  The Roadburn playlist is a monthly update from the Roadburn staff reflecting what we are spinning here in the head office. These are the records that get us through the day as we work on Roadburn Festival business and our much delayed review section. Much as you'd expect, our playlists feature heavy rock, psych, and space rock from the 60's to immediate present. We also will feature guest playlists from knowledgeable contributors like Jerry Krantiz from Aural-Innovations and Santtu Laakso [editor of PsychotropicZone & Dark Sun] amongst others. The Roadburn playlist is waiting for you... Contact: Walter Roadburn on Last FM & Myspace. Roadburn Records on Myspace. Plus, instead of a Roadburn Forum, we created a Roadburn Yahoo Group! Please subscribe here. The website: Article Overview Audio Webcasts More Audio Webcasts Roadburn Records Homepage |
Roadburn's consultant editor.  
ELECTRIC WIZARD - "WITCHCULT TODAY" [CD - Rise Above Records] This immediately ascends to the short list of top Electric Wizard albums. This, their fullest realization of the 4 piece lineup, stands toe to toe with their masterpieces "Come My Fanatics" and "Dopethrone." Ironically, Witchcult’s main strength lies in it's polish and perfection, two things that usually kill and album for me. This time 'round, though, it's exactly what's called for. The performance is outstanding, the vocals have never been better, and the music is varied and interesting. The slick production enhances all of the positives without becoming a distraction, and the psychedelic side of the Wizard benefits greatly. The variety and quality of the distortion on the guitars alone could merit several paragraphs... suffice it to say that this album demands that you hear it. Now. On nearly constant rotation at the homestead for over two months, Witchcult has never failed to deliver... 
ASTRO CAN CARAVAN- "21ST CENTURY DRIFTING EPISODE" [CD - New Music Community] Big band free jazz has had some amazing practitioners over the years, most notably Sun Ra, Willem Breuker and Either/Orchestra. Astro Can Caravan, a bunch of free jazz loving Finns [including Pentti Dassum from the very psychedelic Deep Turtle], have made their way onto that list. "21st Century Drifting Episode", their second release, includes so many moods and styles that it's virtually impossible not to find something you like. From rollicking Breuker-inspired joyous free jazz romps to Ethiopiques-tinged exotica, to Morricone-esque groovy movie jazz, to psychedelic otherworldliness, "21st Century Drifting Episode" is constantly, unrelentingly listenable. It's also musically brilliant, stylistically kaleidoscopic, and utterly intoxicating. Without a doubt, THE record of 2007! 
FLESHPRESS - "PILLARS" [2LP - Kult Of Nihilow] A band that I have very much enjoyed over the years, Fleshpress have suddenly and completely transcended all of their former output with their amazing new album, "Pillars." This record showcases the doom / sludge and quiet acoustic sides that they have shown previously, but adds an element of extreme [almost black metallish] heaviness, a repetitive krautrockish psychedelia and an ability to flow from one mood to another with transcendental fluidity. This record is so much more than a collection of songs, and each song is so much more than a collection of parts. "Pillars" is like a movie, each scene, each song, each plot development is essential to the whole and can't be understood without the overarching context. "Pillars", much like Kyuss' "Sky Valley" or The Melvins "Lysol", becomes an undeniable force of nature, an organic whole that needs to experienced in its entirety to be fully appreciated. 
WIJLEN WIJ - "S/T" [CD - Aesthetic Death] A fantastic funeral doom record with strangeness lurking all about the periphery, this is truly the sum of its parts. Made up of Kostas [Pantheist, Doom-Metal.com], Stijn [Until Death Overtakes Me], Lawrence [Solicide], Kris [In Somnis] and put out on Esoteric-related label Aesthetic Death, this band somehow delivers on all of that considerable promise. Slow and low defines the music [sort of a mix of Skepticism and Nadja with more ancient, crumbling sound tendencies], but it's the interesting and evocative vocal bits that make things unique. Not simply relying on cookie-monster-on-16rpm style, Stijn and company offer up a variety of choral, medieval and gothic textures that complement the proceedings perfectly. 
HALF MAKESHIFT - "FINAL" [EP - Small Doses] Extreme beauty and delicacy are the hallmarks of this Half Makeshift release. Utilizing processed and unprocessed piano and guitar, Nathan Michaels has created a mini-masterpiece. It falls short of a masterpiece only because it's an EP, but the great news is that it ties in strongly with the material on his forthcoming [summer 2008] full-length from Profound Lore. To call this music drone [as some reviewers have] is to miss the mark completely. This is more akin to minimalist piano leanings of Erik Satie and LaMonte Young, although that too is a highly misleading description. It merely gives context to the idealogy rather than comparison with the sound. What is the sound? Gorgeous, deliberate piano and guitar figures, processed to maximize the sonic potential of each sound source and then arranged into moving, alluring pieces of music. The sound quality is amazing, the packaging is amazing, this is exactly why I am a music fan. Praise alone is not an adequate description. Hear for yourself at myspace.com/halfmakeshift. I strongly encourage you to check out the other two Half Makeshift CD's ["L'Anse Amort", and "Aphotic Leech"] as well. 
GNAW THEIR TONGUES - "REEKING PAINED AND SHUDDERING" [CD - Paradigms] Intensely psychedelic and incredibly varied noise / dirge / black metal / ritual musick from Holland that strives to put as many sounds into action as the frequency spectrum will allow. Truly diverse and unpredictable... Sometimes comprised of bleak primal rhythms that recall early Swans material mixed with cavernous halls of reverb and Abruptum-like psychoses. Other times, blasting industrial black metal awash in distortion, then evocative field recording elements appear in the quiet places -- often backed by mesmeric drones and intriguing just-out-of-earshot insinuations. These moments then replaced by vast cauldrons of buzzing, tremulous beauty or terminated by sheer brutality. Then, from nowhere, impious orchestral music played by the damned and fronted vocally by the possessed, the unclean, and the clinically deranged... all of them beckoning you forward with crooked claws. 
