Øresund Space Collective, The Carpet Knights, ILDHU, Sumo Sun- Dæmonen’s Port, Copenhagen Aug 24th, 2013

This was a very special night of music to celebrate my 50^th year on this planet we call Earth. Where have I been previously, only one other knows.. Anyway, we had a dinner with a lot of my friends and the members of these great bands at my place before we all headed down the street to the club around 21:15. I arrived just before 22 and Sumo Sun started right off. This was the bands debut concert. IT is the new music project by Stefan Krey (Gas Giant, ILDHU, ØSC, etc..). The band has existed under this name for the last 5 years and made a record with all different members except the drummer (Helge, who lives in Iceland). Anyway, on this night, the band debuted 45mins of all new music with Stefan handling all the lead vocals and guitars. The music was a mixture of David Gilmour recent solo material, Steven Wilson and Porcupine style tracks. A lot of dynamics, and things for the band to remember. The opening and one other tracks were instrumental. It was fun to see Stefan taking his music in another direction. Let’s see where this ends but this is at least the start.

SumoSun

          Next up, the old Gas Giant, jam project that has gone under the name of ILDHU, which is Stefan on guitar, Thomas on bass and Jesper on drums and lead vocals. They used to jam in the basement when the old Gas Giant drummers Pete Hell or Tommy, could not make it, was late or passed out… Recently, in 2010-2012 the band also played under this name as well before disbanding and this was primarily material written by Thomas and Jesper. Anyway, the band really surprised me and opened up with a long jammed out version of Too Stoned. This was over 10mins long and Stefan was really playing cool guitar. Next was an instrumental jam on the classic Good Morning Little Schoolgirl song. The closed their 25min set with a Gas Giant song that was only recorded in a demo format in 2005 before the band folded. Thanks Guys..

The Carpet Knights

          Next up was the Swedish band, The Carpet Knights. This band has been around in Malmö for like 15 years now and has released several demo CDs and two albums on the Transubstans label but due to many complications with vocalists, the band has not performed in around 4 years and not in Denmark for like 6 years! The band played about an hour long set that features a few songs from their two albums but 5 new songs that will all be on the bands next record that they have nearly finished recording but just need to mix it. Anyway, Jocke, the primary songwriter, guitarist (plays bass normally in ØSC) has also taken over the lead vocals and he was fantastic. What a cool voice. I never would have known. Their songs and the vocals are a bit Jethro Tull inspired at times (they currently do not have a flute player but did for most of their years) but also mixing in the best of Swedish prog rock and some killer spacey guitar by Tobias. I think people were really surprised at this great band and I hope this will be a chance for them to step out into the light once again when the new record is finished if not before.

          Finally, at after 1AM, ØSC was assembled. To start the show it was me, Nick, Jiri, PIB, and Johan. Mogens has school and exams and could not play. PIB was smashing the drums as he usually does and is way too loud on the recording since the amps were not turned up to make up for this. He played great and after about an hour or so Jesper took over the drums and Magnus came up and played Johan’s guitar. I even sat out for 10mins and Johan tried to figure out how to get sound out of my strange synth set up… Nick, passed his guitar to Magnus and Johan came back and Par played some bass while Helge (SumoSun) took over the drums. I think we played about 1hr 40mins and when it was 3 I called it to an end as I was really tired and the crowd was thinning out now as well. It has been a long party starting at my place at 18.. and an even longer day for me.. Fun night and nice to meet some friends I have only known on the internet (Olav- Norway, Eetu- Finland). Thanks for coming.

http://www.oresundspacecollective.com

Tame Impala and Merchandise - Vega, København Aug 9th, 2013

Merchandise from Tampa Florida

My friends Santtu and his wife Sala were in town to see Tame Impala and I decided to join them as they were pretty good 2 years ago at Rosklide Festival. The opening band Merchandise said they were from Tampa, Florida. They played some sort of Indie-pop with a few freaky guitar parts and solos every now and then. The singer did not really have a voice that grabbed you in anyway. The guitar player on the left wanted to be like Thruston Moore of Sonic Youth but did not really pull it off. The crowd gave them a nice response but the music is just too mainstream and slick for me.

