We Are the Wooden Houses - Murrain Pica Mast

A 30 minute long jam broken into two 15-minute pieces from the Cumbrian wilderness (that’s in the north of the United Kingdom, for the less geo-savvy readers) based label Treehouse Orchestra Recordings. The first track is a sitar-tinged, Easterny psychedelic folk jam which picks up the pace with some cleverly sampled and looped live drums for a full-on psychedelic freak out (well, maybe not that amplified, but still very trippy!). The second track is steeped in angelic, krautrock-influenced guitar ambience that spreads into infinity - think Manuel Gottsching and his modern-day equivalent Mark McGuire and you’re pretty much spot-on. You can also buy the cassette if you like - it’s got some beautiful packaging!

Download via Mediafire

Review: The North - Glaciers

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(Vinyl LP, Captcha Records, 2013)

Oh dear, oh dear, why on Earth have I been missing out on Captcha Records for so long!? One of the finest experimental/psych labels around and I haven’t checked them out even once. I feel like an asshole now. Time to make up for my ignorance, starting with a stellar new record (very soon to be released on vinyl) by the Norwegian producer Snorre Snøjøst Henriksen working under the very fitting (considering where he’s coming from and the nature of his music) moniker The North. Everything around this release is made out to make the listener feel cold, even the artwork itself, filled with white and blue colors, as well as abstract, jagged shapes made out to look like the surface of a weathered mountain glacier. But despite that, and the heavy atmosphere of music, it’s not that entirely cold.

The blurb on the label’s website brags about the album’s inspiration taken from both krautrock artists and the more modern-age technoid explorers, and I’m inclined more toward the latter group when listening to “Glaciers”. In fact, I’m really reminded abou the output of the UK’s dark techno label Modern Love, especially the work of Andy Stott or Claro Intelecto, althought with a slightly more ambiental - and sometimes, indeed! - kosmische musik edge. The first track, “Serpen’t Tail” is steeped in vast, endlessly reverbing ambience, evolving toward a lethargic, slowed-down techno beat in a glacial pace. Henriksen takes pride in fiddling with textures in moods - the track is alternatively uplifting and full of light, as if the spring sun was shining at the glacier, making it shimmer beautifully; but then the dark clouds come and cut off the sunlight, bathing the music in dark basslines and thumping, cavernous industrial techno aesthetic.

Second side’s “Night Train” begins in a more oldschool, proggy fashion. Some might think of the more synthesizer driven moments of 70’s progressive rock, others’ minds will surely wander towards the oeuvre of John Carpenter. It’s certainly less dark and more dynamic, driven with classical sequencers and rhythmic analog drones, divided into several movements, some being quieter, building up the tension before finally releasing the disco fever of Giorgio Moroder’s glowing moments of fame. It’s a time travel to the past, leaving behind the cracked, icy caves of side A in lieu of hot club nights, although with a bit of darkness and mystery still staying, expressed by reverbed, moaning vocals in the back of the relentless techno beats. It’s way faster than “Serpent’s Tail” and immensely dancefloor-friendly, as if crafted to be played at house and club parties. If the first track gave an impression of an introverted, headphone-based listening experience, the second track will blow that away and make you blast it away through your speakers at top volume.

Despite its name, “Glaciers” is a hot record - at least side B. While side A does exactly what it promises on the cover, freezing the listener and sending shivers through their body with its lethargic tempo and ghostly atmosphere, side B quickly melts all the ice and snow away and raises the temperature bar dangerously quickly. One of the most surprising, and interesting records I’ve heard recently. Highly recommended.

Review: VED - Spectra

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(Vinyl LP, Adrian Records, 2013)

First of all: Good God, that’s one scary cover. It kinda reminds me of that urban legend painting that was allegedly haunted or the shit from the SCP Foundation (if you haven’t heard of that website and you’re going to read it at night, don’t expect to go to sleep anytime soon). Thankfully, the music here doesn’t go in the same direction as the artwork does (which is not say it’s not a bitchin’ piece of art, but it’s pretty unsettling). Instead of muffled screams and deep, echoing noises we get floral, oriental psych-krautrock in the style of Agitation Free or Brainticket. Plus the band’s from Sweden, a country that can be always trusted upon with their psychedelic music (take Goat’s “World Music” as the latest example, even if it’s been hyped to oblivion in the last few months).

“Pushing this power, this energy out of my head…” - a monologue in English with a heavy foreign accent begins side A’s “Spectra” (the album is divided into two side-long tracks). A slowly rolling jam reads like a guitar duel: on one side there’s a snakelike, oriental guitar shamanism, on the other there are explosions of fuzzy, distorted guitar. First fighting, like melodic psychedelia wrestling with noise rock, the guitars later begin to work in unison, propelled forward by calm, slow drumming that further enhance the smokey, oriental feel of the album. The musicians keep pushing this power out of their heads in a mandala-like fashion, building the laid back jam around a few simple riffs adorned with proggy organ workouts.

