Dim lights, smokey rooms and Tumbleweed Dealer

Hi there.

Time to round out the May 24 weekend with some new jams from Montreal’s Tumbleweed Dealer. I talked about their previous demo, “Death Rides Southwards” right here and boy, was it a precursor to something wonderful. “Death Rides Southwards” was a solid little collection of tracks, which showed a band fleshing out it’s territory and truly cementing their sound in the resin.

Now with their first self-titled full length, released late this April, Tumbleweed Dealer have more than cemented their sound, they’ve crafted some truly insidiously sinuating jams. A true and proper follow up, everything that made their EP so enjoyable is present and amplified in full force.

The mellow, meandering grooves that define their sound continue their patient onslaught on your ears, with a whole new repertoire of riffs, melodies and grooooves to sit you down and suck you right in. It feels like a spiritual combination of post-rock and stoner, with the stoner being of the swamp variety and the post-rock being of the endless jam session variety. So if you want to get wordy with genres you can call it post-stoner, but you won’t do that, because you’re too baked and this album is too damn enthralling.

Finger-pickin’-good guitar lines frolic merrily with a chocolate-and-peanut butter low end and percussion section. Everything works together to craft deep, like triple bottomless deep, grooves. Like seriously head nodding shit. For example, instead of spending the last ten minutes writing something witty and clever to aptly describe this album, I just stared at the electric outlet on the wall across from me and slowly bobbed my head.

We’re talking about those kinds of grooves people.

So yeah. I’m not even going to try to fill up more space with meaningless words that can be replaced by you scrolling down a couple of centimeters and clicking play on the bandcamp stream. So just go do that eh?

“Tumbleweed Dealer” is on Bandcamp for the sticky icky price of $4.20.

Tumbleweed Dealer Facebook

Tumbleweed Dealer Bandcamp

FORWARD MOMENTUM: SIBERIAN MEAT GRINDER VERSUS THE WORLD

I FIND IT’S EASIER TO KEEP MY MOMENTUM UP IF I INDULGE IN CERTAIN URGES. WHICH MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY I’M TYPING IN CAPS. THEN AGAIN IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE I’M LISTENING TO THE NEWEST EP FROM SIBERIAN MEAT GRINDER AND I’M FUCKING AMPED UP LIKE A BUS FULL OF PRE-SCHOOLERS ON PCP.

Probably the latter.

The Russian street gang/thrash band/bear lords that comprise Siberian Meat Grinder has returned with their newest EP, “Versus the World”, which is a follow up to their 2012 release, “Hail to the Tsar”. As I mentioned before, these guys fucking RIP (Proof here) and this newest work IS NO GODDAMN EXCEPTION.

Subtlety is a word that has been surgical removed from this band from birth. Is a 10 foot grizzly bear, drenched in blood and wearing the remains of a viking warship on it’s head at a jaunty angle subtle? No it fucking well is not. Where was I going with that? Nowhere. Except to reinforce these guys are a literal representation of the word “ripping”.  They follow a loose recipe of GO REALLY FUCKING FAST AND PLAY REALLY GODDAMN LOUD AND THIS IS TOTALLY GOING TO SOUND AWESOME!!

And it does. Every. Single. Time.

Maybe I’m just an ignorant pea-brain but very few things will put a smile on my face like some breakneck thrash riffing and vaguely coherent gang shouts. This is everything that was awesome about “Hail to the Tsar” except louder, faster and more focused. The shredding is shreddier, the drumming is drummier and the riffs are concrete splitters. Just listen to “Die on the Road”. JUST LISTEN TO IT.

There is even a couple surprises jammed into the five tracks, just to keep you on your toes. “Fire From the Grave” gets into this whole post/proggy breakdown tangent that actually feels like a proper part of what used to be a balls out thrash song. “Fukk Your Life” pulls this stunt again, with a rap cameo coming in to close the track out. These aren’t things you would ever expect to hear or make sense but they sure make sense to my ears.