Tame Impala

          It took perhaps 30mins to get Tame Impala set up and then they were ready. The first half hour of the show was shorter psychedelic pop numbers with lots of layers of synthesizers. The guitar player on the left played more synth than guitar. Then the band went into these longer tracks which is what I remembered from the Roskilde show. The audience was really into it and at times they had some super cool visual projections. This was really important to suck you into the whole thing. The singer mentioned after one of the cooler songs that they had not played that one in a while so perhaps they are changing the set lists around and not just doing the same set every night. My biggest complaint with this band, like Telestar Sound Drone, is that once they get some really cool parts going, they always cut the solo off or the energy off just as they could really take it to the next level. Not once did they spread their wings and fly, which is a real pity. Scared to take a chance, step out of the box… Anyway, a pretty cool psychedelic rock concert with pop vocals, and sensibilities mixed in.  I should say that the sound man did an amazing job.

Kildemose Festival 2013, Ørbæk, Fyn, Denmark

This has to be one of the most relaxed and best music festivals in the world. It takes place on the beautiful grounds of a brewery and about 200 people descends on the place once a year to celebrate music and art. It never gets much bigger, which is strange as it is such a beautiful place and so relaxed and people have a great time. No idea why they don’t come out but that is fine, more space for the people in the “know”… 

I missed the first day of the festival on Thursday as I was still suffering from Jetlag from my return from the USA.. There were 6 bands that played (Lewd Flesh, Sensational Psycho-poppers, Baby in Vain, Sun Nexus, Mechanical Birds, A Trip without a Ticket) and I had seen two of them before. I heard that Mechanical Birds and A trip without a Ticket were really excellent. 

Friday Aug 2^nd

The Hedgehogs

The Road to Suicide

I arrived with Sabine from Sapphire Records about 14. The band Spåkraket (Flying Saucer in Swedish) were just finishing the soundcheck and about to play. We heard the entire concert while we were setting up our tents (did not get any pics, sorry..) and they were really loud and spaced out. Would have liked to have been sitting there and been really focuses on the music. Intense stuff. It was really hot today and we were totally soaked after setting up the tent and really needed a beer! Got a lot of nice greetings from folks I have not seen since last years festival. I gave Jan, the organizer, the double live at Kildemose vinyls and he was very happy for this. Good for us and good promotion for this excellent festival. The Hedgehogs, a young band on Levitation Records called Kasper (ex-Troldmand) is playing in this band as well as like 3 others at the festival this year. They are a 6 piece with three guitars and sound a lot like Baby Woodrose, 13^th Floor elevators, Love, etc.. Cool stuff but this strummed style of guitar makes too many of the songs sound too much alike. I liked the stripped down jamming three piece version of the band a bit better.  

Set List: Water, Don’t want, Every Door, your Eyes, Don’t owe You, Ny Sang, In the Light, Care about Me. 

The Road to Suicide, is a new young Danish band. Their music is not nearly as dark as the band title. They released a cool split LP with the Spåkraket. This band features two guys who used to play in the Wands. Anyway, these guys play really excellent spacey music. I loved their set. One of the three guitar players tried to play electric sitar but could not get it to work so had to give up and retune his guitar while the others were spacing out. Great set. Wow… 

Set List: Lys Søndag, Before Lexington, Golden Arm, Sitar jam, Step One, Sort Søndag

The DIFF

Next up we changed the music style from three psychedelic bands to a sort of rock-ska mix of sorts. This band had really good energy but the songs did not really grab me. Let’s see how they develop. I don’t know anything about them at all. The Kildemose house band, The Diff (an excellent Grateful Dead cover band) were next and played a very nice set of DEAD tracks including Sugaree, Mexicali blues, Cold Rain and Snow amongst other. People really enjoyed it a lot. Not many people dancing to any of the bands this year. Mali musician Basiri Suso finally played with this trio this year! This was a cool concert. Beautiful music and people really got up front and loved it. He came out and interacted with the people as well. He was very patient for his first number that he performed with a small kid with a shaker who was on the stage. Cute but he was not on time.. Cool bass player and great tabla, percussion player as well. 

