The last one was so late, it seemed only fair to get back on track and do this one early. Not that you’re sitting and waiting with baited breath for the next podcast, I know — not deluding myself to think otherwise — but it keeps me sane to stick to some imaginary/arbitrary feeling of timeliness that changes more often than not, so I’ll just say up front that I appreciate your indulgence. Wow. Sometimes these imaginary conversations get pretty heavy.
Speaking of heavy — and speaking of masterful segues! — the new podcast has plenty of it. The second hour actually gets pretty pummeling, what with the Ahab track and all, so I made sure a little extra psychedelic stuff got in at the front. Dig that Red Mountains track. Their album’s coming out on Nasoni, which should be all the endorsement you need. I’m also very much into the Pyramidal space jam, and if you get to hear it, that Brian Ellis & Brian Grainger record (El Paraiso is putting it out) is a gem. Think a more psychedelic Six Organs of Admittance, all instrumental.
Some killer samplings to be had here, so I won’t delay further. Hope you enjoy:
First Hour:
0:00:00 Tony Reed, “Still Born Beauty (Necromandus ’73)” from The Lost Chronicles of Heavy Rock Vol. 1
0:04:02 All Them Witches, “Dirt Preachers” from Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
0:07:43 Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Waiting for Blood” from The Night Creeper
0:12:33 Red Mountains, “Sleepy Desert Blues” from Down with the Sun
0:19:58 T.G. Olson, “Heavy on Your Head” from The Boom and Bust
0:23:18 Pyramidal, “Motormind” from Jams from the Sun Split with Domo
0:33:30 Brian Ellis & Brian Grainger, “Treesmoke” from At Dusk
0:37:53 Vinnum Sabbathi, “Hex II: Foundation Pioneers” from Fuzzonaut Split with Bar de Monjas
0:45:18 Spelljammer, “The Pathfinder” from Ancient of Days
0:53:41 Derelics, “Ride the Fuckin’ Snake to Valhalla” from Introducing
Second Hour:
1:02:03 Ahab, “The Weedmen” from The Boats of the Glen Carrig
1:16:56 Lost Orb, “Low Ebb’s Lament” from Low Ebb’s Lament
1:34:10 Hotel Wrecking City Traders, “Droned and Disowned” from Split with Hey Colossus
Vocalist/guitarist Tanner “T.G.” Olson of Across Tundras initially self-released The Rough Embrace (review here) last year as a name-your-price download, and the newer vinyl edition of the album — pressed to 150 copies in a swampy kind of green and black swirl on a 150g platter with an obscure, almost runic, front cover and skull-and-hourglass memento mori on back — has a very complementary feel. For example, the record itself doesn’t come with a tracklist. And while one might make out the words “Rough” and “Embrace” on the top and bottom lines of the front cover, there’s little else by which it might be identified, unless you count the title etched into the part of each side after the music has ended.
That’s also how one tells the difference initially between the five-song side A, which begins with “Fool’s Gold Miner,” and the four-song side B, which begins with the moody “Uncharted Depths.” Clearly the intent is that if they want it bad enough, the listener — who no doubt bought the thing off Bandcamp to start with — should go there to get the appropriate information on the recording, mixing, mastering, tracklisting, lyrics, etc., and in reality that’s not a problem. It does give The Rough Embrace something of an artifact feel, though, which is fitting with the name of Olson‘s label, Electric Relics — also the title of the last Across Tundras album (review here), the gatefold 12″ version of which was the first release for the imprint — and also suits the music itself, which is nothing if not classically minded.
Like most folk singers of the last half-century, Olson has had moments in his work where he is almost singularly indebted to Bob Dylan, but neither he nor Woody Guthrie nor Neil Young are necessarily defining influences, and even as “Wars of Bygone Days” marches in tune to the established notions of a protest song — right down to lyrical plays on “manifest destiny” and the notion of using Christian ideals to justify sin (i.e. murder in war) — it retains an experimentalist feel. That, taken in balance with the intimacy of the performance throughout — Olson plays guitar, organ, piano, percussion, does all the vocals, and also recorded, mixed and handled the artwork himself, while Mikey Allred (also of Across Tundras) mastered — is what comes to make The Rough Embrace such an engaging listen despite a superficial simplicity.
