Sun and the Wolf- Salutations (World in Sound WIS-3024)

This is a new band for me but they have a catchy groove and remind me of Spirtualized or early 90s Sundial without the great guitar playing. They are a quartet originally from New Zealand but moved to Berlin to make their mark on the music world. The band has previously released one record, called White Buffalo. I really dig the opening track, 87 years, such a cool groove and sound. Settle Down has a more dark vibe and is one of the longer tracks at nearly 5mins and has some drone synths and some conga in the mid-end groove section and some guitar but not that interesting compared to the rest of the sound. Great track. ! All we Need features a real 60s fuzz guitar and vibe but still have floating feeling. Ghetto Drum is a slightly slower piece with these slightly more spacey vocals and guitars. Waves  in front of Me has a some cool layers of fuzz and wah guitar as a heavy deep bass line pushes the track as the vocals put you in this ethereal world. Into this Mess starts off like a jam with a lazy bluesy, psychedelic guitar as the groove gets more catchy and melodic vocal develops to follow the guitar or the other way around and then they have a bit of a jam and space out but the guitar player only teases and never really just kicks ass and plays a massive solo.. only toying with us, sadly… This is probably my favourite track with the opening one but still under 5mins. The Fisherman starts with a loop and then the drums and bass kick in and then the vocals and happy vibe. Why are we not Fading is one of the more hard rocking tracks on the CD. Never Sorry finished off the CD and is another of the more melodic dreamy tracks. A lot of this CD I liked a lot and some of it was bit too mainstream dreamy pop rock stuff but fans of Tame Impala, Spiritualized, and the 90s UK psych-pop scene should check these guys out. They write a lot of good songs.

http://www.worldinsound.de https://sunandthewolf.bandcamp.com/

Freak Valley Festival 2014 DVD (Rock Freaks- Heavy Media)

This double DVD just came out to document the very cool festival called Freak Valley that celebrates modern 70s inspired, psychedelic and stoner rock… This is a double DVD and a very cool documentary on the festival. Anyone that was there will recall great memories of the place, the people and bands as they walk around and film all over and talk to a number of fans (mostly in German with no subtitles but some people from other countries as well). The video footage has in general been quite well edited and not just set on change camera every 5 seconds so when there is a longer guitar solo, you might be a lot of it filmed and not focusing on the drummer or something.. They paid attention.. I thought all the bands would be represented but there are a number that did not make the DVD such as Samsara Blues Experiment and Sir Admiral Cloudsley Shovell. I was happy to see a number of bands from the first day that I missed like Lone Crows, The Midnight Ghost Train, Ivy garden of the Desert and Radio Moscow… Most bands have one complete song but a few are missing a complete track like the Elder track is cut short and Øresund Space Collective (our jam was like 20mins..) Nice to see the headline bands agreeing like Blues Pills and radio Moscow, although Kadavar is missing. Anyway, this is an awesome DVD and highly recommended.. The Documentary has English subtitles which is great..  Fantastic work guys and gals…

http://www.rockfreaks.de  http://www.freakvalley.de

Sendelica- Anima Mundi (FRG Records)

Sendelica, the Welsh psychedelic space rock band, will have a new record out in early 2015 called Anima Mundi. It will be released on in many formats including, vinyl (diff colours), CD, DVD and some sort of box set. The record features 8 tracks and starts off with Craeft Worker. It starts off with some electronics and synths before reverb guitar and rest of the instruments kick in. the programmed drums gives it this strange artificial sound as the music floats and glides. Quite a long psychedelic floating piece. I love the horn solo. Master Benjamin is a more uptempo track that reminds me a lot of GONG when they are energetic. Some really cool guitar, sax and just high energy space rock… Great long song. The Pillar of Dehli is very spacey and I half expected Daevid Allen to start to sing a duet with David Gilmour.. That is the vibe.. Azoic is a slow building floating track that leads into the more rocking Baabek Stones which starts off with a really cool wah guitar solo over what sounds like programed drums and bass. A bit later the saxophone with a long delay comes in to take the track in a different direction as the programed stuff ends briefly.  The Breyr is another long track and has a pretty heavy guitar and pretty much stays as a long guitar improv over the other instruments. Some beautiful synths at the end of the track. Searohwit is a dream piece and totally synth based and features some piano as well.  The Hedge Witch ends the record in a mellow way also and is mostly synth based. I was surprised that the record was so electronic based but there is still some really great stuff here with lots of different moods for everyone that likes spacey music.

