Recorded in 2019, Live at Freak Valleyby King Buffalo is a well-mastered and engineered document of a powerful set at that year’s Freak Valley Festival. It’s a great introduction to King Buffalo’s live sound if you’ve never heard it before and will make you want to seek them out at the nearest venue as soon as possible.
“Sun Shivers” sets off the show by launching us away from Earth’s gravity and into the endless sea of stars leading to the sun and beyond. They waste no time and get right to the cosmic riffs. “Longing to Be the Mountain” is a reference to a Chinese story about a stonecutter working on a mountain who desires to become the grand mountain that seems to be above all people, things, and concerns. He’s granted his wish but soon feels a tapping at his base. He looks down to see another stonecutter there chipping away at him. The stonecutter was caught by his own ego and delusions The song is a powerful as the lesson.
“Every day is the same,” they sing on “Repeater,” a fourteen-minute mind-melting experience that covers both existential ennui and Zen presence. By the time you get to “Orion” (“Can you hear me through the smoke and the haze?”), it feels like you’re drifting past his belt of stars. It’s a stunning track that must’ve been quite an experience for the lucky Freak Valley attendees.
“Kerosene” twists and turns around itself like some kind of heavy metal Escher drawing. They mention that A Place to Bury Strangers is up after them (which you can see here) before they get to the closer, “Eye of the Storm.” It’s a great closer that bridges the gap between stoner rock and desert rock for over ten glorious minutes. They encourage us to embrace the void without fear, for the eye of the storm is often the safest place.
If you’re looking for a good way to start off your trippy, heavy space rock record, why not do it with a song called “Blast Off?” That’s what Psychlona does on their cool Venus Skytripalbum.
The opening track builds with guitar notes sounding like a countdown clock that blend into actual rocket launch countdown recordings and rocket fuel-hot riffs and drum hits. The band’s love of Black Sabbathis evident from the opening riffs of “10,000 Volts,” which hits as hard as its namesake one moment and lulls you into a dreamy headspace the next as they sing about voices in their heads confusing their souls. “Blow” adds stadium rock riffs to the mix.
“Star” punches the accelerator the band’s starship to the floor and plunges us straight toward a red dwarf about to go nova. “Edge of the Universe” practically takes you there. You can probably guess the inspiration behind “Resin,” and it’s as trippy as you hope it will be. The reverb-laden vocals, the echoing guitars, and the cool yet heavy drums all combine to make a satisfying blend.
“Tijuana” seems to be a story about the band encountering dangerous women, dangerous drinks, and other dangerous substances and people while on a trip south of the U.S. border. The whole thing sizzles like an annoyed rattlesnake on a hot rock. The album closes with “The Owl,” a grand, thundering piece that casts a bird of prey’s shadow over you and almost makes you quiver like a mouse in an open field.
This is a cool record, and I hope Psychlona gets us more new music soon. I’d happily go on another sky trip with them. How about Saturn next time, lads?
Keep your mind open.
[Blast over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
King Gizard and the Lizard Wizard are one of the few bands out there who could start off an album with a song that’s over eighteen minutes long and everyone would think that’s a perfectly normal thing to do. Their new record, Omnium Gatherum, does just that with “The Dripping Tap.”
The album almost sounds like a greatest hits record, as KGATLW move back and forth between genres, time signatures, tuning preferences, and distortion levels. “The Dripping Tap” is a wild psychedelic freak-out, the kind that first got the band noticed just a decade or so ago (although it seems longer due to the massive output the band has generated in such a short time). “Magenta Mountain” starts off with soothing keyboard tones and then drops in slick beats that are perfect for a stroll or cruising on a Jet-Ski.
The funky bass on “Kepler-22b” takes you into outer space and encourages you to have a good time there (as do the lyrics). “Gaia” takes us back to Earth with re-entry burn riffs. Then, just to confuse ads, they drops “Ambergris,” a bedroom slow-jam that would fit on a Thundercat record. “Sadie Sorceress,” believe it or not, is a rap track – and it works.
“Evilest Man” is electro krautrock mixed with roaring riffs and smashing cymbals that sounds like something they accidentally left off Nonagon Infinity. “The Garden Goblin” is a fun, bouncy track that could’ve been listed on Fishing for Fishies, as could “Persistence.” “The Grim Reaper” is another hip hop track, complete with trippy flute loops.
“Presumptuous” bounces with Outkast-like pep. “Predator X” is a return to hard-hitting thrash metal, countered nicely by the trippy “Red Smoke” and “Candles,” which literally has the band singing, “Wheee!” at one point. The album closes with an instrumental – “The Funeral,” an interesting name choice for the final track, and an interesting choice to close the record with a track that only has vocal sounds and no lyrics.
