Earthless were among the undisputed highlights of the 2008 edition of the festival. The story behind the recording of Earthless  -- Live at Roadburn has been documented widely by various sites and magazines over the past two years, but in case you missed it: the band was originally scheduled to play in the Bat Cave, the smallest of the three venues within the 013 complex.  At the very last minute they were switched to the Main Stage, where they proceeded to dazzle 2,000 rabid fans.

For those who aren’t familiar with Earthless, they are a powerhouse freakout trio from San Diego, playing long instrumental jams, structured at times, improvised at others. Their rock ‘n roll sound has loads of cosmic space-psych influences. Earthless is scheduled to perform at the Midi Theater.

The addition of Russian Circles and Earthless completes the lineup for the 15th Roadburn Festival. Tom Gabriel Warrior will announce the final band for his Only Death Is Real event on Friday, 16 April, any day now.
Stay tuned!

Sweet Apple

Their formation was announced with suitably dramatic language, claiming to have “been born by accident and friendship – out of death, after a cross-country drive”. Apparently, singer-guitarist John Petkovic went on a road trip after the death of his mother; he headed east from Cleveland, smoking cigarettes, not knowing where he was headed. Eventually, he met up with Mascis and Witch bassist Dave Sweetapple, both old friends. And Mascis told him to write some songs. “I tell people that I saved John’s life by starting this band,” he said. “But they don’t believe me.”

Petkovic enlisted guitarist Tim Parnin, his band-mate from Cobra Verde, and before long they were recording the album Love and Desperation in Cleveland and Massachusetts. “I hadn’t even played guitar for months,” Petkovic explained, “and then, out of the blue, there were all these songs.” The record was mixed by Don Depew and long-time Dinosaur Jr producer John Agnello.

Sweet Apple plans to tour and play South by Southwest. The band is also planning a video for Do You Remember, the straight-ahead classic-rock banger of an opening track. You can stream and download Do You Remember right HERE (courtesy of Pitchfork)

Continue Reading: Guardian.co.uk: Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis announces new band

Spindrift - The Legend of God's Gun

Lovingly pinched from PopMatters: Hallucinogenic spaghetti western and spooky rock ‘n’ roll flood the soundtrack to indie flick The Legend of God’s Gun. Spindrift released their The Legend of God’s Gun soundtrack in July, and it is in the same vein as their successful The West on the Dandy Warhols’ Beat the World label.

Featuring members from bands such as the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Warlocks, Spindrift illustrate hazy psychedelic desert scenes and gunslingers in ghost towns. Conjuring Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack for A Fistful of Dollars, a Spaghetti Western from the late 1960s, Spindrift play similar textures with 1960s influences. The Legend of God’s Gun is Clint Eastwood on mescaline.

Continue reading:  Spindrift: The Legend of God’s Gun < Reviews | PopMatters.

Naam - Naam

Lovingly pinched from About.com: Heavy Metal: In Thai, the word “naam” is sometimes used in reference to water. Perfect if you’re this Naam from Brooklyn which frequently operates courtesy of aquatic trances as precursor to their boisterous outpourings of doom and sludge.

Reportedly recorded on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains, Naam’s self-titled debut is a bit of a mind-rape. Yet their daring alter-reality accenting their built-up sonic scapes is what keeps them interesting.

Unpredictable psychedelic brain funk scattered throughout the 16:24 opener ‘Kingdom’ splashes in some Ray Manzarek-ish organs and sitar swirls amidst Naam’s forlorn drapes trickling towards expected detonation. When ‘Kingdom’ erupts from its teasing eddies, the effect is akin to having your ear canals peeled apart and introduced to a boisterous, yet orgasmic din.

Continue reading:  Naam Review – Review of Naam by Naam.

Ancestors - Of Sound Mind

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: With last year’s demo-turned-LP Neptune with Fire, California epic rockers Ancestors immediately positioned themselves in the upper echelon of contemporary stoner metal. Their deceptively intricate jams and massive sonic scope made Neptune with Fire one of 2008’s most satisfying listens, and following it up a year later with their second Tee Pee Records release, Of Sound Mind, the L.A. five-piece continues to show remarkable promise and a strong sense of diversity in their sound.

The central distinguishing factor between Neptune with Fire and Of Sound Mind is the production, which took a more straightforward, definitively stoner bent with the former and now presents rich layers of guitar, bass and organ across four grandiose tracks all over 13 minutes of ‘70s-influenced prog metal spliced with shorter instrumental pieces to allow breathing room.

Continue reading:  The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Ancestors and the Sound of Mind.

Naam

According to BrooklynVegan, “Naam has gigged quite a bit around New York, logging dates with Nebula, Cable, Violent Bullshit, and many others since the release of their Kingdom EP. Don’t let that diverse list confuse you though! Much like their Tee Pee Records compatriots or like-minded hallucinogen explorers in The Black Angels or Black Mountain, the band plays a grim electric blues that recalls a more spacey Black Sabbath. The band isn’t afraid to explore different territory though, as Naam even briefly visits black metal blast beats for the album closer Black Ice.”

A taste of what Naam’s Kingdom EP holds in store has been posted at the TeePee Records website.