The second track, “Starokorokas” begins in a similar manner, slowly, with a heavily hasheeshian vibe, with a hypnotic bass line and just as equally hypnotic flute playing, much in the vein of Brainticket’s “Celestial Ocean”. The drums grow almost tribal and the dulcimer joins the meditational parade, transporting the listener to the Garden of Eden. But not for long: after a short, almost ambient, dulcimer-driven interlude, the music suddenly, without any warning kicks into a high-octane motorik kraut-jazz jam with a screeching sax and maniacal, re;entless drumming. Guitars explode in violent, sparse chords. It’s a total opposite of the slowed-down psychedelia of side A, an ecstatic explosion of energy that lasts for almost 10 minutes. It’s just for this autobahn-friendly piece alone that this album is well worth recommending. Actually, let the music speak for itself:

Sungod - Crash Galactic

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Back when I posted Sungod’s “First Matter” on the Blogger based Weed Temple, it was an album filled to the brim with white hot, mind-melting stoner/space rock jams very much in the Hawkwind school of thought. “Crash Galactic”, the 2012 release by the same band, doesn’t rock as much, this time going for a more mind-expanding approach, doing less freakout jams and more droning nirvana sessions. It’s partially psych folk, partially New Age, partially kosmische musik and partially psychedelic rock free jam, but all in all it’s a 70+ minute long spectacle of cosmic powers and great, great music for trips of all kind (including the sober inner-self meditational trips). Recommended!

Review: 3 Leafs - Live at Cafe du Nord

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(Cassette, Triangle Tapes, 2012)

I used to dislike live albums for some reason. Maybe it was the worse sound quality than recordings made in the studio or a completely different approach to production - instead of pristine studio environment, where everything could be adjusted, live recordings documented a certain time and place. Or maybe it was the deviations from the studio versions of the songs. But it’s impossible not to deviate with psychedelic rock, where hypnotic grooves and stoned guitar solos reign. Thankfully now, I’ve grown to appreciate the grit and documentary quality of live recordings.

With this cassette we fall into the middle of the psychedelic capital of the world. 3 Leafs recorded this set at the legendary venue Cafe du Nord in December 2011, but we had to wait until 2013 when the fresh London cassette label released it on cassette - two sides of unedited, unpaused and untreated psych rock goodness with a bass line that makes one’s brain melt with its sheer depth and power. Bass here is on the forefront, leaving the electric guitar behind a bit - not sure if this was the musician’s intention or it’s just how the mixing turned out. But thanks to this one can only appreciate more the importance of the good bassline in psychedelic rock. It’s really snakelike and hypnotic, meaty and heavy - just as it should be. Electric guitars can get really attention-craving and show-offy in psych rock, with Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. being the best, most jarring example. On “Live at Cafe du Nord”, 3 Leafs invert the situation, putting the bass in the spotlight. The drummer shifts between a propelling, somewhat tribal style full of cymbal crashes and breaks and minimalistic, fast-paced motorik. The guitar serves more like a tool for providing intriguing textures and lengthy drones, making the term “drone rock” quite appropriate for 3 Leafs, or at least this specific recording. Occasional synth warbles also enhance the psychedelic atmosphere, rising and disappearing in the bassed-out fog and intense drumming in the vein of Jaki Liebezeit circa “Delay 1968” sessions.

“Live at Cafe du Nord” perfectly channels the trippy atmosphere of the club, transporting the listener to the live concert, making them imagine the people, the visuals, the smells and the grooves coming from the amplifiers. It’s a great audio documentary of a great set played by great people. There’s a very good reason this is released on cassette - because it’s not digital, there’s no indication of length or the time that has passed since the beginning of listening, rendering the session seem almost endless at times and making the listener wish it played for a lot longer. The cassette allows to forget about the time constrains and fully focus on the sound. Highly recommended. 

Review: Samantha Glass - Rising Movements

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(Cassette, Constellation Tatsu, 2012)

The cassette synth scene can be divided into three basic “schools of thought”: one school follows the jagged, raw electronics of the earliest masters, providing punctured, difficult and highly abstract compositions - either with a rhythm or rhythmless. The second school follow the star-gazing Germans and New Age post-hippies in their journey to explore the inner self, with deep, sprawling tracks that often take up entire sides or even CDs. The third school follows the sunny, carefree happy synth psychedelia of Harmonia or later Cluster, making compelling, catchy, yet hypnotic poppy structures.

