June – Herzberg GERMANY CONFIRMED *21- 24 June – GERMANY/DENMARK/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS 25-29 June – Lärz GERMANY CONFIRMED *to be confirmed
HOPELESSNESS AND SHAME Stinking Lizaveta’s 1996 debut album First time on vinyl Recorded by Steve Albini Mastered from original analog master reels by James Plotkin Red vinyl Yellow vinyl
SLAUGHTERHOUSE Stinking Lizaveta’s 1997 second album First time on vinyl Recorded by Steve Austin, Les Lentz and Aaron Levinson Remastered by Dave Eck at Lucky Mastering Gold vinyl
1994 STEVE ALBINI DEMO SRA Records Exclusive – only available here! First time available Recorded by Steve Albini Limited to 100 copies Remastered from the master reels Black vinyl
LIVE 2023 SRA Records Exclusive – only available here! Stinking Lizaveta’s first live album Recorded live in Philadelphia after returning from a US tour Multitrack recording done by Joe Smiley Mixed at Red Planet Limited to 100 copies Black vinyl
Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Caught Between Worlds turned 20 this year. A decade prior to its 2004 release through At a Loss Recordings, Philadelphia instrumentalists Stinking Lizaveta were putting together their first demos, so if we’re talking anniversaries, the band being 30 years old certainly warrants note. Their first album, the Steve Albini-produced Hopelessness and Shame, was came out in 1996. This was their fourth, following behind 2001’s III, which came out via Tolotta Records (run by Joe Lally of Fugazi), and the first of three that the lineup of guitarist Yanni Papadopoulos, bassist Alexi Papadopoulos and drummer Cheshire Agusta would do for At a Loss, which in a catalog of nine full-lengths and various splits and 7″s is a long as they’ve stayed with anybody. Hazards of this level of restlessness, perhaps.
And as for that level? Call it “characteristic,” though the persona of the band is something that’s evolved into itself over time as well. From a punkier, rawer foundation, Stinking Lizaveta have evolved a studio ideal of performance as a moral ethic. True to the very tail end of the CD era, it runs 61 minutes long and features 16 tracks, most under four minutes each. It shifts from place to place and its slowdowns don’t so much feel like they’re there to let the listener catch up as to throw down a gauntlet of instrumentalism. Stinking Lizaveta even two decades ago were no less clear in their purposes than the paragons of sans-vocals heavy riffing, Karma to Burn, but the Philly trio’s structures are quirkier, the turns brazenly angular, the stops and starts willfully unpredictable. The tense chugging and crashes of “I Denounce the Government” — at least as relevant in 2024 as 2004 — unfold with their own language of squeals in Yanni‘s guitar, answering the twisted depths conjured by Alexi‘s bass at the finish of “Beyond the Shadows” with a more animalian howl than the riffer title-track provided in the wistful melody of its shred and ensuing doomly march.
Parts are fast, parts are slow, ideas take shape in and around building cycles of riffs and are soon vaporized by impulsive-but-not-random redirects. “Out of Breath” seeming to hit a wall before pivoting to a creep before it’s halfway though, “Over the Edge” proffering a jammier, open and melancholic jazz fluidity, less manic than the crux of the record from which it comes but essential to it just the same, “Staying Here” getting its own acoustic intro before unfurling a Southern-style nostalgic sentiment, gradually flowing into improv-sounding meander but managing not to lose the plot by the finish, and so on. The focus throughout is less on atmosphere than one might expect having heard their more recent output — last year’s Anthems and Phantoms(review here) was born of the same roots as Caught Between Worlds, but the band have never stopped evolving or exploring — but the trade for that is a markedly live feel in the sound resulting from Ben Danaher and Joe Smiley‘s recording and mix, and Caught Between Worlds conveys its vitality in a way that, if it wasn’t all tracked with everyone in the same room playing at the same time, having that musical conversation and shaping the dynamic as it happened, is perhaps doubly impressive for sounding so much like it.
