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Rating: The Desert Sessions is a project that's been running for over 10 years, regularly bringing together (usually every 2 years) the main figures of the American Stonerrock scene, especially Josh Homme, in the middle of the Californian desert with the sole purpose of recording about ten songs that reflect the current musical styles of everyone involved. In some ways, it's an experimental project that represents the creative evolutions of the genre at present and also documents how they've changed over the years.
Desert Sessions 5 and 6 is a reflection of Stonerrock in the year 1999 and highlights two particular influences: punk at the beginning and more classic and conforming psychedelic rock at the end. All of this is strictly under the direction of J.Homme and against the gold-copper background of the cover.
The first track "You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire" is the same that QOTSA later released in August 2002 on their latest album. For the more astute listeners, it won't be difficult to recognize the differences between the two versions, the first from 1999 and the current one from 2002: in 1999, the vocals and guitars were rawer and fuzzier, perhaps making the old version almost better. There are also instrumental blues pieces where the guys experiment with various country and folk guitars, creating beautiful atmospheres. There is no shortage of the traditional outbursts and degenerations of J.Homme & Co., those recordings that aren't stopped at the end of a track where amidst laughter and cursing, a minimalist drumbeat begins followed by a powerful bass then violated by a rough punkriff of fuzzyguitars. And the first tracks fly by like that, shot and essential, very rock and rhythmic. Every track has its own story, its own peculiarity represented by one or more musical instruments initially incompatible with Stoner, like a piano somewhat reminiscent of Faith No More or reverberated organs. Numerous appearances of the impossibly Punk distorted bass. The listening is really enjoyable, number 5 reminds me of the Ramones.
Then comes number 6, "A#I", and here we return to earth, in the typical dust of Stonerrock, the splendid guitar riff starts on which after 20 seconds a dry '70s style drum enters, this is rock in its most essential and best form. Just when you warm up you're suddenly thrown back into cold water, when you least expect it here's "Like A Drug", the blues song with slideguitars and jazz drums and the romantic voice of J.Homme in the background, which introduces the psychedelic finale of the Desert Sessions. "Teens Of Thailand" is breathtaking, a slow and intensely magnetic Kyuss-Song, long and cadenced rhythms, only perfectly improvised musical instruments and no vocals for over 3 and a half minutes, then the guitars become pleasantly distorted and a diabolical undertone begins to penetrate your head and hypnotize you.
You wake up for a moment with the explosive intro of number 10, "Rickshaw", but only to realize that the soft voice of Homme and the splendid heavyblues guitars capture you again and won't let go. The finale is a successful instrumental encore of "Like A Drug", the perfect soundtrack for an Italowestern.
djd
P.S.: Unfortunately, it's not possible to find more information since Man's Ruin Records' website was taken down a few months ago (they weren't paying the bills). From now on, for all Stoner info refer to the "new" site rekordsrekords.com, while they keep paying...
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