Wino: "Release Me"

Seventeen years after his first show with Saint Vitus, singer and guitarist Scott “Wino" Weinrich stands on stage performing the songs that help launched a generational flotilla of doom. It's July 1, 2003 at the Double Door in Chicago. The crowd for the only American Saint Vitus reunion show is packed near the stage, but there's standing room at the edges.

Weinrich recalls, "It was cool but also a little bit sad. It took however many years, and we couldn't even sell out the show." Five hundred devoted friends and fans — it's a respectable but modest turnout. After decades of playing to crowds ranging from handfuls to thousands, he still can't fill a medium-size venue.

This shouldn't be a surprise; in fact, it's expected. Weinrich has always been just under the radar, a musician's musician. Over the years, he's collaborated with a gamut of rock legends, including members of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Death. His fans include Henry Rollins, who says, "Scott is one of the heaviest people known to mankind. Just listen to the music; the man matches it well."

Dave Grohl recruited him, along with other celebrated heavy-metal icons, for his Probot project, where Wino contributed vocals for "The Emerald Law" and played guitar in a live version of the band along with Grohl and Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister. Greg Anderson, who, as a member of Sunn O))) and co-founder of Southern Lord Records, is one of the parties most responsible for the current influx of doom bands, cites Weinrich as an "immeasurable influence. The intensity and passion of his playing are unprecedented. He is not in a class of his own. He is the class and the owner."

Everyone related to heavy music has a Wino story or two, the best of which are off the record. There's a duality about the man — he's well liked, always regarded as a generous, friendly guy, but also known as a fiend, perpetually recovering from one addiction or another. He's the most famous guy in heavy metal of whom you've never heard.

As a teenager, Weinrich helped synthesize the burgeoning DC doom-metal scene of the late 1970s, playing guitar in Warhorse, the band that became The Obsessed. Neither interested in mainstream glam metal nor the counter-culture thrash movement, The Obsessed and other local groups like Pentagram purveyed a slow, bluesy take on psychedelic hard rock.

Despite scant recordings — one eight-and-a-half-minute EP and a single — the band had a tremendous influence across the music underground. Fugazi's Joe Lally briefly lived with the band and remembers, "After Wino became the singer, that's when [the] intention behind his writing became clear to me. When Wino started singing, you really felt, 'Hey, this shit is serious.'" Though his range wasn't as wide as some of his contemporaries, Weinrich was nearly unmatched in his intensity and warm soulfulness. As he honed his musicianship and songwriting skills, he also crystallized an interest in motorcycles, booze, and crack cocaine.

The next several years saw Weinrich play in a number of bands. He moved to LA in 1986 to front rising band Saint Vitus, but after three years decided that he needed to write music on guitar again. He left to reform The Obsessed with new rhythm players, including the Melvins' Dale Crover and Kyuss' Scott Reeder back in Maryland. Paradoxically, his lust for chemicals rarely affected his musical prowess. "Back in the day, people used to ask how I could play so smooth when I was that wired, but you get used to it," Weinrich says. And despite more than the occasional binge, he's kept his friends closer than most.

"Fugazi was touring Germany in the [early] '90s, and I don't remember what city we were in, but between songs I heard someone yell, 'Joe!'" Lally recalls. "It was clearly Wino. After the show, he asked us for a band photo because Hellhound was going to release the first Obsessed record from 1985, and he wanted to include photos of friends. He didn't seem to be too together at the time, and I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again. Still, he carried that photo in the pocket of his leather jacket for the rest of the Saint Vitus tour, and it got on the record sleeve. I was pretty shocked when I saw it there." After The Obsessed parted ways, the mid-'90s ushered in the era of his stoner-doom project, Spirit Caravan.

"I got kind of tired playing in bands full time. It was really starting to become unproductive. At the end of the day, I asked myself, 'Do I really want to do this full time?' I didn't."

