ED MUNDELL
Ed:
"I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard"-Raymond Chandler, 1936
The seed for 2006 for me was actually planted in August / September of
2005... Probably much the same for many other people, as these things usually
tend to be... As the summer of 2005 rolled on in to a particularly crazy end, I set
my sights on Los Angeles...When January / February 2006 came into the picture, I was
already there...
Moving full-time to the west coast was actually quite a smooth thing...
Re-connecting with lots of old friends and acquaintances that I haven't
really spent time with in years -making lots of new friends with many
musicians. Oh, and yes, lots of music! And isn't that really why we're
all here in the first place?
Living in a city with lots of clubs, theatres, and restaurants, it quickly became the "thing to do" to get out of the house and EXPERIENCE... Bands like Clutch, Nebula,
Sasquatch, and Fu Manchu came around as much as "old-time" acts like Pat Travers, Robin Trower, Ted Nugent and Mahogany Rush... we could [and did] see Gov't Mule on a Tuesday night, and then on Thursday go see Cheap Trick and then swing across town to catch the later show of Captured By Robots...
Anyways, you get the point that I was lucky enough to experience a
whole lot of live music in 2006...
And then there were the albums... Among my favourites of 2006 are the two
(2) Tommy Bolin "Whips and Roses" discs. Nice to see there is still room in the world for
Tommy. I tried to dig on the Wolfmother album, but it didn't quite gel with me... then saw them live and just wasn't into it... oh well.
"Classic" rockers like David Gilmour and Tom Petty put out great [if a
little mellow] records. The new Nebula album "Apollo" also sticks out as a good
listen from 2006... I'm sure I missed a lot, but i heard some really good notes last year, and as I work more and more and harder and harder on my own music, I feel very happy to be alive and
EXPERIENCING all of this...
Now it looks like I am on the verge of an extremely busy musical year
in 2007...I may not get to see as many live bands or hear as many albums, but I look forward to working very hard on many musical projects this year and I appreciate that I got the chance in 2006 to really dig a lot of bands... If you see me out at a show, come by and have a beer and say hi...Rock On!
NOVADRIVER
We came, we rocked, we rolled. There's nothing like ringing in the new year with an opening gig on the Clutch / Fireball Ministry tour but that's how 2006 began for us. Then there were the annual Small Stone Records showcases at SXSW in Austin and CMJ in New York, a complete blast to "ham" it up with our Small Stone label mates –there's never a dull moment with that raucous bunch.
We hit a string of summer festivals that proved to be hot, sweaty and beer soaked while racking up a record of over 10,000 miles on the Small Stone van. But the highlight of the year has to be the unexpected call to open up for Guns N" Roses at the Palace in November as a last minute replacement for the Eagles of Death Metal who were unfortunately asked to leave the tour the
night prior -I've always said I prefer a small intimate venue but there really is nothing like an arena stage.
- Priestess - "Hello Master"
- Mastodon - "Blood Mountain"
- Boris – "Pink"
OBIAT
Raf:
For Obiat 2006 was fucking great:
Many revievs of our 2005 emotionally driven "Disturbulence" came out in 2006.
>From Daredevil Records in Germany to Metal hammer in Hungary, Metal Hammer in Greece
and Terrorizer in England, they also published interviews with Obiat and put our song on a Terrorizer CD compilation, and many other magazines and fanzines around the world.
Obiat giged for the first time in Italy [Stoned Hand of Doom festival in Rome among others with Wall of sleep and Doomraiser] Belgium, Germany and second time in Hungary with Stereochrist. Here in England we giged with Orange Goblin, Ufomammut, Truckfighters & Gonga.
Singer Laz performed live at the Download festival with 'Suns of the Tundra' as a special guest. Him and bassist Alex also performed live in Sziget festival in Budapest as a guest with other bands... Me and Alex also done a few gigs with death metalers Justonefix in our free time, and we got lucky to play with Dismember and Burst among others.
- Tool – "10.000 Days"
- Mastodon – "Blood Mountain"
- Doomraiser – "Lords of Mercy"
OGRE
Ross:
2006 was perhaps the best year in OGRE's career. We played some outstanding shows with lots of great bands including Earthride, Valkyrie, The Brought Low, Acid King, and The Atomic Bitchwax. We were fortunate enough to go on a mini-tour of the East coast with NYC doom / sludge monsters, Agnosis [RIP]. Most significantly, though, we finally released our second album, "Seven Hells", after a long 3 year wait.
And, to make it even sweeter, we even found a label, Leaf Hound Records, to help us release the album. Toreno [head honcho at Leaf Hound] has been really great for us, and we hope to keep working with him in the future.
As for 2007, we're really going to focus on promoting the album and playing as many shows as possible, including the Doom or Be Doomed Festival in Baltimore this April. We also would love to make it out to Europe and / or Japan sometime in the next year or so. Currently, we are working on some top secret new material that's coming together real nicely -I hope it won't take us another 3 years to release it!
- Pentagram - "First Daze Here Too"
As with the first "First Daze", I already had a lot of this material on CD-R or decaying cassette, but it's great to hear it with much improved sound [relatively speaking] and to read those amazing liner notes, courtesy of drummer Geof O’Keefe. 30+ years after the fact, Pentagram once again establish themselves as, perhaps, the greatest 70s rock band of all time. Any sceptics out there should just listen to "Smokescreen" and try to tell me I'm wrong.
- The Beatles - "Love"
As a lifelong Beatles freak, I gotta admit that I was a bit wary of this one at first, as it seemed to be yet another cash-in affair by the Fab Two. But one listen and I was blown away. I've even played this for people who claimed they weren’t Beatles fans and they loved it. The sound is amazing, and the remixes truly inspired [the "Benefit of Mr. Kite / She’s so Heavy" mash-up is freakin’ heavy!].
I also have had the pleasure of listening to this in surround sound, courtesy of a friend with a great stereo system, and words can’t describe what it sounds like to have "I am the Walrus" swirling around you from every angle. The best psychedelic album in years.
- The Brought Low - "Right on Time"
Finally, an album that was actually written and recorded in 2006! Can you tell that I'm living in the past? Anyway, these NYC dudes take even longer than OGRE to release a follow-up to their debut, but it is definitely worth the wait. Channelling the raunch of "Exiles"-era Stones, Benjamin Smith comes up with a set of songs that instantly sound classic the second they first pour out of your speakers. "A Better Life" is one of the better opening songs I've heard in a long time, all soul and groove, and "Blues for Cubby" is just an ass-kicking barnstormer of a song, and a live showstopper. Can't wait to see what these guys come up with next.
OM
Al:
The year for us began in October of 2005, when we recorded Conference. Its been a very positive creative period; the song writing for our third forthcoming album is proceeding very well. We will be recording in June 07. The shows we've played over the past year have brought us to many new people in addition to permitting us reconnection with so many familiar faces. See you in April.
- The Hidden Hand – "The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote"
- White Magic – "Dat Rosa Mel Apibus"
- Bonnie Prince Billy – "The Letting Go"
ORANGE GOBLIN
Ben:
Orange Goblin have had a fantastic year which involved a lot of shows. The Roadburn festival was a true highlight and the US tour with Scissorfight was a great time. It's always cool to tour and meet with bands you've been fans of for so long. That US stretch also meant us playing the 'Emissions from the Monolith Festival' for the third time and we always have a blast there.
We have managed to return to some old ground during the year too with shows up and down the UK, trips to Germany and Ireland and a recent tour of Italy which was a huge success. Of course we just had the annual OG Christmas show in London and managed to rope in our good friend s from Grand Magus and Taint for the night too!
Away from the playing and touring, we have signed a new record deal with the famous Sanctuary Records and have started writing a new album, tentatively titled "Healing Through Fire", which will be released on May 21st 2007. There is already a UK tour booked to preceed the album, with Solace as main support on all dates and then who knows? I have a feeling that '07 is gonna be a good year!
- Coffins – "The Other Side Of Blasphemy"
- Carpathian Forest – "Fuck You All!"
- Drudkh – "Blood In Our Wells"
ORANGE SUNSHINE
Arthur:
2006 was a fruitful year for Orange Sunshine. We did a tour with Debris Inc, and played in Germany, Switserland, Austria and Norway, and we did several gigs in Holland, France, Italy & Germany as well. We postponed the recordings of our new album -we were quite busy recording an album with our side project Al Naafiysh.
Luckily we were able to release "Ruler Of The Universe", initially recorded as our second album during the "Homo Erectus" sessions. It features fucked-up renditions of the Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love", "Demon's Eye" [Deep Purple], and Terry Brooke's Strange'"Ruler of The Universe" -the full 15 minutes of sitar, tablas, sectarian cult-choir vocals, endless crazy guitar freak-out solo-ing and the excessive use of never ending self-oscillating echo, flanger, phaser and delay effects. Japan's very own Leaf Houd records released the album as "Bullseye of Being", and some of the tracks have a different mix. We have tours of the USA, Japan, Scandinavia, and probably Spain set up for 2007, including an appearance at the 12th Roadburn Festival in April.
ORTHODOX
Marco:
2006. It's been an amazing year for Orthodox. Our first album, "Gran
Poder", was released in January and everything has been great for us
since then. Meeting Julian Cope was one of the best things. He's an
amazing guy and working with him in for his "Antequera" poem was
an amazing experience. Being asked to be part of next Roadburn is also
a dream come true. And we've been asked to join Hellfest too!
More good news for us was to find out that Southern Lord were interested
in us, cuz it's "the label" for us [not forgetting our home, Alone Records]. We've also
shared stages with great guys such as Viaje a 800, Moho, Glow, La
Ira de Dios, Warchetype, Arenna, etc...
Getting in touch with the flamenco dancer Israel Galván has been amazing too. We'll work together o
n a show called "Apocalipsis". A true Spanish dark-rooted
show. Being involved with flamenco artists is very important for us.
And there was no other way to end 2006 than by recording another
album! So this past December we recorded our second album to be
released next April. Things will get serious for us in 2007: Roadburn, Hellfest,
new album, "Gran Poder" vinyl issue, Israel Galván, split for "Battle
Kommand" ...lot of things to do for us this year. 2007 will be the year
of Orthodox.
- Om - "Conference of the Birds"
- Melvins - "(A) Senile Animal"
- Brain Donor - "Drain'd Boner"
PEEPING TOM [AUSTRALIA]
Josh:
2006 was one of those strange years for Peeping Tom. No-one in the
band could really tell whether we were on top of the world, in an
abyss, or both!
In January we were cruising along merrily 'cause we'd finished off
2005 playing some shows with Electric Wizard on their Oz tour and
hitting the big stage at Meredith Music Festival. A rollicking gig
with Clutch in Melbourne came along around March. The recording of
our second album started off fast and furious in April and then
bogged down as the campaign entered its first southern winter.
Then there was Mike Patton. We've been together for nearly 10 years and
like everyone else we knew for a long time beforehand that the Patton
Tom wave was coming. When it finally did hit in May we were
drowning in the kind of ocean that only a muso of his reputation can
unleash. Fuck, you can't knock Patton's credentials though. Alot of
our fans love him too -it would've been a whole lot easier if it was
Robbie Williams or something -then we could all just hate the guy in
a nice simple fashion and be done with it!
Things picked up as the year went on and we finished with a bang on
New Year's Eve playing over midnight, just before Brant Bjork and the
Bros. Geez that guy just loves groovin' out all night long doesn't
he? Awesome night. We played sloppy and drunk -tried a rendition of
"Auld Lang Syne" to packed room at midnight but it all fell apart
when roughly half the band seemed to play "The Star Bangled Banner"
instead... I guess it just has a similar start. Stunned nobody threw
anything!
The album's coming along and I think we're gonna be real happy with
it. Seems we've got our individual sounds worked out better this
time round and we made damn sure we got bigger-than-Texas drums: Cam
strapped a floor tom on up high as a rack! Oughta sound something
like us live - some folks reckon we sound better onstage than the
first album brings across...
- Circulus - "People Are Like Clocks"
Great follow up to their impressive debut. Perhaps pushing the prog
element a bit more, but still a delightful mix of folk, rock and
prog. Dig the tunics and the Wicker Man aesthetic.
- Om – "Conference of the Birds"
Mellow, meditative, moving… masterpiece.
- The Who - "Who's Next"[2006 Reissue Special Edition]
Fantastic to hear a remastered version of this classic album. Comes
with new tracks, out takes and alternate versions of the original
songs. Plus an additional second CD entitled 'Live at the Young Vic'
of a complete live performance recorded in 1971. Featuring material
off 'Tommy' and showcasing their new 'Who's Next' material. Raw,
honest and still stands up after all these years. Classic stuff.
Also can recommend; Wolf & Cub from Adelaide. Their debut album "Vessels" is a cracker.
Shades of that Motor City sound of the early 70`s mixed with a touch of riffery and psychedelica. Good songs, good playing, good singing and Aussies to boot.
PELICAN
Trevor:
This year was pretty incredible for us. I know I probably said that
last year, but the band seems to be on a pretty good path right now
and our ups definitely outnumbered our downs.
The year started with a trip to Europe to tour for five weeks with a
longtime favorite band of ours Cave In. It was our first full-on
European tour: we played Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain,
Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, England and Scotland. Unlike our normal
tour schedule, Cave In allowed for there to be a few days off here and
there, so we got to do a little sightseeing for once. Florence, Italy
was especially beautiful.
On this tour we debuted one new song, "City of Echoes," which has gone
on to be the title track of our new upcoming full length. It was fun
to play a new song after months of touring "The Fire In Our Throats
Will Beckon the Thaw" material. Cave In were consistently one of the
best bands I have ever seen. We learned a lot on that tour; we'd be
kicking ourselves for little mistakes here and there that'd we'd made
and over-analyzing our set detail by detail, then Cave In would go out
and just have the absolute time of their lives playing. Sometimes it's
best to just cut loose and try and have a good time -95% of every
minute of your day sucks or is boring when you are touring, if you
can't have a good time when you're playing you might as well not be
there.
We got back from the tour with just a couple of weeks to prepare for
another four week jaunt joining up with the Taste of Chaos arena tour
featuring the Deftones, Thrice, and many other bands. We played on the
second stage, basically 30 square feet [sorry, don't know the metric
equivalent] on the side of the main stage. We played a breathlessly
paced thirty minute set every night right before Thrice, one of the
main acts of the tour. It was an amazing slot that had us playing for
the biggest crowds we'd ever played to.
In Los Angeles we played in front of 11,000 people! Of course, most people didn't understand
what the fuck we were doing and why we didn't have vocals, but having just
learned about having fun from Cave In it totally didn't matter. A lot
of the other second stage bands on the tour were confused why we
didn't have our own merch guy, had no manager, and didn't care whether
people liked us or not. It's hard to explain DIY to arena-hopefuls.
After the tour we took a very brief break. We worked a couple of new
songs and in May [only a month after getting home from Taste of Chaos]
went out on a seven week tour of North America with Japan's inimitable
MONO. The tour was great [and took us into Canada for our first time],
but the Japanese work ethic was almost too much for us. It was seven
weeks of shows with only four days off. The tour ended with eleven
days straight of shows, which became a little disorienting after
awhile. But we survived and had many good times, especially when we
were joined for a week by our good friends the Life and Times.
In July we finished writing our album - Larry and Bryan were moving
from Chicago in August, so had a bit of a self-imposed deadline
looming on the horizon. It was a good thing because it forced us to be
creative and solve problems quickly. We became very efficient. Whereas
in the past we would play our songs live a lot before recording them,
thereby giving us a lot of time and testing to get our parts worked
out the way we wanted them, we were forced to be harsh editors. We all
contributed criticism to everything that was going into the songs. I
think the vibe was more collaborative than ever and definitely yielded
the best results.
We took August off, then in September hit the road with Daughters to
tour the west coast of the US and a gruelling two weeks across Canada.
The shows were great and the Daughters are a great bunch of guys and a
phenomenal band, but I think we were a little burned out on touring.
Canada was especially hard since there are so few cities to play. The
drives felt endless at times and attendance was often pretty small. It
was just another test and I think we came out stronger than we were
before, so no worries. he tour also gave us the opportunity to try out
a few more new songs "Bliss In Concrete", "Spaceship Broken -Parts
Needed", and "Dead Between the Walls". People really responded to the
new songs, which was good to hear since we were playing so many new
songs that no one had been exposed to yet.
In December we did a few more rehearsals, then checked ourselves into
Electrical Audio Studios for eleven days to track the new album.
Engineering was our new friend Andrew Schneider, the man responsible
for Cave In's Perfect Pitch Black, Keelhaul's Subject to Change
Without Notice, and many other awesome recordings. He was also in the
band Barbaro, who we are not familiar with, but we've now been told by
several people was an awesome band. I hope to hear them one day. The
sessions were long and meticulous. This time we really put a lot of
time into making sure all the sounds were really distinct and all the
performances up to our liking. The other records were pretty rushed,
this time we made sure everything fit.
So I guess that's about it. I'm sure next year will be pretty insane:
a new album, new tours, new songs. Hopefully we'll see you all at the
Roadburn Festival in April!
PLACE OF SKULLS
Victor:
2006 was good for us. We released "The Black Is Never Far" on Exile On Mainstream Records and did another, although very short Euro tour. Other then that, it was relatively uneventful band-wise. Back in the studio and back on the road in '07!
