July was a
underground UK band from the 60s. They disappeared for ages and then came back
in 2011 and still play today. There was a great article on them in the Greek
Timemazine a couple of years ago. They released a new album of material called
Resurrection. The track on this 7” is an extended version of Can I go back
Again plus a slightly shorter demo version of the same song from that album. I always have my doubts about people spending
their money on something like this as it is a song you already have and now
just two slightly longer versions. There is a lot of music out there.. but the
collectors follow this label and they have to buy it… The sound production is
very clean and modern and not very 60s sounding but the song is a quite cool
experimental piece with some strangeness and a bit of throwback feel with sitar
twanging mixed with some electric guitar. A cool song for sure. The demo
version is more vocal driven and less refined for sure.This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
Friday, April 29, 2016
July- Can I go back Again 7” (Fruits de Mer Records Crustacean 71
July was a
underground UK band from the 60s. They disappeared for ages and then came back
in 2011 and still play today. There was a great article on them in the Greek
Timemazine a couple of years ago. They released a new album of material called
Resurrection. The track on this 7” is an extended version of Can I go back
Again plus a slightly shorter demo version of the same song from that album. I always have my doubts about people spending
their money on something like this as it is a song you already have and now
just two slightly longer versions. There is a lot of music out there.. but the
collectors follow this label and they have to buy it… The sound production is
very clean and modern and not very 60s sounding but the song is a quite cool
experimental piece with some strangeness and a bit of throwback feel with sitar
twanging mixed with some electric guitar. A cool song for sure. The demo
version is more vocal driven and less refined for sure.Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Elder, Mondo Drag and Carousel- Loppen, Christiania April 25th, 2016
I
had only planned to go by and say HIGH to the guys but we had such a great time
when I arrived and it was so cool to see them all that I hung out and I am glad
that I did. All the guys in all three bands were super cool guys. We had some
beers and talked about music, life, travelling….. I spoke to all of them, especially Jack, the
bass player. Matt and Nick at great guys as well. Nick has moved to Berlin now
so they have a stronger base in Europe. They have a lot of friends in
Copenhagen after they toured with our local band, Pet the Preacher. Also, their
visual guy and graphic artist, Adrian lives here!
Anyway,
I had never heard the Pittsburgh, PA band Carousel
before and they were really excellent but too loud. There was not that many
people yet when they started at 21. They opened with Jeweler’s Daughter, a
powerful opening track. The next track was excellent and they did a lot of
trade lead guitar between the lead guitarist and the singer, who also did about
a third of the lead guitar. I filmed the next song, Buried Alive. The new drummer in this band is totally
awesome. He really hits the drums super hard and grooves like hell. He also
sings back vocals. It was a good variety of tracks. They ended their set with
the title track from their new album, released last Sept, 2113. Cool 70s rock
stuff.
Set
List: Jeweler’s Daughter, Photograph, Buried Alive, Trouble, Strange
Levitation, Penance, 2113
Mondo Drag, from Oakland, CA, were next
and now there were a lot more people. They are a five piece band with two
guitars (one also plays an MS20 mini on a few tracks), keyboards (he sings lead
vocals), bass and drums. I was surprised to see like 150 people on a Monday
night! I had seen the band at Roadburn
10 days ago but only caught the first few songs as we went to see Diamanda
Galas, who I felt I might never get another chance to see, whereas the chance
to see these guys was much higher. They started off the show with some very
organ driven tracks. It was the same as at Roadburn from what I recall but then
they really started to diversify the set with a super cool instrumental track
with a bit of a mid-eastern feel to it. I wish I had filmed this one but I
filmed the next song. The band plays the songs pretty straight and don’t really
jam or improvise at all but have great songs. The last song, Shifting Sands was really cool but they
ended it when they should have really jammed this cool groove out. A great band
but I wish they would let loose a bit and experiment more. Super nice guys. I
talked a lot with Alejandro.
