It's Thanksgiving week and I'm feeling Thankful for many things. My family, my bandmates, my friends, tunes, life, good food n' awesome drink! Holidays makes me feel nostalgic, so here are a couple of my favorite classic spins:
Monster Magnet - Spine of God.
There are three things in life, the world above, the world below and the area being pulled in both directions. "You don't yank on the Spine of God", yeah----but the bull god sure knows how tug on god's benevolence long enough to con him out of some unearthly tunes. Satanic gypsy, poet, doper, sex fiend, mythical anti-Christ, savior, high school burn out, Wyndorf paints pictures so clearly you can reach right into your stereo and touch the frayed KISS patch on his army coat, while exhaling a huge bong hit. The lyrics, melodies, riffs, and rhythms are too perfect, it makes me wonder if god, the devil and dave wyndorf are all the same being. It's too good, too evil, and too human all at once.
Kyuss - ...and the Circus Leaves Town - Blues for a Red Sun - Sky Valley
There really aren't words to describe how I feel about Kyuss. Kyuss is magic. Kyuss is a
classic. Brant Bjork is one of this decades most innovative rock drummers, Josh Homme the master of the stoner riff, Scott Reeder/Nick Oliveri both wizards du bass guitar and groove, and John Gracia- well the most emotional singer in rock'n'roll. Kyuss is one of those phenomenon where the whole IS greater than equal measured parts. Don't get me wrong, I dig all their side projects: Queens of a Stone Age, Unida, and FuManchu, Desert Sessions. But Kyuss is where it's at, its the real Royal Gem. Their ethereal lush desert rock sound has influenced more bands than I can count, mine included. I remember the first time I heard Kyuss, I sat pinned to my stereo for hours, finger to the rewind button, trying to figure out what this j. homme character was doing. Turned out to be the simplest shit ever, but that's the beauty. Stoner bands far and wide have listened to it, eaten it, digested it, regurgitated it, desperately trying to emulate it, but they're never be another Kyuss. The Queen is dead, boys.....Long live KYUSS, Long Live Kyuss!
Pantera : Vulgar Display of Power I don't know what I love more about this record, the painful riffs, the iller singer or the picture of the guy getting beat to shit on the cover. "Are there no standards anymore?" screams Phil in the pre-chours of Walk and after the hairs on my arms lay back down, I gotta say Pantera is the standard for hard, brutal, and in your fuckin' face, boy! I dig it. I'd love to have Phil Anselmo's voice, but Nila reminds me then I'd have to shave and facial hair ain't pretty on a girl. Oh well, but a girl can dream, can't she? Someday, I might get to meet Phil and maybe together we could bread some snake-eyed, god-sized offspring. I've been told he looks like Jim Morrison pre-bathtub these days, but who cares I'd be glad to take him on and whip his ass in shape.
