Number 14

Number 14

A singer gaining forty pounds but losing a pill-addiction; a guitar-player leaving the band after the new album had been finished and the tour begun. All in all; much to deal with for these American freaks. But the Monster has a life of its own. There is no stopping it! And after a couple of decent to doable albums the gang returns with what may easily be called their best effort since Powertrip. On their eight studio-album we can hear their tried by trial method. Muscle rock filled with testosterone that without restraint blows the doors of yer head. Slow and dragging one moment and pounding and punctual the next. It has more Stooges and Hawkwind to it than recent records and at all times delivers a maximum amount of psychedelic dosage. The heavy guys are back and have given us a Magnetic album that once again is exquisitely theatrical, grand and bombastic. Pure black magic that can easily compete with the best of their records. As if Mr. Wyndorf has taken a timemachine to steal comicbooks and the best ingredients of their earlier albums…

Monster Magnet – Mastermind

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Number 15

Number 15

At last we see a representation from good ol’ Europe. These French freaks start their album off with some chirping and crickets to get it annihilated first by some car-stereo blasting heavy basses before going back to those wonderful nature sounds once again. And while Blazing a doobie outside the car at Dusk the extraterrestrials decide to visit. After which the music takes form and we are taken away on a deep, raw stoner rock adventure. Driven along by Fu Machu, Slo Burn and Kyuss references you end up in a desert full of aliens and other space scum. These young guns rock their asses of in a pure naive understanding that righteous rock will always prevail over alien scum… “So it’s time to kick ass and chew bubblegum; and we’re all out of gum…”

Wheelfall - From The Blazing Sky At Dusk

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Number 16

Number 16

We have come to our first entry in the Stoner HiVe Ultimate top 20 list of 2010 that does not hail from the American continent. The first four were either from the United States or Canada. But this one belongs to the tribe of the Vodka drinking freaks! Yes; the next band hails from Russia and delivered their second album this year. The first album being a self released cd-r one in 2009. On their new album they teach us the natural laws via eleven hardrocking instrumental stoner tracks in the vein of Karma To Burn. Raw and heavy riffing; mixed with ramshackle bluesy drums and psychedelic melodies. And hour long near perfect trip that takes you places that Laika never even dreamed off. It’s a perfect example of re-hashing certain ideas without loosing your originality!

Re-Stoned - Revealed Gravitation

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Number 17

Number 17

At 17 we come across another group who keeps the sixties well alive. The members of this Canadian band live in a sort of commune. And during their daily life they help the less fortunate; junkies and homeless people. “To not loose touch with reality.” We can justly claim them to be sympathetic types; who by a very fortunate coincidence also produce incredibly great music! We can of course refer to the many musical influences of days long gone. The growling sound seems teleported from San Francisco and Detroit at the end of the sixties. It’s sordid rock that gets spliced here and there with a beam of folk. Thousands of bands have been plundering through the musical past; but only seldom is it done with so much taste and quality. The songs are varied to the extreme and the sound is honest. Add to that the voices of Stephen McBean and Amber Webber that are both like a velvet touch to the ear and we can justly claim that their third record Wilderness Heart is very deserving of a place in the top 20…

Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart

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Number 18

Number 18

As we continue down the list to number 18 we come to another small ‘surprise’. Where The Black Keys were a bit of a different find on the Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 list; the next one is a more logical one. I just had not expected the amount of votes it got. The again; when you have a genre defined by a label like space rock; you can only be on the look out for bands that do justice to the term. And this New York based rock outfit loosely based on two core members is one gigantic spaced out trip. Their heavy psychedelica shakes you to the core with their moments of rage and lulls you back into a false sense of security and ease the next… This is free rock at its peak! Intoxicating!

White Hills – White Hills

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Number 19

Number 19

And as this massive hangover dissipates to a very low level; we continue on with the number 19 of the Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 list. An American duo that released their sixth album this year. It is raw, it is rock and it is their raunchy version of the blues we have come to love them for. Infused with some psychedelica and proto-hardrock they give us their soulful glowing music filled with seemingly sloppy guitars and rattling drums. Brothers; we are on to something damn good here. So let’s never stop enjoying:

The Black Keys – Brothers

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Number 20

Number 20

At the bottom of the Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010; comprised of no less than 37 lists! Doubling the amount we had last year… So many thanks to all the freaks who sent theirs in! And now without further a do we give you the number 20 of this year… Music in its purest form; earthy rhythms, raw vocals and a truckload of guitar in seemingly Endless tunes; these guys know how to Boogie… And they do it in such a fashion that everyone expects 1974 to be just around the corner… There is nothing retro about these freaks; they sift through the entirety of the rock catalogue and take out the best blues they could find. We have royally banged out heads to:

Endless Boogie – Full House Head

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The Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010

The Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010

Only two nights of sleep left before we start publishing the Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010. So far we have received 26 lists. And there is still one more day left to send in yours. On sunday the 12th of december we start with the number 20 of the list. And work or way up to number one on the 31st of december. If you want to send in your list; here's the email you can send it to... Thanks so far already for everyone sending theirs... Cause only with enough lists made up by the HiVe'rs does it make any sense to do this thing...