Granted this wasn’t a new band at the time — four records in 10 years isn’t nothing, however much they’ve done since — but in both their connections to punk in the drums, to jazz in the bass and to classic heavy rock via the guitar, the deep individualism of their writing style, and the verve with which even the urbane, largely mellow “Someone’s Downstairs” seems to soundtrack an invisible cartoon of someone walking tiptoe carrying a lamp with their shadow projected on the wall behind them — did it just move on its own? — is palpable and defining. Parts are fast, parts are slow, as noted, but Stinking Lizaveta remain unflinchingly themselves. It is a combination of elements that works simply because it does, and in the frenetic elbow-thrower “Stop Laughing” and the chunkier-style groove of “Last Wish” — still a live staple — and the greater tonal threat issued by “Side Naked,” which is even more striking for the human voice captured in its sample, the chemistry is plain to hear. It’s not about showing off, or maybe it is just a little, but each piece of Caught Between Worlds brings something to the complex picture of the whole.
That’s going to be most heard by those who put something into it. That is to say, Stinking Lizaveta have never been light on challenge when it comes to listening, and Caught Between Worlds — which front-to-back does what it says in presenting the band as drawing strength from existing in the spaces betwixt one style and another — is no exception, either in runtime or the various shifts in sound, tempo and mood put forth. They bring it back to ground near the finish for “Day of Dust” after “Someone’s Downstairs,” “Staying Here” (plus its intro) and the prior “Prayer for the Living” push into various oddball niches, and “Man Day” provides an insistent finish that feels well placed in providing a convincing closing argument. The more you put into it attention-wise, the more you’re going to get out of it, but as dug in as the band are throughout, it’s accordingly an easier dive for the listener to make at the outset, and once you’re in it, you might as well forget whatever else you had on for the day as you’ll be too busy trying to convince your head to stop spinning to get anything else done. This might make it distracting if you’re not committed to giving their songs the attention due, but if you can get on board, Stinking Lizaveta are good for the soul in a way few acts could ever hope to be and many don’t care enough to try to become. I promise you this is restorative music.
I already mentioned it, but the band’s latest LP, Anthems and Phantoms, is hardly a distant memory. I was lucky enough to catch them over the summer in Germany at Freak Valley (review here), and to absolutely no surprise, they were stellar. If you can see them, do. If not, they’ve got nine records for your plunge. Do it up.
Good luck, and as always, I hope you enjoy this one. Thanks for reading.
—
I was back and forth on whether to close out the week — it’s after noon now, which is later in the day than I’d prefer to be doing so, for sure — but I won’t regret it. In like an hour and a half I’m going to leave the comfort of my home and drive to I-don’t-know-where in Brooklyn to the TV Eye venue, try to find a place to park for however many hours and sit in my car rather than wait to drive in. I’m doing this because traffic and because it’s that much easier to get out of the house before school pickup, which is a little after 3. Traffic’s going to suck either way; going in or coming out of New York, that’s just a condition of life, but yeah. It’s Mars Red Sky and Howling Giant, and I swore up and down I was going, and I want to go, so I am.
The intervening time I’ll spend at least part of putting together the back end of the Quarterly Review I’ll be doing next week. Sneaking one in before year-end list time, and absolutely part of that is me trying to keep up with releases before I close out the year around here. It’s just one week — 50 releases, as opposed to 110, which we did, I don’t know, like four weeks ago, maybe? — but there’s some good stuff in there from the whole year, in addition to new releases. Things like Gnome, Fuzz Sagrado, Hermano, Thou, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Cortez (which I wrote the bio for but haven’t reviewed yet) Cosmic Fall and Coltaine — I don’t want to let these slip before 2025 hits and I start yet another year of listening at a deficit. Not that music has an expiration date, not that any of it matters in the first place, blah blah you get the point.
But doing the QR next week will help me finalize the shape of my own year-end list, and I’d feel awfully triumphant if I could get that out the week before the Xmas holiday — when I’ll almost certainly have a ton of other crap going on — rather than the week of. There was one year it was Xmas Eve it went up, which is ridiculous. I’ll do my best, but while I’m working on that it means I’ll be doing fewer reviews, so yeah, having just banged out 50 and needing to get caught up on news anyway — there was so much this week; anyone remember when the music industry shut down in December? — should put me in good position to start wrapping my head around what I think are the best releases of the year. I also feel like I need a special section to mention that I haven’t heard either the Opeth or the Blood Incantation records, but I can plot all that out as I get closer.
