Che is one of the solo projects of the mighty Brant Bjork of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and Queens of the Stone Age fame. This is stoner rock of an older style and mood. Think 70's vibe. Glorious fat riffs. Freedom rock.
I feel free. Got no clue.
You think I'm all fuked up.
That's why I feel for you.
Brant, known as a drummer, plays guitar on this album. He is a multi-instrumentalist who can record every damn thing on the record by himself and then produce it all too. That said, Che is a three-piece with Alfredo Hernandez (drums) from Queens and Dave Dinsmore (bass) from Unida.
This is the only thing they released. These are busy guys. They said what they needed to and moved on.
It's perfect as is. Immaculate rock and roll. No followup needed.
I like everything Brant has ever released, but this is probably my favorite from him. The only work he's done that more fully expresses who he is and what he offers is his movie, Sabbia. And you should check that out too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5482LMawRNg
Honestly, I don't think there's a better stoner rock band than All Them Witches.
Their music is fascinating, odd, driving, languid, and at times it completely loses me.
I've seen them play once. I've watched dozens of recorded shows. Repeatedly.
All Them Witches is at least 10% of my weekly playlist. I've either played something, or its coming up.
ATW is a California Nashville band. I have the good fortune to be in their regular touring loop. I will see them again. They are in the US deep south right now. https://www.allthemwitches.org/
For this post, I've linked to their Lightning At The Door album. It was the first thing I personally heard from them. I don't want to be too cliche here, but I was trippin pretty good, put my headphones on, and sat in the middle of my bedroom floor for the experience. Swallowed by the Sea really got me, but then Charles William just completely floored me. (Well, I was already on the floor.)
Even at their most remote, and they do get weird, I really like this band. They do not have a style. Every album sounds different. They are superb composers. They are quiet and respectful on stage, zero image or pomp.
If you don't know about All Them Witches, your excuse is now gone. Listen to them.
This is the best, most definitive album treatment of the lo-fi style ever produced. More on that shortly.
The artist, Patrick Flegel, is ... um ... unstable. Patrick's last band was a punk outfit called Girls that ended their career with a fistfight onstage between band members. After a brief hiatus, Patrick started playing as Cindy Lee. Patrick performs in drag and uses vocal effects to achieve a shimmering and (mostly) feminine voice.
Cindy Lee has released a few albums, several tours. I don't know what happened this last time, seems nobody actually does. Patrick stopped doing interviews and went into the studio to produce a mammoth two hour long double album. It's hard to say what changed on this work, but Cindy Lee's sound is just so accessible and haunting now. Patrick is an excellent guitarist. He's deliberately producing lo-fi, scrapes and noises, off tempo shit, spaces where you expect something. The man is a brilliant instrumentalist and producer.
While the act's work was never really commercial before, now that he's produced something that could actually sell ... he's refused to do so. When it first came out, you could not buy the album unless you had some weird Canadian credit thing. You options were either youtube or download hi-quality mp3s from his site. I guess Patrick eventually got tired of being broke, and has since provided some ways to actually purchase this gem.
King Buffalo are on the quiet and trippy end of the stoner spectrum. They have several good albums. Its unhurried, thoughtful, and occasionally angry angry music of the best caliber.
To be honest, I don't know a lot about these guys. I listen to all their stuff. Their live youtubes are great, particularly the Duna Jam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZXEXTYw_iQ
King Buffalo has a website. You have to browse to the Tour page, or I'd link it.
They are coming to town for me! I would really like to see this band. https://kingbuffalo.com/
Nov 2 Mon Aladdin Theater @ 7:00 PM Portland, OR, United States
We've previously featured their Regenerator album on this forum, and it was well received.
Check them out.
I'm pretty sure my graphics, while definitely not hi-rez, are too big. I'm choking the system when I upload them, and they don't render during page view very well either.
I'm just taking pics with my crappy cell phone.
I upload them by opening the pic in MS Paint, select all, copy, and then paste it directly into the post.
Just given the results I've had so far, and my intent to post a LOT more pics, perhaps I should tune this process up.
I saw Crobot open for Corrosion of Conformity last night.
I was there for COC of course.
I had never heard of Crobot 3 days ago.