BURRIAL HEX - "CULT CASSETTES" [CD - Skulls of Heaven] Grating, grinding experimental assault stretched into tolerance-challenging noisescapes of surprising variety. The tracks are adorned with all manner of throat, mouth and head sounds – gargling, gagging, gasping, seething, screeching and breathing. Wisconsin's finest noiseniks offer up banging, barking, creaking, buzzing and rumbling sounds that occasionally coalesce into something approaching song form -- the audial equivalent of an extremely low-budget 8mm black and white psychological thriller. Distressing, disturbing and relentlessly compelling. 
COBALT - "EATER OF BIRDS" [CD - Profound Lore Records] Fast and furious black metal mixed with a strong metalcore vibe. Think Rebel Extravaganza-era Satyricon mixed with Converge. Superb production gives the complex, dense music plenty of space to breathe, allowing the listener to easily appreciate the metal [and the math]. Make no mistake, this is a metal record at it's core and anyone who calls themselves a metalhead should take note. "Eater of Birds" represents an amazing leap forward from their debut "War Metal" and bodes extremely well for future output. 
NECROS CHRISTOS - "TRIUNE IMPURITY RITES" [CD - Sepulchral Voice Records] Old school death metal with touches of crustcore [musically] and black metal [thematically]. Great guttural vocals, outstanding guitar and drums, suberb songwriting, and a really varied musical palate make this one of those releases you can throw on at any time and find it to be exactly the record you wanted to hear. Deceptively simple on the surface, so it doesn’t require much thought to enjoy, the record really reveals itself over time. Once you begin to fully appreciate the nuances and atmosphere, you realize just how great Necros Christos are. Main-editor Aural-Innovations. 
SPACE RITUAL - "OTHERWORLD" [CD/LP - Esoteric Recordings] I'm so glad this isn't called Nik Turner's Hawkwind, because to the credit of all involved, that is not what this is about. In addition to Nik we've got an assortment of Hawkwind alumni, including Terry Ollis [drums], Del Dettmar [axe synth], Mick Slattery [guitars], Thomas Crimble [guitars/keys], Dave Anderson [guitars/bass], and several others guests. And it's clear that Anderson was heavily involved in the resulting sound of this album, as his name is in nearly all the writing credits, he produced the album and it was recorded at his Foel Studios. A brief preparing-for-liftoff introduction leads into the albums title track, which blends pure space rock lyrics with a strange kind of hip-hop like style during the verses. A good solid song embellished by Nik's sax, brief but very cool guitar solos and the expected colorful electronics. "Black Corridor", a spoken word piece from Hawkwind's "Space Ritual" album, is given rich new life with excellent cosmic backing music to Nik's efx'd voice. This leads into one of my favorite tracks of the set – "Bubbles", an excellent space-prog rock song with a powerful spacey symphonic sound and lots of jamming. Nik has a great voice for this music and "Notes From A Cold Planet" and "Arrival In Utopia" [another Hawkwind resurrection] are other fine examples of Space Ritual's flair for backing spoken word pieces with good music. Ritual of the Ravaged Earth has an 80s electro-pop style that I quite liked and is combined with Nik's spoken vocal style. "Sonic Savages" and "The Riddle" are among the album's best power rock songs. The former has a sort of Led Zeppelin Kashmir feel to it. But that's mostly due to the rhythmic drive. Nik really takes off on sax too. A good rocker with a heavy orchestral sound. And "The Riddle" is just damn good ripping rock 'n roll. Ditto for "Walking Backwards", though it's much more purely space rock than "The Riddle." "Time Crime" and "Walking Backwards" are the album's true groove tunes. "Time Crime" gave me the feel of being on some Caribbean island that just happens to be inhabited by aliens. And "Walking Backwards" would have been right at home on an ICU album, though Space Ritual give it more of a potent space rock edge. There's lots of variety on the album and several songs serve as transitions and to just generally keep things going in different directions. Like the gorgeous deep space instrumental "Droid Love", which includes great leads by Nik's sax. And "Atomik" is a Crimble / Slattery penned instrumental with a pleasant acoustic guitar melody and a dreamy floating vibe. Whether singing or doing spoken word, Nik is a more than effective vocalist and really gives the album much of its character. Overall, this is an impressive album. And held up next to the most recent Hawkwind album, I'd say the Turner camp is the one to watch if you're a Hawk fan that wants something fresh and exciting. 
