Right on, bud! Ya that was a lot of fun.
Agreed. Slift is fukin great.
Awesome. That spoke to you across 3 centuries.
It's an amazing piece that absolutely sucker punches you.
Thanks! Yes, I'll definitely see King Buffalo again at my next opportunity.
Outstanding. You had teachers that cared. Out of that list, A Modest Proposal was recommended to me by a history teacher, and Gulliver's Travels was probably assigned reading at some point. I sought out the others on my own in my late teens.
I got into reviewing a few classics.
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species.
Origin is a fascinating read. People give Galileo and Newton credit for founding true science and its methods, but Darwin earned credit too. He forced us all to understand that we are just animals, despite whatever the holy books say. That was a rough fight, and Darwin won. In so doing, he helped lay down the blueprint for how to do science.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1228
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince.
This is one of the most maligned pieces of literature ever written. It as coldly logical and sensible as could be imagined. Niccolò had some things to say, and whether or not you agree with his conclusions about how we should act, he is demonstrably correct about how we do act. This is a slim volume, written in direct language, doesn't take too long to absorb.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57037
Johnathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
One of the most famous essays ever written. Savage satire that skewers the causes of the famines in Ireland in the 1700s. This is the same guy that wrote Gulliver's Travels, which probably also has more teeth than one might expect upon re-reading it as an adult. Only a few pages long, A Modest Proposal is a master class in effective writing.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm
Dante Alighieri, The Inferno
Officially known as The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, this is a trilogy about someone losing his way and going to hell. And back. The Inferno is the first book, and unsurprisingly, the Hell bit is the only part really worth reading. To be honest, even just The Inferno is hard slog. It's supposed to be a poem, or at least be in verse of some sort. It was published in 1321. That's a lot of language gap, they simply talked a lot different. Anyway this work is where an awful lot of our conceptions of heaven and hell came from. It's worth the time, if you can stand the very, very old text.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41537
Cool. I really dig it.
Lucifernaga is from Vigo, Spain.
I listened to the 4 tracks on their yt channel. It's heavy shit.
Currently 11 subscribers. Show em some love.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgENdHIyX43W3QohhP_L5Vw
Bandcamp. Scroll down to the English stuff. Um, you know. If you happen to not be Spanish.
https://lucifernaga.bandcamp.com/album/mala-b-sta
From their bandcamp:
"Mala Bësta", the first album from Vigo’s doom metal torchbearers Luciférnaga, emerges from the shadows like an ancient, gnarled tree spreading its roots across a crumbling earth. With a sonic palette that shifts between monolithic heaviness and hypnotic, melancholic melodies, the album weaves a rich tapestry of despair and introspection. Luciférnaga's signature blend of crushing riffs and atmospheric passages finds new depth here, guided by vocals delivered entirely in Galician, evoking the raw poetry of their homeland."
IG. https://www.instagram.com/lucifernaga_doom/
The name of the album, Mala Bësta, means the "evil beast".
I hope you get to see this tour!
King Buffalo is touring on a new album and hit Portland last night!
Opening band LA Witch put on an excellent show. An all-female trio, they reminded me at times of Acid King (but less doomy) and Hole (but less aggressive), with lo-fi surf punk reverb guitar effects. The ladies were on top of their game and all about their music ... which is fairly mellow, and ... well ... I'm not mellow. I liked their live act more than the recorded work. I'd gladly see them again.
The new King Buffalo album Doomsayer comes out in December, so it was unusual timing to kick off their tour a month prior to that date. I met two people at the show that already own it. A dude sitting behind me named Steven (Good to meet ya, bud!) collects 'pre-press' vinyl records, apparently mostly to hang them on the wall, so he very frequently gets early releases. He was a serious fan who was able to identify individual songs as they played them. The other guy sitting in front of me bought an (as of yet unreleased!) CD at the merch stand.
Between the sets, while I was discussing the new album with these gents, the roadies got the headline act ready. Oops!!! No. That was not a roadie. The unimpressively attired, baseball-capped, Sean Roa (vocal/guitar) did his own sound check. And that was nice, because that was by far the best look at him that we got all night.
This act, being a big-sound three piece, uses a fair amount of keyboards and programmed assistance. After sound check, the lights died down, a keyboard number played, and all you could see on stage was the lit up base drum. When the band actually came out, you could barely see more than that. The lights were mostly purple and blue with LOTS of stage fog rolling out, and half the time, those lights were projected out at the crowd.
I'd say King Buffalo definitely is going for psychedelic and definitely does NOT care about image, in that they were shadows with no detail. Sean does a lot of singing and a bit of keyboard manipulation, so he stayed close to his mic and gear. Dan Reynolds (bass) was far more active, wandering around the stage a fair amount, occasionally working with his own keyboard and gear. Every now and then I could see Scott Donaldson (drums), workin his ass off in the back.
The set opened with one of my favorite songs off of Dead Star, Echo of a Waning Star. The guys played a pretty full set, a good 90 minutes or so, lotta long songs. They only did a couple from the new (unreleased) album, playing the new single The Slick and the Dead 3rd song in.
I liked the classy way these guys closed out the show. They announced that they had 3 songs left. They played (I think) a new song, and then did Black Sabbath's Into The Void. My buddy Steven says that's the 3rd time they've done it on stage, and they killed it. And then ... they walked off stage without a word for a two minute break and came back for the 'encore' without a hint of pretense. Dude is like, "Sure, we'll do one more for you." The closing song was Eye of the Storm, an excellent choice that gave Sean a chance to make his guitar scream a bit.
