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Listen: Meshuggah – I

Now, I’ve heard some heavy songs.

The first time I heard Metallica’s ‘One’ on headphones as a kid, I felt I was literally inVietnam, frenzied and overwhelmed.

In my first experience with The Beatles’ ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy),’ I was nearly comatose in the absorption of apocalyptic drone and the fuzzed out march of death (though the brownies might have aided in that).

But as this decade comes to a close, I’ve got to say that Meshuggah’s track (and EP of the same name) ‘I’ takes the cake as not only the heaviest song ever recorded, but perhaps the heaviest song that can be recorded. If you haven’t heard it yet, throw on your headphones, hit the LaLa button above, and sit back. You’re in for a ride.

‘I’ is the sound of everything going haywire. It is a journey through the forthcoming era of machine dominance, when man transcends his own biology and merges with technology. And ‘I’ is when it all goes wrong.

Not only that, but the song is practically self-aware. Just when you think a section within it’s 21 minutes are getting slightly dull, it blindsides you over the head with a drop deeper into the chasm. The floor falls out from under you, and the 8 string guitar pummels you into a bouncing pit. ‘I’ knows your thoughts, and how to fuck directly with them.

The song is unquestionably a studio piece. There was never any intention of performing this behemoth live, and it likely wouldn’t even be possible. The sheer force of this thing lies in the production itself.

Now there are certainly other kinds of heavy. High on Fire, Electric Wizard, and Ufomammut come from a completely different world of heaviness, and are totally badass for doing so. But for my pick of heaviest song possible, I’m the technology of production in mind. Meshuggah know how to produce modern metal (few do, it seems…), created for the listener.

And for the observant listener, they stuck little easter eggs in the track too.

The intro is exactly 1:32 of pummeling drums and chugging riffs. Not 1:30. Not even 1:31. But 1:32. That’s the nature of the Swedish sense of ironic and absurd humor.
Look at your music players little ball to see that they placed the very heaviest riff at exactly halfway through the song.
The song is 21 minutes long. 20 would be too easy. 22 is right out.
Have a listen.

But just know that if you can’t make it all the way through, Meshuggah wins.

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Maybe I’ve been to too many death metal shows.

Maybe I’ve been too funked by to much funk.

But when I see a band completely killing it, throwing their all into their music, the sound actually moving, I need to move myself.

That’s why I was completely flummoxed to see the four guys in Baroness exude more energy than the entire crowd at last night’s Clutch / Baroness show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.

Granted, Baroness’ brand of progressive stoner metal (a bit of an oxymoron, yes) isn’t geared toward the uninitiated. Their syncopated grooves, shifting hits of time signature, and hoarse bellows from the more scenic areas of the underworld aren’t exactly crafted for your average rock and roll booze hound.

But it was still a shock to barely see any movement in the crowd for John Dyer Baizley’s poppy scented rock band, considering that Clutch’s terminally obsessed fans came out that night for big guitars, loud drums, and big balled howling.

Which, to be sure, Clutch later brought in spades. From the two vintage Marshall half stacks on the guitar side, to the giant kick drums and massive groove of Jean-Paul Gaster’s drum kit, Clutch screamed rock and roll, and the crowd adored their no nonsense jam.

I, on the other hand, need a bit of nonsense to keep my attention, which Clutch soon didn’t. I couldn’t help but thinking that if I owned my own bar, Clutch would be my perfect Saturday night house band. Or at least a good chunk of my jukebox would slosh in the beer soaked grooves they were throwing at the crowd.

But I’ve always had trouble sitting down to listen to a Clutch album. As good a singer as Neil Fallon is (and he most certainly is a fantastic wordsmith and howler), very rarely does he actually sing a real melody. And as good as a riff monster Tim Sult is (and he most certainly is a riff monster), he rarely plays anything that really piques my interest. He’s not a Tony or a Jimmy; he lays down a fat groove, but he doesn’t do it with the soul burning fire that a rock band this capable, this potent, should be secreting from every pore.

The mighty Baroness however, perhaps with that essential intensity of a young, talented upstart, threw out their all and probably won some new fans. But it’s going to take a little dulling of their musical razor if they want to really win over Clutch’s sycophantic obsessives.

