Insider- Vibrations from the Tapes (Phonosphera Records ph04)

The Italian psychedelic rock band, Insider is back with a new CD and it is a limited edition of 200 copies. The CD is 5 really jamming tracks that have a really raw sound like it was recorded in a rehearsal room with a few good microphones (and it was!) as the band are really inspired and play some killer instrumental jamming guitar pieces. This material has been sitting around since December 2007! Your Brainticket is the opening 22½min track and really flies! They use some synth like sounds here and there also to make it a bit more spaced out. You will hear the Hendrix riff borrowed for a few bars as well, if you pay attention! Killing Bordem is only 3mins long and dies out rather quickly just as you are getting into. Raga in the Sky has a more spacey guitar and different sound quality to the opening piece but by 7 mins it is really rocking with some great guitar work as the bass really pushes the jam at 8mins. First Steps is a long 27½ min jam that starts off really slow and lead by the bass of Piero. Marco really excels on the guitar in this jam when it really flys! Great delay guitar work like on the opening jam as well. Dark Age is the last jam in this limited edition CD. 12½ mins, starts slow and spacey. Marco plays a very cool wah delay solo on this last piece. A very cool release from a band I thought had disappeared.

http://www.phonosphera.com

The Lucid Dream- Hits me like I’m Stoned (Fruits de Mer Records- Winkle 5)

Somehow this one got lost on the music table. Sorry.. It was released in June 2012 but I think it is still available. IT was pressed in 800 copies on coloured vinyl. Anyway, this 7” features two really cool tracks. They are quite young new UK bands, who only seem to release 7” records, which is pretty cool. The title track starts side A and is nearly 7 mins long. The track starts pretty spacey before the guitar kicks in. Lots of delay and a cool sound as the track really takes off and then spaces out again. I really like the experimenting side of this while it is still catchy stuff. Awesome psyched out track. Flip the record over for a cover of the 60’s band Factory’s song, Try a Little Sunshine. This track has a super cool guitar line as well that just reverberates like crazy. The organ is much more present on this track and really spacey. Would be great if these guys could afford to record all analog as it would make the sound so much richer, as they have the right vibe and the playing is cool. Great 7” record. Amazing, actually…

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

www.myspace.com/theluciddream08

Beautify Junkyards- (Fruits de Mer Records- Crustacean 30)

Beautify Junkyards is a new five piece psychedelic band from Portugal. The 7” features two cover songs. The first one is a Nick Drake song called From the Morning and it was recorded outside in a field! You can hear the bees, and birds at the beginning before the acoustic guitar and vocal, keyboard line kicks in. It is a bit more than half way before the hand percussion appears and the dreamy keyboard takes the lead. The vocalist sings the song really well. Flip the 7” over and the band play Fuga No.2 by Os Mutantes, who were a Brazilian psychedelic band. This is another acoustic guitar driven track and features a female singer this time and is sung in Portuguese. It is also a beautiful song with a really spacey ending and cool sound mix. The band has finished off a full record of cover songs and is looking for a label. Check out their bandcamp site. Enjoy..

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

http://beautifyjunkyards.bandcamp.com

The Pretty Things- Live in London 7” (Fruits de Mer Records- Crustacean 31)

The Pretty Things released another single recently on the Fruits label but this one will go on sale August 15th. It features 4 songs (the first three from London 2010) and the last an unreleased track from Amsterdam 1969! Dick Taylor and Phil May from the original line up keep the band going. The 7" starts off with SF Sorrow was Born. If you were expecting the band to channel the vibe of the original you will be really disappointed in these live tracks but if you can accept the band as playing differently but still competent, then you will like it. She say’s Good Morning follows and this one is played with a lot of energy Flip the record over for side B and you get Baron Saturday. It has a pretty heavy groove this one and is catchy but lacks that psychedelic edge. The final track is only 2mins long. It is a cover of Renaissance Fair by the Byrds recorded in 1969. You have got to love the raw sound on this one. The 7” comes in two different colors and is pressed in 1200 copies and is pretty damn good just not psychedelic.

 http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

http://www.theprettythings.net/

Jack Ellister- The Man with the Biochopper 7" (Fruits de Mer Records- Winkle 6 )