Set
List: Zepher, Plumajilla, The Eye, Out of Sight, Rising Omen, Incediary
Procession, Dying Light, Initiation, Ride the Sky, Shifting Sands
Set
List: New Jam, Compendium, Legend, Sanctuary, DRS, Jam, Gemini, The End
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Wo Fat, Mothership, Doublestone- Loppen, Christiania April 22nd 2016
Wow.. what a great night this was. I showed up around 7:30
to see if I could meet up with the guys. The WO Fat guys are fans of Øresund
Space Collective, so we have talked before and got on great. Met them and the
Mothership guys at Freak Valley. Anyway, sure enough, they had finished dinner
and were hanging in the backstage room so I knocked on the window and one of
the Doublestone guys came and let me in.
We chatted
about life, music, Psycho Las Vegas, politics, and all sorts of stuff for a few
hours. I had a couple of beers. Got to meet the new bass player Ryan, who also has his own band, Crypt Trip. I went up into the club about 20mins before
Doublestone were to start and was super surprised to see so many people. 200
pre-sale tickets for a stoner-heavy rock gig…
Wow.. this was more than Nebula was getting back in the day… Great crowd
and I know almost know one! Lone, MÃ¥rdøn and a few others…. A whole new
generation getting into it.
| Doublestone |
Set List: Djævlens Egn, I Natten, Fuglene Kalor, Solen Sewe,
War Machine, Here comes the Serpent, Bring, Man on the Hill
Mothership hit
the stage like a hurricane! Kelly bring so much energy with his shirt off,
heavily tattooed body and great stage presence. He was here to deliver the
heavy metal riffs! They totally tore it up playing a mix of tracks from both
albums like Elenin, Hallucination, Win or Lose (last track) and some from the 2nd
record as well like Hot Smoke and Heavy Blues, Serpents Throne, and
Astromancer. It was an intense 45min set. I had spoken to them a bit about
jamming and stuff but they did not do any. They are a very tight unit! Smokin!
The crowd loved it.
Wo Fat were on
really fast since it was all the same gear, must have only been 20mins before
they kicked things off with the Black Code. The band started off a lot of the
tracks tonight with these slow and spacey intros before Ken would lay into the
might riffs. What a killer guitar sound, so nasty and heavy duty. Reminds me of
Billy Gibbons sound on the record XXX. I had not heard the new record yet and
they played songs in a row from it and totally jammed and spaced out I think,
Three Minutes. Ken was in the zone and the whole band really went out there
tonight. I had never seen the band play so great. Ryan was killing it on the bass. He and Michael work awesome.. Good chemistry like they had with Tim. The Mothership guys also
thought they really had some awesome and more loose and jammed out tonight. Crowd was
totally into it as well. Anyway, the show was
really awesome. I guess they played about 70mins or so, but I don’t really know
as I was drawn into and right up in the front.
After the show I hung out and chatted with Ken, Ryan and Michael
(Drummer) but also others. I was not home until nearly 3! Great night guys.
Thanks..
Set List: Black Code, Conjuring, Read the Omens, Three
Minutes, Namless Cults, Nightcomer, Smoke and Fog, Beggars Bargain, ?? (Encore)
Boar, Deep Space Destructors, Øresund Space Collective- KB18, Copenhagen April 9th, 2016
This was a great night of space and stoner rock. Sadly
hardly any people showed up. Most of the guys from MÃ¥neskjold were there, Lone,
Thomas and Jesper (Gas Giant) and a few Finnish people to see the great bands
from Finland.
ØSC started the show off and we played about 75mins and a
really cool set. Nicklas from Papir was really amazing on this night. So
inspired. Jiri and Martin totally kicked asss on the rhythm section. The newest
guitar player to join us on a regular basis, Jacob K, also played some great stuff. Mogens had
trouble hearing but I thought he was great and the sound on stage was great for
everyone except for Mogens (who never complained until after). Cool set. You can hear it at the link below.
| Deep Space Destructors with Dr Space |
Set List: Return to the Black Star, Spacemind, From the Ashes. Journey to the
Space Mountain, Hurry on Sundown (Hawkwind).
