Neurosis – Live at Union Transfer

I saw Neurosis in 1997 when they were featured on the second stage for the Oz Fest, touring Through Silver and Blood and it was life changing.

Yeah, it was hot. In the parking lot of Mile High Stadium. Black top cooked the gum of my All Stars. I got dared into having my nipple pierced, cuz, well, that was a thing people did at the time.

“Locust Star” was the song that made me a convert. The outro was decidedly more tribal with Steve and Noah and Scott banging the shit out of floor toms. I think they might have only played three songs.

After their set I got to hang out with them. We had beers and smoked cigarettes. They made fun of me for getting my nipple pierced. Well-deserved.

We had beers and smoked cigarettes. They made fun of me for getting my nipple pierced. Well-deserved.

They made fun of me for getting my nipple pierced. Well-deserved.

Well-deserved.

I’ve been following Neurosis and their off shoots for over twenty years and they never cease to leave me in awe. From the last show with Josh Graham on visuals at the Fox Theater in Oakland to a New Years Show at the Great American Music Hall on Dec. 31st 2007 with Saviors and Earth, the band expands and hones their sound with each outing.

This video/performance from Union Transfer is remarkable. Noah Landis mastered the audio and I’m hoping they make this an official release because it’d be worth documenting on vinyl.

Enjoy.

CODAS “Currents” streaming via Ghost Cult

Sleep Lady guitarist and ex-San Diegan, now Brooklyn transplant, Mario Quintero, is set to release CODAS “Currents” on June 2.

The record is streaming via Ghost Cults now. This is some spectacular guitar-based riff worship in the tradition of Mogwai, Don Caballero, And So I Watched You From Afar with nods to prog, hardcore and a little bit of Jesu for good measure.That’s just referential shit for lazy listeners, CODAS is doing some really interesting work in that space. Manipulating the template in a way that is new without losing momentum.

I only wish he didn’t have to move across the country to do it. Hope they’ll play SD in the future.

Listen at the link below.

http://www.ghostcultmag.com/audio-exclusive-stream-codas-currents-ep-mario-quintero/

These New Puritans “Fragment Two”

Space and melody.

This band continually astonishes me.

Their album “Hidden” is one of my favorites of the last decade.

In that it they expand upon preconceived notions of composed music, resisting the need to immediately satisfy with an easily identifiable hook.

An elastic expression of sound. Music for music.

In my estimation, TNP are beyond the outer reaches, demolishing expectations.

I’ll do a cheap Music Journo thing here and hyperbolize: TNP be doing Radiohead better than Radiohead.