Posts Tagged ‘JJ Koczan’

Album of the day: Nordic Nomadic – Worldwide Skyline

Posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Stepping somewhat outside his role as the frontman and guitarist for Toronto psychedelic pasture-izers Quest for Fire, Chad Ross is the sole figure behind the unsurprisingly more minimal Nordic Nomadic. He released a self-titled album under the moniker after starting the project in 2007 and makes his debut on Tee Pee (also Quest for Fire’s label, by odd coincidence) with Worldwide Skyline – an album whose title speaks to its breadth.

Fans of the bedroom neo-folk of Comets on Fire guitarist Ben Chasny’s ongoing Six Organs of Admittance will recognize and delight in at least some of what Ross has on offer with these nine songs, the drone and subtle interweaving of electric and acoustic guitars and still somewhat lush feel undercutting the notion of Nordic Nomadic as a “solo project.” It is that, though, on the most superficial level; Ross is the only one in the band and is responsible for all the material.

Anyone who was touched by Ross’ gentle melodicism on either Quest for Fire’s 2009 self-titled or last year’s Lights From Paradise will find spiritual companion in his work here, as the vocals are brought even more to the forefront by the inherent lack of other layers surrounding. Nordic Nomadic, for its relative want of personnel, does still sound lush, and could just as easily be branded psych as folk. As such, no reason to limit it to one or the other: Psychedelic folk.

Continue reading:  The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Nordic Nomadic, Worldwide Skyline: Take a Breadth
Courtesy of JJ Koczan / The Obelisk

Tags: Album of the day, Chad Ross, JJ Koczan, Nordic Nomadic, psychedelic folk, Quest For Fire, TeePee Records, The Obelisk, Worldwide Skyline
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Album of the day: The House of Capricorn – Sign of the Cloven Hoof

Posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: With one of the most beautiful cities in one of the world’s most beautiful regions as their backdrop, Auckland, New Zealand’s The House of Capricorn make their full-length debut with Sign of the Cloven Hoof (Swamps of One Tree Hill), and though it seems with ...read more

Album of the day: Black Cobra – Invernal

Posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: They are among the upper echelon of today’s heavy live acts, but that has turned out to be the undoing of each successive full-length from near-nomadic Los Angeles duo Black Cobra: The inability to stand up to the high standard set by the live show. ...read more

Album of the day: Spirits of the Dead – The Great God Pan

Posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: The well-received Norwegian four-piece Spirits of the Dead released their self-titled debut in 2010 to what was – if the extensive collection of press quotes is anything to go by – considerable fanfare. The follow-up to said debut arrives in the form of The Great ...read more

Album of the day: Mars Red Sky – Mars Red Sky

Posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Making their home in the rich dirt of France’s Bordeaux region, the trio Mars Red Sky specialize in gorgeously-toned and natural-sounding fuzz that comes on huge and overwhelming, but is rife also with engaging melody and psychedelic flourish. Guitarist Julien Pras (also Calc) is like ...read more

Album of the day: Rwake – Rest

Posted on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: While embroiled in the 53 minutes of Rwake’s new album, Rest, you feel every second of the four and a half years it’s been since Voices of Omens came out in February 2007. That record was Rwake’s Relapse Records debut, and in some ways, the ...read more

Album of the day: Blut – Grief and Incurable Pain

Posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Apart from a sample at the beginning of the first of its two tracks that’s soon swallowed whole by a distortion tsunami and some screams peppered throughout both tracks, there is no discernible speech anywhere within the just under 70 minutes of Blut’s second full-length ...read more

The Obelisk : In Conversation With YOB’s Mike Scheidt

Posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011

JJ Koczan of The Obelisk recently conducted an interview with Mike Scheidt of YOB, and it features questions focusing on the band’s second album for Profound Lore, called Atma, which will be released on Aug. 16,  and much more. The Obelisk: At this point, do you have something that’s a definitive ...read more

Album of the day: Backwoods Payback – Momantha

Posted on Saturday, July 16th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: It was kind of a surprise when Small Stone signed West Chester, Pennsylvania, riff mongers Backwoods Payback. Not that the band is undeserving. In the live arena, they stand up to anyone you want to put them against (including, regularly, formidable labelmates Lo-Pan), but their ...read more

Album of the day: Yob – Atma

Posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: YOB’s 2009 return, The Great Cessation, was fueled by a seething anger so visceral it practically stabbed its way out of the speakers. The Eugene, Oregon, trio’s first release for Profound Lore following a breakup after 2005’s landmark The Unreal Never Lived and the ensuing ...read more