In 2002, Weinrich joined The Hidden Hand, his most experimental endeavor to date. Like every Wino trio, this one toured relentlessly, devoted to the ideal of DIY live music. While many players burned and dropped out, Weinrich kept at it, finding fresh musical allies. "When [we were] able to tour with The Hidden Hand, it was one of the high points of playing music for me, period," reflects Mike Scheidt, YOB guitarist/vocalist. "Wino has that killer balance of great songwriting, true heaviness, and honest emotional depth borne from living a hard life and surviving long enough to tell the tale."

Over the years, Weinrich's playing evolved, assimilating more progressive, psychedelic nuances. Politics also infiltrated his lyrics, which previously tended towards philosophical and metaphysical themes. The Hidden Hand disbanded in 2007 after some nasty in-fighting on a European tour, and Weinrich attempted to take a break from music.

"I got kind of tired playing in bands full time," Weinrich admits. "It was really starting to become unproductive. At the end of the day, I asked myself, 'Do I really want to do this full time?' I didn't." These are the kind of thoughts that lead one to record a swan song, but instead, Weinrich started a new project and booked six months of gigs. Jean Paul Gester, an old friend and longtime drummer of Southern rock band Clutch, had other plans. Weinrich says, "We're good friends and had always talked about recording a record someday. Jean Paul was so enthusiastic that it was contagious. It was all the push that I needed [to continue making music]."

The other piece of the puzzle was bassist Jon Blank of DC's Rezin. "I knew that he was good, but I didn't know how good," Weinrich says. "He learned all of the songs so fast, and there was really good chemistry." Given Clutch's tireless touring schedule and Rezin's waxing profile, the real challenge was getting everyone into the jam room and studio. "There wasn't a lot of putting stuff off," Weinrich says. "We knew that we had a time frame, and we did it."

The resultant album, billed simply as Wino and titled Punctuated Equilibrium, was recorded in two sessions, half of the songs at a time. Multi-session records are usually a hodgepodge of sounds or muted by digital normalizing, but that's not the case with this record. The album sounds as if it was recorded live in a practice space. Weinrich says, "This is the best-sounding record yet."

The music is all over the place, spanning the gamut of styles that Weinrich has refined over the years, including doom, blues, hard rock, and psychedelia. Weinrich's relaxed but limber guitar playing makes it sound easy. Punctuated Equilibrium is a twisted mass of tree limbs, each song reaching in one direction only to bend in another. "I think [the album] is vaulting Scott into a new arena," says Bobby Liebling of Pentagram. "There is some incredible ear candy, and he's branching out towards much more diversified material than ever in the past…not to mention the guitar playing, [which is] murderous."

The most ethereal (read: "trippy") song on the record is "Wild Blue Yonder," a six-and-a-half-minute ride on a spaceship. "We went into the studio with just the framework and guitar melody — that's all we had," Weinrich says. The result is an acid-rock freak-out on guitar that's anchored by a relentless bass line and drum work that wrap time signatures around multiple phrases. It's seamless; you'd think these guys had been playing together for years.

Other songs on Punctuated Equilibrium bare the distinct stamp of the accompanists. "One thing about Jean Paul is that he loves crazy timing," Weinrich says."It's fun for me too, especially on songs like 'Eyes of the Flesh' and 'The Gift.'" The latter of these is a bonus track from the extra 10" record. Weinrich says, "I've only ever played it with one other drummer who understood it. Jean Paul and I hammered it out in two or three nights, and Jon learned it in one fucking night." "Eyes of the Flesh," along with other tracks like "Secret Realm Devotion" and "Gods, Frauds, Neo-Cons And Demagogues," showcases Weinrich's uncanny ability to wail out sustained notes and slow bends. Tracks such as "Silver Lining" exemplify his ability to scream melodic leads that don't soil his warm, monolithic guitar tones.

Punctuated Equilibrium is an ambitious and varied record, showcasing musicians at the top of their games, and other musicians have continued to take notice. In April of 2009, Weinrich headlined the 14^th annual Roadburn Festival in Tilberg, Netherlands with a once-again-reunited Saint Vitus.