Well, Crobot were the highlight of the evening for me.
I got to interview the two founding members and one of the new guys.
That's the life of an opening band on a big tour.
You work your own merch stand, and people can come bug you. Also, no roadie.
Right as I was walking up to the venue, I passed Brandon Yeagley (vocals founding member) grabbing some gear out of their very-not-fancy white cargo van. (It wasn't as crappy as other band vehicles I've seen. They must be doing alright.)
I hollered, "Hey Brandon!" He turned around, realized he didn't know me, and gave me the big rockstar smile and a wave. :]
Before I walked into the show, I hit the 'support' merch booth, and there was Chris Bishop (guitar founding member), chilling with Nico Jansen (drums), selling shit.
I didn't have a list of questions, so I just hit Chris with whatever I could come up with. He was super-cool about it. I took a pic, and he looks cranky, but honestly he was really friendly and open.
DT - Where did the name Crobot come from?
Chris - (Shakes his head.) Well, we were first getting the act together, and trying to figure out a name. My friend asked what does it sound like, and I said it was "crowbar licks and robotic movemement". (He sorta looks into the distance ...) "Really, they weren't even crowbar licks." The friend suggested Crobot, and "It was way better than anything else we considered." (I think he's talking about a Sludge band named Crowbar ... that is currently doing their farewell tour.)
DT - So you work your own merch booth?
Chris - Yeah, we are here all night. We have a pretty short set, and we are just trying to get the new stuff out there. (Indeed, they didn't do their hits Golden or Low Life during their set. No encore of course.)
DT - Who is the girl in the Low Life video?
Chris - (Things got confusing here.) That's Brandon's daughter! (The 'girl' I was talking about is holding a child and clearly too old to be Brandon's kid.)
DT - Is that the same girl that's in the other video?
Chris - Oh no, that other video was an ex-band member's girlfriend.
DT - Oh ok, lotta family going on.
Chris - Yup, we keep it in the family here.
DT - So you started with a pair of brothers, and they left after a couple albums.
Chris - (Clouds cross his face.) Yeah, working with a pair of brothers was ... he trails off.
(At this point, Nico, who was working the booth, pipes up.)
Nico - And now you have a new set of brothers!
DT - Oh, you two are brothers too?
Nico - Yup. (Can't remember exactly what was said, jokes about making too much noise, and maybe farts.)
DT - Who did this artwork on the shirts?
Chris - Well, I'm a tattoo artist. I did this and this ... (He gave me a lot of details about various pieces they had for sale. It was too much to remember. Other band members do artwork as well.)
I talked to the guys a bit more and bought a kick-ass shirt!
The show was fukin great. Everything I hoped for.
Crobot just rocks on stage. Brandon really does run around and act crazy.
He's got this weird thing he does with the mic stand, throws it forward and then pulls it back with the cable.
I think all the material was off the new album Supermoon.
I went back to the merch stand after the show was over, and Brandon was working.
(I was still pretty confused about who the kid was.)
DT - Great show man. I had no idea who Crobot was 3 days ago. I'm a huge fan now.
So ... the kid in the Low Life video ...
Brandon - (Interupts) That's my daughter! (His face lights up with glee.)
DT - Oh, so you stole candy from a baby, twice, and it was your own kid.
Brandon - (Clearly pleased with himself.) Yes, I did! (Brandon is quite the personality. Big waving arm gestures and wild eyes as he proclaims his guilt.)
I talked to Brandon for another minute or two, but I had just barely heard of Crobot. I did not have a good set of questions lined up.
Brandon made sure to invite me to keep in touch and follow up with anything else I wanted to ask. I got the impression he wants to read this article.
These guys were so cool to me with their time and their stories and the AWESOME stage show. Fan for life.
What's the detail with YouTube videos on this instance?
If I'm on this instance, videos in a post don't render. Instead I see a big black window with this error text.
Watch video on YouTube
Error 153
Video player configuration error
You can just right click the link and go to youtube to see it, its not a complete disaster.
I do sort of need to figure this out tho. I'm doing my best to mod a music comm, so the videos are pretty important.