http://sendelica.bandcamp.com

Top Records of 2014

3rd ear Experience- Incredible Good Fortune (Space Rock Productions)

3^rd Ear is an amazing band from the desert in California playing very heart felt and intense Space Rock music. This record really blew me away when I got it at the Burg Herzberg from Andi, courtesy of the band. A very special ritual was performed with a red carpet as well and this really touched me but this is about the music and the 4 amazing pieces that make up this CD and double vinyl release. Fans of ØSC, Hidria Spacefolk, Mantric Muse, Ozric tentacles, etc.. will dig this band..

 

2.    Black Moon Circle- Andromeda (Crispin’ Glover Records)

         This record is just amazing and these songs have really captivated me. BMC have a unique sound that is really special to them. The way the songs work, the special vocals with amazingly cool lyrics and those guitar riffs and solos combed with killer bass and drums for long excursions. You just have to hear it…. If you like the old band Gas Giant and really jammed out psychedelic stoner space rock, this is the band…

After this there are a just a lot of great records and I can’t really order them after these.. all great..

3.    Ethiva- Ethiva (Clostridium records)  Fantastic Pink Floyd inspired Spanish band.

4.    Marblewood- Marblewood  Two members from Ginger (Switzerland) and an amazing really jammed out classic rock band..

5.    Papir- IIII (El Paraiso records)  What can I say….. Their instrumental prowess is awesome and I just get hooked and addicted…

6.    Organic is Orgasmic- As we Speak of Space and Wisdom…. Amazing spacey instrumental music by Kallie from the Grand Astoria..

7.    Agusa- Agusa (Kommun2)   Swedish folk melodies blended into 1972 Canterbury scene..

8.    Bong- Stoner Rock (Ritual Productions) when you just need to drone out to stoned oblivion….

9.    Fuzz Manta- Stonewolf (Bilocation records)  The best album from Denmark in 2014. No more needs to be said.

10. Wo Fat- The Conjuring (Small Stone Records)…. Wow… this band just kills it once again with amazing band interplay and killer guitar….

11. The Gravitors- Motherload ….. a band I think are overlooked when I look on the internet. Fucking killer record….

12. Seun Kuti and Egypt 80- A long way to the Beginning (Afrobeat, very political)

13. The Spacious Mind- Greasy Green and the Stoney Lonesomes (Kommun2)

14. Mos Generator- Electric Nomads (more raw, jammy and awesome songs)

15. John Garcia- John Garcia

16. Siena Root- Pioneers (a move into Deep Purple territory)

17. Brant Bjork- Black Power Flower

18. Causa Sui- Pewt’r Sessions III (El Paraiso Records)

19. Øresund Space Collective- Music for Pogonologists (Space Rock Productions)

20. Pink Floyd- The Endless River

L’Ira del Baccano- Terra 42 (Subsound Records)

L’Ira del Baccano are a new band from Rome, Italy. I heard of this band as the guitar player Alessandro is the boyfriend of my friend Banessa a really cool local DJ in Malmö. The record has been released on CD as well as double vinyl in three different colours. The band plays really cool progressive spacey but very tightly composed instrumental rock music. The opening track called the Infinite Improbability Drive is split in to 3 parts. The opening sections start off like some progressive metal but this does not last long before the track glides down into a more spacey realm with cool space sounds and nice beautiful guitar playing. The track floats along like this and then raises up with some intensity after a while.