Samantha Glass, the alias of a Madison, WI resident Beau Deveraux, represents the third school. Despite the grim looking cover, there’s no cold, windswept ambience to be witnessed here. While I tend to fully agree with label’s descriptions of the albums they release, often praising their spot-on sense of writing, this time I have to disagree with Constellation Tatsu. The blurb on the website says: 

The abandoned lodge emerges from the dark, wet woods. It is warm and light inside – carpeted halls and wood banisters welcome your step, draw you deeper past branching rooms. What mysteries, forgotten treasure, and danger await within these decrepit walls?

 Now put the cassette in the player or play the first track from the Bandcamp page. Where are the dark, wet woods here? Maybe if we were talking about a rainforest in the summer or palm tree woods then it would make sense. But dark? No way! Actually, “Rising Movements” is one of the warmest, most sun-lit cassettes I’ve heard in quite a while. Listening to this tape is like taking a bath in the warm, calm waters during the summer evening, the soft light washing over you. The 5 untitled “movements” (named simply “Movement”, duh) are a soundtrack to a luxury yacht marina filled with relaxing, well-to-do people sipping drinks and having a great time in the hot, hot sun. And there’s nothing sarcastic or critical about this description. This album genuinely recreates the laziest, most mellowed out moments of hot summer told in a language of electronic krautrock and analog synthesizers. Fuzzed out guitar licks hover in the background, bass guitar joins the pulsing, rhythmical electronic train, the sun shines through the leaves.

To put it bluntly: Samantha’s Glass “Rising Movements” is pure, unlimited bliss. Don’t believe what the others tell you.

Review: Datashock - Live.Love.Data$

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(Cassette, Eiderdown Records, 2013)

Is the title of the newest cassette by the German grusekraut collective Datashock an obvious reference to the album by the NYC rapper A$AP Rocky? Yes, it is.

Are there any similarities between that album and the Eiderdown cassette? No, there aren’t. Well, actually, if someone would look real hard, they would probably draw a connection between the band’s calmer moments and the ambient-infused work of producer Clams Casino, but let’s not get that far. If there are any parallels that can be drawn between A$AP Rocky and Datashock, it is their mutual love for the sweet leaf (and while the Germans never explicitly mention it anywhere, their music speaks for themselves).

Let’s stay with the cold, hard facts: Datashock, similaringly to their psychedelic Japanese forefathers Acid Mothers Temple, like to refer to other/more known artists and albums in their own albums. They both embrace the atmosphere of freedom and don’t prefer to limit themselves to a tight, closely-knit rules of what constitues a musical composition or a song. Recorded while making the stellar “Pyramiden von Gießen” LP, the two lengthy tracks hit the similar vibe of hippie commune abandon and drugged out freedom that should be the staple of every freewheeling psychedelic collecitve.

The first few opening minutes of “Into the Abyss” is almost ambient: a drumless, somewhat melancholic and slowly unfolding vista with faraway synth notes and droning, ritualstic vocals and an electric guitar that is just barely there, only to remind the listener of its existence with shyly played notes. The break comes around the 8th minute mark, with the bass kicking in to lock a groove, the electric guitar that provides sparse, yet crucial blasts and some drums to finally provide a sense of rhythm. From that moment on, the jam gains power and gets more amplified, to get to the stonery, fuzzy end much in the vein of the electric-guitar oriented Kraftwerk on their one of a kind “Bremen K4 Radio” live recording.

Side B’s “Noch ein bisschen Erbs” also begins slowly, but in a more liquidy, almost aquatic way, with the gentle guitar tremolo and the bubbling synths sounding like a meeting point of Super Minerals and Bee Mask. Wordless vocals also reign here, with a disembodied whine or wail once in a while and the rough violin occasionally emerging, like a sound that lost its way in a Velvet Underground jam and went all the way to the Datashock jam. This one also gets faster and more dynamic on the way, with the drums kicking in and the electric guitar getting more presence (finally!), but without getting to the rocking gem. Instead, the second piece is slightly more meditative and desert-friendly, like a Barn Owl piece that decided to grow some balls and rock out a lil’ more.

Long.Live.Data$!

Datashock - Para Dieswärts Dull

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In an obvious nod to “Paradieswärts Düül” by the legendary communal krautrockers Amon Düül (the first one), those modern-day psychedelic nomads gather together to give you almost 60 minutes of slowly-rolling, lo-fi and hazy freak rock jams. It’s thick, dense and wanders in all directions at once. Don’t mind the “Dull” in the name, because those caveman improvisations are never dull. Recommended! And stay tuned for the review of Datashock’s newest release, “Live.Love.Data$”, coming real soon!

