I wonder whether vinyl is/will be the last bastion of ‘the grower’, LPs that don’t necessarily make you leap out of your chair, cast aside your crutches and duck-walk down the main street playing air guitar at the first listen. Why would you stream something you don’t like more than once? I’ve caught myself just flicking through MP3s judging tracks, or even whole artists, on 15 second bursts, but because LPs are so Goddamned expensive you make more of an investment in them and the cover art is that much bigger and brighter, so I think you’re more inclined to give them a second, third, fourth go. It’s how I’ve found many of my favourite albums, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, Kid A and The Dreaming included.
I recently had a similar experience with Earthless Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky. I was bullied into investigating this band by a certain Mr J.Hubner73* and the fact that they were on Tee Pee records, did them no harm at all in my eyes and neither did the fact that their drummer, the brilliant Octopus-like, Mario Rubalcaba was a fave of mine from Off! and Rocket From the Crypt. Add in the ace gatefold psychedelic art of the LP and the fact it was pressed on sexy red vinyl and I was in.
I bought it, ogled it for a bit and played it a few times without it ever really biting. Sure the playing was absolutely top-notch, as you’d expect from three dudes who dare to put out an instrumental rock LP and I like side-long tracks as much as the next stoner**, but … it never did quite grab me by the short and curlies. All until the last few days actually, every time I’ve played this recently it has really got through to my soft white underbelly.
First up a misconception: that three gnarly dudes, some wild guitarage and a swirly, smoky space cover = stoner rock. Have a good listen to either track (side?) on Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky will soon put the lie to this. First track ‘Godspeed’, handily split for us into 5 separate movements, starts with all the swirly feedback and vibes you could want and then as guitarist Isaiah Mitchell steps up to the plate the track just explodes into explosively fast riffage, in fact there are bits of this track that put me in mind of Iron Maiden circa Piece Of Mind, it is that heavy. This isn’t the languid, doomy affair that I’d associate with stoner rock at all – in an interview Rubalcaba calls it coffee rock, the guys in the band being mucho caffeinated, rather than mucho stoneo in the making of it. It’s a good description, you can hear a certain, kinetic, frenetic quality throughout this LP. We may be heading for nirvana via expansive instrumental enlightenment, but Earthless are taking the express elevator there, thank you.
Let’s face it Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky is as out-there as you could possibly wish for. I hear more of the likes of Amon Düül II and the, totally MF cosmic, Acid Mothers Temple, than the usual Black Sabbath tropes. Listen to ‘Sonic Prayer’ and you really could be listening to a heavier Cream, or even occasionally the Jimi Hendrix Experience in a really bad mood^. I would also like it recorded here, for the record, about the record that Mike Eginton is a really amazing bassist too. That three musicians can get such a great, fat, warm sound without, to my ears at least, much/any studio trickery is a thing of wonder for me, that they rock so hard doing it provokes foaming at the mouth in me.
So if you know what’s good for you, light up the candles and bless the room, take a good swig of Java and hit the volume, I guarantee you won’t fall asleep to the sound of Oeufless.
632 Down.
*he threatened my livelihood, the lives of my cats and to call me really nasty names unless I bought it. I’m very susceptible to name-calling, so I bought it.
**Blown Away Drifting Way Out Between Suns, from 2014 being a particular recent favourite of mine, which I’ll get around to writing about one day.
^I sort of borrowed those comparisons from that Hubner fella, but it’s okay I doubt he’ll notice.
Really loving that Sonic Prayer. 21 minutes of awesome.
I also agree with vinyl being the last bastion of ‘the grower’. I very rarely give up on anything when it’s vinyl.
Did I mention that I love Sonic Prayer?
Brilliant J, they’re quite good at playing their instruments and stuff aren’t they?
Blame that Hubner fella.
They really are. Was looking at it on Doscogs yesterday … *raises fist in the air and shakes head in Mr Hubner’s general direction*
Lovely art again!
“because LPs are so Goddamned expensive you make more of an investment in them and the cover art is that much bigger and brighter, so I think you’re more inclined to give them a second, third, fourth go. ”
Yeah and I feel that way about just about any CD I bring into my home too. Anything I paid money for put on display on my CD shelves, I want to give a fair shake. I don’t get that same feeling for any download.
