Farflung- Live at Roadburn (Meteorcity)

I was at this show and have enjoyed hearing the Roadburn stream so it was great to hear this was coming out on double vinyl. The vinyl records are very cool colors but very thin (120gm?) vinyl but the sound is good. This is a low budget release but the band played an amazing set of tracks with something from nearly everyone one of their many records. I was a little disappointed that this was just a higher quality audio mix of the streamed audio, as while that did have really great sound, the main lead guitar player is mixed way too low for the entire concert and also here. I was hoping that would be different for the official release. Anyway, the highlights for me of this amazing 73 min set are the versions of Silver Shrooms, Landing on Cydonia and the very powerful Unborn Planet. It is all really heavy punky in your face psychedelic space rock though. Farflung are a very cool band and I am glad that they released this set. Well worth hunting down!

http://www.meteorcity.com http://www.myspace.com/farflung

Studio 13 new Releases- Capricorn 7" and Monster Magnet 10"

Studio 13 is a new label formed by Monster Magnet members Phil and Dave. This is the first release and a new band by Phil with one of the guys from Danzig. It is very Motorhead inspired but like slowed down a bit. The 7 features 2 tracks. American Dream starts off with that Lemmy like Rickenbacker sound and reminds me a bit of Dead man tells no Tales before they kick into a dirty rocker with a quite low fi, raw production. The b-side features, Nothin’ for Nothin’ and it has a guitar riff and groove that reminds me a lot of Step Down from Bomber. Phil plays guitar, bass and sings, Todd Youth plays guitars and bass and Karl Rosqvist plays the drums. This is only pressed in 100 copies and available only on the Monster Magnet Mastermind European tour dates. I doubt they have any left when they get back if they do they said they would sell them on the Monster Magnet web shop. I dig both the songs and look forward to them making more stuff. Phil said they would have another release in 2011.

Monster Magnet- Superjudge 10” (Studio 13)

           The band on this release is Bob (from Monster Magnet, Atomic Bitchwax, and Riotgod) on drums, Phil (Monster Magnet, Capricorn) on lead guitar, bass and Dave playing guitar and singing. They have rerecorded a super cool version of Superjudge and an unreleased song called She digs that Hole (a song from the new record Mastermind has a similar title but has no relation to this song, which has totally different lyrics). The version of Superjudge is very cool and laid back and quite psychedelic. It has this hypnotic low fi groove of bass, drums with the shaker and Dave just laying down the dirty blues psych out version. She digs that whole starts very bluesy and slow but then it kicks in gets pretty psyched out at the end. There is like a Tom Waits meets Monster Magnet vibe on both tracks and this is not at all highly produced like the standard MM records. Really cool stuff. This one is pressed in 500 copies. It will for sure be one of those collectors items. 

http://www.zodiaclung.com/category/studio-13/

Here is also an excellent interview with Dave... http://www.zodiaclung.com/2010/10/the-obelisk-interview-with-dave-wyndorf/

Wino- Adrift (Exile on Mainstream EOM50V)

Wino (The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, St. Vitus to name a few) has released his 3^rd solo record, if you could Live at Roadburn as well. This is a very intimate record of mostly just Wino and an acoustic guitar. He occasionally plays some electric lead as well. The vinyl edition is fantastic with great embossed artwork and it also comes with the CD booklet all the lyrics, including details of his thoughts about the specific song before the lyrics and information about the album. The album starts with the title track, which is just an acoustic song and reveals the personal nature of the record. A good friend of Wino’s, Ray Tilkens, plays lead guitar on 3 tracks and is panned to the right. The side A ends with an excellent acoustic version of the Motorhead song, Iron Horse. Side B starts with an instrumental track called Suzane’s Song. He plays some very nice acoustic guitar. D-Bear is dedicated to Scott Kelly of Neurosis-Shrinebuilder. Whatever has some powerful lyrics about his children, of which it seems he is in a fight to get the right to see, which sucks. Shot in the Head, an old Savoy Brown track is next and features Ray on slide guitar. O.B.E. is a spacey instrumental electric guitar track with some very cool mixing of the guitar. Green Speed with excellent lyrics ends this great record and features duelling electric solos by Wino and Ray. Great work Scott (Wino).

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de  http://www.myspace.com/winoschopper

Technicolor Poets- Hadrar Hotel (Kommun2-10)

Technicolor Poets are a new psychedelic rock band from Malmö Sweden. This is their debut release and it features some really excellent 60’s style dreamy stoned songs. This record was recorded in one day in August 2010. The sound of the recording is like they are in a big room and it helps to give it a more old school 60s sound but I think the sound is a bit too clean. Ketama starts things off.  This is a slow building track with a nice vocal and later the dual guitars get to psych out as the track picks up and reminds me a bit of Mandragora lightshow society. Three hours from your Garden is a slow track and I really like the vocal delivery on this one and nice bouncy bass line. The reverb guitar solo is cool. Hadar Hotel Part 1 ends side A and is a more intense track with a sort of eastern style guitar soloing. Astral Plane starts off side B, and is a bit eastern leaning psych with some hand drums, eastern scaled guitar lines (no sitar). Cool vocals and a really great laid back song. Hadar Hotel Part 2 takes up the rest of the album side. IT is a slow building track with some spoken words parts. Very cool stuff. This is a very ambitious record from some kids barely or under 20 years of age. Impressed.. Good work guys.

http://www.motljud.com http://www.myspace.com/bisonspipe

Place of Skulls- As a Dog returns (Giddy Up Records)

