GIDEON SMITH & THE DIXIE DAMNED
Gid:
This year was alot of fun. We played a cool show in Raleigh NC at The Lincoln
Theatre -it was great. Our EP 'Dealin' Decks' came out and did really well. We recorded a
good ammount of material and also managed to record in Nashville, that was really awesome.
Some of the songs off 'Southern Gentlemen' made it on some television programs like 'Rush Hour'
and 'Fusion TV', as well as being played on a showing of the famous 'U.S. Open.'
Thanks to Smallstone, Scarey and all the band members and everyone who has supported the band, here's
for a maximum year in 2006.
- Honky - "Balls Out Inn"
- Fat Nancy - "American Muscle Baby"
- Burning Spear - "The Walk"
SOUR VEIN
T-Roy:
2005 was a crazy year! I hooked up with Vince 'Beaten Back To Pure' Burke and we wrote and
recorded 'Emerald Vulture'in just 5 days -Dan and Will from Mugwart joined the madness.
I came up on a damn Greyhound with a few riffs and a bunch of lyrics. They had some -Vince had
some. It turned out killer and we made a deal with This Dark Reign to do triolgy of EP's. Also in
New Orleans this summer, we recorded at Festival studio for some comps -'Laid To Waste' and 'Nerves' were
the songs.
We also recorded for a few 7-inches on Dada Drumming Recordings -a split with Hawgjaw, and a
split with Church of Misery!
Then the hurricanes. I left Nola in June to work the Summer in Carolina and was to
return on the 1st of September, but Katrina changed that my drummer clyde -a Nola native lost
everything in the flood and is lucky to be alive. I had lots of friends scatted because
the hurricane best wishes to them all. And I then was hit by hurricane Ophilia -it wasn't a
walk in the park, but not even close to what Katrina did at all, but it was a mess though.
I rode the storm out with Dixie Dave for 3 days -it was crazy.
In October I started writing more songs for a recording session in
December. And my side project Vagabond got together to start working on a
recording. So you will hear lots of releases in 06'' as well as full tours of
Europe and the USA and japan in November 06''
- OM - "Variations on A Theme"
- Ramesses - "The Tomb"
- Damian 'Jr.Gong' Marley - "Welcome To Jamrock"
SPACE POROBE TAURUS
Erik:
2005 was an eventful year for SPT. It began with going back into the studio to do the
final mix of the album we recorded in November '04. This album was sent out to
secure a record deal, and it looks like it will be released sometime this year.
The first film to have our music in it ['Actress Apocalypse'] got released on DVD
this year. The DVD release contains a 14 song CD as a bonus. We also recorded
the theme song for a new American underground exploitation movie, called 'Hollywood She-Wolf.' The
song is entitled 'She-Wolf, Baby!' and it's real heavy 70's sounding. The film
should be released in the first half of 2006.
We also started to play live more often, and we're much tighter as a unit now. We finished the
year with recording some demos which we'll send-out to the labels that showed interest in our
album. We just want to give them an idea of what's next for the band.
- Blue Cheer - "Bootleg: Live"
- Electric Eel Shock - "Beat Me"
- High On Fire - "Blessed Black Wings"
SPACESHIP LANDING
Jan:
It still seems like a small wonder, but we turned the rusty Mothership we started
off a into a real 'psychedelic spaceship.' Since that very day, it seems that we've been
on a cosmic trip through our own little universe of ether. Sometimes we have been invited
to land, and since that's such a complicated task, we always say: "Careful... it's a Spaceship Landing!"
Nonetheless, we were able to play Magdeburg, Bad Frankenhausen, Lukenwalde, Stralsund, Oldenburg, and
some other places mainly in north and south of Germany. In 2006, we hope to spread
our gospel across Europe.
