Archive (22/6/13-14/10/13)
14th October Monday Morsel
Why must we look forward when everything behind us is just so fucking cool. This week on the Morsel I am tipping the cap to 3 bands who are doing just that.
The new wave of European and American stoner rock (NWEASR) is absolutely booming at the moment with bands literally blowing up all over the place. Take Uncle Acid for example. From nowhere to a full European support of Sabbath in just over a year. So it is with this spirit I present to you the first morsel of the week.
Bay Area US band Orchid formed in 2007 and with 2 epic ep's under their belt have "blossomed" (sorry) to the forefront of the new stoner scene but looking back. You could be forgiven, when seeing this video, for thinking it was from the paranoid vintage. Hell it even looks like the same set. This four piece retro outfit downtune and fuzz out tube amped classic 70's rock. The track featured is Wizard of War. Enough said. You WILL love this. Come on Desertfest. Sign em up!
The next band is not new to the Morsel but as I am seeing them next week they have been on high rotation and I don't actually think I paid enough credit to how good their second EP actually is. Coming off a huge us tour, I am talking of Kadavar and the album Abra Kadavar. This record is faultless. Travelling through serious fuzzed up retro rock and into a hawkwind phased finish I simply can't find a weak song on this. Having seen them at Desertfest (albeit totally hammered) I am looking forward to seeing them headline their own show next week. See you there.
Track: Liquid Dream
(Hammond Organ fans, look out!)
Finally I must credit the Desertfest guys for this next band. With The Machine already confirmed (basically confirming my already confirmed attendance)for Desertfest, I was intrigued to see a new band (to me) as the other confirmed band. Black Rainbows. After a look around on the web, and a visit to their bandcamp site, I found these guys and wow am I glad I did. Rome's answer to the stoner rock call, Black Rainbows once again take their sound back to the ages with obvious influences from 70's rock, but with their fuzzed out grooves they are also reminiscent of unida and house of broken promises. With 4 lps in the can already, the most recent Holy Moon and the spectacularly named Supermothafuzzalicious in the back catalogue, these guys are anything but a new band. Great addition to Desertfest and a great find for me(us) enjoy!
Track: The Hunter
That's it for me this week. I am off to buy some corded flares, light some incense and buy a black light. Enjoy looking backwards!
Get on the forum buy emailing me through the join now tab. It's always good to hear your thoughts.
Fuzz f'n Tastic!!!!
Oh yeah. Blood Lust on vinyl is off the hook. Buy it!
16th Sept Monday Morsel
Well a happy bloody birthday to me! Lowrider Dozer and Steak to play in February next year. Tickets purhased and locked away. On top of this, I get a new Sasquatch album, Vista Chino in November and a new Red Fang and Truckfighters albums around the corner. Vista Chino Peace also just arrived on vinyl too. Sweet!
So onto the music.
First up this week you will need time and space. 22 mins to be exact and plenty of space (pardon the pun) Galaxies is a new offering by Black Pussy. An outfit from Portland, USA who just went on tour with Vista Chino. Part of an up coming EP, this track winds and twists and cruises it way through 22 mins of tripped out grooves. It never really hits the the fuzzed out tones of a Colourhaze but it will certainly draw you in. It reminds me of a Pink Floyd Echoes with a little Janes Addiction (see if you hear it too) vocals. The interesting thing about this track is the producer. None other than Mr Brant Bjork. Enjoy
Black Pussy: Galaxies
As mentioned earlier, Sasquatch have released their fourth album originally titled IV. I have already mentioned on this site how much I loved III so I was very keen to hear their next offering. IV does not disappoint and keeps the groove going that the started on their previous albums. Stand out tracks for me The Message, Eye of the Storm, Smoke Signal and Money but really the whole album just charges from start to finish. In the vein of Freedom Hawk in that their songs are a little shorter and more vocal based than some other stoner bands out their but for me it works. Enjoy. Vinyl release in the New Year
Sasquatch: the Message
Red Fang have long been a favourite of the Morsel and after seeing them destroy the Pepsi Max tent at Download last year, they have been of very high rotation. With their new album Whales and Leeches due out on the 15th of October, they have released a track early called Blood like Cream. It appears Red Fang have lost no steam between albums and this first offering suggests that this band is on the verge of going BIG. The production on this release sound extremely tight with plenty of fuzz to keep us happy. Look out for this release next month, it will be huge!
