Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s
Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

Duff McKagan
Ruff Majik
The Mothercrow
Dö
Psychlona
Vessel
Golden Pig Electric Blues Band
Blues Pills
Fostermother
Aquanaut

Evenin! How’s it going over there? Hope all is well! We’ve got reviews coming up delivered by the honorable Jon McGough and the heavy laureate poet Ronny Dijksterhuis. Not spilling the beans yet, but some of it might be lengthy and some of it might be out of the box! But all of it is absolutely worth it! Looking back at the week past we had serious trouble getting some HiVe time in. But when the boys from Van Groover dropped a vinyl gift in our lap, we kicked everything else to the curb, spent hours listening to the double edged Both Shop EP’s record and started typing our ass off. Managing to spread the good word about the Ruff Majik and Psychlona videos as well as reviewing the wonderful Dö album, the cool Eyes of The Oak and the majestic The Mothercow. Earlier in the week we were honored to premier the debut album by Sbarco, which we wrote a review about as well. And last but not least we finally put up that way too long interview we did with Phil Hey from Psychlona. You got time to read it. Sure you have! And for the upcoming reviews as well! I’m sure… If not you would be missing out on a lot of heavy music magic! I mean, you could have missed the stunning Gods, Used, In Great Condition album by Tommy And The Teleboys and Ronny’s excellent write-up. If you need a go to album right now, it’s that one! And all of the Ten featured in the list above… Shall we deliver a Spotify Playlist for you all… Shit, why not… Here ya go… All the albums from the Top 10 if already out, otherwise all the singles so far… Just press play… 

Weekly Top 10 Most Listened - Week 38

Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s
Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

Madrugada
Blues Pills
Adjustable Mustard
Phe
Axamenta
Kant
Stöner
Mammoth Volume
Sleepless
Cobranoid

Morning everyone! No use dwelling in the past right? We’ll deal with the bastards soon enough! Even though we shall continue to do these weekly glances into the week past. It helps us focus and pay attention to what we did and what we are about to do. Only the Erronaut, Blues Pills and Fringe Sociology posts went up. But they were all good and makes us giddy to do more this week. We hope so! Even though the new edition for the Doom Charts also needs to be cooked up. But I suspect a review or two to appear today and tomorrow… And that great interview we did with Phil Hey from Psychlona to pop up soon enough as well! Have a great week everyone and keep listening to everything heavy!

Blues Pills – Birthday

 

 

Blues Pills – Birthday
Throwdown Entertainment – 2024
Rock
Rated: ***

It’s their fourth album and yet another one that might propel them ever forward to a bigger audience. Blues Pills has evolved from that gritty seventies inspired, bluesy, hard rocking outfit that was as classy as it was soulful. But the Swedish four are rounded out, more pop sensible and now able to rock every stage, stadium and festival. They can play everywhere and get every crowd moving! The new one is called Birthday, in part named that way because vocalist Elin Larsson found out she was pregnant during the writing and recording sessions. Has it brought an extra heartbeat full of glee and smiles to the record? It does sound like it, cause it is forever sunnier and even more danceable. Even though we do get to hear her grit her teeth and sing she’s ‘going to ruin someone’s birthday’, ‘how it drives me fucking mad’ and that she will continue to make bad choices. But it all feels aimed to get the entire festival field a moving. The first ballad they roll out is called Top Of The Sky and is a beautifully arranged composition that leaves every second open for Larsson to shine and show off her vocal capabilities. Vocal chords that seem to have gotten even better and more versatile. And it seems the gang knows their strength, cause much of the compositional choices are made in such a way that the vocals are always front and center. All of which leaves little to no room to miss the old Blues Pills you fell in love with. And this is still the Blues Pills you want to grow old with…

(Written by JK)

Bandcamp

Homepage

Facebook

Nuclear Blast

Blues Pills – Holy Moly!

Blues Pills – Holy Moly!

Nuclear Blast – 2020

Rock, Hard, Blues, Seventies

Rated: ****

Holy Moly! He exclaimed with great relish! The Blues Pills four have done it again! Their earlier records were already right there where you need the blues to be. Right there in that golden seventies era! But on their new one they have decided to dispense with all those psychedelic meanderings and dived straight into the hard rocking blues! For that is what we are served when we get a taste of the Holy Moly! Soft almost slumbering blues and hard trucking diesel blues rock. Do we miss those psychedelic touches? Not when the tracks are as gorgeous and powerful as the ones featured on Holy Moly! And when you have such a powerhouse of a woman in the name of Elin Larsson wreaking havoc, there is simply no escaping the simple fact that Blues Pills are a force to be reckoned with. They simply perfected the push and pull of the bluesy ocean, leaving you thirsting for the subdued when the powerful is there and the other way around, implemented some garage rocking gale and destroys every option of calling this a retro band.Blues Pills are back and ready to kick some ass!

(Written by JK)

Bandcamp

Homepage

Facebook

Nuclear Blast

The Doom Chart for August 2020

Doom Charts

    “We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone … And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.” ~ Hermann Hesse

… our huge world has shrunk to the size of a pea! Our social contacts are limited to a cool “one square meter distance ritual”! Our bathroom mirror meets us daily as our only friend! We crave for variety in shimmering colors, while we put the oil sardine tin in the metal bent shopping cart! … The self-made hermit goes home frightened! – alone… alone? … alone with ourselves? Ey, a grinning monster sits on our shoulder and gloatingly whispers in our ear: “You are alone with your thoughts, your feelings, with the fears of your soul and there is no escape, mate!“ And this mean monster is exactly the one we fear most, isn’t it? All these years we have made the greatest effort to cloud the view of this monster with the razor-sharp eyes, with journeys around the world, social activities and escape into everything that could distract us!