Telestar Drone Sound

Now things started to get behind schedule as the next two bands insist on playing on their own gear and not using the backline or letting other bands use their gear. Otherwise, they have been able to keep on time. Telestar Sound Drone played an amazing set. Think it was the exact set they played at Studenterhuset. Very spacey music with a great vibe. The singer is very active and just absorbed into the music. My only complaint is they never take any of their songs to the next level, it is very predictable somehow. They could really fly if they would be willing to take that little risk but they don’t, always playing is safe, scared to strive for more, pity.. It will hold them back in the end. 

After another 60hr break to set up Bite the Bullet, with another full change out of drums, etc..  time was really ticking. Bite the Bullet opened with Paw taking on the Star Spangled Banner and direct into Everyboy has a Broken Soul and the amazing number, I Feel Love from their new CD-EP, which is a teaser for the new full length record. The band debuted a few new tracks (quite Neil Young inspired) today.  What a great band, fucking rocking and jamming with great solos and bass and drums. Kicking ass…

Set list: every boy has a broken Soul, I feel Love, Be like You, Going Out, Home, my Soul, Spacedrums, Girl’s got Soul, I will not Die

I was a bit surprised their set was not shorted as now there was only 25mins left for the curfew for Papir to play. They played incredibly intense but were supposed to have 75 mins and that really sucks for them. They were also so disappointed. Jan needs to make bands use their own set time if they take too long and want to use their own gear or just say, you have to use the back drums and amps to make thing simple. They have good equipment that is all mic’d up etc.. Pity for Papir. I felt bad for them. 

Day 3

Moon Mountain

B-tong

Moon Mountain were supposed to play yesterday but did not make it in time so were put on at 11. They were a duo with guitar, female vocals, drum, percussion, gong, and effects. She did most all the singing but he also sang. She has an intense voice and it really bothered me after a while. She is a good singer, it was just too much for me, maybe it was mixed too loud? A small crowd was gathered.

Set List: Intro-Music, Find the Sun, Let it Burn, Siham, Once Again, I don’t know the meaning of love, Black Mole, Release the Sins, Farewell, outro music

B-Tong, an ambient electronic project by my friend Chris from the Swiss band, Phased was next and he has a totally new set since last year but the same cool set up of gadgets. This was really cool music to start the day but it would also be great for late at night as well. I joined in for the last 15mins of his set and this was so much fun. I hope we can do it again. I think the set was like 45mins. 

My band Øresund Space Collective was up next and we decided to spend a little extra time and set up Mantric Muse, who would play two acts after ØSC and include all the members, at the same time. This went pretty smooth and we only started about 15mins later than scheduled and we actually only played 82mins, our shortest set ever at this festival. We had a great sound and vibe straight off and everyone played very well. You can hear the concert at the link below. I think it was the biggest crowd we had ever had at the festival and the response was great. People loved it. 

http://www.archive.org/details/OSC2013-08-03-FLAC

Next up was Kristian from the Danish band Dream Jockey. It was just him with his acoustic guitar and a load of effects, looping gear and his sweet daughter standing infront of the stage blowing bubbles! Beautiful and for some reason, I just got sucked into his set. I really liked his songs, his use of effects, switching voice, etc.. I was mesmerized at times. A huge surprise. Great….

