Siena Root European Tour Starts Feb. 27; New Single out Soon
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 10th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Siena Root touring? Sweet. Siena Root releasing a new single? Even sweeter. Siena Root working on a new record? Ah, there it is. That's the stuff.
The Swedish classic heavy rockers will head out a mostly-Germany tour starting Feb. 27, bringing their collaboration with vocalist Lisa Lystam to stages also in Belgium and Austria. Neat. I won't get to see them, but hey, I'm glad they're getting out. It's really the prospect of new material from the Swedish outfit that's got my interest piqued. Their last record was 2017's A Dream of Lasting Peace (review here), so it hasn't been all that long since they had a release, but a new single and word of progress on a new LP is definitely welcome. Even if it doesn't happen until 2020, the point is it's happening. And that only makes the world a better place.
The tour was announced a bit ago by the band, but I'm slow, so here are the dates and their word of progress on the next full-length:
We're proud to let you know that Siena Root is on tour again! This time the spotlight will be on their recent successful collaboration with blues singer Lisa Lystam, as well as the upcoming single release "In the Fire". The band is hitting the road in the middle of their work on the next album.
"We had the opportunity to work [on songs] in this vintage rural cinema where legends like Ingmar Bergman used to active. The song writing continues and we are looking forward to make another recording soon."
27.02 DE Hamburg, Logo
28.02 DE Osnabrück, Kleine Freiheit
01.03 DE Oldenburg, Cadillac
02.03 DE Hagen, Kultopia
03.03 BE Bree, Ragnarok Live Club
05.03 DE Jena, Kulturbahnhof
06.03 DE Leipzig, Moertelwerk
07.03 DE Nürnberg, Der Cult
08.03 DE Aschaffenburg, Colos-Saal
09.03 DE Siegen, Vortex
10.03 DE Mannheim, MS Connexion Complex
12.03 DE München, Backstage
13.03 AT Wien, Viper Room
Siena Root is:
Matte Gustavsson – lead guitar
Sam Riffer – bass and vocals
Love "Billy" Forsberg – drums and vocals
Erik "Errka" Petersson – organs and keyboards
Samuel Björö – lead vocals
https://www.facebook.com/sienaroot
https://sienaroot.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sienaroot/
http://www.sienaroot.com/
Siena Root, "Growing Underground" live at Zytanien 2017
Tags: MIG Music, Siena Root, Stockholm, Sweden
Friday Full-Length: West, Space & Love, West, Space & Love
Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 6th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Go ahead and file under Øresund Space Collective, I suppose. And while you're at it, pick up the pieces of my blown mind after realizing that it's been six full years since the West, Space & Love album came out. Their self-titled debut (review here) was originally released under that banner, but immediately on its own wavelength. The uniting factor was the participation of synth specialist Scott "Dr. Space" Heller in the project, but actually, at the time, two-thirds of the outfit came from Sweden's Siena Root — those being guitarist/sitarist KG Westman and drummer Billy "Love" Forsberg — so I suppose they were even more "file under" that band, if you want to go by the pure math. In terms of their approach though, well, I'll say the album's on the right Bandcamp. Perhaps the last song title says it best: "Sitars in Space." The notion behind West, Space & Love as a project was that it should be a mostly acoustic psychedelic record. Of course, synth plays a heavy role, but with Westman's sitar, acoustic and electric guitars, and bass, as well as a variety of percussive instruments and more guitar helmed by Forsberg, there remains a strong undercurrent of the organic to the five included tracks on the ultra-manageable 44-minute LP. Though, you know, I say "LP" and I don't think it was ever released on vinyl. Could it be time for a reissue?
Now's as good as whenever, in that regard, though time doesn't really matter with a release like this. It's not like it's going to go out of style. A spirit of exploration pervades — they take their improvisation-minded cues from their Øresund Space Collective parentage, to be sure; not that Siena Root at this point didn't do their fair share of jamming — but again, the plane from which West, Space & Love's jams came was pretty much their own. And it was mellow. Extremely so. In my original writeup for the record, I talk about it behind a nighttime headphone record. I stand by that 100 percent, but I remember clearly the scenario I was talking about was being up late at night at Roadburn in the Netherlands when I first got this CD and listening to it there basically on
repeat for the whole weekend. It's a freakout, but such a quiet one that it was just the perfect chillout to answer that kind of sensory overload. Six years later, the feeling is much the same.
Listening to "High Rise," "Kafi (For Your Love)" and "Spirit Blues" on what would essentially serve as side A, the flow is impeccable. From the harder acoustic strum and percussive pulse of "High Rise" through the patient and graceful unfolding of "Kafi (For Your Love)" — every bit worthy of a comparison to Lamp of the Universe, and that's not a line I'll often draw — and the tracklist-centerpiece naturalism so prevalent in "Spirit Blues," each player gets his moment to shine out from the three-piece. Whether it's Love on "High Rise" and in the one-man-drum-circle during the second half of "Spirit Blues" or Dr. Space with the synth wash at the end of the opener or Westman's initial strum of sitar in "Kafi (For Your Love)" immediately taking my mind to The Beatles' "Love You To" — where it's always a pleasure to go — the personality of each player is in full bloom throughout, and the manner in which they meld together to form something new is nothing short of remarkable.