Boar is a four piece psychedelic stoner rock band from Oulu.
They released a record last year called Veneficae on the Lost Pilgrim Record
label. I will review it soon for you. Anyway, the had a really high energy and
intense stoner rock sound and were totally awesome when they were jamming out
with killer bass lines and great leads from both guitar players. There was only about 15 people up front and
into it which was a pity as I thought the band was great. I
Set List: Poseidon, Sahara, Kraut, Trees, Featherless, Sand
| BOAR |
A great night.. So many amazing shows at KB18 pity the place
is not nicer.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Roadburn Festival 2016- Tilburg, Holland April 14-17th
I am back at Roadburn for the 11th year in a row.
It has basically just become part of my life to come here every year to hang
out with some of the most dedicated music fans in the world. This is the first
time I have brought my wife (Mrs. Space).
Lee Dorrian (Rise Above Records) is the curator for his Rituals of the
Blind Dead II. There are also special showcases of Icelandic bands, primarily
Black Metal as well as a Finnish band showcase. Today, there are some quite
cool bands playing like Black Mountain, Hexvessel, Bang, Arktau Eos, Mantra
Machine, The Skull, Cult of Luna. Paradise lost and Converge.
We started the day off with Cult of Luna and I had seen them a few times in the past. They were
playing their album from 2006 called Somewhere along the Highway in it’s
entirety. They had a great sound and
lights. A big crowd that was into it. The main venue is huge now. The big
difference is that they pushed the stage back about 10m and cut away most of
the steps in the back so the floor is massive now. Balcony is the same but just
feels further away. Great show.
After half hour we checked out the Australian band, Inverloch, in the green room. Pretty heavy stuff....
| Cult of Luna |
I was excited to see the SKULL. If you don’t know this is the new Trouble sounding band
fronted by ex-Trouble singer, Eric Wagner. This set was mostly songs from the
Trouble albums from the 90s records and then also some of his new bands
material, which is very Trouble sounding. I thought the set was excellent. Cool
songs like Psychotic Reaction, End of my Daze, RIP, Touch the Sky, Mr. Green
Man and many more.
| The Skull |
| Hexvessel |
| BANG |
| Converge |
I was pretty disappointed with Zone Six. We only stayed for half the concert as this line up of
Zone Six does not work well. Rainer is great on the freaking out guitar but
Sula and Lulu just don’t groove for me. The rhythm section just was not there
leaving too much pressure on Rainer to hold up everything. This was so
different in the old days of Zone Six, with Walt on drums and Sula on bass.
Wow.. they were great together. Stick to Electric Moon, where Sula and Lulu have
a better chemistry.. This really does not do justice to what a cool band Zone
Six used to be. Just my opinion….
| Black Mountain |
Day 2 (April 15th)
| Diamanda Galas |
US Death
metal band, Repulsion were next on
the main stage and the room was pretty packed. I don’t know this band at all
but they had a great crowd and a pit was going right from the start.. Pretty short and intense songs with some nice
guitar solos as well. Very fast stuff.. Phew…. We saw about half the show. I
was told later did a cover version the Hammer by Motorhead. Impressive.
Next up was
Within the Dead, Lee Dorrian, the
curators, new band. They were really heavy and showed some intense depressive
movies. Lee did a good job with the vocal delivery and sings in a style that
suits him better than in Cathedral. Hardly any guitar solos and lack of variety
in the songs at times but some of them were really excellent. It was a really
solid show and the crowd dug it. We saw the entire show from about 5m from the
stage. Powerful..