You’re completely right – its physical product period. My kids’ generation on the other hand just aren’t going to bother, there’s too much other media around.
Great post. I really really like Earthless, man. I want to live permanently in the technicolor kaleidoscope world conjured by their sonic psychedelia. It would be a manic fruit fly-like quick-burning existence but damn, it would be mind-blowingly vibrant, sharp, and full-on lived.
‘manic fruit fly-like quick-burning existence’ – perfect! I’m going to add that to my post and pretend it came out of my brain first!
Excellent write-up here, sir. And really, sorry about the bullying. Can’t say it’ll stop anytime soon, but I’ll do it with a smile on my face.
I totally agree in regards to LPs being the last bastion of the “growers”. You spend the cash and you will take the time to make damn sure you don’t like it. I’ve listened to albums digitally and completely wrote them off. Then on a whim I buy the vinyl of that album and end up loving it. Black Mountain’s ‘In The Future’ comes to mind.
In regards to Earthless, I think it’s a mistake for people to throw them into the stoner category. Beefed-up, humanoid Cream is more like it. They’re like a space rock power trio. You couldn’t play their music stoned. You’d perish for sure. It’s vast and atmospheric, but there’s a real power behind their music.
Thank you. I need to get their last one too, or maybe that hugely expensive 10″ they did with White Hills.
The last one is excellent, as is their self-titled. Oh, and the Roadburn set is just about perfect.
So everything.
Thanks for narrowing it down!
Well, definitely grab ‘From The Ages’. Proceed from there. They’re all beautiful colored vinyl.
And I think I need to look into that split with White Hills.
I’m quite intrigued by this one. I gave it a try using your Spotify link… but I only managed 15 seconds. Next!
Which is why you’re my second favourite blogger in Glasgow.
I’m my second favourite there too. Unless there’s a Glasgow in Canada, in which case I might be a little lower.
There’s bound to be at least three Glasgows there. I found out a secret about Canada recently, it’s really quite big. No, really.
They are coffee drinkers, so they are A-OK in my books.
Absolutely – I think you’d rock out to this one.
Isaiah was in one of the line-ups of the Gun Club tribute I played bass in last year. Good peoples!
Brilliant – he’s such a great guitarist. Have you seen Earthless play?
Nice piece – interesting sounding album. Thanks Joe.
And I agree with you (and Geoff) about the investment of time and money. “The more you pay, the more it’s worth”.
I think you’d like Earthless – a revved up instrumental treat.
Exemplary first paragraph 1537 – and intriguing question, I’d add in the investment of time too with buying vinyl. I suppose one could get it shipped but I think of the experience of physically going to a physical store, buying a physical copy, returning home to listen – after that much time invested, I’m bound to give an album way more attention than with a free youtube link.
I think Kid A may be the ultimate grower, if anyone dug that on listen #1, I haven’t met them. And nice choice with the Dreaming!
Thank you very much Geoff – as Mike points out probably not confined to vinyl, if you fork out for something you’ll invest more in it. Look at the last U2 album – I listened to about 30 seconds of two tracks and then deleted it.
Just in case he notices, and decides to sue, I will offer my services to defend you. My firm, Boppin Esquires, will put you on retainer for a milk crate filled with vinyl. Just think, with less vinyl you can get through your list quicker.
You can trust me, I watched the OJ trial on tv, and have seen a few episodes of Boston Legal. Law School, Schmaw School I always say.
Thank you, but I’m ready to deploy my 50ft high killer robots if things get nasty – I made them after watching an episode of Robot Wars after accidentally taking too much cough mixture, last time I was sick.
Watch out for that legal guy. He was pimping himself over my way only an hour ago.
Dodgy fella – he’s probably only watched ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘My Cousin Vinny’ and fancies a go himself.
I resent that remark. I was so shocked I almost tripped over my platform shoes, and damaged my velvet suit and hat.
Good thing I had my diamond crusted gold cane to keep my balance.