Red Fang: Blood like Cream
So thats it for another week. Desertfest announcements next month and after early bird tickets sold out in 2 mins! (yes that's right 2 mins) and I didn't bloody get one, it is set to go to another level after essentially doubling in size last year from the first year. Look Out.
Song of the week is old school to coincide with the announcement that for down under Morslings, Helmet are due to grace our great shores once again. Tour news in UK again centres around the sensational Desertscene.co.uk with Kadavar, Samsara BE, Ufomammut and the mighty Dozer Lowrider Steak gig all coming up. Throw into that, Karnivool and Vista Chino and all of a sudden winter is not looking so bad!
Fuzz F'n Tastic
2nd Sept Monday Morsel
Welcome back from a 3 week hiatus from the Morsel. After missing so many good gigs in London while away, it is good to be back talking all things downtuned and fuzzy. So time spent surfing in France meant many evenings sitting out in the sun listening to a load of new and old tunes. So onto the music.
First up I am going to return to a favorite on the Morsel. Having picked up the back catalogue of Freedon Hawk before leaving and listening to Sunlight (2008) relentlessly. This is a sensational album. Can't really believe it has taken me so long to find it. The track I have chosen was my stand out track but then to return home and find it matched with a surfing film clip, it was meant to be!
Freedom Hawk: Land of the Lost.
Secondly this week I wan't to introduce a new band from London called Strauss. They have just released their first EP and it is available HERE from Bandcamp. Really enjoyed this EP with some heavy grooves and some light and dark moments on tracks like Stop, Pause Play, which I reallly like, and some straight out chargers like Burning Sky. Stand out track for me though was Trigger. Great build up and drops into a really groovy riff. Great low end sound, good fuzz and a cool little stoner jam in the middle. Overall, a really impressive first up release and I look forward to seeing them live sometime soon.
Strauss: Trigger
Finally I apologise for the repetition of this band over the past year but after several cleansing beers, sitting outside in the middle of a pine forest at night this band just made sense. Wo Fat! The will be the final entry from on the Morsel from this sensational album The Lost Highway. The final track I leave you with this week is The Shard of Leng. Give it some time, it is a slow builder but when it drops at the 6 min mark, holy hell does it drop! Just so much bass on this track and the production and sound on this whole album is first class. Still to see them live after the Dozer clash at Desertfest but am holding out for the dream tour. Sasquatch, Freedom Hawk and Wo Fat on a Smallstone showcase tour. Desertscene.co.uk....make this happen!
Ok people, that is it for this week. If anyone went to any of the gigs (or played in) mentioned last up, drop me a line or send in a review and I will put it up on the Gigs page.
Cheers to the XII Boar guys who by all accounts played a blinder at Bloodstock.
Looking forward to getting my hands on the new Trippy Wicked release. Sure to make the morsel in the coming weeks.
Apologies for the crashing of the site last week. I have stripped down the home page and you can now find all the past Morsels in the Archive Page if you missed any. It should be sorted, let me know it not. Finally the song of the week was requested but unfortunately I have had to go with another from the same band. Sorry TC. By no means stoner rock but what a cool jam. Hope this works for you TC.
Upcoming Gigs:
Thurs 3rd October: Ufomammut @ The Underword
Wed 23rd October: Kadavar @ Borderline
Fuzz f'n tastic!
5th August Monday Morsel
Is it just me or has London become a bloody epicentre of great stoner or (nweasr) check the banner if unsure. Over the past and through the coming months we are being graced with The Machine, Sungrazer, Earthless, Acid King, Karma to Burn, The Atomic Bitchwax and now we have Mondo Generator and recently added Kadavar and Samsara Blues Experiment amongst others. This slots in nicely with the plethora of cranking local bands. Happy days in the sunny capital.
