Carlton Melton- Country Ways (Mid to late Records MLT-004)

I had never heard of this band even though I was a fan of Zen Guerilla. The band plays totally spaced out instrumental psychedelic rock music. I managed to pick up this new record as well as the bands strange split LP with Qumram Orphics and a limited edition 7” record (which is super cool!). This is the bands 2^nd full length (missed the first one) and features the side long Country Ways track and three others. Country Ways is a very slow building piece constructed on these spaced out delay guitars with the drums way in the back as the layers of guitar just sort of reverberate in your brain. Very spaced out stuff and they add some synthesizers at the end. I am pretty sure they played this track (jam) at Roadburn. Sometimes it is not that interesting and other times it perks you up, like at the end when the layers become more dense-wow! Best when stoned for sure.

Full Moon Revisited is another very stoney track but features more psychedelic lead guitar, rather than just looped riffs. This track is really psychedelic. Harrington Fair is a   track with a very bluesy guitar while there are some other wordly feedbacks and sounds in the background. It is almost comes across as a warm up to something else that the band just happen to record while they were setting up or something and thought, “hey, this is pretty cool”. Use your Words has a more distinct bass in the bottom end that reverberates a bit more than the Country Ways track but this track is a bit similar but it features a more intense wah guitar and both players play some more lead like guitar. This is a totally spaced out record for stoners for sure.

http://www.myspace.com/carltonmelton http://www.carltonmeltonmusic.com