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What Are You Listening To?


khaos

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1 minute ago, Thatguy said:

I expected you to whinge loud and long about it when you did. Since you didn't can we take it you have changed your view on BM?

Maybe you should lower your high expectations of others.

You'd have to remind me of what my views on BM are before I consider if they are changed.

 

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After the letdown of Inter Arma not showing up to Desertfest on Saturday, I went on Sunday instead.

The first band I saw after picking up my wristband at The Roundhouse was some flute-fronted retro band called Blood Ceremony (you would have assumed brutal death metal, you'd have been very wrong). The crowd was pretty big, it was only 3pm, but didn't exactly ignite. Not for me, so left early to walk the full length of Camden to get to the Underworld for 4pm.

I have been wanting to see Weedpecker for a few years. From my bandcamp history it looks like I found out about them when the 3rd album came out, but I bought and listened to them in order from the first album. Now on their 4th release, they were fantastic live. Tearing up an Underworld that was PACKED. I have never seen it so full and it took a full 15 minutes just to get out again afterwards. Can only describe Weedpecker as good old fashioned hard rock. It's not retro in my opinion, despite the organ and hippy looking bass/guitar players. Timeless/gimmickless rock not trying to be anything else. 

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King Buffalo, my main draw for the day, were playing back at The Roundhouse, a much more stately venue. I stopped off at Camden market for a dirty vegan burger (£10.50). 

Since Underworld had been so full I was genuinely worried The Roundhouse may be at capacity and only letting one-in-one-out. I gave myself half an hour to wait in line just in case this were so....but it was practically empty when I got there so I swanned in and went straight to the front barrier to wait.

Not before buying a drink. They had a non-alc beer I'd only just discovered the previous weekend. 330mL Free Dam can. £5.50! It's a shame one can't put numbers in CAPITALS to emphasis the point. 330mL is roughly half a pint, which would make it twice as expensive as ordinary tap beer. Ludicrous. 

Anyhow. Worth it to see King Buffalo from the front row. 

King Buffalo is kind of a one trick pony...but the trick they do, they do it so well. Practically every song starts with a simple guitar riff which gets built up with a looper pedal until bass/drums come in with the money shot. There are a few keys (some of which operated from foot controllers) but mostly its the three piece + layers from loops.

Interestingly, they must have played most of The Burden of Restlessness, even though it is not the latest album they are touring to support. It's because it's just a better album.

So, despite every song sounding practically the same, I love these guys. They're like the AC/DC of "psychedelic trio[s] in the classic format, whose expansive and thunderous music is a powerful concoction of heavy psych, blues, and stoner rock. Texturally rich and oozing with psychedelic goodness, yet honed and driving in the next blink of an eye. "

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After they'd finished I bought another single 330mL beer (£5.50, it hadn't gotten cheaper) and hung out with a kiwi buddy I used to work with. The night before he'd become best friends on a bender with some local guys. They were munted, but I really enjoyed talking to them. In fact it might be the first time I have gone to a gig stone cold sober and actually interacted with the assembled buffoonery, being the total snob that I am. 

All were keen to convey just how shit they felt but were soldiering on. So hilarious to me, but I hope to see them again. There is Enslaved and Marduk at Incineration fest next weekend. I'm not sure if I can drag myself to that, but I may check if there are any tickets left and leave it to fate.

I bought a King Buffalo t-shirt (£25) just before heading inside to see Boris. It was LOUD, but with silicon stuffed in my ears quite manageable. You'll never get me Boris!

In truth I only stuck around for a few songs. It was pretty rocky stuff and considerably more energetic than what I'd seen so far but, not for me. Crowd was packed though, so what do I know.

I have no idea who headliners Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are, so I caught the train home. 

Oh, BTW, I did see the bejewelled hat put on Charles' head on Saturday. It was fascinating to see them roll out all these stolen artefacts that the anointed has to touch before being proclaimed King by a bunch of old men in dresses.  You could not make it up. Yay for constitutional monarchy, boo for hereditary wealth.

 

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Boo for the monarchy too I say, stoner rock ain’t my jam, and six bucks for beer is kinda cheap, but a can? I dunno. Also had a vegan burger once, was left thinking I could make better without trying, and failing, to imitate the flavour of meat and cheese, glad you had fun though.

