Far out!

'Aoum'
'Empires of the sun'

The British graphics team that gave birth to this one of a kind album, used to design posters for bands like PINK FLOYD or The INCREDIBLE STRING BAND to promote their appearances at the UFO Club in London.

I don't know what the guys were on when they recorded this one, but I can tell they were high.
Tribal rhythms meets mind-expanding spiritual vocal chants and incantations. This sounds like no other record.
Cult!

“As magnificent a blues-rock album as has ever been made!”

Hope you all enjoyed that MEGASUS post last month. I can't stop playing and playing that piece of vinyl over and over again (will have to buy another copy soon!).

By the way, sorry for being so silent lately but i found a new job (finally!) and didn't found any time to post any thing new.

So, something completely different today with CANNED HEAT and their marvellous 'Future Blues' album, released in 1970 on Liberty.

This 'Future Blues' is the last album to feature Al Wilson (he died a couple of months after).

This is more of a Rock album, then of a Blues one.
It's heavy and wild, not so polished as other CANNED HEAT albums can be. It still breathes Blues roots throughout, but the tunes hit harder and the beats pound harder.

Let's try those three : "That's All Right Mama", "My Time Ain't Long" and "So Sad (the world's in a tangle)".

The cult of blood gave rise to a mythic beast called MEGASUS

This Providence, RI Metal band clearly kicks anyone's ass that comes its way.

MEGASUS IS METAL.
It feeds on Metal.
It breathes Metal.

From Psychedelic 70's Proto Metal to furious blackened Death Metal, MEGASUS perspires brutality, violence and savagery.
The sonic assault herein is a raw aggression that keeps scorching ears and bludgeonning eardrums.
More than being an absolute monster (musically speaking) that Metal heads HAVE to own (I mean, if you love Metal, you'll love MEGASUS) , this baby comes in a deluxe gatefold cover.

The 180gr trans orange/black vinyl (limited to 200 copies) is just gorgeous.

The package also features a patch, a sticker, a giant poster and a high quality mp3 download card.

To make your mouth water, here are 'Megasus', 'Swords' and 'Iron Moutain'.

Egg hunt

Here is my Easter present to my dear readers : WOLFMOTHER's second offering "Cosmic Egg".

Well, there's nothing new under the sun, WOLFMOTHER keeping playing some patented WOLFMOTHER sound, mixing those 70's Heavy Rock/Proto-Metal roots with modern Stoner Music.

I've liked that band since I first heard their self-titled ep, but that said, with the departure of the co-founders, the band has lost that sparkle that made them special.

The new WOLFMOTHER is less orgasmic, less psychedelic, more textured though and giving the melodies more space to strench into.

'Phoenix' and '10.000 Feet' are two of the new songs. Please go click them!

Loud, sloppy, garage-inspired crap and plainly inevitable

Here comes a piece of music history.
The THROWN UPS was a band that didn't write songs and never actually praticed. They strictly based their first recordings on jams and eventually released 3 45s between 1986 and 1988 (their first 7", "Felch" was released on Amphetamine Reptile, making them the first group to be signed on that label).

Their sole LP, "Melancholy Girlhole" saw the light of day in 1990, as a triple 7" box in the US, on Amphetamine Reptile, and as a regular LP on the German label Glitterhouse.

For those who don't know anything about the band, just note Mark Arm and Steve Turner were parts of it just before founding MUDHONEY.
At that time, nobody had ever talked about Grunge.

Here come : Sloppy Pud Love, Stock Boy & Our Ladies R Bitches.

Of the filth, the decay and the decline of our times

Let's put it straight, PISSED JEANS is a badass of a band.
I discovered the band thanks to the folks from Ongakubaka (they ranked "King of Jeans" in their 2009 Best Albums chart). And yeah, "King of Jeans" IS one of 2009 best albums.

So I first downloaded PISSED JEANS' 3 studio albums. I bought "Hope for Men'" and "King of Jeans" right away.
Immediately recognizable Seattle patented sound and attitude : fucked-up vocals, dissonant guitars, pounding dreams.

For those of you who are nostalgic of the Grunge scene (and especially of the THROWN-UPS), then you gotta rush on those 2 records (their debut is a bit too awkward at times).