Heard on one level, its guy-and-guitar singer-songwriterism seems easy enough to grasp, but that just can’t account for the intertwined echoing lead lines of the sweetly wistful “Sleeper Lines” or the psych-folk vibe of “To Hell You Ride,” which follows and shifts into bouts of more fervent strumming in its chorus. Olson, who has done plenty of balladeering the last several years while also retaining a penchant for droning out on offerings like 2015’s The Wandering Protagonist (review here) and 2013’s sprawling The Complete Blood Meridian for Electric Drone Guitar (review here), keeps more to the former on The Rough Embrace, but even in the subdued nostalgia of “Providence Gone Again,” the underlying organ provides a constancy of tone to complement the guitar that speaks to the other impulse.
It’s range, either way, and that range continues to expand on side B as “Uncharted Depths” gives the album’s shorter second half a quiet launch, lyrics held back until about the halfway mark and then more spoken than sung, the electric guitar ramble very much at the fore. A darker atmosphere is set, but “Out on the Fringes” has a more hopeful spirit, and no doubt it’s on purpose that the one arrives paired with the other. What they have in common is being resoundingly immersive, such that while just seven minutes between them, the more lyrical focus of the penultimate “Birdsong Chorus at Dawn” arrives almost as a surprise.
Would be wrong to call it jarring, but Olson brings the vocals forward again and recalls side A memorable cuts like “Fool’s Gold Miner” and “Wars of Bygone Days” to give side B a landing point; it’s something that, listening to the digital version one might not fully appreciate, but that the vinyl really brings out. That song is a highlight, and “Something Left to Save,” which follows, is very much a closer, a goodbye song that finds Olson singing along to himself, adding a last bit of drums and finishing with a rising drone and sample of what sounds like waves that provides a concluding wash that’s all the more gorgeous for being unanticipated. It’s one more moment that, though Olson‘s work is fluid to the point of having its own current system, is worth taking specific note of, since ultimately its from these things that the depths of his atmospherics are cast. The Rough Embrace offers plenty of those moments, but it’s the whole experience of how they’re strung together that makes it really shine.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
It hasn’t quite been a full year since multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Tanner Olson of Across Tundras released his last solo full-length under the T.G. Olson banner. That outing, The Rough Embrace (review here; vinyl review pending), has continued to earn spins even as Olson followed it up with a companion shorter release, The Wandering Protagonist (review here). Prolific as ever, the singer-songwriter unveils today his latest offering, The Boom and Bust.
A folk singer at heart, Olson continues to refine his process melding simple and traditional structures with complexity either of layering or experimental elements. Like everything he does, The Boom and Bust has been released as a name-your-price download via the Across Tundras Bandcamp, and as word has been bandied around about new Across Tundras on the way as well, I can’t help but wonder if the two albums won’t make for some kind of complement, be it thematically, musically (as they kind of would be anyway, I’ll grant) or otherwise. We won’t know until that one shows up, but it’s all the more worth keeping an eye out.
The Boom and Bust will reportedly also be released on vinyl sometime down the line. For now, you’ll find the Bandcamp stream under the album art and info below:
Recorded and mixed on and off, Summer 2014 through Summer 2015 by T.G. Olson @ The Trailer House and Ramble Hill Farm in the Nashville Dome, Tennessee. Kindly mastered by Mikey Allred @ Dark Art Audio.
Released 15 July 2015
TGO: Acoustic, Electric, and Slide Guitars; Vocals, Drones, Organ, Percussion, Harmonica, Words
Recorded live with minimal editing, added effects, or processing.
