Alien Planetscapes- Third Sun Archive Releases

Alien Planetscapes- Live in Brooklyn 1987

Third Sun- Rooftop Follies

Alien Planetscapes- Official Bootleg #7

          Alien Planetscapes was a mostly improvised project from the later Doug Walker. It started off as solo and duo synthesizers improvisations and developed into an amazing space rock band. The band released 106 releases before their only proper CD release, 107.. Sadly, no full discography exists and some of the recordings appear to be lost forever but occasionally former member Richard Orlando finds some gems and releases them as limited edition CD-Rs. Over the last 4 months or so there have been three new ones. Official Bootleg #7 features tracks from as early as 1990 (WKCR radio promo) and the most recent being a track called Pre-Flight from 2001. Not all this stuff is unreleased though and 3 of the tracks are different versions of songs on the Life on Earth CD (Loveshack radio (2 versions) and gravel. Tracks 4-6 were my favourite material and some of it is really amazing stuff..

 

          The AP live at Bar None in Brooklyn March 13^th, 1987 is one of the duo concerts featuring Doug and Carl Howard, whom Doug made many recordings off. This is extremely far out and really wild at times… It is split into three tracks called Selma Freedom March 1965 Part 1, 2 and 3.

          The last archive release of the group is actually material that pre-dates Alien Planetscapes and was from Doug’s first group called Third Sun. This features Doug not on synths but on alto sax and flutes primarily. He is joined by Ron McCalla on electric piano and Pablo Calogero also on alto sax and flute. All three of the guys do some different kinds of percussion at times as well. The CD is two long tracks that run 50mins..

For copies contact Richard at: porcupinejones@yahoo.com

Hooffoot- Hooffoot (Paura di Niente Records PDN001)

Hooffoot is a progressive jazz rock band from Malmö, Sweden. The group is led by Par Hallgren (Sgt Sunshine, Carpet Knights, ØSC, Deathening). The musicians that make up the rest of the group also play in many local acts like Agusa, Carpet Knights, Mantric Muse, ØSC). The album features two long instrumental tracks highly inspired by Italian prog bands like PFM, Il ballet di bronzo.. Side A starts off with Last flight of the Ratite (18mins) and starts off with a nice long sax solo by Ida Hallgren and this leads into the next section where there is some great interaction between the keyboards and guitar players, while the bass line is leading the way. The middle section with these awesome swirling keys and cool bass just blew me away! I could continue to describe each movement in these complicated pieces but let’s just say that the band has amazing dynamics and fans of Italian 70s prog and jazz will love this. Amazing record and for sure one of my favorites this year… Fans of Diagonal will like these guys also. Side 2 starts off pretty mellow and tranced out with some nice flute and layers of melodies as the track grows.  This one also features a bit more horns with trumpet and sax and at least one theme that sounded really familiar. I should mention this was recorded 100% analog…. Sounds amazing.. Pressed in only 500 copies on black vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve.

http://www.hooffoot.com/

Planes of Satori- S/T (Who can you Trust WHO-026)

Planes of Satori are a San Francisco band. They released a split single prior to this. Anyway, this is a really cool album with 7 tracks that are all sorted of melted into each other and that totally channels the 1972 era CAN. The singer, sings in the same style as Damo, while the band creates these cool grooves and just spaces out..  Side A starts off with Eyes and some space synth sounds before the uptempo drumming contrasts the more laid back vocal and guitar that sort of jam away in the background. The space sounds enter here and there. Very cool stuff..  If you must Know has an almost African guitar style riff that takes the lead to start this track off. Gnostic Boogie ends the side and reminds me a bit of the US band Weird War. Flip over the record for Green Summer, which features a really nice guitar solo as the CAN like bass lines roll on and the drummer just pushes the track. Great track. The ballad of Queen Milo is more laid back and spacey and mostly instrumental. KTZ again features the cool guitar playing of Raze and  . The Snake and the Squirrel is a really short intense guitar track to end the record.  Cool record..

http://planesofsatori.bandcamp.com https://whocanyoutrustrec.wordpress.com/

THE SLAG BRICK PROJECT- ELEPHANT 7” (Slag Brick Project SBP01)

