USX - The Valley Path

 

The Valley Path is your local bar's alt-country band, in the aftermath of some tragedy, jamming,  having just discovered both pot and Black Sabbath.

US Christmas (USX) are Allison Krause gone stoner/dark psychedelic rock. Discerning minds might have already postulated this, seeing their logo, aka the "deer ouroboros."

It's one song, 39 minutes long. Like Sleep's Dopesmoker. Or Roareth's Acts I-VI.

Not a true 39-minute epic, like Roareth, not a great 5-minute song the band was too stoned to stop playing, like Dopesmoker--  it's more of a 39-minute remix of a single.

There's surprisingly little hyperbole, though, to the above metaphors-- there's all sorts of "non-metal" instruments, which totally work, there's a violin/fiddle in there, a female singer who tends to just double/harmonize with lead singer/guitarist Nate's vocals... listening to it late at night in the dark is intensely soothing, as different instruments come and go, and it remains nearly silent for stretches of a minute or so at a time....

Sounds like it could've been improvised...? Are USX the laziest jam band in the world? I dig it.

The Valley Path transmits a feeling of isolation, of a dimly-hopeful solitude, like nothing's around you now but something good might be coming-- like looking out to see at night, with a CB radio you hope with come back with someone's voice on it....

Great? Definitely not. But definitely very good.

USX Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/USX.APPALACHIA

US Christmas - Run Thick In The Night

Feeling down? Trouble at home? Financial stress? Relationship problems? Then you should probably stay away from the new one from US Christmas (aka USX). Or maybe you need to revel in your pain. If that’s the case, then get this one pronto and feel the darkness. Run Thick In The Night is 13 lucky tracks in 77 minutes from these North Carolina depressionists. USX has been inflecting their brand of psychedelic gloom on the underground for 8 years and show no signs of letting up.

USX is a heavy band, but not so much in the Black Sabbath sense, more in the Swans, Killing Joke and Neurosis vein. Add a healthy dose of Hawkwind and druggy Velvet Underground noise to the mix and you’ve got something pretty out of the ordinary. The opening song “In The Night” sets the tone for the entire record – 13 minutes of sprawling, crawling ear pummeling drone rock. Somewhere La Monte Young is proud.

The entire album flows together very well as one very long piece. Once you put it on it’s hard to take off and the echoes of all the seesaw violin and slide guitar feedback stick in your brain long after the disc is done spinning. There’s also a nice blend of acoustic and electric instruments weaving in and out of the mix. Vocals are mainly hoarse and shouted but carry a weary melodicism. The recording by Sanford Parker is clean enough for all the separate elements to come through clearly and never gets murky in detuned fartery.

The standout song for me is definitely “Wolf On Anareta.” I’m sure this was not the intention of anyone involved but the riff bears a very strong resemblance to “Too Hot To Stop” by The Rods. If you’ve ever wondered what Hawkwind would sound like covering that classic metal jam (and I have) then you will be thrilled. Even if you haven’t, you might still like this one.


--Woody

buy here: Run Thick in the Night
mp3: Run Thick In The Night

http://www.myspace.com/uschristmas

The Hawkwind Triad

Most tribute albums are kind of a waste of time and money. Maybe there are a handful of worthy homages but for they’re usually disappointing and you wind up rarely playing the entire record. The Hawkwind Triad is a different story all together. Here you get 3 bands, that all have a pretty strong Hawkwind influence in the first place, paying tribute and taking liberties with material that they clearly love. The participants are US Christmas, Minsk and Harvestman.

Of the 3 bands, US Christmas probably play the songs closest to the originals and tap into the Space Ritual high energy levels that Hawkwind performed at. Take away all the tripped out space effects and Hawkwind always had a ass kicking rock and roll soul, especially during the era Lemmy was in the band. “Master Of The Universe” opens the record in high spirits. The riff is huge and they faithfully recreate all of Dik Mik’s bizarre “audio generator” blips and squiggles. “Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)” and the 11 minute “You Shouldn’t Do That” are great examples of why Lemmy always said that Hawkwind may have looked like hippies but weren’t all peace and love. If the astronaut boogie of “Orgone Accumulator” doesn’t you get you doing the zombie dance, turn in your space suit immediately and return to the mundane earth.

Minsk attack “7x 7” with a lot of intensity and vigor. This is probably what it actually sounds like as your breaking through the sound barrier. Things get pretty trippy on the 12 minute “Assault & Battery/The Golden Void,” 2 songs from the 1975 album Warrior on the Edge of Time. “Assault & Battery” is delivered slow and hard with lots of intense vocals. “The Golden Void” takes you on a pretty wild ride with some slower parts to balance out the space frenzy. The mainly acoustic “Children Of The Sun” somehow manages to mix in equal parts Jethro Tull and Swans into the original Hawkwind song.

Of the 3 bands, my favorite songs are from Harvestman, a side project of Neurosis members Steve Von Till and Jason Roeder. Von Till’s tortured vocals work really well with the material, especially on “D Rider.” “Down Through The Night” has even more sound effects the original. “Magnu” is an 8 minute stomper that fans of Can as well as Accept’s “Princess of the Dawn” can rock to together. Lemmy’s “The Watcher” is given a bleak, creepy overhaul that will make you feel paranoid even if you’re not stoned.

Old time fans of Hawkwind should really like this and it also serves as a great introduction to a band that’s often misunderstood. Play this one loud for sure.


--Woody

Buy here: Hawkwind Triad

http://www.allthatisheavy.com/info.asp?item_num=ATH-7179