Omnium Gatherum is a great place to jump on the Gizzard Train if you’re new to the band. It showcases so many styles they can play, and play well, that you’re sure to like at least a few things here.
Brooklyn native Johnny Kelly and NJ guitarist Dan Lorenzo have both played in more than a handful of bands.
Lorenzo was the founding member of both Hades and Non-Fiction and most recently Vessel Of Light and Cassius King. He even wrote the music with Bobby Blitz‘ first foray outside of Overkill in 2007 with The Cursed.
Kelly first came into prominence with Type O Negative and has also sat behind the kit for Danzig for nearly two decades. Kelly has also performed with BlackLabel Society, and currently Quiet Riot and Silvertomb.
Before now the two have never recorded anything together. “I honestly don’t remember how I first got in contact with Johnny“, Lorenzo stated. “I know we’ve had some email contact together for a while, and I remember originally being flattered that Johnny even knew who I was.”
Kelly stated, “I liked the riffs that Dan sent me and it’s a great opportunity to get to play with different people.” When Kelly was asked what he brings to the table for PATRIARCHS IN BLACK he came back with, ” I’m not really sure. I consider myself to be an average drummer at best. It must be my charming personality!”
The duo have named this project PATRIARCHS IN BLACK. Lorenzo wrote the music and plays guitar, Kelly is behind the kit.
PATRIARCHS IN BLACK will have multiple vocalists. Karl Agell ( Corrosion of Conformity Blind), Dewey Bragg ( Kill Devil Hill ) Jimmy Gnecco ( OURS) and John Kosco (Dropbox) have each sang a song. When pressed for a description of how the music sounds Kelly said, “All roads lead to Black Sabbath!”.
Germany’s MDD Records will release PATRIARCHS IN BLACK debut release Reach For The Scars on July 1st.
The new single “Demon of Regret” from PATRIARCHS IN BLACK is available NOW!
Fort Wayne was the place to be on May 10, 2022 if you were a fan of Primus, Battles, or Rush. No, Rush wasn’t playing, but Primus, apart from playing a full set of their music, played Rush’s A Farewell to Kings in its entirety as a second set.
There was a big crowd, as it was the first time Primus or Battles playing in Ft. Wayne, and it was great to see young and older fans alike there to see the show. Battles were first up and the two gentlemen put on a math rock clinic for their set. Ian Williams doubled on synths and guitars and John Stanier, one of my favorite drummers of all time from his work in Helmet, wowed the crowd, and I lost count of how many time signatures they played in during their set.
Battles dazzling everyone with more rhythms than we could almost handle.
Primus, who’d held a Q&A with VIP fans earlier, came out next and got everyone fired up right away with “Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers.” They then ripped through a set of classics that included “The Toys Go Winding Down” and a live version of “Mr. Krinkle” that sounded so good it was like being in the studio with them. They also played their newest single, “Conspiranoia,” which is delightfully weird and psychedelic.
Primus and blue collar tweekers ruling the town.Conspiranoia!
After a brief break, they came back with the Rush set. Apart from them having to do one song as an instrumental due to frontman Les Claypool having a bit of a scratchy voice (and wanting to save it for his vocals during the encore), they pulled off A Farewell to Kings without a hitch.
A king’s crown for them and us.
As if two sets weren’t enough, Primus then came back for a four-song encore that included “My Name Is Mud” (which hits even harder than an aluminum baseball bat live) and “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver.”
It was a good show. It’s sometimes easy to get lost in Primus’ weirdness and lose sense of how good they can play. A live set by them is an instant reminder of that.
Congratulations to the young man who scored this set list. Thanks for letting me take a photo of it!VIP swag! A tumbler / thermos and a signed VIP-exclusive poster!
Photo by Erika Denis Feble Having recently toured with Yves Tumor, New Zealand-born, London-based singer & songwriter October and the Eyes has announced her new EP ‘Who Upset You?‘ is set for release June 24th via KRO Records and is sharing new single & video “When I Was Your Girl”.
Speaking about the track, October said “‘When I Was Your Girl’ ruminates on my former love and life spent in our Queen Street, Auckland flat; Dancing on our dining table, playing music too loudly, filling the room with cigarette smoke and masking the scent with our favourite Curio Noir perfume ‘Tobacco Nights’. We would always host these big parties and subject everyone to The Kinks or The Rolling Stones or Jefferson Airplane with our best mate assigned as rock n roll DJ for the night. I remember feeling angry when writing this too – I felt bruised by the whole experience. But time is a great healer, and now I’m able to find peace in its nostalgia. I guess it’s a bitter sweet meditation on a love now lost but not forgotten.”