So that’s the plan for the rest of the month. Quarterly Review, list as soon as I can and whatever news and reviews I can fill in around it. There are less premieres, which is fine. That frees me up to chase down stuff on my own rather than follow what comes in for PR pitches, and that’s not a hardship when there’s a lot to do. If I get through it in a timely manner — I never know how much I have to say until I start saying it with these things, and sometimes it’s a lot — and have the week of New Year’s open, I’ll see where I’m at and what I want to do writing-wise with that time. I’ll do as much as I can, when I can. If you see me in my car this afternoon in Brooklyn typing out a 180-word review of the new Space Shepherds outing, perhaps you’ll have some semblance of the truth of that.
Whatever you’re up to this weekend — 16 are also in town but I can’t commit to driving to the city twice given how much I both hate it, it takes time away from duties at home, and I have a fair amount of travel set for the end of next month; Morris County, North Jersey needs a 200-cap venue on the underground circuit so god damn bad; anyone want to open one with me? — I hope you have a great and safe time. Have fun, maybe relax a bit, and enjoy the break if you get one. I’ll have the review of tonight up either over the weekend or on Monday, depending on when I have time to sort photos. Ugh, photos.
I got to the AWO grounds where Freak Valley is held in time to pound a cup of coffee, fill my water bottle and head to the small stage where The Mad Hatter played yesterday evening to do some Doom Yoga. If I was a completely different kind of person, I would study and teach heavy yoga classes tied in with sonic-led meditation. There’s so much room in so much of this music that you could close your eyes and shavasana yourself into oblivion. The stretch and a few quiet minutes were appreciated in the moment, and I suspect that as the day wears on, they will only be more so.
There was a mulch delivery overnight that should cut down on some of the mud factor today, at least at the start, but the weather this far is also better; warmer, some sun but not too much. This makes my intended Saturn-logo hoodie purchase less mandatory, but I’ll get one anyway. Speaking of money, I texted that cab driver who drove me from the train station yesterday and asked if I could PayPal him or something since even after I found a cash machine — not at a gas station, as they commonly are where I come from — I couldn’t take out any money, I assume because I already spent it all existing in 2024, for which there are uncounted ‘premium’-style charges.
But Doom Yoga — which also happens tomorrow; I will hope to be there again — ruled, and finished just as Volker was doing the introduction for Dead Air; his baritone “liebe freunde” was an answer to the gong that finished the yoga session, in its way. Okay, time for the next thing. I didn’t even have the batteries in my camera yet. Welcome to day two.
—
Dead Air
I had listened and written a bit about Dead Air ahead of coming here, and they were both younger and less punk — new song “Three Quarters” notwithstanding– in their presentation than I’d been expecting, so clearly my research skills need some work. Today is kind of all over the place sound-wise — not a complaint — but clearly the intention was to kick it off with, well, a kick, and Dead Air provided that without question. They’re a new-ish band, not too much out, etc., and you could get a sense of onstage as well, but that’s also a specific kind of electricity that a more established act can’t really offer, because even when they’re new to you, they’re not new to themselves, and that was part of enjoying their set too. You can’t fake that, and it is a moment that doesn’t come again in the life of any band. Given the potential in their sound, it will be interesting to hear what the next few years bring from them and how the punk (which is there, just not the sum-total of what they have to offer) and the heavy balance each other out as they take on tasks like a debut full-length and go on from there. But that they were a pleasant surprise despite the fact that I’d heard them before I take as a deeply positive sign of things to come.
Demonauta
Demonauta’s first time in Europe, apparently? I would have thought they’d made the trip sometime in the last 16 years, but I guess not. Either way, the Chilean three-piece were greeted warmly and by that I mean both people and the sun came out to celebrate the start of their set. I had been sitting for a few minutes in a little grove backstage with benches and a table where I’ve done a good bit of this writing that I’ll call Lulu’s Garden, because when I went there yesterday and asked if she minded my presence since it was just the two of us — private moments are rare at these things; sometimes you need or even just want one — herbanswe was a joking claim on it, “come, sit in my garden,” but the desert-style tone of Demonauta’s soundcheck was fuzzy and full enough to serve as clarion, and I wasn’t going to miss a chance that might not come again to catch them live. They manifest a bit of psychedelia along with all the groove-of-riff, which I took as a reminder to chill the fuck out. That was welcome and well-timed, as I had found myself restless in the shade of the smoking tent — too early in the day to smell that terrible; had to go — and needing a spot to breathe. I ended up watching the end of their set as Demonauta told the crowd they loved them before digging into mellow bassy fluidity and finding Kyussian push in an instrumental capper with bonus-extra proggy soloing, from a bench in the back, where it would have been easy to pass the rest of the day since I could see, hear and write all at once. Can’t do that on the swing set, you know. Genuine appreciation from the audience and band alike when they were done. It seemed to be, and I hope it was, worth the trip. For me, the takeaway is I have homework to do in getting to know 2022’s Low Melodies About Chaos better.
Stinking Lizaveta
They moved Cheshire Augusta’s drum riser — and at least while Stinking Lizaveta played, it was most definitely hers, despite Yanni Papadopoulos making an appearance up there once or twice, once with a flying leap off — to the front of the stage, and it was but the first of many “shit yeah” moments while they played. There’s no wrong answer for where to stand during a Stinking Lizaveta set except “anywhere else” but I was up front on the rail at stage left and Alexei Papadopoulos’ bass came through gorgeously. The likewise stalwart, brilliant and weird instrumental trio have been on tour over here for a bit, did the UK with Darsombra and I think are playing with Acid Mothers Temple next or in a couple days, but god damn, what a joy they are to watch and to hear. The sincerity of what they do, how much it’s theirs and how much they own it and embrace it and offer the crowd the chance to share in it — offer accepted, as regards the freaks in the valley — from the dizzying virtuoso twists to the punker spirit underlying it, they’re among the most positive extant outcomes of radical individualism I can’t think of in my mind, and creative with character and breadth that not only doesn’t let you down when they play, but that actively feels uplifting whether a given moment is loud, quiet, fast, slow, whatever. Alexei’s bass solo alone, never mind Yanni hopping off the stage to run his strings over the monitor and the guard rail. I’ve probably said this before and I can only hope to have the chance to say it again, but every festival needs Stinking Lizaveta, and before you start with, “really? even such-and-such?” the answer is still yes. You want to believe in the power of art to enrich your life? Listen to this fucking band.
Fuzzy Grass
All-smiles French heavy stoner blues seemed to hit just right with the crowd and the sunshine, and the first theremin of the festival felt like a thanks-for-showing-up bonus to give the boogie a bit of edge. Their 2023 album, The Revenge of the Blue Nut (review here) stood out, but the vibrancy that came from the stage was a different level entirely, and infectious, whether you were dancing or not. I bought some maybe-vegan sans-rice goulash and hung back for a while — I had scrambled eggs and some cheese with at the hotel, but it’s a long day and protein-plus-peppers didn’t seem like a terrible idea; served me well last year, and so on — as Fuzzy Grass headed toward wrapping up, and sat at one of the shared picnic tables over by the food truck area for a few restorative-despite-the-sauce-in-my-beard (also my shirt; someday I’ll learn how to be a person) moments, but I guess not much more than that in real-time since I made it back up before Fuzzy Grass were actually done. I feel like “spirited” isn’t a word often associated with any kind of heavy music or culture, but Fuzzy Grass’ take was at least that, with soulful vocals, metered groove and a friendly vibe that came across as organic I think mostly because it was.
Tō Yō
A deep dive into languid classic prog and psych, Tō Yō were among my most anticipated bands of the festival, and they did not disappoint. More subdued than not on average, they found a bit of push at the end of the set — briefly, right at the finish — but it was the exploration getting there that was the real highlight. Their debut album, Stray Birds From the Far East (review here), came out last year on King Volume Records, which is ears you can trust even if you don’t know what you’re getting, and was a soothing next-generation extrapolation on Japanese heavy psychedelia, patient and encompassing without overwhelming with their wash or getting lost in the purposeful meander. They drew — I don’t know if there are actually more people here today or if it’s just that the weather is nicer so there are more around — and rightfully so, not only because they trekked from Tokyo to play, but because of the places they went in terms of sound, whether it was that (still relative) blowout or the atmospheric breadth of the material from the album. They sounded like they could’ve played for four more hours and been fine. Might be fun sometime.