Well the worst kept secret finally got out ahead of time (won't make one jot of difference to record sales as we are all going to buy it anyway) but Vista Chino, Peace, is out there. Unfortunately no leaks here but it would be remiss of me not to feature at least one track. Dargona Dargona is track 2 on the album. So what do we know now that we didn't know before. Well for one Kyuss/Vista Chino can still write fucking great stoner rock tunes. Secondly Bruno Fevery is no longer filling in for Josh Homme. He has a great guitar sound in this track and is ably supported by Oliveri and Bjork's drumming is again a real lesson in less is more. Finally we can all relax. After all the bullshit, court case rubbish, Vista Chino are going to be just fine.
OK, enough on that and onto a new release by German psych-stoner pioneers Causa Sui. These guys have been around on the scene with Colourhaze since the beginning and have experimented with a range of sounds. Their latest offering, Euporie Tide, is at first listen, an absolute gem. I am going to feature the opening track, Homage, as it was 2 mins into this track that I was again hooked on this band and back searching out their back catalogue. Great riffs and progression throughout the song, dipping into the light and dark and grooving it all along with a bit of Manzerick-esque Hammond keyboard. Enjoy
Finally to mark the announcement of Kadavar playing the Borderline later this year, I am offering up the opening track from the second release Abra Kadavar. This track is called Come Back Life and just oozes with Deep Purple, Sabbath and even some Ramones and MC5 to mix it up a bit. This is going to sound brilliant live and that bass sound is going to melt faces!!!!! Ha ha
Fuzz f'n tastic
So that is it this week. Sorry it is a bit late, I have been in a Internet black hole for a week. It is also the last Morsel for 3 weeks as I head south to catch some summer waves in Hossegor for a while. Good luck to XII Boar as they hit up Blood Stock with an all time lineup this weekend.
So in my absence please check out the following gigs coming up in the coming weeks:
Mondo Generator/Vallient Thorr/Steak @ The Underworld, Camden on Thurs 8th Aug
Then how good is this for a triple header
A big one for readers in the south and around Brighton is:
Steak/Trippy Wicked/Kerela
Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton on Aug 21st
(Be sure to get there early and check out Brighton's own Kerela
then
Nick Oliveri's Death Acoustic
@The Black Heart, Camden
on Aug 22nd
then
Trippy Wicked @ the Black Heart on Aug 23rd
Get involved people! Fuzz f'n tastic
22nd July Monday Morsel
Morning Morslings and welcome back to the now greatest bi-weekly stoner rock website on the planet.Lots been going on in the past few weeks with a date announced for the new Vista Chino album "Peace" to be released. Aug 30!! Also caught Karma to Burn on Friday night in a very loud HOT sweaty room. More on that later. Missed Earthless which was a downer but have a few more gigs lined up in the coming weeks and Kadavar have just announced a tour..
So into the music. There was a call last week for some more vocals the sonds this week so the call has been answered. So three songs, all with vocals and with the very modest running time of nothing over 6 mins.
Two new offerings and an old favourite but a new (old) song.
So Lo Pan from Columbus USA are a three piece that are hard to pidgeon hole. At first I heard early Tool (Opiate) then a more commercial sound and then a stoner groove. You make uo your mind. Another of the Small Stone camp, these guys have a great sound, very well mixed (although I would like the vocals back a bit) and some good riffs.
This is actually one of their cruisier numbers but "Birds of Prey" builds and builds to a drop at 2 mins which is worthy of a head nod or two.
Second up this week is an offering from Portugal that I have heard of on the periphery for some time now and this stoner outfit from Lisbon have a great sound. Classic line up of two guitars, bass and drums they have the advanage of having a member with the surname Garcia. (No relation) Anyway Miss Lava chugg along and this groove train is called "Ride". Great video! Enjoy.
