Unfortunately, you can’t actually hear the moment when the mythical beast Sasquatch joined psychedelic rockers Dead Meadow on stage, but rest assured, their set was nonetheless a highlight of this year’s Roadburn festival. Along with performances by Corrosion of Conformity, Weedeater, Count Raven, Today is the Day and others, it’s just been posted in the second batch (first is here in case you missed it) of audio streams. You’ll find the links to the listening pages below. Please enjoy:

Corrosion of Conformity
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726666#ondemand.44726666

Circle with Pharaoh Overlord
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726676#ondemand.44726676

Count Raven
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726684#ondemand.44726684

Dead Meadow
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726688#ondemand.44726688

Lonely Kamel
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726693#ondemand.44726693

Ludicra
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726697#ondemand.44726697

The Secret
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726702#ondemand.44726702

Today is the Day
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726707#ondemand.44726707

Weedeater
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726713#ondemand.44726713

Winterfylleth
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44726718#ondemand.44726718

Special thanks as always to Walter and Roadburn for being generally awesome and allowing me to host the stream links. These sets and all live audio from the fest were recorded by Marcel Van de Vondervoort (of Astrosoniq) and his team at Spacejam Recording.

1:46AM — Sunday Night/Monday Morning — Hotel Mercure, Tilburg

It’s over. I couldn’t even leave the building. I walked out of Sourvein more than three-quarters into their set, and still, it was another 15 minutes before I could actually bring myself to walk out of the 013 and head back to the hotel. I stopped along the way in Weirdo Canyon for fries, which, true to form, came buried under a heap of mayonnaise. Kind of a tradition at this point, though most of it I scooped off and sent down the sink in the bathroom here at the Mercure. Hot water on. Gross nonetheless.

Hard to know where to begin, really. When I got back to the venue, I hit up the Green Room to catch the start of The Machine, and of course it was packed. Amazing to see what a year’s done for them — although, granted, they weren’t on in the Bat Cave opposite Eyehategod like they were in 2010 — but I guess that’s part of it too. They sounded tighter, more mature, more together than they did when last I encountered them, but the material was no less vibrant and spontaneous for it. I was back and forth between them and Dead Meadow, who were on the main stage, and while they were a decent sonic complement for Sungrazer (a sort of new school European fuzz Green Room trilogy would be completed later in the evening as Samsara Blues Experiment closed out the night), they also did right in showing some of their own sonic personality, which they began to display on their recently-issued Elektrohasch debut, Drie.

Dead Meadow, on the other hand, brought out Sasquatch. Literally. There was a dude in a Sasquatch costume, and he came out during their set and stomped around the stage while they played. Clad in my Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy t-shirt, I couldn’t have felt more appropriate. I’ve never seen Dead Meadow before, so I couldn’t say whether or not this is a regular thing, but either way, brilliant. Their music, sedate, meandering, cosmic, seemed to make a good impression on the furry beast, and everyone else there to see it (myself included), and with visual accompaniment from festival organizer Walter Hoeijmakers, who handled a video mixer of various psychedelic imagery, it was “a show” despite the lack of anyone losing their minds on stage.

Other than Sasquatch, of course. He seemed to be really enjoying Dead Meadow‘s set.

I stood and waited for Black Mountain to go on, thinking I’d catch their opening couple of songs and then head in for Black Pyramid, but before they even got on stage, I realized how dumb that was, that I’d never get a spot to watch Black Pyramid, and that Black Mountain‘s set was allotted enough time that I could see them after Black Pyramid were done anyway. So, without reason to stay in the main stage area, off I went to the Green Room, which was already mostly full — although nowhere near as full as it would be by the time they started playing — and set up shop there for the duration.

With their riffs of stone and language of doom, Black Pyramid inspire devotion. They played a couple new songs — “Stormbringer” from the 8″ vinyl of the same name — and when they were finished, the crowd wouldn’t let them go. True enough, they hadn’t yet seen their time-slot to its conclusion, but I don’t think they’d have been allowed to leave even if they’d wanted to, so they fired up the amps again and treated Roadburn to a new song from their upcoming second full-length. It was rough, but guitarist Andy Beresky was trying out some new things vocally, so it should be interesting to hear what they come up with on the next album. Everyone seems to go all-out for the fest anyway, but Black Pyramid really have become an excellent live act. I stayed for their whole set and regretted not a second of it.

