I am not sure how I ignored this band for so long. This is solid. Listening to their song "Fedra" was a brutal reminder:
Also give a listen to "When I was a dog", this is worth it...
Actually, I encourage you to check out the two full albums from where these songs are taken, they'll garantee you a nice and heavy trip... If you are more into lighter psychedelia, maybe their 2007 album "Black Hole" is for you. This one stands a bit outside in its tone and weirdness, but is also a really interesting experience!
I am in a mood for deep relaxing trippy hypnotic melodies these days, if all these adjectives put together make anysense to you... If not, maybe one song will be enough.
Electric Orange, krautrock band from germany that produces compromise-less weird stuff, has probably a large repertoire of awesome inspiring tracks, but I didn't have time to explore it so far. Just this album, Platte, which is already quite a trip...
This album is truly special. It took me a few minutes to enter it, but then I stayed totally captivated... That's really deep, with incredibly relaxing parts, with savage riff-loaded sections, and with totally weird moments. What an interesting album! :O
It's late at night, I have an unreasonable amount of unfinished work and a deadline tomorrow, how am I going to keep my mind awake through these lonely dark but busy hours? Listening to this:
Föllakzoid - II
The only risk, being taken to far into space by the trip...
I know, a bit late. But seeing all these "top albums of 2016" on stoner/psychedelic/doom blogs tickled me. Especially because I felt like justice wasn't done to some awesome releases of this year. I've seen a lot of really new stuff in this tops and that's great. I can't keep up the pace, but here are albums that I enjoyed in 2016. The order matters approximately. These are mostly stoner rock and heavy psych albums, but some may have a relent of doom, post-rock, or oldschool hard rock.
1. 1000mods - Repeated Exposure to...
I was amazed when listening to the first albums of 1000mods (Super Van Vacation and Vultures). However THIS, THIS last album is incredible!!! I had some mixed feelings about the voice in previous albums, but here the singing is really perfect. To me this is their best album, and by far. Any single song. big riffs, big melodies. Respect sirs.
2. Gin Lady - Call the Nation
Released 5th of January! and listened all along 2016 :D This one was truly addictive. Sounds like classic 70's rock but done with sun, good mood and groove. That's the album you wanna play to be in good mood for the whole day! Really beautiful melodies, as in "Heavy burden", and entrancing progression, combined with such a seducing voice. Uplifting.
3. Monomyth - Exo
As for 1000mods, to me this album surpasses the previous ones (that had set the expectation really high already). This album is an epic travel through space, and what they brought in this album is more violence compared to previous releases. Take the trip with LHC, sending you directly to space with that mind-blowing rhythm and riff.
4. Tumbleweed Dealer - Tokes, hatred and caffeine
Wow yeah, a band I discovered this year! That album blew me away at the first listen. Why? Because of the funk! the groove! There is a funky-jazzy vibe in this album that is exactly what rock'n'roll sometimes lacks. Plus the cover is amazing.
5. Planet of Zeus - Loyal to the Pack
Yeah, the return of Planet of Zeus, one more exceptional greek (stoner) rock band. I was so thrilled of the news of a new album, but my first listen was a disappointment. What the hell? What's this? Now I understand my reaction: the first song I listen is "Loyal to the pack", of the eponymous album, so I think, good choice to see what Planet of Zeus wants to show us with this album, right? Well that might be the song I dislike the most in this album (Well, I don't not like it really, but this song is... normal, nothing special). And I'm also not super impressed by the second one of the album, so for a first listen it made a bad impression. Combined with the change in sound that is less groovy, less southern (less Clutch-y?) than their previous albums, I was about to think Planet of Zeus was gone on the path of boring mainstreamness. BUT THAT'S NOT THE CASE! Came back to other songs, they are really entrancing, this new sound of the band is really well executed. It's a nice dark and chill album with a really clean and distinct guitar sound like I like. Just give a listen to "Them Nights", "Your Love Makes Me Wanna Hurt Myself" and "Retreat". Not so stoner maybe, but to me that's a sign of quality and creativity when a band doesn't stay limited to a genre.