And that continues into "Repetition" and "Sitar in Space," both of which speak to a self-awareness on the part of their creators. It's easy to imagine that the last two cuts, both utterly meditative in their approach and spacious beyond even what was brought to bear on the three tracks prior, came from later in the session. They seem to be that much more comfortable and settled into a methodology — especially the closer — but I know nothing about in what order these songs happened in the studio, so that's just a narrative brought on by the evocative nature of the material itself. That is, that 22-minute stretch is so immersive and even unto its titles feels so conscious of what it's creating that it's easy to thread the story that it came after the initial explorations at the beginning of the record. For those interested more by general atmospheres than the circumstances of their creation, consider it emblematic of the pull West, Space & Love elicit generally, and the strength in terms of bringing ambience to life. Because while it is for the most part a quiet album, there's no doubting the vibrancy of West, Space & Love from front to back. "Trippy" is overused as a descriptor, but there's a genuine sense of journey in these songs for mind and spirit alike, and whether you let them wash over you or try and pick apart each hand-drum thud, synthesized swirl and sitar pluck, the resonance of the album's entirety will continue long after play has stopped.
It was enough, I suppose, that Forsberg, Westman and Heller came together again in 2016 for West, Space & Love Vol. II (review here). It was a less acoustically-based session, and had the gag-track "Pig in Space" to pull the listener out of the otherwise hypnotic moment, but was still a worthy follow-up to the chemistry established here, and one hopes it won't be the last time these three get together, however busy they might otherwise be. Forsberg remains with Siena Root, while Westman's contributions to 2009's Different Realities (discussed here) would be his last with the band. He continues to focus on Hundusthani classical sitar music and has performances booked between next week and late September, when he'll be in New York and Massachusetts both for select US appearances. His latest album, Sonashish, came out last year through Bihaan Music. Here's a bonus raag from him just because I happened to be on his website and put it on:
Of course, Heller continues to pursue the outer reaches of the known cosmos with Øresund Space Collective, about whom writing has essentially become a means of doing myself a favor over the last several years, as I find their output always to be such a joy to put on and adventure with. I'll say the same applies to West, Space & Love as well, which it's been a thrill to revisit. I hope you feel the same way.
And as always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
Pouring coffee in the dark at four in the morning? What could possibly go wrong?
Sometimes I feel like the late-night/early-morning process of decision making is its own beast entirely, separate from the entire rest of the day. And then I remember things like the fact that I drove out of lunch the other day with my wallet on top of the car, losing it — which only sucks because it was a customized gift from The Patient Mrs. — as well as my drivers license, credit cards, debit card, insurance info, cash in pounds, euro and dollars, and several checks made out to cash, etc., and I remember that, no, I'm a fucking moron all the time. Doesn't matter if it's four in the morning or four in the afternoon. Points for consistency, I guess?
In any case, I emerged from the coffee-pour unscathed, though I still consider the oh-no-I-can't-turn-on-the-light-because-I-might-wake-the-baby-who-is-behind-a-closed-door theory specious and ill-examined at best. Fate may have its way with me next time, but it'll have to wait: this was the end of the pot.
It will be missed.
I've been up since two, which is pretty good, considering. Last night was 12:45, for example. I managed to go back to bed for an hour or so at five yesterday, and I may yet do the same this morning, but it's basically an effort to be done with this stuff by the time The Pecan wakes up. That's been sometime between five and six for the last month, and especially as we've been back and forth between Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey — currently in the latter, until Sunday — my early-morning-get-up-at-4:30-or-five-or-six-and-write time has pretty much evaporated. I've made the best of it, and hopefully not too many typos along the way. Nothing is permanent. Someday, my son will wake up without screaming and make himself breakfast. Whether I'll live to see it, well, let's not be melodramatic.
By the way, in all the hubbub of traveling and dumbassery, I left my all my meds in Massachusetts. Remember last week when I talked about crying for no reason? Yeah. Tomorrow should be interesting.
Speaking of interesting, I'm kicking the can down the line again and pushing back the Quarterly Review another week. The reason? I'm just not ready. I don't have Photoshop installed on The Silver Fox yet or a registered version of Word — the former used to making a banner, the latter for keeping track of word counts for the reviews so I don't fly off the handle and do 500 words for everything — so that's a thing, and I still have one or two more picks to include for a couple of the days. Getting that laptop stolen in the UK really fucked me up. I hope the dickweed who did the snagging got some decent heroin with whatever cash he got in exchange for it. I'd love to hear from (presumably) him.
So, with the Quarterly Review put off, next week has a lot of stuff up in the air. I'll improvise like West, Space & Love, but here's the basic formative plan I'm going from. I fully expect this will change:
Mon.: Saturnia review; Churchburn video.
Tue.: Great Electric Quest review.
Wed.: Black Moon Circle review.
Thu.: TBD.
Fri.: TBD.
Pretty vague. Sorry about that. I was hoping to pull it together on the Quarterly Review and just didn't get there, so the stuff for the week after, which was half-planned as you can see above, has basically been bumped up. If I'm lucky, someone will feel like premiering something in all that. For what it's worth, I've already got stuff planned as far out as July 31. Just not next week.
However, I remain certain this site won't go without its due share of postery. There's plenty out there to cover. To wit, I just checked my email and got asked to do two premieres next week. So things will shape up. I still need to look at Thee Facebooks messages as well. Oy.
Actually, why don't I go do that. Plus it's quarter after five, so The Pecan should be getting up imminently and I should put the first of today's posts live.