1. Lethargy of Time 03:31 2. Will of Stone 04:34 3. The Unsettled Last Score 03:46 4. The Day Truth Wins 03:58 5. American Frontier Is Closed 03:47 6. Colorful Colorado 04:29 7. Heavy On Your Head 03:22 8. Riverine 03:31 9. Sharp Like a Dagger 03:35 10. Agents of the Road 03:13
Yeah, it’s only been a week since the last round of radio adds went up, and yeah, it usually takes me way longer than that to get a batch together — more for my own inability to organize than the lack of stuff coming in — but this time I managed it and in the interim there were 16 releases that happened along that it seemed only fair to toss into the fray. And so here we are. The bunch is suitably eclectic, as I think the highlight selections below showcase, but if you want to go down the list for yourself, hit up the Obelisk Radio Playlist and Updates page and have at it. Of the 37 list-based posts you’ll likely read on the internet today, this… should be one of them, I guess? Sorry, I’ve always sucked at promotions. I hope you find something you dig either here or there.
The Obelisk Radio adds for June 5, 2015:
Paradise Lost, The Plague Within
Their 14th album overall, The Plague Within is iconic UK doomers Paradise Lost‘s fourth for Century Media and third since the stylistic renaissance that seemed to begin in 2009 with Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (review here) got rolling. 2012’s Tragic Idol was a respectable follow-up working in a similar vein, and The Plague Within is likewise, veering into thrashier tempo for “Flesh from Bone” but generally reveling in an emotionally wrought vision of melancholia bridging the gap between the pioneering death-doom of their early days and the goth theatrics that followed. The turn they made six years ago was not an accident, and they have very clearly been working from a pattern since — many interesting things can happen to a band 14 albums in, but few will be accidents — but that doesn’t necessarily make a record like The Plague Within ineffective. Rather, cuts like “Terminal” and the plodding “Beneath Broken Earth” foster a bleak and encompassing sense of mood, and with strings, guest vocals and piano added to the arrangement, “An Eternity of Lies” still manages to keep its sense of focus held firm, the band’s well-honed experience serving them well. They have a loyal legion of fans who’ll follow them wherever they head, but even if The Plague Within is Paradise Lost playing to their latter-day strengths, I’m not inclined to argue against that. There’s a reason they are who they are. Paradise Lost on Thee Facebooks, Century Media.
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T.G. Olson, The Wandering Protagonist
A collection of at-least-semi-improvised recordings by Across Tundras guitarist/vocalist Tanner Olson, operating under his solo moniker of T.G., The Wandering Protagonist is the follow-up to 2014’s The Rough Embrace (review here), and is perhaps less plotted out but with no diminishing of its folkish spirit. Olson plays electric, acoustic and slide guitar, organ, flute, harmonica (the latter is a focal point early in closer “Down in the Valley Below”), percussion drones and piano, and enters into easy instrumental conversation with himself, though there are some vocals as well on opener “Great Rock Falls.” For Across Tundras fans, the highlight might be nine-minute “Small Triumph,” with its heavier progression, but focusing on that without paying attention to the swelling drone, harmonica and acoustic guitar interplay of “For the Torn” before it is missing the point. The Wandering Protagonist is true to its title in that Olson does wind up in a variety of places — sonically, that is; the songs were recorded at his Ramble HillFarm, outside Nashvillein Tennessee — and a song like “Slow Susanna,” at 1:12, carries through like the experiment it is (a take on “Oh Susanna”), but these tracks also brim with open creativity and bring a rare sense of adventure to Americana so often boxed in by tradition. Few are better suited to push the limits of the form. Across Tundras on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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Abrams, Lust. Love. Loss.