So yes. This is yet another napalm watermelon of razor blades and rusty nails delivered hot and fresh from the desolate Russian tundra. And you know what? It’s free. Seriously. Free. So you have no excuse not to cram this stuff in your grubby little earholes.

Why are you still here?

*Note to the band if you actually end up reading this* It would be pretty cool to hear some more Russian in your songs. I don’t know what your driving reason for recording mostly in English is but having a couple songs in Russian would be pretty rad.

SIBERIAN MEAT GRINDER FACEBOOK

SIBERIAN MEAT GRINDER BANDCAMP

Three big albums that I’m to damn lazy to review individually … and stuff.

Alright, here’s arguably the three biggest releases, well biggest to me at least, that occurred where I was gone. I’ll spew a little something and link you to a more in-depth review if you’re so inclined. First up…

Clutch – Earth Rocker

Clutch are goddamn god-tier when it comes to meat, potatoes and gravy rock’n'roll. They are masters of the riff and downright dominate when it comes to cranking out non-stop, cock-swinging, balls-out, sell-your-children-to-buy-a-Harley good times. Does “Earth Rocker” change a single thing? No it damn well does not.

Eleven tracks of Clutch doing what they do best, playing meaty-as-hell rock’n'roll. This isn’t some artsy-fartsy fairy shit wearing corduroys, a shitty beard and a ironic smirk. This is a hairy gut sticking out of stained blue jeans and wrapped in a leather vest. This is what that guy at the Beer Store listens to when he isn’t standing around looking like he just walked out of a swamp.

MetalSucks Review

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KEN mode – Entrench

I had been talking about this album for quite a bit before my “vacation” and it was definitely worth all the gabbing. KEN mode return with another unstoppable onslaught of their Canadian buzzsaw choir. Running on bile, bad intentions and musical efficiency  “Entrech” is a much more straightforward and vicious animal than their most recent work, “Venerable”.

Want a soundtrack to demolish your house with? This is an excellent starting point. This is an album of non-stop sharp edges and massive weights, meant to pummel and slice you into a quivering fleshly mass who is only capable of mewling for more. They skirt a line between math, hardcore and noise, exiting the other side like Satan’s raccoon of death.

The Needle Drop Review

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Kvelertak – Meir

I have been really, really, REALLY EXCITED for this album. Kvelertak’s S/T debut is easily one of my favorite albums of all time and will always be irresistible for it’s scathing combination of black metal and boot-cut rock and roll. While certain internet publications found this album less than stellar, I think that is a whole bunch of fooey, as these Norwegian hell raisers have again returned with a collection of mug smashing, mead pounding, get-drunk-and-fight music.

“Meir” changes the black metal/rock split from an even 50/50 to something closer to a 70/30, heavy on the rock side. This causes no qualms for me because this album fucking grooooves. Just head down, horns up type shit with a good helping of skin-festering blast-beats mixed in. It’s unrelenting and literally as fun as Hell, because Satan seems like he knows how to have a good time.

The Needle Drop Review

 

And the metaphorical cat dragging my metaphorical ass…

Fuck it, I’m too lazy to find a picture.

I’m back, or something resembling back at least.

Where have I been for the last couple months? Alive and extremely unmotivated, that’s where.

I was dragging through a rough patch of doing the bare minimum and nothing but and as such, the Church got neglected.

It’s summer now and I did manage to pass another year of my very expensive education.

So now I’ll try to catch up with the swamp of music that has flown by during my little sabbatical.

I’m not promising a goddamn thing, nor am I making a schedule. Chances are things will come in big dumps as I find the time, such as right now.

 

So there you go folks. Let’s see what happens.

Were you planning on sleeping tonight?

Well you aren’t now.

I advise fullscreen for the ultimate skull-fuckery.

The Shining Won’t Forget

Shining are a Norwegian band who play a completely and utterly fucked up combination of jazz, black metal and pure evil. They’re not to be confused with Sweden’s Shining who play a much more traditional form of black metal, that while being quite good, doesn’t come anywhere near the white-hot mentality of the Norwegian version.

