Swedish retro/psych-rockers Siena Root will be heading out on a European tour this coming March: http://www.sienaroot.com/home/?page=shows
In somewhat related news, similarly minded act Three Seasons -- the band of ex-Siena Root member Sartez Faraj -- will also be touring in March: http://www.threeseasonsmusic.com/shows.php
Siena Root have posted a sample tune from their upcoming live record: http://www.sienaroot.com/downloads/TheRat.mp3
This is the first time that the song "The rat" has been committed to tape.
Swedish heavy rockers Siena Root have confirmed that their upcoming double-live album "Root jam" will be released on November 16, the CD edition via and the vinyl coming via . They'll be touring too, dates here: http://www.sienaroot.com/home/?page=shows
The new Siena Root double-live album that they recorded in late May is now currently being mixed and will be released on November 16.
Retro-rockers Siena Root will be doing three days of shows at Walla Scen in Årsta, Stockholm on May 19-21 where they will be recording a new double-live album.
Three Seasons is the new band of ex-Siena Root vocalist Sartez Faraj and much like his work with that previous act, they totally rule. I know that Graveyard continues to be the poster-boys of the Swedish hardrock scene right now and they're pretty good, don't get me wrong, but in the same way that Siena Root's 2008 release "Far from the sun" was overshadowed by Graveyard's self-titled debut, let us not make the same mistake again. There's room at the top for more than one set of heavy rock jammers and, anyhow, Three Seasons is definitely the superior band. Besides, if you can't get down with those organ solos, you don't deserve to be listening to this stuff anyway.
Three Seasons - Too many choices
The excellent Swedish hardrock act Siena Root will be touring Spain this month:
11/11 - Gruta 77, Madrid
11/12 - Dom Pedro, Gijón
11/13 - La Ley Seca, Zaragoza
11/14 - Jimmy Jazz, Vitoria
11/15 - Estudio 27, Burgos
11/16 - Bola 8, La Coruña
11/17 - Los Picos, Cantabria
11/18 - Universidad de León, Leon
11/19 - La Cueva del Jazz, Zamora
11/20 - Sala Mogambo, San Sebastian
11/21 - Taberna Belfast, León
Swedish psychrockers Siena Root are heading to Spain in November:
11/11 - Gruta 77, Madrid
11/12 - Zeppelin Rock Bar, Sevilla
11/13 - La Ley Seca, Zaragoza
11/14 - Jimmy Jazz, Vitoria
11/18 - Dom Pedro, Gijón
11/19 - La Cueva del Jazz, Zamora
11/20 - Sala Mogambo, San Sebastian
11/21 - Taberna Belfast, León
Swedish hard-rockers Siena Root have been recording all of their recent shows and will be releasing a double-live album in the near future. More details to come.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Mattias Alkberg - Andra känner
03. Darkthrone - Launchpad to nothingness
04. Mikkel Meyer - Kokostosca
05. TALK 2
06. First Band from Outer Space - Turn left to the Mexican barbeque
07. Kråkesølv - Privat regn
08. TALK 3
09. Galaxy Safari - Save me
10. Witchcraft - Samaritan burden
11. Bad Hands - Sonnenrad
12. TALK 4
13. Lapko - I shot the sheriff
14. Siena Root - Into the woods
15. Marvins Revolt - Siberia
16. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Siena RootThe new Siena Root album, their fourth overall, is a serious jammer, though not necessarily of the type I usually go for. Instead of the usual retro hard-rock served up in snappy 3-6 minute packages, the band stretches their chops to create two extended "suites", each about 25-minutes long and conveniently dissected into smaller tracks on CD. The first half, "We", is the more straightforward of the two and features the band in standard space-ballad mode, transitioning into a heavy tent-revival refrain before taking their their planetary caravan "in the desert", zooming "over the mountain" and coming back home again with "as we return", as each section is conveniently subtitled. It's the kind of piece that works best as a soundtrack to a long drive, not so much for casual listening. As for Suite II, "The road to Agartha" (what?), that's where they get real, let down their guard, and fly their freak-flag high. The Beatles may have embraced a bit of Eastern mysticism and indulged in a bit of sitar in their time, but they never rocked out like this with full Indian flair, dueling flute solos, copious hand-percussion implements and other non-standard rock tropes. This is where the extended format works best, where Siena Root can be as self-indulgent as they need, get it out of their system, exorcise their demons, or chase down whatever it is they're after. Likewise, I also think it's the far superior of the compositions, though again, not necessarily for easy, everyday spinning unless side-long psych-jams are your main deal (you dirty hippie). "Different realities" is nowhere near Siena Root's best album, but they were successful with their intentions and that's worth something. It won't ever end up in my steady rotation, but I plan to enjoy it whenever the proper occasion should arise (again, see: road trips).
