I wasn’t expecting to like this because, generally, I rarely do stoner-rock stuff these days. So I don’t know why I played it. But I played it.
Which led me to wondering what it was about it, but then I remembered something I said to my mate the other day, a thought that I’ve held for a long while now – if music resonates with you then you don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to justify it to anyone. If you like it, you like it.
I like this.
I got on Hey Colossus’ latest bus a couple of weeks ago, a day after I first went deaf in my left ear. Don’t worry, I think it’s just wax and I’ve got an appointment to get it looked at, and then there’ll be at least another singular canine aural offering once I can hear properly to mix.
It also coincided with me popping the delusional bubble that nonetheless was the driving story behind last years Changing Landscape series, so in many ways, my first ride could not have come at a worse time.
I nonetheless really enjoyed the ride. Not too surprising, when you think about it. Hey Colossus are a bus that regularly drives through the Soundbergs and are always welcome in this parish. This latest bus journey they’re offering to would be passengers is every bit as good as the previous rides.
May the Hey Colossus keep on rolling.
I think I may have mentioned once or twice that I’ve been working on my own thang again. Well, this be that thang. The final details took longer to clear up than I was anticipating, but I’ve now put it up on Bandcamp and look forward to the next 18 months or so of not listening to it at all (it takes about that long for me to revisit earlier stuff due to the intensity with which it surrounds me as I prepare it for birth). I shall update the website when I’ve got the CDr side sorted for anyone who likes home made CDrs.
I was actually going to tell you about this as part of one of my chats, rather than giving it a full post, but yesterday I was contacted by the British Library about adding my catalogue to their collection. That made me figure that maybe the self-deprecation that always accompanies me putting music out really should stop now. After all, I wouldn’t put it out if I didn’t think it was worthy of being out there. These children are fully grown and can speak for themselves.
Whilst I’m blowing my own trumpet, I may as well mention my other blog that I started back in Feb which was also going to be muttered at the bottom of a chat post the next time I did a chat post. It’s where I show the world my doodles. The only words on the blog are the ones on the doodles, though there can be alot of those. If you like the sound of that sort of thing, then Seeds of Syntropy may just be up your alley.
With a hat tip to my friend for putting them in his 2015 playoffs and then knocking them out in the first round…
If you cross Hey Colossus at their sludgy prime with Team (no. 2 in that list on the link) then you might get something like Early Mammal, although they are pretty distinctly themselves. Like so many great albums, it has the feel of a journey, a ride into regions you didn’t realise were there. I understand they recorded all of this over a 2 day period, hence the sonic cohesion to it.
My favourite tune is the fabulous ‘Glad is Night,’ even though they fade it out (fade out is a crime! alright its not a crime. I just don’t like it) – it has a feel not unlike Kyuss. I like the whole damn thing, though, and I’m beginning to think I need to spend some quality time with Riot Season records seeing how many great bands have had releases on this label.
And of course, a sound magician is a Mighty God. But you knew that already.
There’s been an absolute glut of music in my world, coinciding with reduced time to listen to it all. Even Maximum Rock’n’roll have got their best of 2015 list out a month early, and I thought that no matter how late I got mine out, I’d get it out before them. Ho hum. It will be with you maybe next week.
Or not.
Oh, the oh-so predictable fan boy is bound to post about his favourite band’s new album…
So anyway, the thing is out imminently. However, I went to see them play last week, which was a truly mighty and groovy experience even allowing for Tim Farthing blowing up his guitar amp and having to borrow one for the remainder of the set, and I thus scored myself the new CD. And new CD has been played daily since.
Their website also links to a stream of the new album, but I don’t know how long that’ll be up for.
Although it isn’t quite as good as In Black and Gold (what is? not a lot, that’s what), it do have some mighty fine music on here, it do. Album highlight (for me) is Hop the Railings, which makes me think of Circle going post-punk. Also doing serious time in my head has been Numbed Out and Another Head. It’s a generally more up-tempo record, and the increasingly cleaner production does foreground the interplay amongst the guitarists with a clarity that hasn’t been heard before, although at some cost to their heaviness (this can be compensated somewhat by playing the thing uber-loud). When they do slow things down, they’re reminding me of Earth’s recent stuff.
Let’s hope this small wave of incredible goodwill they’ve noticed becomes a large one, especially if it means they’ll make more music. However, there is no need to completely abandon absent mindedly clanging off more riffathons. Rigidity has its place (in corpses, and here may be the germ of a new macro-series), but it’s a tool, not a paradigm.
Soundbergs 