Well, now that the forums are back online and everything seems to be working in the back end of the blog proper as well, I thought it was only fair to close out the week. A little psychedelia for your Sunday from what I think was one of the year’s best records in the genre: Quest for Fire‘s Lights from Paradise. The song is “Greatest Hits by God.” Hope you enjoy.

Next week is Xmas, but we’ll pick up the top 20 of 2010 countdown with number eight, and keep moving despite holidays and the rest of it. I’ll also have an EPIC interview with Victor Griffin of Place of Skulls/Death Row/Pentagram fame in which he opens up about his spiritual beliefs, working with Bobby Liebling on the new Pentagram and much more, so please, stick around for that. I was on the phone with the guy for over an hour spread across two days and I really think it’s one of the best interviews to come on this site yet. I’m very excited.

If you’re reading this, thanks. I’m sorry about the glitch in the forums that caused them to bite it, and like I said yesterday, I’m going to do my best to see that doesn’t happen again. Database backups abound!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I’ll be on the couch reading and listening to music with the little dog Dio for as much of today as possible, and tomorrow we’ll pick back up with reviews and regular posting. I look forward to it.

aOT9

This is the mother of them all. Short of doing three songs in as many hours, which I could have done just as or even more easily, I don’t see how any audiObelisk Transmission could get heavier than this one. It’s just a little bit of an excuse on my part to have an easily accessible copy of Dopesmoker at all times, but with new music as well from Hypnos 69, a classic dirge from Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine and one of Boris‘ most avant garde moments, Transmission Zero Zero Nine is an absolute monster. I hope you dig it.

No need to hide the tracklist after a jump since it’s only four songs. Click the banner at the top of this post to get the file, or stream it on the player above. Here’s what we’ve got:

0:00:08 Sleep, “Dopesmoker” from Dopesmoker (Tee Pee, 2003)
There was no way I was going to make this podcast and not include this song. It’s the riff that launched a thousand clone bands, and Sleep‘s shining hour. Literally, an hour. Plenty of time to worship.

1:03:42 Hypnos 69, “The Great Work” from Legacy (Elektrohasch, 2010)
New music from these Belgian classic proggers. It’s the last cut on their new album, Legacy, and maybe their most aptly-titled song ever. Their sense of melody is second to none and the progressive elements in their approach have never shined brighter than they do here.

1:21:53 Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, “He Who Accepts all That is Offered (Feel Bad Hit of the Winter)” from Rampton (Southern Lord, 2002)
The lineup of Lee Dorrian (Cathedral), Stephen O’Malley (SunnO)))/Khanate), Justin Greaves (Iron Monkey/now-Crippled Black Phoenix) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake) only put out one album under this cumbersome moniker, taken from a song title on Earth‘s Earth 2. It’s a good thing. I don’t think the universe could handle a second without ripping in half.

1:51:35 Boris, “Flood” from Flood (MIDI Creative, 2000)
Is that guitar forward or backwards? Both? I doubt anyone really knows what Boris are getting up to for the entirety of this song, Boris included. I remember interviewing drummer Atsuo Mizuno a couple years back and he looked at me like my head was on backwards when I asked about it. See if you can figure it out.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 009 here.

Los Angeles-based double-guitar five-piece Night Horse treat classic rock like it’s a pretty lady. They take it out do a nice dinner, they hold the door, they pick up the tab, maybe they go to a show afterwards, and all the while they’re perfectly charming. Of course, sweet love is later made, and the end result is the band’s second album for Tee Pee Records, Perdition Hymns, which is 11 tracks of high-grade rock and roll genetics that, listening through, I’m honestly surprised didn’t come out on Small Stone. Where Tee Pee has mostly diverted into the heavy psych realm — bands like Quest for Fire, Naam, Earthless, etc. – Night Horse seem more suited to accompany the likes of Sasquatch, the recently-reviewed Red Giant, Gozu and perhaps most of all Sun Gods in Exile, whose 2009 album Black Light, White Lines, was equally shy about showing off its riff and solo prowess. And by that I mean not at all.