Our most memorable gig of 2005 was at the Stoned from the Underground Festival
in Erfurt, Germany. It felt like a real spaceship landing! Lots of people tried
to connect with our mothership. Meeting Coogan's Bluff, Timo from Drive By Shooting
and many others gave us a feeling of being part of something really special. It was such
an inspiring event. In fact, without this festival, and all these special people, 2005 wouldn't
have been such a blast.
After Stoned from The Underground we decided to switch-off the auto pilot
and got into full throttle, stimulating everybodies Zwirbeldrüse.
We also tried to put out several ether-induced recordings in 2005. It was really
difficult but we succeeded with the help of many people, especially Roland. He helped
us out with the recordings [a stunning three track demo -editor], so we decided to ink a deal
with his label: 'Freunde der Analogen Revolution' ['Friends of The Analog Revolution']. Luckily, we also
got help from Elektrohasch's Stefan and also from Willem of Swamp Room Records. They are gonna
help us out with distribution. Early 2006 our first CD will be available at 'Elektrohasch
Records' and 'Swamp Room Records' mailorder. That's cool! Thanks a lot -everyone!
- Black Mountain - "S/T"
- Colour Haze - "S/T"
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -"Howl"
SPIRITUAL BEGGARS
Michael:
2005 was pretty cool for the Spiritual Beggars. We released a new studio
album, 'Demons' and toured in Japan with DIO and played a show in London,
U.K. 2006 is looking good too, with the release of our first ever DVD, 'Live
Fire!' in January and writing / recording sessions planned.
- Candlemass - "S/T"
- Grand Magus - "Wolf's Return"
- Clutch - "Robot Hive/Exodus"
STONEWALL NOISE ORCHESTRA
Snicken:
It's been an awesome year for StoneWall Noise Orchestra! The year began with a
really quick and spontaneuos recording and release of our debut album, called 'Vol.1', and
was followed by a bunch of killer shows -most memorable are our support gig for Brant Bjork & The
Bros and the Stoned From The Underground Festival in Erfurt, Germany.
It feels really good that this new band is definitely working-out live. In November we did
a 10 day European tour including Buzzville Records' 5th anniversary and the release of
their compilation 'Rock'n'Roll Boulevard' [featuring a previously unreleased track
by StoneWall Noise Orchestra].
All in all, I think 2005 has been a much better year than I dared to wish for and it
looks good for 2006 as well with new material and another tour in January coming up.
- Corrosion of Conformity - "In The Arms Of God"
- Glow - "Gone, But Never Forgotten"
- Dozer - "Through The Eyes Of Heathens"
SUMA
Johan:
2005 was quite good -a lot of great bands were on tour in Europe. We spent
most of 2005 on the road as well -we toured with Unsane in Aug / Sept and also played with Asva, Debris Inc. and
Sunn 0))) amongst others.
We released a split 7" with Bastinado in the Spring, and were supposed to record a new
Album. Unfortunately, we postponed the recordings coz' we were to busy touring. We will enter the
studio in the Spring of 2006 though.
- Boris - "Dronedevil"
- Earth - "Hex (Or Printing in the Infernal Method)"
- Thrones - "Day Late, Dollar Short"
SUN DIAL
Gary:
2005 went by very quickly for us. For the most part, recording demos / ideas for a new
album, and researching tracks for next year's retrospective 'Shards of God' album. We made our
only tour appearance in Italy several weeks ago, but now Sun Dial is back to a 3-piece
band again, everything is sounding very good. It's nice to talk about the past, but I
think the present is very exciting and this line-up is where it's at!
In Sun Dial's entire 15 year existence we've hardly played live that much. Maybe for
most people the nearest they heard to a Sun Dial live gig is 'Live Drug', i don't know... We'd like
to rectify that, play more... but are you ready? That's our wish for 2006.
- The Ewoks - "Neverunending"
- Friends - "S/T"
- Alixia - "S/T"
THROTTLEROD
Matt:
2005 was pretty amazing for Throttlerod. The highlights of the year
would have to include being asked to open the Y101 Birthday Bash here in Richmond, VA at
which over 19,000 attended. Also, our August tour with our friends from South
Carolina, Isabelle's Gift, was a blast... from what I remember.
