Tag: Permanent Records

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: RidingEasy Records and Permanent Records Team Up Once Again for Sixth Edition of Renowned “Brown Trip” Compilation — Release Explosive First Single from Album Slated for 4/20/18

Over the better part of the past few years, Permanent Records’ and RidingEasy Records have collaborated on an expansive series of proto-metal and pre-stoner rock compilations, Brown Acid. Each individual edition of the series is based on RidingEasy Records’ founder Daniel Hall’s and Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi’s extensive, painstaking research and curation — with both Hall and Barresi spending a great deal of time tracking down songs’ creators, most often bands that haven’t written, played or recored together in 30 or 40 years, and then encouraging them to take part in the compilation process. As Permanent Records’ Barresi explained in press notes regarding the previous editions of the compilations “All of (these songs) could’ve been he given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.”

Naturally, by having the original artists participate as much as possible in their compilations, it frequently can give the artists and their songs, a real, second chance at attention and success. And certainly as a critic and as a fan, these songs help fill in the larger picture of what was going on in and around the underground music scenes during the 60s and 70s. Following the critical and commercial success of its first five volumes, RidingEasy Records and Permanent Records’ sixth volume of 60s and 70s proto-metal and pre-stoner rock Brown Acid: The Sixth Trip is slated for an April 20, 2018 continuing an annual rite of passage.  And much like the previous five editions, the sixth edition continues on Barressi’s and Hall’s exhaustive, painstaking research and curation with the duo continuing to discover that the well of hard rock, psych rock and proto-metal 45s from the period is incredibly deep — with the sixth edition featuring 9 deep cuts from bands based in Continental USA and one Canadian act.

Interestingly, each edition of Brown Acid has begun with an barn burner of a track and the sixth edition also continues that honored tradition with a swaggering yet frenetic, mind-melting, guitar pyrotechnic-fueled track from San Francisco, CA-based act Gold, “No Parking” recorded circa 1970. Reportedly, the band used to open their sets with the song — and as soon as you hear it, you’ll hear why: it captures a band that’s completely unafraid to kick ass and take names.  

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dream Machine Returns with an Anthemic Heavy Psych and Proto-Metal Barnburner

As the story goes, Matthew Melton, best known as the founder, frontman and primary songwriter of well-regarded Austin, TX-based indie pop/indie rock act Warm Soda had approached Thee Oh Sees’ prolific and dynamic frontman and Castle Face Records co-founder John Dwyer with two full-length albums — Warm Soda’s fourth and final album together I Don’t Want To Grow Up, which was released last month and material from a new project Dream Machine, which prominently features Melton’s wife Doris.

Now, if you’ve frequented this site earlier this year, you may recall that I wrote about “I Walked in The Fire” off Dream Machine’s recently released full-length album The Illusion, a single that revealed a rather decided change of sonic direction for Melton and his new bandmates, as the project’s sound clearly draws from the heavy psych, proto-metal and proto-stoner rock of early Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly and RidingEasy Records‘ and Permanent Records’ collaborative compilations of similar sounds from the 1960s and 1970s, Brown Acid while also nodding at The Doors. The Illusion’s latest single “All For A Chance,” which features Doris Melton taking up vocal duties will further cement the band’s reputation for crafting a lovingly spot on take on 60s heavy psych — and in the same loving fashion that Daptone Records does for soul; so much so that you can feel tricked into thinking that you were listening to some obscure rarity that was just discovered. (It helps that the band recorded the single and the material on a Tascam 388.)

Much like the video for “I Walked in The Fire,” the recently released video for “All For A Chance” employs a relatively simple concept — the band performing the song in an empty studio and shot on what looks like Super 8 film, as the video quality possess a smoky, grainy quality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you had been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Permanent Records’ and RidingEasy Records’ collaborative proto-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations Brown Acid: The First Trip, Brown Acid: The Second Trip and Brown Acid: The Third Trip. Each edition of the compilation has been based on RidingEasy Records founder Daniel Hall and Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi extensive and painstaking research and curation — with both Hall and Barresi spending a great deal of time tracking down the songs’ creators, most often bands that haven’t written, played or recorded together in 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the process.  As Permanent Records’ Barresi explained in press notes, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.” Naturally, by having the original artists participate as much as possible, it can give the artists and their songs, a real second chance at attention and success — and as a fan and critic, it also helps fill in the larger picture of what actually was going on around the margins during the 60s and 70s.