Dÿse
Specifically German thrills a-plenty from Berlin two-piece Dÿse, who had the biggest audience since Slomosa last night and treated said assembled masses to a noise rock so laden with quirk and intensity of thrust that you can only really call it progressive. They’ve been at it 20 years or so, and were obviously a known commodity to the singing-along throngs, but it was my first time seeing them and even not speaking the language I could tell they were a blast, if maybe not my thing. They reminded of the Melvins — who played here last year and also tore the place to shreds — in terms of the energy level, which yes, I think of as a compliment, and though I’m thoroughly ignorant of their work, there’s no stopping fun once it starts. It seemed likely that the intention behind putting them after Tō Yō was to lean into the contrast, if not outright shove it over — at one point I’m pretty sure I heard meowing? — and it worked because Dÿse owned the stage while they stood on it, had the crowd with them the whole time. Literal bouncing, like a video from Lollapalooza ’92 or something. It was a thing to see. And between you and me, I’m not gonna go chase down the entire Dÿse catalog and new Mr. Superfan from here on out, but I’m glad to have seen them. At least now I feel like I have some sense of what I’ve missed. Seriously. People went fucking nuts.
Daily Thompson
Snuck in a short changeover set on the small stage, which would’ve been awesome even if their new record, Chuparosa (review here), wasn’t so fresh in mind. I had seen the band show up a couple hours before, and I guess since they weren’t on the bill I assumed they were just here hanging out, but you’ve got 1000mods on the big stage line-checking, Dÿse just finished and here comes Daily Thompson to play “I’m Free Tonight” at the same spot where Doom Yoga when the doors opened. It was of course packed by the time I walked over, so I contented myself to listen to most of it from Lulu’s Garden, where the ladybug larvae have hatched, and to catch my breath before the final three acts of the night. Still, a happy surprise they’re here at all.
1000mods
A week and a half from now, when I still have 1000mods songs stuck in my head, you won’t hear me complain about it. They’re kind of an odd one for me to be sentimental about — they’re from Greece and I’m from New Jersey; it’s not like we hang out — but, well, I’ve been listening to them for about 14 years, and the way they’ve become such a landmark act, whether it’s here or when I saw them at Desertfest NYC last year (review here) or when I’ll see them again this summer at Bear Stone Festival in Croatia, they deliver, and I’ve yet to encounter them in a live setting where it was anything other than a pleasure to do so. As their last record hit during the pandemic, I’m dying to know what they’ll do next and where their ongoing progression will take them — because they’ve never put out the same record twice and never seemed like they wanted to — but for today it was just great to stand and watch them run through the set, to see people get into it, hands in the air, crowdsurfing, all that stuff. They’re one of very few acts I’d play for somebody who knows nothing about heavy rock and roll, and not just because the songs are catchy, but because they’re driven by and delivered with a passion that is unmistakable, as they were at Freak Valley. Sure bet and in a league of their own for what they do.
Alex Henry Foster
Including Foster himself, Alex Henry Foster played as a full six-piece band, The Long Shadows, featuring one drummer and a second kit, a keyboardist/saxophonist/laptopist/vocalist, two guitars in addition to Foster’s own, and a lone bassist. Clearly the former Your Favorite Enemies frontman puts texture into consideration in his work. After the first song, which featured the first bowed guitar of the weekend, Foster explained that he was supposed to play last year but had a medical crisis, then talked about being nervous and the community of the festival making him feel at home, and so on, and was very much the bandleader with a music stand, a shaker and other elements coming and going, keyed for resonance. A depth of arrangement was fair enough for material with such breadth, and the heavy-adjacent-but-not-beholden-to-genre post-emo progressivism was fluid in its reach and various builds, had a density of vibe, was expressive, but in the interest of honesty, something about it rubbed me the wrong way, whether it was too much or I was just tired. So I didn’t stick around long. Dude’s got a career, and I won’t talk shit (not that doing so would affect that career in any way) or belittle the complicated path that brought him to the Freak Valley stage, but I guess I wasn’t looking to be convinced. I went in back and sat for a bit, watched the campers coming and going, and that was fine. Fine. I went back out toward the end of the set and it had picked up, and Foster seemed like he meant every thank you he said, but I was still hearing 1000mods songs, so maybe I’m just too much the stoner rock blogger. Story of my life, to some degree.