We went
into see the Hills and they were
still soundchecking and by the time we came back like 15mins later, they still
were but the place was so packed it was impossible to get inside. We had seen
them last year so we decided to just get some air until GISM. A lot of people
said they were blown away by Hills but some also told me the 4 songs were too
much a like, not there was not enough variation in the set.
GISM, are a hardcore band from Japan.
This is their first gig outside of Japan ever and also their first gig in like
10 years. They were having a great time and the audience was totally into it up
front and the people hanging on the stage. They were really fun and had the
most crazy movie collages running that I had ever seen at the festival. Really
wild stuff. Sometimes the band reminded me of Discharge or Charged GBH with a more
metallic guitar.. Cool show. I really liked this a lot.
Now, I
needed to relax a bit and prepare for my own show with Black Moon Circle at the Extase bar at 23. It was pouring down rain
now and I had to go back to the hotel and get my synthesizer. I had a lay down to rest my feet for 15mins
and then we got a plastic bag to put over my synth and walked over the venue.
All the guys were there ready in the back stage and the mood was great. The
band Bliksem was still playing and
totally rocked the place. They ended their show with a long jammed out version
of the old Janis Joplin track, Move over.
The Black Moon Circle
gig was pretty filled up considering that Pentagram
and Peter Pan Speed Rock and Dark Buddha Rising were also playing at
this time. I thought we might play to 10
people! We opened with a shorten version
of Andromeda, which used to be the set closer on the last tour and then into
Machine on the Hill. This is a great one to play. We don’t play it that often
actually. Then the trio of new songs: Magnificent Dude, Lunar Rocket and Warp
Speed. I think they all worked really well and Warp Speed, we just blew the
place apart with the intensity… Wow.. People loved the show.. I had a great
time…
That was more or less it for me. There was the Skull playing songs from the first
3 Trouble albums on the main stage, Zone
Six in the Green Room, Hair of the
Dog at Extase and Ülfsmessa in
the Church. Still lots of cool stuff but I had given 100% at the show and
needed to come down now… It was a great day of music.
Day 3 (April 17th)
| Yadok III |
Next up was
Galley Beggar. We hung out with
Martin (Litmus) and his girlfriend before and after. This was a great gig. I
love their last record and the songs were great live. It was also Walter’s
favorite album from last year. The band really gives space for nice guitar
solos and instrumental sections in their really cool translation of English
folk and rock. Amazing.. Wish they could have played longer. The 2nd
to last song was quite heavy and had a great build. Lovely singer. This was
really great.
| Beastmaker |
We decided to get some food now as it was 19:30. We ate at
the restaurant under the church and then it was time for some of Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell. I really like this band. This was the first
time I had ever been up on the balcony in the church. Very cool place. They
started off with two new songs, I think and they both totally kicked ass.
Amazing stuff. Especially the 2nd song had an amazing groove. I wish we could have seen the whole set but next
up was a UK band recommended by Martin called Crumbling Ghost. This was a bit hard to describe actually. A bit of
UK folk, 60s psych guitar parts, more hard rock, and a great female vocalist.
She even did one track with voice alone. About half their tracks were
instrumental. The first 3 songs just blew us away and then a few instrumental
tracks and back into it again. It was a great set. I liked them a lot. I was
really sad that I did not buy their record.
We went over to the main stage to catch a bit of Amenra. We saw the first three songs.
The band was sitting in a circle facing the screen and there was only black and
white spot lights to illuminate the people. The music was extremely boring
though. We just did not get it at all but the room was packed so their must be
something wrong with us or a whole lot of other people!
