The Weekly Volcano never sleeps. It's true ... or very close to true. We average only a few hours of shut-eye a night, be it because we're compulsive insomniacs who surf the Internet all night long looking for funny YouTube videos featuring kittens (Paul Schrag), or simply because there's just so much to do.
Included in all this doing? As always, another shining installment of the Weekly Volcano music section.
We wouldn't lie. You better believe we managed to pump out another stellar Weekly Volcano music section - your every Thursday chance at the best in local music coverage.
Here's a look at the sonic goodness coming at you in print and online in this week's Volcano ...
Adorning White Orange's eponymous LP is a delirious explosion of images: majestic sea horses, a serene holy man emitting brain waves, little tucked away peace signs, great swaths of vivid yellow, red and blue - this album wants to melt your brain. In the tradition of bands like Deep Purple, Mastadon, Kyuss, King Crimson and others, this is heavy psychedelic music designed to worm its way into your brain - largely without mellow mind blends, but with plodding riffage that will have you peaking when utilized in tandem with a light show. This is psych rock for people who get laid. ... -- Rev. Adam McKinney
This Saturday Infernal Region will release its newest full-length record on Moribund Records. The Spear of Longinus features nine songs and 45 minutes of the most Satanic tunes ever - plus the debut of new bassist and local celeb Josh Dombeck. Recorded right here in Tacoma by Jesse O'Donnell at the Autopsy Room, the first thing that jumped out and throttled me about this CD was the production and sinister tones blaring out of my speakers. A heavier release than expected, I was pleasantly surprised by the songwriting throughout. ... -- Jason McKibbin
In a city the size of Tacoma, being able to hear local hip-hop on the radio six out of seven days a week is not too shabby. Hip-hop radio is often undersupported. It's also often ignored by local artists who could use it to get their name and music out. Fans and artists alike need to embrace the local hip-hop on the radio that we do have, otherwise we could lose it.
This brings us to J. Bre - who got his Tacoma start as a DJ on KUPS. He's now moved on to become a well-respected hip-hop artist himself. J. Bre's new project is an EP titled The Revelation. ... -- Josh Rizeberg
If you follow the South Sound hip-hop scene by now you've probably heard the name Xperience a time or two. For the past 10 years XP has been solidifying his name as one of the best artists in our area, and he continues to make big moves for himself. Through mid-December XP joins Macklemore on a 27 city nationwide tour, and if he plays his cards right, he could really do some damage in the hip-hop game.
Along with the tour, XP also just released his new mixtape, The Durden Papers Vol. 1, which has production courtesy of some of the Northwest's most talented producers.
A follow up to his first two albums, Soultree (2006) and William VIII (2010), XP wasted no time getting his third project released to the public. It was actually a breath of fresh air for people, like me, who got a little antsy between his first two releases, waiting for something new out of the Gary, Ind. transplant. Although it only took a little over a year to complete, this mixtape is still probably the best project I've heard out of XP. The sound quality, beats and vocals are all so on point it makes you think XP - and Smoke of Oldominion (the project's sound engineer) - must have spent a good portion of the last 12 months in the studio. ... -- Nic Leonard
Baby Gramps looks just like he sounds. His appearance is a more or less spot-on indication of the noises that soon follow when he picks up an old gee-tar and starts a-singing. A long, scraggly white beard, some spectacles, a low-brimmed hat, and when he opens his mouth, the strangest sounds fall out. Throat-singing, it's called, this kind of guttural croak - and it's Baby Gramps' most effective tool in transforming these old folk songs, labor songs and sea shanties into something that feels real. ... -- Volcano