Denver trio Abrams make their full-length debut with the triply-punctuated Lust. Love. Loss., a self-released 10-track collection with an obvious focus on flow, complexity of songwriting, crisp execution, tight performances and an overarching sense of heft that is more than ably wielded. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Zach Amster, bassist/vocalist Taylor Iversen and drummer Mike Amster (also Blaak Heat Shujaa), the three-piece seem to take their cues from the post-Baroness school of progressive heavy rock, bringing the occasional flourish of post-rock as in the airy tones of “Sunshine” or post-hardcore in “Mr. Pink Always Wins” but keeping the “post-” pretty consistent amid a nonetheless thrusting rhythmic charge. Amster and Iversen combine forces readily on vocals, to charming effect on “Sweaty and Self Conscious,” and a later turn like the slower, sludgier push of “Useless” arrives at just the right moment before the title-track and closer “The Light” mount the album’s final argument in its own favor, the latter offsetting odd-timed chugging with intermittent builds and payoffs leading toward a last movement not overdone, but classy in a manner befitting the cuts before it. The fuzz of “Sea Salt Lines” hints toward Truckfighters and the semi-bombast of “Far from Home” calls to mind Sandrider, but Abrams appear most interested in developing their own sound from these elements rather than aping the sounds of others, and I hear nothing in their debut to tell me they can’t get there. Abrams on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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We are Oceans, Woodsmoke
Following up on their 2012 self-titled debut (review here), Massachusetts instrumenalists We are Oceans return with their second four-track full-length, Woodsmoke, which starts our directly referencing Earth in “Stonewall,” the opener and longest track here at 13:44 (immediate points), but soon enough move toward a more individualized and fleshed-out heavy post-rock, airy guitar not replacing verses nor trying to, but adding texture and a dreamy vibe to progressions that feel steady and patient in like measure, no change either rushed or needless, but fitting with what the song needs, whether it’s the immersive shifts of “Stonewall” or the down-to-silence break in the second half of “Dead Winds,” which builds back up to one of Woodsmoke‘s most satisfying payoffs. While “Stonewall,” “Dead Winds” and 12:12 closer “Solstice” are all north of the 10-minute mark, third cut “Pressed Flowers” (4:10) assures that the four-piece have more to them than one kind of development, a serene, peaceful line playing out not quite at a drone’s repetitiveness, but with a subtle evolution of the central theme, from which “Solstice” picks up started by the guitar but ultimately propelled in its early going by the drums, a fluid jazz taking hold as We are Oceans move to the inevitable crescendo that caps Woodsmoke in its last moments. Their debut was an encouraging start, but it’s in these songs that We are Oceans really showcase the aesthetic potential at the heart of their project. May they continue to grow. We are Oceans on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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Skunk, Heavy Rock from Elder Times
I guess the “elder times” that Oakland, California, five-piece Skunk — vocalist John McKelvy, guitarists Dmitri Mavra and Erik Pearson, bassist Matt Knoth and drummer Jordan Ruyle — are talking about on their 2015 Heavy Rock from Elder Times debut demo is some combination of the ’90s and the ’70s, since as opener “Forest Nymph” telegraphs, they seem intent on answering the question of what might happen if Fu Manchu and AC/DC ever joined forces. It’s a noble mission, to be sure, and their fuzz and classic swagger is sold well over the course of the demo’s six tracks, which are as unabashedly stoner in their riffs as they are in titles like “Black Hash,” “Devil Weed” and “Wizard Bong.” Heavy Rock from Elder Times being their first collection of songs, I don’t feel like I’m giving away state secrets by saying there’s room for them to grow, but cuts are catchy in their turns and hooks, and the command that McKelvy shows alone in riding these riffs bodes well for where they might go next — their approach is cohesive even in its self-recorded, initial form. That’s never a bad place to start from, and if they have growing to do, at least they’ve given those who might check them out something worth their time in this welcome opening salvo. Skunk on Thee Facebooks, on Twitter, on Bandcamp
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Tried to get a decent amount of variety, at least within the sphere of heavy, and hopefully managed to do that, with some doom, rolling country experimentalist, neo-prog, post-rock and all out riffing. Again, on the chance nothing here tickled your fancy — because rest assured, the aim here is to tickle fancies — I think that might be the creepiest thing I’ve ever typed — be sure to hit up the Obelisk Radio Playlist and Updates page, to see not only the other 11 records that were added to the server today, but, you know, everything else from the last two-plus years. There’s bound to be something in there you dig.
