Stoner Rock Playlist #33

 

Heavy Sonic Wall (Times Two)

 

SPACESLUG: OUT OF WATER

(artwork by Masiej Kamuda)

Massive Wall Of Sound

I fell in love with this band from the time I discovered “Time Travel Dilemma” back in 2017.  Since then Spaceslug has had instant purchase status with me every time they release a new album.  Each album takes me by surprise in some way, as their songwriting evolves.  “Leftovers” really took me by surprise with its largely acoustic guitar sound, but eventually became my favorite album.  Now that I was expecting more of that, Spaceslug surprises me again.  Not quite a return to any previous sound, but reminiscent of albums like “Memorial” and “Eye Of The Tide” at times.  “Out Of Water” overpowers you with a wall of guitar, bass, drums, unique vocal harmonies and lots of subtle complexities to the songwriting.

 

The opening track, “Tears Of Antimatter”, is as good a track as any to start with, and is best listened to loud:

There is a long list of Polish stoner rock bands that have legendary status in my book, with Spaceslug and Weedpecker being my two favorites.

 Spaceslug are:

Bartosz Janik: Guitar, Vocals

Jan Rutka: Bass, Vocals

Kamil Ziolkowski: Drums, Vocals

TAKE TWO:

UFOMAMMUT: HIDDEN

(artwork by Malleus Rock Art Lab)

MASSIVE WALL OF SOUND (2)

Ufomammut are another band that engages you with a full-scale sonic assault.  Lots of bottom and lots of depth.  Much like Spaceslug, Ufomammut really can't be adequately compared to any other band due to the uniqueness of what they do.  "Hidden" sees their songwriting evolve to another level, with lots of nuances to be enjoyed with repeated listens.

Again, I am going with the lead track, and again I recommend excessive volume to really appreciate this band.  Relax and let the tune take you where it will.  This is "Crookhead":

 

Ufomammut are from Italy, and have been producing skull-crushing heavy psychedelic rock for about a quarter of a century now.  Not getting complacent in the least, they have produced my favorite album in their lengthy discography.  They are:

Poia – Guitars and Fxs
Urlo – Bass, Vocals, Fxs and Synths
Levre – Drums & Fxs
Ciccio – Soundlord

From the band's website:

VERY IMPORTANT:
UFOMAMMUT= UFO: U(nidentified) F(lying) O(bject) – MAMMUT: italian for mammoth
“UFOMAMMUT” should be pronounced in the italian way, sounding like “oofomammoot”…

 

2021 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#10 - 1)

This playlist provides a taste of the very best rock albums of the year, in my opinion.

Each tune is one I've never included in a post or a playlist.  
Since these are the best albums of the year, I can make a great playlist without repeating:

          

#10: "A Better Dystopia" by Monster Magnet

The cast has changed, but Dave Wyndorf always surrounds himself with great talent, and 'A Better Dystopia' stacks up with the best of Monster Magnet's albums.

#9: "Memorial" by Spaceslug

I was still finding more to appreciate about last year's "Leftovers" and now I get a full length release right before Christmas.  Spaceslug is one of the very best stoner/heavy psych bands on the planet.    

#8:  "Working With God" by Melvins

The fact that the Melvins do whatever they want makes them awesome, but it also means I don't like everything they record.  This is one Melvins album where I appreciate everything on it.  The Melvins have managed to stay energetic and fresh for decades.

#7:  "In Carne Persona" by Duel 

Duel's best album so far, and it's top ten status for 2021 is indisputable.  Almost every song has a truly creative opening, and keeps you listening to the end.

#6: "The Burden Of Restlessness" by King Buffalo

King Buffalo made my top 20 last year, but are in my top 10 this year.  How they not only produced another album so quickly, but upped their game and took their songwriting to the next level is amazing

         

#5: "Hushed And Grim" by Mastodon 

          
Almost 90 minutes of new Mastodon.

Enough said.

#4:  "Like No Tomorrow" by Wedge        

One of the first albums to come out this year, and still one of the best.  Wedge has an authentic classic rock sound with inspired, catchy songwriting.  I'll be playing this album for years to come.

        

#3:  "The Family" by Dirty Pagans

Another January release that's stood the test of time, 'The Family' is raw power, with tasteful doses of  falsetto vocals that would make King Diamond proud.

#2:  "Endless Searcher" by Maha Sohona

Maha Sohona is a 122 foot tall demon who is able to spread disease and possess humans(*).  Sweden's rock band Maha Sohona has produced 2 albums, and both are heavy psychedelic masterpieces capable of possessing your entire attention span for their entire duration.

#1:  "Dunbarrow III" by Dunbarrow

As I've said before, Dunbarrow has become the gold standard for the genre that originally inspired them.  

I Wish You A Safe And Happy New Year's Eve!
-ULTRA  

A CONFLUENCE OF RINGERS

It happens every year; a ton of great music comes out at the very end of the year that upsets my top 10 lists, without fail.  What's happened in the last 16 days however, is unprecedented.  Check out the rock and roll genius of these albums by four stoner rock major-leaguers:

SPACESLUG: REIGN OF THE ORION

Spaceslug has produced five albums in four years now.  This volume of production might signal a product that is either of lesser quality, or is simply more of the same each time.  Neither of these is true with Spaceslug.  Not only is each album truly great, but they keep evolving, with each new release offering something the previous album did not.  

