Archive for March, 2010

Album of the day: Sun Araw – On Patrol (Vinyl)

Posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Sun Araw - On Patrol

Praise for Sun Araw’s On Patrol from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records:  Latest cloud of smoked out dub psych damage from this one man band. A massive sprawling double lp, every song bleeding into the next, one epic druggy abstract sonic trip. The Sun Araw sound keeps drifting further and further out, and in the process, approaching something that sounds a bit like reggae, but filtered through a cracked Not Not Fun filter, and a bank of busted amps and malfunctioning effects pedals. Oh and pot smoke. Lots and lots of pot smoke.

Woozy, warbly, prismatic, sun baked (and just plain baked), stripped down, dubbed out, inner space drift. Wah Wah guitars hover over skeletal rhythms, reverb and delay coats everything in earshot, disembodied chantlike vox are draped over SA’s twisted mutant lo-fi dub. The record drifts into some warped murk, still peppered with plenty of upstroke reggae guitar jangle, but wrapped in wheezing keyboards and some super distorted fuzz bass.

The second record begins all ethereal and new age, some hushed glimmering ambient drift, near static, before launching into some dubby krautrock, muted and muddy and minimal, flurries of keyboard tangle spray notes at the relentless motorik pulse, still more abstract vox and lots of gorgeously spidery guitars. All tangled up into minor key melodies that seem to fade into the background, the whole record sort of hazy and ghostly, while somehow remaining krauty and dubby.

The sidelong final side strips everything away, or piles it all on, blurring and smearing and winding everything into a dense layered drift, looped and hypnotic and psychedelic, that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Monopoly Child Star Searchers record. Rad stuff. Thick vinyl, full color gatefold sleeve, and yeah, probably limited.

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Posted in 2010, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | 3 Comments »

The Obelisk Interviews Matt Pike of High on Fire

Posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

JJ Koczan of The Obelisk recently recently conducted an interview with Matt Pike of High on Fire. A few excerpts from the chat follow below: The Obelisk: On the record, the first thing you notice that’s different is your vocals. How important is it for you to be trying new ...read more

Bohren & Der Club of Gore’s ‘Black Earth’ set

Posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010

For their contribution to Tom Gabriel Warrior’s “Only Death Is Real” event at Roadburn Festival 2010 (set for Friday, April, 16th), Germany’s Bohren & Der Club of Gore will perform material exclusively from their 2002 album Black Earth. Bohren will take the stage at 00:30.

Serpent Cult cancels, Altar of Plagues ‘White Tomb’ set

Posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010

Owing to personal circumstances Serpent Cult will not be able to participate in Tom Gabriel Warrior’s “Only Death is Real” event at the 013 on Friday, 16 April 2010. We regret the cancellation but are pleased to announce that Ireland’s Altar of Plagues will join the Friday line-up and play ...read more

Album of the day: Nadja – Under The Jaguar Sun

Posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Praise for Nadja’s Under The Jaguar Sun from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records:  Now on vinyl, the recent double album from prolific drone doom duo Nadja, each disc a whole record unto itself one crushing and heavy, the other blissed out and shimmery, but both records meant to be played together ...read more

Voivod Invades Austin For SXSW; Video Available

Posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Video footage of Voivod‘s March 19, 2010 and March 20, 2010 performances at the Scoot Inn and the Galaxy Room, respectively, in Austin, Texas during this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) festival can be viewed below. March 19, 2010 at the Scoot Inn in Austin, Texas (on a personal note: ...read more

Album of the day: Tekhton – Alluvial

Posted on Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Lovingly pinched from HellrideMusic.com: Normally whenever I review any band who plies some sort of post-rock influence to their sound, I always feel I need to walk down the street with a paper bag over my head. While there’s a definite list of bands from the genre that I enjoy, ...read more

Album of the day: Ulaan Khol – III

Posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010

Praise for Ulaan Khol’s III from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records:  Finally, the third volume in Ulaan Khol’s epic free-psych-drone trilogy. For those who don’t already know, Ulaan Khol is in fact Steven R. Smith, a beloved core member of the Jeweled Antler family, who has recorded on his own as ...read more

Stereogum interviews Darkthrone

Posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010

Brandon of Stereogum recently conducted an interview with Fenriz of Darkthrone. A few excerpts from the chat follow below: STEREOGUM: You’ve experimented with different approaches throughout your career …with The Cult Is Alive you shifted to a more blackened crusty punk sound. What inspired that direction? FENRIZ: “Experimented” sounds like ...read more

Saint Vitus Frontman Talks About Possibility Of New Studio Album

Posted on Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Scott “Wino” Weinrich  told the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine that Saint Vitus has yet to find a record label, and has only written one new song so far, but that a full-length studio effort from the group will likely surface within the next 12 months. Watch the chat ...read more

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