Jack Ellister is a young guy into psychedelic stuff. He had two previous bands, Angina Pectoris and Yordan Orchestra but now is out on his own and finishing his first full length record. The opening track on this 7”, called The man with the Biochopper, is to open that record. It is quite a special song with a really psychedelic and strange sound production. He plays a ripping solo. Far out stuff with a weird sound. Flip the record over and you have a pretty different take on Citadel by the Rolling Stones… Pretty cool but I think I still like the On Trial cover version best! This is a promising start for the LP. Tripped out! I really look forward to the full length record.  http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Sula Bassana- Dark Days (Sulatron Records)

Sula (Dave) from Electric Moon, Liquid Visions, Zone Six, to name a few, is back with his follow up to the excellent “The Night” record two years ago. This record was recorded the same way as the last and also mastered by EROC. It features 6 songs in around 71mins and is released on CD and also double vinyl (marble or black). Underground is a damn cool psychedelic rock track featuring the vocals of David Henriksson, otherwise the entire record is instrumental. This is a quite catchy track but the guitar is really psychedelic and the extended guitar improvisation is just awesome and reminds me a bit of older Bevis Frond, both catchy and psychedelic. Departure is next and starts off with some synth sounds and then the guitars come in slowly with a repetitive riff that reminds me of early Hawkwind, with both the spacey yet very melodic texture and feel. A lot of spacey synthesizers on this one as well. Spaced out… Surrealistic Journey is just over 20 minutes long and begins slowly and features Pablo on the drums. IT begins with some really spaced out organ playing and guitar that builds up slowly, a bit like Electric Orange. The organ playing is super cool and I have never heard Sula play stuff like this. After about 6 mins or so, the guitar kicks in with a very cool solo on the right channel. It is a long journey but an amazing track where you will hear some 1969 Pink Floyd vibe, and lots of cool guitar as Pablo maintains the drum drive. Now for the title track, Dark Days. This is something completely different. It starts off with a really freaked out guitar and bass before a riff starts to develop. This sounds a lot like the jams that Electric Moon play these days until the mellotron like sound kicks in and totally changes the mood. I love the way this track flows from the heavy to mellotron parts. Damn cool. Bright Nights is another 10min space out that starts with delay guitar, organ and a simple drum beat but develops into a heavy Electric Moon style psychedelic trip. Arriving Nowhere is the 16min has a pretty funky space groove guitar that leads the way. Around 4½mins the track changes directions with this pretty cool electronic section with multiple guitar layers and spaced out sounds making it really psychedelic. Sula has made another fantastic record and it has very special artwork as well. It will look great on a gatefold vinyl.

http://www.sulatron.com

Nu and Apa Neagra- Descantecul Apei Negre (Black Water Incantation) Lollipopshop LSCD011)

This is the 2nd record by this very special group who make what I would call “otherworldly” music. This 6 track, 42min journey takes one through many different strange places and worlds influenced by Romanian and Turkish folklore and sounds. It is a very difficult CD to describe. The opening track is quite short called Roosters First singing where you get introduced to the sound and vibe of the journey. A Pilgrim is 8½ mins and features some effected string instruments, bells, basic drum beat, and far out effected voices come in and out at different times as it drones along. The hum drone slowly grows as the track progresses and this fades into an almost like bluegrass guitar-banjo like section (saz?). The Rooster’s 2nd singing is next and quite psychedelic as the incantation is growing. Another Pilgrim is has a mix of different types of sounds and strings like the Pilgrim is passing through another town or another phase of life but the vibe is the same. Glockenspiel, pipes, ringing bowls, zither, all kinds of instruments are used on these recordings. Towards the end a female voice (clear) sings softly and slowly as the drone becomes more intense and another voice starts in the background, almost like the Pilgrim has entered into a dream. The Rooster’s third singing passes by very fast as you lead into the Black Water, which is an 18min final journey. It starts with some electronic synth like sounds and it is quite spacey before some string instruments enter into the sound, as do other curious sounds. Some flute like sounds come in about half way and the synths also return as you move further and further away from reality.

http://www.lollipopshop.de

http://www.myspace.com/projectnu

Oranzada- Once upon a Train (Muzeum Ziemi Otwockiej MFR0004)