But there’s a Tee Pee connection in that Night Horse guitarist Justin Maranga also plays in Ancestors, so there you go, mystery solved. And honestly, after hearing the kind of blues-driven ‘70s jams Night Horse traffic in, I can’t imagine not wanting to put out a record like Perdition Hymns, no matter what sound you’re trying to associate your label with. Songs like the powerful opening trio of “Confess to Me,” “Angel Eyes” and “Rollin’ On” provide the kind of rock wallop you’d usually expect from an older bunch of dudes, but Night Horse’s love for what they do is evident. You can hear it in the playing of Maranga and fellow six-stringer Greg Buensuceso, in the straight-ahead rhythms of bassist Nick D’Itri and drummer Jamie Miller, and in the vocals of Sam James Velde, whose performance was also a highlight on Night Horse’s debut, The Dark Won’t Hide You, but is perhaps even stronger on Perdition Hymns, standing up with no trouble to the considerable instrumental competition provided by the band behind him.

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Just last week, I posted Night Horse tour dates and made my complaint known that the band wasn’t going to be coming out to the East Coast. Lo and behold, last night I check the PR wire and what’s there but a new batch of shows for guitarist Justin Maranga‘s other band, the heavy-psych awesomeness known as Ancestors, and they’re not coming east either! What is it, man? Do I smell?

The answer to that question, inevitably, is yes. While I go track down some deodorant to reapply, check out these Ancestors dates with new Tee Pee labelmates, The Fucking Wrath:

Ancestors and The Fucking Wrath will embark on a string of West Coast tour dates in late October. The Fucking Wrath recently signed with Tee Pee Records and will be releasing the EP Terra Fire on October 19. Ancestors are supporting their 2009 critically acclaimed sophomore album Of Sound Mind.

Ancestors/The Fucking Wrath tour dates:
10/20 Zahn Zillas, Ventura, CA
10/21 Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco, CA
10/22 East End, Portland, OR
10/23 Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA
10/25 Jambalaya, Arcata, CA
10/26 Nick’s Night Club, Chico, CA
10/27 Jose’s Mexican Bar & Grill, Monterey, CA

I still haven’t listened to Night Horse‘s second album, Perdition Hymns. I’ll get there. It’ll be reviewed soon enough. Not like I need to worry though, because the band’s upcoming tour is headed nowhere near Jersey, so even if I was to immerse myself in their ultra-bluesy ’70s rock, I wouldn’t get the chance to complement that experience with a live show. Crazy California gets everything. Fuckin’ hoverboards.

Alright. Here’s tour dates from the PR wire:

Night Horse returned with their highly-anticipated sophomore effort Perdition Hymns on Aug. 3, produced and mixed by Matt Bayles (Pearl Jam, Mastodon, The Sword). Perdition Hymns is a patent demonstration of a group that has quickly become a well-refined songwriting machine. The band has chiseled the six-minute jam style songwriting of their debut The Dark Won’t Hide You into the hook-laden gems that comprise Perdition Hymns; with riff driven catchiness and soaring melodies that stick.

Perdition Hymns is a rock and roll classic for current times; a statement of what’s to come within today’s musical landscape; a missing link to years gone by; and a glimpse into what is about to become.

Night Horse tour dates:
Aug. 20 Los Angeles, CA Vacation Vinyl (Free in-store)
Aug. 28 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Sept. 10 San Diego, CA The Casbah (w/Olivelawn)
Sept. 14 Long Beach, CA The Prospector (w/Radio Moscow)
Sept. 15 Ventura, CA Zan Zillas (w/Radio Moscow)
Sept. 16 Los Angeles, CA Spaceland (w/ Radio Moscow)
Oct. 7 San Francisco, CA The Hemlock
Oct. 8 Portland, OR East End
Oct. 9 Seattle, WA The Comet

When Tee Pee Records put out Quest for Fire’s self-titled full-length last year, I got a promo of it, and it went promptly on my shelf. I didn’t even listen. You know why? Because I knew that if I listened to it, I’d like it, and then it would be one more god damn album to buy, one more god damn band to like, one more god damn show to trek out to. Blah.