Set List: Float, ??, Queen, First Applause, The Rock, Walk with Thor, Soul Collector. Sole Dancer

Mantric Muse

The all instrumental psychedelic space rock band Mantric Muse were up next and were able to start 15mins early and play a 90min set that included their entire new CD (Transubstans Records) and two extra songs. They started with a really old song and a cool opener called DMU. The next 5 were from their CD and Magnus was handing all the guitar and synthesizers (a lot of which is pre-programmed), since Ola, the Swedish synthesizer player, can rarely make it to their concerts. A song they made a demo for in 2000 has reappeared in a new form called Wobbegong Wookie! IT has a really cool guitar riff and line. I like this one a lot. The next new songs was Armh and this is slowly becoming a favourite of mine. They ended the set with my favourite song on their CD, Deep Sea Cheops. Great set. I think people enjoyed it a lot and there is not a band anything like these guys that have played the festival before, mixing electronics and space rock the way they do. ØSC is as close a comparison but something quite different really. Most people don’t know that these guys have been around in one form or another since 1996 and I first met them in 1998. They are just slowly allowing the world to appreciate their music and I highly recommend their new CD. One of the best of 2012. 

Set List: DMU, Cinope, SFunx, Azur, Gnoxience, Nanoid, Wobbegong Wookie, Sinbad Søfarenen, Armh, Deep Sea Cheops

Shiva's Nat

The 70s style hard rock band, Shiva’s nat, featuring the singer from Highway Child (he also plays all the guitar) and Morten from Fuzz Manta on bass, played an amazing set. I was also totally blown away by these guys. They had been tripping on mushrooms the night before and were in the right headspace for playing really improvised blues rock on a high level. The addition of the organ, which they did not have last year when they played, gave them a real Deep Purple feel sometimes. I don’t what songs they played but due to wanting to use all their own gear they also were running late so they were told to stop after only like 35mins. Powerful set. 

Måneskjold (Moon Shield) are a new Danish band playing a spacey heavy hawkwind (without the electronics) like stoner rock. They also had three guitar players (why do all these new young Danish band have three guitarists???), but the singer only played on a few tracks did a great solo on the last track otherwise, Kasper (ex-Troldmand) provided most of the lead guitar. Really cool stuff.

Next was a UK trio called the Underground Youth.  They had a tall lady singing and playing standup drums (she had a snare and floor tom) and two guitar players, who mostly played nearly the same thing. They did the occasional guitar solo and had different guitar tones but in the end it was a bit too much the same and me and all my friends got pretty bored. 

Nickolas Hill and the Univerzals

Nickolas Hill (The Univerzals) had a new group with two Russian guys, both named Alex backing him up in power trio format. I had seen the drummer playing with the Judas Priest cover band but never this other Alex Choub, who plays the 6 string bass like it was a chapman stick.  This was all new songs and no Univerzals songs were played even though that is what the band was still billed as. The first song was really messy and I thought what the hell was this, I hope it gets better and then suddenly, everthing came together and they played really cool stuff, with songs like UFO, Grapes of Jesus and the new classic, I’m a Guitar Man, for which Nick only wrote the excellent lyrics to two hours before! The crowd was all up in the front and totally into it and when they ended their set at 40mins as this was all the songs they had, we all made them play I’m a Guitar Man again as people were really into it. Great show and a huge surprise. Nick is an amazing guitar player and hell, ya a guitar man!!!!!!!!!!

I was starting to really feel strange and tired and I had been hanging out with the Papir guys and drinking a few too many beers so I only watched the Elevatorfører guys set up and the first couple of songs, which were really cool. They had a projector, green laser light, cool props, etc.. it was a full on psychedelic freakout show and they can make it more freaky for people since it is all sung and Danish. Real trip rock like is should be done. Super nice people as well.  I did not see the German band, Excessive Visage but heard they were good. I wonder where they were hiding the whole festival as I was everywhere on the small site and did not hear anyone speak German? Hum.. 