Their last release, “Blackjazz” was an absolutely mind-melting trip of epic proportions, requring several sit-down-and-listenthroughs before even coming to grips with what the hell had hit you. Personally, I think their sound is awesome in the literal sense of the word, as in awe-inspiring, even though it’s not something I’d listen to everyday. Here’s the video for “Fisheye” from “Blackjazz”.

The reason for this post is a leaked single from the new album, “One, One, One”, due out in some unspecified time this year. It showcases the sound that they established for themselves with “Blackjazz” but this time with a more thrash-metal skew to the whole thing, a direction I’m loving. They’ve always had snatches of amazing grooves interspersed in their songs but this new single, “I Won’t Forget”, shows them finding them a groove and keeping a hold on it, except for the mandatory satanic jazz noodling.

Brace yourself and listen below for it gets pulled down.

Random Riffage: Chicago 25 or 6 to 4 or 5 to 8 or 4.5 to 2.34

Having nothing else to watch, I ended up on a recent episode of Family Guy. During a montage that was driving for a punchline it never found, there was a song playing in the background with a riff that was so goddamn memorable.

My roommate and I both began humming the rest of the song under our breath but neither of us could remember what the damn thing was.

Then we realized it was 2013 and just Googled it.

The song was “25 or 6 to 4″ by the band Chicago, one of the most successful bands in American history.

It’s a killer jam with a killer riff, true-blue guitar noodling and a flipping horn section.

Get sum.

Epic Length Soundscapes: Wiht

Hello there.

I’ve almost made it to my reading week, just one more day of classes to go. I’ve been pretty slammed recently, so I’m looking forward to taking some time off and hopefully catching up on some musical backlog. Anyway, enough with the gabbing, time to get to some epic length jams from England’s Wiht on their album “The Harrowing of the North.”

If your thinking to yourself, “Isn’t the same name of the military campaign carried out by William the Conqueror from 1069 to 1070?”, you would infact be correct, you would also know way more about history than I do (If you didn’t know that you can find the Wiki article right here).  If your wondering what kind of music this part of history might turn into, I’ll point you towards a quote by the historian Orderic Vitalis;

“The King stopped at nothing to hunt his enemies. He cut down many people and destroyed homes and land. Nowhere else had he shown such cruelty. This made a real change. To his shame, William made no effort to control his fury, punishing the innocent with the guilty. He ordered that crops and herds, tools and food be burned to ashes. More than 100,000 people perished of hunger. I have often praised William in this book, but I can say nothing good about this brutal slaughter. God will punish him.”

So yeah, some pretty bleak stuff. In riff form this translates to long, creeping builds and howling crescendos that ooze hopelessness and destruction from their very core, like the charred remains of a village after the armies have passed through, only occupied by the faint moans of the dying and the hungry caw of the circling carrion birds.

The centerpiece of this album is the titular track that clocks in at a whopping 20 minutes long. While I’m usually put off by tracks that dive past the 10 minute mark, I found myself not only listening to the whole track but I enjoying myself immensely. Wiht do a damn fine job of crafting these epic length songs while still packing them with plenty of musical variety to keep the listener hooked in.

Eerie guitar loops and background ambiance get brushed aside to make way for a cavalcade of fuzzed out riffing and shrieking guitar solos. There is a palpable ebb and flow to these tracks as they chronicle the ultimate destruction of the Northern English. Even though their songs are firmly planted in epic territory, they never become stale or repetitive. The songs still have a point and don’t get lost along the way like many other epic-length psychedelic bands do.

The music has a very strong Russian Circles vibe, with a slighter lighter shade of distortion and darker shade of psychedelic. It’s also an entirely instrumental affair, with the instruments here are doing all of the talking. The lack of vocals and instrumental depth are two of the biggest draws for me, as this is the kind of music I can have playing in the background, just letting myself nod along to it.