One of the best shows of the tour was Boston, MA where we played with Cracktorch
at their last show ever. Pretty great way to end a tour. In September, we got to
play some shows with Totimoshi. If you've never listened to them before, go buy all
of their shit. They are one of the best live bands I've ever seen.
The best part of the year, however, was heading to Brooklyn, NY to record the new
record [entitled 'Nail'] with Andrew Schneider [The Blue Man
Group, Scissorfight, Cave In]. This was our first recording as a three-piece and
it turned out better than anything we've done to date. Seems as if we've all three
really come into our own and I think the performances and overall
energy show on the record. The album should be out by April on small Stone
Records.
- Drunk Horse - "In Toungues"
- Totimoshi - "Mysterioso"
TOTIMOSHI
Meg:
2005... a new drummer for Totimoshi! Tyler decides to focus on the Mass
and Luke Herbst, fresh from NC replaced him in Febuary. Not too much time
was spent working him in since he learned much of the material prior to
joining. A six week US tour in Sept / Oct was rough... Luke had his van stolen
from in front of his house in Oakland one week before leaving. Had to take our
84' Dodge... which died in KC, MO.
Bought a new one on the road. Big DMV hassle which plagued the tour. Shows
were sparsly attended for the most part, with a few outstanding ones that
made it all worth the while. Denver, Charlotte, Chappel Hill, Chicago and
Detroit stand out as being extra special this time around.
Came home to finish writing the new album. Page Hamilton comes up from LA to
kick our asses / produce. We recorded at Lucky Cat in SF with Page and Kurt
[Melvins / Fantomas soundman] last week of October, just basic tracks; still
need to mix and master, find a label with tons of $$$ to put it out.
HDTV aired an interview and performance from last years Totimoshi / Helmet
tour. We had the pleasure of playing with YOB, 400 Blows, Throttlerod, Fu Manchu,
Jucifer, Easy Action, the Mass, I am the Arm and Oxbow this year.
- Mastodon - "Leviathan"
- YOB - "The Unreal Never Lived"
- Queens of the Stone Age - "Lullabies To Paralyze"
UFOMAMMUT
Urlo:
This has been the year of the number 3: First, the band decided to remain a trio; Poia, Urlo
and Vita. We had written and recorded both 'Godlike Snake' and 'Snailking' as a
three-piece though we've always had a synth player for the live shows. He was not involved
in the songwriting process, so in the end we chose to be a trio, and it feels so
right.
Then 'Lucifer Songs', our 3rd album came out, and we are really happy
with it. It's not only a record but a complete trip into our world of
music and our art too!. It's the first vinyl issue for the band; it's the first
DVD too! It's another step into experimentation with music.
All in all, 2005 has been a great year for us. We've finally found our
3 headed soul, and hope everything will come out better...
See You at the 11th Roadburn Festival next year!
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Howl"
- Pharaoh Overlord - "III"
- Mars Volta - "Frances The Mute"
WALL OF SLEEP
Gabor:
2005 was a great year for Wall of Sleep. Our second album, 'Sun Faced Apostles', came out in
June and we got a lot of critical acclaim from both magazines and fanzines alike. Our lineup
stabilized with Balazs Kemencei on guitar and Barna Preid on bass.
We were able to tour Europe in May and June and had a lot of fun. We would like to thank
all the fans who came out to see us.
The only problem we suffered this year was that we had to cancel our tour with
Debris Inc. because of my bad back problems. I hope we can make it up in the
future, but who knows? A Hungarian festival gig was recorded a couple of
weeks ago, and we will release the footage in the near future. Also, 'Sun Faced Apostles' will be
out on vinyl really soon.