I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to check out the daily playlist feature that Slevin recently added to the Obelisk Radio updates page, but god damn, it’s frickin’ awesome. I get so stoked out on the stuff that’s played. Even when I don’t hear it — because I listen often but not 24 hours a day — it’s cool just to go through the day and see what’s played. Sometimes it’s like, “Oh yeah, I haven’t heard that in a long time!” and I’ll put a record on, and sometimes it’s a reminder of how badass a band was who aren’t doing much anymore. Earlier this afternoon I heard Swarm of the Lotus for the first time in a couple years and my head damn near exploded. Really wish that band had done a third album.
Anyhoo, if you get to check it out, I think it’s been a great addition to what The Obelisk Radio is, and of course huge thanks as always to Slevin for putting in the time and effort on this site’s behalf. It wouldn’t be here without him, so if you’re in North Jersey and you see him at the bar, please say thanks. A killer batch of stuff joined the playlist today, so let’s get to it.
The Obelisk Radio Adds for Aug. 8, 2014:
Naam, Live in Berlin
As Brooklyn heavy psych forerunners Naam get ready to head out on another European tour in September (dates here), they present Live in Berlin, a free-download three-track EP recorded earlier this year (or late last year) at White Trash Fast Food. It’s a brief glimpse at what they can do on stage, but gorgeously assembled all the same, with the wash of fuzzy guitar and organ/synth crafting one the East Coast’s most potent space rock sounds on the near-11-minute “Starchild,” the semi-title-track from 2012’s The Ballad of the StarchildEP (track stream here) and the two cuts from 2013’s Vow(review here) that follow, “On the Hour” and “Beyond.” Their style refined with years of road work and their performances no less dynamic on stage than in the studio, Live in Berlinis a no-brainer to grab while the grabbing’s good, particularly at the asking price, and Naam continue to deliver quality, vital psychedelia the influence others are only beginning to feel. Even in the shorter “On the Hour,” with its quicker rush and catchy vocal interplay, there’s room enough to prove immersive, which only shows how on fire this band is at the moment. Vowwas their best work to date, Live in Berlin, if short,is a fair complement and a suitable holdover to whatever they might have coming next. Naam on Thee Facebooks, Live in Berlin on Bandcamp.
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T.G. Olson, The Rough Embrace
Though the forms he’s working with for his solo material are familiar — Americana, folk and rambling acoustic country blues — Tanner Olson is so unrelentingly forward-moving as a songwriter that his output almost can’t help but be original. As the frontman for Across Tundras, he adds sonic weight to the equation, but performing under the moniker T.G. Olson, he captures a more intimate spirit. Nonetheless, The Rough Embrace, his latest outing, has plenty of lush moments, and even the wide open spaces of “Providence Gone Again” seem to be full of melody and subtly rich arrangements, a layer of slide guitar doing a lot of work in fleshing out the central guitar line. As Olson performed, recorded, mixed and released the album himself — Across Tundras bandmate Mikey Allred mastered; vinyl is reportedly forthcoming on their Electric Relics Records imprint — it’s fair to give him credit for these embellishments as well, and The Rough Embraceultimately lives up much more to the latter part of its title than the former. Like everything else he puts out on the Across Tundras Bandcamp, Olson has made The Rough Embraceavailable as a name-your-price download, making it that much easier to get lost in the album’s wistful jangle and melancholy croon. Across Tundras on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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Unconscious Collective, Pleistocene Moon
Noise rock and jazz have made strange enough bedfellows over the years, usually resulting in spastic, somewhat indulgent progressive stew, rawly presented. On their sophomore outing, the Tofu Carnage Records 2LP PleistoceneMoon, Dallas trio Unconscious Collective don’t so much try to impress with how many time signatures they can work into any given three-minute stretch as they do stretch out over long-form works — turning on a dime and plenty jagged, to be sure — but that put as much focus on atmosphere as on their bursts and fits. Pleistocene Moonis a whopping 78 minutes long, and in it the oft-costumed three-piece cast a wide stylistic net, but there’s also a natural sensibility in the room that comes through via spacious-sounding drums, and a live feel that permeates pieces like “Tribe Apini,” which feels if not made up on the spot then certainly performed that way, and the later “Methane Rising,” which brings in horns for an avant freakout of grand proportion that transitions into minimal droning in a fluid roll that continues onto side D with “The Transformation of Matter,” whose propulsive grooving and overarching foreboding feel reminds of a sans-vocal Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, which, if you have any idea who that is, should be enough of an endorsement to pique your interest. Unconscious Collective on Thee Facebooks, Tofu Carnage Records.