And yup, there's the call. Gotta run. Great and safe weekend, and please check out the forum and radio stream.
The Obelisk Forum
Tags: Copenhagen, Denmark, self-titled, Siena Root, Space Rock Productions, West Space and Love, West Space and Love Self-titled, Øresund Space Collective
Posted in Podcasts on December 26th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
So this is something I've never done before. I'm not exactly what you'd call an early adopter when it comes to new technology, but this weekend I finally signed up for Spotify and decided to give a shot at putting together a year-end playlist through that rather than doing the standard podcast. Aside from a kind of ongoing latent concern about essentially giving away downloads of music that doesn't belong to me via the old mp3 files — no one's ever said anything and I always figured it was okay since songs were bundled together as one file — this just seemed more useful in allowing people to explore different artists, albums, etc. If you disagree, I'm sorry.
I can't say I won't ever go back to the other way, or that I'll actively enjoy having a Spotify account enough to keep it, and so on, but it's something new to try, so I'm giving it a shot. The playlist turned out to be nine hours and 12 minutes long, and once I got going, I couldn't really resist making it 65 tracks, what with it being the 64th podcast and all. One to grow on.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening:
Track details:
• Artist, Track, Album, Runtime
• Elder, Sanctuary, Reflections of a Floating World, 00:11:13
• All Them Witches, Am I Going Up?, Sleeping Through the War, 00:05:33
• Lo-Pan, Pathfinder, In Tensions, 00:06:22
• MOON RATS, Heroic Dose, Highway Lord, 00:04:27
• Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, Medicine, Medicine, 00:06:38
• Mindkult, Lucifer's Dream, Lucifer's Dream, 00:09:06
• Brume, Reckon, Rooster, 00:09:12
• Riff Fist, King Tide, King Tide, 00:11:20
• Monolord, Dear Lucifer, Rust, 00:08:41
• Hymn, Serpent, Perish, 00:07:32
• Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Waves, Gravity Works, 00:08:26
• Electric Wizard, Wicked Caresses, Wizard Bloody Wizard, 00:06:43
• Ruby the Hatchet, Symphony of the Night, Planetary Space Child, 00:07:08
• Telekinetic Yeti, Colossus, Abominable, 00:08:56
• Bong Wish, My Luv, Bong Wish, 00:02:31
• Radio Moscow, New Skin, New Beginnings, 00:03:02
• Cloud Catcher, Celestial Empress, Trails of Kozmic Dust, 00:05:41
• The Atomic Bitchwax, Humble Brag, Force Field, 00:02:52
• Sasquatch, Just Couldn't Stand the Weather, Maneuvers, 00:06:27
• Kadavar, Die Baby Die, Rough Times, 00:04:18
• Cities of Mars, Children of the Red Sea, Temporal Rifts, 00:08:27
• Argus, You Are the Curse, From Fields of Fire, 00:06:23
• Comacozer, Hylonomus, Kalos Eidos Skopeo, 00:13:43
• Samsara Blues Experiment, One with the Universe, One with the Universe, 00:15:02
• Orango, Heirs, The Mules of Nana, 00:04:46
• Siena Root, Tales of Independence, A Dream of Lasting Peace, 00:03:39
• Demon Head, Older Now, Thunder on the Fields, 00:04:17
• Sun Blood Stories, Great Destroyer, It Runs Around the Room with Us, 00:06:11
• Spaceslug, Time Travel Dilemma, Time Travel Dilemma, 00:10:07
• Arc of Ascent, Hexagram, Realms of the Metaphysical, 00:07:34
• Causa Sui, Seven Hills, Vibraciones Doradas, 00:07:24
• Alunah, Fire of Thornborough Henge, Solennial, 00:05:32
• Vokonis, Calling From The Core, The Sunken Djinn, 00:06:03
• Enslaved, Sacred Horse, E, 00:08:12
• Dvne, Edenfall, Asheran, 00:07:04
• The Midnight Ghost Train, Break My Love, Cypress Ave., 00:03:33
• The Obsessed, It's Only Money, Sacred, 00:02:35
• Mothership, Crown of Lies, High Strangeness, 00:05:41
• Geezer, Red Hook, Psychoriffadelia, 00:06:02
• Uffe Lorenzen, Flippertøs, Galmandsværk, 00:02:46
• Youngblood Supercult, Master of None, The Great American Death Rattle, 00:04:01
• Beastmaker, Nature of the Damned, Inside the Skull, 00:03:26
• Pallbearer, I Saw the End, Heartless, 00:06:21
• Paradise Lost, Blood and Chaos, Medusa, 00:03:51
• Rozamov, Wind Scorpion, This Mortal Road, 00:08:49
• Eternal Black, Sea of Graves, Bleed the Days, 00:06:33
• Demon Eye, Politic Divine, Prophecies and Lies, 00:03:40
• Snowy Dunes, Ritual of Voices, Atlantis, 00:07:17
• The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Low, II, 00:08:49
• Abronia, Glass Butte Retribution, Obsidian Visions / Shadowed Lands, 00:06:09
• John Garcia, Kylie, The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues, 00:04:58
• Tuna de Tierra, Raise of the Lights, Tuna de Tierra, 00:07:09
• Colour Haze, Lotus, In Her Garden, 00:07:05
• IAH, Stolas, IAH, 00:08:39
• Fungus Hill, Are You Dead, Creatures, 00:08:54
• Atavismo, El Sueño, Inerte, 00:11:18
• Tuber, Noman, Out of the Blue, 00:08:14
• Spidergawd, What You Have Become, Spidergawd IV, 00:03:44
• Puta Volcano, Bird, Harmony of Spheres, 00:05:07
• Ufomammut, Core, 8, 00:05:15
• Kings Destroy, None More, None More, 00:14:03
• PH, Looking Back at Mr. Peter Hayden, Eternal Hayden, 00:16:44
• Mt. Mountain, Dust, Dust, 00:17:15
• Electric Moon, Live Forever Now (You Will), Stardust Rituals, 00:22:41
• Bell Witch, Mirror Reaper, Mirror Reaper, 01:23:15
If you want to follow me on Spotify, apparently that's something you can do here.