Following the critical and commercial success of the first three volumes, Riding Easy Records and Permanent Records will be releasing the fourth volume of 60s and 70s proto-metal and pre-stoner rock Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip fittingly on April 20, 2017. Much like the previous three volumes, the fourth edition is based on Barresi’s and Hall’s exhaustive, painstaking research and curation, and as both men discovered, the well of privately released hard rock, heavy psych and proto-metal 45s is incredibly deep; in fact, they’ve barely scratched the surface. Most of the singles they stumbled on for the fourth volume of Brown Acid were either barely released or never properly distributed with two of the album’s 10 tracks being previously unreleased — until now.

Earlier this year, I wrote about Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip‘s first single Kanaan’s “Leave It,” a towering and explosive, barnburner that features some incredible guitar pyrotechnics paired with swaggering vocals fed through a bit of reverb and delay, a sinuous bass line and propulsive drumming. and while the song possesses a free-flowing, booze and psychedelics fueled improvisational feel, the song manages a tight, motorik-like groove that holds the song together. The compilation’s latest single is a swaggering and expansive “Coming Back,” by Zekes. Clocking in at a little over 8 minutes, the song finds the band nodding at Led Zeppelin 1-era Led Zeppelin and Steppenwolf‘s “Magic Carpet Ride” but with a percussive, cowbell-led funkiness and a summer of love refrain “Love is the answer” to close out what may arguably be one of the funkiest tracks on the fourth edition.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months — say, the past two or three months roughly, you’ve likely come across a couple of posts covering the Los Angeles, CA-based Afrobeat act Here Lies Man. Founded by Marcos Garcia, a former member of renowned Afrobeat act Antibalas as a way to bridge the funky polyrhythms and grooves of Afrobeat and the muscular, power chord, riff-based sound of heavy rock and heavy psych, the act which features Geoff Mann (drums), the son of famed jazz musician Herbie Mann and a former member of Antibalas, along with Rich Panta (percussion), JP Maramba (bass), Kris Casto (organ) and contributions from a list of collaborators and friends, the collective have come up with a global and incredibly novel take on both Afrobeat and heavy psych/heavy rock. And in fact, as Garcia explained in press notes, about the band’s sound, “These repetitive guitar figures that happen in Afrobeat music are pretty close to heavy rock guitar riffs.  It’s based on the clave. It’s the musical algorithm that the rhythms revolve around. That’s what gives it integrity and is part of this musical conversation going on. I knew I wanted it to be psychedelic and heavy, and I wanted to be expanding on a musical tradition than pretending to be creating something new.”

The collective’s self-titled full-length debut is slated for an April 7, 2017 release through RidingEasy Records and the album’s first two singles “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” and “When I Come To” manage to establish the collective’s sound as simultaneously drawing from Black Sabbath and I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) Parts 1 and 2“-era Fela Kuti — and while the album’s third and latest single “Here Lies Man” continues in a similar vein, the track also may be the most stoner rock/hard pysch rock-leaning song of the album so far, almost sounding as though it could have been included on RidingEasy Records’ and Permanent Records‘ fantastic Brown Acid compilations but funkier and more percussive.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 60s Psych Rock and Proto-Metal Sounds of Austin TX’s Dream Machine

Perhaps best known as the founder, frontman and primary songwriter of Austin, TX-based indie pop, indie rock act Warm Soda, Matthew Melton had approached John Dwyer and the rest of the folks at renowned indie label Castle Face Records with two new albums — Warm Soda’s fourth and final album together I Don’t Want to Grow Up, which is slated for an April release and The Illusion, the full-length debut slated for a May 2017 release from a new project that Melton and his wife Doris formed, by the name of Dream Machine. And from the album’s latest single “I Walked In The Fire,” the project’s sound reveals a decided change of sonic direction for Melton as the band’s sound draws from the heavy psych, proto-metal and proto-stoner rock of early Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly and RidingEasy Records’ and Permanent Records’ collaborative compilation of similar sounds from the 1960s and 1970s, Brown Acid, complete with some early synthesizer and organ.