“The Harrowing of the North” is available both on Bandcamp from a name-your-price option. As always, if you like the music, show it with your wallets. Links and streams are  down below.

Wiht Facebook

Wiht Bandcamp

Earworm Music: Bill Murray

I wasn’t going to post about this song but goddamit it’s been rattling around my brain all damn day.

So here you go, Sweatshop Union with “Bill Murray” from the aptly titled “Bill Murray EP”.

Aside from Sweatshop Union being one of the greater Canadian hip-hop groups, it’s a song about Bill Murray.

Bill. Murray.

New music from Wiht tomorrow!

Guilty Pleasures: Groovy Shiva EP

Morning…bleh.

I’ve finally got a nice little lull before I have to start caring about midterms and the like, so I’m going to try and crank out as much new music as I can.

Today your getting a band I have mixed feelings about, hence the guilty pleasures title. The band is Groovy Shiva, they hail from France and play a combination of reggae/dub, hardcore and hip-hop. While most people, myself include, would have written this off as a terrible musical idea dreamt up by some half-drunk fratboys, the weird thing is, it all works.

I know there will be those who would raise contention with what is essential a French Limp Cookie/Linkin Park mashup but if your willing to give it a listen through you’ll find a solid collection of  crowd-surfing, party rock style anthems that are pretty damn catchy. The only real point of contention I have is them using a hardcore label, since they’re just playing bare-bones groove metal riffs/vocals. It’s not hardcore in any past or present form of the word.

Genre nitpicking aside, Groovy Shiva do an excellent job of hybridizing their three styles, giving each of them plenty of breathing room, instead of just jumbling everything together. The aforementioned groove metal riffage serves as the cement of the foundation. It’s not original, it’s not technical and it’s not pushing any boundaries. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun, infectious or groovy, attributes they have in spades.

The riffs are frequently mixed with some turntable work, giving way to the Limp Cookie feel I mentioned. These sections are blended smoothly into the hip-hop or reggae sections, with dropping the pace or the figurative ball. I think the reason they can pull this off is because on their own, all of the elements are extremely simple, which is beneficially when your going to be jumping through styles like these guys do.

The vocals are predominately in French, with some snatches of English thrown in. I personally prefer this, French has a nice inherent musicality and adds a unique flavor to what would have been considerably more bland is sung in only English.

They live up to their name, with all of the tracks having their own unique, yet still unshakable groove. This music isn’t hip, it isn’t fashionable but it’s loud, wreckless and fun as hell, and really, what else do you need?

I get the feeling this will be a love/hate thing for most people, so I’ve got your usual streams below for you to formulate your own opinions. The 8 track EP can be downloaded for a “Name Your Price” option on Bandcamp. Now I’ve got to get to class.

Groovy Shiva Facebook

Groovy Shiva Bandcamp

NEW MUSIC. FINALLY: The DHDFD’s

Hi.

I’ve been kinda-sorta busy and as such have been ignoring the pile of fresh new jams that has been building up in my inbox or bookmarks list. So instead of studying for economics, let’s remedy the situation shall we?

I discovered this band through a random promo email. After reading the description I was %100 sure what I was in for but holy hell, it did not disappoint. The DHDFD’s are a New Zealand based “garage punk” band. I use the term loosely because their sound is about as easy to pin down as a greased pig with it’s tail on fire. They’ve released three albums since 2006, ending up at tonight’s feature, “French Fries”, released in April of last year.

So now to talk about their sound. I don’t disagree with calling them garage punk but that should be considered the sleazy little core of their sound as they lie more in the musical style of, “fuck it, lets make awesome noise.”

If you were to take that initial ball of garage punk, wrap it in some freshly flayed strips of grindcore, then dip the whole thing in a noise rock batter and fry it in liquid methamphetamine, you might, might, have something that sounds like The DHDFD’s. You also might have a really sore stomach, or in very rare cases, be dead.