The Slag Brick Project is a new Finnish band playing old school traditional ska-reggae and boy do they hit the sound right! The band features: Rasmus Pailos: Clarinet/ Melodica/xylophone/Dub fx., Arttu Launis:Tenor Saxophone/Flute, Joseph Miettinen: Trombone, Olli Kari:Jalava-marimba/Vibraphone/Gongs/Perx, Niila Rantala:Guitar-Steelpan, Sami Virkkala:Bass, Sami Hagelberg:Drums, and Surya Daniel:Percussion. Side A is the track Elephant (See youtube link below to hear the track). It is a 3 min long ska track with marimba, steel pan drums and lots of other percussion and groove. Flip the 7” over for the track called Riverbed, which is really going back to the sound of yesterday with a totally stoned reggae groove but with steel drum, melodica and flute. Awesome track.. I am not sure how you get a hold of this 7” but contact the band via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/theslagbrickproject

Sweet Times Vol 3 (Who can you Trust WHO-027)

The third volume of this 7” series is back with four new bands (new to me). Sonic Love Affair starts things off with Sad Eyed Susan. Snotty rock and roll ala Lecherous Gaze… that is what his reminds me of..  Pastor is next with a track called The Howling Woods. This track is a bit slower and bluesy but also very raw rock and roll. The singer has a quite special voice. The end the track takes a strange twist and sounds a lot like 70s Pentagram. Cool. Flip the single over for the band Wild Honey and a track called This Fire. It starts off slow and doomy then the headbanging can begin as the intense female singer enters the musical frame. Death Alley play at track called Hypermotion and this is a high paced rock and roll number which is quite frantic. The singer can hardly keep up with the band at times. Another very fun 7” in this cool series. I really like the artwork but could do with more info about the bands… no web sites, info about the tracks..

https://whocanyoutrustrec.wordpress.com/

CARLTON MELTON/MIND MOUNTAIN SPLIT 7” (God Unknown Records)

God Unknown label run by the Mugstar guys has released 4 singles so far and this is the best one yet! Carlton Melton starts things off with a track called Harbringer. It was recorded at the Dome and mixed by Rich but I have no idea what year. Sounds like it could be some of the more recent material. Heavy, droney guitar and synth with some raw drumming but mixed higher than on a lot of their records. Rich plays all the bass and a very spaced out guitar solo. Stoned..  Flip the record over and you have the track, Astraeus by Mind Mountain from the UK. This is a new band for me but I really loved this track. They are a trio (Joe, Marc and Dave). Joe plays the killer guitar and keys (organ sound), Marc the bass and Dave the drums. Great intensity in the music and a nice spacey middle section.

https://godunknownrecords.bandcamp.com/

http://carltonmeltonmusic.com

Banquet- Banquet (Who can you Trust WHO-028)

Banquet is a new San Francisco band that plays kick ass rock and roll and features members of Buffalo Tooth and Poor Sons. Run to You starts things off.  The singer reminds me of someone but I can’t place him… Djghenis Khan?? Anyway, this is a kick ass rock and roll track with some nice guitar and a great riff that really gets you sucked into it. Awesome track. Mother Road is a bit heavier and slower to start but then really rocks out in the middle and then returns to the slow and heavier stoney blues. I really look forward to hear a full record by this band. Loved this 7”…

https://whocanyoutrustrec.wordpress.com/

Celestial Transmission- Kontrapunkt, Malmö, Sweden 3/28-29/2015

Auh Soj

This was a crazy night at the underground club Kontrapunkt in Malmo. I had never been there and it was a merging of two diverent music scenes with one room with Psy-trance DJs (Ursa, Matt with an S, Nos and Balistica) and space rock in the other room (Mantric Muse, Øresund Space Collective and Auh-Soj). The doors opened at 21 and Auh Soj (Joshua) played some different ambient electronic stuff then about 22 he put on a guitar and his friend, a very nice handicapped guy worked the laptop. He just sat on the floor and noodled away on his guitar under the beats. He was mixed quite low but you could hear him. He played his electric guitar very much like an acoustic guitar. He had a sitar at the soundcheck but he did not play it. There were no people here yet so he performed for 5-10 people. 