Hopefully there’ll be an open bar at the next Clutch show.

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Yes, I’ve already written a little dP blast about the Ozric Tentacles, and for good measure.  They’ve been consistently swirly for over 25 years now, and eternally fueled by hallucinogenic globs of mind stuff, will probably keep up their long trip for years to come.

Last night was their second show of their newest tour in support of The Yum Yum Tree, and while the crowd was notably sparser than their last stays in San Francisco, it was nonetheless a joyful one.  An encore was demanded by the crowd with a furor I haven’t heard in years.

While the band is led by the “man, the myth,” Ed Wynne, it is really Ed’s wife Brandi Wynne who, in managing the low end and sound spirals, is the head honcho (in poncho).  Her exuberant grins when the music spirals into infinity, and her jubilant jumping when drummer Ollie Seagle is on a roll (which he was at many times last night), fuel the fire and keep the music beaming.

Though it is still Ed that keeps the music ablaze.  With his unlabeled Marshall stack pointed directly at him, and his litany of keythings to his side, he is an unabashed musical control center, guiding his band through colors unimaginable, into worlds unknown.  The bits between the bits, indeed.

This is psychedelic, hallucinogenic music.  While the experience is certainly enhanced by the consumption of leafy greens, smelly fruits, or a chemical supplement, the music essentially provides this itself.  A great deal of audience members had their eyes closed and their heads tilted back while the Ozric Tentacles shredded their heads away.

Many bands combine dub, electronic, techno, trance and psych (Younger Brother, EOTO, Shpongle, to name a few), but the Ozrics have always had the wild card of Ed Wynne’s complete mastery over the electric guitar.  Had Frank Zappa actually done drugs, he would have very likely come up with something like the Ozric Tentacles.  You can see the same smile of Ed’s face when everything is going to plan as Zappa had when his band was on a roll and it was time to take a blast into solo land.

I do need to point out one hilarious moment of the gig.  After snapping a string on his Ibanez JEM, he had to replace it for his trusty Artist at one point in the night.  However, later in the set, he went to pick up his guitar for the next song, and grabbing the JEM, forgetting what had happened.  It took about 20 seconds and a knowing glance from his wife before he noticed the guitar was crippled.  It was a hilarious moment for all, but just goes to show you that a quarter decade of living in the ether can take it’s toll.

This current group of the family Wynne and friends is certainly a psychdelic squad of the swirly, and, even after 26 albums, has no end in sight.  I raise a glass of soma, and toast the 25 anniversary of the Ozrics!

The Ozric Tentacles new album, The Yum Yum Tree, is now available.

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Since the first time I saw Grails, opening for Neurosis, I’ve been smitten. It could easily be said that I celebrate their entire catalog. Over the years, the band has engaged in a fair deal of label hopping, with releases on Neurot, Important, Southern (Latitudes Series), and most recently Temporary Residence.  Acid Rain serves as a nice retrospective of their career, including highlights from their hazy 2004 tour of Europe, CMJ performance in 2006 and a full NYC set from 2007.

 The real highlight though are the six original videos, edited by drummer extraordinaire Emil Amos. Basically a cross of 70’s cult cinema and cosmic imagery, these moving images provide the perfect accompaniment to Grails spacey sounds. I don’t know when Mr. Amos had the time to put this together, as the man is constantly involving himself in various duties. When not manning the drums for Grails, he’s behind the kit alongside Al Cisneros in ritual drone outfit Om. And since that’s not enough to keep a person busy, Emil also records solo projects under the moniker Holy Sons. Not a dud among all his works. 

But enough with the idol worship.  Medicate, check out the teaser below, and feed your brain Grails.

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Gojira have come a long way to be here.  They hopped the Atlantic Ocean, breaded their bus, and are smoking across our country, leaving thick wafts of death metal perfume wherever they go.

Fortunately for us, drummer Mario Duplantier and guitarist Christian Andreu surrendered an interview with downPICK before their first headlining tour Thursday night at Slim’s!  We discussed food, the French, why European metal fans are boring, and Gojira’s plans for world domination.

J’aime San Francisco au mois de Mai…

Enjoy!

Well first off, welcome to San Francisco!