- On Trial - "Forever"
- Gov't Mule - "High & Mighty"
- Van Morrison – "Pay The Devil"
POSEIDOTICA
Martin:
2006 was one of the most active years in the career of the band. In
spite of the fact that "Intramundo" was edited in the middle of 2005,
the fruits of our work began to appear throughout 2006. In February,
2006 we performed a show in a forest in the province of Santa Fe,
which is approximately 300 km of the city of Buenos Aires. It was a
great experience for us, and we filmed and recorded the show for an
unpublished DVD. In May and June we travelled to Montevideo, in the
neighbor country of Uruguay, and then to Mar del Plata, a place of
beaches and seas on the coast of Argentina.
We did many shows in our home city and nearby places also, playing
high energy and reflexive shows with well recognized groups of the
"porteña" underground scene and bands from other countries like
Supercabrón from Chile and Santacruz from Uruguay. At every show the
concurrence was growing that we mature with each gig.
On the other hand, this year was very important to finish the
compositions that we are going to include in our next album, which we
will be editing in the middle of 2007. The songs that we were
composing and playing at the shows are: "Tiempo y espacio", "Campo
magnético", "Anfibio", La Distancia", "Las Magnitudes", "Sueño
narcótico" y "Maldita", this last song only will be on the vinyl
release of the album. All the songs are long, continue in the
instrumental line, but with a progressive and expansive direction.
With our classic line up of two guitars, bass and drums, we worked
all year to explore new sounds and new musical forms. We, the four
current members of Poseidótica, are achieving the necessary energy
connections to advance and cement the great album that we are
striving for.
- Dragonauta – "Cabramacabra"
- Bob Dylan – "Modern Times"
- Sonic Youth – "Rather Ripped"
RED SPAROWES
Greg:
2006 was a great year for Red Sparowes. With the release of "Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun" we feel
like we've been able to put out a record that really represents the direction that we want to go in.
After a couple years of having to prove to everyone that we're not just a side project living
under the banner of our other projects, with our latest record and months of touring in 2006 alone, we feel like we've established ourselves as our own entity -something that was a big challenge for us when we started out.
2006 was a great year for a ton of other bands as well, which has been a great influence for us. Several bands released records this year that, without a doubt have been a huge inspiration:
Liars - "Drum's Not Dead" is one of the best, most original records I've heard in a long time. On "Drum's Not Dead" they managed to master their sound; textural, melodic movements over distinct, driving rhythms. We played this in our van for pretty much our entire tour in the spring of 2006.
(the) Melvins - "A Senile Animal" is just insane. As if Melvins weren't' good enough already, this record destroys everything. With the new line up comes an intense energy that completely raises the bar.
Jesu has been one of the most consistent "bands" around. Justin Broderick's new project is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. The "Silver" EP is one of those gems that everyone in the world should hear, and probably won't. Washed out, intense, vocals create amazing melodies over tense, layered guitars. Heavy and beautiful, this record completely blows me away.
Individually, the members of Red Sparowes have all had a hell of a year, which has also been a challenge to the band.
Josh moved to New York to escape Los Angeles, Cliff has been torn between two full-time bands; he's been on tour for pretty much the entire year. But looking back at the end of the year I can see that the band has benefited from all the stress and frustration. Having the flexibility to allow each other to grow is crucial to being successful in a band.
While the challenges never seem to let up, and it's easy to get exhausted, we're all more excited than ever, not only to tour to support "Every Red Heart", but to start working on the next record - a record that will even more represent the individual and collective voices of Red Sparowes.
SASQUATCH
Clayton:
2006 was a tumultuous year for Sasquatch. Recording basic tracks to our follow up CD "II" on Small Stone Records began at Allston, MA at Rugg Road studios with Craig Riggs [Roadsaw, Antler] at the helm. February 2006 we moved the to Andrew Mudrock's Godsmack] studio in Highland Park, CA to do the vocals, then finished the overdubs and backing vocals at Echo Shelter And King's Sound in LA with Mike Masters in the spring.
After a problem with the mastering the CD had to repressed right before the release date but Small Stone's CEO Scott Hamilton Dug deep and got it out on the promised November 14th date. We pretty much laid low on touring with the exception of SXSW in Austin, TX which is always so much fun because we get to hang out with all our label mates.
2007 looks for us to hit the road hard on the heels of our latest release and hopefully over to Europe [just invite us we'd love to come!]
- Dixie Witch – "Smoke and Mirrors"
- Colour Haze – "Temple"
- Celtic Frost – "Monotheist"
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