Mantric Muse

          Mantric Muse were to start at 23:30 but there was not a whole lot of people, maybe 40 but there was a steady stream. They started a bit later and played an amazing concert for 2hrs. Wow.. This must be one of the best space rock bands and if you can’t see Ozric Tentacles, you should see these guys. Seeing Mantric Muse live though is about as often as the eclipse! This was the first show since the Nov 2013 tour with ØSC in Germany, except for a private party. The band played 3 of the 4 new songs that they will record for the new record as well as all the tracks from their CD.  There was some extended parts in a few of the songs but they were pretty programmed as they have to follow the computer precisely for all the pre-recorded stuff that Magnus can’t play live due to having to play guitar as well. Ola just gets better and better with the band as well on the lead synthesizer.  Amazing concert..

Set List: DMU, Cinope, Armh+ Jam, Nanoid, DSC, Azur, Gnoxience, Sinbad søførenen, Wobbegong Wookie, Dr. Tits Kitel, SFunx.

          It was about about 3 in the morning when ØSC finally hit the stage. The first gig ever with drummer, Dag (ex-Agusa). Everyone was very tired but there was still quite a lot of people in the building (most in the techno room) but perhaps 60 people filled the front of the stage for the show to start and it got fewer and fewer as it got later and later… We played a pretty high energy show considering.. I think we would have all fallen asleep if we did not keep the energy high. The jams were quite short but people were into it and we all had a good time. It was not our best show. You can hear it below and decide for yourself!

http://www.archive.org/details/OSC2015-03-29.FLAC

          I only popped in and out of the techno room a few times and there was always a lot of people but it all sounded the same to me…. It is a different world. One of the DJs played only vinyl records which I thought was cool…  Fun night and a very cool club.. 

Taylor’s Universe- Børneteater, Christiania March 21st, 2015

This was just supposed to be a normal release party before a concert in the evening with the members of the former Frank Zappa live event band and some of the people that played on Robin’s great new record… but.. they managed to talk Robin into playing some mostly improvised music for about 30mins and it was great. I showed up about 16 and there were very few people I knew; actually only Claus Bøhling and Robin but later my friend Lone arrived so we hung out.  They played the entire new CD while they gave away free beer and soda at the bar and you could buy the last couple of CDs for 100kr. Quite a few people were smoking inside as they always do at this place but at least they had the door open to have some fresh air. After the CD finished the band took the stage with Robin on bass, Claus Bøhling on guitar, Karsten Vogel on sax, Thomas Thor on synths and Klaus Thrane on drums. Not only was this the first time that this group of people had been on stage, it was the first time they had all been in the same room together!  Anyway, they played a 30min jam that had some planned parts but everyone got to do solos except Robin and there was some great guitar and keyboard jams. Robin might not admit it but I saw him smiling quite a few times, and I sense he enjoyed this more than he might admit. It was so fun to see them play.. They should book a gig at the Jazzhouse…  A very rare event to witness as Robin rarely plays live. I have no idea when the last time was.. Such nice people to talk with as well. Danish music heritage..

Papir- Live at Roadburn (El Paraiso Records)

The instrumental Danish three piece are back with a new single CD or double LP from their live concerts at the amazing Roadburn festival 2014. There is also a limited edition version with an extra 10” with two more tracks but this is sold out now unless you contact the band directly. I have been following the band since the very early days and was even at the band’s first LP (the yellow one) release party and have seen them play in a lot of interesting places. It is great to see them rise to the top of the underground psych scene and playing Roadburn and Freak Valley Festival, etc.. Each album side features one song except for side B, which has two, each over 10mins. While you will recognize the main musical themes from each of the songs, the band really improvise and take each track to new heights and different directions each night they play them. True musicians who search for something new and magical in the music and often find it! Amazing version of the song Monday. In addition to the tracks you will recognize, if you own the records, there are two new improvisations/ tracks, simply called Live 1 and Live 2. The band was really psyched and on fire at these two concerts and the energy is well captured on the recording and the mix by Jonas Munk of Causa Sui. This is a great live record and I think you will dig it for sure if you are a fan of instrumental music with a lot of killer, guitar, bass and intense drumming. A great glimpse of a band still taking their music one step forward..  I should mention that the 10" is two new studio tracks, one 7 and the other 11 mins and not taken from the live concerts. 

Band at the release party at Skoven Kalder record store.. 

http://papirband.com http://www.elparaisorecords.com

The Mind Flowers and Magic Jove- Lygten’s Kro, København March 20th,. 2015

I have not been to many concerts so far this year but I really wanted to see these two new young bands. I was supposed to go talk to the Gas Giant guys and see them rehearse but it was cancelled so I ended up hanging out with my friend Tom and Kasper at the new record store, Skoven Kalder in Nørrebro.  Tom and I arrived about 2230 and there was a lot of people at this traditional old Danish bodega, bar. The band was set up in the corner of a small pretty dark room. I said hello to Tim, the drummer of Magic Jove, who I know from playing with him in Agusa. He introduced me to the other guys.