In honour of all the freaks...

The Damned Things – Ironiclast

The Damned Things – Ironiclast
Universal/Island – 2010
Rock/Metal
Waardering: **

The amount of super-groups keeps rising steadily; or maybe we should conclude that they keep popping up like mad mushrooms everywhere. The newest addition to the craze is The Damned Things; in which we find two gentlemen of Anthrax, two emo-muppets from Fall Out Boy and Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die. So the expectations for their first record Ironiclast are of course pretty high. But those are never to only a very small portion fulfilled. It is clear that the guys wanted to make an album solely aimed at the American market. Hook-laden overly polished rock and metal-light stuffed with choruses that demand a sing-a-long. Guitars that sound excessively blank and expressionless; and never raw or fierce. Shame of the line-up though; from Anthrax folk I would have expected more. Only light at the end of the tunnel: closer Blues Having The Blues. Here we hear a small dash of stoner and pure hardrock mixed with old school metal…

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Motörhead – The Wörld is Yours

Motörhead – The Wörld is Yours
EMI/Motörhead Music – 2010
Hardrock/Metal
Waardering: ****

Unless Lemmy topples over one of these days for some reason or another; one thing will always remain and absolute surety; a new Motörhead album will always be released and will sound like all the others. But in honor of founding their own label; the thirty-five year existence of the band and their twentieth studio-album the holy fire seems to be burning as bright as ever; or even brighter! The Wörld is Yours sounds inspired and the quality of the songs is much higher then on many or the albums preceding this one. Among those Rock ’N Roll Music, Brotherhood of Man and Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye are the absolute winners. Full throttle attack is the battle cry and the weapons are grimy riffs and savage thundering drums. Splendid album by the Motörmen! And let’s wish a day full of loose women and a truckload of liquor for reaching the retirement age! Hear, hear honorable Kilmister!

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The Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010

The Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 albums of 2010

Just like we did last year; we will start counting down the top 20 Stoner related albums of this year starting on the 12th of december. Ending with the numero uno of 2010 on the last day of the year. Last year we ended up with 18 lists of which the Ultimate Stoner HiVe top 20 list of 2009 was deduced. So far 12 lists have entered my mailbox. If any of you freaks out there wish to participate send your top 10 or 20 list to this emailadres...

Let there be great freakin music for all the freaks in the HiVe!

Fruit of The Original Sin – Beneath The Surface

Fruit of The Original Sin – Beneath The Surface
Self Released – 2010
Rock/Industrial/Grunge/Alternative/Progressive
Waardering: ****

“Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) And the fruit of this ancestral sin is now audible. But to be honest the name of the band does not refer to this Biblical story; but it was taken from a poster that is featured in the David Lynch movie The Elephant Man. If the singer, guitarplayer and founder of the Fruit of The Original Sin, Freek Philippi, sees himself as a weirdo or thinks the music belongs to the collection of curiosities will always remain a riddle. Fact is that the second album Beneath The Surface by the Dutch founded band (2006) is high quality, multi layered and completely fuzzed out! Influenced by bands like My Bloody Valentine, Millionaire, Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails we can mostly hear those last two bands. Add a splash of Therapy? and a dash of Porcupine Tree and a terrific mixture of styles are fused. An energetic hybrid of raw speed and intense layering. The only slight deficit in this wonderful production is the quality of the vocals; it hesitates in moments; does not come across as sure and sometimes sounds flat. Even though there are parts where it shines and shows pure ability. Beneath The Surface: a pleasant interpretation of frustration and the loss of control. It’s good to be a sinner…

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The Rudolfs – Streets of Glass

The Rudolfs – Streets of Glass
Cool Buzz / Sonic Rendezvous – 2010
Rock/Alternative/Grunge
Waardering: ***

The Dutch, from the city of Katwijk hailing, The Rudolfs have been rocking together since 2003 when they were pushed into the music-classroom due to detention; so we read in their biography. Besides that fact we can also see that bands like The Beatles, Doors, Sonic Youth and Nirvana have influenced their sound. But we can mostly hear this last one in the racket that is their first debut-album called Streets of Glass. Hugely due to the voice of singer Leo van Duyn who sounds a spooky lot like Cobain in some songs. Luckily they never try to become a Nirvana clone and give enough attention to garage, sixties pop and blues. Still, most of the songs just rock away with leisure and are never filled with the angst-laden weight that the big grunge adepts gave their music. Which of course does not need to be a disadvantage; cause how often do you really want to listen to desperate aggrieved dreamers who were never really good in packaging their dejected melancholy in a song? The Rudolfs; pleasant real songs on the edge of the grunge genre…

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