Part two starts with some intense stop start sections and synth sounds before the direction the track will follow unfolds as the wah guitar leads the way. A lot of time changes occur keeping the 9min track very interesting. It ends very psychedelic like old Hawkwind before heading into part 3, which starts off really mellow with a nice psychedelic tapestry laid underneath with some glissando like guitar. Lovely bass playing and a nice repeated guitar riff let you slowly glide away. Again, many themes are visited before the bass takes the lead the guitar really takes off with some wild intense guitar. Lovely 32min piece. Wow..  Sussurri is another 2 part song that lasts 11½ mins with some nice synth sounds as the other instruments glide into the mix. Like Jerry also says this one reminds me of RUSH (the old stuff!) and I like the guitar solo despite it being quite short. Volcano X13 is the last track and also the longest at 14½ mins. This track is much like the other but has one of the best guitar solos of the album. I wish they were a bit longer but lots of variety and just an amazing vibe on this record. I would recommend reading my friend Jerry’s review of this album as well as I more of less have the same view as he does. Great stuff…

http://aural-innovations.com/blog/2014/11/lira-del-baccano-terra-42-subsound-records-2014-cd2-lpdownload/

https://liradelbaccanoofficial.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LiraDelBaccano42

Les Lekin- All Black Moon Rainbow (Ozium Records)

Les Lekin are a new band from Austria playing mostly improvised and instrumental stoner doom rock with a lot of really cool guitar playing. After a short intro piece the CD kicks in heavy with Solum, a long piece that sets the feel for the entire CD.. heavy doomy rock music with a lot of intense guitar playing. Peter is mostly just riffing and using some effects on this track but he really let’s loose with some killer solos later on. Useless starts with just guitar and sets a mood quite different from the opening track but the heavy bass is still filling the space as they search for that moment to take it to another level and man, he plays a great guitar solo as Useless merges into Allblack. The riff that starts this one I have heard before and reminds me of Monkey 3.  This one builds up in layers before peter kicks into a intense wah guitar solo. This track is one of the highlights of the CD. Loom starts with some intense guitar that sounds massive at loud volume! The track is a slow stoney one with nice space blues like solo that leads into the more doomy section and then slow spacey blues. Nice stuff. Release is the final track and reminds me a bit of Colour Haze. Great record guys…

Fans of Wight, Samsara blues Experiment, Wo Fat, Monkey 3, My Sleeping Karma… will dig this band.

HTTP://www.oziumrecords.com

HEROINNE- INTERSTELLAR GRADE OCTAINNE (Ozium Records 005)

Heroinne is a new band from Trondheim Norway playing some nasty stoner rock music that really gets under your skin and reminds me of Church of Misery at times.  Sludgehammer starts things off with an intense track with a great groove and cool middle guitar solo, riff section…  The vocal is very raw but pretty cool once you get used to him. A really cool way to start the record.  Clear sight, Fogged Mind starts with drums only and then the heavy riffs kick in and a short jam and the it is over and off into Ultimate Fuzz Octane which slows things down but keeps it really stoney and really raunchy vocal and totally like Church of Misery and also with some cool guitar. Yawning Sun settles into a more relaxed stoner rock mood and takes the aggression level down a bit and the band get a bit more spaced out, which is cool and the longest track at 9 mins. Wendigo is a really uptempo track with intense drumming as it slowly gets heavier and heavier until the spacey ending in a very short track. Brained Dead kicks the stoner rock back into high gear again and is quite groovy. Rogue Planets Galore is slow and intense and a wall of sound. Pulsar ends the record and might remind some of Kyuss and is one of the few tracks with longer guitar solo. I quite liked this one despite it being mostly just riff rock and hardly any guitar solos. The band has a really powerful sound and must be pretty cool live.

HTTP://www.oziumrecords.com

Gov’t Mule- The Dark side of the Mule (Provogue PRD 7446 5)

IT has been a long while since I reviewed one of my favourite bands from the USA, Gov’t Mule. This is a very impressive package with 3CDs and a DVD of the entire concert as well. This show was recorded on Halloween in Boston and it was only the 2^nd show with new bass player, Jörgen Carlsson. Basically, this was the first time he had ever played any of these songs live and he does a great job. The band really play a great first set with some standards from the latest record like Brighter Days, Brand new Angel, and Child of the Earth. St of the rest of the set is really jammed out stuff with a long jam in Game Face, Trane-Eternity’s Breath- St. Stephen Jam and then ending the first set with the great instrumental, Kind of Bird!  The next disc is what Warren states some of the bands favourite Pink Floyd tunes. They actually managed to get two female singers who actually toured with Pink Floyd and brought in a laser light show and Ron Hollaway on saxophone.  So what do they play, it all focuses on 70s Pink Floyd from Meddle to the Wall, including the full Shine on you Crazy Diamond, One of these Days, a bit of Dark Side of the moon, and Comfortably Numb. The encores include Million miles from yesterday and a long jammed out Blind Man in the Dark. Amazing show..