Meanwhile, an acoustic version of his solo band played South by Southwest in the States. Last January, Weinrich announced yet another new band, Shrinebuilder, an underground-metal supergroup of sorts, featuring Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om, and Crover. The group will release an album in September of 2009 and is planning a brief tour. Kelly has commented in interviews that "Wino has been the keystone of this idea from its inception. It wouldn't have been worth doing, and it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been part of it. Lightning." That's to say nothing of Weinrich's rumored electronic project as well as the acoustic affair, Peckerwood. No one can accuse him of being a slouch.

When asked about the last time he had a drink, Weinrich cracks a joke: "Ten minutes ago [writer's note: it's 9 a.m.]…nah, just kidding. I gave up drinking and hard drugs a long time ago." Not that he doesn't knock back a cold one every now and then. As for the cocaine, he's remarkably candid. "It was fucking great — that's why I did it," he says. "It just becomes a lifestyle choice. You have to stay on it, tear apart your house every day, or you live a normal life. There came a point when I just had to live a normal life."

That life includes three kids — Nick (who wants a Moog keyboard), Maxwell (who wants his papa's gold chopper), and Alexandra — as well as an estranged wife, Diana. "I was a stay-at-home dad," Weinrich says. "I raised them from the cradle. Once Diana and I stopped seeing eye to eye, things changed rapidly." When he's not spending time with his kids, hunting down vintage guitar gear, or watching The History Channel, he's struggling to figure out new technology. "I traded a friend of mine for a G4 laptop. I need to figure out that phone thing to talk with the kids while I'm in Europe…Skop?"

Punctuated Equilibrium has had a positive reception with both critics and fans. "It's about timing," Weinrich asserts. "It's always been about timing, and it's never been right for me before. For some strange reason, things are coming together now." He relates his touring schedule — wall-to-wall shows with the Wino project on the road with Clutch, more Saint Vitus reunion shows, Shrinebuilder, and miscellaneous engagements through June 2009. At age 48, 30 years into his career, it's an odd time for a foray as a solo artist, but it's just what Weinrich needs.

"To be honest, this sort of gave me a shot in the arm. I felt like this record made me feel better about things; it made me want to keep playing."

Boris & Ian Astbury: "We Are Witches"

Boris & Ian Astbury: BXI

In 1964, media theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote, “As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village.” He was a bit off when it came to how peaceful this village would be, but culturally and musically, he may have been onto something. As geographical boundaries fall away and new systems of communication become as sophisticated and ubiquitous as speech, we can look forward to a world in which Ian Astbury of The Cult can write songs with Japanese drone rockers Boris.

On the surface, it is the strangest of pairings: a man more familiar for his work with post-punk and hard rock, singing in a guttural heave to Boris' wall of distortion and endless drum fills. In reality, behind this four-song EP, titled BXI, is a group of individuals intent on being “very fucking serious,” according to Astbury, about the music they make. The unforeseen collaboration features Astbury's growl on three originals, as well as a cover of The Cult's “Rain,” where Boris' Wata takes over vocal duties.

The men behind Southern Lord, Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley, facilitated the meeting between these disparate entities. According to Astbury, “Steven met me and kind of vetted me. Then he spoke of me with Boris, and the next thing I know, the material starts coming.” The meeting was nearly two years in the making according to Astbury, who originally wanted Boris to perform with The Cult. Instead, BXI showcases Boris’ ability to write for an iconic front man.

“Do you understand why 15-year-old boys are screaming into microphones and not singing?  Because nobody's fucking listening to them. Do you think that they're taking the way this culture is, and they're not affected by it emotionally? Absolutely, they're fucking affected by it.”

“I really feel like I'm around my people, my tribe,” Astbury says of the collaboration and of working with Southern Lord, “and it's just great to be in a room with people when I'm speaking the language and they understand it.”