Tags: Abronia, All Them Witches, Alunah, Arc of Ascent, Argus, Atavismo, Beastmaker, Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, Bell Witch, Bong Wish, Brume, Causa Sui, Cities of Mars, Cloud Catcher, Colour Haze, Comaozer, Demon Eye, Demon Head, DVNE, Elder, Electric Moon, Electric Wizard, Enslaved, Enslaved Vokonis, Eternal Black, Fungus Hill, Galmandsværk, Hymn, IAH, John Garcia, Kadavar, Kings Destroy, Lo-Pan, Mindkult, Monolord, Moon Rats, Mothership, Mt. Mountain, Orango, Pallbeaarer, Paradise Lost, PH, Puta Volcano, Radio Moscow, Riff Fist, Rozamov, Ruby the Hatchet, Samsara Blues Experiment, Sasquatch, Siena Root, Snowy Dunes, Spaceslug, Spidergawd, Sun Blood Stories, Telekinetic Yeti, The Atomic Bitchwax, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, The Midnight Ghost Train, The Obsessed, Tuber, Tuna de Tierra, Uffe Lorenzen, Ufomammut, Vinnum Sabbathi, Youngblood Supercult
The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 of 2017 So Far
Posted in Features on June 12th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
The time has come to take a look at some of the best albums of 2017 so far. I hardly know where to start. In some ways, this list is harder to put together than the end-of-year one that comes out in December, because by then not only do you have the full year to draw on, but it's easier to sort of put a narrative to the course of events of 12 months, whereas in this case, obviously, the story is half told. So I guess if the list feels incomplete, that might be part of why.
Even with just six months to work from, the list has become fairly immense. I've been keeping track of 2017 releases since about September of last year, and the amount of stuff that's come through has been staggering. Every year brings good music, and the basic fact of the matter is that if you don't think so it's because you're either unwilling to find it or unwilling to let yourself hear it, but 2017 has been a multi-tiered assault of sounds from all over the world, and it seems like whatever you might be into, the universe stands ready to accommodate.
There's a lot to say about that — is the market flooded? — but it's a topic for a different post. I'll keep it short here and just say that as always, it's an honor to be covering the stuff that I cover and that I deeply appreciate you taking the time to read. I hope if there's a release you feel deeply passionate about that you don't see on my list below that you'll please let me know about it in the comments.
Also, please note that in order to qualify for this list, a record had to come out on or before June 9. That's the cutoff.
Okay, here goes:
The Top 20 of 2017 So Far
7. Cloud Catcher, Trails of Kozmic Dust
9. The Obsessed, Sacred
12. Electric Moon, Stardust Rituals
14. Siena Root, A Dream of Lasting Peace
17. T.G. Olson, Foothills Before the Mountain
20. Lord, Blacklisted
If you keep up with this site at all, there probably aren't a lot of surprises in there. These are all records that have been discussed at great length over the last six months, reviewed, streamed, analyzed, whathaveyou'd all the way. If you don't believe me, search any of the names. Still, as far as my personal picks go and who I think has crafted something special over the last six months, this feels pretty representative to me. I managed to live for a full week with the list as you see it above, without making changes. That's usually my standard.
And as always, it's a combination of what I've listened to most and what I feel has had the greatest impact thus far into the year. Between the two, there was little doubt Elder would take the top spot. I've probably listened to the All Them Witches record more than anything else this year, including Elder's Reflections of a Floating World, but the truth is the Massachusetts trio are working at a level of their own making in terms of their sonic progression, and that they've emerged as one of if not the most pivotal American underground heavy rock bands going. The situation was much the same when they put out Lore in 2015 and claimed that year's top-album spot, but even since then their sound has expanded and they continue to demand ultimate respect.
As for the All Them Witches album — absolute stunner. The increased depth of their arrangements on Sleeping Through the War came at no expense of songwriting, resulting in ultra-memorable material that could either wash over you with melody or shove you out of your seat with the force of its rhythm, and that band continues to be a treasure. No other way to put it.
From there, we move into what I think are the four best heavy psych offerings of 2017 so far, with Samsara Blues Experiment, Colour Haze, Atavismo and Sun Blood Stories, in that order. Samsara Blues Experiment's return has been a joy to witness and their first album in four years lived up to the occasion. Colour Haze expanded the palette from their last album with In Her Garden and proved as immersive as always. I'm still getting to know that record. Atavismo's second full-length upped the progressive influences without losing fluidity or cohesion in songwriting, and Sun Blood Stories' hypnotic shoegaze offered expansive thrills and a sense of varied, beautifully crafted exploration.
