Nick Oliveri, the famous nut-job bass player of former Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age fame, as well as Mondo Generator and The Dwarves, is looking at 15 years in prison if things do not go well for him in court next month.
"two counts of possession of a controlled substance with a firearm,
2 counts of possession of a controlled substance,
and one misdemeanor count of resisting (arrest)."
Given his alleged history of substance abuse and domestic violence, this is not looking good for the bassist who had to be replaced (for the second time) by Scott Reeder on the current Kyuss Lives! tour.
This has been Edward Gerard Brophy for Born Again Nihilist News!
Search for any moderately well known band on Youtube and you will finds a huge amount of music videos, made by fans for certain songs. Now, 99 out of 100 of these tend to be rubbish. The footage doesn't flow with the music, it doesn't capture the mood and may just be simply inappropriate to the song. I don't want to put a downer on the people who like to make these videos at all, I think it's a lovely demonstration of a labour of love. Some of these, however, stand out against the rest. Videos that have been inspired and well thought out, and I'm going to show you a few personal favourites now.
First up is ALEATTITUDE's video for Melvins 'A History of Bad Men', featuring footage from the film 'Sin City'.
The 'music-meets-movie' is probably the most common kind of fan-made video. Here's another, this one from CubicleWarfare666: High on Fires' 'Turk' meets 'Braveheart'.
I'm not the biggest fan of Braveheart but High on Fire music set to scenes of war is just gorgeous!
Next is The Hidden Hand's 'Vulcans Children' by Akultra, reposted by WINORULES, a channel that's always a joy to visit! A psychedelic, colourful sci-fi mind rush!
The oddly named scuranima made this stunning video for the Oceansize track 'Savant'. Taken from a scene from Disney's 'Fantasia'.
Finally, my personal best, fuzzjunky's video for Kyuss' 'Molten Universe'. Lovers of the majesty and sheer fuckin' BIGNESS of nature will love this one. A perfect example of getting the flow of the footage to match that of the music, therefore complimenting it and making for a fuller experience.
Well that's it for this B.A.N Digs. Savour these videos now because many have already been taken down since YouTube began cracking down on copyright infringement. Love them while you can!
Edward Gerard Brophy digs Born Again Nihilist...that's why he writes for it! :)
A special request from 'Fuzzed Out' operator Trev. This is Dutch stoner rock/psychedelia band 'Sungrazer', with their 2011 album 'Mirador'.
The album opens with 'Wild Goose', a slow burner that trundles along with a steady Neu! style beat and light to-the-touch guitars in stereo building the vibe before the curtain is pulled to show the gargantuan fuzz. The track makes its way into some introverted lyrical matters, much like the more docile moments of John Garcia, until finally we are led out by some enchanting analogue delay flutters.
On we go into 'Octo', a three minute burst of stoner energy (a rather rare thing). Guitarist, Rutger Smeets, shows that he knows all the tricks; employing delay, controlled feedback and some mysterious harmonies that are pure music to my ears! OK, obviously it's music, but you get what I mean. Following this is 'Sea'. Over eight minutes, this one builds gradually, gaining layered instruments and atmosphere in equal measures. It all comes to a head in a flurry of rich, fuzzy chaos that The Hidden Hand themselves could had penned.
The first track I heard from this record was the next one, 'Goldstrike', and it is probably still my favourite. This is how Kyuss fans wanted QOTSA's 'Songs for the Deaf' to sound. It has the nonchalant slickness of musicians that cut their teeth in the 90's judging by the confident double vocals and wisely placed clean guitar verses. Settle in your seat and be readily baked for the sublime intro of the 13 minute long 'Behind'. After five minutes of relative beauty, the track really breaks out with some mid-tempo beef before returning once again to the crisp, delay soaked sound of Smeets' telecaster. Finally, the Arctic storm worth of fuzz is calmed by bassist Sander Haagmans' few brief wah affected notes.
The penultimate track is the album's namesake, 'Mirador'. Drummer, Hans Mulders, is determined to prove that he's got 'ghost notes' sorted in his playing. Another long'un, clocking in at eight and a half minutes, and is proper Kyuss all the way! It's as much the dirty, clanky bass as it is the fuzz ladened guitars that bring the retrospect back to thoughts of Kyuss, although the clean sounds Smeets' introduced at 7:19 are nothing that Josh Homme would have used. I suspect this is a nod to Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac, in particular the song 'Dragonfly'. We go out raw and jammy with the closer, '34 and More...'. It may be designed to sound this way but I am guessing that this one was recorded live and with a small audience, judging by the handclaps and the overall under-produced sound. However, creatively this is not lacking compared to anything else on record.
I gotta hand it to Trev of Fuzzed Out, this one is a keeper! All the signature stoner treats are herein contained and much more too. Haagmans keeps the whole lot grooving and moving in that Geezer Butler kind of way, matched with the perfectly relaxed yet driving beats of Mulders, while Smeets lays down the stunning beauty on top of it all. A top notch band playing top notch psychedelic tunes, so sit down with your good, music loving friends and roll one 'Trailer Parks Boys' style because this is one you will want to listen to from beginning to end.
Great choice by James Thorn of Ohio's Threefold law here, a true stoner classic.Enjoy!
“Blues for the Red Sun” changed me forever.I remember standing in the Jazz aisle of Camelot Music before we opened when the first riff of “Thumb” oozed from the speakers.In 1992 I was old enough to know what I was tired of hearing (grunge and hair metal) but young enough to keep my mind open about soulful, heavy music.Although the record was steeped in Sabbath and punk angst (Reeder said he thought Kyuss was more punk than metal), it was unique.Josh was funky and yet heavy, not an easy combination to pull off.But it was more than Josh’s riffs, Nick’s unholy bass tone, Brant’s fine chops, and John’s wailing.I could feel the desert wind on my face all the way from western Pennsylvania.Listening through headphones put me right in front of the boys and their infamous generator parties.
No question that the allure of Kyuss was that they were NOT mainstream and would never get radio airplay or MTV rotation (with a few exceptions like KNAC and Headbangers Ball).I wanted a band that belonged to me and not the skinny, whiny, bitches that swooned over Axl Rose.I loved Guns N’ Roses, but so did everyone else.In December of 1992, when I stood inside the “crowd” of 20 people that showed up at City Limits in Penn Hills to see Kyuss open for Danzig, I knew these were my people.They got it too.For the record, most of those 20 people left after Kyuss finished, choosing not to hang with the meatheads there to mosh in front of Glen.
I can cite that moment as the inspiration for everything I’ve done as an artist since.I don’t want to be Kyuss or sound like them.I want my music to connect with people like “Blues for the Red Sun” did with me.I can’t listen to one track or even several tracks off that record.I have to listen to the whole damn thing, from “Thumb” to the four second closer of “Yeah” even if I have to sit in the car for 20 minutes after pulling into the driveway to do it.That’s what music should do to you.When fans come up to me after a show and tell me that they dig Threefold Law, and that they wish we could play for two more hours, I know I’m on the right track because that’s how I feel about Kyuss.
I’m still awestruck by the fact that it only sold around 40,000 units given the Kyuss legacy.Then again, I never gave a fuck about Billboard or retail sales when it came to my music.
J. Thorn, Threefold Law, Cleveland, OH
Check out James's band , Threefold Law @ http://www.threefoldlaw.com/.Keep em coming folks!bornagainnihilist@gmail.com