“After Ian joined in the session,” Atsuo of Boris says, “we headed for a specific possibility that couldn't be seen by Boris alone.” At this point, however, the genre-straddling three-piece must be well attuned to collaboration, and its acumen has grown with every release. Boris has worked with the likes of Michio Kurihara, Merzbow, Haino Keiji, and Sunn O))), and each time, Boris discovers a latent connection between its members and its collaborators. This connection is where its brand of doom-laden hard rock blends effortlessly with the experimental vocal wails of Haino or the psychedelic styles of long-time collaborator Kurihara. Indeed, BXI sounds so natural after a few listens that it's difficult to see how the collaboration ever seemed strange.

Astbury is equally familiar with the collaborative process. He performed with UNKLE, fronted The Doors in 2002, played with MC5 a year later, and continues to bring what he has experienced and learned back to The Cult. “I've been at these other universities studying with these other masters,” Astbury says. “I want to bring this into whatever I'm doing. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I think that's bullshit.”

Lyrically, Astbury comes to terms with a few troubled years on BXI. The death of close friend and cinematographer Sean Watts led him to a reclusive artistic period that ended when he was given the collaboration with Boris.

“I basically threw in the towel at that point,” he says. “I really crawled out of a hole, so I had a lot of material to work with. I was wounded. I was hurt. In the past eight months, I've been really getting back on my game. The first thing I get given is Boris, and that was just overwhelming.”

Astbury says that Norwegian black metal has equally become a strong influence for him, personally and lyrically. That influence stems from what he describes as an attunement to nature, sensitivity, and experience within the Norwegian black-metal scene, which, as he says, turns anyone involved into willing outsiders of a materialistic culture.

Change “Norwegian black metal” to “British post-punk” in the previous paragraph, and the same words could easily be applied. “Bands talking more about feeling, not a part of society — this dystopian quality — that's always permeated the things I've done,” Astbury says Though sonically disparate, the post-punk movement, where Astbury first entered the music world with Sudden Death Cult, had in it some of the same dissatisfaction and anger as Norwegian black metal. Both movements came about as an attempt by the counterculture to revenge itself against mainstream influence that didn't satisfy emotionally or spiritually.

“Do you understand why 15-year-old boys are screaming into microphones and not singing?” Astbury asks. “Because nobody's fucking listening to them. Do you think that they're taking the way this culture is, and they're not affected by it emotionally? Absolutely, they're fucking affected by it.”

This may be why through most of BXI, Astbury belts out his delivery, forcing the listener to pay attention. Yet despite the existential and emotional import behind Astbury's words, BXI stays within the realm of fist-pounding raucousness throughout, with the exception of the final track, “Magickal Child,” which combines the doom qualities of “Rafflesia,” the first track on Boris' Rainbow, with the peerless, vibrato-heavy vocals of Astbury.

It’s an ending that encapsulates where the singer was emotionally before the project, and equally, the ability of Boris to recognize and perfectly match Astbury. “The forest knows just how you feel / In higher form, you shall be reborn,” he sings. The natural world that Astbury sees as an integral part of black metal is the world he tries to embrace and pull into BXI. With the help of Boris, it’s a fully realized vision—heavy, cathartic, and entirely unapologetic.

Drone-doom poster duo Sunn O))) will curate the 2011 festival, guaranteeing another exceptional lineup.  The two official members (Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley) have participated in various past Roadburns, and they will follow curators David Tibet and Neurosis from past years.  Specifically, the group will choose the events of Friday, April 15, personally selecting bands to play before headlining the event.

Last year’s stellar roster included Shining (Norway), Russian Circles, Earthless, Kylesa, Enslaved, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Jesu, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Nachtmystiuim, and Shrinebuilder.  The 2011 festival will take place on April 14-17 in Tilburg, Holland.

If a trip to the Netherlands is out of your budget, or if you simply cannot wait until April to see Greg and Stephen, you can get your Sunn O))) fix in September during their collaboration project with Boris (ALTAR), performing at ATP New York and Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple.

