Connoisseur II has been steadily receiving good reviews on some websites and blogs which have been posted on the music page.
Two new Mountains of Blow recordings Connoisseur II and The Hit Joint Sessions are available for download and streaming on the Music page of the site.
Mountains of Blow (named after a Ghostface Killah lyric) was formed in Los Angeles during May of 2009 by Shane Berman and Bill Hawken after their former band Exoneration broke up due to unforseen circumstances.
MOB played several shows as a free-form jam, guitar-and-drums duo with no set songs. Continuing with this set-up, the group released the self-recorded 'Connoisseur' album, comprised of 4 free form jams which were met with positive reviews from several stoner metal sites. Around this time, close friend and former Moment of Youth bandmate James O'Mara began jamming with the group and eventually joined on bass.
The band then wrote many songs and proceded to play all over LA on a regular basis throughout the rest of 2009 and 2010. However, this incarnation of the band began to dissolve and played it's last show opening up for Torche at the Bootleg Theater in Echo Park. Before completely disbanding, an 8-song recording was completed in 10 hours at the Hit Joint Studios in Silverlake, Los Angeles.
After the departure of James O'Mara on bass, Shane & Bill continued jamming once again and came up with what would become Connoisseur II. 5 tracks of mostly instrumental jams recorded at their home studio in Silverlake.
Both the Hit Joint Sessions and 'Connoisseur II' are available for download and streaming on the music page.