October is no new-comer to music, the New Zealand born musician has been involved in musical pursuits since she was a child. Heralding from a musical family, the prospect of pursuing music in one form or another was almost inescapable: A classical pianist mother, fanatic music fan father, and two older multi- instrumentalist brothers who were always holding their band practices in the family playroom. October’s childhood was that of a humble upbringing; having grown up in a small rural town in New Zealand’s wine country, she turned to songwriting as a means to stave the boredom away. She taught herself how to record and produce her own music aged 12, locking herself away in her bedroom for hours on end, and hasn’t looked back since. Claiming the internet raised her, it’s clear she had her sights set on broader horizons and bigger cities.
Having moved half way across the world to her new home in East London, October has remained true to her traditional isolated writing style by holing up in her East London flat for several months and writing a small collection of songs that can be described as dizzying, darkly kaleidoscopic, and dauntless above all. October describes her musical style as ‘collage-rock’ (not the be confused with college rock). Pulling musical inspiration from the likes of Bauhaus, Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and Suicide, she then squeezes her influences through the gauze of modernity and electronics, thus creating something entirely of her own.
With nods to acid rock, psychobilly and post-punk, October and The Eyes’ music is equal parts nostalgia-drenched as it is future forward, employing layers of ambient synth drones to anchor the crunched guitars and jagged organ parts. Delivered with a twisted theatricality, her vocals pendulum between commanding chants and soothing coo’s, proving that not only is she a versatile songwriter and producer, but a versatile vocalist too.
October released her debut EP Dogs and Gods in 2020 and will release the follow up with ‘Who Upset You?’ on June 24th via KRO Records.
If you’re looking for classic music on CD, Canterbury Records in Pasadena, California (805 East Colorado Boulevard) is the place for you. The place has a massive collection of classical works on CD, and plenty of other stuff if you’re not looking for that.
That third image is a wall of video tapes, and I couldn’t fit all of it in my camera viewer. They have another section like this that’s all concert footage and music video compilations. They even have a wall of DVD compilations of public domain films.
There are a lot of gems in here.
They have a good selection of new and used music on CD, and it was refreshing to go into a wrecka stow and find they primarily sold CDs. Don’t worry, vinyl lovers, they have plenty of that, too.
Check out those “Purple Rain” and “Goat’s Head Soup” albums!Just some of the oddities you can find here.
I walked out with a five-disc set of Astrud Gilberto albums on CD (review coming soon!) for a mere twenty bucks. There are also some good Asian food restaurants and boba tea places nearby, so don’t pass up this groovy place if you’re in Pasadena.
I’m not sure if I can relate in one blog post, or even several, how soulful and lovely When Do We Get Paidby The Staples Jr. Singers is. You’re hooked from the first notes of “Get on Board,” and the album takes you into a blissful, funky, soulful place without worry or strife
What’s even more amazing is how When Do We Get Paid has gone relatively unheard for the last four decades. Only a small number of copies were pressed in the 1970s, and this re-release is easily one of the best finds of the year. Annie, R.C., and Edward Brown took the name of their band from their love of the Staples family singers. The Staples Jr.’s toured the American south and blazed the gospel and grooves for years, and have each since gone on to their own respective music careers.
In modern speak, the album is full of bangers: “I’m Going to a City” will get you dancing in the pews and in the honky-tonks the Browns used to play. “Somebody Save Me” has sultry Alabama blues sweat all over it. I once heard someone say, more or less, “The difference between R&B and gospel is you replace ‘baby’ or ‘honey’ with ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ in the lyrics.” “Somebody Save Me” perfectly embodies this concept.
“Trouble of the World” is a slow groove that has Annie Brown proclaiming how she’ll (and all of us) instantly forget the problems of this place of illusion once she passes beyond the veil. Indeed, she’s “Waiting for the Trumpet to Sound” on the following track, and you can’t help but start listening for it with her.
On “I Feel Good,” the Staples Jr. Singers let us know that we should all feel good in the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven. The title track has the band holding their heads high despite the racism they faced in 1970s southern U.S. (“More than three years the Staples have sung down here. All the music, here and there, sometimes trouble, sometimes heartbreak…call us everything but a child of God, but we not worrying about that…”).
“On My Journey Home” is almost a garage rock floor-stomper, and R.C.’s guitar work on “Too Close” touches the edges of psychedelic rock. The groove on “Send It on Down” is so good that it (and the whole album, really) must be inspired by the Holy Ghost, as they sing about throughout the track. The album ends with the uplifting “I Got a New Home,” which will get you out of your seat and clapping.