With a little less artistic license, they sound like a gutter rat version of The Hives, lighting fast riffing with a buzzsaw tone and a unrelenting appetite for destruction are coupled with a screeching demon behind the microphone, an equally insane madman on bass and some hybrid of a goblin and speed-freak on drums. Occasionally snatches of a melody that make something resemble sense come wafting through the madness, but those are quickly beaten down into submission.

But as noisy, violent and downright abrasive this music is, it’s still so damn infectious. It’s garage hardcore, with no regards for personal safety or musical direction. At times you’ll find the guitar and bass playing completely different parts, while the singer is off in his own little happy place, and yet, it works. Once you get past the initial assault on your senses you’ll find a group of guys who are willing to do some pretty crazy shit, even if it might not be popular or easy on the ears.

In the midst of this chaos you’ll find some truly interesting guitar and bass works, both with their own uniquely awesome tones. As mentioned before the vocals aren’t roped in by any traditional measures of melody or tone, instead it sounds like vocal chords stretched to their breaking limit, fighting to keep this entire machine under control and succeeding.

I’m starting to enjoy keeping things short and sweet, as there’s only so much babbling I can do before you have to go listen yourself. So below you’ll find the full album stream from Bandcamp as well as the video for “Babysitters Club”. You can also buy the whole album for $7 from Bandcamp. Onwards!

The DHDFD’s Facebook

The DHDFD’s Bandcamp

History

Random Surprises: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Good evening folks.

After a night of being fairly productive, I discovered my morning class was cancelled thanks to an impending SNOWMAGEDDON, meaning I could kick back and fuck around into the wee-hours of the morning. This session of fucking around led me to searching random terms on Grooveshark just to see what would turn up. Being the immature child I am, I obviously started by searching “titties” and “booty”. While “titties” turned up some amusing results (Read: Frank Zappa – Beer and Titties), it was “booty” that led me to this late-night post.

Searching “booty” led me to the song “Booty City” by Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, a band I had absolutely zero previous knowledge about. Clicking play, I was greeted by a welcome helping of funk laden guitar riffing, glorious brass sections and some good ole’ fashioned soul music. A quick session with wiki pointed me in the direction of their second full-length album, “Scandalous”, while letting me know they had even been on the late-night TV circuit, making me keep wondering how I missed out on these jams.

Judging from their 23K + Facebook likes, it seems like I’ve been the only one oblivious to the sick jams this Austin, Texas based quintet has been pumping out. Led by the titular Black Joe Lewis, they have been crafting their breed of funk, soul and blues since 2009. All of their influences ring clear, from the dark growls of Howlin’ Wolf to the funk energy of James Brown, resulting in an extremely infectious fusion of the holy trinity of music.

“Booty City” is the track that hooked me, so we might as well start there. Crisp and clean drum work is backed up by minimalist riffing and solid baseline, setting things up for that damn tasty horn section to kick in. Black Joe Lewis provides the vocals, paying homage to all the greats that came before him while still maintaining his own signature style. Sax solo’s, gang shouts and a hefty bassline are only half of the fun waiting for you on this track.

The rest of the album doesn’t stray too far from this formula of rump-rattling grooves. I’d say that funk wins out for most of the battles, as soul and blues are just being used to temper the unstoppable train of funk that’s been put into motion. “Scandalous” and “Messin’” showcase a solid blues rock side, with twangin’ guitars and a howling harp, giving an entire new depth to the album.

I could probably keep writing about this album until I pass out, so I’m just gonna cut things short while I’m still somewhat cohesive. Bottom line, these guys are sick and you should totally go listen to their music.

You can get “Scandalous” from iTunes for $13, which raises up one sole point of contention for me. That is a helluva lot of money for a digital album, even one that is this tasty. I don’t know who decided this price or why it’s so high but even at that price point, these are some damn fine tunes.

You’ll find all the regular links below as well as streams for “Mustang Ranch”, “Sugarfoot” and of course, “Booty City”

Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears Facebook

Stadium Anthems: The Hyper Actives

Morning folks!