And sure enough, when they were done, Black Mountain was still on the main stage. They’re one of those bands I keep hearing about, people recommending them and so forth, and good people, too, but although I have a copy of their latest CD, Wilderness Heart, I can’t say I’ve ever listened to it. I remember hearing them when they put out their first record and being unimpressed. Maybe I need to give them another shot. They were elaborate melodically, and probably not my thing on the whole, but decent enough for what they were doing. They sounded clean, which, with Sourvein following, was like wiping off the mirror before crushing up six vicodin and making an evening of it.

Don’t know when it happened, but at some point T-Roy Medlin from Sourvein adopted a kind of “Dirty South” affectation in his stage mannerisms, and that was in full force when they hit the main stage. Before they even started, he urged the crowd to “get ghetto.” I’d already by then been in and back from the Green Room to see Samsara Blues Experiment, who were killer, and had Black Mountain not just played opposite Black Pyramid, I’d have a hard time coming up with a time when two more sonically incongruous bands were on simultaneously. Samsara Blues Experiment: warm, sweetly toned, jammy, laid back. Sourvein: like being punched in the face with the broken glass of the mirror from the paragraph above. They do abrasive and it’s about all they do.

If the two bands had anything in common — and it just might be the only thing — it was energy. Samsara Blues Experiment did well in not getting too lost in their material, in keeping the audience engaged, and Sourvein, complete with Dave Sherman from Earthride on bass, were personality on parade. For not the first time in the evening, I was reminded of Eyehategod doing an Afterburner set last year, but Sourvein might be even more demented. They were ridiculous in their heaviness and completely over-the-top in their stage antics, Medlin managing at one point to call European beer weak while asking for a whiskey from the stage, which aside from not being true was not exactly going to win him friends among the Dommelsch-downing audience.

But then, if he was even slightly concerned with being accessible or friendly, he probably wouldn’t be in Sourvein. They’re good at being mean, only thicker with Sherman (now bearded) on bass, and considering the last time I saw them was playing to an empty Europa club in Brooklyn, the response they got from the main stage was enjoyable to watch. After a festival with acts as diverse as Wovenhand and Wardruna, Sourvein and Samsara Blues Experiment were as fitting a finale (who likes alliteration?) as Roadburn 2011 was going to get.

I’m not exactly ready to wrap up the festival reporting yet, and I’ll allow that maybe that’s me just not wanting it to end and/or being too exhausted tonight to finish it off once and for all, but I’ll have a post to round out this series tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who’s been reading and commenting. That kind of feedback means a lot and is greatly appreciated.

More tomorrow, and more pics after the jump.

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It came up in the Obelisk‘s recent interview with bassist Steve Kille, but isn’t it only fair that the rest of the world be let in on the news about Dead Meadow‘s upcoming release party for their movie and live audio release, The Three Kings? I and the PR wire certainly think so. The band has also announced their first run of North American dates in support of the album/DVD. Check it out:

Dead Meadow have just announced the details surrounding their upcoming record release party / film premiere for their upcoming new album and original film, The Three Kings, out on March 23rd. Taking place at the historic location of Hollywood Forever Cemetery on March 25th, the event will include the premiere of the Dead Meadow movie The Three Kings as well as a live performance by the band. The night will include an open bar, free admission and giveaways, special DJ appearances, and a yet to be determined opening band. There will also be an art showing of low-brow art scene artist Charles Wish. Charles has been a major contributor to Dead Meadow art including an animated sequence in The Three Kings and will be showing pieces from the movie.

In addition, Dead Meadow have also announced that any fan who orders an advance copy of The Three Kings will be guaranteed a spot on the list for the band’s film premiere in Los Angeles. Just email the band at contact@deadmeadow.com and write “get into the gig” as the subject.