Atomikylä blew my
mind.. We arrived really early and this did not help. The place was totally
jammed and hot 20mins before they started and were soundchecking. This was some
super intense stuff. Long songs that just built up and then wild Heavy metal
and doom and just super psychedelic. Probably my favorite band today. I was
really blown away. Mix of Dark buddha Rising, Circle, Oranssi Pazuzu and you get this wild sound.. We heard the last track from the hall though as we ran out
of beer tokens and I was sweating a lot and thirsty as we had been in their for
an hour. Great sound and super loud.. Phew…
Now you had to choose, Neurosis,
Blood Ceremony, Kenn Nardi, We’rewolves or Lugubrum Trio….. We decided for
the balcony at the Church for Blood Ceremony. This was a great concert and
totally packed. We could sit down and have a beer to hear most of the concert
and then we stood up for some of the new songs they played in the middle of the
set. Amazing live sound and the new songs sounded great. I look forward to get
the new record (already ordered).. We were pretty blasted by now and thought
about catching the end of Neurosis but went back to the hotel… Great day..
Afterburner (April 17th)
| Mirrors of Psychic Warfare |
The old
band, Blind Idiot God from the USA
was making a very rare lie appearance was next in the green room. This was some
really cool stuff. Reminded me of Fred Frith/Massacre stuff at times. Strange
bass and guitar parts, intense drumming and some wild guitar at times. The 3rd
song was a super cool track with some dub inspiration. From this point on in
the concert the would do a crazy intense riffing track and then back into a
more dub-reggae strangeness. I thought they were great.
We wandering in an caught a few songs by Jakob, a New Zealand post rock band.
They had some cool visuals of like trees underwater that moved slightly… Their
sound was not that good though. The drums were way too loud and just drown out
the melodic lightly played guitar parts. IT was too boring in the end for us.
No guitar solos and more or less the same dynamics for every song. Dreamy
stuff, intense heavy guitars, dreamy stuff.. etc… I don’t really get this genre
of music most of the time.
| Blind Idiot God |
| Jakob |
| Ecstatic Visions |
We had to
go out and get some food now so we did not see Klone (France) or Witch
Trail… Next up for us was Neurosis.
This was a trip for me in a way as I was surprised they played some of their
really early stuff from Pain of Mind, when they were a hardcore band. What an
amazing sound they had as well. Massive, super loud but great details and not
too loud drums, which was a problem in the big room for me with a lot of
bands. Super angry, powerful stuff. We
saw the first 45mins and this was really great. I was really surprised they had
no visual projections. What a band.. Makes we wish we had seen them yesterday. These
two shows were only being performed here at Roadburn and in San Francisco the
week before.
Gentleman’s Pistols played a totally
rocking show for about an hour! Lots of tracks from the new record with Bill
Steer (Firebird, Carcass) on lead guitars. This was really great 70s hard rock
with killer riffs and fun songs. I just wish they were a bit more loose and
jammy.. Just tight 3-4min songs, never a cool jam or even a 7min song. This
Robin Trower like new one was really great called Stress and Confusion. Mrs.
Space loved it.
That was it for us.. There was only Mr Peter Hayden (seen them twice and they were amazing both times),
Burial at Sea, Menhir and Death Alley
left. I had seen all those bands except Menhir before. We were tired.. We had
one last beer outside the Cul De Sac, said bye to some friends and just
reflected on another amazing festival and 4 days of incredible and diverse
music. Wow…
Considering there are 1000 extra people you mostly seem to
notice it out on the streets.. Like always, if you wanted to see bands at
Extase, the Church and Cul De Sac, you had to make some sacrifices and leave
early or there was no way to get in. Some of the cues for the church were
insane this year. Anyway, it is always
that way at Roadburn. If you really have to see that band, you do what you have
to do to get their early and don’t complain!! The Juliper pilsner beer they
served at the venue was a real disappointment and I we are quite sure it was
watered down or much lower in alcohol than they stated. Also, you really felt
ripped off at several of the bars, especially Estase, where you would get ¼ cup
of foam in an already small glass. A rip off….
One has to complain sometimes…
Thanks to Walter and Lee Dorrian for an amazing musical program.
The magic was there again. It was amazing.. Also. please also check out my friend
JJ’s amazing take on the festival for a really detailed account.. http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/
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