NP: Immortal - At the Heart of Winter

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35 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Boo for the monarchy too I say, stoner rock ain’t my jam, and six bucks for beer is kinda cheap, but a can? I dunno. Also had a vegan burger once, was left thinking I could make better without trying, and failing, to imitate the flavour of meat and cheese, glad you had fun though.

That is six pounds sterling. Which is at least 10 kangaroo pelts.

The latest vegan burgers (like Beyond Meat) are indistinguishable in taste and texture from minced beef. No one here will believe me of course and it's a tiring conversation to have, but that is my observation as someone who was a big fan of burgers. 

Same with cheese. It's at least as edible as that horrific shit they eat in America or those Dairy Lea slices I remember from childhood.

There is now a massive market in all these meat analogs, although most of it is shit processed food. As people continue to get fat and unhealthy, they'll say "you see, vegan food is making us all ill!"

It's almost an impossible sell because in truth it takes quite a lot of effort to eat properly in the modern world. Most people are really lazy. 

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Hammerhedd - Grand Currents (2020)

The 3 brothers that make up this group from Kansas were 18, 16 and 13 years old when they released this album in 2020!

I discovered their existence 2 days ago and from the first notes I heard, their Thrash music pleasantly surprised me. Even if it is basically Thrash Metal (Voïvod is not far away), they also remind me of my compatriots Gojira, but also Mastodon. Everything is mixed in a technical but also progressive Thrash.

Only the vocals are a bit behind the rest.

Deicide - Overtures of blasphemy (2018)

 

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1 hour ago, JonoBlade said:

That is six pounds sterling. Which is at least 10 kangaroo pelts.

The latest vegan burgers (like Beyond Meat) are indistinguishable in taste and texture from minced beef. No one here will believe me of course and it's a tiring conversation to have, but that is my observation as someone who was a big fan of burgers. 

Same with cheese. It's at least as edible as that horrific shit they eat in America or those Dairy Lea slices I remember from childhood.

There is now a massive market in all these meat analogs, although most of it is shit processed food. As people continue to get fat and unhealthy, they'll say "you see, vegan food is making us all ill!"

It's almost an impossible sell because in truth it takes quite a lot of effort to eat properly in the modern world. Most people are really lazy. 

Ah blame text to speech, closer listen tells me it’s closer to 12 Platypus bills if my maths is any good. Point being it’s clearly not healthy, and I could, and have, made tasty burgers using potato buns, portobello mushrooms, pickled carrot, lettuce, and my homemade teriyaki sauce. Vegan and tasty. Agree re processed food though, as much as possible I shop at fresh produce markets, buy what’s in season, and keep food wastage to a minimum.

 

NP: Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet

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4 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Aosoth - The Inside Scriptures (2017)

 

Yeah baby. A sensible choice.

12 hours ago, Arioch said:

they also remind me of my compatriots Gojira,

Quite Gojira-like. They look real young. I think they are a little underdone yet.

14 hours ago, JonoBlade said:

Enslaved and Marduk

Enslaved are really worth seeing live. I haven't been to a Marduk gig but I bet they would be fun. Boris I think a lot more fun recorded than live, not that I have seen them live either.

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5 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Quite Gojira-like. They look real young. I think they are a little underdone yet.

I think so too. However, I listen to a lot of different albums trying to vary but for the last 2 days, if there is one album that I listen to at least once, it's Hammerhedd's. And now, while I'm writing, I just want to listen to it again.

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7 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Enslaved are really worth seeing live. I haven't been to a Marduk gig but I bet they would be fun. Boris I think a lot more fun recorded than live, not that I have seen them live either.

I've seen Enslaved at my local bar a few years ago. It was fun. £66.60 is just a bit steep for the festival ticket (one day only) when you only want to see a couple of bands and none that I desperately want to ticket off bucket list.

I may have seen Marduk, I really can't remember. I was big into World Funeral and likely seen them on that tour.

If Akercocke were playing (since they're local and just need to roll out of bed for it) I'd go in a heart beat, but alas.

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19 hours ago, JonoBlade said:

The latest vegan burgers (like Beyond Meat) are indistinguishable in taste and texture from minced beef. No one here will believe me of course and it's a tiring conversation to have, but that is my observation as someone who was a big fan of burgers.

I found that the main problem with Beyond Meat and similar brands is that they are way too salt. But that goes for most fast food mince meat burgers as well. But the BM taste is great IMO, it's usually my patty of choice when availble. Less risk of food poisining too ;)

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