Osees
It had been a long day well before Osees went on, but no denying the heavy psych rager that got underway as soon as they got started. I couldn’t hope to keep up with that kind of energy, but it was fun to watch. As will happen, the crowd thinned out some between front and back, but the John Dwyer-led, doubly-drummed troupe supernovaed through the set regardless, bombast and sharp turns and a feel that might’ve been madcap were it not so intentional. It was easier to find a place to sit, but I’ll really admit to being done before they were. I huddled in a corner and closed my eyes for a bit. I won’t call it sleep, but my phone was low in battery and I was more than spent in my limited social engagement resources — I was right to eat those eggs this morning — so with nothing but time until my ride back to the hotel in Siegen, I listened as Osees wove through effects-laced sprawl and intermittent out-the-airlock shove, ebbs, flows, ups, downs, more than a few sideways pivots. To my detriment I’m sure, I’ve never dug into their catalog and with 20-someodd LPs, I recognize I’d be about 18 records late in so doing, but I did my best to hang in as much as I could in the way I could when what I really needed was to be in bed. I’m not gonna complain. I’m here. I’m doing my best. I’m trying. Osees were fucking cool regardless, and Castle Face Records puts out awesome shit. There. I said a thing.
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Gonna leave it there, but I promise you I’m having a good time, even if I’m feeling somewhat obliterated by it all. I’ll hope to put up a wrap when it’s all over. I’m just trying to live it while I’m here as best I can. More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
What’re you gonna do, not take fewer than three minutes out of your busy day to watch Stinking Lizaveta‘s new video for “Serpent Underfoot?” Would be highly inadvisable. The Philly doomjazz-forebear instrumentalists and perennial weirdoheroes head abroad next week to begin a stint of UK shows in the likewise-expanded-of-mind two-piece Darsombra, and after that, they’ll hit the continent-proper for a handful of German stops, including — wait for it — Freak Valley Festival, where I’m pleased the trio’s path and my own will cross again. In addition to that, though, they’ve got a date in Jena, a stop at Sankt Pieschen in Dresden and two shows in Berlin, the second of which will put them in the company of Acid Mothers Temple. If you’re gonna go, make it count.
Video info and live dates (which I know were also posted here) follow, along with the stream of Stinking Lizaveta‘s 2023 LP, Anthems and Phantoms (review here), which you’re probably going to want after that “Serpent Underfoot” clip. Enjoy:
STINKING LIZAVETA – SERPENT UNDERFOOT – From our album ANTHEMS AND PHANTOMS.
The audio is from the album, the video was taken from several live performances during the 2023 tour. Don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe to stay up-to-date on new releases.
Music by: Stinking Lizaveta Video compilation by: Peter Wilder Footage is from the Stinking Lizaveta 2023 Summer tour
Stinking Lizaveta live: 14 MAY – Bristol ENGLAND @ The Gryphon * 16 MAY – Sowerby Bridge ENGLAND @ Puzzle Hall Inn * 17 MAY – Cardigan WALES @ The Cellar * 19 MAY – London ENGLAND @ Desertfest London * 22 MAY – Newcastle ENGLAND @ The Lubber Fiend * 23 MAY – Glasgow SCOTLAND @ Bloc * 24 MAY – Edinburgh SCOTLAND @ St. Vincent’s Chapel * 25 MAY – Inverness SCOTLAND @ Tooth & Claw * 27 MAY – Jena GERMANY @ Cafe Wagner 28 MAY – Berlin GERMANY @ Schokoladen 31 MAY – Netphen GERMANY @ Freak Valley Festival 1 JUNE – Dresden GERMANY @ Sankt Pieschen Festival 4 JUNE – Berlin GERMANY @ Neue Zukunft w/ Acid Mothers Temple * w/ Darsombra
Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
One-of-a-kind heavy-jazz weirdo insurgents Stinking Lizaveta were announced for Desertfest London 2024 back in November, and they’ll do dates around that appearance in the UK before crossing over into continental Europe for a five-date German stint that includes a stop at Freak Valley — where, barring disaster between now and then, I’ll see them — as well as the Dresden-based Sankt Piechen Festival before wrapping with a second night in Berlin alongside Acid Mothers Temple. The Philadelphia-based trio go in herald of 2023’s Anthems and Phantoms (review here), and whether you’re seeing them at a fest or a club show or anywhere you possibly can, I urge you to do what it takes to put your body in front of wherever they’re standing as they play. Some creativity is just inspiring.