          Anyway, the band opened with Ashes of your Soul, a very Robin Trower inspired track that will take you back to 1974! The young band are really amazing at channelling that early 70s hard rock vibe but with a lot of blues mixed in. they are not afraid to stretch things out a bit here and there also. Really nice dynamic between the drummer and the bass player. They have really nice dynamics. Guardian Angel is a mid paced track and again reminds me of Trower. This is a shorter more straight up rock track with a very focused solo. Really good players for such a young band. The next track, Track you Down, was a slower blues track with really passionate singing. Tim did a 3-4 min drums solo, which caught me by surprise. You hardly ever see drum solos these days much less in the 3^rd song! Cool… I shot a video of Guardian Angel but it was really dark. Please check out the great video below with the first three songs as played at this show as well. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1H0WKmbGC0&t=162

All the songs except one were from their two EPS, which you can check out on bandcamp. The band kind of lost the audience a bit on some of the slower bluesy tracks but I thought they were excellent songs. I was really blown away by the band. Very cool.. The band has a new 10” release with 4 tracks following up on their digital only EP called In the Fields from 2014. It is made in only 300 copies.

Set List: Ashes of your Soul, Guardian Angel, Track you Down, Trumlåten, Drag me Down, In Chains, So Long, Black Clouds in Western Skies, Sonic Understanding

https://magicjove.bandcamp.com/

The Mind Flowers are a pretty new Danish trio who have a 7” record out on the local, Leviation record label. I had known the drummer and guitarist for some years but never seen this line up play before. The band started off with a track very inspired by House of the Rising Sun by the Animals. They had a cool sound and it was a mix of 60s inspired psychedelic rock, sounding a lot like so many Danish bands (you can only use those same chords and strumming patterns in so many ways!) but when they stepped more into the 70s hard-blues rock, that is when I thought they were best and had a more original sound. I enjoyed it a lot but after a while people started smoking inside and it was a really small room and I could not take it so I had to leave. I think I saw about 45mins of their set. Really excellent playing by all the musicians and the singer has an excellent voice (could have used some more delay on the vocal though!). They have only play playing for a year or so.. Cool band also. Great night of music.

https://themindflowers.bandcamp.com/

Taylor’s Universe- From Scratch (Marvel of Beauty Records MOBCD025)

Multi-instrumentalist, Robin Taylor is back with 7 new compositions featuring 11 Danish musicians, some very well known from the Danish 70s music scene (Karsten Vogel- sax and clarinet) and Claus Bøhling (Guitar) as well Thomas Thor on mini-moog, Klaus Thrane on Drums and Robin plays primarily bass but also all the keyboards except the mini-moog. There are a lot of guests: Jacob Mygind- sax, Carsten Sindvald- sax, and Jytte, Jan and Louise on voices.  Other Meetings starts things off with some fantastic guitar by Claus. Beta X is a strange more experimental track with a lot of synths, voices, vocoder, and strange things going on in the background. A very different mood from the rest of the record and a lovely organ sound and solo. The end is really far out. Balcony People has a bit of a dark mood to start and some samples or voices at the slow start. Interrail is the longest track at 9½ mins and starts off slowly. Claus kicks in around 1½ mins with some intense soloing that is really quite tortured as the whole piece grows in intensity and then the happy female voices come in, just to mess with your head. Some horns squeeze through every now and then but then the track falls down the well and disappears into a strange place and there is a struggle for dominance and then one prevails and the main theme escapes. Very cool song. Laura’s Lullaby is a beautiful piece of piano and sax-clarinet music but a bit predictable. Für Louise is next and features some lovely horn playing and the occasional guitar, which really makes the track anything but predictable. A dark mood is created by the keyboards but the rest a light and happy feeling. Later there is a really nice mini-moog solo by Thomas Thor. Autumn River is nearly 7 mins long and starts with a slow droning synth fade in before some spacey guitar with a lot of delay starts to build things up against the keyboard line. This track is all about highlighting the creative guitar work of Claus Bøhling, pity the solo is faded out at the end. Cool record, again. Thanks Robin…

http://www.progressor.net/robin-taylor/

Lizards Exist- Lizards Exist (Private release Croatia 2015)