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The Glorious Rebellion, I 7″
Taking elements from ’90s noise rock — most particularly Helmet‘s dissonant riffing — and merging with the burl of modern American heavy rock, Orlando, Florida’s The Glorious Rebellion debut with a two-song single on Magnetic Eye Records featuring the tracks “My Resume is a Suicide Note” and “Thanks to AA, I’m the DD.” Both songs offer lumbering riffs of considerable weight, and the latter proves even more aggro than the former, starting off with a spitting recitation of a verse over the bassline while the guitar and drums wait to kick in with the initial chorus. Glorious though the rebellion may be, it’s even more pissed off. The band keep to straightforward structures, prove capable of writing solid hooks and have a professional production, though there seems to be some play at a commercial appeal on the single, and I’m not sure how well that will serve them in these radio-less days of genre specialization. Still, it’s a significant push they showcase in about seven minutes’ time, and they’ve obviously got a handle on what they want to do as a band. For their first outing, there’s a lot that can be read into just two cuts. The Glorious Rebellion on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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Toke, High Friends in Low Places
Toke hail from Wilmington, North Carolina, and specialize in riffy bruiser sludge, heavy on swing and heavy on riffs, topped with vicious screams in the vein of Bongzilla or, more closely, earlier Sourvein. This is the kind of band that gets compared to Eyehategod all the time, though there’s actually not that much in common. Their two-track outing, High Friends in Low Places, is their second demo following another earlier this year, and both “Into the Light” and “Great Awakening” tap straightforward riff-led pummel and throat-searing, weedian aggression. It isn’t exactly unique, but sometimes nothing will do but a good kick in the ass, and Toke seem glad to provide. With clean but not polished production and enough nod for a release twice as long, High Friends in Low Placesmeets the standard it sets for itself, and if Toke grow into an outfit more individualized or keep their approach strict to the tenets of Southern sludge, they seem to have gotten that part of the equation down early. Toke on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
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You know how this goes by now. Of course this isn’t everything that joined the playlist this week, and unlike last time, I even managed to update the list before I put the post together saying I had updated the list. Progress! To see all of today’s adds, check out the playlist and updates page.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 1st, 2014 by JJ Koczan
I saw yesterday that Across Tundras were playing with former split-mates Lark’s Tonguein Nashville and was thinking it had been a while since Tanner Olson (Questionnaire here) had put anything out under his solo moniker T.G. Olson. By the all-consuming power of coincidence, today brings word of The Rough Embrace, a new full-length from Olson released digitally this afternoon with vinyl available for preorder set to release at the end of September. Needless to say, I spent all day today thinking how long it had been since I found $20 on the ground in hope of a similar result tomorrow.
The RoughEmbrace, truly a solo outing in having been recorded, mixed and performed entirely by Olson — Across Tundras bandmate Mikey Allred mastered — as well as self-released, is Olson‘s first solo offering since the one-two punch of The Bad Lands to Crossand Hell’s Half Acrelast November/December. Listening through, one finds on initial impression Olson‘s roll-groove ramble in full-force, twanging acoustics and post-rock airy guitars in a deceptively natural embrace, an intimate feel emerging in cuts like “Sleeper Lines” and “Out on the Fringes” that sees Olson, as ever, driving his craft to new levels of cohesion.
Vinyl preorder info and full-album stream below. Like everything from the Across Tundras Bandcamp, The Rough Embraceis available as a name-your-price download:
T.G. Olson “The Rough Embrace” 12″ vinyl pre order
Pre order T.G. Olson “The Rough Embrace” on the timeless vinyl format.
12″ split colored vinyl (one half will be black and the other a custom mixed blend) in hand screen printed jackets with custom artwork from T.G. Olson.
