Ikitan – Shaping The Chaos

 

 

Ikitan – Shaping The Chaos
Taxi Driver Records – 2025
Rock, Metal, Post, Prog, Stoner, Instrumental
Rated: ****

What a grandiose drop of awesome albums yesterday! March 7th 2025, will go down in history as a majestic day for the heavy underground. The new Kaiser and Kryptograf were two of those amazing albums that were released yesterday, but there were many more, like for instance Shaping The Chaos by Italian trio Ikitan. We mentioned their Twenty-Twenty EP from 2020 and have been listening to their TOOL informed instrumental stoner, prog and post rock ever since their new promo landed in our email. An album inspired by inexplicable phenomena or weird places around planet earth, which will definitely strike a chord among many of the heavy rock fans. For most of them have a wild imagination and are always keen to experience visions of the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs, volcanic streams, the Gates of Hell crater in Turkey, the rocks that move around Death Valley, ghost lights, mumification and much more. Ending their tale with the sound of the loneliest, sole of the species, of a certain whale. Which I had not known about. (Although back in 2010 and 2022 researchers found out there might be one or two more.) There are definite jazzy and jam-like sections like on fifth and longest track Natron, which also hears violin weave itself across the composition, but most of the album shapes itself like meticulously crafted post and prog. And in doing so molds that one ten and a half minute long track as the ‘chaotic’ centerpiece. Following Bung Fai Phaya Nak, with its drooping, falling opening, its powerful end section, slowly dissipating once again, but then instead sleepily ascending, wonderfully done. And that guitar work on Brinicle, stunning. A bit of funk in the drum style and bass groove from time to time give Shaping The Chaos that extra bit of bop and bounce. And the way they make all of it come together in various centers, like a centrifuge, feels like it all is acting on some holy bond to create something special. Ikitan is its name…  

(Written by JK)

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The Fizz Fuzz - Deserts, Mountains, Oceans

 The Fizz Fuzz - Deserts, Mountains, Oceans
Slush Fund Recordings / Taxi Driver Records – 2023
Rock, Desert
Rated: ****

The new The Fizz Fuzz album Deserts, Mountains, Oceans will be arriving on March 14th and will surely transport some of you to a time when you were living your best lives. Even though you might feel a bit forlorn or desolate thinking about them... For Deserts, Mountains, Oceans has the ability to transport you to the time when you were in high school or university and has that indie, slacker vide as much as it brings you something sweetly and sweaty that hails from the desert, that sound you fell in love with some decades ago. Which might be logical to some, since The Fizz Fuzz duo consists of the married couple Dawn and Dandy Brown. And for those of you who followed the HiVe for a while, might know that one of my absolute favorite records is one made by Mr. Brown. It was his Orquesta Del Desierto project, and both those Orquesta albums are simply amazing and are on heavy rotation whenever the sun comes out. Some of that spirit naturally seems to waft over some of the tracks, closing track Billion for example. And one of the more slacker, indie inspired tracks is the one called Mad Jimmy. And all eight of the tracks on the album have this honesty and love about them. The first The Fizz Fuzz album Palmyra was released in 2020 and was aided by many of his artist friends, this time around we can still hear Steve Earle from the Afghan Whigs on drums. And since the Brown duo has a sweet spot for Italy and spend quite some time there, even recorded some of the album, they implored the help of ISAAK bassist Gabriele Carta. Oh and HEY, that Italian ISAAK, are about to release a damn good album called HEY on March 31st through Heavy Psych Sounds. But we shall get to that some other day, cause we’re here for Deserts, Mountains, Oceans and Carta and Earle giving the compositions its foundations… With guest spots here and there by Mike Reeder, Keith Murphy, and Mark Engel. But otherwise, it’s Dandy and Dawn, Dawn and Dandy. Complementing each other and giving each other the space and light to shine. There are solo tracks, backup vocals and an honest to god lovely duet called Disbelief. Soon they will head over to the UK for a few live dates, but otherwise Dandy Brown’s agenda is a difficult one, since there’s something Hermano coming up soon as well… As I’m sure you’re all aware of… Does this mean The Fizz Fuzz’s new album Deserts, Mountains, Oceans will get all the attention it deserves? Let’s hope so, for the two not only seem to have found each other, they also seem to have found the perfect way to deal with a lot of personal and shared history and translate it all into something universal. If this is The Fizz Fuzz and the way they will sound going forward, we cannot wait to hear more...