Here is one of five great tunes.  This is "Spacerunner":

Spaceslug is (l-r):

Jan Rutka - Bass/Vocals

Kamil Ziółkowski - Drums/Vocals

Bartosz Janik - Guitars/Vocals

RAINBOWS ARE FREE: HEAD PAINS

I've been waiting for this one for what feels like forever.  Brandon Kistler's voice would gain attention even with sub-par musicians, but the rest of the band is elite as well, making Rainbows Are Free a truly special band.  "Shapeshifter" might be my favorite track, but I already posted it so here's another great one called "Covered In Dawn":

Rainbows Are Free are from Oklahoma.  They are:

Brandon Kistler - Vocals
Richie Tarver - Lead Guitar/Synth/Backup Vocals
Joey Powell - Guitars
Jason Smith - Bass/Piano
Bobby Onspaugh - Drums/Auxiliary Percussion

CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL:

EVERYBODY'S GOING TO DIE

Much like Spaceslug, Chuch Of The Cosmic Skull just keeps evolving, and have produced groundbreaking albums two years in a row.  This band is stacked with talent, and have truly done things that no one has done before.  Five great musicians and six great singers with inspired songwriting have produced an album that's important musically on a scale with the likes of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

Church Of The Cosmic Skull are:

Bill Fisher - Guitar & Vocals;

Michael Wetherburn - Hammond Organ & Vocals
Amy Nicholson - Electric Cello & Vocals
Loz Stone - Drums
Sam Lloyd - Bass & Vocals
Jo Joyce - Vocals;

Caroline Cawley - Vocals

SCISSORFIGHT: DOOMUS ABRUPTUS Vol.1

Didn't think I'd ever get to hear a new album from Scissorfight, so what a great surprise this was.  There are a new singer and drum player, but you won't feel like there's been a change at all because "Doomus Apruptus Vol.1" picks up right where "Victory Over Horseshit" left off.  This is blue-collar, heavy, bad-ass rock and roll, and would make the perfect soundtrack to any barfight.  Doomus Abruptus is everything you'd expect from a new Scissorfight album.  Here is one of my favorites, "Where Eagles Drink":

Scissorfight are from New Hampshire, and are:

Jay Fortin – guitar

Paul Jarvis – bass

Doug Aubin – vocals

Rick Orcut – drums

You can buy this album directly from Salt Of The Earth Records here,

or download from amazon

Now throw in Solace's new album, and I'm making the claim that the period from November 29th  through December 13th has produced more epic rock than any other 15 day period, period.

It's like Christmas came early.  Hope you enjoyed checking these tunes out

-ULTRA

SPACESLUG: Eye The Tide

Released Today:

Actually, this was released Friday but since I haven't gone to bed yet, and since it's just a little after midnight, to me it's still Friday.  Anyhow, in the 17 months or so since I first heard Spaceslug, they have become one of my favorite bands.  I own every release, and a t-shirt as well.  Spaceslug music is a mix of doom and space-rock, with vocal harmonizations as distinctive as those of Alice In Chains.  Tripped out, spacey, and heavy.

Here is one of my early favorites, "Eternal Monuments":

And now "Words Like Stones": (am I the only one who hears some similarity to Isis' "Oceanic" album at times on this track?)

Artist Maciej Kamuda deserves an award for his Spaceslug album art alone, nevermind all the other great art he has produced.  You really should poke around here if you are unfamiliar with his work.  

I can't believe how much truly great rock Spaceslug has produced in a short period of time.  They are:

Bartosz Janik - guitars/vocals/synths/additional percussion instruments

Jan Rutka - bass/vocals 
Kamil Ziółkowski - drums/vocals/additional percussion instruments

Spaceslug made both my Top 10 Tunes and Top 10 Albums in 2017, and they could repeat.  Regardless, every Spaceslug release is gold, and Polish Stoner Rock has recently achieved an unprecedented amount of importance.   -ULTRA out

PS: Something else released 'today':

Top Ten Stoner Rock Albums of 2017

Here are my top ten Stoner Rock albums of 2017, in video form.  I picked one tune from each (made sure none are tunes I've posted here in the past), starting with #10 and finishing with #1.  The result is not for the faint of heart, but classic stoner rock through and through.  Playing time is just shy of 64 minutes.  Hope you will have the time to put it on and give it a chance.  If you are short for time or impatient, you can see my #10 through #1 picks below.  In the video, track info is given for the first 20 seconds of each tune.  

