Bandcamp Recommendations 6/16/2011
Welcome to our weekly Bandcamp Recommendations. Free music for everyone to listen to for the weekend and throughout the week. If you like it enough, something to listen to much much longer. All music listed is free or name your price. In any case, you should give back to these bands, they deserve it. Buy their stuf when possible, purchase a t-shirt or go see them live and buy them a beer when they roll around in your area. In any case, support them!
Bandito is a hard-rock quintet hailing from Nijmegen, Holland. The band combines the Stoner-groove of Kyuss with the Hard-rock-punch of Down, while creaming it with a smooth layer of Atomic Bitchwax. Despite their short existence they have already played some major festivals like ‘Huntenpop’ and ‘de Affaire’. They’ve also won several band competitions.
In 2009 Bandito released their first EP which got a lot of positive feedback. With this EP they’ve toured throughout the Netherlands. Now it’s time for a new release and a refreshed Bandito. Their second release is set for the 12th March 2011. This 10” piece of vinyl is bound to take the band to the next level, play outside their home country. This will give Bandito the opportunity to do what they do best… play live!
Review – Tombstones – Volume II
To start, I feel that I should give a little disclaimer about this review: I’m writing this review from the perspective of a doom admirer, though much more of a casual doom listener. A slightly different perspective never hurt anyone, right? Damn straight. Also, for balance and a review from the perspective of someone that absorbs themselves in all that’s doom, I suggest you check out the review from our friends at Doommantia.
I’m sure it will come as a shock to no one that Tombstones hail from one of The Soda Shop‘s favorite geographic regions, Scandinavia. This Norwegian stoner doom (foot firmly planted in doom, might I add) band has released 2 albums to date with Volume II being their sophomore effort, released October 2010 on the ever impressive Transubstans Records. (more…)
Top 20 of 2010 – Bill’s Picks
2010 was a great year for music. There was so much good stuff released it was very hard to figure out what belonged where. I’ve been pondering over my list for a few months actually and really had a hard time figuring out who went where. This list is by no means definitive. There were a lot of albums released this year that could probably be on this list, but then again, I didn’t have time to listen to everything. Jake and I share similar taste so we’re going to have some of the same picks. Enough of the chitter chatter, on with the list.
20. Zed – The Invitation – I “liked” these guys on Facebook by mistake. I thought they were a Russian band called Zoe. It’s funny how a mistake can turn into a good thing. I discovered a great album, wrote the first review of it for them and I get to kick Mark’s ass in Words with Friends from time to time. He’s pretty good at it too. This album is one of the best independent releases of 2010 and I can’t wait to hear what 2011 and beyond holds for these guys.
19. Sea of Air – Sea of Air EP – Until I ordered the Night Horse 45’s that were released earlier in the year I had never heard of this band. They’re not real active online, I don’t think they have Myspace page either. Heck, when I wrote about their EP, it took them a few weeks to notice it on their Facebook page. Anyhow, these guys have stuck with me since.
Review – Whores of Tijuana – II
Well what can a band do in five years in between albums? Well for starters, if you’re the Whores of Tijuana, then you take that time to produce the best sounding album you possibly can. The time has come now that the Whores of Tijuana are about to unleash their second masterpiece, and what a masterpiece it is. It was produced by the legendary Scott Reeder (The Obsessed, Kyuss). Keep in mind, this review is based off of an unmastered version and currently is unnamed so for now it’ll be referred to simply as II (2).
Fans of the first Whores album will be right at home with their long awaited followup. The album starts off with “Conspiracy of Achilles” which starts off slow and then as the song progresses, it picks up its pace. Its nice and heavy. The second song, “Toecut” was released recently by the band in the form of a video. It’s a fast, heavy and fuzzy song. It’s a song that you have to mosh to. Not “can” but “must!” “Ultimo Hombre” is a bass heavy song. the lyrics are slow until you get to the chorus, then all hell is unleashed. It’s very catchy. “Racer X” is another fast and fuzzy track. My favorite song, “Pig Country” is next. It’s a more mellowed song. “The Shank” picks up the pace but for the most part is mellow until you get towards the end. It’s also the longest song at just under 8 minutes. “Onsiya Kei” is similar to “The Shank” in style but shorter in length. This track i just under 5 minutes. “Robot Headresses” is next. It’s an epic hard and heavy number. “Blue Ball Blues” closes out the album. It’s a fast paced rock number.
Even though the album is unmastered, it’s still good enough for release. It’ll be interesting to see what if anything changes between now and the actual release of the album. If it were up to me then I’d say leave it alone. It’s fine just as it is. This will be a must own album when it is eventually released.
The Soda Shop 