Oranzada are a five Polish group. This is the bands 5th release and it tells the story of a train ride between Otwock and Wawer in Poland with stops at 10 different stations (songs). The CD digipack is very nice with a cool booklet with all the lyrics in Polish and English. The key is that the CD is instrumental and you are supposed to read the words to yourself while the CD plays to get the full effect of the moods of the tracks and the connection with the music. There are 10 tracks in 30mins with a really nice organic sound production. The starting track Otwock starts with a whistle as the melodic guitar line and the rest of the bass, drums and band slowly come into the scene of the Otwock station. Swider is a short track focused on horns, flute, Jew’s harp and that wooden frog instrument. Józefów is a really cool track with a great bass line but it ends way too soon just as the melodic solo guitar is really got you hooked. Michalin features a strummed acoustic guitar and a nice lead guitar line. Falenica has a Spanish influence in the music and the guest trumpet part. Miedzeszyn starts with a drum box rhythm and a very simple and slowly developing wah guitar line that the bass and guitar change but again, the track ends in 2 mins. Radosc again features the trumpet and this track leads directly into Miedzylesie with a more intense rhythmic guitar, drum and some vocalizations as if something terrible and confusing is happening. Anin has a sort of mysterious like surf guitar riff and harmona that give it a cool feeling. Wawer is the last station and the band is now playing reggae in the only the 2nd track over 3 mins. The vibe is very different as the train ends it’s journey.

I think this is a pretty cool record but these tracks are simply too short. If they had taken these ideas and really developed them a bit more and just jammed out some of these great songs, this would have been a really fantastic record but it really leaves you wanting more all the time.

http://www.oranzada.com

http://www.lollipopshop.de

Stoned Jesus- Seven Thunders Roar (Moon Records MR-5401-2)

Stoned Jesus is a pretty new psychedelic rock trio from the Ukraine. They have been around since 2009. This might actually be the first band I have ever reviewed from Ukraine. The CD has 5 tracks in 47 mins and all the tracks are long except Indian, which is only 5 minutes. Bright like the Morning starts slow and building with some cool floating guitar and groove. He starts to sing after 2½ minutes as the track builds and the guitar tone changes to a more heavy stoner rock thing but the vocal line has a great hook. Electric Mistress is 9½ minutes and kicks in with a pretty cool heavy stoner rock riff that gets the head banging! I really dig the way Igor sings. The vocal style reminds me of someone but I can’t say who at the moment. The guitar break section is longer and very nice with some double tracked harmony guitars as well, then back into the heads down stoner groove. At 4:50, the track slows and a heavy doom riff takes over for the next section. Indian is a more melodic track with this special stop start song structure that they go through. The track has many changes. Cool stuff. I’m the Mountain is a 16 minute track that starts off with acoustic guitar. The track really is a nice melodic journey with cool laid back guitar playing and vocals until the band turns up the power around 8mins. The track stays interesting and cool throughout the 16mins. Stormy Monday (not the classic T-Bone Walker song) is a slow stoney track to end this damn cool record and one that grows on you with more listens. I really look forward to playing with the band when they come to Denmark for the first time on Sept 15th at Dragens Hule in Copenhagen.

http://stonedjesus.bandcamp.com

Wight- Through the Woods into Deep Water (Fat and Holy Records EYE006)

