Posted in Whathaveyou on October 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I bet White Hills kill it in Europe, and tonight’s the night they get started. The New York-based heavy psych veterans begin their latest European stint this evening in support of their The Revenge of Heads on Fire album, which is the first release on their new imprint, Heads on Fire Industries. Expect copious and well-justified reissues to come, but in the meantime, something new from White Hills is nothing to complain about. And if it was, you know I’d be complaining. Never miss a chance.
Anyhoozle, true to form, White Hills will spend more than a month abroad, kicking through Europe before rounding out in the UK, taking few days off and skipping the brunt of festivals in favor of club shows and doing their own thing, which if you know anything at all about White Hills, you probably know that’s what they do. Their own thing. Perennially. They may be underrated forever, but it certainly won’t be from lack of work on their part.
But again, I bet they do well on the Euro circuit. Safe travels, White Hills. America doesn’t deserve you anyhow.
From the PR wire:
WHITE HILLS: New York City Psychedelic Fuzz Rock Duo To Kick Off EU/UK Tour This Week; The Revenge Of Heads On Fire Full-Length Out Now
New York City fuzz rock duo WHITE HILLS will kick off their EU/UK tour this week! The journey begins October 12th in Berlin and runs through November 15th in London.
Comments the band’s Dave W. (guitar, vocals, synth), “Europe and the UK have always felt like home to us. We’re looking forward to unleashing the beast of The Revenge Of Heads On Fire upon a rabid public seeking a transcendent experience.” See all confirmed dates below.
WHITE HILLS EU/UK Fall Tour: 10/12/2022 Urban Spree – Berlin, DE 10/13/2022 Sonic Ballroom – Cologne, DE 10/14/2022 Foyer Culturel Saint-Ghislain – Mons, BE 10/15/2022 Magasin 4 – Brussels, BE 10/16/2022 Trauma – Marburg, DE 10/17/2022 Brandherd @ Altes Volksbad – Mannheim, DE 10/18/2022 Rote Sonne – Munchen, DE 10/19/2022 Between – Bregenz, AT 10/20/2022 Blah Blah – Turin, IT 10/21/2022 Bronson – Ravenna, IT 10/22/2022 Dong – Macerata, IT 10/23/2022 Fat Art – Terni, IT 10/24/2022 GCCB – Roma, IT 10/25/2022 Raindogs – Savona, IT 10/27/2022 Paral-lel 62 (Sala Club) – Barcelona, ES 10/28/2022 Wurlitzer Ballroom – Madrid, ES 10/29/2022 Tizon Sound – Gijon, ES 11/02/2022 Sonic Club – Lyon, FR 11/04/2022 Supersonic – Paris, FR 11/05/2022 Bistrot St. So – Lille, FR 11/06/2022 The Pit’s – Kortrijk, DE 11/07/2022 Green Door Store – Brighton, FR 11/08/2022 District – Liverpool, UK 11/09/2022 Headrow House – Leeds, UK 11/10/2022 Audio – Glasgow, UK 11/11/2022 Zerox – Newcastle, UK 11/13/2022 The Asylum – Birmingham, UK 11/14/2022 Le Pub – Newport, UK 11/15/2022 Peckham Audio – London, UK
WHITE HILLS released their The Revenge Of Heads On Fire full-length last month via their own Heads On Fire Industries. Harnessing the energy of ferocious, hedonistic rock with blissful passages of dark ambience, The Revenge Of Heads On Fire explores themes of mortality, transformation, and rebirth. Together, the duo reveals a spiritual depth unparalleled in previous works. The roar of fire, swirling of oceans, and hallucinogenic visions can be heard throughout the seventy-five-minute journey.
The record consummates Dave W.’s prototype for the 2007’s Heads On Fire, released on Rocket Recordings and later picked up by Thrill Jockey. Six rediscovered songs accompany re-mixed versions of the original material, fulfilling the master arch of the pyre lit long ago. Recorded during the band’s tumultuous early years, the music vibrates with the energy and volatility of a sonic boom.
WHITE HILLS: Dave W. – guitar, vocals, synth Ego Sensation – drums, bass, vocals
[NOTE: White Hills are on tour with Telekinetic Yeti starting July 19. Dates are here and at the bottom of this post. The Revenge of Heads on Fire is out Sept. 16; preorders on their Bandcamp.]
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ego Sensation and Dave W. of White Hills
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Ego Sensation: I guess I’d define what I do as second nature. If I’m not making music, I feel like crap. It makes me feel like I have a purpose. And no matter how infinitesimal it may be, it’s creative, not destructive — which is huge in the face of all the violence we see in the world right now. It gives rather than taking away.