For the UK shows — England, Scotland, Wales, as you can see below — they’ll be hooked up with no less than Maryland audio/visual drone experimentalists Darsombra, and if that doesn’t result in some kind of Stinksombra Big Band collaboration, well, it’ll be the universe’s loss as usual.
There wasn’t really so much an announcement as a posted poster on social media, but between the dates and a few words below, you get the point anyhow, and for a refresher, Anthems and Phantoms streams at the bottom. Go see Stinking Lizaveta:
Stinking Lizaveta – UK & Germany Tour
Stinking Lizaveta hitting the road in the old country!
14 May Bristol ENG The Gryphon w/ Darsombra 16 May Sowerby Bridge ENG Puzzle Hall Inn w/ Darsombra 17 May Cardigan WAL The Cellar w/ Darsombra 19 May London ENG Desertfest London w/ Darsombra (and many more) 22 May Newcastle ENG The Lubber Fiend w/ Darsombra 23 May Glasgow SCO Bloc w/ Darsombra 24 May Edinburgh SCO St. Vincent’s Chapel w/ Darsombra 25 May Inverness SCO Tooth & Claw w/ Darsombra 27 May Jena DE Cafe Wagner 28 May Berlin DE Schokoladen 31 May Netphen DE Freak Valley Festival 1 June Dresden DE Sankt Piechen Festival 4 Berlin DE Neue Zukunft w/ Acid Mothers Temple
Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So I guess this is the last announcement for the lineup of Desertfest London 2024, and I’ll just say I kind of love the casual manner in which the festival set for May 17-19 tosses in another 30-plus names for the bill. Oh no big deal but here’s like two more fests we’re just gonna add while we give you the schedule. Badass. There’s a lot to dig here on all levels, from the headliners — that Friday at The Electric Ballroom, also Saturday and Sunday, looks pretty sweet — and while I’d set up camp at The Underworld on Saturday, no question I’d have to abscond from that home base to at least catch a bit of Saint Karloff, Acid King, and so on, and, well, on Sunday I’m actually kind of relieved I’m just pretending to have to pick one spot to be in, as each room has a distinctive pull. DVNE and Morag Tong or Borracho and Kadabra? Ufomammut and Monolord or Stinking Lizaveta, Darsombra and Orme? This shit is hard sometimes.
You could go on here in choose-your-adventure daydreaming, and frankly I’d encourage you to do just that. Worst that happens is you end up listening to good music. Or, you know, going to the fest, which would also be the best thing that could happen. Here’s why:
Desertfest London announces day splits and 32 additional artists
Friday 17th May – Sunday 19th May 2024 Weekend & Day Tickets now on sale
Desertfest London has revealed their day and stage splits for their 13th edition, taking place this May across multiple venues in Camden, London.
The festival proudly welcomes Masters of Reality as Friday’s Electric Ballrooms headliners, with Chris Goss at the helm providing a master-class in desert sounds. Plus, newly announced for this stage are Colour Haze and Frankie and The Witch Fingers who will join Brant Bjork Trio and Mondo Generator to kick off the weekend in true Desertfest style. Mantar and Raging Speedhorn will shake-up the Underworld, whilst Brume and Alber Jupiter psych-out at The Black Heart.
Saturday sees skate-punk legends Suicidal Tendencies back in London for the first time in seven years, as they decimate the equally legendary Roundhouse. Joined by Cancer Bats, Bongripper, Acid King and newest addition to the bill, Pest Control. Saturday’s Roundhouse stage is undeniably a melting pot of genres, but celebrating one common thread – insane live performances. Elsewhere, Maserati, Monkey3, Domkraft, Wet Cactus and many more will level Camden to the ground.
Back at the Ballroom on Sunday night, the festival enters its final day with a dose of experimental heaviness from Godflesh, Ozric Tentacles, Monolord, Ufomammut & Ashenspire. Additionally, Desertfest will be welcoming Bat Sabbath, the Black-Sabbath cover band formed by Cancer Bats to close out the entire weekend at our Underworld Stage after-party. Plus, DVNE, Nightstalker, Astroqueen, Stinking Lizaveta & The Grudge, with a hell of a lot more will be rounding off the weekend’s festivities.