Christian – We went to a very nice place today, the hippie place.

Haight Ashbury?

C – Yeah I think so, I don’t know.

Did you make it to Amoeba, the big record store?

C – No, just to take coffee, to stay in the sun, and walk around.

Mario – We took a coffee and came back.  We don’t have enough time to visit.   It’s very frustrating for us each time on tour.  We just have one day and the day afterwards is another city.  San Francisco is an amazing city.  We know from France, everybody talks of San Francisco.  It’s very famous.

We were upstairs and looking at your merch table, and you had lots of pamphlets for PETA, the whales, and vegetarianism.  Are you Vegetarians?

C – Joe is vegetarian.  The rest of the band is not, but we just eat meat sometimes.  It’s very important to be careful, but we are not Vegi.

M – We feel concerned.   Christian is very concerned.  He has garden, and works on his own vegetables.

What do you grow?

C – Everything, tomato, eggplant, squash, and, uhhh… concombre?  How do you say…

Cucumber?

C- Cucumber!

Who’s looking after your garden on tour?

C – Mum! (laughs) and my brother too.

Is it hard though, when you’re on the road?  It’s a lot of fast food, especially in the United States.

(continue reading…)

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This year’s Bay to Breakers event was an experiment. We didn’t quite know if floats were legit; we didn’t quit know if drinking in public was legit; we didn’t know if general good times were legit.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the party was legit, and we all raged like Paul Baloff would have wanted.

The song that was blasting throughout my brain throughout was Ozric Tentacles’ trance masterpiece, ‘Waterfall Cities’. Goddamn, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face listening to this one, blasting through town on my bike on my way up to the Panhandle to party.

The Ozric Tentacles are a unique band – they go from the most minimal ambient swirly psychedelic jams to the highest grade slammin dub blast party bombs you’ve ever wanted to hear, all in a live band. Forget vocals, the Ozrics don’t waste their time in providing exactly what your dome needs to hear. Waterfall Cities is one of the best comps they’ve brought to us in their 29 album career (and yes, they’re all good).

The title track on Waterfall Cities kicked my ass on my way to Bay to Breakers and kept my bouncing all day. It was an epic event this year for me, and I can imagine it was for you too. In fact, if it’s Sunday and you’re reading this, then you haven’t quite broken the bay yourself, haven’t you?

Check Ozric Tentacles new album “The Yum Yum Tree” out now, but really catch them at ‘The Independent’ in San Francisco on May 27th.

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Roadburn 2009, curated by Neurosis, was a spectacle that I am still kicking myself for missing. If you are like me and were unable to make it over to Holland for the good times, fear not! Holland’s major media network  Vpro 3voor12, has started posting full live sets from Baroness, Ufomammut, Saviours, and Amon Duul to name a few. Plug in and tune out.

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These days music gets pigeon-holed into ever shifting and newly created genres that have no underlying meaning.  Every band is tagged post and hyphens abound. What was once just metal, became black metal, then blackened something. Are they atmospheric too (a fancy way of saying has keyboards). Oh yes, let’s also create US and “true” European factions. Corpse paint or not? Defining a metal band’s genre has now become more difficult than buying a car.

I’m going to skip all that nonsense for Velnias. The band has its roots firmly planted in black metal, but have evolved into something far greater. Their demo “Pacing The Cyclic” was pretty straight forward an uneventful; A satisfying listen that presented nothing new. The full length debut “Sovereign Nocturnal,” on God is myth records, is a different beast all together.

The album contains three tracks, and runs over 40 minutes.  Even though they are only a three piece, there are long brooding passages, evoking a sense of a moonlit forest, and the spirits within. The easiest comparisons would be Wolves in the Throne Room and Agalloch. Its certainly a challenging listen, but very rewarding. The album clearly invokes the underlying message of the band; that we are temporary. Everything we have built will eventually crumble, and we will be returned to the soil. In this track based society, not many bands spend the effort to craft an album. This is not the case here, and those who spend the time with the album will certainly reap the rewards.  When asked what the phrase “Sovereign Nocturnal” meant to him, singer/guitarist P.J.V. replied:

“Aside from an homage to the majesty of the all consuming nocturnal hours it is an outlook on the state of things. It is a personal feeling that the falling of night– the coming of dark times is inevitable and absolute. Our lives entrusted to this fragile way of being shall soon fall cold as things collapse. If it is not by physical destruction on some scale then it shall come through our fixation on this industrialized and globalized way of life. We lose sight of the things that matter, forget the struggles of our past, and spit in the face of the natural world for misguided goals and beliefs. We are left stabbing each other in the back, climbing over brother and sister, with complete disregard for true strength, honor, or virtue. The incestuous orgy of greed and corruption breeds corporate titans of calculated efficiency racing, full force towards inevitable death in the material wasteland we have created for ourselves.”