Dave W.: Simply, it’s what we do. I don’t feel it needs to be defined beyond that. Creating is in our nature. Music is the voice through which we speak and sound is what we sculpt.
Describe your first musical memory.
DW: Listening to records with my Mother and dancing around the family room with her when I was four or five years old.
Ego: Hearing my dad playing Scott Joplin’s “Solace” on piano. I was 3 and I sat on the piano bench with him watching his hands. I wanted to jump right in and learn that song. It’s an amazing piece of music so full of feeling — it completely encompasses the conceptual idea of pain and solace — and even as a three year old I could feel that.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Ego: Dave and I have been writing and recording new songs recently and we have this one song, “Sea Dog,” that we really like to play. I have a memory from just about a week ago of being at practice and 1) being excited to play the song and 2) feeling elevated within the music while playing it. It’s a certain, sublime energy that isn’t personal — it’s more like you’re tapping into this universal song and riding the wave of all that is good about being alive.
DW: It’s hard to pick just one as so much of my life has involved music in some way or another. If I’m looking at White Hills, one of my best memories is recording the album Walks For Motorists, with producer David Wrench in Wales. Another would be the series of shows with did with Jim Jarmusch and his band Squrl in promotion of the film Only Lovers Left Alive.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
DW: Lately, it feels like everyday something comes up that tests some firm belief I hold.
Ego: I’ve always felt that you can create your own destiny. A few years ago, the wife of one of my best friend’s was killed in a freak bike accident. He died shortly after, basically from the despair. Sometimes life just shits on you and a positive mental attitude just doesn’t apply.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Ego: Maybe to greater wisdom. Or maybe it’s just necessity. If you aren’t growing, you’re dying. All living beings are like plants- we reach towards the sun. It’s what we are meant to do. Nature wants us to progress, to be constantly becoming, then changing and becoming again. I believe that’s the path to greater wisdom and a higher consciousness. Artistic progression helps us lift each other up.
DW: Ego sums up my feelings about artistic progression well.
How do you define success?
Ego: Intellectually, I think that success is doing your best at whatever you choose to do. But mentally, I struggle with the concept of success because it seems like a bottomless pit. I read Lemmy’s book White Line Fever a few years back and I was really struck because he mentioned that he didn’t think he was successful- which from an outside perspective doesn’t seem true but that’s how he felt. I think it’s a great challenge for creative people to feel that what we’re doing is good enough.
DW: Doing what you love. When I was a child and first understood that you had to work for a living, I thought to myself I want to do whatever I want to whenever I want to and make a living from it. Essentially that is what I have achieved in my life and therefore I feel successful. That said money does not equal success in my book. Having a vision, setting goals and reaching those goals are more important in measuring success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Ego: The overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
DW: That’s a doozie of a question… where to start? I wish I hadn’t seen the faces of the people in the windows on the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 while I was walking to work. I wish that I wasn’t witnessing, in real time, the rise of fascism and white supremacy in the US. I wish I didn’t have to see the systematic and gross display of religious dogma within government and society
that wreaks havoc on the lives of women, people of color, the LGBTQ community or anyone who believes differently than the few that are ramming it down others’ throats.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Ego: Have you ever seen the movie All That Jazz? It’s an autobiographical movie about choreographer Bob Fosse. On his deathbed, he hallucinates this theatrically staged, blow-out song and dance scene. I’m still going for something like that.
DW: I’ve always dreamt of building a Geodesic Dome to live in. One of Buckminster Fuller’s designs to be exact.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Ego: To enlighten. After getting a handle on base survival, it seems like the next logical step for humanity is to become enlightened — to harness our collective energy toward harmony for all life forms. Art gets us closer to that place. It speaks to the sublime within us — both through creating the art or experiencing it as a viewer/listener.
DW: To open one’s mind. To make people feel something and question. To inspire another to achieve greatness. Art connects us in a way like nothing else does. It transcends any barrier of language, religious belief, social status and so on. It can express ultimate beauty or sorrow. Within that beauty or sorrow it connects us all to a common human experience.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Ego: Social progress — a world without gun violence, racism, sexism, antisemitism,
homophobia, crazy despots. I’m not holding my breath but I’m still lifting a finger to
help be a part of the change.
DW: Humanity reaching a higher consciousness where we realize our interconnectedness to the whole of the universe and within that become a positive force versus a destructive one.