Of course, I got mine in the end, as Tee Pee now releases the follow-up from these Toronto argonauts, Lights from Paradise. Sure enough, a promo of the record came in the mail, and I put it on, and now I want both albums. So yeah, thanks a lot.

Lights from Paradise is eight tracks of sprawling psychedelia from the Canadian four-piece, ranging from the ritualistic stillness of opener “The Greatest Hits by God,” which seems to capitalize on what Om might sound like with two guitars, to the semi-raucousness of “Set Out Alone” or the Dead Meadow freakout of “In the Place of a Storm.” Of the sundry personality traits the band shows on the album, I prefer the moody, subdued side that comes out on the first track or “Psychic Seasons,” which boasts one of Lights from Paradise’s few excursions into acoustics and also features some strings for a classy touch. Of course, there’s something to be said for the extended Beatles-style solo in closer “Sessions of Light” as well, which shows Quest for Fire as a band with more than just a reverb pedal and propensity for jamming, complex as its melody structure and progression are. Take your pick, really.

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Aggressive stoner metallers The Fucking Wrath have been picked up by Tee Pee Records. For a label whose recent output has been closer to Dead Meadow-style psychedelic post-rock, it’s something of a surprise, given all the hardcore punk The Fucking Wrath inject into their music, but I guess you gotta change things up. Either way, it’s pretty god damn heavy.

The Fucking Wrath will have a new EP out this year and are set to hit the road this Fall alongside Ancestors. No, they’re not coming East. The PR wire speaks, we listen:

Tee Pee Records is proud to introduce the newest addition to their roster: The Fucking Wrath. The band will issue the EP Terra Fire in October on Tee Pee Records followed by a full-length in the spring of 2011. The Fucking Wrath will be performing at the recently-announced Power of the Riff Festival taking place on August 8th in Los Angeles. October dates have also been announced with new labelmates Ancestors!

Tour Dates:
08/08/2010 The Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA (Power of the Riff)
10/20/2010 Zahn Zillas, Ventura, CA*
10/21/2010 Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco, CA*
10/22/2010 East End, Portland, OR*
10/23/2010 Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA*
10/25/2010 Jambalaya, Arcata, CA*
10/26/2010 Nick’s Night Club, Chico, CA*
10/27/2010 Jose’s Mexican Bar & Grill, Monterey, CA*
* w/ Ancestors

Calling the citywide hippie commune known to outsiders as Columbus, Ohio, home, retro-alterna-psych-folk rockers The Main Street Gospel make their Tee Pee Records debut with the casually ominous Love Will Have Her Revenge. The trio take notes from Neil Young (“Getting Through”) and The Black Keys (“I Won’t be Stayin’”), but occasionally let guitarist/vocalist Barry Dean (ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre) go off on a singer-songwriter tangent (“Truly (Hymn),” “Give Your Love Away”) that pulls back from the full-band aesthetic. This interrupts the flow of the album, but also gives some ground to the material, which after a song like the spacey, bass-led “Ready to Shine,” isn’t such a terrible idea.

Although “Ready to Shine,” on which bassist Ryan “Tito” Ida does just that, is among the highlights of Love Will Have Her Revenge, so perhaps The Main Street Gospel would be better off tipping over the edge of the acid folk abyss. It’s hard to say, and in fact, that statement could be extrapolated to apply more or less to the whole album. The first time I listened to it, I barely made it through, found myself skipping tracks later in the record and saying, “Okay, I got it, you like reverb. Next.” On subsequent hearings, though, Love Will Have Her Revenge, with its subtle shifts from quiet to “loud” and back, its subdued movements and airiness, had me hooked solid for the duration. As far as listening recommendations, I’ll say The Main Street Gospel are better suited to stillness than motion. Love Will Have Her Revenge is not the album you put on speeding down the highway, but perhaps the one you put on once you’ve reached your destination and require decompression from the frustrations of traffic, life, etc.

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