A pair of exciting young bands thereafter in Colorado's Cloud Catcher, whose boogie is right-on-right-on and whose development continues to hold much potential, and Vokonis, whose crushing riffs on The Sunken Djinn were met with an increased focus on structure and tightening of approach that maximized overall impact. The Obsessed's unexpected return could only be called a triumphant one, and Mothership's third long-player found them working in a richer sense of mood than previous outings, adding yet more character to what was still a blast of good-time rock and roll. They round out the top 10 in full command of who they are as players.
Granted, the next 10 releases are kind of all over the place, but I think that just shows the overarching quality of work being done across the board. From Spaceslug's melodic stoner-psych to Electric Moon's studio return — so, so, so good — to Alunah's continued growth in nature-worshiping heavy and Arc of Ascent's comebacker of rolling heavy riffs and metaphysical themes, there's been so much to take in. I especially like the pairing of Rozamov and Siena Root as a sense of scope for 2017 so far; the former being so dark and crushing and the latter who lived up to calling their record A Dream of Lasting Peace. You want to know both ends of the spectrum? There they are.
PH's Eternal Hayden gets a nod for its effective reset of the context of that band following the completion of their trilogy of albums, and Geezer's Psychoriffadelia might have been something of a tossoff in the making, but the level at which the New York trio jams nonetheless assures it a spot here. Plus, a Nazareth cover. So duh.
I couldn't help but include T.G. Olson's Foothills Before the Mountain on the list as the Across Tundras frontman creeps closer to a full-band sound for his solo work, adding to his acoustic singer-songwriter foundations, and the crush of Telekinetic Yeti's post-Sleep riffing evoked so many nods I thought they deserved one here as well. Placing The Devil and the Almighty Blues was difficult, but especially after seeing them live, I felt like I had a better idea of where they were coming from on II, so knew they belonged somewhere, even if it was tucked in at the end. And of course, Lord. Always killer, always experimenting, always chaotic. Never have grind and sludge sounded more cohesive together. They're the band I wish Soilent Green had become, and yes, I mean that.
Let's do another 10 releases, shall we?
22. Arduini/Balich, Dawn of Ages
23. Brume, Rooster
25. Six Sigma, Tuxedo Brown
26. Demon Head, Thunder on the Fields
27. Summoner, Beyond the Realm of Light
28. Steak, No God to Save
29. Six Organs of Admittance, Burning the Threshold
And just to make the point, here are even more worthy of note in this space:
Child, Blueside (a December 2016 release, maybe, but I think the vinyl was this year, so whatever)
Pallbearer, Heartless
Spidergawd, IV
Green Meteor, Consumed by a Dying Sun
Loss, Horizonless
There are of course other names as well that come to mind. Like I said at the outset, it's a crowded field: Hymn, Arbouretum, Green Meteor, REZN, Demon Head, Galley Beggar, Devil's Witches, Orango, Heavy Traffic, Coltsblood, Mt. Mountain, Vokonis, Solstafir, High Plains, on and on.
Also worth highlighting several really, really quality live records that have surfaced so far this year. I didn't really know where to place them among the other studio offerings, but they deserve note for sure:
Causa Sui, Live in Copenhagen
Death Alley, Live at Roadburn
My Sleeping Karma, Mela Ananda – Live
Enslaved, Roadburn Live
Of course, we're still just barely halfway through the year, so keep on the lookout for more to follow. If you didn't see my massive 200+ albums to watch for list in January, it has many that have come out and many more still to surface, but here are a few highlight names as well that you're going to want to keep an eye on in the months ahead:
Radio Moscow
The Midnight Ghost Train
Moon Rats
Clamfight
the Melvins
Bison Machine
Seedy Jeezus
Before I check out, I'd like to give special mention to Lo-Pan's In Tensions EP as the best short release of the year thus far. Along with EPs from Godhunter, Kings Destroy, Solace and Shroud Eater, it has assured those seeking a quick fix are handed their ass in return for asking.
Well, that's about where I'm at with it. As per usual, I'm sure there are things I forgot and/or left off here, because I'm human and whatnot, so please if you have something to add, feel free to do so in the comments so long as you can keep it cordial. No name calling. I'm sensitive and you'll ruin my whole day. I mean that.
Thanks again for being a part of this and here's to an excellent rest of 2017.