Another great year at Kildemose and a lot of new psychedelic bands, an new Ecological pilsner that was very tastey, the good cheap food was back, and if you were early enough in the evening very nice Thai food for 45kr. All was well.. Great sound, all bands were multitrack recorded and the first 25 or so minutes was videotaped as well. thanks to Jan for making this happen every year. I feel so honoured to able to play and be part of it as well. 

http://www.kildemosefestival.dk

Bite the Bullet- S/T EP (Bilocation Records CD13)

Bite the Bullet is a new band born out of the ashes of the Danish band Highway Child. This is ¾ of that line up with a new singer (although Paw played all the drums on this EP and not Andreas). This EP contains 5 songs (20mins) and is a teaser for the full length record that will come later this year, I believe. I have seen the band live and they totally kick ass in the same way that HC used to. These songs will remind you of the former band but the neew singer Thomas (sings all the songs except Hit the Ground). I feel Love starts with a keyboard line but then the heavy guitar riff kicks in. This is a band that is out to play kick ass hard rocking music with a slight blues, Led Zeppelin, and psychedelic edge. The first song is a powerful number with some cool guitar soloing by Paw, while Christian lays down the great bass line. Hit the Ground is sung by Christian, I think. IT slows things down and has a more 60’s style feel to it and a cool psychedelic guitar section and a fun chorus section complete with hand claps! Space Drums picks up the pace and has a more psychedelic mix of the guitar and vocals. Killer guitar! I will not Die reminds me a lot of the Flying Eyes and is a slower more melodic track with all three singing backing vocals. The last song is called My Soul and the simple keyboard line reappears and Paw plays trumpet as well. I love the guitar riff on this track and the way the solo part is played. I can’t wait to hear the full length vinyl! Great live band who jam a bit more than on this EP.. Check this out for sure as it totally kicks ass!

http://www.bitethebulletmusic.com http://kozmik-artifactz.com

Danava- Heavy Devils Star Crash: The 2004 Demos (Unseen Forces UF007)

I was really surprised when I saw this one. I really dig this band a lot and they are so cool live. I have not kept up on all their vinyl output but usually bands early material can tend to be the best so I was very curious to hear this. The LP features 4 tracks from the bands 2004 demos and I thought it was all unreleased material but 3 out of the four songs appeared on the bands self-titled full length, in more polished versions. By the Mark starts things off and this is pretty raw, with a very hard edged trebly guitar sound and the way the synth section is mixed it is quite psychedelic. I played the 2006 version right after the first and the song has become more controlled and focused and the sound really different. The basic structure is similar and all the crazy time changes, maybe one extra guitar solo in the new version but still very psychedelic. The vibe of the original is maintained but it is less crazy sounding. Eyes in Disguise starts with a synthesizer arpeggio and then the band really takes off into a fuzzy haze of sound to never return. A very complex track in the end with a much more raw drum sound than on the CD version. Very driven by the in your face guitar! Longdance is also on the debut from 2006 so what about the unreleased track Jack? It is very short and totally different than anything that has every appeared on any of the bands records. A very strange song with funny lyrics. Very simple compared to what the band normally does. Almost like a joke. Anyway, a very cool and intense listening experience.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/DANAVA/212228184445

Circle- Six Day Run (Full Contact Records KRYPT-038)

This is a short soundtrack album for a Finnish movie called Kuuden päivän Juoksu. It features 6 short tracks between 3 and 6 minutes. It was recorded in September 2012. Day One starts with a kraut rock (CAN) style groove with the same guitar line repeated over and over with small modulations but not a whole lot. Day Two starts off a bit spacey and has a driving drum rhythm and a pretty cool guitar line comes in and out throughout the track but never really takes hold and finally at the last minute it all comes together on this floating psychedelic synth boat.  I wonder what is happening in the movie now? Day Three must have been a pretty crazy day as this tracks has a frantic pace. Cool stuff. Flip the record over for Day 4. This also has this quick pace and a really nice guitar line over the grooving bass and drums. Day 5 must have been a really frantic and crazy day as there is sorts of sounds clanging about, different strange synth modes while the bass and drums just keep the track driving like a freight train! Spaced out. Day Six also is pretty frantic but the synth and piano line gives it a more relaxed feel somehow.  This is a damn cool record. I also got the Panic on vinyl recently and that is a fucking strange record and nothing like this one at all. You could not even know it was the same band if you did not know in advance. This record is way cooler.

http://kinotar.com Http://www.facebook.com/sixdayrun http://www.circlefinland.com

Goatess- Goatess (Svart Records SVR199)

