Upon learning the news that legendary doom/stoner rock vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich was caught with eleven grams of meth in Norway and was immediately deported to the US, we compiled a list of essential releases that he’s been a part of…
10. Wino & Connie Ochs - Heavy Kingdom (2012)
Wino may be notorious for his heavy music, his 2010 Latitudes sessions collaboration with songwriter Connie Ochs though led to an extraordinary acoustic full length record two years later, featuring 11 songs written and performed by both artists and drawings by both of them as well.
9. Premonition 13 - 13 (2011)
More rock-oriented than the rest of his outings, Premonition 13 started as a jam trio with Wino, Jim Karow and Matthew Clark and ended up with a full length in 2011 as well as a three-way split release with Earthless and Radio Moscow a year later. 13 may not reinvent rock music, however it is worthy of a place among the highlights in the times of Scott “Wino” Weinrich.
8. Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium (2009)
Wino released his first solo record more than 30 years after he formed The Obsessed. Punctuated Equilibrium was released in January 2009 on Southern Lord. Without having to be in a band for the first time, on this record Wino sounded liberated and fresh as ever, offering the same old bluesy stoner doom rock that’s been his trademark for so many years.
7. Place Of Skulls - Nailed (2002)
Groovy, bluesy, doom rock, along the lines of Pentagram, The Obsessed and of course Black Sabbath, Wino teams up with Pentagram’s Victor Griffin, who had just found faith in Christianity to create around that subject some of the darkest records it has ever known. Nailed was the first of them, but you can’t go wrong with any Place Of Skulls release.
6. The Hidden Hand - Divine Propaganda (2003)
Without departing much from his trademark style, The Hidden Hand were the most psychedelic Wino ever got to be and the themes of their songs dealt with politics, history and spirituality. It was Wino’s logical next step right after the demise of Spirit Caravan.
5.Spirit Caravan - The Last Embrace (2003)
The Last Embrace is an anthology that contains all songs from Spirit Caravan’s two albums, Jug Fulla Sun and Elusive Truth, all their 7” singles, split releases and compilations, in other words, everything they ever recorded. Spirit Caravan formed right after The Obsessed split and were named after an Obsessed song, but they didn’t last long. The world had yet to see how Wino would evolve from band to band in the years that were about to come.
4. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder (2009)
Shrinebuilder consists of Wino with Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep, Asbestosdeath), Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont, Men Of Porn) and Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Tribes Of Neurot, Blood And Time)… As if all those people hadn’t already enough projects on their resumes and they needed one more. You know those cases when supergroups often end up being totally disappointing… Shrinebuilder is not one of them .
3. Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till & Wino - Songs Of Townes Van Zandt (2012)
Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till & Wino is not a band, Songs Of Townes Van Zandt worked as a three-way split between Wino and the two main members of Neurosis, taking turns in paying tribute to an American folk music hero. This ideas spawned a second record like this, with John Baizley (Baroness), Nate Hall (U.S. Christmas) and Mike Scheidt (YOB, VHÖL) releasing Vol.II just a few months ago.
2. Saint Vitus - Born Too Late (1987)
Born To Late was released on SST in 1987 and it is a doom classic, that may had come many years later than Black Sabbath, still it can be up to par with the genres most iconic records. Yes it was 1987, but this record could have easily been done in the 70s.
1. The Obsessed - Lunar Womb (1991)
Also produced by WIno, Lunar Womb was The Obsessed sophomore album and arguably their best, leading to a deal with a major label, before all going downhill for the band. This is the finest and most overlooked record in Wino’s rich career.
ZR