[WHITE HILLS w/ Telekinetic Yeti: 7/19/2022 Snug Harbor – Charlotte, NC 7/20/2022 Champion Brewing – Charlottesville, VA (Free Show) 7/21/2022 123 Pleasant St – Morgantown, WV 7/23/2022 Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA 7/24/2022 Silk City – Philadelphia, PA 7/25/2022 Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY 7/26/2022 Crafthouse – Pittsburgh, PA 7/27/2022 Bug Jar – Rochester, NY 7/28/2022 Smalls – Detroit, MI 7/31/2022 Southgate House – Newport, KY 8/01/2022 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL 8/03/2022 Lyric Room – Green Bay, WI 8/04/2022 Wildwood – Iowa City, IA 8/05/2022 Reverb – Omaha, NE 8/07/2022 Globe Hall – Denver, CO 8/08/2022 Aces High – Salt Lake City, UT 8/10/2022 Substation – Seattle, WA 8/11/2022 Shakedown – Bellingham, WA 8/12/2022 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC 8/13/2022 Bossanova Ballroom – Portland, OR 8/14/2022 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA 8/16/2022 Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA 8/17/2022 Gigi’s – Ventura, CA 8/18/2022 Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA 8/19/2022 Yucca Taproom – Tempe, AZ 8/20/2022 Albuquerque, NM 8/21/2022 89th St – Oklahoma City, OK 8/25/2022 Record Bar – Kansas City, MO 8/26/2022 Red Flag – St. Louis, MO 8/27/2022 Skylark – Rock Island, IL 8/28/2022 The Lift – Dubuque, IA 8/29/2022 7th St Entry – Minneapolis, MN]
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
This planet will never be freaked out enough for White Hills to be as revered as by rights they should be, but the New York duo’s work will nonetheless resonate across generations of listeners present and in the future. And I mean that. Decades from now you’re going to have minds continually blown by the sounds White Hills have done and still make, perhaps treasured all the more for the sense of discovery behind that. It’s never going to be a mass thing, but pockets of people here and there will hear it, take influence, and be affected by them, and that rippling outward is tuned directly into the expansive space punk and heavy psych they’ve made indelibly their own.
In other words, it’s a very, very good thing that White Hills have started their own label, and I only hope that The Revenge of Heads on Fire is a beginning point for them in terms of deconstructing, reconstructing, and continuing to burn as only those genuinely driven to create can. That they could decide at a moment’s notice to remake an album, release every set from a tour, or do whatever else they want is only going to serve their own purposes, which are exactly the ones they should be serving. Rare band that’s been around for circa 20 years and are still exploring unknown reaches as a matter of course. If I had the money, I’d give them $100 a month through Patreon just on principle. But I’d have to start my own Patreon to even begin funding such a project and somehow that seems inefficient.
In any case, new stuff that screws with old stuff? Yes please. They’re on tour with Telekinetic Yeti starting next month. And if you’re in New York, the Brooklyn Knitting Factory is closing — maybe they’ll go back to Manhattan; I bet that’s cheaper now; more likely it’ll just move to Queens — and I can think of few acts better than White Hills for a last blowout.
From the PR wire:
WHITE HILLS: New York City Fuzz Rock Duo To Release The Revenge Of Heads On Fire Full-Length September 16th On Recently Launched Heads On Fire Industries; “Silent Violence” Video Playing + Preorders Available
New York City explosive fuzz duo WHITE HILLS will release their long-anticipated new album The Revenge Of Heads On Fire on September 16th. This will be the first physical release on the band’s newly launched record label Heads On Fire Industries, distributed exclusively by Cargo Records UK.
“A screaming head on fire penetrated my chest, jolting me from the universal plane back to earth.” Guitarist, vocalist, and sonic alchemist Dave W.’s vivid fever dream ignited The Revenge Of Heads On Fire which harnesses the energy of ferocious, hedonistic rock with blissful passages of dark ambience. Exploring themes of mortality, transformation and rebirth, the band reveals a spiritual depth unparalleled in previous works. The roar of fire, swirling of oceans and hallucinogenic visions can be heard throughout the seventy-five-minute journey. From the intrepid prelude “The Instrumental Head” to the closing punk blaze of “Eternity,” the album ebbs and flows, smoldering and seething in the middle with the twenty-one-minute mammoth opus “Don’t Be Afraid.”