The German heavy rock trio, Wight are back with their 2nd full length record and it has a bit darker theme to it and not nearly as jammed or guitar oriented as the first. It features 9 tracks in 58 minutes and the band are channeling the same cool vibe as on the debut but have some new twists, ideas and cool additions to spice things up. The album was recorded live in the studio in August and November 2011 and mastered by Tony Reed (Stone Axe). The opening track, Kiss your friends Goodbye is has a very repetitive vocal line (My love will be your graveyard, kiss your friends Goodbye) as the song slowly builds with a nice wah guitar solo section in the middle of this slow pounding track. Just when you think the track is ending, it fades away and back up into a slightly different jam with organ for only 45 seconds and then is gone. I spit on your Grave is 6½ mins and starts with a slow build and then the drums take the lead before the major riff kicks in. The last minute the track really takes off. William Arthur Brown Jr. does the lead vocals on this track and also You. I prefer Peter’s vocal. Southern Comfort, Northern Lights is a 10min track with a really cool jammed intro with cool drumming and a slow building guitar solo line. The mid section is really cool with a great melodic wah guitar, saxophone and keyboard as well. Cool track. Half way to Infinity is an acoustic instrumental track. Master of Nuggets is another long one with a vocal and guitar that mirror each other as the bass and drums maintain the rhythm. The mid section is a nice jam with some cool guitar and then the guitar stops and it is just bass and drums before the guitar kicks back in. You features William again but Rene really rips it up on the guitar on this track, which is quite slow. The end becomes a sort of blues jam as the song changes once again. Big Dose is a short instrumental track as well that leads into On a Friday. This is a pretty short uptempo track but it has a dark feeling to it and it builds up with some multi-layered vocals in the last part and they vocals get really intense. I had hoped he would do some ripping guitar at the end but he did not. The title track ends the CD and it is an 8½ min instrumental track that really builds with some emotional guitar playing. I have not seen the vinyl yet but the CD paper sleeve is very cool with nice artwork and a large fold out booklet. A very different record from the debut but one that really grows on you.

http://www.wightism.com

http://www.fatandholy.com

http://www.kozmik-artifactz.com

My Brother the Wind and Flowers must Die- Moriska Paviljongen, Malmö, Sweden 7/14/12

I had no idea how many people would show up on this Saturday night in the summer for some psychedelic rock music. I arrived in Malmo a bit before 9 and hung out with Pär and Jocke (Carpet Knights, ØSC) and we had some beers and heard some Magma, Made in Sweden and other music before heading over to the venue which is 5mins walk. ØSC, we had just played at this place but not in the big hall. This was going to be cool. The friends of Flowers must Die had set up old school overhead projectors and the classic oil bubbles light show. The DJ’s were playing awesome 70s rock, so I was psyched. I talked a bit with some of the people I knew (Stojs, Mattias, Niklas, Mats) and then the show startedou abt 23:30.

          I guess about 100 people were here when Flowers must Die started. I did not know any of the material they played until the encore song, which is the really heavy on from their last record, that is a bit Hawkwind inspired. They played three songs and I filmed one of them. It was a short concert about 45mins total with the encore. The opening track was pretty cool with some great guitar. This was my 3^rd time to see them and it was also very good.

          It only took 30mins and My brother the Wind hit the stage. This was their first time playing together live since their new year’s eve gig. It seems before the gig, they worked out a few starting riffs but as you probably know this band is also all improvised music like Øresund Space Collective and Electric Moon. There are not many bands taking the risks to do this. Anyway, they played about 5-6 jams and played for about 80mins. Niklas only had his guitar and not the mellotron this time. Niklas and Mattias have great dynamics in their guitar playing. The visual guys kindly stayed and made really cool visuals. I shot videos of three of the jams and you can find them on youtube. Johnny, the owner of Transubstans records who released MBTW records was here but I did not get a chance to really talk with him. I just said hello. Good to see him out supporting one of his bands. Great guy… It was a fun but late night. Did not get home until 3 in the morning! 

Roskilde Festival, Denmark July 5-8th, 2012

I have been coming to the Roskilde Festival every year since 1999. It is sort of a part of life to go this music and cultural festival each year and hang out with my friends and see a lot of music over 4 days. The festival site opens 6 days before the real festival even begins and the young kids gather for what must be the world’s largest drinking party! When I arrived this year on the Saturday to set up our tents in preparation for the real festival, the kids were rolling in with their tents, sleeping bags, some clothes and 3-10 cases of beer. About 200 bands will play over the next 8 days. 

This year the festival had introduced more trash recycling and even a greater focus on being “green” but it was hard to see in the camping area, as it seemed nearly as trashed as usual.  As you might know, Roskilde Festival is non-profit so all the money from the festival goes to great causes like helping the Palestine people, people in Africa, and a large focus this year is to help out Asylum seekers in Denmark and putting greater focus on the tough time they have in this country, living in these like prison camps in different places in Denmark. Although, they are feed, get healthcare, the children are not allowed to go to school, and the conditions are not that nice for them. 