Across the weekend, Desertfest has also newly announced the likes of Morag Tong, Borracho, Noisepicker, Gramma Vedetta, Lodestar, Kulk, Earth Tongue, Skypilot, Wolfshead, Weedsnake, Orsak:Oslo, WAXY, Horndal, Silverburn, Fires In The Distance, Sleemo, Midwich Cuckoos, Akersborg, Grand Atomic, Voidlurker, Under The Ashes and Fuz Caldrin.
Weekend & Day Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Getting Masters of Reality over has been a project in the works for Desertfest London since before the pandemic, and it looks like 2024 will be the year. The band burned a few bridges over the last couple years when frontman Chris Goss took a hardline right-wing stance on issues surrounding covid and whatever else (that kind of thing will win fans as well in some cases), but their work remains the stuff of legend and any time there’s a connection to OG-era Californian desert rock — as there is with Goss, who was there in his own band and as producer for Kyuss, etc. — that’s a boon and a good get for Desertfest generally, though even if you’re not a Masters of Reality fan owing to politics or just never having gotten on board, the entire line right under them on the poster is unfuckwithable: Godflesh, Monolord, Acid King and Ufomammut. Goodness gracious. And the next name is Brant Bjork. Gonna be Desertfest, to be sure.
Warms my cold dead ‘eart to see Stinking Lizaveta and Darsombra confirmed — I’ll put Domkraft in that sentimental-favorite category as well, and check out fellow Swedes Astroqueen doing some more traveling — and I look forward to the grandiose plaudits soon to be bestowed on Warpstormer and Goblinsmoker after their respective appearances, which is something Sergeant Thunderhoof should be able to help them through. With Clouds Taste Satanic traversing the Atlantic again, and others like Pijn and Duskwood, Mantar, Maserati and Monkey3, there’s a three-day fest’s worth of acts already revealed in this first announcement and probably two or three more three-day fests’ worth of names to come. I’ll tell you outright I’d shit a brick to see this. If you’re gonna be there, know how lucky you are.
From the PR wire:
Desertfest London announces 25 bands for 2024 edition including headliners Masters of Reality plus, Godflesh, Monolord, Acid King, Ufomammut & more
Friday 17th May – Sunday 19th May 2024 | Weekend Tickets now on sale
Desertfest London have unveiled 25 bands for their 12th edition, taking place across multiple venues in Camden next May 17th – 19th.
Following their pandemic induced cancellation in 2020, Desertfest is thrilled to announce desert rock pioneers Masters of Reality for the event. It will be the band’s first UK appearance in almost a decade. Masters of Reality is the brainchild of legendary producer Chris Goss (Welcome to Sky Valley, Rated R, Blues for The Red Sun, Dust, Songs for The Deaf). Their combination of hard-rock blues with a progressive tinge makes no apologies for not sticking within the stylised box listeners would expect, yet simultaneously provides the perfect lesson in the musical ethos and story-telling of the Palm Desert scene – all led by the man who laid its foundations.
Following an unforgettable performance at the New York edition of the Desertfest franchise a few months ago, industrial trailblazers Godflesh will return to London for a masterclass in sonic brutality. UK exclusive performances come in the form of Swedish doom masters Monolord, California stoner metal legends Acid King and the long-awaited return of Italian experimentalists Ufomammut.
Further Desert Rock royalty rolls into Camden Town, as Brant Bjork Trio will treat attendees to a back-catalogue few artists can compete with. Instrumental sound shifters Maserati, hard-hitting duo Mantar, introspective visionaries Cloakroom and heavy-psych rockers Monkey3 will take the concept of genres and set them ablaze.
Elsewhere the likes of Blanket, Domkraft, Pijn, Sugar Horse, Stinking Lizaveta and Darsombra will bring a captivating change of pace to the event. Whilst the stoner rock vibes remain alive and well with Astroqueen, Wet Cactus, Sergeant Thunderhoof and Duskwood.
If that wasn’t enough to get your teeth into, Desertfest rounds of its first announcement with Goblinsmoker, Clouds Taste Satanic, Warpstormer, Sonic Taboo & Wizdoom.
Weekend Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with much more to still be announced!