Goatess is a new Stockholm based stoner doom band fronted by Christus (Lord Vicar, Terrafirma). This is their debut record of heavy stoner-doom stuff. The opening track Know your Animal is quite uptempo and has a great guitar riff that they build the track on. I was waiting for the guitar solo section but there was never was one and they did all the interesting stuff with the vocal sections, some a little psychedelic. Alpha Omega slows things down to a more and the guitar riff has this special distorted edge at times. It is a longer track very focused on the vocals and lyrics. Ripe ends side A and starts off with the bass line by Findus. Niklas next brings in the slow stoney riff as the drums keep a steady pace. Later it really picks up the pace only to return to the slow very stoned riff in this shorter track that gets quite psyched out at the end. This was the coolest song on the side for sure.  Full moon at Noon starts off side B with a classic stoner rock feel and then the track slows down with some really cool delay guitar and spacey vocals. I really wish Niklas would take the guitar to another level and really let go, even though he plays some really cool stuff it always feels like he is holding back and not just really letting go. Oracle Pt 1-The Mist starts slowly with what sounds like synthesizers or keyboards but I think it is some cool guitar effects and this continues throughout the first part while Christus sings the first section. The Oracle (pt2) is the heavy intense part and more doomy. Side C has the last two tracks starting with King One and this starts with a really cool guitar riff and a killer sound in this slow riffing monster with a bit of delay guitar in the spacey section. Tentacles of Zen closes the record and has a lot of cool lyrics and starts with a sound sample from I Claudius! The end of the track has a very cool eastern guitar theme and gets more and more psyched out. Great ending. Sadly, side D is blank, no music. Such a waste of space and vinyl. Very cool debut record with a mix of stoner, doom and a bit psychedelic at times. If they smoked more they might have made a SLEEP like masterpiece, ha! Enjoy..

http://www.svartrecords.com

Kosmos-Salattu Maailma (Kosmos 004)

The progressive psychedelic folk band Kosmos from Turku, Finland are back with their 4^th self released album. The band has added new and different elements to their sound over the course of the 4 records. The lyrics are all very cosmic and mystic and there is a English translation as the words and stories are very much an important part of appreciating the entire concept of the band.  The album features 7 tracks in 38mins. The opening track (A Hidden World) is a slow and very beautiful number with mellotron, and almost symphonic instrumentation at times. It tells a story of a powerful like dream like state. Seashell and it also features mellotron and Kari introduces the flute as well as acoustic guitar. Incantation is a simple acoustic track that features Jukka on the violin. The Mirror is a shorter track and again with a small flute section. Päivi sings beautifully. The Wind is a 7 min track that starts off very spacey and then goes into an acoustic section and slowly the mellotron enters again and then the violin after the vocal section. A Dream features Juha and Timo doing spoken words and does not feature Päivi. IT does start very spacey and with glockenspiel and mellotron. Pretty trippy song as I love the spoken Finnish language. Back to the Stream is the last track and features Olli on different hand drums-percussion instruments and goes back to the more symphonic theme that the album started with. This is a very interesting group of musicians as nearly every song is written by a different person and total of 10 different people play or speak on the record. I really love the artwork cover and layout on the vinyl record gatefold. Fantastic! Another very nice and cool release to crank up on a Sunday morning or late at night to relax and drift away to another world, where there is no war, no poverty, people dream and sleep well at night without stress and wake up with a smile on their face next to the one they love!

http://www.nic.fi/~ovaltone

White Sails- White Sails 7” (Fruits de Mer WINKLE11)

This is a group of US and Finnish folks making some pretty cool psychedelic music. The first two tracks are the mellow and beautiful Black Sabbath songs Laguna Sunrise and Fluff! I quite like the added slide guitar to Laguna Sunrise to give it a slightly different feel. Fluff doesn’t quite have the same elaborate instrumentation but they get the right vibe across in this beautiful take. The sound production is not very analog but a very clear sound despite the lack of organic feeling. Nice version. The instrumental track by Ville was excellent and probably my favourite track of these four. Really nice guitar playing on it. Leigh wrote the next track, Death on a Pale Horse, which also features some excellent guitar playing. Another winner from Fruits de Mer!