They have a Game City, Dream City (build your own festival), Poor City (too see how Asylum seekers are forced to live), Sonic Space, where people can meet members of some of the bands and music business, Roskilde Rising, a new initiative to give more press to up and coming Nordic bands playing the festival. They have this amazing Green City also that is really cool, with a solar telephone charging tree, bicycles you can ride and charge your phone, compost window farming, etc… They even have some “green” camps to set an example of how one can camp and respect the environment more. I really liked the Roskilde Retro area where they have a lot of posters and pictures dating back to the beginning of the festival in 1971. Up against the Wall was a potent stand against the Israeli occupation and showing just how huge a wall this is and how the world should not stand for this behaviour from any country. 

Thursday July 5^th

13:45 I am at the main train station waiting for the train towards Roskilde. Quite a few people waiting as well. Met some really cool people from Sweden, even gave me a beer, which I really needed as it was warm out and I was carrying all my stuff for camping out for the next 4 days. I don’t know that many of the bands this year but will go explore..

Django Django

15:30 I am finally at the camp and all unpacked and having a beer with Dorte, Jesper, Thomas and Bo. The weather is great. It is like 23C and mostly cloudy so we are not getting roasted! 

17:15 Django Django from the UK were the first band on at the Pavilion stage. They play some sort of very rhythmic psychedelic pop music. All the members play different tambourines, percussion instruments and there is often some effects on the voice and some cool psychedelic keyboards but no solos at all. It is all about the long psychedelic catchy grooves. A big crowd and people were into it. Pretty cool but I don’t think I would like their records much. The band all wore matching outfits.

Set List: Introduction, Hail Bop, Firewater, Waveforms, Zumm Zumm, Skies Over Cairo, Default, Storm

Analogisk

The Cure

18:15 I went to see what Kraftklub was all about and this was not my thing at all. These East German guys were also all dressed the same and played some semi-aggressive indie pop music.  So I headed over to check out Analogisk. This is a strange Danish group with live violin, tuba, full brass section, a little guitar now and then. It did not really catch me so I headed off to see if I could find the international beer tent and it was gone. NO where to be found. I did not see anyone I knew so I went to hang out to see what the CURE were all about, since I had never heard them before.

21:30 The CURE had excellent lights and still had that gothic look, all in black, some make up. The lead singer had a great voice and reminded me a lot of Bono from U2 but the music was not for me at all. I did not like it. I headed off to see the old Reggae band, Abyssinians but came across the Cosmpol scene and they had this hip hop guy, Blitz the Ambassador. He is from Ghana but lives in NYC. The part of the show I saw had very little rap and they played this cool Afrobeat-African music stuff and did short covers of Fela Kuti, Osibisa and Miriam Makeba. That was a real surprise. 

Abyssinians

23:00 Wow… the Abyssinians were totally amazing. This concert blew me away. They started off with a long instrumental jam with great keyboard and guitar solos before the three old guys came out. Man, they sing awesome and still sound great. This was the real deal, true Rastafari music. Amazing.. wow..  I headed back to the camp but I was told I should have checked out Perfume Genius at Gloria as they were really cool…

Day 2 

8:30 It was insanely loud out here in the P114 camping area. These young kids just never sleep. It is pouring down rain at the moment but not cold out. 

10:00 It is still pouring down rain but you can see there are some breaks in the clouds. I will head in for some breakfast in an hour..

12:00 I had the amazing brunch at the Thai Llani place. Eggs, sausage, bread, fruit, coffee or tea, muffin all for 80kr… Good deal..

13 Weedeater really came out and delivered the goods. Fucking heavy intense stuff. Their version of Gimmie Back my Bullets by Lynryd Skynryd was pretty cool. I enjoyed the show a lot and hung out with Mathias from Devolution magazine. Saw many others I knew as well. 

Set List: God Luck and Good Speed, Wizard Fight, For Evans Sake, Hammerhandle, Mancoon, Turkey Warlock, Gimme Back My Bullets, Weed Monkey

15:00 Les Freres Smith were a pretty damn cool Afrobeat band from France. They even did a long Fela Kuti track. They were mostly instrumental and did not have that much singing. It was a really good show and I saw it all.