Fittingly, the recently released music video manages to be a spot on take on the early music videos and recorded musical segments of the 1960s — a simple yet very trippy concept in which the members of the band play in front of a screen, featuring psychedelic imagery; in fact, paired with the band’s sound, the visuals manage to evoke 1967-1972 so well that you could be tricked into thinking that the video was the promotional video for a band that time has sadly forgotten.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past couple of years, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Permanent Records‘ and RidingEasy Records‘ collaborative proto-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations Brown Acid: The First Trip, Brown Acid: The Second Trip and Brown Acid: The Third Trip. Each edition of the compilation has been based on RidingEasy Records founder Daniel Hall and Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi extensive and painstaking research and curation — with Both Hall and Barresi spending a great deal of time tracking down the songs’ creators, most often bands that haven’t written, played or recorded together in 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the process.  And as Barresi explained in press notes, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.” And by having the artists participate it can give the songs and the artists a real second chance at success, if not some kind of attention for their work.

Following the critical and commercial success of the first three volumes, Riding Easy Records and Permanent Records will be releasing the fourth volume of 60s and 70s proto-metal and pre-stoner rock Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip fittingly on April 20, 2017. Much like the previous three volumes, the fourth edition is based on Barresi’s and Hall’s exhaustive, painstaking research and curation, and as both men discovered, the well of privately released hard rock, heavy psych and proto-metal 45s is incredibly deep; in fact, they’ve barely scratched the surface. Most of the singles they stumbled on for the fourth volume of Brown Acid were either barely released or never properly distributed with two of the album’s 10 tracks being previously unreleased — until now.

Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip‘s first single is Kanaan’s “Leave It,” a towering and explosive, barnburner that features some incredible guitar pyrotechnics paired with swaggering vocals fed through a bit of reverb and delay, a sinuous bass line and propulsive drumming. and while the song possesses a free-flowing, booze and psychedelics fueled improvisational feel, the song manages a tight, motorik-like groove that holds the song together.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

As a music blogger and as a fan, the Internet has proven to be a wonderful place to discover both new music and extremely rare, lost music — and with ease. It’s also contributed to the proliferation of independent labels across the world, competing against the major conglomerates for your ears, attention and your hard-earned money. Unsurprisingly, smaller, indie labels have been more willing to take the sort of risks that their larger, monied rivals wouldn’t and couldn’t — including re-introducing artists, whose work was so wildly ahead of its time that audiences at the time of its initial release just couldn’t and didn’t accept, and yet historically speaking, filled in a gap that explains a contemporary trend; re-introducing regionally favored artists from a time when hit songs in Milwaukee were often different than hit songs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Des Moines, Minneapolis or New York.

Sadly, before the Internet, bulletin boards and the blogosphere much of this seemingly forgotten material was only known to cultish and obsessively dedicated insiders and collectors, who were known to spend their time seeking and collecting long-lost and long-forgotten albums, hoarding them in private collections or selling them at exorbitant prices at collector’s shows.  Thankfully in many ways, the Internet and blogosphere have democratized the process, allowing the average listener and fan a chance to listen and to love some of these long-forgotten wonders; however, because of the money involved, labels

Unfortunately, because of the money involved, labels have mined beloved, popular and influential genres to exhaustion through endless compilations — in particular, psych rock, AM rock, doo wop, folk, soul and a few others immediately come to mind. Strangely enough up until last year, there hadn’t been many proto-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations when the Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA-based distributor Permanent Records released  two compilations of incredibly rare singles from the 60s and 70s on Brown Acid: The First Trip and Brown Acid: The Second Trip.

With the help of Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi spent time not just collecting and compiling the singles on each volume of the  compilation, they also spent a great deal of time tracking down the songs creators, often bands who haven’t been together in over 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the entire process.  As Barresi explained in press notes for the two compilations, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.“ And by having the artists participate it can give the songs and the artists a real second chance at success, if not some kind of attention.