Review: Verma - EXU

(Vinyl LP, Self-released, 2012)

Chicagoans from Verma have entered the psych world like a krautrock dragon in 2010, releasing an album with red hot motorik trippiness flowing through lo-fi fuzzy guitar jams. While the first two albums consisted of Neu! inspired stonery group jamming, contained on cassettes, the third full-length, “EXU” is the band’s debut on the medium of vinyl, this time released by the band themselves (as in: no label involved).

On “EXU” the band decided to go forth with full force, opening the album with monumental monster of a psychedelic jam entitled “Ragnaraak”. Like the apocalyptic winter in the Norse mythology which the title refers to, the track hits the listener with its full power, with almost metallic, dense drumming pushing the sludgy krautrock ahead with a titanic force, cymbals crashing with enormous speed to a bass guitar straight out of hell and ready to smash through everything that stands in its way. After the initial blast, the speed-freak sounds calm down a bit (without losing its speed) and plunge into the bass driven, reverbed motorik dream, like Neu! replacing the pastoral German autobahn with the infinite stretch of blacktop on some God-forsaken American desert, filled with tumbleweeds, hungry coyotes and peyote cacti. This interpretation gets all the more meaning and resonance once we realise that the cover depicts exactly that: a satellite photo of some stretch of American desert littered with artificially watered fields.

After the initial atom bomb of a track, the following tracks are generally slower, more stonery, yet filled with the characteristic Verma fuzz and warmth. “Moons” is an organ and tremolo-driven slow burner with distant, narcotic vocals and a hypnotizing bass line. While “Drift” follows the similar path of slowed down, hazy psychedelia, it gives more focus to the echoed vocals, which resonate between the bare rocks in the scorching southern sun to become almost anthemic, and to be accented by the guitar solo freakout at the end of the track. But if you think that “EXU” dissolves into a series of slo-mo hippie impressions after the explosive opening track, the driving beats of “Saqqara” will prove you wrong: an organ and guitar lead track set to an almost techno-like drumming gradually builds up for epic walls of electric distortion and reverbed shredding. After this explosion of energy, the calmest piece comes on, “Voces Mysticae”, which closes the album. It is an almost drumless, vocal-driven piece that touches an almost post-rock sensibility with rich textures and droning organs, yet never loses its psychedelic spirit. Verma are sure to remind us of their “psychedelicness” on almost every step, be it with distorted, beatific vocals or the ritual guitar noodling. But whatever state they are in - whether it’s the full-on sonic assault or the calm, breezy evening desert tunes, they manage to be trippy all the same.

Review: Modality - Particle City

(Vinyl LP, House of Watts, 2012)

The tags on the Bandcamp page of the Missoula trio Modality might be a little mis-leading: one might expect an excruciating ride through outer limits of experimental music with a bit of a harder, harsher edge to make the ride more bumpy and adventurous. Instead, after the short and droning intro “Walls” we get the relaxing slow jam of “Plaza”, a sudden gem that sounds like a Tortoise B-side. The tracks on “Particle City” are saturated with a crystal-clear feel of deep peace, like the light shining through the leaves during a sunny, warm spring day, the peacefu tones of vintage organs or the lounge-y bass guitar represent the sound of pure bliss and relax, economical yet sophisticated at the same time.

Toward the end of “Plaza”, however, the track gradually takes on a more psychedelic note, growing stronger with more agressive guitar strums and heavier drumming. The following “Outskirts” take even more aggressive tone, touching stoner rock with guitar power, this time dissolving into a slo-mo ambient rock jam that ends with another portion of peaceful bliss. “Trees” shows the more immersive and introverted side of Modality: a short yet emotion-filled synthesizer piece, hitting simple, almost primitive notes with a healthy, droney reverb added for a good measure. “Traffic” is another sound painting, with Rhodes organs sprayed with high-pitched, ornamental synthesizer squeaks and deformed field recordings, sounding like the distant crashes of the sea on the shore.

While the tracks keep the fine balance between being freely and ambientally psychedelic and being melodic and restricted (and thus sounding very competent), the tracks don’t tend to sound “druggy” at all - the sound is always perfectly sober and innocent in execution, sounding like a an elite team of well-trained musicians just playing their impressions of psychedelic music without taking any mind-altering substances. It’s not false psych, however - it’s just more theoretical, a bit more “dry” than the stoned thing. But it still works - in the relaxative, blissful area, that is. The distant guitars mingle with vast ambient tapestries to provide a cleansing, calm backdrop for some intense thinking sessions, or having a discussion between the few of your most trusted friends in your own little think-tank. This band is a think-tank that take the always-succesful parts of psych music (the reverb, the guitar soloing, the good drum section) and mix them into a perfectly safe and non-intoxicating, yet chilling concoction, ready for consumption at any place, any time.