The Revenge Of Heads On Fire consummates Dave W.’s prototype for the 2007’s Heads On Fire, released on Rocket Recordings and later picked up by Thrill Jockey. Six rediscovered songs accompany re-mixed versions of the original material, fulfilling the master arch of the pyre lit long ago. Recorded during the band’s tumultuous early years, the music vibrates with the energy and volatility of a sonic boom.
Poised to subvert convention and amplify innovation, the band’s own Heads On Fire Industries will focus on sonic exploration. The name, inspired by the myth of Viking warriors setting their helmets on fire to astonish their enemies, aptly describes the passion, determination, and creative madness that WHITE HILLS has invoked throughout their career. “Having our own label has always been a dream,” Dave W, a rabid vinyl collector, notes. Adds Ego Sensation, “Creating music is a tiny peaceful revolution, and when shared with others it can gain momentum and give humanity a chance to raise our collective consciousness. With this label, we will nudge the borders of possibility.”
In advance of the official unveiling of The Revenge Of Heads On Fire, today the band reveals their video for the record’s first single, “Silent Violence,” now playing. Brazen and guitar heavy, this unhinged raw power ripper is anchored by an infectious hook and a meditative vocal mantra. “It’s got a down and dirty Stooges vibe to it- unhinged and sultry like a wild night of debauchery,” says Ego Sensation. Directed by the band’s own Ego Sensation, the imagery was composed from the album’s saturated artwork by Rocket Recordings’ Chris Reeder and outtakes from an intoxicated photo shoot.
The Revenge Of Heads On Fire will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at the official WHITE HILLS Bandcamp page HERE:https://whitehills.bandcamp.com/music
The Revenge Of Heads On Fire Track Listing: 1. The Instrumental Head 2. Radiate 3. Inoke Tupo 4. Oceans Of Sound 5. Speed Toilet 6. Is This The Road 7. VTDS 8. Don’t Be Afraid 9. Vision Of The Past, Present & Future 10. Silent Violence 11. Eternity
Additionally, WHITE HILLS will return to the road next month on a North American tour with Iowa-based stoner doom duo Telekinetic Yeti. The journey will commence on July 19th in Charlotte, North Carolina and run through August 29th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. See all confirmed dates below.
WHITE HILLS w/ Telekinetic Yeti: 7/19/2022 Snug Harbor – Charlotte , NC 7/20/2022 Champion Brewing – Charlottesville, VA (Free Show) 7/21/2022 123 Pleasant St – Morgantown, WV 7/23/2022 Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA 7/24/2022 Silk City – Philadelphia, PA 7/25/2022 Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY 7/26/2022 Crafthouse – Pittsburgh, PA 7/27/2022 Bug Jar – Rochester, NY 7/28/2022 Smalls – Detroit, MI 7/31/2022 Southgate House – Newport, KY 8/01/2022 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL 8/03/2022 Lyric Room – Green Bay, WI 8/04/2022 Wildwood – Iowa City, IA 8/05/2022 Reverb – Omaha, NE 8/07/2022 Globe Hall – Denver, CO 8/08/2022 Aces High – Salt Lake City, UT 8/10/2022 Substation – Seattle, WA 8/11/2022 Shakedown – Bellingham, WA 8/12/2022 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC 8/13/2022 Bossanova Ballroom – Portland, OR 8/14/2022 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA 8/16/2022 Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA 8/17/2022 Gigi’s – Ventura, CA 8/18/2022 Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA 8/19/2022 Yucca Taproom – Tempe, AZ 8/20/2022 Albuquerque, NM 8/21/2022 89th St – Oklahoma City, OK 8/25/2022 Record Bar – Kansas City, MO 8/26/2022 Red Flag – St. Louis, MO 8/27/2022 Skylark – Rock Island, IL 8/28/2022 The Lift – Dubuque, IA 8/29/2022 7th St Entry – Minneapolis, MN
WHITE HILLS: Dave W. – guitar, vocals, synth Ego Sensation – drums, bass, vocals
Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 23rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I believe that if you go back and check the Official Bureau of Records on Such Things, the central thesis of my last post about New York’s White Hills was that nobody has any idea what they’re doing and that people who pretend otherwise are full of crap. It was something like that, anyhow. Or if not, that’s what it should’ve been. Whatever. In support of this argument I may or may not have been making — I don’t have the funds to file a 27B/6 request with the Official Bureau to check the record and find out — I humbly offer the band’s new video for “Automated City,” which they’ve newly posted ahead of the European tour on which they’ll embark next month.
