In January I placed an order with All That's Heavy, and waited, pacing for days, grinding my teeth into bleeding fingers. And this is the first time that ATH hasn't delivered in like split minutes [exaggerated-Ed.]. The firejar of waterfalls rose and fell and rose again, and on a weekend I received notification: a package was at the post office with my name on it! Two months after ordering, I was to weild the discs of space in my weedling fingers, and carefully slide the needle to its virgin surface, lay back, and bare witness.
BLACK MOUNTAIN - S/T
Super. Chunky guitars, mellow organs, sublime singing, both male and female voices, I think an ocharina, and some grooves straight out of the unshot Easy Rider scene wherein everything's all right, but always in confrontation. Sweet, simple lyrics shade like unimportant masks, very effective in repetition and memory. Some songs annoy me. The opening track, I haven't spun since the first listen, and the opener on B-side is giving me cringing shudders as I sit thinking about it. Just listen for yourself. This troop is bringing a storyteller's singing campfire to everyone with a victrola (33rpm, sorry, Tennessee).
EARTH - Hex: or Printing in the Infernal Method
Earth is the best fucking music this side of my shoulders. At first I was tentative about this sparse, evocative effort. I wasn't worried: I just didn't know what I wanted. I have decided thus far that if it's Earth, I'll take it. The meditations of Hex: are gorgeous, deep, and reflective of a contrary source of primitivism usually demonstrated by howling Sunn0))) amps crashing through cymbal stands. The primitivism of this album is a calm, dream-like approaching misty figure, drenched in collective memory, and freeing tassles from his dressings, lighting them alive to inspire thought with their frenetic, nearly invisible movements. This is an old man laughing.
ELECTRIC WIZARD - We Live
We Live is not an album, it is a ritual.
So in summation I could not have picked better for myself. The sludge of the Electric Wizard is by far my favorite, though. It's a different band than the name suggests. I have known about them for years, and never liked them. The Electric Wizard II is very much my cup of threesome tea, please. And every time I don't want to flip from side C to D-side, I either start C again, or make myself put on D-side, which is a steep demonic debauchery of repetition and slick whistles. It is a side long instrumental with a great ending. What could be better?
Honorable mention: Blessing the Hogs - Twelve Guage Solution
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1 comment:
AGREEEEEEED.
I had no idea what to expect from Black Mountain before I had heard it. The sources from whence the words came, "this is a fantastic album" and such and such were of diverse musical tastepersonships, so I retained a healthy skepticism. But alas, having variegated ears to the rail pays off when it's a train like the roaring forth. Bravo.
On Earth: well, I made my thoughts known and you describe it better than I could have. Bravissimo.
And Electric Wizard? I think I was so stoned that I barely remember these records, but I do recall commenting on their awesomeness. So it's time for another listen for me.
Could you see if they have any chocolate bananas, Foster?
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