This album should be considered a classic. Heck, I’m surprised Moby or Fatboy Slim haven’t created an entire remix album of it. It’s a stunning work, and it deserves to be heard everywhere.
Chicago’s Riot Fest has released the full lineup for their 2022 festival, and there are some heavy-hitters this year.
My Chemical Romance and Portugal. The Man will bring in a big crowd on Friday, but the powerhouse headliner this year is Nine Inch Nails (and The Misfits are not slouches by any means). Other must-see acts include Bauhaus, Bad Religion, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney, The Joy Formidable, and Lunachicks.
Tickets are already on sale, so don’t wait. Take sunscreen if you go. It was hot and sweaty there in 2021.
After releasing his self-titled debut album in 2017, Dion Lunadon (The D4, ex-A Place To Bury Strangers) is set to release his sophomore album – Beyond Everything June 10th via In The Red Records. Available forpre-orderHERE.
Today, Dion shares a second track; It’s The Truth, with a video directed by Alexander Barton. “This is one of my favorite songs on the record” says Dion. “It started with the opening drum beat and the rest came together quickly. It’s about me writing songs in my little hovel of a studio and looking forward to my wife’s return home from work. A “distance makes the heart grow fonder” kind of thing.”
Alexander Barton says; “In Dion’s live performance he has a wall of sound and noise, it’s very textural and real. About 3/4 of the way through his set, he drags a chain out of a bag like a snake wrangler presenting a cobra to the audience. It’s an exciting moment of the set where he breaks the routine of the rock formula and shares his experimental interests and the audience really laps it up. The cameras pop out and feed his exhibitionism. I make films that feel and use not only the beauty of film, but welcome the noise and error that come with the raw and naive nature of my tools. The chain as an object and material is a fully loaded symbol and historical icon which is a powerful character itself. I wanted to honor the chain for all its brilliance, referencing metal, design, rock n’ roll, violence, sculpture, industrialism, eroticism, and Jacob Marley. It’s The Truth is about material and the spectacle.”
Dion continues; “The record was written and recorded sporadically between 2017 and 2019. I probably wrote about 100 songs during this period. The first album was pretty relentless which I liked, but I wanted to make something more dynamic for the 2nd record. Something that could be more conducive to repeated listens. I’d get in my studio, come up with a song title, and start working on any ideas that I had. For example, with Elastic Diagnostic, the idea was to create a hum that evokes the sound of life coursing through your body. Everything else kind of formed around that idea.”
The lead single released last month, Living And Dying With You, was accompanied by an animated video by Mexico City animator, Julián Name.
Beyond Everything will be Dion’s first release on In The Red(an ideal match for his music), as well as his first full-length since departing A Place To Bury Strangers. Written, performed and recorded by Dion, the songs tap into a raw, palpable energy that blur the line between the music and the person. Drums on the record were played by Blaze Bateh (Bambara) and Nick Ferrante (The Black Hollies).
Dion will be touring with a full band in North America and Europe/UK throughout 2022. The US tour begins in Denver (some of the dates are supporting The Black Angels), with European and UK dates in November. All dates are listed below with more TBA. Tickets HERE.
Sat May 14 – Bethlehem, PA – National Sokols + Thur Jun 09 – Denver, CO – Ogden *Fri Jun 10 – Salt Lake City – Metro Music Hall *Sat Jun 11 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory *Sun Jun 12 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile *Mon Jun 13 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre Lounge Wed Jun 15 – Arcata, CA – Miniplex Thur Jun 16 – Petaluma, CA – Phoenix Theatre *Sat Jun 18 – Oakland, CA – Elbo Room Mon Jun 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Moroccan Lounge Wed Jun 22 – San Diego, CA – Music Box * Thur Nov 03 – Reignier, France – La Poulpe Fri Nov 04 – Gigors, France – Gigors Electric Sat Nov 05 – Torino, Italy – Blah Blah Sun Nov 06 – Zürich, CH – Safari Bar Mon Nov 07 – Fürth, Germany – Kunstkeller 027Wed Nov 09 – Hamburg, Germany – Hafenklang Thur Nov 10 – Berlin, Germany – 8mmFri Nov 11 – Regensburg, Germany – VOID CONCERT @ Alte Malzerai Mon Nov 14 – Bristol, UK – Crofter’s Rights Wed Nov 16 – Nottingham, UK – Chameleon Thur Nov 17 – London, UK – Shacklewell Arms Wed Nov 23 – Paris, France – Supersonic Thu Nov 24 – Rennes, France – TBA Fri Nov 25 – Nantes, France – Duchesse Sat Nov 26 – Lyon, France – Le Sonic * with The Black Angels+ with Haldol and Death Bag