Tags: All Them Witches, All Them Witches Sleeping Through the War, Alunah, Alunah Solennial, Arc of Ascent, Arc of Ascent Realms of the Metaphysical, Armageddon Shop, Atavismo, Atavismo Inerte, Australia, Battleground Records, Brume, Brume Rooster, Causa Sui, Causa Sui Live in Copenhagen, Child, Child Blueside, Cloud Catcher, Cloud Catcher Trails of Kozmic Dust, Colour Haze, Colour Haze In Her Garden, Consumed by a Dying Sun, Cortez, Cortez The Depths Below, Death Alley, Death Alley Live at Roadburn, Demon Head, Demon Head Thunder on the Fields, Dool, Dool Here Now There Then, Drag City Records, Ecstatic Vision, Ecstatic Vision Raw Rock Fury, El Paraiso Records, Elbrus, Elbrus Self-titled, Elder, Elder Reflections of a Floating World, Electric Magic Records, Electric Moon, Electric Moon Stardust Rituals, Elektrohasch Schallplatten, Geezer, Geezer Psychoriffadelia, Green Meteor, Green Meteor Consumed by a Dying Sun, Heavy Hound Records, John Garcia, John Garcia The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues, Kozmik Artifactz, Lord, Lord Blacklisted, Magnetic Eye Records, Melbourne, MIG Music, Mr. Peter Hayden, My Sleeping Karma, My Sleeping Karma Mela Ananda Live, Napalm Records, New West Records, Pallbearer, Pallbearer Heartless, PH, PH Eternal Hayden, Profound Lore Records, Prophecy Productions, Relapse Records, Ripple Music, Rozamov This Mortal Road, Sacred, Salt of the Earth Records, Samsara Blues Experiment, Samsara Blues Experiment One with the Universe, Siena Root, Siena Root A Dream of Lasting Peace, Six Organs of Admittance, Six Organs of Admittance Burning the Threshold, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Tuxedo Brown, Spaceslug, Spaceslug Time Travel Dilemma, Spidergawd, Spidergawd IV, Steak, Steak No God to Save, Stickman Records, Sulatron Records, Summoner, Summoner Beyond the Realm of Light, Sump Pump Records, Sun Blood Stories, Sun Blood Stories It Runs Around the Room with Us, Svart Records, T.G. Olson, T.G. Olson Foothills Before the Mountain, Tee Pee Records, Telekinetic Yeti, Telekinetic Yeti Abominable, Temple of Torturous, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, The Devil and the Almighty Blues II, The Obsessed Sacred, The Sign Records, This Mortal Road, Vokonis, Vokonis The Sunken Djinn
Review & Video Premiere: Siena Root, A Dream of Lasting Peace
Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on May 19th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
[Click play above to see the premiere of Siena Root's video for 'No Filter.' Their new album, A Dream of Lasting Peace, is out May 26 in Europe and June 23 in the US on MIG Music/MVD.]
Among those playing classic-style heavy rock, there are few who do it with the conviction of purpose or the soul of Sweden's Siena Root, and that has remained true in the 13 years since their 2003 Nasoni-delivered debut, A New Day Dawning, despite some significant shifts in personnel and sound. Their fifth studio full-length, A Dream of Lasting Peace, finds the Stockholm five-piece indisputable as masters reveling in the form, even as new frontman Samuel Björö makes his studio debut with the band following the departure of Jonas Åhlén after 2014's Pioneers (discussed here).
Founding bassist/vocalist Sam Riffer and drummer/vocalist Love "Billy" Forsberg continue to resonate as the core of the group, and if their last outing captured them still in transition style-wise after splitting with guitarist/sitarist KG West, whose psychedelic ambience was a huge part of the craft of their early work on albums like the aforementioned debut, 2006's Kaleidoscope (discussed here), 2008's Far from the Sun and 2009's Different Realities (discussed here), these 10 tracks/44 minutes show Riffer, Forsberg, Björö, guitarist Matte Gustavsson and organist/keyboardist Erik "Errka" Petersson well in command both aesthetically and in terms of performance. Throughout the release, Björö shines as a singer and Petersson and Gustavsson play off each other — see the penultimate light-step boogie of "Imaginarium" — in a fashion that would and should make peak-era Deep Purple fans blush with delight.
A Dream of Lasting Peace offers touches of psychedelia in the drifting bluesy jam of "The Piper Won't Let You Stay" and stage-ready vitality across the likes of "No Filters," "Outlander" and the bouncing funk of "Tales of Independence," but primarily, the album lands its impact with the strength of its hooks and the balance of its execution across this range of mostly positive-vibing moods. Siena Root are not a dark band, and they never have been, and A Dream of Lasting Peace sounds like the people who made it were having a good time in a way that proves as infectious as the chorus of opener "Secrets" and "Tales of Independence," which follows in a righteous opening salvo that continues to build momentum as it shuffles into the more laid back "Sundown." Harmonies pervade a more patient fluidity, but with Petersson's underlying organ line and toss-off lead flourish from Gustavsson, the melody is ever at hand, and an instrumental break at 1:48 into the song's unassuming 4:19 gives the organ space for a solo complemented by guitar and propelled by the creative drumming of Forsberg, who adds chimes just before a tom roll signals the change back into the verse that reintroduces Björö on vocals.
It would be a worthy single with Riffer's bass as the foundational element, but it does just as well here as a transition into the even more subdued blues of "The Piper Won't Let You Stay," the longest inclusion at 6:08 and a graceful instrumental swell that seems drawn forward by Björö, who delivers his most impressive performance of the record in what feels like a showcase track despite a midsection crescendo that offers crisp, thicker guitar and key work and dynamic changes in tempo and volume. As they sleek their way through the crashing end of that song and into the organ rumble that starts "Outlander," the return to a more energetic chorus and classic structure marked by its starts and stops is a welcome finish to side A, and the manner in which Petersson and Gustavsson end the track first together, then just with Petersson's keys, couldn't feel more appropriate as the fadeout begins.