The third compilation of proto-metal and pre-stoner rock from the 60s and 70s, Brown Acid: The Third Trip is slated for release on October 31, 2016 and the third compilation’s first single, Grand Theft’s “Scream (It’s Eating Me Alive)” features enormous power chords, guitar pyrotechnics, thundering drumming, a propulsive bass line and howled vocals in a song that sounds as though it were channeling Led Zeppelin III and IV, Rush and The MC5 — in particular think of “Immigrant Song” “When the Levee Breaks”  “Working Man” and “Kick Out the Jams” as the song possesses a bristling, swaggering fury.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Up until last year, there hadn’t been many comprehensive photo-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations, until the Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA-based distributor Permanent Records record store, along with  RidingEasy Records released a carefully curated compilation of incredibly rare photo-metal and pre-stoner rock singles from the 60s and 70s on Brown Acid: The First Trip. Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi and RidingEasy Records’ Daniel Hall complied a second volume of rare proto-metal and pre-stoner rock from the 60s and 70s, Brown Acid: The  Second Trip, which is slated (fittingly enough) for release on April 20.

Much like the first volume, the duo not only spent time collecting, compiling and then curating the material, they also spent a great deal of time tracking down the songs creators, often bands who haven’t been together in over 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the entire process.  As Barresi explained in press notes for the first compilation, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.” And by having the artists actually participate in the entire process, it can give the artists and their songs a second chance at some much deserved attention — if not a second chance at success.

Now, over the past month or two I’ve written about The Second Trip’s first single Ash’s “Midnight Witch,” a single that would likely remind many listeners of Mountain‘s “Mississippi Queen,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” and early Black Sabbath as layers of huge, sludgy and bluesy power chords were  paired with a driving rhythm and soulful vocals — but with a deeply psychedelic feel. Amazingly, although the song was originally released more than 35 years ago, it sounds and feels as though it could have been released today as several contemporary bands have adopted a similar sound, including the likes of Ecstatic Vision. The compilation’s second single Crossfield’s “Take It” managed to sound and feel like a surreal amalgamation of Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, The Animals (in particular, “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”) and The Doors  as blistering and scorching guitar chords are paired with soaring keyboard chords and thundering drumming with unusual tempo changes and chord progression changes that make the song feel and sound as though it were a prog rock precursor — all while giving the song an expansive, tripping off hallucinogens in the desert feel and tone. The Second Trip‘s third and latest single Iron Knowledge’s “Show Stopper” meshes elements of glam metal, metal and seemingly hip-hop and funk-inspired hip-hop breakbeats in a song that metalhead and hip-hop DJs would instantly love.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Up until last year, there hadn’t been many comprehensive photo-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations, until the Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA-based distributor Permanent Records record store, along with  RidingEasy Records released a carefully curated compilation of incredibly rare photo-metal and pre-stoner rock singles from the 60s and 70s on Brown Acid: The First Trip. Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi and RidingEasy Records’ Daniel Hall have complied a second volume of rare proto-metal and pre-stoner rock from the 60s and 70s, Brown Acid: The  Second Trip, which is slated (fittingly enough) for release on April 20.

Much like the first volume, the duo not only spent time collecting, compiling and then curating the material, they also spent a great deal of time tracking down the songs creators, often bands who haven’t been together in over 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the entire process.  As Barresi explained in press notes for the first compilation, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.” And by having the artists actually participate in the entire process, it can give the artists and their songs a second chance at some much deserved attention — if not a second chance at success.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site, you may recall that just a few weeks ago, I wrote about The Second Trip‘s first single, Ash’s “Midnight Witch.” That single would likely remind many listeners of Mountain‘s “Mississippi Queen,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” and early Black Sabbath as layers of huge, sludgy and bluesy power chords were  paired with a driving rhythm and soulful vocals — but with a deeply psychedelic feel. Amazingly, although the song was originally released more than 35 years ago, it sounds and feels as though it could have been released today as several contemporary bands have adopted a similar sound, including the likes of Ecstatic Vision. The compilation’s second single Crossfield’s “Take It” manages to sound and feel like a surreal yet sensible amalgamation of Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, The Animals (in particular, “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”) and The Doors and others as blistering and scorching guitar chords are paired with soaring keyboard chords and thundering drumming with unusual tempo changes and chord progression changes that make the song feel and sound as though it were a prog rock precursor — all while giving the song an expansive, tripping off hallucinogens in the desert feel and tone.