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Vágtázò Hallottkémek-Veled Haraptat csillagot! (Full Contact Records KRYPT-034)

The Galloping Coroners are back with another record, the first one in ages. I still remember when my friend Carl got Hammering at the Gates of Nothingness from Freak Emporium in 1994 and it totally blew us away! The main man from VHK, Grandpierre has made a few records with the Galloping Wonder Stags but not this group in quite some time. The musicians are also totally different and only the bass player remains from the old line up of the band from the 90s. Anyway, there are 7 long tracks on the record with a lot of spoken and sung words telling really far out and interesting stories, like North American shaman stuff mixed with astrophysical universe and reality. Handshake opens the record is a cool piece with a more folky guitar line and lots of lyrics and is pretty relaxed.  The next two tracks are more upbeat, Falling into Love and the short The Celebration of Life which is really fast. Inner Universe finished side A with a more laid back psychedelic feeling and acoustic guitar to start but then it gains in intensity as towards the end. Moons towards east is more like the opening track of the first side and is quite melodic to start but builds up in intensity. Winged Sky is probably my favourite track on the record as it mixes all the elements of what the band does best. The Hun Brotherhood ends this record. The music is nearly as wild, crazy as the past records but it still is really psychedelic as you can’t really understand what he is going on about with such passion, while the band plays a mix of folky, tranced out music in the background. Far out stuff from Hungary! What a surprise to hear another record by these guys. I wonder if they will tour.

http://www.ektrorecords.com https://myspace.com/gallopingcoroners

The Lone Crows- The Lone Crows (World in Sound WIS-3018)

This young American band from Minneapolis really caught me off guard! Who would have thought these young kids would make a killer record of 70s style blues rock! The CD features 9 tracks in 48mins. This one caught me off guard for sure as these young kids really rock. The opening track is a fast paced track called Lone Crow with a good rocking riff and some powerful vocals and nice solos. Can’t go Home Again has a hard edge but bluesy feel to it. Heard you Call slows things down and shows the more bluesy side of the band and it is a brilliant song highly inspired by Black Magic Woman. It has some really beautiful guitar playing. These guys have the correct influences. You got Nothing is another well crafted 70s style rock song with passionate singing and cool guitar riffs! Moonshine brings back the blues again. The Ghost is an instrumental jam track that fades in and the band just has a cool jam. When I move On has some great stuff but seems like an aborted track or something. I dug the riff and the solos but only one vocal section and then a solo and over.. Hum… The Crawl is one of the heaviest riffs on the record on this slower track,which really rocks at the end. Running through my Head closes this excellent record with another bluesy rocker. I am pretty amazed by these young guys. They have written a great set of mature songs. My only complaint is the production is a bit too clean and digital some how.. Cool record and one I have played many times.

http://www.worldinsound.com

Shooting Guns- Spectral Laundromat (Dub Ditch Picnic 1971.038)

I think I read about these guys on The Obelisk and then the tape came in the mail. There are five tracks on the tape and some quite long. It starts off with Deepest Purple (for Krang) which has a very spaced out guitar that is quite loud to start as the band really takes off into space with a crazy mix of keyboards and the two guitars. It is a bit chaotic at times but always moving in the right direction with some intense guitar soloing towards the end of this track. Really rawking and raw stuff. Sitting in the Car, Thinking slows things down is more spacey and slow with some cool guitar and quite psychedelic and floating. Trans Nite is a slower very spacey drone track with a steady build. Quite dreamy. Now you need to flip the tape for Heads Blues. A slow stoned blues track that gradually becomes a bit doomy and very spacey. This is a really cool song (jam). Flair starts with a like false start on the tape and then it starts again and starts with a huge guitar riff and then the 2^nd guitar joins in, and then the rest join as the track just gets more and more massive and intense and then the lead guitar kicks in for a while and then it returns to the heavy wall of sound vibrating vibe. A cool new band. I look forward to hearing more by these guys.