Please try 'Secret Admirer' and 'Fantasy World', both from "Hope for Men".

Then click 'Dream Smotherer' and 'Spent'. Those are monsters.

Oh, and by the way, these are Sub Pop releases.

Super group. Super heavy. Super debut!

I first heard about this potential "Doom supergroup" in the beginning of 2009 and have been waiting for their debut since then.

Now this is reality, and the vinyl version, mastered at 45rpm, makes it even more incredibly fantastic.

Absolutely one of the most accomplished records of 2009, and one to become a timeless classic imho.

Those massive, monolithic riffs Wino manages to pull off of his instrument are just so fucking hypnotic and grand there's no word to describe the heaviness of it all.
Meditative, spiritual and crushingly powerful at times.



I won't waste time on enumerating superlatives.
And considering the line-up of SHRINEBUILDER, I would lack superlatives anyway.

Just note this heavy baby is the european version and has a beautiful etching on side 3 (as the US version does) and is A/B blue/black and C/D orange/black (sorta marbled/splattered-ish... beautiful!).

I give you Solar Benediction and Blind For All To See.

Amen.

Extended

Originally sold at their shows, this "Heavy Psych" has been extended with four additional songs and is now available on vinyl.

The Californian Heavy Psych combo returns to Tee Pee records and offers nothing else than their patented guitar-driven, spacy, psychedelic and heavy Stoner Rock that earned the band respect.

"Heavy Psych" ain't any better than any other NEBULA's album, but it's as good as any other NEBULA's album, and that's what we would ever expect from the band.

Eddie Glass being the last original member of the band doesn't make any difference. One could fear this new offering would lack that genuine NEBULA trademark. Absolutely not!

Go try those 2 : 'The Dagger' & 'Crown Of Thorns'

Birds of feather flock together

Here comes another 2009 album that is strictly impossible not to mention.
I know some QOTSA fans don't dig this LP, but I still really don't understand why.

This truly is solid gold with plenty of great (let's admit QOTSA inspired-) songs.

I did rush on this record because of Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl, but at the same time didn't know what was really to expect.
I think they managed to craft an invigorated version of QOTSA most recent releases.

Please try Scumbag Blues and Spinning in Daffodils (I definitely LOVE that song from the very first piano note to that drinking song-ish finish)

January special double feature

I had seen those 2 covers everywhere, in stores and record fairs, but never tried any of those. They just didn't attract me.

One day, as I was scrolling down the Sludge Swamp's pages, I found that video and read that I was not the only one who didn't pay attention.
Why the hell did I do this to me? I should have rushed to the nearest record store as soon as I saw one of those covers.

RADIO MOSCOW is just that typical band you secretly dream of. A band that plays 70's Rock like no other band does. Making you think that everything's possible when 3 incredibly talented musicians turn their amps on to deliver. And man they deliver!


Think about the GROUNDHOGS, the JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, SIR LORD BALTIMORE, BLUE CHEER, MC5, and all those furious 70's Hard Rock bands; RADIO MOSCOW is all of them.

Here are their 2 records so far : the self-titled one, released in 2007 on Alive Records and their latest "Brain Cycles", still on Alive, released in 2009. Please note there's a special 2xLP bundle pack available from the webstore. Go check it here

Their first LP is produced by Dan Auerbach from the BLACK KEYS. It's about Blues. Cranked up Blues. Those ol' stinky electrified blues cuts that make you pour another glass of bourbon.


"Brain Cycles" is slightly different, as it's more Psychedelic. More effects, more riffs, more guitars, more intensity, more drums. More of that special sparkle that gives birth to great albums.

Because "Brain Cycles" is undoubtedly one of 2009's top 5 albums (in my humble opinion that said).

And now, without further ado, here's my selected cuts for those 2 records I'm sure you're about to own (if you don't own them both already) :

Introduction + Frustrating Sound : The self-titled Lp opener. Intoxicating.

Fuse : Instro. Still on their debut. Addictive.


No Good Woman : From "Brain Cycles". Carved in the loudest of all 70's Rock! Thrilling.

250 Miles : Second cut from "Brain Cycles". Exciting.

I forgot to mention both LPs are heavy and coloured. Get them both!