Making an impressive debut on Other Electricities, Nashville duo Tallest Trees is the union of two separate projects — an expansive solo experiment by Thomas Samuel (who began as Tallest Trees) and the looped-cello project of Dabny Morris (dubbed Human Voice).

Together, the two have created their own brand of off-kilter pop, weaving weird effects and echoing vocal harmonies over malleable foundations.

Each element — whether a wash of distorted guitars, a toy piano, or hymn-like singing — combines with the others to create a well-meshed, unique whole.  Glitches, found sounds, feedback, and more give The Ostrich or the Lark a warm, welcome feel.  It's a beautiful pop debut — one that will make many take notice.

Tallest Trees: "Alouette!"
Tallest Trees: \"Alouette!\"

Boris & Ian Astbury: BXI EP (Southern Lord)

Globe-crossing collaborations have become substantially easier in the Internet age, but Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley of Southern Lord have facilitated a pleasant surprise: the collaboration of UK post-punk, goth-rock front man Ian Astbury and Japanese drone-metal trio Boris.

Best known as the voice of The Cult, Astbury is no stranger to collaboration; he was chosen for the 2002 Doors reunion and has recorded with UNKLE and a number of other musicians.  The surprise, in fact, is that his work over these four songs with Boris sounds so natural.

BXI showcases Boris' ability to fit Astbury's style with fist-pounding rock rawness.  But the final track, "Magickal Child," may be the best, combining Boris' doomy qualities with Astbury's vibrato-heavy vocals.  The one cover tune — a version of The Cult's "Rain" — is another standout, featuring Boris' Wata handling vocal duties.

Both parties must be pretty satisfied too, because co-performances are scheduled for the coming months, and they're already discussing a followup.  Wherever that leads, the result is sure to be just as interesting.

Boris & Ian Astbury: "Teeth and Claws"

Asphalt Orchestra: s/t (Cantaloupe)

Co-directed by Ken Thomson and Jessica Schmitz, Asphalt Orchestra is a 12-piece marching ensemble that performs brass-led covers of eclectic selections as well as commissions from esteemed songwriters.

Thomson and Schmitz have ridiculous résumés, but the rest of the lineup is no less preposterous in talent, featuring members of Jerseyband, Gutbucket, Balkan Beat Box, Barbez, and Slavic Soul Party, as well as bandleaders and contributors to ensembles such as Bang on a Can, Alarm Will Sound, So Percussion, and others.

The twelve-tet's self-titled debut is a luminous romp, reimagining tunes from Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus, Meshuggah, and Björk with equal ease.  The group also delivers beautiful commissions by Tyondai Braxton (Battles), Stew and Heidi Rodewald (The Negro Problem, Passing Strange), and composer Goran Bregovic.

With matching uniforms and a diverse songbook, Asphalt Orchestra draws comparisons to Chicago's Mucca Pazza.  This NYC ensemble, however, employs choreographed moves and even more crowd interaction.  If you get the chance, don't miss them on your street.

Asphalt Orchestra: "Electric Red" (Meshuggah)
Asphalt Orchestra: \"Electric Red\" (Meshuggah)

Esperanza Spalding: Chamber Music Society (Heads Up)

Still just 25 years old, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding holds a glut of talents and a set of experiences that few can call their own.  And with African, Hispanic, Native American, and Spanish roots, Spalding has a heritage as diverse as her influences.

Her previous albums have mixed jazz singing, scatting, and down-tempo jazz with elements of chamber, Brazilian, and flamenco music.  For Chamber Music Society, her third full album, Spalding focuses on her chamber influences, albeit with bits of the other styles in the mix.

Best known as a bassist, Spalding has experience across various chamber instruments, and as a child prodigy, she became concertmaster of The Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age 15.  Clearly, the abilities never left, as Chamber Music Society is a collection of deliberate, delicate chamber-jazz tunes.