- Avi Roig
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Sarah Dawn Finer - Moving on
02. Malena Ernman - La voix du nord
03. Drifters - Ljudet av ditt hjärta
04. Erik Hassle - Hassle
05. Scotts - Längtan
06. Irya's Playground - Irya's playground
07. Rolandz - Efter regn kommer solsken
08. Lasse Stefanz - Truck stop
09. Hans Edler with String Orchestra - Remember the sixties
10. Veronica Maggio - Och vinnaren är...
11. Elisabeth Andreassen - Spellemann
12. E.M.D. - A state of mind - Deluxe
13. Erik Linder - Inifrån
14. Caroline Af Ugglas - Så gör jag det igen
15. Cajsastina Åkerström - Sånger om dej och mej
16. Tomas Ledin - 500 dagar om året
17. Dead By April - Dead By April
18. Siena Root - Different realities
19. Thorleifs - Sweet kissin' in the moonlight
20. Thåström - Kärlek är för dom
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Elmo - Blind heart
02. TALK 1
03. Moritz von Oswald Trio - Pattern 3
04. Carpet People - All that ails must pass
05. Fronda - Andas
06. TALK 2
07. Siena Root - Time will tell
08. Cortex - No connections
09. Kornstad - Oslo
10. TALK 3
11. The Silent Section - In snow forever
12. Familjen - Huvudet i sanden
13. Band in Box - B33
14. TALK 4
15. The Bear Quartet - Northern
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Last week I featured a bunch of new mp3s from National Records, this week I'm going to start off with a few choice cuts from the Swedish hard rock label Transubstans. I'm always excited when something new shows up from them, because even when it's derivative nth-generation rehash, it's almost always done so killer, I barely notice. Some of their proggier acts definitely push boundaries, but screw it; I even dig the most baseline riff-rockers they can churn out. For example: Graveyard? Hell yeah. Glad to see they're getting respect in the US too, though labelmates Siena Root are a touch better for my money (new album very soon, can't wait!). Interested in hearing more bluesy heaviness along those same lines? Check out Mangrove. Not nearly as retro-obsessed as their aforementioned peers, though they bring the rawk just as loud and proud. And actually, the touchstone act for these guys wouldn't be Black Sabbath, Deep Purple or any other oft-cited 70s act of their ilk, rather I'd say it's (mid-to-late period) Soundgarden. There's tons of pentatonic runs as you'd expect, but there's a definite psych-pop thing going on as well. The vocals approximate a reined-in Chris Cornell too, especially on the choruses. He can't quite nail the siren wail, but I always found that stuff kind of annoying, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I just like that it's heavy and catchy. And totally killer, 'natch.
Mangrove - River of my soul
Swedish hard-rockers Siena Root will release their fourth album "Different realities" on August 29 via Transubstans Records. Get a preview at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqsyMuqEs9g
In other news, US label Rockadrome has licensed the band's debut "A new day dawning" for release on June 30 and will be following up with "Different realities" this fall. Upcoming tourdates:
07/08 - MUZ, Nürnberg (GER)
07/09 - Wild at Heart, Berlin (GER)
07/10 - Spatz, Waltershausen (GER)
07/11 - Stoned from the Underground, Erfurt (GER)
08/07 - Sauzipf Rocks Festival, Döbriach (AUS)
08/08 - Yellowstock Summer Festival (BEL)