Les Freres Smith

16:00 I next ran off to see some of what Dalglish was. It was one guy from Berlin doing spaced out ambient stuff in the Gloria. They have some pretty cool lights but he was just standing there with his laptop doing, who knows what. It could have all been pre-programmed and he was just checking his facebook and we would not have known. Trippy at times. I only stayed for 25mins. I ran headed back over to the Odeon and was really surprised that Red Fang was still playing. I only heard the last song but damn, they rocked. I later heard that the sound went out for 20mins so that is why they were still on. Crowd dug them. 

Baroness

19:00 I heard a bit of Baroness but I did not like them much. I thought they would have a bigger crowd. I went off to see Danyel Waro, a guy from a small island nation near Madagascar. This was pretty cool stuff. Danyel was a white guy playing a shaker table and some really passionate vocals. He was backed by three black guys on different percussion instruments so it was all about the vocals and rhythm. He is very passionate!

Hank3 was next and this was Hank William’s son. This was a fucking awesome concert. He had a killer band with banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass, drums and he played guitar and sang. It was pure country at times, a bit punky, some rock and great lyrics. The band did a lot of solos which was great. The huge surprise was the end of the show when everyone left except the drummer and Hank and he strapped on an electric guitar, some leather gear, a mask and cranked it up! They had some samples from the mixer running through the PA and it was a major heavy metal riff fest for the next 15 mins. The banjo player came out also after one song and played a Flying V guitar. Really cool ending and the best show so far today! 

Danyel Waro

Hank3

Set List: Straight to Hell, Gettin' Drunk and Fallin' Down, Little Bit of Smoke, Whole lot of Wine, Thrown Out of the Bar, D Ray White, Hollar, The Devil Is My Friend, 3 Shades of Black, Dick in Dixie, Ghost to a Ghost, Rebel Within, Country Heroes, Six Pack of Beer 

Encore: Make A Fall (Attention Deficit Domination Song, Medley: Cattle Callin 

(3 Bar Ranch Song)

22:00 I next checked out the CULT. I saw them last summer at the Sweden Rock festival and they were really good but the new record was not out yet. They fucking rocked! Great sound and a really cool song selection. The new songs were really good and hard rocking. Ian sounded great but the crowd was pretty lame and so he also was not so happy with the audience who were a bit dead. The sound was really good but could have been much louder. I filmed one of the best songs of the show. 

Set List: Lil' Devil, Honey From a Knife, Rain, Lucifer, The Phoenix, Fire Woman, The Wolf, Wild Flower, Rise, For the Animals, She Sells Sanctuary, Love Removal Machine

01:00 Jack White from White Strips put on a really cool show. He had an all female band with violin, pedal steel, upright bass, drums, keyboards and himself on guitar and vocals. I did not know any of his music really even though he did do a lot of White Stripes and several Raconteurs songs. Damn cool show and he played a lot of songs. 

Set List: Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Missing Pieces, Sixteen Saltines. Love Interruption, Hotel Yorba, Top Yourself, Hypocritical Kiss, I Guess I Should Go to Sleep, Take Me With You When You Go, I'm Slowly Turning Into You, Blue Blood Blues, Steady, As She Goes, Weep Themselves to Sleep, We're Going to Be Friends, Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy, Ball and Biscuit

Jack White

Encores:

Freedom At 21, Doorbell, You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl), Carolina Drama, Seven Nation Army

I headed back to the camp but I really wanted to check out Jupiter and Okwess International and Crowbar but they were not on for another 1½ hrs at 2:30 and 2:45 in the morning. It had been a long day since Weedeater! I did catch a couple of songs at the Arena by Gentleman and the Revolution and they had a massive crowd and happen to be playing some decent reggae when I was there but I think he is usually doing hip hop dancehall stuff. 

Day 3


Check out the rest of the graffit at the link here.

9:56 I just got back from taking a shower and had to take a sleeping pill to pass out. I have never heard the camping area so insanely loud as last night. IT was quiet when I came back from Jack White as all the people were streaming in to see the Danish act, Malk de Kolin. But when they came back they all cranked up their stereos as loud as possible and partied until 7 this morning. Fucking hell. I am too old for this shit…

12:42 I am sitting and having the brunch again. This is a great way to start the day off. It is totally overcast but not raining and a nice temperature. I am still wearing shorts all day and night. Great weather actually. 