Item will ship in late September and all pre orders will receive bonus items!
Includes unlimited streaming of The Rough Embrace via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. shipping out on or around 30 September 2014
*Recorded and mixed April-July 2014 @ The Trailer House – Antioch, TN by T.G. Olson *Mastered by Mikey Allred @ Dark Art Audio credits released 01 August 2014
The end of any year always brings a barrage of best-ofs. Lists, radio shows, award ceremonies, and even podcasts. What no one tells you about any of them is there’s no fucking way they can ever be comprehensive. My Top 20 list? It was damn good and I worked really hard putting it together, but was I toiling under the delusion that it was going to be an accurate and complete representation of everything 2013 had on offer? Hell no. That’s why we have the Readers Poll, the Albums Unheard list (still to come) and all the rest of the wrap-up stuff.
So as you check out this happens-to-be-the-last-of-2013 podcast, please keep in mind that though it does feature a sampling of some of 2013’s most killer songs from some of its most killer albums, it’s not at all intended to be a total roundup of this year. It’s a part of it, and I’m cool with that if you are.
It’s Xmas Eve as I put this together, and it’s looking like this’ll be my only post for today, so I’ll take another opportunity to wish you a happy holiday if you’re celebrating. Please be safe and enjoy time with family, gift-giving, and of course, good music. I don’t know if grandma would really get down to some Phantom Glue, but seems like it’s worth a shot.
First Hour:
Clutch, “D.C. Sound Attack” from Earth Rocker (2013)
Monster Magnet, “Last Patrol,” from Last Patrol (2013)
Church of Misery, “Cranley Gardens (Dennis Andrew Nilsen)” from Thy Kingdom Scum (2013)
Phantom Glue, “Bow in the Dust” from A War of Light Cones (2013)
Pelican, “The Tundra” from Forever Becoming (2013)
Young Hunter, “Trail of Tears” from Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain (2013)
All Them Witches, “The Death of Coyote Woman” from Lightning at the Door (2013)
Black Thai, “Doors to Nowhere” from Season of Might (2013)
Gozu, “Charles Bronson Pinchot” from The Fury of a Patient Man (2013)
Geezer, “Ancient Song” from Gage EP (2013)
T.G. Olson, “Unsung Everyone” from Hell’s Half Acre (2013)
Second Hour:
Fuzz, “One” from Fuzz (2013)
Wooden Shjips, “Servants” from Back to Land (2013)
Fever Dog, “Lady Snowblood/Child of the Netherworlds,” from Lady Snowblood (2013)
Samsara Blues Experiment, “Brahmin’s Lament” from Waiting for the Flood (2013)
Vista Chino, “Planets 1 & 2” from Peace (2013)
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Valley of the Dolls” from Mind Control (2013)
The Golden Grass, “One More Time” from One More Time b/w Tornado (2013)
Beelzefuzz, “Lonely Creatures” from Beelzefuzz (2013)
Posted in Questionnaire on December 10th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Since releasing their Divides demo in 2004, Across Tundras have worked intensely and at a prolific clip to translate the spirit of open-spaced Americana into heavy and often psychedelic rock. It’s a stylistic turn the influence of which is beginning to be felt in newcomer acts even now, and Across Tundras are by no means resting on the laurels of their early work. After issuing Sage(review here) through Neurot in 2011, guitarist/vocalist Tanner Olson formed an imprint called Electric Relics, and this year the band released an album of the same name (review here), as well as a split with Lark’s Tongue (streamed here). Olson has also set about amassing a considerable solo catalog, performing under the moniker T.G. Olson and recording experimental and folk material at Ramble Hill Farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee, at a rate such that in between sending him the questionnaire and getting back his answers, his November release, The Bad Lands to Cross (discussed here), already had a December companion in Hell’s Half Acre.
Olson‘s strong connections to land and memory come through in his answers below. Please enjoy:
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tanner Olson
How did you come to do what you do?