http://mule.net

Wild Eyes- Wild Eyes Ep (Heavy Psych Sounds Records HPS018)

Wild Eyes are a totally rocking band from San Francisco featuring the bass player from the great Djenghis Khan. They are fronted by a powerful female singer. This EP features 5 tracks in about 25mins and is the bands 2^nd release. Stiff Nites starts things off in a rocking way and at high speed as this four piece really belt it out with some great guitar solos and energy as well. Snakey Lady has a really cool guitar sound and killer bass groove as Miss Gonzales belts out the vocals. The mid section the drummer is really awesome and I like the way they make the most out jamming in a short 4½min track. Give you Plenty Lovin’ ends side A with the same energy as the first 2 tracks a bit of psychedelic effect on the voice. The last two tracks are 7½ mins or so each and feature Doug from Glitter Wizard on keyboards. The Freak starts things off and takes things down a lot for a more laid back bluesy, stoney track with some nice organ. Around 2mins the emotional energy raises and then into a nice guitar section. Great song… Alabaster Dream/hewn Runes is the last track and a mid-paced one with a cool funky vibe in the 2^nd half. I really like this band a lot and it is a pity they did not make it this far north on their European tour.  Cool band.

http://www.heavypsychsounds.com

https://wildeyessf.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/WildEyesSF

Wedge- Wedge (Heavy Psych Sounds Records HPS019)

Wedge is a new band fronted by the guitar player from the Berlin band, Magnificent Brotherhood.  Kiryk wrote all the songs and plays all the guitars and vocals. The album cover is a total copy of the first Kadaver record, including the same style design of the logo! Anyway, the CD features 7 tracks that sound a lot like Magnificent Brotherhood but with a slightly harder guitar edge to it. Fans of the Magnificent Brotherhood will dig this record of 60’s inspired hard rocking sounds that loan from LOVE, the Doors and Quicksilver Messenger Service and borrowing a lot of riffs, arrangements from the masters. That is the vibe the band goes for and succeeds with. The opening track, Easy Chair is hard rocking for the first 2½ mins and then a really cool piano keyboard section changes the mood completely. They eventually come back to the where it all started. Great song. Looks ‘n’ Savvy is next keeps the energy high and happy with a simple rock song. Makeyersefree starts off sounding like Stairway to heaven by Led Zeppelin with a mellotron and then it becomes another great melodic rock song, for sure inspired by Led Zeppelin with a nice short organ solo. The band are pictured as a three piece but I wonder live if they have a keyboard player as they are all played by David who also plays bass but he can’t do both live? There are a lot of keys on the record. 61 SG is next and the band has released a cool video for this one. See it below. The Fight is next another high energy R&R number one with some ripping guitar as David and Holger just rock and roll and keep a cool groove going. The Spider and the Cat is not a very original arrangement but a fun song. The last track on this short album is Never Learn. This track starts off jazzy but then after 1min kicks into a high energy track with some intense bass playing. This is a really good and fun record. Enjoy…

http://www.heavypsychsounds.com

The Sorrows- Go Find a Cave 7” (Rise Above Records)

This is a very different release for Rise Above. I had never heard of this band before but they seem to have been around briefly in the late 60’s and early 70s and then disappeared and now have reformed with at least one original member. The two tracks are both really different and special. Go find a Cave is the first of three tracks and is a kind of dirty blues garage rock track. Kind of primitive, strange, weird lyrics, off somehow, ….  I don’t know.. Some cool guitar and solos for sure. Don’t do that is a high energy rock and roll song with some funny catchy lyrics and then they go onto a strange Irish jig like section and then into a track just like Mona, and finally back into the high energy R&R that started this sing-a-long off.. Not what you would expect on Rise Above.. Doin’ Alright Tonight is a sort of cheesy rock and roll track, like a really bad Rolling Stones track… I don’t get this one and I would say most people who buy this labels records would not see much interesting in this… Not a good way to finish this 7” off. Hum………

http://www.riseaboverecords.com

MUGSTAR/COSMIC DEAD SPLIT 12” (Evil Hoodoo Records EH-009)