6. Electric Octopus - Be Real
Wow. Psychedelic rock meets funk? what a groove. Go directly to The Big Glop
7. Psychedelic Witchcraft - The Vision
I can't express enough my love for this band. Ok, the sound is quite consistent, and this album kind of sounds the same as their previous one. But what a sound!!! Simply, the voice is my idealised perfect woman voice :D It's sexy, strong and filled with emotions, I'm filling shivers along my spine... Bewitching is the appropriate word. And the instrumental arrangement that comes with is at least as good! This guitar sound is so soft, so 70-ish, it feels like velvet. Sorry, I can't really well describe this album, all I can say is that I have a very physical reaction to this... Peace and Love.
8. IZŌ - IZŌ
Now comes an obscure release I guess. I stumbled on it on youtube. I wish other stoner rock blogs would have spotted this one, since it is really one of the best releases of this year, and of any year! I'd describe it as doom, but not monotonous doom. There are really different phases and moods in this album, from savage brutality to more chill/groovy phases. High-pitched sounds fly over massive bass-lines, entrancing the listener, or should I say, space traveler?
9. Sunnata - Zorya
A brutal release. So much power. Doom. Apocalypse.
10. DeWolff - Roux-ga-roux
Feel the funky ethnic vibe. Sugar moon is a masterpiece.
11. Earthless/Harsh Toke: (split)
Yeah, because Earthless. There's no point discussing. Plus "Acid Crusher" might be one of my prefered Earthless songs. It has so much GROOVE!!! It truly hypnotised me, entranced me. Just let yourself dance along this track, feel the progression, and the funky demon take possession of your body and mind, and you'll understand what psychedelic music means. Amen.
12. Black Space Riders - Beyond Refugeeum EP
Ok, not purely stoner, but at least post-rock. And Black Space Riders is an incredible stoner-postrock-space rock band. Here they reworked their previous album with a more "electro-rock" sound. It's just perfect. Nothing else to say. I'll leave you and dance on it.
13. Cambrian Explosion - The Moon EP
Cambrian Explosion is a term in paleontology referring to the explosion of diversity in life forms a few 500 millions years ago, when multicellular animal life had appeared and gave birth in a very short window of time to all modern phyla of animals (vertebrates, arthropods, cnidarians, worms...). That vision of a sudden explosion has been revised since, but you may have noticed, such a name puts a lot of images in my head. Images of ancient submarine environments, strange animals, and a distance back in time that's so difficult to conceive for the human mind... So seeing that title, I had to listen. And I was not disappointed. It's sometimes powerful, sometimes trippy, sometimes chilly, really a journey. Take that trip. To me it's a perfect heavy psych album, and a perfect album. Wait, that's just an EP? Can't wait for the LP!!!
14. Mountain Witch - Burning Village
For lovers of vintage psychedelic doom. Good old doom.
15. The Gentle Art of Cooking People - o
This cover is sublime. And that's why I clicked, I admit. But the sound also smashed my face. Some very heavy and very dark doom-noise. Very post-rock in some parts, it's all very strange and trippy, but in an uplifting manner. I've rarely seen an band combining so much awesomeness through different ways of expression, be it the name of the band, the cover of the album, or the music itself.
16. Domadora - The Violent Mystical Sukuma
Holy goat, I almost forgot this french band!! The kinship with Earthless is quite obvious, but still there is a special touch with Domadora. It is a massive BRUTAL album. Prepare to get crushed by riffs from outer space.
17. Youngblood Supercult - High Plains
Good release, it's classic stoner rock.
18. Red Sun Cult - Red Sun Cult
I'm cheating, I discovered this one while writing this (january). Unfortunately for me, I was listening to the Underdog song... and a drum solo always achieve to convince me. Check this out.
More releases I liked
Spacegoat - Superstition
Brant Bjork - Tao of the devil
Wight - Love is not only what you know
Druid - Odysseus
Naxatras II
Wo Fat - Midnight Cometh
Spacelords - Liquid Sun
Witchhelm - Jötunn (EP)
Three Leg Dog - Red Sun
Check this out
Well, I don't have time to listen to everything, but I've seen the following album mentionned, or already listened to previous album of these bands, so here is a list to go through later!