Already through the first half of A Dream of Lasting Peace, there is no level on which Siena Root aren't delivering. In performance, in the quality of their songwriting, in the balance of clarity and natural feel of the recording itself and in the spirit driving them, they come across as revitalized, and if Pioneers was their way of exploring the possibilities of where their classic influences might take them post-West, here they take the lessons they learned from that experience and use them to grab the reins of their approach and hone something truly special. Traditionally, one would find a band experimenting a bit more on side B, and the Purple-hued rush of "Growing Underground" teases that possibility a bit in a direct call and response from Gustavsson and Petersson that's just flat-out fun, leading to "Empty Streets," which seems at first to echo "The Piper Won't Let You Stay" but finds Riffer delivering a highlight bassline in tandem with the organ late as part of a rousing apex built outward from a nigh-on hypnotic but still progressive meandering.
The shorter and more straightforward "No Filters" has a push to echo "Secrets" and "Tales of Independence" early on, and makes a suitable centerpiece for side B as it regrounds Siena Root heading into the jazzy instrumental "Imaginarium" and subsequent closer "The Echoes Unfold," which offers a spacious ending with echo on Björö's voice to fill a void of stopped guitar and keys and temporarily paused drums and bass. The play of volume and push that ensues is no less poised than anything preceding, less bluesy than "The Piper Won't Let You Stay," but thoroughly satisfying in its winding chorus and in the key-led ending section, which takes hold at about the three-minute mark and carries through to the long fade just past five minutes in, casting a symmetry with "Outlander" and once again feeling wholly befitting the course Siena Root have set overall.
Given the obvious care put into their presentation and the level of realization Siena Root attain within these tracks and through the overarching flow they create between them, A Dream of Lasting Peace is a joy that feels sculpted specifically to cast a celebration among the heavy rock converted. The band have their niche, to be sure, but they've long excelled in their work and their latest only furthers that thread while also setting them on a sustainable path going forward. Their lineup has always been subject to change and it's entirely possible it will be in the future as well, but these songs hit on a balance worthy of being considered a highlight in their discography and if they serve as a model for the band to follow, at least for a while, that can only be to the benefit of players and fans alike. A no-doubter to stand among 2017's best in classic and progressive heavy rock and roll.
Siena Root on Thee Facebooks
Siena Root on Bandcamp
Siena Root on Instagram
Siena Root website
Siena Root at MIG Music
Tags: A Dream of Lasting Peace, MIG Music, Siena Root, Siena Root A Dream of Lasting Peace, Stockholm, Sweden
Siena Root Sign to MIG Music; A Dream of Lasting Peace Due in April
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Stockholm-based heavy rock classicists Siena Root have signed a deal to issue their next album, A Dream of Lasting Peace, in April on MIG Music. The German imprint is probably best known for its many releases recorded for Rockpalast, as well as a vast swath of krautrock reissues that run in varying degrees of obscurity. Between then two, a band like Siena Root should fit perfectly, with a classic, live-feeling sound that's given to progressive touches. US distribution will be through MVD, which if I'm not mistaken also handled 2014's Pioneers, but either way it's cool to see the record will be out in Spring. Couldn't be a better time for something that's bound to be so brimming with life.
Oh, and I promise you I didn't know this news was coming when I decided to close out last week with Siena Root. Pure serendipity. Kind of nice how it worked out though, right? Everything around here should be so cohesive.
The label's announcement follows, as well as Siena Root's upcoming tour dates in Poland and Germany:
Siena Root – A Dream of Lasting Peace – Made in Germany Music
The Swedish band SIENA ROOT has signed a worldwide record contract with M.I.G. Made In Germany Music in Hanover. "A Dream Of Lasting Peace" is the sixth studio album of the Swedish retro rock pioneers and is already scheduled for release end of April this year. The psychedelic and progressive rockers of SIENA ROOT already have an established and loyal fan base in many European countries and played at the most important festivals on the continent in the last year.
Manfred Schütz, MD of MIG Music, about the new deal: "We have seen and heard the band almost two years ago at the Burg Herzberg festival. After that, it was clear to us that we had to work with these guys! We here at MIG cultivate a very selective signing of artists and bands. That is why we are especially pleased to collaborate with these creative and ambitious musicians."
Siena Root live:
09.03 PL Gdansk Protokultura
10.03 PL Warsawa Chmury
11.03 DE Seelow Blues Rock Festival
12.03 PL Chorzow Lesniczowka Club
13.03 DE Reichenbach Bergkeller
http://www.mig-music.de/en/siena-root-are-signing-with-mig-music/
Siena Root, Pioneers (2014)
Siena Root – Pioneers by Gaphals
Friday Full-Length: Siena Root, Kaleidoscope
Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 27th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Siena Root, Kaleidoscope (2006)
Kaleidoscope by Siena Root
If you've ever listened to Siena Root and not immediately wanted to purchase everything they've ever put out, I dare say you weren't paying close enough attention. The longish-running classic heavy rockers have had enough people come in and out of their lineup over the years to populate a small village in their native Sweden, but they never fair to bring something special to their output.
Starting their first album, 2004's A New Day Dawning, onward, they've stayed true one way or another to '70s heavy vibes, but they were among a few early adopters when it comes to the current wave of boogie rock, even in Sweden, and their first four albums — A New Day Dawning, 2006's Kaleidoscope, 2008's Far from the Sun and 2009's Different Realities (discussed here) — stood out all the more not only for the vintage feel, but for the fullness of their arrangements. Working with labels like Nasoni Records and Transubstans Records, Siena Root freely explored blends of organ, percussion, Rhodes, Mellotron, vocal changes, and sitar — the last of those provided by multi-instrumentalist KG West, who would play an increasing role in shaping the band's sound over those four outings.
