Posts Tagged ‘Meteorcity’

Album of the day: Humo del Cairo – S/T

Posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Praise for Humo Del Cairo‘s S/T from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records: If Argentina’s awesome Los Natas was once considered a Kyuss clone (a band that had many clones) what does that make fellow Argentines Humo del Cairo? ‘Cause it’d be easy to tag ‘em as “Los Natas” clones, indeed at first we thought they were a Los Natas side project, maybe ’cause Meteorcity put this out and they also recently did the Ararat album too, which was indeed Los Natas related. But, while the Los Natas comparisons are unavoidable (long haired psychedelic stoner rock from Argentina!), and of course Kyuss comparisons are too, this trio is quite worthy of attention on their own, for sure.

’70s sounding heavy rock here, of course, with fat riffs, wild wah-wah solos, Spanish-language vocals, lots of skilled percussive coloration, and pot-headed mystic desert atmospheres. The Egyptian pyramid painting on the cover sets the vibe, an otherworldly ancient scene at dreamy dawn or dusk… No big surprises for those familiar with Los Natas, for sure, but the jams HdC are kicking out are being kicked out quite well, mighty and melodic and very jammy indeed.
And, as we listen to this, we realize, wow, this band has really got a knack for suddenly putting things into a sort of psychedelic energetic overdrive about partway through several of songs on here, there’s often a moment where they hit on a repetitive hypnotic part a la Pharaoh Overlord or something, but also crank it up a notch, and you really understand why they call it stoner ROCK. Can’t really explain it, but you’ll know it when you hear it.

Say opening track, “A Tiempo”, at about 6:25 (it’s an 11 minute long song), or in “Fuego De San Antonio” at just past the 3 minute mark. Those amphetamine moments are balanced by the other sort of trance-inducing stoner rock, when they bring it down, slow it up, just lumber along, reveling in the riff, like the nod-scene that is “Nimbo”, a track which also blasts into a full-blown wailing by the end.
Yeah, within their chosen style, Humo Del Cairo mix it up nicely, rockin’ out garage-like at times, or just drifting peacefully along, some parts drenched in heavy FX, others stripped down to acoustic bones (“Errantes” being their most backporch number, complete with bluesy harmonica blowin’).

We’d recommend this for fans of Los Natas, naturally, also Tia Carrera, Sons Of Otis, Colour Haze, Monster Magnet, La Ira De Dios, ’70s Argentine heavies Pappo’s Blues, and we’re even thinking Jimi Hendrix, who gets hinted at at times. ANOTHER winner from Meteorcity, who have been on a massive roll lately!

At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we’re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.

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Posted in 2010, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | 4 Comments »

Album of the day: SardoniS – S/T

Posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Lovinly pinched from The Obelisk: Even though there’s only half of what’s commonly regarded as a full band comprising the lineup of Belgian doomers SardoniS, you can’t argue with the mission of their self-titled MeteorCity debut LP. At their core, guitarist Roel Paulussen (also of Solenoid) and drummer Jelle Stevens ...read more

Album of the day: Freedom Hawk – Freedom Hawk

Posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Freedom Hawk, out of Tidewater, Virginia, are a four-piece on a mission geared toward ’90s stoner space with just a touch of southern flair. Their self-titled MeteorCity debut, following last year’s nine-song Sunlight on Magic Lady Records, hails a ride in Fu Manchu’s boogie van ...read more

Album of the day: Egypt – Egypt

Posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Rare are the times in my life where the phrase, “Fuck yeah, Dire Straits!” has crossed my lips. In fact, I can only think of one instance, and that was the first time I heard the uber-fuzz guitar tone on ‘Dirty Witch’, the third of ...read more

Album of the day: Ararat – Musica de la Resistencia

Posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: Even looking at the two titles with which he’s chosen to represent his first solo outing apart from Los Natas, it’s plain to see Sergio Chotsourian is working to reconcile two sides of himself. For a band moniker, he’s chosen Ararat, the highest mountain in and ...read more

Album of the day: Elder – Elder

Posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009

Boston’s Elder answer the eternal stonerrock question — what would happen if you crossed Fu Manchu and Sleep? — by dropping an amazing album of pure stoner rock. Actually, limiting Elder’s sound to just Fu and Sleep is selling them way short as they have many subtleties at work in ...read more

Album of the day: Black Pyramid – Black Pyramid

Posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: Massachusetts doomers Black Pyramid meet at the point of the road whereby the venerated riffs of Sleep cross paths with the modern beastly aesthetic that has come to replace the boogie vans and pot references as the go-to subject matter for new school stoner metal. Guitarist ...read more