Category: 2011

The Re-Stoned – Analog (2011)

“The Moscow-based instrumental power-trio THE RE-STONED is usually associated with the local “stoner rock” scene, not because their music can only be appreciated by inveterate weedeaters but because of its heavily fuzzed sound and reliance on muscular riffing in golden 70’s style. Ilya Lipkin (guitars), Vladimir Nikulin (bass) and Andrei Pankratov (drums) leans on a combination of bluesy guitar-drenched textures and spacy, almost psychedelic jam-meandering trips, but the most important thing is their great skill at creating melodies so that you get really caught without any vocal hooks. This one is a great thing, whether you are “stoned”, “re-stoned” or not. Riffing is the essential of each song, but the band are not shredders of the simple boogie rock power of raw. Classic rock, blues-rock, traditional doom and stoner enthusiasts, and everyone else who appreciates original and challenging hard-rock music will like THE RE-STONED.”

Bandcamp

Brian Ellis Group – Live at the Casbah (2011)

“Brian Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist from San Diego, CA, best known for his work as lead guitarist in the psych/prog band ASTRA. Having very little time for a proper rehearsal, the decision was made to play completely improvised sets, heavily influenced by early 70s fusion from Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tony Williams, Soft Machine and Magma, the afro beat rhythms of Nigerian legends Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, as well as the intensity of heavy modern jam bands like Earthless and Acid Mothers Tempel. The result is a unique, forward-thinking blending of sounds that is virtually unheard of from modern bands, paying homage to it’s influences while never being derivative.”

Bandcamp

Lighted – Queendom (2011)

“A strange poisonous gas has been leaking steadily into the basement, and it seems to have created a new toxic variety of mold that makes the hippies get violent. Hailing from Minneapolis MN, Lighted lay down aggressive synth squelch and circular diatonic guitar-scuzz over dead solid trap-kit booms and trance inducing zoner fuzz. Grimy biker-rock moves (ala Hawkwind sans fantasy gouda) combine with slamming rhythms and epic kraut-drones to create killer tracks of contemporary white knuckle psychedelia. When the smoke clears, the fingerboard is splintered and the power strip is shooting sparks. Their releases capture live improvisations. Heavily psychedelic and totally groovy.”

Eternal Tapestry & Sun Araw – Night Gallery (2011)

“It’s certainly good music with nothing that wouldn’t theoretically appeal to all outré rock fans. It was recorded completely live, with no overdubs, in one 45-minute session at the University of Texas after the two acts became best buddies during the course of the SXSW Festival. So, it has that rawness that can make many a jam session as electrifying on disc as it would have been when witnessed live. There are delicious swathes of fuzzed-out electric guitars, the kind of unending riff-meets-solo that has become somewhat de facto on the modern-day psych scene. Eternal Tapestry favor a twin-guitar attack, with Nick Bindeman and the appropriately moniker-ed Dewey Mahood Wah segueing in and out of each other’s solos, taking it in turn to try and dazzle with the distorted strings of their axes.”

Navigation