Weekly Mailbag for 11/26/12 - 11/30/12

A look at what came in the mail this week with quickie reviews ...

Bonzo Dog Band - Tadpoles - Finally it arrived!  The penultimate Bonzo collection and it features three of their best songs two mentioned below and "Mr. Apollo".  They were still a funny novelty act, but Neil Inness was writing some great songs towards the end.  "I'm the Urban Spaceman" in particular is one of my all-time favorite songs.  "Hunting Tigers [...]" is one of those songs that get stuck in your head forever.  They also do a cool cover of "The Monster Mash" here, which is a perennial favorite.  Ah, good band.  Highlights include "I'm the Urban Spaceman" and "Hunting Tigers Out In Indiah". Rating - 4/5

Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are - The seventh and final full-length from the orginal incarnation of Deep Purple, they were beginning to show signs of an ELP/Yes prog influence in places and hearkened back to the late 60s in other places.  They broke up after this, but that's okay because it led to other things like Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.  This is the last original era Deep Purple album for me to hear, it sounds like the band just going through the motions at times, it's also the one with "Woman From Tokyo".  Highlights include "Smooth Dancer" and "Super Trouper". Rating - 4/5

Mage - Black Sands - I had Mage's Bandcamp page tabbed for at least a week waiting to order this one and I couldn't wait for it to come in the mail and I wasn't disappointed.  Review to follow.  The CD came with three different stickers, some free download codes from Bandcamp (including their original EP), a button and a handwritten thank you note.  Very cool package from the band I'd most like in my corner in a bar brawl.  Find it here. Highlights include "Witch of the Black Desert" and "Degenerate". Rating - 4/5

Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride - Much of the same as 'Climbing', only there's nothing here to match the power of a "Mississippi Queen" or the groove of a "Never in My Life".  The more ballady material outweighs the heavy moments, of which there are a few but not nearly enough because they did it so well.  Still, there's a lot of good songs.  Highlights include "Don't Look Around" and "The Great Train Robbery". Rating - 3.5/5

1000mods - Super Van Vacation - One of the best fuzzed out stoner albums of 2011, it's one of those albums where each time you listen you come away with three new favorites.  Very improvisational desert rock, fuzzy, uptempo with tons of crash and though it's a relatively long disc, the jamming draws you in and the album is over too soon.  At 65 minutes and 10 tracks for 8 euros, it's a steal.  Find it here. Highlights include "Navy in Alice" and "Set You Free". Rating - 4/5



... And Now, LK Ultra's Virtual Mail Sack ...

Cultura Tres - El Mal Del Bien - Newly released for worldwide distribution on new label Devouter Records, this record has actually been out in their home territory for nearly two years now.  These Venezuelans billow forth a claustrophobically dark and muggy atmosphere of droney sludge.  For feasters of sludge, don't miss this one.  Find it here. Highlights include "Voices" and "Los Muertos De Mi Color". Rating - 4/5

El Straffo - Live​@​MespotineSessions - El Straffo is a drum and bass stoner rock duo from Tijuana, Mexico.  They play absolutely filthy with thick fuzz.  Their album "Hecho en Mexico" is a bit rough around the edges sound wise, this is a much improved recording of the band and gives the listener a better idea of what they sound like.  Find it here.  Highlights include "El Bandito Cannabico" and "Emanuel". Rating - 3/5

Galvano - Two Titans - Swedish duo Galvano has unleashed their heavy and atmospheric full length debut, also on Devouter records, they play a distant and calculated style of sludge metal.  Relentlessly thick, heavy and drony, there is a quality of sameness here from one song to the next throughout the album, but they are consistent.  Find it here.  Highlights include "Abysmal" and "Hyperion". Rating - 3/5

Weekly Mail Bag 10/22/12 - 10/26/12

A look at what came in the mail this week with quickie reviews ...

Abysmal Grief - Misfortune - I really like this one because it's got something every doom band needs in some quantity: cheesy organ.  The kind you would find Count Dracula playing.  A mood setting album, it's got a good late 60s / early 70s / Hammer horror film feel.  Already had it digitally but had to get the CD.  I don't listen to this enough.  Highlights include "Ignis Fatuus" and "Cadaver Devotion".  Rating - 4/5

Argus - Boldly Stride the Doomed - I discovered this terrific traditional doom band on the Soggy Bog of Doom Podcast's Traditional Doom special.  They have a very heavy guitar attack and the vocalist really belts 'em out, you get the sense he believes in what he's singing and the band believes in what they're doing.  They do traditional doom right.  Highlights include "The Ladder" and "A Curse on the World". Rating - 4.5/5

