Written by: The Administrator
While I was listening to fair amount of stoner and psychedelic rock back in 1999, it was largely incidental--I was a child, and the adults in my life with excellent taste in music weren't exactly passing the aux to 5 year old me. Said adults did evidently miss out on the original release of Datura's Visions For The Celestial, and so I am hearing it now for the first time, despite a slew of reissues. In any case, this latest rebirth serves as the 8th chapter of Ripple Music's "Beneath The Desert Floor" series, which "unearths treasures from the golden days of stoner and desert rock." The continual presence of this album suggests to a Datura newcomer such as myself that the songs are probably somewhat timeless. And yeah, that assumption feels correct. Visions For The Celestial represents the epitome of classic psychedelia-infused stoner rock. The reality of listening in 2025 may temper Datura's impact due to the innumerable psychedelia-infused stoner rock bands that have sprung forth in the past quarter century, but as an exemplar of the heavy psych style, it makes for a supreme listen. The leads are prone to meandering, the vocals are thin yet just gruff enough to impart a little grit without going full sleaze. The drums are rock-solid and while not flashy, they act as a tangible foil to the guitar when things get more overtly psychedelic. And all the while, the bass is surprisingly punchy and often imparts a swagger that, while unexpected in a cosmically minded stoner scenario, is exceedingly welcome. A tasty groove-laden momentum--take highlight track "Voyage" as a prime example--keeps the album moving along quite nicely, which is a frankly bit of a rarity in the world of psychedelic music.
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Written by: The Administrator
A glorious thing happened about two minutes and 15 seconds into "Fuzzy Txitxu," the first track off the self-titled new album from Lisbon's Desert'Smoke. After lazily scanning the promo email, I had fully intended to let some instrumental stoner psychedelia run in the background as I worked through a hefty pile of admin tasks. And things did start off predictably, with a mellow intro establishing mellow ambience. But plans were thwarted as the track...erupted. There was absolutely nothing about those spaced-out leads squirming over that rip-roaring riff that qualified as background music. Desert'Smoke were proving unexpectedly engaging. Enthralling, even. As much as I tried to focus on the task at hand, the music made it impossible. And so I focused on the music instead. Rest in peace, productivity. Good riddance. On the very occasional Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s crumbling gates, stuffed to the brim with sustenance. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some choice cuts from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be--and have been--listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! On the docket for today, April 12th, 2024 Necrot, Corvus Corone, Heavy Temple, and Exist
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