We just saw Victor and his band, Place of Skulls, play a great concert at Loppen in Christiania. They had some copies of this new CD, which is not officially out until Jan for sale so I bought one. I really liked the last CD, The Black is never Far. This new one has some really great material on it but also some tracks that I just skip due to the strong religious nature of the material. The band is now a Christian band and the lyrics are inspired by many specifically cited bible passages on the lyric page. Anyway, if we get away from the religious nature of the band, the music has a lot to give. Victor’s vocals are excellent and very passionate and he plays some very cool guitar and awesome riffs. The opening track is a heavy one and has a very cool guitar solo with some special effects. Breath of Life is a slow, heavy melodic track and beautiful music. Though he slay Me is an acoustic song about Victor and Jesus and I skip this one. Psalms is another very religious track but it has a cool laid back vibe with some conga drums and a slow dreamy way about it. Too religious.. Dayspring brings starts as a slow heavy blues vibe but slowly builds up and changes in this quite long track. Timeless Hearts (one of the ones they played live) and also nearly 8 mins and after the harmonica part a killer riff kicks in. Amazing song. He’s God is another slower GOD ballad but it gets quite heavy. Desperation (old Steppenwolf song) starts with some organ but the band does a good solid version. The CD ends with the title track, which starts slowly but Victor pulls out another monster riff and a cool doomy groove takes over. There is a lot of great and melodic heartfelt music here but I will probably not play this one so often due to the lyrics. I think this will turn off many people as well.

http://www.placeofskulls.com

The Higher Craft- Oracle XIV Gateway (Big Yellow Taxi)

This is the Higher Craft’s 3^rd release and a sort of teaser for the next full length record due out next year called Quest into the Stepping Stone Age.My scanner is down and I can't find the cover artwork anywhere on the net so I used the image for their new record, that is not yet out. Gateway starts things off. It is a melodic, dreamy psych rocker that gradually picks up pace and the acoustic guitars fade and the electric come more to the front. Some spacey sounds also fill out the background. It really picks up at the end and is quite psychedelic. Oracle is next and a fast paced 3½ min psychedelic rocker. The sound is very different from the first song and sounds like it is from a live performance. The band really plays fast on sort of chaotic track. Crimson Sky has a very psychedelic start and then the acoustic guitars kick in. The vocals are very ethereal and then the track really develops with some great guitar playing. Inner Realm, is 5½ mins and the last track on the CD. IT also features some really cool guitar playing. This is a very good new psychedelic rock band and they feature a really nice female singer with a lot of personality. I look forward to the new record very much.

http://www.thehighercraft.com

Dragontears- Turn on Tune In Fuck off (Bad Afro AFROLP040)

Lorenzo and the old On Trial guys are having a great time with this side band to their other main bands. This is the 3^rd record in 3 years and it is more psychedelic than the last record and also has some pretty cool artwork. The first 500 copies of the vinyl come with a free 7” record with two additional tracks. The LP starts off with the 60’s space rock track Two Tongue Talk. Really cool reverb guitar, farfisa, spaced vocals and a great bouncing bass line combined with space synth sounds makes for a killer track. No Salvation has a long spacey guitar intro and Guf’s vocals have never sounded better. I am not a big fan of the falsetto backing vocals that are used on this track but the rest is great and the lead guitars on the record are great. My Friend starts off with some acoustic guitar and space sounds and is a nice ballad track. Time of no Time will really remind people of Wooden Shjips with is hypnotic bass line. Side B is very psychedelic and starts with William, dedicated to William Skotte Olsen, a very special Danish artist how died in 2005. It is also very psychedelic 10min + track. Very spaced out and trippy mind stuff. The LP ends with Mennesketvilling (Human Twin), and I don’t think it is any relation to the old On Trial song of the same title. It is sung in Danish so might remember some people of Spids Nøgenhat, which most of the same folks as Dragontears. The 7”, for those lucky enough to get a copy is two more uptempo songs. Not as cool as the track on the rare RepoMan 7” but still solid tracks. Another really cool record.

http://www.myspace.com/dragontears2000 http://www.badafro.dk

Death rides a Horse- Pantokrator (DRaH 002)

Death rides a horse is a local Copenhagen heavy metal band. The band is a 4 piece with a female singer, who also plays bass. The band reminds me a bit of Chastain with the female singer, who is very good. This EP features 4 tracks in 27 mins and includes a very good version of Fly to the Rainbow by the Scorpions to end the EP. Beyond the Granite Threshold start things off with a 80s heavy metal style track with strong dual riffing, powerful vocals and a heavy ending.  The title track will remind many people of the band, The Sword. It is a mid paced melodic track but also a killer riff at times and a lot of dynamics of slower and faster parts. The Eye sounds a lot like the Sword and 80s metal with a female vocalist singing some very melodic lines and also quite powerful at times. This is pretty good stuff and while not the most original it is well delivered and they write strong songs. They are also a good live band. I have seen them twice.

http://www.myspace.com / deathridesdk

Count Raven/Griftegård 7” (Van Records 41)

This is a limited edition 7” in 300 copies with two exclusive tracks. The Count Raven side is a track called Wolfmoon. If you don't know the band they play melodic DOOM and the singer has an amazing voice that sounds like Ozzy did in the 70s and 80s.. It begins with some keyboards and then a killer bass line kicks in. This is a uptempo and very melodic almost radio friendly Count Raven but still very cool. The Griftegård track, Wedded to Grief, is a very operatic piece with a couple of very cool sections and a great guitar solo. It is a 7min track or something. If you are a fan of these bands, this is well worth hunting down. There is also deluxe version available for like 15€ and this includes the CD of the two tracks as well. 

http://www.van-records.de

www.myspace.com/count raventheband  www.myspace.com / griftegrd