13:45 I am sitting outside the Cosmpol waiting to hear the next band at 14, Owiny Sigoma Band. This guy who was on before was fucking terrible. A guy called Niklas, what crap shit is this and he had this massive crowd. Really crap pop rap shit…. 

15:00 Wow.. Owiny Sigoma Band was amazing. This was some of the coolest stuff this year. A slightly psychedelic Kenyan band. IT was too old guys from Kenya backed by some guys from the UK, but the keyboard player played really cool stuff and quite psychedelic at times. They even did a CAN cover, how cool is that! Joseph plays the eight-stringed lyre, while the other older guy is a master drummer. Really awesome tranced out stuff. I have to look up their album.

17:00 Next up was a really cool act from Finland. Kimmo Pohjonen Samuli Kosminen and Proton String Quartet. It was three violin players, cello, electronics guy and Kimmo on accordion. It was really hard to describe the music and atmosphere that they created but I was pretty blown away… I really got sucked into the music. Kimmo was amazing on accordion. I had never heard the instrument played like that and he also did some singing as well. Great concert. I had planned to go see Alison Krauss but was totally taken away by this show. 

19:45 I saw the first few songs of the Low Anthem and I did not really get into it. It was some really mellow laid back country folk music, a bit too mellow. They were cool enough but it just did not grab me. I was heading back over to the Gloria to check out Kriget and caught the last part of the Roots concert on the Orange and was totally surprised they really rocked out with a cool medley of Sweet Child O’mine, I’m the Man, Who do you love and finally a few chords of the Immigrant song by Led Zeppelin.  I caught most of the Swedish hardcore band, Refused set and although the first few songs did not get me I slowly got in to it and they were really cool. The singer came out and said that when they first got back together he was really worried about how their political anti-establishment lyrics would sound 14 yrs later but he was surprised that they were more relevant than ever, as the world was even more fucked up now. 

Kriget was damn cool until those damn rappers came out and ruined the show. I really liked what this bass, drum and sax trio did. Very cool experimental heavy, electronic groove music. It really worked and was pretty psychedelic at times but those fucking rappers.. ugh.. I left after that… 

00:00 I got lucky and happened to get into the front section for Bruce Springsteen. I was not even sure I was going to check him out but I figured this would be the only time ever for me. Anyway, he had a great 16 piece band with great musicians, including the very short Nils Lofgren, Little Steven, Max Weinburg, Clarence Clemons, etc…  I was really surprised at the energy he had and also how political all his new songs were. They had really excellent and potent lyrics with songs like Death to my home town, My city of Ruins, We take care of our Own, etc…  About every third songs was played as if it was the encore and everyone just going for it. Quite wild. It was about a bit short of 3hr show. He really gives it all and he was down in the audience many times with the fans. Pretty impressive even if I would not listen to his records at home. 

No Surrender, Badlands, Two Hearts, We Take Care Of Our Own, Wrecking Ball, Death to My Hometown, My City of Ruins, Spirit in the Night, The E Street Shuffle (with The Roots), Jack of All Trades, Trapped, Because the Night, Working on the Highway, Shackled and Drawn. Waitin' on a Sunny Day, The River, The Rising, Out in the Street, Land of Hope and Dreams 

Encore:

We Are Alive, Born in the U.S.A., Born to Run, Glory Days, Dancing in the Dark, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Twist and Shout 

I really wanted to see two more late night bands again on this night. Dead Skeltons were playing at 2:45 and a band from Morocco at 2:30…… I just cannot get enough sleep out in these camping areas to make to see these bands so I am heading back to try to sleep.

Bruce "the boss" Springsteen

Day 4

8:00 That is it.. I have really had it now after not sleeping at all because of that damn techno hip hop shit that just stopped now.. I really wanted to go kill those people…. Can we not have some rules that no music for at least 4 hrs a day, Roskilde??? I am packing up and going home. I really wanted to see my friends play at 12-15 and also Dr. John but I need some sleep. It sucks to miss the last day. I will never camp in P again. 

So who were the best bands this year? Abyssinians, Hank3, Owiny Sigoma Band, and Kimmo Pohjonen Samuli Kosminen and Proton String Quartet. 

http://www.roskilde-festival.dk