#10: "(((I'm Heroin)))" by Mephistofeles            #9: "New Beginnings" by Radio Moscow

Retro and raunchy; great album                             Radio Moscow never disappoints 

   

#8: "Emperor of Sand" by Mastodon              #7: "Reflections of a Floating World" 

Tons going on here, but eventually these                  by Elder.  Elder is one of the all-time 

tunes will be stuck permanently in your head           greats of the genre                                 

#6: "Time Travel Dilemma" by Spaceslug.        #5: "Villains" by Queens of the Stone Age

This, along with "Mountains & Reminiscence",         Josh Homme never does anything 

make two classics in the same year.                            half-assed.  More aggressive than 
                                                              "..Like Clockwork"      

#4: "Force Field" by                          #3: "Spacelord" by Spacelord

                    The Atomic Bitchwax.                              This, along with the 3 tracks on "New

       Stoner rock royalty does it again                        Horrible Menace", are must-haves

#2: "Electric Mountain" by Electric      #1: "Doubleblind"  by Skunk      

Mountain.  Instantly became one                 I swear these guys loved exactly

of my all-time favorites.  Can't                the same bands from the 70's as  

say enough about this one.                   me.  I knew this would be my 

                                                                   number one of the year the first  

                                                                night I heard it.

These Deserve To Be On The List Too:  

"Blackbird" by The Riven: only 23 minutes, but every one of those minutes is classic.  Can't wait for a full-length release

"The Naked High EP" by The Naked High.  Again, can't wait for the first full-length album.  (although their "EP" is as about long as each of the last two Atomic Bitchwax albums)

"Planetary Space Child" by Ruby The Hatchet:  Quality, cover to cover

"About Time" by Horisont:  It's kind of like early eighties hard rock songwriting with a late seventies sound.  Truly unique in today's world and truly great album cover to cover

"Jake Leg Boogie" by Five Horse Johnson:  This band is back in a big way, giving us one of their best releases

"Revolution on Repeat" by Troubled Horse: their second release establishes them as masters of throwback rock

"The Tower" by Motorpsycho: truly mind-blowing material that can't be fully grasped in just a few listens 

Stay safe tonight, and make sure rock music is played really loud as you send 2017 on its way.

Happy New Year, Over and Out 

-ULTRA

TOP TEN  ROCK TUNES OF 2017

Finishes with my pick for #1 Stoner Rock tune of 2017, but otherwise the order is simply determined by nice transitions.  This and the 2015 top ten albums playlist are my two greatest playlists to date.  

Even if you don't agree with my choices for top ten, I think you have to agree that these are ten awesome tunes, that flow really nicely into each other.  Let me know what you think:

Six of the ten songs are the lead track on that album.

Working on my top ten albums playlist - more challenging, because I try to use tunes that I haven't posted on the blog yet, almost to make the point that there are so many great tunes on each album, which is why they made the top ten.  

Back soon with more

-ULTRA

SPACESLUG:
Mountains & Reminiscence

Niesamowite

According to the good old interweb, this is a Polish word which roughly translates to "stunning".  I reported on Spaceslug's February release entitled "Time Travel Dilemma", and have still not stopped listening to it.  Then in September they released another masterpiece.  The tunes in "Mountains & Reminiscence" are dripping with atmosphere, and they engulf you immediately and completely with their smooth, heavy vibe.  The songwriting, musicianship and production quality are all as good as it gets, and the three sets of vocal chords increases the distinctiveness of Spaceslug's sound.

Check out "Ephemeral":

And now "Space Sabbath", sure to be a lot of peoples' favorite on this release 

Mountains and Reminiscence clocks in at just under a half an hour.  The middle three tracks are unreleased material form the Time Travel Dilemma recording sessions, and tracks one and five were recorded this past summer.  At five bucks, it's a dollar per song, but I will be getting years of enjoyment from them.  

I kind of view "Mountains & Reminiscence" and "Time Travel Dilemma" as one big super-release that is definitely one of the best of the year, and may very well end up among my all-time favorites.

Spaceslug are from Wroclaw, Poland and were formed in June of 2015.  They are:

Bartosz Janik - guitars/backing vocals 
Jan Rutka - bass/vocals 
Kamil Ziółkowski - drums/main vocals 

You can listen to or purchase "Mountains & Reminiscence" here on Bandcamp.

Until next time

-ULTRA

Polish Stoner Rock Two-Fer

Hearing Double, Episode 2: 

New Polish Stoner Rock (with classic artwork), Times Two

STONERROR: Stonerror

Released two days ago, this is a great album from a band with a ton of potential.  I would be shocked if these guys don't listen to a lot of Black Rainbows, and of course Kyuss.  Here is the opening track, "Red Tank":

Great album cover (it 's what got my attention in the first place), but now check out the cover to their previous release (an EP), "Rattlesnake Moan":

SPACESLUG: Time Travel Dilemma

Released yesterday, this is a heavyweight find.  Really high quality rock that's a weird hybrid of prog, stoner and doom.  This is the track the album is named after, and also the final tune on the album.  Sander Haagmans of Sungrazer is a guest vocalist on this one.

 Again, eye-catching ass-kicking cover art, but now check out their Bandcamp Banner, and tell me if that's not one of the coolest banners there's ever been?

2016 waited a bit to start putting out great stuff, and really finished strong but 2017 is a bat out of hell right at the gates.  Hope you've enjoyed this stuff even half as much as me.

Next Weekend...

-ULTRA