As far back as my memory goes I can only remember being concerned with music and playing outdoors. Not much has changed. I was singing along to The Eagles’ “Take it Easy” by three years old and getting a good laugh out of my family. My brother Dusty and I would spend our evenings calling the local radio station and requesting songs, then dubbing them to tape when they came on. I could care less about people “stealing” music online because that is how we got our music education back in the early ’80s living in rural South Dakota. We memorized every song we could get our ears on and pretty soon that inspiration led to writing our own tunes and it has never stopped. Songs are so much more than money and the entitled egos the drive for cash spawns. If people want it they should have it to feed their souls. If someone has a few bucks to throw down or come out to see a show and buy merch that is amazing, but not required. The more I disassociate from the “business” the happier I am. Music has been a constant and always evolving journey in life. It is inherent in every one of us and a universal language.
Describe your first musical memory.
So many! The few that really stick out though was my Dad singing John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane” when he would go to work and my Mom singing “You are My Sunshine” every morning when I woke up. My first real concert at 10 years old was KISS, Faster Pussycat, and Slaughter on the “Hot in the Shade” tour with my aunt Nancy. She bought me a Faster Pussycat “Wake Me When it’s Fucking Over” t-shirt that my Mom was not thrilled about! That is still a badass record.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
This is like answering favorite album of all time. I just can’t do it. Every single experience has shaped me and led me down the path to where I stand today. There have been many amazing times and many horrible times. They don’t exist without each other. I will say that growing up in the Midwest scene from the early ’90s until the new millennium was an incredible experience. Full of passionate people working together and for one another without pretense. Good things don’t last forever though. There was a really strong sense of community and support that is severely lacking in these ultra-competitive times.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
There was a time when I got so wrapped trying to “make it” as a musician that my ego and expectations took a stronger hold than my heart. I never intended to go down that path, but somehow I lost sight of what was really important. Many are under this spell and for some reason something that can be as pure as music and as destructive as ego often goes hand in hand. It threatened to ruin one of the most positive and constant things in my life. I came to resent music and blamed it for my money and girl problems. I had a selfish and entitled attitude that brought a lot of anger and frustration when things didn’t go as planned. Letting go of that poisonous mindset has been a revelation and a rebirth to a completely pure form of expression and restored simple happiness.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Freedom. Being open to constantly learning and unafraid to keep moving ahead without letting shallow ideas influence you brings one back to where it all began. Creating from your heart and progression are one in the same to me. We are born with this and our society tries to teach us to lose it.
How do you define success?
Just being alive in this crazy world is like a dream sometimes. Having the ability to simply create and be a part of the giant circle is a blessing and the ultimate success. Being able to do things on your own terms and staying true to that vision. Everything that comes beyond is just icing on the cake. I don’t just mean writing a good song, either. It could be having a baby or growing a garden or a million other things. Putting hard work into of something and giving it life which can grow and grow and on and on…
What is something you have seen you wish you hadn’t?
The destruction of our environment by government and corporate interests makes me sick to my stomach. Witnessing the shift from the old ways to the modern technological age is a heavy concept and makes for a very chaotic time to be alive. I am not an absolutist and see the good in certain new ideas. But I am also very alarmed at how much certain forms of new technology are destroying the tried and true along with the very air we breathe, water we drink, and ground we walk on. There is nothing sustainable about this current situation and I already see it starting to slowly crumble. Something has to give and I truly believe we will correct our mistakes or die trying.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
It is a goal to do a real deal soundtrack for a full-length feature film. The kind of stuff Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are doing would be incredible. No one has come knocking yet, but I think it will happen someday and I can’t wait to get a foot in that door. In the meantime I took matters into my own hands and scored the Blood Meridian book to hold me over.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Writings books is next up on the agenda. I have so many ideas and concepts in place that just need some time dedicated to putting them on paper. The first is going to be a hybrid non-fiction/fiction about the Gitchie Manitou murders that happened right outside my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, back in 1973. I won’t go into the details and will let you look it up on Wiki instead, haha. We used to go this spot in the middle of the night growing up. The dark history of the place hangs thick in the air to this day and should make for a pretty interesting read.