(Written by JK)

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The Fizz Fuzz – Palmyra

The Fizz Fuzz – Palmyra

Taxi Driver Records/Slush Fund Records – 2020

Rock, Desert, Stoner, Atmospheric

Rated: ****

Featuring hero Dave Angstrom (Hermano/Luna Sol), Steve Earle (Afghan Whigs), Mike Callahan (Hermano/Earshot), Alice Albertazzi and Gianfranco Romanelli (Alice Tambourine Lover) and Mark Engel (Orquesta del Desierto) will ofcourse immediately turn me on and I trust you as well! But The Fizz Fuzz is actually the new musical vehicle of maestro Dandy Brown and his wife Dawn, and that fact is even more important. Cause as driving force behind the amazing Orquesta Del Desierto and Alice Tambourine Lover, the man has always held a sweet spot deep inside my heart. Solo record Scattered Days was already a damn fine release but The Fizz Fuzz’s debut album Palmyra shines even more. Recorded in many different studios around the globe the album retains this high desert feeling. An atmosphere that encapsulates that moment of blossoming cacti after an early morning rain shower perfectly as well as those dusty windswept sand roads longing for a drop or two. Two pieces that go perfectly together, just like the voices of the couple, sparkling and clean. It’s the Fizz that was added to the Fuzz. Sizzling shiny rock combined with airy compositions and every possible drop of ambience. One hell of an album once again and one that will play out many summer evenings when you are staying at home… It could not have arrived at a better time!

(Written by JK)

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Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Dandy Brown

The Good Hand

Desert Storm

Drive By Wire

Blackwater Holylight

It’s evening already over here. But we still wanted to quickly put up the Top 5 Most Listened to albums of the past week. Two are still there, so let’s name them first!  Most of our time still went out to Dandy Brown and his majestic new album Scattered Days. Out soon on Taxi Driver Records the maestro we know from Hermano and the awesome Orquesta Del Desierto, (the last, of which Dos was remastered and re-released last year via Spin On Black), gives us nine tracks that meander through many heavy scenes and all have a marvelous lingering aftertaste. It will put you in a righteous mood! As we already stated last week, we love The Good Hand… And perhaps a bit too much! Their super deluxe limited diehard fan release of their earlier album Atman via Minstrel Music is majestic and definitely one of my favorite vinyl treasures. And we can’t wait to get our hands on the new ‘blue velvet’ edition vinyl coming our way! The new record is called Blissful Yearning, once again impressive and bordering on perfection. The new Desert Storm album Sentinels, out on APF Records, is one hell of a sludge and stoner metal homerun. And will not only ring on through the heavy underground, every metal fan will dig it! What a ride! As is Spellbound, the new album by Drive By Wire. On a completely different playing field the bluesy, psychedelic and sunny sound of Spellbound, out on Argonauta Records, brings forth all the goodness one needs from everything stonerrock with a dusty feel. Put on Spellbound and winter will definitely run away! And finally, Blackwater Holylight, the all-female outfit, releases their first effort through Riding Easy Records. A wild, heavy, fuzzy, psychedelic record that will make you dream of witches and will make your dreams bewitched. Impressive debut for sure! So… You should check it out! Check’m  all out!

Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Dandy Brown

Birth of Joy

Black Rainbows

The Good Hand

Marijannah

Swamped with work and appointments. So, here’s  me trying to do a very vast and quick update on what we listened to last week. Which will surely get out of hand again, as all of the five records are amazing! Most of our time went out to Dandy Brown and his majestic new album Scattered Days. Out soon on Taxi Driver Records the maestro we know from Hermano and the awesome Orquesta Del Desierto, (the last, of which Dos was remastered and re-released last year via Spin On Black), gives us nine tracks that meander through many heavy scenes and all have a marvelous lingering aftertaste. It will put you in a righteous mood! Birth Of Joy, our Dutch psychedelic pride, give us Hyper Focus; a fast paced psychedelic rock album that is more, errr, focused than the albums that came before. Out on Glitterhouse the album moves definitely into a classic direction with some jazzy moments, stoner outbursts and even a little punk. Yes, all new Birth of Joy with Hyper Focus on the sixties and seventies era! Hawkdope, Stellar Prophecy and all that came before; incredible records by Italian psychedelic fuzz crazies Black Rainbows. The new album Pandaemonium, out on Heavy Psych Sounds, will rank among the best of them! What a ride once again! Out in a week or two it will surely rank high among all the HiVe freaks! We still spin Atman from The Good Hand regularly and their band shirt is one of the most worn black band shirts in my possession. Their superdeluxe limited diehard fan release via Minstrel Music is majestic and definitely one of my favorite vinyl treasures. Let’s hope they do something similar with the new record Blissful Yearning. Cause the album is once again impressive and bordering on perfection. A pure ballistically delivered record which immediately feels like a true blow against the empire, a hammer of the gods, that will live on in rock, forever. Yes. We know. We love The Good Hand… And perhaps a bit too much. And how about that Till Marijannah album by Marijannah? Their four-track debut is whirling around the world, entering the Doom Charts on Number 21 and enchanting listeners everywhere. The vinyl is out on Pink Tank Records and gives us incredibly tasty and fuzzy heavy psychedelic rock and stoner. Going into metal territories here and there and always, yes always, captivating you with musical vistas wild and wonderful! And on Outlaws of The Sun you can read more about it, go check it out. And check out those amazing albums! All of ‘em! (See... That got out of hand pretty quickly...)