- Crowbar - "Life's Blood For The Downtrodden"
- High on Fire - "Blessed Black Wings"
- Testament - "Live In London"
WE
Krisvaag:
2005 was definitely our best year ever. Our latest album 'Smugglers' got a Norwegian
Grammy [Spellemannprisen] for best rock album, and we got two Alarm Awards [an independent award] as
well. One was for best hardrock album and the other was for best
live band. We toured throughout Norway, doing sold-out shows, and also
did 25 festivals during the Summer. Then we headed out to the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and
played debut shows in France -releasing 'Smugglers' there in September.
The highlight of the year was definitely headlining the Great Indian Rock festival
in New Delhi in front of 9000 crazed Indians. Then we got to see Taj Mahal play
New Delhi's only rockclub. And there was also the fabulous Indian cuisine, of course! Shortly
after this event, we did two gigs with the legendary [and old time favourites] Hawkwind in
Bergen, Norway. These were highlights as well -playing in front of 1000 spaceheads, and ending
up jamming with Hawkwind, playing 'Masters of the Universe.' This will be
carved in our history!
The 'Smugglers' tour has been consisting of approx. 90 shows, and now WE are going to release
the album in the rest of Europe [GAS] and South Africa in early 2006, followed by massive touring. We're
confirmed for SXSW and some additional shows in L.A. We can't wait. Hope to see as many
of you in 2006 as we can, and check out 'Smugglers', which will be released as a gatefold, double
12" with bonus tracks.
- Robert Plant - "Mighty Rearranger"
- System of a Down - "Mezmerise"
- Jr Ewing - "Maelstrom"
WITCHCRAFT
Ola:
2005 was the year we recorded and released our second album 'Firewood.' It got
good reviews and we are all pleased with it. We toured the UK with Circulus
in July and that was a real success. We would love to tour with them again.
We have been taking it easy and not done that many gigs and started working
on our third album, which will be a killer. Favourite memories of 2005 was
the gig in Athens and the two gigs London with Circulus and Leaf Hound.
- Circulus - "The Lick On The Tip of An Envelope Yet To Be Sent"
- Cathedral - "Garden Of Unearthly Delights"
- Bobby BK - "Compilation"
YAWNING MAN
Gary:
2005 for Yawning Man was a real productive year. Yawning Man recorded and released 2
albums, 'Rock Formations' with Mario Lalli on bass and 'Pothead' with Billy Cordell.
Touring Europe in June was really cool. At last turning people on to our music. Hopefully
we opened up some minds on the way. Being all instrumental is really difficult sometimes for
some audiences to get into. People always want to see a lead guy singing. But from the mid
80's 'til present we really have not changed our approach to writing and presenting the music.
Its always been about the music and expression. I feel as well as Alfredo and Billy that
we got our point across well and for the most part people that did see us in europe went in
with an open mind and really got into the music.
For the closing of 2005 we are working on new songs for a new album and will be
touring Europe in February 2006.
- Sonny Sharrock - "Ask The Ages
Sonny Sharrock passed away some
time ago but this recording captures him playing some of the most beautiful 'jazz rock' ever on a
overdriven gibson guitar. Its got a real personal vibe to it. Words are real hard to explain it.
One of my favorites...
- Sacharrine Trust - "The Great One Is Dead
I think this actually
came out in 2004 but still its a kick ass record. Sacharrine Trust have been making original
creative music since the early SST days of the 80's. And this album shows that after all these
years they still manage to create honest 'soul music', and Jack Brewer still hasn't lost his
poetic edge. Great live band as well...
- Warehouse 99 Project - "S/T"
I actually saw this band in Paris
this year. Reminded me of Los Angeles' X -an early punk band. Originality and
creativity have a lot to say about a person and their intentions. And after playing with
countless QOTSA / Kyuss cover bands, Warehouse 99 Project were a breathe
of fresh air. Really cool, interesting songs. Their CD is often played in my room. Really
cool people as well.
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