Radar Men from the Moon - Subversive II Splendor of the wicked
Svvamp - Svvamp
The Claypool Lennon Delirium - Monolith of Phobos
Salem's Pot - Pronounce this!
Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression
Astroboy - Astroboy EP
Kandodo/MacBain (ex Monster Magnet!) - Lost Chants/Last Chance
Datura4 - Hairy Mountain
Subrosa - For this we fought the battle of ages
Blues Pills - Lady in Gold
The Re-Stoned - the reptile returns
GOAT - Requiem
Motorpsycho - Here Be Monsters
Jagannatha - Jagannatha
Asteroid - III
ZAUM - Eidolon
Causa Sui - Return to the sky
Fai Baba Sad and Horny
Hexvessel - When we are death
Lord Mountain - Lord Mountain EP
Electric Lady - Queen of electricity and her coming kingdom
Don't want to be only reposting videos from Stoned Meadow of Doom, but yeah this guy makes it difficult to not find good music on his channel...
I wanna share two albums that have some common points, in that they are more psychedelic than purely stoner, and have a little funky taste. These are both instrumental albums, but never boring, actually totallycaptivating as the melodies are really constantly changing and bringing contrast.
These are just awesome albums !!! Listen to them !
Tumbleweed Dealer - Tokes, Hatred and Caffeine
Hailing from Canada, this band has made some really good records previously, but this one immediately captured me.
Same for this band, coming from Belfast, I listened to their previous albums, had a nice impression, but THIS ONE! This one is a GOOD ONE!! Rock on guys!
new album, new tone. Great sound, but here were my first impressions : I felt like it had lost a bit of its groove... The voice is different too, more casual, and I liked a lot the roughness and brutality of the first albums. But then I let it decant a little bit, gave it a few more listens, and actually ended up playing this album 3, 5 times in a row... So yeah, the tone has changed, it's definitely a new atmosphere, darker, bitter and the result is quite addictive!
Planet of Zeus - Them Nights
PS: This album is not so new anymore, that's just because I made a draft of it few months ago and decided to let my impressions solidify...
Okay I have a lot to catch up on my recent listenings...!
So let's start with this pure gem. Something that will bring you very high in groove land. Talking about Mushrooms Project, and this album Undergrass, which doesn't sound like anything else I have heard. At first I wasn't even sure if it would classify into electronic music or rock. It's characterized by a laid back tempo, being simultaneously quite slow-paced but very entrancing. It's impossible not to vibrate with dat groove. The whole album is absolutely hypnotic, dark, industrial, and reminds me a little of Pharaoh Overlord.
Next, digging deeper into that hypnotic vibe, I finally came across something in the same vein as Mushrooms Project. This is amazing :
You probably already know this band. Now personally, I only had heard "Rock Lobster" on the radio, but today I had this other song playing from my library: Hero Worship. Thought this might be worth some interest... A good dose of rock'n'roll, kind of pop, but definitely psych according to... er just a personal feeling. Anyway, enjoy this little gem of bubbling energy.
Seriously, I don't get how I never heard of Middle Class Rut before... because it's simply epic !!!
Their rock sounds incredibly dirty, usually I don't like it very much, but it gives them such an powerful and brutal atmosphere. The singing, loud, angry but somehow melancolic makes the whole composition so emotionally intense! Add to that a rhythm that hits hard, and you can't help headbanging. I need more bands like this.
Prepare yourself. There is a wind from the east that blows a sudden cold air on your soul. It brings distant sounds of pinched strings and mouth harp. You're aspirated into a sad and melancolic folk trip. Then a new epic breath comes in with the throat singing. Yes, throat singing, like in mongolian music. But wait, that's not all. The rhythm accelerates, and now the song rises powerfully with bone-crushing riffs. If you resisted until there, you will let yourself be conquered by the powerful female vocals. That song is impressive. Take the trip:
I also appreciate the choice of Electricsheep for the video, go check this program, it's creating fractal screensavers by natural selection (evolution in action!) :P