And now we crumble, under it’s gaze to sawdust, because we CANNOT FLEE!!

Dude, knock the dust out of your self-cut hair and shake the sawdust out of your bulging pockets! You are not alone! You have a friend, the monster with the razor-sharp eyes! Take on the wild ride with your new stranger friend, dude and spit with it neon-colored ash rain on this pea world! ~ Mel Lie & Her Monster

Mel Lie and Her Monster… I want to meet them both even more now! Ye gods, what a screed! Crazy, wicked, wild and poetic! Just like those albums on the new August edition of the Doom Charts! All of them are equally stunning; but personal favorite at this moment in time are the deserved Numero Uno: Psychlona! Man, what an album! But we’ve been getting crazy on the new Motorpsycho, Hydra, Black Elephant, Blues Pills, Kitchen Witch, Temple, The Atomic Bitchwax and Volcanova! Volcanova and their Radical Waves album will surely end up higher next month! But hey; it’s just the tip of the heavy rock ice berg! There is even more awesomeness out there!

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the heavy underground around the globe.  Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums.  The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below.  This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

The Doom Chart for August 2020

Blues Pills – Lady In Gold

 

Blues Pills – Lady In Gold

Nuclear Blast – 2016

Rock, Blues, Psych, Pop

Rated: **

We love Blues Pills, have been loving Blues Pills since seeing them live on Roadburn back in 2013. And their self-titled debut effort is still often on rotation over here. And ofcourse made it all the way to the Number 5 position in the Stoner HiVe top 20 countdown of 2014, voted for by so many of you lovely freaks out there. So when Lady Of Gold finally came in, we welcomed the female grim reaper and let it immediately move to the front of the line. So the sweet music could start and we could dance along. It’s a train. A psychedelic blues train that just keeps on powering through all the heavy landscapes the Swedes designed for this album. And you can take the mention of the word heavy with a grain of salt, for everything sounds more like pop then rock. This might also refer to the mention of the word blues. What? Yes, Blues Pills, are not really that bluesy anymore. And they never slow down or power up, they just keep on truckin. But I guess that’s where things go wrong. Because of the lack of variation in tempo and speed it starts to feel morose and sound uninspired. Full of energetic optimism and militant aggression towards the mythic underworld figure, the album seems to fall flat in their portrayal of never giving up. For the ten full force soulful blues tracks are definitely meant to exhilarate and whoop up the good times. But perhaps paradoxically they seem to fatigue and tire. And with such amazing artists, it’s puzzling the collective comes up with this album. Where the idea was so much better than the end result. Let’s hope for a better one next time around…

(Written by JK)

Bandcamp

Homepage

Facebook

Number 5

Number 5

“A pure pot still rye whisky from the innovative Dutch distillers Zuidam, that's made in small batches and aged five years before bottling. A dark golden whisky, with a nose of a sweetness and fruit with hints of grain, honey, wood and vanilla.A taste of notes of wood, spices, honey and citrus. With a dry aftertaste of sweet fruit, honey, vanilla, wood and coconut in the background with something smoky.”

Nine points we jump. A small jump. Before we make the big or even gigantic leaps. So, Electric Citizen was my biggest surprise. And a highly welcomed one. What an album. So what do we find on position Number 5? More female vocals and more psychedelic rock; but this time around we aim more for the seventies and more for the blues. We knew when the album came out that it would be featured on many end year lists. And we are thankful that everyone out there dug it in the same way we did; for the soulful vocals, the classic hard rock, the acid infused coloring and the blissful guitar work are simply stunning. So take the pill and take the ride!

Blues Pills – Blues Pills

Homepage

Facebook

Bandcamp

Full review

Blues Pills – Blues Pills

Blues Pills – Blues Pills

Nuclear Blast – 2014

Rock, Hard, Classic, Seventies, Blues, Soul

Rated: ****

After a successful run of EP’s and live performances we are finally furnished with a full-sized debut by the international assembly we know as Blues Pills. Founded by the American drummer Cory Berry and bass player Zack Anderson back at the tail end of 2011 they quickly joined forces with Swedish lead singer Elin Larsson and French guitar player Dorian Sorriaux. On it we hear a grand blend of seventies styled classic blues rock and soulful hard rock from that same era. And sure; it is the voice of Elin Larsson that pulls you in at first. For she mixes what Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin did into something highly soulful and exceptionally heavy. On some moments she does seem to miss a bit of weight making her color and strength move towards Beth Ditto (The Gossip) but for the most part she has you absolutely captivated. There is so much heavy blues and concrete hard rock that it’s hard to pick favorites. But when the guitar starts talking in Black Smoke one cannot do anything else but be awed and shocked. Or the slow building Little Sun that has you soaring through the sky. And Devil Man ofcourse; the one we’ve known from the EP’s. The stomping kandy-kolored-electric rocker infused with acid and meant for those who want to know… So bite the apple, swallow the pill, take the ride and see where you wake up…

(Written by JK)

Homepage

Facebook

Bandcamp