Spalding's vocals are less of a focal point, often used as accompaniment or absent for long stretches.  When they return, however, it's easy to hear why that aspect of her career is so celebrated.

Her next album, Radio Music Society, is in the works now and will explore funk, hip hop, and rock in genre-less creations.

Esperanza Spalding: "Short and Sweet"
Esperanza Spalding: \"Short and Sweet\"

Honorable Mentions

Brass Menazeri: Vranjski San (Porto Franco)

Camu Tao: King of Hearts (Def Jux / Fat Possum)

Chief: Modern Rituals (Domino)

Drivan: Disko (Smalltown Supersound)

Knights of the Abyss: The Culling of Wolves (Ferret)

Lissie: Catching a Tiger (Fat Possum)

Night Horse: Perdition Hymns (Tee Pee)

Orbs: Asleep Next to Science (Equal Vision)

Valkyrie: Man of Two Visions (Meteor City)

Perhaps the poster group for its genre, Sunn has spent the past 10 years experimenting in epic, doomy sound and noise.

Now, with Monoliths & Dimensions, the core duo of Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson teams with guests galore to create, in the words of the group, "the most musical piece we've done."  Guest musicians Eyvind Kang (John Zorn, Bill Frisell), Jessika Kenney (Eyvind Kang, Asva), Oren Ambarchi (Burial Chamber Trio), Dylan Carlson (Earth), Julian Priester (Sun Ra, John Coltrane) and others help make that so, while retaining the creeping, end-of-the-world vibe that persists thoughout Sunn's work.

Khanate: Clean Hands Go Foul (Hydra Head)

As the belated swan song for the super-group collaboration between Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O)))), James Plotkin (Phantomsmasher), Alan Dubin (OLD), and Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God), Clean Hands Go Foul is a fitting endgame for Khanate's aural presentation of desolation and despair.  Evil ambience crests and falls, working with ominous chords and soul-shredding screams; naturally, fans of O'Malley's other work will love this.

Khanate: "Wings from Spine" (excerpt)
Khanate: \"Wings from Spine\" (excerpt)

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp)

Unconventional indie darlings Grizzly Bear have pushed three years since their last full-length release, and the passage of time hasn't diminished the band's creative stroke.

On Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear's trademark vocal harmonies and layered orchestrations are still present, but the album features a slightly heavier touch of electronics and chamber elements.  By and large, however, this is the same Grizzly Bear, and preexisting fans won't feel alienated by this disc.

Sir Richard Bishop: The Freak of Araby (Drag City)

In his solo creations and many collaborative endeavors, ex-Sun City Girls guitarist Richard Bishop weaves through Arabic, Indian, flamenco, African, and Gypsy influences in both composed and improvised settings.

With his new album, he employs a clean, reverberated electric guitar in place of his usual acoustic sound, and he adds a bit of percussive assistance. For spring and summer tour dates, Bishop will perform with a full ensemble, which should make his ethnic creations even more compelling.

Master Musicians of Bukkake: Totem One (Conspiracy)

Milky and Don McGreevy of Earth, producer extraordinaire Randall Dunn (Secret Chiefs 3, Sunn O)))), Bill Horist of Ghidra, and other noted Northwest musicians comprise this collective that designs psychedelic, ethnically inspired folk freak-outs.

With Totem One, the group begins a musical trilogy while expanding and maturing its expansive sound.  The album's guests include Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls and Timb Harris of Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3.

Vieux Farka Touré: Fondo (Six Degrees)

The son of musical Malian icon Ali Farka Touré, guitarist/singer Vieux Farka Touré has garnered international distinction since the release of his self-titled debut album, issued the year after his famous father’s death.

That disc, which was remixed later in the same year, featured kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate on a pair of tracks and combined Mande and Sonrai folk styles with pop and a touch of reggae.  Diabate is back to help with Fondo, which finds Vieux taking more of a distinctive direction while improving his songwriting chops.