I've tried testing from other instances ... and there's no problem. I have accounts on eviltoast.org (regular lemmy) and moist.catsweat.com (mbin). No problem viewing those same posts from either of those instances. I didn't even notice the issue until I started using my sh.itjust.works account regularly.
It doesn't seem to matter who made the post or how old it is. When I'm logged into my sh.itjust.works account, all of the youtube posts show the black window.
I normally use firefox+adblockers, but I have sh.itjust.works whitelisted in ublock. I've also tested in my completely clean Vivaldi.
I've tested from various machines. I consistently see the empty black window only when I'm viewing these posts through the sh.itjust.works instance.
I'm a newbie mod, but this is not even a mod thing. I'm just reading a post here. Basic internet stuff. Got any help for me?
Crobot is a very unusual group. The lead singer is quite good and entirely mad. The band is tight as hell, its complex stuff. I don't know if this makes any sense, but they have elements of Soundgarden and Monster Magnet, maybe a bit of Savatage. Ya, that didn't make sense.
Crobot is opening for Corrosion of Conformity's tour. I'm gonna see COC tomorrow, so I looked up the opening bands.
"Golden" is "a tribute to Chris Cornell." This was the first Crobot song I heard. Yesterday. I've played it a couple dozen times since then.
When your golden cage is empty.
And you've made your great escape.
They can do what they want with your flesh and your bones.
But your soul they cannot take.
"Golden" immediately set me back, made me try to put them in a category, figure out what kind of music this was.
Right. Good luck categorizing Crobot. This was one of those groups where I had to chew on everything they've done, multiple times. I still can't tell you what kind of music this is, but it was a satisfying meal.
Crobot has at least 6 albums, recording since at least 2011.
They have a website where you can buy their merch.
Their youtube is well managed, ton of videos, and their full releases on this page.
This band is gonna test the limits of 'stoner rock'.
I am a huge Mac Sabbath fan. I like cleverly dumb shit with a point. They are definitely that.
The Alladin Theater is gorgeous. I got a balcony seat on the rail. Awesome view.
What can I say? Ronald and the boys rocked the fukin house. This is no joke band. Oh yes, they tell some jokes. Terrible jokes about being 'drive thru metal pioneers' and how everyone is copying them. Awful, dumb jokes. I love it.
But this is legit rock. These guys kick ass.
I guess I should sort of explain their shtick.
Ronald thinks he and his compatriots are sent back from the future, or maybe from the 70's, and they have a mission to warn us all about the dangers of fast food.
For the uninitiated, Mac Sabbath is commonly viewed as a parody of Black Sabbath. Not so!
Before Ozzy passed, I would have said that they are a takeoff on Ozzy and Black Sabbath.
Since Ozzy passed, they are still that, but the last third of their show is a legit tribute to the original band. Ronald comes out in all black and plays it straight.
This might ruffle some feathers, but I think Mac Sabbath is better than anything Ozzy did in the last ... oh ... 35 years of his life.
Here. Let me prove it. They played for Ozzy. Private party. He was dumbfounded, amazed, and loved it.
Mac Sabbath are afraid of digital recording gear, and won't record a fuking album.
Everything I've heard has been live shit on youtube. They have a channel. Check them out!
Oh, if I may start a bit of controversy (besides the Ozzy bit) I have a theory that the band's manager, Mike Odd, is also Ronald. You never see them in pictures together ...
But ... or maybe this is more suspicious ... I spoke to the Employee of the Month, who also ran their merch stand and asked him if Mike and Ronald are the same person. He acted as if he wasn't real happy with Mike, but he's like "Yes, he's the band's manager." I repeated the question, and he's like "What?!? No, they are not the same person." Methinks thoust deny too much ...
Do yourself a favor. See Mac Sabbath in concert.
This is a very live act. They don't give a shit about anything but entertaining people live.
See the whole show. They either bring along a group of excellent unknowns with their own weird schtick, or they do big gigs that also hire other clown acts like Puddles Pity Party, weird shit like the Juggalo gatherings.
DO NOT leave early. Mac Sabbath will always have their opening bands come and join them for a couple numbers. It's a riot of a close. FFS they are doing Sabbath songs. Everyone knows them. I wish I got a pic of that, but I was busy thrashing my head.