http://www.shootingguns.ca

Queen Elephantine- Scarab (Cosmic Eye EYE005)

It has been some time since I have heard these guys. I liked the stuff on the split with Sons of Otis. The album features 4 tracks and was recorded on a single day in May 2012.  Veil starts things off is a slow steady drum rhythm and a bit of an eastern drone going on in the background. This album was mastered by Billy Anderson, so this usually gives a pretty massive sound when cranked up. Make sure you play it loud otherwise you miss the small details that are sprinkled into the soundscape. It takes a couple of minutes before the guitar kicks in with a strange riff. It builds up and the two drummers get faster and faster and then returns to the slow doomy evil drone and vocal comes in. Crone takes up the rest of the side and is a very slow track with spacey sounds and stuff, good for a slow evil torture scene in a horror film. One must be very patient otherwise you could get pretty bored as this is really slow stuff. The vocal comes back and the end part gets more intense. Reminds me a bit of Dark Budda Rising but it does not have such a massive sound or presence. The end is just plain strange and trippy. A very unique band and sound. Flip the record over for Snake, which starts quite slow but the vocals come in nearly right away. This is like 20 beats a minute stuff so be patient and crawl like a snake as you reach for your bong…. Clear light of the Unborn is another close to 10min track that ends this slow, doom drone stoned experience. It starts with a lot of voices all mixed in a far out like chant that gets more far out and then the music kicks in and that same disturbing horror siren that you have heard on a few of the other songs makes you feel like death is coming soon and someone will appear from behind the bathroom door and stab you to death and you will bleed, bleed black blood that will ooze into the next room and out into the yard and down the street and into the ocean……………..

http://www.musicbazz.com http://www.soundeffect-records.gr

Dead Ranch- Birds of Pray (Praire Fire Tapes)

Never heard these four guys Canadian guys. The artwork on this cassette is really cool. Done by Randy at http://www.damnthedesign.com . This tape is the bands demo from June 2012. They have a new song on their band camp site you can check out and you can download this album for free. Electric Yellow starts things off and has a super cool guitar riff and intense energy. A mix of a punky attitude and thrash. The singer is mixed really low so you can’t really hear him very clearly but he is shouting and angry as well. Konan is another speedy raw track but it slows up towards the end. Touch Fuzzy,Get Dizzy starts very slowly and then gets totally crazy and then a heavy guitar riff kicks in and the band just takes off at break neck speed. This one gets pretty psyched out at the end with some crazy sounds mixed in with the guitar riff. The next two tracks are listed as demos. Pheromone and Attack of the Sky Creatures.  They have a slightly different sound production. This is a fun punky thrashy angry release. Amazing energy and cool guitar riffing.

http://www.prairiefiretapes.com  http://deadranch.bandcamp.com/

Solitude- So came Restless Night (Electric Magic Records EMCD05)

Solitude is the solo project of Christian Peters (Samsara Blues Experiment). This CD was originally released as a CD-R in limited numbers in 2009 but is now out in 500 CDs. It features 9 tracks with limited drums or percussion of cool guitar, sitar space outs. Morninghope is a  long and well developed track with lots of cool layers of spaced out sounds and melodic guitars. Awakening is one of the relaxing sitar ragas. I really like the Albatross with the deep bass drone, mandolin, and beautiful acoustic guitar. Ballad of the Black Swan brings the sitar back and is one of the longer tracks with some very cool spaced out parts. This reminds me a bit of one of the pieces on my own, West, Space and Love LP.  Farwell to Elisabeth is a longer piece where the synth drone plays a major role in the song while he plays beautiful guitar over the top. Voices of the Forest is primarily acoustic guitar but some synth layers float in. I like the echo effect, it makes it quite psychedelic. All that’s left Behind ends this very cool record and is a short piece and the only one with vocals. Lovely record. Fans of Lamp of the Universe will probably like this one.

http://www.electricmagic.de/