“Band releasing a new video ahead of a tour,” you say. “Not much weird about that.” Correct. However. Check out the track itself before you fully assess. Yeah, you’ll hear some krautrock vibes in there as well as intangibles like the legacy of New York’s noisemaking experimentalist scene such as it was before Thurston and Kim got divorced, and you’ll hear any number of things all coming together as White Hills, but isn’t that the point? Put a tag on that. Call it something other than the band’s name. Double-dog dare you. As I know I said last time, verbatim: “Good fucking luck.”
And once you’ve accomplished that task, I’ll gladly set you on figuring out what might lead White Hills to make a video for a song from 2015’s Walks for Motorists rather than their latest LP, 2017’s Stop Mute Defeat, or maybe even something new they’re working on from their next album in progress.
And once you’ve accomplished that task, I’ll leave you to the video itself, put together by the band’s own Ego Sensation, and looking like something out of a Hitchcock opening credits sequence.
Have fun:
White Hills, “Automated City” official video
White Hills present “Automated City”, a noir vignette shot and constructed by Ego Sensation. Inspired by noir films of the 1940s and the avant-garde stage theater of American director and playwright Robert Wilson, the video traverses a shadowy dream world of shifting perspective. A firm fan favourite, the song is from the band’s 2015 album Walks For Motorists, produced by David Wrench, best known for his work with Goldfrapp, Caribou and FKA Twigs as well as with his own synth-duo audiobooks.
White Hills are currently in the studio working on a new album with Jeff Berner (Psychic TV) at Studio G in Brooklyn featuring a slew of unique collaborators including; Jim Jarmusch (Filmmaker & Musician), Yasmine Hamden (singer-songwriter who also appears in Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive”), Simone Marie Butler (bassist with Primal Scream), Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop) and Alex Macarte (GNOD).
White Hills – Buy The Ticket Take The Ride EU tour 2019 Dates: 14/11 CH Bern Spinnerei 15/11 ITA Busto Arsizio Circolo Gagarin (with Martin Bisi) 16/11 ITA Roma Roma Psych Fest 17/11 ITA Loreto Reasonanz (with Martin Bisi) 18/11 ITA Perugia T-Trane 19/11 ITA Torino BlahBlah 20/11 ITA Padova Nadir 21/11 ITA Ravenna Transmission Festival (with Martin Bisi) 22/11 ITA Ravenna Transmission Festival 23/11 AT Salzburg Dome of Rock Festival 24/11 DE Karlsruhe Alte Hackerei 25/11 DE Leipzig Nato 26/11 DE Berlin Urban Spree (with Martin Bisi) 27/11 SWE Malmo Plan B 28/11 SWE Gothenborg Musikenhus 29/11 DK Copenhagen BASEMENT 30/11 DE Munster Rare Guitar 1/12 NL Den Bosch W2 Poppodium 2/12 BE Bruxelles Mag 4 (with Martin Bisi) 3/12 FRA Paris Supersonic
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 17th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Let’s face it: Long after the floods and storms and famine and whatever else claim humanity, the sentient dolphins who inherent the earth will still be dedicating their best scholars to the task of trying to understand just what the hell level White Hills were working on. Most certainly, whatever it was — or, you know, is — it’s their own. In the best tradition of New York’s underground, they’ve long been an in-the-know-type band. The sort who might record and play shows with Martin Bisi and whose experimentalism extends through things like covering obscure ’80s synth tracks and scooting off to their kinda-adopted-home-base on the European circuit for a Fall tour that includes a slew of festivals psychedelic and otherwise.
White Hills thrive in this hard-to-get-a-handle-on aesthetic territory between genres, and as they’re in the studio putting together a new album that, you know, just has Jim Jarmusch on it — as one does — they’ll no doubt continue that thread of casting out mysteries for future aquatic-mammalian historians to try and unravel.
Good fucking luck.
From the PR wire:
New York’s acclaimed fuzz art-rock duo White Hills return to Europe
Having gathered a reputation as one of the most prolific and exciting live bands of their generation, White Hills are scheduled to descend upon mainland Europe this Autumn, playing for the very first time as a duo; with Ego Sensation on drums, electronics and vocals and Dave W on guitar and vocals.
On this tour the set will include new never-before-heard material which the band are currently working on (more on this below) as well as songs from the band’s vast catalogue including tracks from Glitter Glamour Atrocity, White Hills, H-p1, So You Are…So You’ll Be, Walks For Motorists and Stop Mute Defeat.