I’m exploiting an hour long break between classes to bring you some tasty rock anthems from Sweden’s The Hyper Actives.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about band that doesn’t fall under several different genres, one that’s happy to crank out classic riffs will little regards for trends. The Hyper Actives fill that gap with their 2012 album, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lives Again”, 14 tracks of plain and simple rock ‘n’ rollin’. No garnish and no sauce, just a solid meaty hunk of rock.

“The Promised Land” sets things in motion with clean cut riffing, hand-clap melodies and some Boston-esque vocals, with that slightly Swedish tinge. The next thirteen tracks stay close to this formula, rarely changing up the pace, instead keeping things at a solid mid-tempo gallop. I find this to be one of the albums charms, as each of the songs may be relatively simple but they’re well written and catchy as hell, harking back to a simpler time of songwriting.

This is fun music, just as suited to hyping up and audience at a sports game as it is to throwing an entire bar into chaos. Greatly helped along by the absolutely soaring vocals and guitars, shown perfectly on “Hey Hey Hey”. It’s a style of vocals that may not find a place in everybody’s hearts but I can definitively dig it, as you really couldn’t have this music with any other style.

The lack of fancy effects or fancy playing is a testament to these guy’s playing, as they were able to crank out an entire album of original and infectious riffs that will be stuck in your head all day long. So in that sense it puts this ahead of albums where artists are using blistering technicality to make up for a lack of sick riffs. I much prefer this to someone banging out 6000 notes a minute on a seven/eight string. While it might be impressive, it isn’t exactly catchy.

So if your looking for a solid collection of foot stomping good times you can find “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lives Again” on iTunes for $10. There’s a Soundcloud stream down below for you to give them a listen, along with your usual links.

Now excuse me while I sprint to class.

The Hyper Actives Facebook

The Hyper Actives Soundcloud

Divergence from Down Under: Golden Era Records 2013 Sampler

Good afternoon. Today I’ve got some divergence from down under in the form of the Golden Era Records “2013 Sampler”. For those who have never heard of them (most of you I’m guessing), Golden Era is an Australian record label that has been responsible for pretty much all of the stellar hip-hop coming out of that patch of ocean. I was first exposed to Australian hip-hop back in high school thanks to the label’s founders, the Hilltop Hoods.

I’ve always loved Australian hip-hop for it’s emphasis on catchy hooks, funk laden grooves and some of the best MC’s and DJ’s in my opinion. To me there was always a sense of flow that I had never heard before, just solid rhymes and beats, without any frivolous choruses or other bullshit. Over time I found many other Australian artists as there’s a lot of cameo’s and features between each of the groups. This gives the music a great feeling of community, where everybody was making music for the same reasons.

Since I’d been meaning to write a piece about this music for a while, finding this fresh mixtape was the perfect reason to write something up and also serves as a great introduction into a scene that’s relatively unheard of in North America. Packed with 22 bangers from Australia’s biggest and brightest groups, from Briggs, Vents, Funkoars, K21, and the aforementioned Hilltop Hoods. All of these tracks are expertly tied together, with the mixer, Jaytee, using a variety of samples and international shout-outs to seamlessly stitch the entire thing together.

The flavor is most definitely hip-hop but each of the artists has their own signature style to bring to the table. Bass heavy tracks by Briggs sit beside the more aggressive  party-rock styled Funkoars jams. The Hilltop Hoods have a fairly established sound, something that’s a bit more melodic than other offerings. K21 is a relatively new name to me but I’m enjoying his lightning quick delivery and complex rhymes.

I’m really bad at writing about hip-hop some I’m just going to keep things short. If your still reading and in the mood to listen to some of this music you can find the entire mixtape streaming on Soundcloud or you can head on over to the Golden Era website to download it for free. You can find those links plus a freestyle video that showcases all the artists in this mix below. Enjoy!

Golden Era Mixtape

Golden Era Facebook