On Kaleidoscope, the group set a pivotal forward motion, and at the winding-down of the CD era, they purposefully built a two-sided, 51-minute offering of primo naturalist groove. The lineup of vocalist Sanya, vocalist/organist Oskar Lundström, lead vocalist/guitarist Sartez Faraj, West on guitar, organ, sitar, Rhodes, and mellotron, bassist/percussionist/vocalist Sam Riffer, and drummer/percussionist Love Forsberg, brought together a bluesy spirit that turned out to be as prescient of what was to come from Sweden and of course the broader European sphere of heavy rock as it was backward-looking to the heavy acts of yore. Anchored by Riffer and Forsberg in the rhythm section, opener "Good and Bad" moved from catchy shuffle into a hazy spaciousness with a certified-organic jam that seemed to be taking its cues via what-would-Ritchie–Blackmore-do and then built its way back gloriously to the place from whence it came in an eight-minute show of mastery that let listeners know immediately they were in for a killer trip.
From there, side A played to more straightforward and bluesier spirit in "Nightstalker" and "Blues 276," bringing Sanya's soulful delivery forward on the former amid backing organ and sleekly bouncing the low end in the latter in a loose, gorgeously- and clean-toned jammer, efficient at 3:43 but with enough swing for a song of three times the length. It was on the subsequent "Bhairavi Dhun" that West's sitar took the lead position, and though the nine-minute track eventually welcomed in wah-soaked bass, drums and flute, the delve into Indian-influenced composition remained a bold and striking turn for Kaleidoscope to take, becoming one of the central impressions left behind when it was over. Siena Root already stood out from what was then a much smaller pack — recall Graveyard wouldn't have their first record out until 2007 (also on Transubstans) — but the Subcontinental stylization of "Bhairavi Dhun" absolutely put Kaleidoscope over the top.
And they still had half the record to go! The initially minimalist drift-into-jam of "Crossing the Stratosphere," low-end foreboding into a resuming of the more straight-ahead rock jamming of "Nightstalker" or "Blues 276," would lead directly into "There and back Again," marked out by its Purple-hued organ and bass fluidity, and the rumble at the end of "There and back Again" once more set the stage for the full-boogie of the six-minute "Ridin' Slow," which might've lived up to its name but for the energy with which it was delivered. Another stellar vocal from Sanya, another stellar bassline from Riffer, and another affirmation of jammy righteousness from Siena Root as a whole, "Ridin' Slow" shifted into open-plucked guitar notes in its midsection in post-Zeppelin fashion, but kept a progressive edge thanks to the Mellotron and vocal effects before moving back into more vibrant push, which is how it ended, making its way out still grooving on a long fade.
As for 11-minute finale "Reverberations," it would have its work cut out for it in summarizing the suitably multi-color Kaleidoscope as a whole, but a long, linear showing of instrumental chemistry said as much about what made this incarnation of Siena Root work so well as anything else could have. Flute — or flute sounds, anyway — and organ and guitar and bass and drums all came together with class and purpose, and while one might've appreciated a return of West's sitar layered in for symmetry's sake with "Bhairavi Dhun," the cacophony at which "Reverberations" arrived lacked nothing in terms of making its impact and closing Siena Root's second album on a delightfully immersive note.
Siena Root reissued a remastered version of Kaleidoscope — which is what you're (hopefully) hearing above — through their own Root Rock Records imprint in 2015. After the blissfully conceptual Different Realities in 2009, it would be half a decade before they'd put out another studio album in 2014's more modern-feeling Pioneers (discussed here), though their 2011 live record, aptly titled Root Jam (track stream here), felt like an appropriate celebration of their work in the meantime. Now comprised of Riffer, Forsberg, vocalist Samuel Björö, organist Erik Petersson and guitarist Matte Gustavsson, Siena Root are currently the process of mastering a new full-length, and, having had the extraordinary pleasure of seeing them live last fall at Høstsabbat in Norway (review here), it is a record to which I'm very much looking forward.
Call me crazy, but by the time I saw the news last night that the aforementioned Graveyard are getting back together, my head was already spinning from the outright barrage of information this week. Monday and Tuesday, five-post days, but Wednesday was seven, yesterday was six and this post makes seven again for today, and that's a lot for my poor, feeble brain to take.
I'm already behind on stuff for next week as well — it's like everyone on the planet chose this week to release their new video — and it's a busy one besides, but here's a rundown of how it looks so far:
Mon.: Special post and XII Boar video.
Tue.: Evil Triplet track premiere and Strange Broue video.
Wed.: Shroud Eater premiere and Demon Head video.
Thu.: Hollow Leg premiere and Dot Legacy video.
Fri.: Stinking Lizaveta premiere and Black Mirrors video.
All this stuff is pretty much locked in, so that's how I'm expecting it to shake out, but of course changes happen.
I'll say a special thanks to everyone who liked, shared, commented on and helped build the Tomorrow's Dream post to a point of being over the 200 mark. I especially appreciate the civil tone the comments took and the fact that people genuinely seemed interested in making it a more complete document rather than simply calling me out on things I missed. Thank you for that, and thank you as always for reading.
Do yourself and me a favor and have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and the radio stream.
Tags: Kaleidoscope, Nasoni Records, Root Rock Records, Siena Root, Siena Root Kaleidoscope, Stockholm, Sweden