Amen. I had the privilege of catching the band live at the Hemlock Tavern with about 20 other people, and I was well impressed. Their set lasted around an hour, without pause or break. Much like the album the songs all intertwined and created something much greater. I am told the band will soon be moving from Chicago to Colorado, to be closer to nature. May they continue to draw strength from the forest and build off of this release.

P.S. In Slavic mythology, Velnias is the God of evil, and the brother of the creator God Dievas…

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Earlier today, we received a comment on our Negură Bunget breakup post from a mysterious character named “Sol.” Since this is the Internet, and no one would ever misrepresent their identity in this most sacred of realms, I immediately knew that Sol Faur himself had found our epic blog, and wanted to set the record straight on the dissolution of the band. Apparently the “official” statement we referenced was drafted by drummer Negru and presents only his version of the events.

Today, Sol Faur and Hupogrammos issued their own statement, calling Negru’s actions “selfish and greedy.” Allegedly Negru was to start a new band named “Din Brad” while Sol Faur and Hupogrammos would continue to work together under a new name, to be determined later. Now it appears the Negru will continue to use the Negură Bunget moniker, yet with an entirely new cast. The statement concludes with “We, Sol Faur and Hupogrammos, who have composed nearly all music and written the lyrics of and for Negură Bunget herewith, declare that this band is dead. Any continuation of it just means a sham and a fake in our eyes.” Pretty strong.

Stay tuned for the next exchange of barbs. I for one am hoping this results in some gangsta rap style beef and we get some solid Romanian archaic black metal diss tracks…

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Sleepytime Gorilla Museum have a penchant for the otherwise.  No two records – or tours for that matter – have ever fallen to uniformity, and that’s just the way they like it.  Their roisterous show last night at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall featured a rambling mustached Italian, apocalyptic dances, and a 20-piece marching band bazaar.   And did it ever rock.

It’s been just under two years since SGM’s last record, In Glorious Times was released, and the band has just wrapped up their latest spring tour, finishing up with this hometown show.  For a band whose live show can only be described as a ’spectacle,’ this show was truly an extravaganza amongst spectacles, pulling out all the stops and playing at the top of their game.

Fortunately for the 6 and a half billion not in attendance, the evening was documented on film as the first official video evidence of the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum live experience.  But as the Museum regularly updates it’s collection, the next tour will likely be an entirely different exhibition of natural history.

Museum curators Michael Mellender [guitar, percussion, stuff], Dan Rathburn [bass, slide piano log, things], and Carla Kihlstedt [violin, stroh horn, trappings] gave up some of their precious pre-show preparation to chat with me about their musical philosophies, songwriting processes, listening habits, and plans for the next record and forthcoming film.

dP: You guys are really great at bringing out artists that most people haven’t really heard.  Last time here you brought along accordion extraordinaire Jason Webley and bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles.

Michael: Ah Edmund Welles, we played with them on this tour.  Occasionally we’ll do an entire tour with one band, but that is not the norm.

How do you find these guys?

The goal ultimately is to play with bands we know and love and want to be on the road with.  There was one tour where we did a string of shows with Cheer-Accident from Chicago, our favorite band in the whole world.  And also we went out with Secret Chiefs 3, they’re incredible.  This time we went out with Dub Trio, we did a week of shows with them.  We try to line it up when we can, but it’s usually at the discretion of the venue or the promoter.  They really know what’s going on locally; we don’t really know the bands in Doylestown, PA.

I’m excited to see Fred Frith.  I was talking to Nils earlier, he used to the term mentor.

Yeah, mentor, influence, man about town.

(continue reading…)

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