This is Walter’s (Roadburn’s promoter / artistic director’s) playlist for August 2009. Please share your personal Top 5 in the comments box below.

The Devil's Blood - Come Reap

The Devil’s Blood - Come Reap (CD / EP Van Records)
Listening to the fantastic occult horror rock sounds of Holland’s very own The Devil’s Blood makes you realize that the psychedelic era (i.e the late 60s / early 70s) was as much about Roky Erikson, Anthony LaVey and The Manson Family as it was about free love, substance abuse and flipped out hippies.

Personally I can’t wait for the highly-anticipated debut album, called The Time of No Time Evermore (scheduled for September the eleventh of two thousand and nine through Van Records), coz I was treated to a sneak preview of the entire album and I was heavily impressed!

Master Musicians of Bukkake – Totem One (CD / LP Conspiracy Records)
My ears are still ringing from the heavy, cosmic maelstroms waged by Master Musicians of Bukkake at this year’s Supersonic festival. The band excels at acoustic ethnic drones, outerwordly chants, and ventures into uncharted Hawkwind, Gong and Magma waters by pairing spacey guitar leanings, Tibetan bells, chimes and gamelan percussion with electronic FX. Totem One could easily be the soundtrack to a fucked-up underground movie as weird and compelling as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain or El Topo. Crazy!

Quest For Fire – S/T (CD / LP – TeePee Records)
Toronto’s Quest For Fire are on TeePee Records (instant cred) and play a dirty, full-blown fuzzed-out mix of classic rock and amphetamine-fueled garage-acid-psychedelica, conjuring up images of Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising as well as molten lava. Quest for Fire are definitely one of the best new bands to appear on the heavy psych rock scene.

Amber Asylum -  Bitter River (CD – Profound Lore)
Intimate, lush, neo-classical drones by this modern-day chamber music act led by the enigmatic multi-instrumentalist and singer Kris Force. Amber Asylum’s haunting and introspective overall vibe, firmly rooted in classical music as well as sporting some post rock influences, is bound to appeal to fans of Sunn o))) and Bohren und der Club of Gore.

Astra - The Weirding

Astra – The Weirding (CD / LP Rise Above Records)
Majestic psychedelic prog rock by this American band on Rise Above Records. Believe it or not, San Diego’s Astra isn’t some obscure band from the early 70s finally getting their due, and The Weirding wasn’t excavated from any long-lost archives. Although it could arguably pass as a prized relic from another era, this cosmic album was released earlier this year.

Earthless - Roadburn 2008

James Knight of Vice Music Blog recently conducted an interview with Earthless.  An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Today we talk to Earthless, who play endless, riffing, stoned-out psyche with just the right amount of rock and roll to keep you gripped no matter how long they noodle on for.

At Roadburn last year they were due to play to about three people on whatever stage not many people go to, but ended up pretty much headlining the whole shebang after Isis pulled out and in the process converted thousands of Dutch guys to their infinite jams.

Vice Music Blog: Everyone talks about the Roadburn show. Is it all true? It sounds like one of those stories you read as a kid where one day a team is playing in the Vauxhall Conference, then all of a sudden they’re playing the FA Cup final.

Mario Rubalcaba: Yes, it’s true. We were meant to be headling the ‘Bat Cave’, which is possibly the best name ever for a small club. That stage has like a 200-people capacity, and suddenly we were playing the main hall, which has a 2000-person capacity. Actually, we were super thankful. A) We played to 2000 stoney and chuffed-out freakheads and B) We got a double live commemorative LP / CD release out of it. That equals some ultra chuffage there.

Continue reading: Cosmic nodding for hours | VICE MUSIC BLOG.

Please click here for the audio stream of Earthless live at Roadburn 2008.

The Warlocks - The Mirror Explodes

Lovingly pinched from Drone Magazine: Los Angeles psychedelic stalwarts, The Warlocks, continue their aural journey with their new long-player, The Mirror Explodes.

Last years release by the Warlocks, Heavy Deavy Skull Lover, rated as one of my favourite albums for 2008. Playing almost like one extended track, the band took their psychedelic sound into interesting territory, maintaining the sheer force of their immense sound, while also adding a vulnerability to it not seen on earlier albums. You won’t find 14 minute jams on The Mirror Explodes, the latest release from the band. The longest track runs for a considerably shorter 6 or so minutes. The shortened format of the tracks probably lends itself well, considering this is such a subdued and restrained album.

Please read the full review at: Drone Magazine: REVIEW: THE WARLOCKS-THE MIRROR EXPLODES.

Night Horse – The Dark Won’t Hide You

Lovingly pinched from Blogsandiego.com: From riff one to the final note this disc is a heaping helping of great, greasy and bottom heavy ROCK! The grooves are so thick and meaty here you find yourself not so much looking at the liner notes as checking for a cattle brand.

Night Horse is comprised of some folks (and friends) from the mighty LA band Ancestors whose dirge mythology infuse debut came out on TeePee earlier this year. Whereas Ancestors deals in extended epics which ebb and flow with mysterious grace, Night Horse comes straight to the point. And what point is that you might say? Well it’s a heavy blast of early 70’s Blues Rock mainlined through a modern punkish sensibility.

Please read the full review at: Night Horse – The Dark Won’t Hide You.