Lizard Exist is a new band from Croatia playing instrumental music with a focus on obtaining authentic 70s sound using only old analog gear. The band has released this CD in just 100 copies and is looking for a label to release it on vinyl, as it should be. It was all recorded live in the studio in March 2014. The first track is entitled Bamija. It starts off with a heavy bass line and some spacey guitar and then a kind of jazzy theme begins. A lot of different directions are explored and Roko plays some really nice keyboards as Sinisa takes the main lead with the guitar parts. About 4½ mins in the track really gains in intensity and they get a bit psyched out. Ljetni Hit starts straight out the end of the first track quite seamlessly. The band is experimenting quite a bit at the start and around 3½ mins a more cohesive track comes together as the guitar leads the way and the keyboard player compliments with some space sounds and then takes the lead for a bit. A short drums solo kicks in a bit before 6mins and then a great organ jam takes off for the rest of the track ending at 7mins. 58 takes up the next 7½ mins and starts off quite funky and then goes onto a section that reminds me of GONG but without the sax and then they switch direction with a nice guitar break and cool organ to accompany. Great song. The CD ends with the 17min track, Anunnaki Dance. This has so many cool moods in it as well but starts off with a sort of space surf guitar with some spacey accompaniment. I should also mention the excellent bass and drums.. A very cool band. I look forward to follow their progression. If you dig instrumental bands with a bit of jazz, kraut and tiny bit of space rock thrown in.. check them out on the link here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCE7dYkaTwQ 

http://lizardsexist.bandcamp.com

Night Flights Vol 1 (Agitated Records 034)

This is basically a solo record by Rich Millman from Carlton Melton. Andy Duvall provides guitar on one of the five tracks (Alpha Jerk) but the rest is Rich…. I first listened to this record with my friend Magnus at the end of a long night of hearing music. It was around 3am when we put the needle down on the record and the journey began. Night Flight starts things off and this is a slow flowing synth drone that really floats and evolves slowly and really makes yu feel like you floating in space.. If you did not completely drift off into space, the next track Orgins might take you there. There is a really long delay on the short organ like sequences that make this one really spacey. Side B starts off with a repeated synthesized beat as the synths fade up and sort of buzz and then another spacey sound, perhaps from guitar starts to pass through the soundscape. This track has a bit of edge to it.. Like the space ship is going to crash? Later on Rich or Andy plays a nice guitar solo to compliment the in your face synth drone. Cool stuff. Lure also makes us of long delays making the simple changes sort of get amplified to make it really spaced out. Corspe Strut closes this album of Night Flights again with some primitive percussion and a sort of unsettling feeling compared to the opening tranquillity of the record. I guess there will be a vol 2?? Thanks Rich.. I would describe this album as music to float into space with. Enjoy…

http://www.agitatedrecords.com

Black Rainbows- Hawkdope (Heavy Psych Sound HPS022)

The Italian three piece, Black Rainbows, are back with another blast of Fu Manchu inspired spaced out stoner rock. I was a huge fan of the last record they made. It really blew me away so I was really excited to hear this one. The promo material says monster Magnet meets Hawkwind and as those are two of my favourite bands, this set the bar pretty high. The Prophet starts things off with a straight up fuzzed out stoner riff and a vocal a lot like FuManchu and some spaced out sounds in the mid- section of the guitar solo make it more spaced out. I really love how Gabrielle is not afraid to take long guitar solos and not just make them 20 seconds and back to the chorus and riff like most bands in this genre. Wolf Eyes is another shorter rocker in the same vein but a slower more spacey end with a spoken word sample going under the solo that fades the track out. Next up is the great Hawkdope track which is really spaced out and has a great repetitive riff and probably the most Hawkwind like except the vocal. No Fuel No Fun is a mid-paced tracked with some nice psychedelic effects on the vocal. Hypnotize my soul with rock and Roll is straight up grooving rocker with some massive fuzz and soul…. Jesus Judge is straight up stoned spaced out riff rock! Killer Killer Fuzz is even more fuzzed out in sound. The Cosmic Picker ends the record and along with the title track is my other favourite from the record. While I was totally blown away with Black Moon and it is still my favourite record by this band, this is another great one… Cool band..

http://heavypsychsounds.com