A note for folks in Portland or bands booking shows in Portland ... Aladdin Theater is a gorgeous venue with full theater seats over the entire auditorium and a balcony. Immaculate sound, every fukin show I've seen here. I've no idea how they keep the place as beautiful as it is. There isn't a lot of room for mosh pits, and at no point did I see one starting. Aladdin doesn't do wands, pat-downs, or metal detectors. And that's nice. I don't want some bouncer feeling my nuts before I go through the door. Take my ticket and point me at the beer.
I've seen a lot of music lately. This event was a highlight of the year. I'd always heard King Buffalo puts on a good show. It's true. Check them out if you can.
I like this. Sharpest tool. Brightest bulb.
I call myself a rocket surgeon. I neither work on rockets nor engage in neurosurgery.
(graphic stolen somewhere years ago.)
m_f@discuss.online thanks for posting these. You brighten up my feed.
This is for Oregon? Fuk, I voted last week.
It's a bit late to call yourself 'early', but you can still drop off your ballot at the library today.
Brand new work from The Machine!
This is a more languid and spacey album than the last couple. I liked it right away, but it took a few listens to process.
It's good. Deep, complex music with a lot of fuzz.
The Machine is a great band with an inconvenient name.
To start with, there's a Pink Floyd cover band with the same name, and they get a lot more press than this old space sludge band. And then there's the fact that google fukin sux now and looking up some words like "the machine" gets you a bunch of ticktok vids.
To make their publicity even worse, yt search won't turn up The Machine's channel. Took me a while to find that. Their label uploads vids and yt generated a channel. (I've linked to Rob Hammer's channel for this post.)
The Machine do have a decent single-page website where you can listen to and purchase all their music.
https://themachineweb.com/
These guys have been recording for quite a while, first release 2007. Their 2009 release Solar Corona is one of my favorite albums, previously featured here.
Although David Eering (guitar vocals) says he thinks this album is an unintentional return to an older sound ... I think this album sounds a great deal more like their old band buddies Sungrazer. (Sungrazer has been broken up many years now, and the surviving members did not join this band.)
The additional sound influences on this recording were new(-ish) drummer Klaas Dijkstra and the fact that it was recorded in Eering's (still under construction at the time) Evolver Studio in Dordrecht.
They produced a nice video about recording. (I made a joke about Dutch here and annoyed a couple people, now deleted.) The video is cool, I've watched it a couple times. Very drum heavy, as the guitar amps are down the hall, and it sounds groovy.
THE MACHINE - Creation of Another Sun (Official Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fae6Oixn9Dc
No tour yet. The Machine's website says:
"There are no upcoming events right now."
I've got an idea. Let's tax the hell out of The Blazers.
They can pay for that shit themselves.
Or not. Maybe that money could go to something useful instead.
Ya, I feel all guilty if I don't post something every week. Like its a job. But its a pretty cool job.
I'm gonna add those comms to the link list.
King Buffalo has a new single out and they are going on tour!
The bandcap says Doomsayer album releases in December ... well after the start of the tour. Apparently we are going to hear some really, really new, as in unreleased, music.
This is the first cut, "The Slick and the Dead". (I will probably update the URL after the full album releases.)
You know how bands get more 'mature' and start doing proggy shit you don't really like all that much? (Hello Elder!)
Well, King Buffalo is NOT FUKING DOING THAT.
This is a great cut. It very much reminds me of Dead Star and Regenerator material.
You can pre-purchase the Doomsayer album on their bandcamp.
https://kingbuffalo.bandcamp.com/album/doomsayer
Their tour is posted on their site.
https://kingbuffalo.com/#tour-section
They've got a nice feature that lets you know if the tickets are selling out.
I notice they will be in Portland for me at Aladdin Theater Nov 2.
LA Witch opens. I will check them out shortly!
If can get a ticket, I'll purchase it today!
I did get a ticket. $25 to the band. $10 in fuk u fees.
So, $35.
I had to click out of 5 fuking advertisements in order to get through it. That's fukin Etix. Bastards.
Unfortunately, it looks like I caught the last date of the current Elder tour. -dt
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING OUR REMAINING TOUR DATES
With a heavy heart, we’re forced to postpone our remaining shows on this tour with Blackwater Holylight.
Jack’s struggle with a serious case of pneumonia is ongoing and he remains hospitalized in Portland. Although he’s getting the care he needs, his treatment is likely to continue for a number of days to weeks. As long as the situation remains critical, the thought of performing without him in any capacity is impossible.
We hate to disappoint and know that you’ve been looking forward to these shows as much as we have, but we’re also lucky to have the coolest fans in the world who doubtless understand the gravity of the situation. We promise we’ll come back stronger and make it up to you.
All ticketholders will be notified of rescheduled shows moving forward. This might take a bit so we appreciate your patience. If you prefer a refund, they can be issued by the point of sale.
Thank you to our friends, family and fans for your positive thoughts and to BWHL for being awesome and supporting Jack and us through this chaotic situation.
(Taken from their fb
https://www.facebook.com/elderofficial/)
The Blackwater Holy Light dates end in early October.
The next scheduled dates are in Europe.
Feb 03, 2027 Oberhausen - Germany
https://beholdtheelder.com/tour/
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