WHITE HILLS - "HEADS ON FIRE" [CD - Rocket Recordings] New York City based White Hills are really on a roll. "Heads On Fire" is their second album of 2007, their "Glitter Glamour Atrocity" having been released earlier this year. The CD opens hard 'n heavy with the powerhouse "Radiate." It's hard rocking psychedelicious space rock that reminds me a lot of Farflung, but also has guitars that recall early Hawkwind. The pace doesn't let up as the band launch into the next track, "Ocean Sound", which is an excellent fuzzed out stoner space rocker, with a killer ripping deep space jam segment. "Return of Speed Toilet" is a brief spacey drone and swirling guitars bit that serves as a lead-in to the nearly 10 minute "Visions of Past, Present and Future." It starts off as heavy as the preceding tracks, but quickly draws back into a quieter rolling jam. The rhythm section keeps a steady pace as the guitars trip around calmly and the alien electronics dance around the edge. Of course it all builds up steadily, becoming more and more intense until once again exploding into psychedelic heavy rocking space. The guitars bubble and pulsate like some kind of nuclear powered weapons, and again I'm reminded of both Farlung and early Hawkwind. At over 26 minutes, "Don't Be Afraid" is the epic track of the set. The song meanders along for a few minutes, creating a dreamy psychedelic atmosphere. But things get increasingly dark and menacing, while maintaining the deep space psychedelic drone quality. And when it explodes it retains that same feel, with the added treat of guitars that bust out into manic high octane psych solos. I love the easy paced yet frenzied feel of the music that seemed to consume me as the track developed. Then around the 10 minute mark the band transitions to a sound exploratory segment, painting image inducing psychedelic soundscape portraits, before starting the whole process over again. Wow, totally entrancing and left me drained. But there's still one more track to go! "Eternity" wraps up the set on a power rocking note, being an almost punkish space rock 'n roll number. In summary, Space Rock fans should waste no time getting this album. Farflung fans will LOVE this, as will anyone who digs the balls out space metallic jams of early Hawkwind. And solid production has helped White Hills create a MASSIVE sound that will knock you about like some cosmic sledgehammer. Highest recommendation.  LUNAR DUNES - "FROM ABOVE" [CD - Self-released] From London, England comes the debut from Lunar Dunes, an instrumental psychedelic space rock band that really knows how to lay down a cosmic groove. At times they sound like a more acid rock version of Ozric Tentacles, and at others they reminded me of bands like Hidria Spacefolk, that are firmly in the space-psych realm, though the tight playing and solid musicianship gives the music a progressive rock edge as well. But they really excel at just laying down cool jamming melodic, meditative, mind massaging groove tunes. Most of the tracks are in the 5-10 minute range, which for Lunar Dunes seems to be the perfect timeframe to stretch out and develop their music. Kind of like Oresund Space Collective but shorter and more tightly structured tracks. Among the highlights on this 12 track set is "Herzegovina." It has a core melody that feels like some kind of psychedelic spy movie soundtrack. But surrounding that we've got head thudding percussion, female vocal chanting, and an all around trippy groove. Tribal percussion propels the easy paced, bouncy, lightly meditative melodic "Loophole." "The Todal Gleeps" is an Ozric styled rocker with ripping guitar licks. An excellent spaced out jam tune. I love the Eastern vibe that the sitar, guitar and percussion give to "When I Was On Horseback." "Scissorbell" is one of darkest and moodiest tracks of the set, with a psychedelically foreboding atmosphere. But in its last couple minutes it picks up the pace and rocks out in space. "My Lagan Love" has a simple yet seductive guitar melody that leads the music pied piper fashion, followed by what at this point we can call trademark Lunar Dunes space grooves and atmospherics. Nice violin accompaniment too. Close your eyes and float awaaaaaaaaay. Finally, "Scatter" is a relatively brief but powerful track that really smokes, and covers a tremendous amount of ground in less than 4 minutes. If you just want to chill out and be swept away into space, you’ll surely dig Lunar Dunes. 
ATLANTIC DRONE - "S/T" [CD - Noiseville] Atlantic Drone are based in upstate New York and consists of the duo of Steven Cerio and Jim Drago [plus various guests], who have released one of the best space-psych-krautrock-progressive albums of 2007. Among the highlights is "Little Miss Expanding Universe." Simultaneously dreamy and rocking, it's a completely mind boggling synthesis of ambient surf waves, off-kilter power percussion, metallic power chords, and a banquet of other groovy happenings. "Moth Activity" opens with potently acidic psychedelic guitars and heavy tribal drumming. But the music soon settles into a calmer groove and throughout its 8 minutes weaves a path that is calm and melodic, yet always intensely on-the-edge, even in its quietest moments. Simple yet luscious trip guitar melodies combine with trumpets and heavy organ on "For Arizona", to create a dark, droning, stoned psychedelic march. "Mary Pickford Waking Up In A Burning Barn" is one of the most high energy space rockers of the set. Like King Crimson dropping a shitload of acid and blasting off into the space-prog cosmos. This sucker will FRY your brain! And "Sunshine On Softserve" is a psychedelic blend of deep space atmospherics, Eastern influenced ragas, wandering psych guitar solos and bits of free-jazz. Nearly 10 minutes of meditative bliss. There's so much going on across the 13 tracks on this album that it defies simple description. There are stand alone tracks, but overall it's a collage of sounds, melodies, guitars, keyboards, percussion, electronics, efx'd voices, ambience, jazz elements and so much more, that all come together into a gorgeously bizarre yet completely cohesive whole. I've not heard so many elements smashed together in such an artistically freaky way since Vas Deferens Organization's heyday. In summary, this is one of the most lysergic, mind-bending, yet creatively controlled and varied albums I’ve heard this year. Definitely the more progressive side of the space-psych axis.  THE LINUS PAULING QUARTET - "ALL THINGS ARE LIGHT" [LP - Camera Obscura] The Houston, Texas based Linus Pauling Quartet [typically between 5-7 members] have been around since the mid-90s. Their latest album, "All Things Are Light", is an LP only release [which includes a CDR of the album] in a limited edition of 500 copies on purple vinyl. There’s some things that show up in my box that must go immediately from mailing packet to stereo, and a new Linus Pauling Quartet album is one of those indeed. I'm a space-psych nut that likes to be brutalized, and being in a particularly masochistic mood when I discovered "All Things Are Light" had arrived, I wasted no time. As expected, the LP4 come out six guns blazin.' "Alien Abduction" opens the set and is a monstrous example of stoned, metallic, psychedelic ROCK. The multi-guitar assault is a tactic the band have perfected and put to precision use here. Power chords form coordinated blasts, but also take off into cool grooving jam segments. Nine minutes of brain frying sonic bliss on this sucker. "Southern Pine" is next and starts off as a mellow drifty 60s styled psych song. But the LPQ don’t let you get too relaxed because they keep shifting between the mellow verses and stoner-metal jam choruses. Very cool. The stoner power chords on "Old Crow" are like something straight off a Black Sabbath album. "Waiting For The Axe To Fall" sounds very familiar... was it on a previous album? Anyway, it's a damn fine song given acid space metal intensity, with anguished psych guitar solos and UFO electronics thrown in for good space rocking measure. Rounding out the set are a few shorter tunes that go in some different directions. "She Bad She Thowed" is a down 'n dirty thrashy garage blues number that's tailor made for a drunken bar crowd. Keeping the drunken motif going, "40 Oz." is a fun little tune about being flat on your back holding a 40 oz beer in a brown bag [you've been there, haven’t you?]