Dead Meadow Live!
March 25 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Record Release / Film Premiere

w/ Imaad Wasif
Fri Mar-26 Brookdale, CA Historic Brookdale Lodge
Sat Mar-27 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Wed Mar-31 Eugene, OR Wow Hall
Thu Apr-01 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Fri Apr-02 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
Sat Apr-03 Seattle, WA Studio Seven
Wed Apr-07 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge w/ Pack AD
Thu Apr-08 Lawrence, KS Riot Room
Fri Apr-09 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Sat Apr-10 Sioux Falls, SD Nuttys North
Tue Apr-13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Wed Apr-14 Madison, WI Annex
Thu Apr-15 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
Fri Apr-16 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Sat Apr-17 Athens, OH The Union
Mon Apr-19 Columbus, OH The Basement
Wed Apr-21 Buffalo, NY Mohawk w/ Buffalo Killers
Thu Apr-22 Toronto, ONT Lee’s Palace
Fri Apr-23 Montreal, QUE Club Lampi
Sun Apr-25 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom

The upcoming release from Los Angeles psychedelic trio Dead Meadow, titled Three Kings, is nearly as difficult to conceptualize as it must have been to execute. Teaming up with the film company Artificial Army, the band (Steve Kille, bass; Jason Simon, guitar/vocals; Stephen McCarty, drums) captured a live show at a warehouse space called Little Radio in their adopted hometown and proceeded to intercut it with narrative film clips portraying the titular three characters — as played by the band — being morally beset on all sides on a journey they know not where, coming together finally for who knows what. Just to make matters more difficult, the audio companion to the DVD intersperses the already-mentioned live recordings with brand new studio tracks — and, get this — it all sounds pretty much the same.

Now that you’re as out of breath as I am trying to wrap your mind around the ambition of the Three Kings project, to be released via Xemu Records, I’ll take a second to remind you that everything is bound to work out just fine, since after all, this is Dead Meadow we’re dealing with, and for a decade now we’ve been able to rely on them for lysergic experiences few bands can match. If anyone is about to pull off the above and come out of it with mustaches in tact, well, it’s probably going to be Dead Meadow.

Steve Kille recently took some time out for a phone interview to discuss the band’s latest meisterwerk and how exactly it all came together. Fortunately, for anyone who might want to read it, Kille proves infinitely more adept at explaining the undertaking than I.

Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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I was all set to roll with this snarky and quite frankly dickheaded bit about how awesome this site is that it can just take embedding code from other sites and post the shit here too, but Spin‘s evil corporate security proved too much for me to handle. Buncha jerks.

Go there and hear the song and then come back here and read the PR wire whathaveyou about Dead Meadow‘s new album/film project, The Three Kings, out in March on Xemu Records:

The package consists of an album that stands alone with live material and five new studio songs produced by bassist Steve Kille including “That Old Temple” mixed by Dave Schiffman and mastered by Howie Weinberg. “Temple” is the first single and has an accompanying video. Dead Meadow have cradled the wide niche that resides between desert soaked ‘70s fuzz rock and sonically ambitious indie rock for over a decade. Members Kille, Jason Simon (vocals/guitar) and Stephen McCarty (drums) have released five studio albums, three of which were on Matador Records and two on Xemu Records. The Three Kings is a celebration of the band’s lyrical mythos and is directed by Artificial Army who in the past bent reality with videos for the likes of The Sword, Mars Volta and Coheed & Cambria.

The Three Kings will be released March 23rd on Xemu Records. The band has announced an upcoming, headlining US tour beginning this March. The band will be taking along good friend Imaad Wasif for the series of dates which will encompass nearly two full months from the kickoff date.

The Three Kings tracklist:
1. The Kingdom Come
2. Between Me and the Ground
3. Good Moanin’
4. At Her Open Door
5. The Whirlings
6. To the One
7. That Old Temple
8. The Narrows
9. Push ‘em to the Crux
10. Seven Seers
11. Greensky Greenlake
12. Beyond the Fields We know
13. Everything’s Going On
14. Lady
15. Darlin’
16. Queen of all Returns

While I wouldn’t classify myself the world’s biggest Dead Meadow fan — I own the records and listen occasionally when in the mood — it’s hard not to appreciate how difficult they are to classify. They seem to enjoy making their nest somewhere between shoegaze, psychedelic rock, laid back stoner and indie, but the blend is all their own. Plus they’ve been doing it for over a decade now, so they’ve gotten good at it.

The PR wire informs of a new video; The Obelisk dutifully posts. It’s the first look at Three Kings, which is a new concert/film and CD the band will be releasing later this year. Kudos to them and to Artificial Army, who directed. It’s a pretty killer video. Dig it: