Another Dire Wolves review...

This one's from Lee Jackson on his Womblife blog:

Dire Wolves Dire Wolves (Secret Eye) 2xC-30 - It's been a treat seeing the new wave of lumbering Cozmik pSych groops come wafting up from the basement like so many black smoke monsters. Pittsburgh's Dire Wolves definitely fit the bill with their sprawling psych jams owing to Träd, Gräs och Stenar, German Oak, Amon Düül II and the like (including Earth before the smoke cleared). The quartet -- featuring members/former members of Arco Flute Foundation, Black Forest/Black Sea, Forest Dweller, Sagas, etc -- that is Dire Wolves somehow manages to explore the corroding line between earth/sky, heaven/hell, order/chaos and show how limitless and vast that seemingly small space can be. What I truly dig about these 4 sides is how easily the group shifts gears from a hypnotic on-'n'-on caveman stomp to something more formless with the most insane/feral acid leads cutting through all the dense smoke -- a sound that was made to be heard on tape. Apparently sold out some time ago, but more releases are forthcoming on other labels. Keep your ears out!

Thanks, Lee!

Recent reviews...

Here are some recent-ish reviews, one of the new Dire Wolves tape on Dynamo Sound and one of the Sagas tape on Stunned Records...

Dire Wolves - Mystical Mayan Age of Musick - "This is like the most obscure supergroup ever, but it's still totally a supergroup. Dire Wolves is Jeffrey Alexander (Black Forest/Black Sea, Secret Eye Records), Dan Letson (Forest Dweller), Matt McDowell (Sagas, Bravepriest, a bazillion collaborations), and Ian Bonnett(Whitetail, In The Belly Of The Whale, etc). And unlike all of the recent bullshit "supergroups" like Them Crooked Vultures or Monsters Of Folk that totally suck ass, Dire Wolves fuckin kills it. These dudes are so awesome.

Magickal Mayan Age Of Musick is a drugged out spider's web of psych noise drone in the form of a 20 minute cassette. Sometimes it gets in a warbled bluesy groove that could be filtering out from some no-light smokey basement club, sometimes it'll dissolve into a empty hazy tin of nothingness before it jolts into a spastic on-off freak out that makes more sense as "noise" than it does as "psych jam." All 10 minutes of the A side, however, are fuckin nuts, scanning the radio and jumping all over the place from semi-ethnic garage meanderings with lazy drums to balls out The Heads-channeling to twinkling interludes to wah-wah blazin electronic static nastiness.

Not sure if these dudes actually know what they're doing or if they're just having a good time fucking around making absolutely ridiculous psych noise tapes but either way Magickal Mayan Age Of Musick is definitely not to be missed. Only 50 were made so grab one from Dynamo! (which just so happens to be run by the dude from Hunted Creatures. Bonus!) before they run out." from Anti-Gravity Bunny

Sagas - Root Structures and Private Dementias - "Matt McDowell lays down some scorched earth guitar jams to tape for the venerable Stunned Records. Just as devastating as his work with Brave Priest, Root Structures & Private Dementias is a twisting, barren journey choked with the dirt of lonelier roads than most weary travelers can handle. Working from the buzzsaw raga of "Murdstone Road" through percussive workouts and onto a b-side laced with drone divining ritual séance, the cassette is steeped in a soul stripping heaviness that underlies every inch of McDowell's output. Definitely not a release to be missed on your deck this winter." from Raven Sings the Blues

Thanks, guys!

Sagas LP on the way...

I find the recording process pretty interesting, so I thought I'd post some pictures of Matt working on his forthcoming Sagas LP. The album will feature multiple instruments, but in these photos Matt is working on laying down the drone with our electric organ, a thrift store treasure named The Fun Machine.

LP forthcoming on Greenup Industries!

The latest...

Alright, so now that the new year is settling in, I figured I should lay some updates on ya.

First up is the DIRE WOLVES mini-tour. For those that haven't heard about us yet, Dire Wolves is a blown-out improv psych unit in the Amon Duul II/Trad Gras Och Stenar/heavy cosmic groove vein of things. It consists of myself (Mr. McDowell), Ian Bonnett (Great Blue Heron), Jeffrey Alexander (Black Forest/Black Sea, Secret Eye, Iditarod, etc...), and Dan Letson (Forest Dweller). So far we've only played a handful of local shows with the likes of Marble Sheep, Black Pus, OvO, Subarachnoid Space, Plastic Crimewave, yada-yada-yada, so we're excited to take it on the road finally. Our double cassette is long gone, but expect a new cassette on Dynamo Sound and an LP on Last Visible Dog soon. Anyway, we have some East Coast dates coming up very soon.

Fri. 2/5 - Philly @ The Crooked Shoe w/ Kutschty Rye Ergot (ex-Kohoutek) & Lux Diffusion

Sat. 2/6 - Providence @ AS220 w/ Arcing, Alec K Redfearn & the Eyesores, Bellows, Hector 3...

Sun. 2/7 - Brooklyn @ Zebulon w/ Samara Lubelski/Pete Nolan & Marc Orleans/Steve Gunn

Wed. 2/10 - Pittsburgh @ MoGlo w/ Theo Angell (ex-Jackie-O-Motherfucker)

WaterFinder will be playing at Morning Glory in Pittsburgh as part of Mike Tamburo's Voyagers festival, March 6-7. Other acts include Mr. Tamburo himself, R. Keenan Lawler, Eric Carbonara, Enumclaw, and a crapload of others.

Sagas is currently working on an LP for Pete Fosco's new label, Greenup St. Industries. More on that soon.

Well, that's about it for now. Stay warm.

WaterFinder Tour

After putting together WaterFinder's first release, The Third Road, we hit the road and played four shows spread out comfortably over about a week and a half. Our first show was in Northampton, Massachusetts, where we played a house show along with two phenomenal musicians, Tom Kovacevic (kind of like if Roy Harper played the oud - amazing!) and Micah Blue Smaldone (beautiful avant folk); we then continued on to Portland, Maine, where we played at a wonderful new art space called Apohadion with Dark-Urrru, a magical musical collaboration including members of Big Blood and Brother Oak, and once again with Tom Kovacevic, much to our delight! We then said our fond goodbyes to our dear friends in Maine and headed westward for a couple more shows: one in Louisville, Kentucky, where we played a house show with power trio Captain Ron Today (which includes the drumming talent of another dear friend of ours, Jeff Komara) and one final show in Bloomington, Indiana, at a new venue called The Bishop where we shared a bill with two awesome locals, Drekka (electronic/folk/noise) and Os (power duo, heavy dark soundscapes). It was a great experience full of impressive, genuine displays of beautifully crafted music, and we feel fortunate to have shared the stage with so many talented folks and friends. We're back home in Pittsburgh now, creating more of what we love: music.