The tour includes several shows with collaborator and legendary NYC producer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Foetus). Dave and Ego comment further on this collaboration. “We’re honored to have been able to work with Martin on three White Hills’ albums and the BC35 collaboration which brought together members of The Swans, Sonic Youth, Pop 1280, Foetus, Dresden Dolls and many other unique artists. BC Studios continues to be a vibrant breeding ground for New York noise and innovative music.” Bisi is curating The Transmission Festival in Ravenna, Italy which will feature several other NYC artists who appear on the BC35 Volume II compilation, which is released by the hosts of the festival, Bronson Recordings.
White Hills are currently in the studio working on a new album with Jeff Berner (Psychic TV) at Studio G in Brooklyn featuring a slew of unique collaborators including; Jim Jarmusch (Filmmaker & Musician), Yasmine Hamden (singer-songwriter who also appears in Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive”), Simone Marie Butler (bassist with Primal Scream), Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop) and Alex Macarte (GNOD).
White Hills – Buy The Ticket Take The Ride EU tour 2019 Dates: 14/11 CH Bern Spinnerei 15/11 ITA Busto Arsizio Circolo Gagarin (with Martin Bisi) 16/11 ITA Roma Roma Psych Fest 17/11 ITA Loreto Reasonanz (with Martin Bisi) 18/11 ITA Perugia T-Trane 19/11 ITA Torino BlahBlah 20/11 ITA Padova Nadir 21/11 ITA Ravenna Transmission Festival (with Martin Bisi) 22/11 ITA Ravenna Transmission Festival 23/11 AT Salzburg Dome of Rock Festival 24/11 DE Karlsruhe Alte Hackerei 25/11 DE Leipzig Nato 26/11 DE Berlin Urban Spree (with Martin Bisi) 27/11 SWE Malmo Plan B 28/11 SWE Gothenborg Musikenhus 29/11 DK Copenhagen BASEMENT 30/11 DE Munster Rare Guitar 1/12 NL Den Bosch W2 Poppodium 2/12 BE Bruxelles Mag 4 (with Martin Bisi) 3/12 FRA Paris Supersonic
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 22nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
As predicted at the outset, the poster showcasing the lineup for Desertfest Belgium 2017 has become very, very crowded. I don’t think they’re done, either. Where will the next batch of bands squeeze, what with the sizable logo addition of Graveyard here along with Ohhms, Elephant Tree, White Hills and so on? I don’t know. It’s a problem for a graphic designer to tackle that’s well beyond my depth, to be sure. But they’ll sort it out. They always do.
The Fall festival season — there are many, you know the names and don’t need me to recount — by now rivals Spring. It might even surpass it in terms of the sheer one-into-the-next-into-the-next-into-the-next style proceedings from country to country, weekend to weekend. It’s astounding how strong and sustaining the European underground has become over the last several years. Desertfest, the growth of the brand in general and in its autumnal incarnations in Antwerp and Athens, has been a big part of that, and accordingly, Desertfest Belgium 2017 stands among the best lineups one is likely to find on the continent this Fall.
To wit:
GRAVEYARD PLAYS DF ANTWERP 2017 – White Hills, Elephant Tree & more announced
So here it is – Karma strikes, part two!
Last year we were gutted when GRAVEYARD decided to call it quits, moments before their appearance at Desertfest Antwerp. Fortunately, their breakup turned out to be short-lived, and the band announced their return with a new drummer in January 2017. So naturally, we had to put ’em in a headliner spot again to make it up to you guys!
We’re also very glad to announce the appearance of WHITE HILLS, possibly the coolest band in the universe. With OHHMS and ELEPHANT TREE, we present you with two of the hottest bands from the UK heavy scene at the moment. Going worldwide, let’s throw in Oriental Krautrock with MINAMI DEUTSCH from Tokyo, and the psychedelic jazz-prog of KALEIDOBOLT from Helsinki.
From where we’re sitting, Desertfest Antwerp is starting to look pretty good… and we’re still not done!
GRAVEYARD
After the breakup of 2016, Graveyard did what every great classic rock band should do: take some time off to recollect the good spirit, and then come back with a mighty vengeance. And so here they are: the Swedish rock giant is back in the saddle with a new drummer, and ready to kick ass in 2017! We can only imagine what awesomeness they’ll bring to make it up to the DF crowd…
WHITE HILLS
White Hills are proponents of psychedelia as transformation. The music made by Dave W. and Ego Sensation is risky and cutting edge, rooted in dystopian futurism and hyper-conscious of our constant desire for a new and better drug. On their new album ‘Stop Mute Defeat’, White Hills has flipped the script with an industrially-charged record that pulsates unlike anything you’ve heard of them before.
OHHMS
OHHMS (written “((OHHMS))”) are a Canterburian metal band who are quickly becoming the buzz of the UK doom scene. They’ve established a reputation of playing extremely loud, delivering long and complex tracks at a deafening volume. Their first album release ‘The Fool’ is earning accolades across the scene, winning over crowd and critics alike.
ELEPHANT TREE
Another big promise from the UK, Elephant Tree came out with one of the best damn albums from 2016. Combining clear vocal harmonies with insanely heavy riffs, and switching it up with sudden mood shifts and slow-burning grooves, their debut album is truly something special that you should seek out immediately. Word from Desertfest London & Berlin is they easily hold their ground on the stage.
MINAMI DEUTSCH
Minami Deutsch is a Krautrock band from Tokyo. Starting off playing live music on the city streets, they got picked up for a spot at the Tokyo Psych Fest. In September 2015, they released their first record through the English cult label Cardinal Fuzz Records, as well as Japanese psych label Guruguru Brain. Expect motorik kraut grooves with a distinct Oriental flavour!
KALEIDOBOLT
Kaleidobolt is a power trio from Helsinki, blending loud guitars with furious jazz moves. Their music is a dizzying maelstrom of progressive song structures, crushing riffs and loose psychedelic soundscapes, delivered with joy and ferociousness. Working since 2014, they’ve released two albums to much acclaim, and toured with the likes of Radio Moscow and Samsara Blues Experiment.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 15th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I had this whole rumination cued up in my brain about how White Hills wouldn’t be so gosh darn underappreciated if they were a West Coast band instead of being from New York. Hell, even if they were from elsewhere on the Eastern Seaboard — Florida to Philly — they’d probably get more credit than they do for their experimental approach to the psychedelic and beyond, which seems to be on full display with the new album, Stop Mute Defeat, out May 19 on Thrill Jockey.
Really. Had the whole thing worked out in my head. But you know what? You don’t care, and the raw truth of the matter is, while they most definitely are undervalued, White Hills get enough of a mainstream look that it doesn’t really matter what I think about them one way or another. It’s a Wednesday afternoon and I’m just a shitheel blogger posting a press release about an album that’ll probably be pretty cool. Business as usual. Any other insight? Tertiary at best, completely unnecessary at the most honest.
That’s me facing reality in the face of the unreal.
From Thrill Jockey‘s preorder page:
WHITE HILLS – STOP MUTE DEFEAT – MAY 19
LP pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket with free download coupon. A very limited supply is pressed on blue vinyl. CD version in 4 panel mini-LP style gatefold jacket.
The dismal realities, political or otherwise, that are part of our modern world naturally influence our creative voices. It is in this context that White Hills re-evaluated their approach to creating a new album. Having continually refined their sound, pushing the boundaries of psychedelic music, White Hills flipped the script on Stop Mute Defeat. Dave W. and Ego Sensation have brazenly produced an industrially-charged record that pulsates unlike anything they’ve released before.
Hard-line, gritty, and intellectually engaged, Stop Mute Defeat is a New York record through and through. With this in mind, White Hills drafted Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, Afrika Bambaataa) to mix. White Hills recorded with Bisi on two of their previous releases, Frying On This Rock in 2012 and its follow-up So You Are…So You’ll Be, however Stop Mute Defeat is the first time they worked with Martin “The Beast” Bisi in control of the mixing board. A native New Yorker who made his name in the city’s early hip-hop and no-wave scenes, Bisi was attracted to White Hills’ new material for its distinct early-80s Mudd Club feel. A dance hall, drug den, and bar, the Mudd Club was one of New York’s legendary haunts in the late 1970’s. As a center of a distinct art scene the club served as a major influence for White Hills and Stop Mute Defeat’s sound.
Following similar techniques to those propagated by William S. Burroughs (a regular at Mudd Club), Stop Mute Defeat sees White Hills break free from the guitar-driven structure of their earlier releases. Reassigning William Burroughs’ word “cut-up” technique to music, Dave W. and Ego Sensation deconstruct sound clips to create minimalist but rhythmically complex phrases. Title track ‘Stop Mute Defeat’ layers turbocharged bass loops with squalling guitar samples, to create a sound that calls to mind Xtrmntr-era Primal Scream. “If… 1… 2” goes even further down the rabbit hole, oscillating into the experimental electro-sound of early 80s Sheffield, UK band Cabaret Voltaire. Meanwhile the taut brawny grind of ‘Attack Mode’ industrially hardens White Hills’ rock boundaries to tribal densities.