Bee Gees - Bee Gees` 1st - Released during the summer of love, the Bee Gees First album was neither the falsetto singing disco Bee Gees that you may think of them as nor was it their real first album.  But it is their best.  As psychedelic as the groovy Klaus Voorman cover suggests, this is a solid album if a little slow in places by being ballad heavy.  Highlights include "In My Own Time" and "Turn of the Century".  Rating - 4/5

Blizaro - City of the Living Nightmare - Wasn't sure what to make of this group at first, because I liked what I was hearing, but I kept waiting for the "song" to start.  Once I knew what to expect I was ready for them.  They create soundtracks to imaginary horror movies from the late 70s / early 80s but also have more traditional doom metal songs as well.  Very interesting and worth checking out.  Highlights include "Finale Incantata" and "Portallucinations".  Rating - 5/5

Deep Purple - Machine Head - One of the 'Holy Trinity of Heavy Metal' and another album I grew up with, it was time to add it to my collection if for no other reason than the solos in "Highway Star".  So maybe I am dead sick of "Smoke on the Water" but this album`s still required listening.  Can`t go wrong with any of the first six Deep Purple albums. Highlights include "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin".  Rating - 5/5

Goya - Demo - From Arizona comes one of the most promising demos of the year.  They play a very fuzzed-out style of stoner doom.  The presence of Electric Wizard is
very heavy, especially on "Blackfire", but the spirit of Black Sabbath reigns over everything Electric Wizard's ever done.  That's the great thing about music.  At the end of the day, Goya plays some great tunes with a great tone, both sonically and stylistically.  Highlights include "God Lie" and "Night Creeps".  Rating - 4.5/5

Kadavar - ST - I put off getting this one forever.  It didn't disappoint.  There's a duality to the German consciousness that they like things either old or weird.  Either looking to the past or the future.  Kadavar does both.  Bigass 70s riffs with slightly more adventurous songwriting reminds one of The Shovell.  Liked every song here on first listen.  Highlights include "All Our Thoughts" and "Purple Sage".  Rating - 4.5/5

Led Zeppelin - III - Like most redneck biker kids, I grew up on Zeppelin.  So can you believe I have never actually owned a copy of Zeppelin II or III.  It's always just been around.  Somebody's got those kicking around.  III was the one Zeppelin album my parents didn't have, so of all of Zep it's the one I'm probably least sick of.  Highlights include "Immigrant Song" and "Celebration Day".  Rating - 4.5/5

Mountain - Climbing! - A disappointing album for those looking for more "Mississippi Queen" and/or "Never in My Life", but an altogether solid, if typical, album for its time.  That said, it is worth it for those two all-time classics alone, but there`s more to explore here.  Kind of reminds me of George Harrison`s "All Things Must Pass" album.  Highlights include "Never in My Life" and "Sittin`on a Rainbow".  Rating - 4/5

Premonition 13 - 13 - Not to disparage his faultless musical output in the slightest, but Wino could probably shit on record and I'd pay to hear it.  So without so much as a single note previewed, I went ahead and ordered this one.  As always Wino doesn't disappoint, he just surrounds himself with great musicians and produces every time at bat.  Highlights include "Clay Pigeons" and "Deranged Rock & Roller".  Rating - 4/5

The Smoke - High in a Room - One of the great 60s psychedelic bands, this was their only album released  in Germany and it's not great, but I love this band.  I already had the 'best of'' collection which actually has all the best songs from this album, but being a bit of a completist I had to get this one to have the full album, this CD also has 14 bonus tracks.  Highlights include "High in a Room" and "My Friend Jack".  Rating - 3/5

Under the Sun - Man of Sorrow - Mix Kyuss, Rush and Saint Vitus and whadda you got?  This band.  There's even some Van der Graaf Generator, East of Eden or John Entwistle in there as well.  This is a really unique album as I think it's the only one I've heard that I would classify as Stoner Prog rock.  Great songwriting, excellent tones.  No real weak moments.  Highlights include "Stride" and "Divinity".  Rating - 4.5/5

Hour of Power 10/27/12 (playlist)

Highlights from the week of 10/21/12 - 10/27/12

1. Anxiety Puke / Lovelessness (Bison B.C. / Lovelessness)
2. Looking Glass (Ichabod / Dreamscapes from Dead Space)
3. Hallucination Bomb (Monster Magnet / Mastermind)
4. Red God (Beastwars / ST)
5. Dying Earth (The Sword / Apocryphon)
6. Doom Rock Glazik (Stangala / Boued Tousek Hag Traou Mat All)
7. Waiting For Saturn (Bison, Bison / ST)
8. Passage (Zosimos / ST)
9. Never In My Life (Mountain / Climbing)
10. Known Depressant (Ice Dragon / split 7`` single w/ Fellwoods)
11. Purple Sage (Kadavar / ST)