. And "Encherito" is a whimsical garage punk song. The album is just 35 minutes long, but it's such a weighty 35 minutes that you'll feel more than satisfied. It only arrived a few days ago and I've been blaring it in the car ever since. Editor PsychotropicZone & bassplayer in Darksun
SPACE RITUAL - "OTHERWORLD" [CD/LP - Esoteric Recordings] Nik Turner, the ex-singer / saxophonist / flutist of Hawkwind, is one of the most important musicians in my life. He's also a really nice bloke! His 90's solo albums were really good space rock, but he hasn't been putting out any studio material in that vein since then. I've really been looking forward to this album since he started a new space rock band mainly with his old pals most of whom have been at lest for a little while members of Hawkwind in 1969 or early 70's. There are already a couple of live albums and even one very promising live DVD out by them proving that this band has a lot of potential, but in my opinion, only just this studio album shows us the real essence of the band. I must say that although the albums made with the crème of the US space rock posse were great, Otherworld is even better! If there's someone out there who has suspected that Space Ritual is some kind of poor man's Hawkwind, they would be very wrong. On Otherworld, the band presents their own sound that includes -- for example -- acoustic guitars. All the musicians play very well, and the sonic world is extremely well developed but not over-produced. Naturally, there's also some Hawkwind feel to the music and some words have been recycled again. Personally, I enjoy the fact that the fellows have really been able to write many great new songs. The album begins with the short, spacey sound collage "Return" and then we get the atmospheric and marvellous title track of the album. The beautiful and tranquil beginning already promises a lot, and this sure is a really great, mid-tempo piece that has a sort of similar feel to it than "D-Rider". The chorus is truly excellent and the song also has great guitar and sax solos. "Black Corridor" is a shorter ambient piece and the narration is familiar from the early 70's Hawkwind shows. There is some nice lead guitar work over there! Then we get a totally new, rather slow track called "Bubbles" that works very well and is also pretty heavy. "Communique" is all about UFO's and lent from Nik's 90's solo output, although now the backing is just some tribal drumming. "Ritual of the Ravaged Earth" differs from the rest of the tracks in that it's rather electronic. The lyrics quote Michael Moorcock. It's a stimulating and well-designed number that reminds me of Kraftwerk a bit! "ASDF" is a short instrumental including piano and space noises. The heavy and mid-tempo "Sonic Savages" is one of my favourites, a goddamn great song! This one has some nice space sounds and a superb sax solo. The ethereal, ambient and very pleasant "Droidlove" includes synthesizers and saxophone. At this point I was really waiting to hear some faster stuff, and that's exactly what they offer next! "Timecrime" is a really rocking song about the perils of traveling in time. It's a bit of a punky number with strong bass, harmonic vocals in the chorus, sax, flute etc. One of the best tracks on the album without a doubt. Totally amazing stuff! "Arrival in Utopia" is a two-minute-long piano piece where Nik narrates lyrics used by Hawkwind in the 80's. The acoustic guitars are in frequent use on the album and in a very successful way, but especially on the folky "Atomik" they really shine. This one is a pretty instrumental that has percussion, plenty of space sounds, keyboards and excellent acoustic guitar and flute solos. "The Riddle" shows us again, that guys over 60 are still capable of doing some serious rocking! The track starts off with a hallucinatory synth thing, but the real rock and roll begins in less than a minute. This is the second fastest song on the album and has an interesting chorus and brings to mind Inner City Unit or Bob Calvert's 80's solo albums. Towards the end they repeat three chords in a great way and the very end is really psychedelic. I really dig it, that's all I can say! "Cold Planet" is a New Age styled ambient piece that starts to work when Nik's sci-fi spirited, gloomy speech joins in. They have saved the heavy, almost stoner rock like "Walking Backwards" till the end, and during this song my four-year-old boy said "hey this is a really great song, I love heavy metal!". The lyrics seem to be about Nik's life. This reminds me of Nik's 90's solo albums, but this still sounds totally unique. Tight playing, very effective recitative vocals, and the synth madness in the end. a totally amazing ending for this album that's very successful in all aspects. 
VIBRA VOID- "TRIPTAMINE EP VOL.I" [LP - Nasoni Records] Influenced by 60's psych rock / punk bands like The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Stooges, MC5 and The 13th Floor Elevators, Germany's Vibravoid have been spreading their electric mind poison since the beginning of this decade. They are easily one of the most psychedelic bands you've ever heard who also rock like hell. This is the second volume in their limited edition vinyl series that is mostly directed to the die-hard fans. I'm definitely one of those, this band is really in my top five at the moment! This EP [that in fact, lasts as long as many full-length albums] includes one long, new studio track that the band recorded as a soundtrack to the 1910 silent movie 'The Wizard of Oz' for a DVD called "Staub und Kratzer." This instrumental, very psychedelic and rather heavy track has been on their MySpace site for some time, and since people have been digging it a lot, they decided to release it officially. The track starts off in a rather peaceful manner and has a slow rhythm. It grows and gets rather heavy, sounding almost like stoner rock. There's some really psychedelic guitar soloing and mind-expanding effects. It gets really intense and wild at some point and some more chords are introduced. This actually reminds me of Monster Magnet. There's some backwards stuff in the end. Amazing stuff! The B-side includes three live tracks with a sort of bootleg sound quality. Even if the sound is not top-notch, the performances most definitely are! "She's Just 13" rocks very well, and "Black and White" is one the band's wildest, hardest numbers and really effective. Then we have a long version of the live favourite "Ballspeaker" and this really is a great song. Very hypnotic an acidic. In the middle there is a psychedelic, serene part, then they go off again and fry our brains into a bubbling, pulsating mass of lysergic jelly. I just love this band! 
BABY WOODROSE - "CHASING RAINBOWS" [CD / LP - Bad Afro Records] Baby Woodrose are from Copenhagen, Denmark. They have been one of my favourite bands since their debut album "Blows Your Mind!" They have been relatively successful with their few latest albums, and they've really got some great, catchy garage rock tunes. On their latest album, "Chasing Rainbows", Lorenzo and the boys have sort of returned to the ethos of the debut album -- using analogue gear and more psychedelic experimentation, which of course is great in my books. The album still has some marvellous compositions, as well! The acid-drenched Dragontears project that Lorenzo was involved in with his former band buddies from On Trial must have really made a positive effect also on Baby Woodrose. The new album begins with organ and some backwards guitar played in a psychedelic manner, and then the groovy hit song "Someone to Love" blasts from the speakers. The vocals just pour deep into your soul, it's just amazing how he does that. A simple but highly effective track. "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" is swinging 60's styled garage pop / rock that reminds me of Roky and The 13th Floor Elevators. It has some acoustic guitar and a very nice melody. "Let Yourself Go" is simple garage rock with organ and a great guitar solo and also has a psychedelic ending. The mystical, more peaceful "Twilight Princess" has some bells, for example, as well as a really excellent riff. "Lilith" is another groovy and quite pretty number including clinking acoustic guitars and some nice lap-steel guitar along with "aaa-aah" backing vocals. One of my favourites is absolutely the oriental-sounding, mind-expanding 60's psych rock track "In Your Life" that includes tambora, tablas and bells among other things. Some of it reminds me of "Space Is Deep" by Hawkwind. This one has a truly unearthly feel to it and the long jam in the end is superb. The titletrack of the album is another winner and brings in a fresh breeze full of 60's garage rock feel. "No More Darkness" is an atmospheric mid-tempo track, "Dark Twin" a marvellous, beautiful, tender and melancholic number with bells and just a bit of rhythm. Another favourite of mine is the dark, mystical and gloomy "Renegade Soul" that has some tom-toms, flute and excellent lead guitar. Amazing, psychedelic atmosphere. The pretty, acoustic ballad called "Madness of Your Own Making" ends the album in a gorgeous way with fragile vocals and small-scale psych guitar sounds. I just love this album! It's also really great that Baby Woodrose will play at Roadburn 2008. 
MUGSTAR - "S/T" [CD - Sea Records] Mugstar is an amazing, fresh quartet from Liverpool formed by two guitar players, a bass player and a drummer. One of the guitarists also plays keyboards and sings and the other plays viola. In addition, the bass player plays saxophone, as well. Prior to this album [released both on vinyl and CD] the band have released three 7" singles. As influences, they mention Sonic Youth, Neu!, Boredoms, Hawkwind, My Bloody Valentine, Oneida and Can. Although the cover art more or less hints of more peaceful post rock, this album still is very guitar-oriented, loud and energetic psychedelic instrumental space rock. I'm often reminded of their compatriots The Heads. The first side of the vinyl begins with the slowly starting "My Babyskull Has Not Yet Flowered" that after its slow start, is a fast, pounding and primeval space rocker that also includes sax. This is wild, raw and psychedelic going and I'm instantly in love with this record! The rugged, straight-forward, punky and hypnotic "Cxempog Smultron" has repetition in the Circle style. It's a heavy number that got my two-year-old daughter dancing wildly. "It Was too Cold to Go Looking for Brancusi" starts off with small-scale psych sound and is a bit slower track reminding me of several Japanese noise / psych bands. The gloomy and slow "Good Posture vs Bad Posture" ends the A side marvellously in a heavy stoner style. "Floatation Tank" is raw and hard banging including fierce drumming and possibly some low narration? A rather psychedelic, repetitive track. "Subtle Freak" begins with little noises, then we get some slow bass, and then the peaceful guitar and drums join in. The atmosphere is floating, hypnotic, exciting, creeping and bubbling. This is an excellent, a bit scary number that sort of makes you wait for something. There's some growth towards the end, and then the track cools down. "Men with Supersight" begins with a vague speech and psych sounds. Then the wild HC/punk blasting begins and then there's some fast, hypnotic and aggressive going. Heavy shit, man! "Children of the Gravy" is a short, experimental piece that gets very noisy. Mugstar is a really energetic, tight and great new band! LUNAR DUNES - "FROM ABOVE" [CD - Self-released] Lunar Dunes is a new band from Liverpool influenced by kraut rock, Coltrane and English psychedelia. This is their first album and was recorded in three days and mixed in five. The album includes twelve tracks and clocks in at about 75 minutes. Lunar Dunes plays energetic, psychedelic and sometimes a bit jazzy brand of instrumental space rock with guitar, bass, drums and some organ etc. The album also has some programming and features guests on cello, vocals and tambora. The album begins with two fast tracks, "From Above" and "As Below". Very nice, jamming acid rock that really works! Then a couple of more airy tracks follow. One of the best tracks is "The Todal Gleeps" that is a real great, rocking space rock number that reminds me a bit of mid-90's Porcupine Tree due to the programmed bits. "Seaspray" is a sunnier, groovy and jamming track in two chords. Then we get two more peaceful tracks with hazy atmosphere, very nice. Tampora brings in a superb, oriental feel to the excellent track "When I Was on Horseback". The last track "Scatter" is the most free-jazz oriented piece on the album with some funky, freaky guitar work. This is a really nice and suitably varied album and comes in a very fancy and stylish cardboard sleeve. Highly recommended! |
THE ROADBURN PLAYLIST
Here's what's spinning at Roadburn HQ these days...  
AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED / CONVERGE - "THE POACHER DIARIES" [CD - Relapse Records] Finally, the 1999 split between experimental grind heroes Agoraphobic Nosebleed and aggressive music stalwarts Converge has been re-released. Featuring nine tracks of AG's brand of blindingly fast one-minute brain destroyers and six tracks from Converge, including the classic "The Locust Reign," it's a re-release that was long overdue. sarah kitteringham 
THE ASSEMBLE HEAD IN SUNBURST SOUND- "EKRANOPLAN" [CD / LP - Teepee Records] The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound. What a name! San Francisco psychedelic revivalists supreme "The Head" [as I shall refer to them from here onward!] certainly give you a full mental workout . Teepee records debutants, they are more of a 'collective'than a traditional band, the 3-piece core of bass, drums and guitar are joined by Theremin poets and keyboard supremos to complete the aural picture, like a Dali interpretation of Kyuss. I wouldn't usually remark on design so early on in a review, but The Head’s artwork is spectacular. Giant long-haired disembodied heads deconstructing an exotic city with eye lasers, against a backdrop of smoke and fire, beautifully coloured, the sleeve puts your mind into gear for the listen ahead. A journey to far-off lands, spirited upon the back of transexual, neon dragon, being attended by pixies with hookahs. If Alice in Wonderland had rocked, it would have been something like this. The album opens with the desert behemoth title-track "Ekranoplan", a wildly skewing riff, encircled by a funky bass and heart-beat drumming opens out into a beautiful airborne jam, floating on the summer breeze. You can almost smell the reefer. When the vocals appear, they ebb and flow below the layers of melody in a vaguely Wyndorf-ish fashion. This opener is really the beginning of a triple-bill of neo-desert rock classics, followed up by the equally excellent "Mosquito Lantern" and "Rudy on the Corner." The fourth track strips The Head back to the very basics of their sound. The instrumental "Summon The Vardig" tickles the senses with a beautifully considered riff licking at the edges of your consciousness. The rhythm section interplay is superb, throbbing drums and wild bass phrases highlighting the effervescence, the nonchalance of the lead guitar. A really superb track. "Occult Roots"brings back the vocal mid-way through its duration, before a bass-lick straight from the mayor of Funky Town opens follow-up "Message by Mistral and Thunderclap", daring the buzzing guitar to rock harder than ever before. It does not disappoint. Some excellent, almost tender melodies arise from the cacophonous brew like the first rising air bubbles in a kettle. Another bass introduction of high rock quality leads you straight into "D Brown" before you can even take your first morning sip. "D Brown" is perhaps the only song I could take any form of issue with. It starts magnificently, but the vocals are slightly over-blown in the mid-section, detracting from the sheer funk potential of the songs blunt-end. A fuzzed-out retro lead guitar section does more than make up for this however, and soon The Head are back tickling your frontal lobes with an excellent classic keyboard break that will have you rolling around in ecstasy, grinning like a chemically-induced madman. Combining the best elements of Pink Floyd, Love, Mudhoney and Crazy Horse was never going to be easy, but The Head have pulled it off magnificently, leaving behind a perfectly-formed slab of 21st century retro rock, in turn both funky and beautiful. An audio trip, the album equivalent of an avant-garde freak bus, powered on by electricity and a cloud of smoke, The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound leave behind most of their desert rock peers and break new, less sandy earth with their giant pink lobster claws. A journey into the unknown, mixing post-rock elements with classic psychedelia to great, dramatic effect, this is a latter-day classic. All hail The Head! dave e destruction 
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX - "BOXRIFF" [CD - Meteor City] By the grace of god, or at least a case of beer and a few spliffs, go the Atomic Bitchwax. After a couple of bleak years caused by the departure of founding member, Ed Mundell, the Bitchwax recruited ex-Core riffmeister Finn Ryan and released the excellent "III." "Boxriff" continues their onward and upward journey with a 2-disc set containing some new studio tracks and a live recording both in audio and DVD format. I can't understate how great this recording is. The audio alone is worth the money with a nicely "in the red" recording of the band on smoking form. Loopy phased guitar effects, throbbing bass and pounding drums make a heady audio experience all underpinned by the Bitchwax's excellent ear for a catchy tune. The set list covers all their albums [with the exception of the average "Spit Blood"] and features rip-roaring versions of "Kiss the Sun" [a Core original], "Birth to the Earth", "Hey Alright", "The Destroyer" and a warp-speed version of "The Cloning Chamber". Favourites such as "Shit Kicker" and "Stork Theme" are also present and correct although I missed hearing "Dark Chi" off their last album. Visually, the DVD is put together in a high-quality way with good [but not] camera work and editing. The sound is also on a par with the CD and represents excellent value for the Bitchwax fan. I can't recommend this enough. A top-notch recording from one of the finest bands pumping out high-octane rock. alligator 
BARONESS - "RED ALBUM" [CD - Relapse Records] An incredible first full length and major label debut for Baroness has pushed them to the forefront of underground metal. Combining thunderous riffs, roaring vocals and crashing drums, the band has created a monumental record that soars, thanks to its mainly instrumental focus. With their music created in the same vein as former label mates Mastodon, the "Red Album" is an epic math-metal and prog-infused masterwork that never slows down- save for when the acoustic rears its beautiful head at just the right moments. sarah kitteringham 
BETWEEN THE BURRIED AND ME - "COLORS" [CD - Victory Records] Never have I heard a band have as much as fun this North Carolina quintet. "Colors", the third full length from the intensely technical band, is a 65 minute tribute to pure wankery. From its Elton John-ish piano intro, to its tribal and Middle Eastern drumming, keyboard laden 80's synth, accordion solos, death vocals, soaring dueling guitars and emotional breakdowns, it's an album that, while incredibly heavy, doesn't take itself all that seriously. If anyone else is confused, this might clear things up: according to the band, this release is "new wave polka grunge" and "adult contemporary progressive death metal." sarah kitteringham 
BIG BUSINESS - "HERE COME THE WATERWORKS" [CD - Hydrahead Records] With songs characterized by frenzied intros that morph into full-fledged Southern infused beasts complete with groove and growling vocals, this two-man band's second full length is nothing short of kick-ass. Although it breaks little new ground musically, the bands delivery is not to be missed. Big Business knows how to have a good time, and evident in their fluid, sexy sound, the yet-to-be-released third album says it all. For the guys in the band, "This Shit is Easy." sarah kitteringham 
BLUE CHEER - "WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU" [CD - Evangeline Records] Named after a potent brand of Owsley acid, Blue Cheer took the optimistic and hopeful West Coasr psychedelic / folk music of Jefferson Airplain and the Greatful Daed and added kilowatts of overdriven amplification to it. Sucking overdriven blues, burgeoning hard rock and psychedelica into a hideous vortex of brute force and power, Blue Cheer managed to almost single-handedly invent the idea that ugly, distorted riffing, screaming vocals and pounding drums could be cool. The Cheer's latest album, called "What doesn't Kill You..." is yet another great addition to their legacy of freakazoid guitar playing, grooving basslines and powerfull drumming, and their place as legends of full-on rock can't be understated! alligator 
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - "IRE WORKS" [CD - Relapse Records] With their new album, the Dillinger Escape Plan has shown, yet again, why they are the standard to which all extreme metal is judged. Erratic time signatures, screeching reverb, howling and incredibly complex drumming give way to [dare I say?] singles with clean vocals, jazzy instrumentals and catchy hooks. "Ire Works" is pure variety from start to finish, featuring pure chaos math-metal tracks, sing-along dance tunes and instrumental tracks- and all of them transcend the standards by which the Dillinger Escape Plan swears by. sarah kitteringham 
LOS NATAS - "EL HOMBRE MONTANA" [CD - Small Stone Records] Los Natas' latest release "El Hombre Montana" [The Mountain Man], is an epic slice of doom-laden pie fresh from Argentina, as the first fuzz-a-licious track "El Bolsero" proudly testifies. Waves of riff lick at the shores of melody as the vocals dive in and out of the mix, quite delicately so for this style of music. Around the halfway mark the guitars fuzz their way to a dirty lead lick that ties the song together like The Dude's rug. The drums tap a stacatto counterpart to the elegantly woven song, and before you're ready, its over. "Amanacer Blanco"continues along a similar vein, with the guitar interplay weaving a psychadelic soundscape deep in your frontal lobe, before "No Es Lo Mismo" hypnotises your head into a manic bobbing frenzy. The interplay between the drums, vocals and guitars [bass included] is in full magnificent stride from the get-go, bringing to mind Kyuss by way of the 1970's. Indeed, Sabbath themselves would be proud of the of the sound. This full-length 11 track album comes on the coat tails of their usual 3 tracks an hour EP style, with each song showcased here clocking in between 3 and 8 minutes. The production job was handled by one of the stoner scene's greatest recording affeciandos Billy Anderson, who has worked with The Melvins, Neurosis, Acid King, Fantomas and High On Fire previously, to name but a few! The production job is really quite superb, effectively capturing all the elements of the Los Natas sound and bringing each instrument to the fore in turn. This CD even sounds good through my shitty laptop speakers! "Humo Negro Del Vaticano" drones through the first four minutes before building to a mighty drum-led crescendo, with some fine vocal-style skin work punctuating the fog of fuzz. It even ends before it becomes contrived [a fine thing in a style of music that does usually demand every song is taken to its absolute limit]. The next track, "La Espada En La Piedra" starts off with a punk rock thrash before breaking down into a wheeling solo that makes you just wish you were speeding across South America in an open-top Camaro with a joint in your hand. The track even ends with, I swear, an engine sample, although it could just be a stange guitar sound coupled with my wishful thinking. This is doom rock for the summer! Los Natas have clearly moved into some very interesting territory indeed with "El Hombre Montana", fusing some classic 70's psychedelia amongst other influences, into their heavy rocking sound, and coming out the other side of the equation with a selection of songs that beg to be played and heard live. Their commitment to singing in their native tongue deserves respect, although I wish that I could understand the lyrics [which is really my fault for not learning Spanish!]. "El Ciervo" wails away like Queens of the Stone Age wish they could, with a ROCKING guitar riff that begs to be blasted loud wherever it is played, before a wailing round of group "woahs" closes out the near 8 minutes of audio quicksilver. There is a definite punk influence here, but Los Natas neatly side-step cliché with their inventive mix of styles. It never becomes old hat, but instead forms some kind of brand new part-mohawk, part-long hair, part felt thinking cap headgear as their sound envelops your conscious. "El Camino De Dios" is a beautiful acoustic song that brings to mind both Mark Lanegan and Monster Magnet in equal measure, with the vocal leading the charge for the first time. It is almost a less flamenco Gipsy Kings that Los Natas appear as here, and it hooks you in for the four-track ride to the albums climax. Los Natas have created, in "El Hombre Montana" an album that breaks new ground by recombining the old soil with fresh tasty nutrients from the modern scene to create a fertile aural meadow for you to lay back in when the Sun is high in the sky and you are even higher. If you enjoy progressive heavy rock, then go and pick up this fine piece of "Latin Heavy Psych" whilst the temperatures still beg you too. dave e destruction 
MORKOBOT - "MOSTRO" [CD - Supernaturalcat] Morkobot is one of the latest releases on the Supernaturalcat label run by the brains behind Malleus and Ufomammut. Expect the experimental, I told myself... Morkobot [apparently music channeled by Lin, Len and Lan, all wearing boxes on their heads] is definitely experimental. Sounding like two basses and drums plus weird effects and samples, Morkobot's music is challenging, veering from disjointed riffs, washing cymbals and repetitive sequencing to more laid-back pulsing sounds and even spacious ambient soundscapes. The mid-section of the album, "Zorgonzollac", "Kaklaipus" and "Cammut" form a fine example of the general weirdness Morkobot bring to the table mixing Ufomammut-esque odd time signatures with thunderous bass riffing before segueing into "Kaklaipus" with its shimmering synthscapes, strange background noises and grinding oscillators. "Cammut" begins with a wide-open soundscape before closing the walls in around you through a jarring sonic overload and subtly increasing tempo. Morkobot have managed to produce the best soundtrack an alien abduction could warrant. Uncomfortable, uneasy and intimidating listening at best but an interesting aural experience nonetheless... alligator 