Appalled by the rampant consumerism and the proliferation of ‘post-truth’ mythology, White Hills’ defiant lyricism is at their most philosophically scathing. Condemning doublespeak as “Subliminal seduction…a serenade with a grenade,” the song “Overlord” laments political and economic opportunism, where “In travesty, [there’s always] another dollar to be made.” On “Attack Mode” meanwhile, a clenched-jawed Dave W. channels the perverse cynicism of Throbbing Gristle, throwing scorn on “societies where misogyny leads and the objectification of young girls runs free.” Exposing Western vulgarity in bright light, Stop Mute Defeat is a fearless and necessary denunciation of the political and economic powers that be.
Between the release of 2015’s Walks For Motorists and the making of Stop Mute Defeat, members Dave W. and Ego Sensation took time out to focus on other artistic endeavors instead of keeping up their pace of an album a year. Diving deeper into the world of video, Ego has produced and exhibited a series of “Moving Stills”: videos that imbue static images with a subtle, uncanny motion. In these pieces, realism morphs with itself to create abstract visions. Through Dave W’s obsession with meditation, he was drawn back to his love of form and image, creating a series of sculpturally based hallucinatory abstract paintings in which the viewer is sucked into infinite space. These forays outside of music were instrumental in the shaping of Stop Mute Defeat.
Writing in his seminal postmodern oeuvre Naked Lunch, Burroughs states: “Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.” Rethinking their musical norms, personally and musically diving into uncertain waters, White Hills at once embrace and demonstrate the raw power of such abandon.
Tracklist: 1. Overlord 2. A Trick of the Mind 3. Importance 101 4. Attack Mode 5. If… 1… 2 6. Sugar Hill 7. Entertainer 8. Stop Mute Defeat
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Granted, I’ve never been, but it seems to me that a group like White Hills more or less embody what a festival like Freak Valley is all about. The New York heavy psych rockers are no strangers to European shores, and they’ll be among the headliners at Freak Valley 2016 next May in Netphen, Germany. They remain underappreciated in the US, but their dedication to heavy psych and space rock is unquestionable at this point — they’ve proven time and again where their collective heart lies, up to and including earlier 2015’s Walks for Motorists full-length on Thrill Jockey, which unless they put another one out between now and then — always possible — will be the record they’ll support as they head abroad once more.
This news came out the other day, so you may have seen it, but I’m trying to keep up as much as possible with these announcements, so better late than never. Here’s word from the fest:
New York’s Fuzzed Out Motorik Spacerockers WHITE HILLS will play FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2016
Constantly pushing at the boundaries of order against chaos and speaking a musical language involving fuzzed out guitars, wah-wah pedals and amplifiers turned up all the way, WHITE HILLS embody the art and spirit of psychedelic rock.
New York space rock trio White Hills are the opposite of a comet. They suck up an explosion of energy on the surface of the Earth; from the history of amplified rock music, from the weather, from spirituality, from adrenaline, from the history of synthesized electronic music, from substance use, from philosophy, from friends and enemies alike, from mother fuxxing electricity, and they focus it into a blinding beam of energy which they reflect back out into the void. And this beam is a message. It is a statement which reads: “Fu.. you. We are here. We rock, therefore we are.”
White Hills – a space rock band in the 21st Century. But perhaps it’s best to let Dave himself explain what space rock actually means to him: “Heavy psychedelic music can deliver the thinking mind through a door to the greater universe. I want people to find a space for meditation. We all are constantly barraged and beaten down with a lot of bullshit today. Personally, I find that spaced-out extreme music transports me to a very tranquil place. I hope, more than anything, our music brings others to that place of enlightenment and ecstasy.”
Amazing poster art by Jo Riou Graphic Designer Please give him a like!
Freak Valley Festival: No Fillers – Just Killers Line-up 2016: Dead Meadow [US] – Psychedelic Stonerrock White Hills [US] – Fuzzed Out Motorik Psychedelic Baby Woodrose [DK]- Psychedelic Garagerock Lonely Kamel [NO]- Heavy Blues, Hardrock & Stoner Rotor [D] – Instrumental StonerRock/Psychedelic Monolord [SW] – Doom/Sludge Farflung [US] – Spacerock for 21st Century Heads The Golden Grass [US]- Heavy/Funk/Boogie/Psychedelic/Freakbeat Spiders [SW] – Hard/Glam Rock Son of Huns [US] – Heavy Riffin Rock Lé Betre [SW] – Bluesy Hardrock