So when I said we were having an old favourite I guess you all thought..OK more Machine. Well you're right. BUT, this is one many of you have probably not heard. From their first Album, Shadows of the Machine, "Miracles" is a flat out charger and catched the band in their raw early stages. Gravelly vocals and the classic fuzz sound, this track has been in very high rotation this week. Seriously, this riff is a blinder and must be a prick to play live.
Song of the week a tribute song. Sungrazer RIP!
Anyway folks that's the Morsel this week, just a few words on Karma to Burn:
Boston Arms Club in Tufnell park was the venue for this monster trio on intrumental powerhouse riffage. Big bill actually with 4 bands and Obiat supporting. Anyway entering the stage the the strange entrance track (all would be revealed shortly) "Just the two of us." It was soon apparent the is was only guitar and drims tonight and no BASS! WHAT!! Yep no bass. This impacted the sound considerably but nonetheless a hell of a noise was still generated. So Karma to Burn. Good not great!
30th Sept Monday Morsel
Take one to the Mountain, take one to the sea, take one to the belly of the beast and then you'll take one with me! Shut It!
Welcome to the Morsel for another fortnight that has been spent listening to the new Sasquatch album, and a lot of Kiss and Sabbath records on Vinyl. Summer has gone, so we look ahead to a winter of sludge, doom, stoner and desert rock. Imminent annoucements for Desertfest and Download await and plenty of gigs already on the near deserty horizon.
So a few new bands this week as well as a couple of old favs with some new material/film clips. Starting off with the new:
Isaak (formerly Ghandi's Gunn) are a quartet from Genoa, Italy. I came across this band after hearing that all there gear had been stolen from the studio in Italy while recording their upcoming album. Gutted Searching back I came across their brilliantly named LP - The longer the beard, the harder the sound. This is a brilliant hard and classicly downtuned slab of stoner rock. Taking influences from Corrosion of Conformity, Fu Manchu and Clutch, they certainly know how to charge and build riffs. Stand out tracks: Haywire, Breaking Balance, Flood and a MUST hear cover of Maiden's Wrathchild (more Di'anno than Dickinson). The track for this week's Morsel is Under Siege. Definitely a band worth getting behind.
Second for you this week is a new band to me from the ever growing Small Stone stable. Mellow Bravo hail from Boston and will appeal to those how like old Kiss records (ME) and anything from Deep Purple, Sabbath and everything in between. These guys have just released an new EP called Ripper available to stream and download (HERE)
This 4 track EP has a really diverse sound and gets off to a great start with (the chosen track this week) Feel Like Dancing. Good time rock n' roll is alive and well and there is plenty of fuzz to keep all the stoner fans happy. The EP then continues through So Pretty, Party and Low aint the Bottom. There is plenty of early US punk and rock influences here with a brilliant hammond organ chugging along in most tracks. There is plenty to suggest this band might be on the verge of something big and one can only imagine their live show would be a cracking night out. Keep an eye out. Who knows, Derestfest?
OK, as readers of the Morsel need no introduction to the Truckfighters, nor my appreciation for this band I am going to keep this short. New track from new EP: The Chairman. Plenty to like here and to suggest the next offering from Sweden's Fuzzologists will be a thing of beauty. Enjoy. Great clip too.
Finally this week it is a bit of a nod of the head, raise of a pint or pat on the back for the Steak boys. After releasing that they would be supporting Dozer and Lowrider in London in January, they have raised the bar this week and gone one better announcing they will be supporting Monster Magnet for the Spanish leg of their European Tour. Bloody great effort and well deserved. Cheers. This is a track from their Corned Beef Colossus EP: Glanshammer. Filmed up in the Alps during thier winter shows last year. Good tune, good track. Cheers boys. If you haven't yet got this EP, you can get it HERE
So that's it this week. Keep it downtuned and fuzzed out and I'll see London Morsel readers at Kadavar in a few weeks.
First Desertfest Announcements TODAY! HERE
Fuzz f'n Tastic