MY SLEEPING KARMA - "S/T" [CD - Elektrohasch Records] My Sleeping Karma are a relative newcomer to the psychedelic rock scene and "My Sleeping Karma" is their self-titled debut album nearly released on their own imprint, but finally put out by Elektrohasch. MSK's style is classic instrumental space rock featuring heavily processed guitars, bass, drums and keyboards swirling together to form a very satisfying set of sonic landscapes. Opener "inTENtion" is a good indicator of MSK's overall approach with driving rhythms overlaid with the obligatory whooshing noises. However, they offer considerable more subtlety in subsequent tracks with "23 Enigma" taking a more 35007-ish approach and "Glow 11" being a very mellow trip before closing out with some monster classic space rock riffing. The final two tracks close their debut album off in excellent shape with "Drannel Xu IIop" being reminiscent of Monkey3's riff-driven rock outs pushed along by some excellent drumming, analogue synths and a killer set escalating riffs towards a near-total freakout at the end. Closer "Eightfold Path" is a blissful experience, with slowly shifting riffs building from a quiet, reflective ambience to a busier midsection which tails off slowly to a trippy final third... Classic ambient psychedelia. alligator 
OM / CURRENT 93 - "INERRANT RAYS OF..." [EP - NEUROT RECORDINGS] An interesting split from Neurot featuring two bands who could be classed as "mystical" in outlook, the legendary Current93 and the more recent, and better known to Roadburn readers perhaps, OM. OM's song "Rays of the Sun / To the Shrinebuilder" is a stellar track in OM's catalogue featuring an absolutely gigantic, driving bassline and stellar drumming. It's about the fastest thing OM have ever recorded and the mixture of bass and trademark mantraic vocals mesh brilliantly. The lyrics, as expected, are pseudo-religious gibberish but, as with, say, Tom Warrior's lyrics on "To Mega Therion", they fit the music perfectly and have the required invocatory nature on mood when listening. OM's music, again, is pretty transcendental. Current 93 take an entirely different path albeit with similar mind-shifting results. Minimalist bass overlaid with industrial-sounding feedback and bagpipes form the foundation over which David Tibet declaims lyrics of a most mystical and mysterious nature [both Atlantis and Reese Witherspoon get a mention]. However, strange as it sounds, this is a satisfying track and works well alongside the more thunderous OM. alligator 
SGT. SUNSHINE - "BLACK HOLE" [CD / LP - Elektrohasch Records] Sgt Sunshine's self-titled debut album caused a storm upon its release, garnering the the three piece accolades beyond their careers. Heralded as a desert rock classic, the Swedish-based latin-infused line-up went their separate ways shortly after its release. Founder member Eduardo Rodriguez is back with a new rhythm section and Sgt Sunshine's much delayed sophomore offering "Black Hole" on Elektrohasch Recordings. This time around they have firmly left our atmospheric constraints far behind and have taken desert rock high up into the stratosphere, and left it teetering madly on the edge of an anomaly. Fuzzed-out guitars jangle against clean lead and trance-inducing vocals, skewing wildly from riff to breakdown to freak out. This is truly psychedelic music. The opening trio of tracks showcase desert rock from every familiar angle before the fourth, "Overload"strips the genre down and gives it a hard post-rock kick in the woofer. Sublimely wah-ing guitars harmonise beautifully over technical, lyrical drumming and you realise, prog rock is meant to be progressive, just like this. Sgt Sunshine transcend the boundaries of desert rock one by one, cohesivelly with this record. At times the vocal almost spoils the off-kilter dynamics of the delicate guitar, but they seem to have a knack for jumping before they're pushed and it never gets too much before the song takes off again. Throughout are scattered elements of bluegrass, folk and world music that segue effortlessly with the heavier stoner elements, nowhere more effectively than on mid-album oddity "Go Out Fishing" which should, by all rights, be more novelty than good. With a 66.6% line-up change it would be incorrect to surmise that this Sgt Sunshine and the young bucks of their debut were one and the same, but the new line-up has crafted another important record, simultaneously intricately beautiful and hard rocking. They do have elements in common with Queens of the Stone Age and Nebula et al, but are different enough to make this a worthy addition to any avid desert freaks collection. An important record. dave e destruction 
WARCHETYPE - "GOAT GODDESS SUPREMACY" [ CD - Alone Records] "Goat Goddess Supremacy" is Warchetype’s debut foray into the Kingdom of Doom, wading into war with 5 epic tracks in just over an hour. Opener "Itaca" mellows you in with a benign acoustic introduction before the crushing distorted guitars ebb over a mountain range of rhythm and send you to another universe. The clean vocals work well, contrasting effectively with the crushing dissonance of the instrumentation and bring to mind John Garcia of Hermano / Kyuss / Slo Burn fames stylings at times. The heavier moments are sparing and mirror the musical dynamics perfectly. The Spaniards continue in a similar vein throughout this EP-cum-LP with my personal favourite being the effortlessly crushing "Marduk's Stair To Earth" with it's wailing vocal and angrily buzzing guitars creating a drone-a-long packed full of funk and grunt. Breakdowns and changes galore make this an interestingly epic listen, with each song begging you to sit it down alone in the dark and whisper sweet nothings in it's gnarled, hairy ear as you spark up a doobie. Warchetype are another doom band yes, but a damn fine one at that. If you like Electric Wizard or Los Natas you should check out these visceral freshmen too. dave e destruction 
WINTERS - "BLACK CLOUDS IN TWIN GALAXIES" [CD - Rise Above Records] "Black Clouds in Twin Galaxies" is the first full-length record by Winters, a classic power trio from the UK and signed to Rise Above Records. Winters sound is a curious mixture of doom riffing with pop sensibilities. Grinding riffs pummel the listener but coupled with the catchy melodies and idiosyncratic, but ideally suited, vocals of Paul Fyfe, the songs become irresistably catchy. Opener "Fried" is a classic example of Winters M.O., coupling blasting guitars with an infectious chorus which results in a superb piece of rock. Other tasty cuts include "Oh No!" with its shimmery 60s psychedelia reminiscent of The Kinks and "Endless Fight" which is almost classic "Bleach"-era Nirvana in both riff and song construction and vocal stylings. Overall, "Black Clouds in Twin Galaxies" is a great record, compressing classic doom sounds into 3 to 4 minute pop blasts. The fact the style is reminiscent of Nirvana, The Kinks and even "Ethereal Mirror"-era Cathedral almost simultaneously just adds to the appeal. Highly recommended. alligator |