Both of these bands have their own unique style of cosmic psychedelic instrumental (mostly) space rock music and are playing some dates together in December in the UK to support this new release. I have been lucky enough to see them both live this year. Cool bands. Each band played an album side long track and the record starts off with Mugstar performing Breathing Mirror (18mins). The track starts off very slow and spacey and then a hypnotic groove slowly fades in and off we go.. The track is very much driven by the bass and drums with the guitar playing varied stuff and space sounds coming in and out and here and there to make it trippy..  About half way through you think it is going to end as the drums fade out and it gets a bit metallic in sound and then it cuts off and you are floating in space suddenly… A bit later the trance state is loosend up and you return to a theme a lot like the way the track started… Looking back into the Breathing Mirror. Flip the record over for the Cosmic Dead track, Fukahyoocastaluh (25:51). The Cosmic Dead’s side starts slowly and hypnotically and perhaps a bit more psychedelic due to more spaced out synths. There is not a lot of guitar for the first part of this track but the track is really spaced out and slowly builds as most Cosmic Dead stuff does..  There are some occasional vocals with a lot of effects just to take you to the next level of the head trip.. Great record…

http://www.thecosmicdead.com http://mugstar.com

Horisont- Break the Limit 7” (Rise Above Records)

The Swedish hard rock band Horisont are back with two new tracks, the title track, which will appear on their next studio album. this is the first release with Tom (ex-Church of Misery) on guitar. He has been playing on and off with the band for the last year or so but is now a full time member.  Break the Limit starts things off and reminds me of Thin Lizzy. I don’t know exactly what it is about the track that makes it like Thin Lizzy. The Chorus is very 80s metal like. The dual guitars work really well and they play these intense harmonies. But it still has that real Horisont sound also. Yellow Blues starts off with a synthesizer loop and then the band kicks in, very retro in feel and sound. The riffs are all early 80s metal style though. The dual trading solos is really cool before they end this very cool song. Very impressive. I cant wait to hear the new full length! Great work guys…

http://www.riseaboverecords.com

Fribytterdrømme- S/T 7” (Levitation Records LR00017)

This is the debut release by a cool young Danish band led by their guitar player and singer, Lau. The band is a 5 piece with two guitars, bass, drums, keys and percussion back up singer. They sing all their songs in Danish and have pretty cool lyrics as Lau also writes surrealistic poetry and has published his first book last month. Anyway, things get started with Jeg graver huller i Mørket (I dig holes in the Darkness). This track is a organ driven track with a really nice groove and straight out of the 60s…. the organ line is one used a million times and even can be found on other Danish bands records like The Setting Son and really dominates the sound mix with all other instruments pushed to the back besides the voice. Anyway, a cool song and lip the record over for the shorter track, 

Taget Noget (Take Anything). This track has the guitar and bass mixed more to the front to drive the track and sounds more like the band does live. Lau has a special voice but I like it. While the band are not breaking any new ground, and sound very retro, they write really good songs and are an excellent live band. The band has finished mastering their first full length record and this will be released on Levitation Records in March. A single sided 12” will also be released with their long nearly 20min track that is very Pink Floyd inspired when they play it live called Fribytterdrøme.

http://www.facebook.com/levitationrecords

https://www.facebook.com/fribytterdroemme

Gnod/Eternal Tapestry split 7” (God Unknown Records 001)

This is the first release on the new label from the Mugstar guys. This is the first of like 10 releases over the next year. GNOD have the A side and start off and is very strange number. A very stripped down sound with just saxophone, percussion, chimes, and synths and quite strange. Like Henry Cow or something. The track does have a clear repeated theme that is looped and evolved in a special way. GNOD are strange I have to admit to liking their older stuff better but they do it there way and it still works.. The Eternal Tapestry track is really amazing (plays on 33rpm) with a really low fi but organic sound mix, great guitar and just generally jammy and spaced out rehearsal room like sound with a lot of passion and rawness. Loved the bass playing as well and can be like My Brother the Wind, Oresund Space Collective in a way… Wow…. I look forward to hear the next bands in this series..

https://godunknownrecords.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/godunknownrecords

http://www.godunknownrecs.com/