This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
This
classic Iron Butterfly track has been a standard in the Vibravoid set for a
while. I only saw them perform it once. Vibravoid are a band that are very good
at doing cover versions and this is no exception. A very strongly organ driven
version and also including a drum solo… Great stuff.. what more can I say!!
Everyone knows this song! Below is a live video of a great version by the band.
Thor is the leader of the Danish
psychedelic blues rock band, Syreregn (Acid Rain). This record is a really cool
collection of some of his solo works (Side A) and some rare material by
Syreregn, that were songs only released on the internet or other places but not
on the bands records. Syreregn drummer,
Rasmus plays all the drums and there are 4 different guitar players, banjo, and
another bass player. Thor plays bass, guitar, sings and also plays piano. Side A starts off with Stoffet (The
Substance or drugs), a cover song that Thor often plays at his acoustic shows
but it is performed with a full band here. Fem små Ord (5 small words) is a short
acoustic guitar track. Passionate singing by Thor. Min Blomst (My Flower) features
very nice sax and guitar solos. Hey Babe is a more uptempo rock and roll track
with a happy vibe and some nice guitar work as well. Sangen om Hans Marius
features the banjo playing of Mugge! I Min Verden (Søren Madsen) ends side
A and Thor plays the bass and acoustic guitar on this simple track.. You can hear the entire side below.
Side B is mostly Syreregn outtakes and
starts off with Søvngængeren (Sleepwalker), which features Freddy (ex fuzz
manta) on guitar. Hvem ved Hvad is another happy blues rock with Danish lyrics
and a nice catchy chorus. Love the wah guitar on this one by Freddy. Den
Fremmede (Niels Skousen song) is a long jammed out track and features Lau
(Fribytterdrømme) and Kristian Nielsen on lead and backing vocals. A fun sing
along track. There is also some saxophone by Mads. Blue Eyes Blues finishes off
Thor’s first solo record! This is a smiple track with banjo and acoustic guitar
and sounds like it was recorded in a rehearsal room but I dig it. I enjoyed
this one quite a lot. A nice collection of blues rock sung in English and
Danish.
Vespero
are back with their 14th album, not including Eps etc.. A very
productive Russian band that started back in 2005. I have to say this is the best thing I have
ever heard from the band and have been spinning this album a lot lately.
Wow.. The album is a little over 70mins
long and features 7 tracks. The band is also 7 members including violin, sax,
wave drum. The Course of Abagaz starts things off with some tasty guitar that
is complimented by some great percussion and drums as it slowly builds and the
layers start to come together with space sounds and grooves with great solos.
The track dies out around 7mins and they head into a new direction and an
almost dub like groove starts but the music is really spacey. Cool stuff in
this 17min track. Ras Dashen features some beautiful saxophone playing and
complimented with synths, violin and cool drumming. It slowly becomes very eastern in feeling. Oromoo’s
Flashing Eyes is driven by the drums and violin to start and a really groovy
bass line. About 2 ½ mins in the sax kicks in… Some great guitar playing as
well. Abyssinian Ground speeds things up and has a very cool drum rhythm and
groove over which the violin, keyboards and other sounds mingle well. Intense.
Around 4mins the guitar really kicks in. Isidore’s Prophet starts with some
spacey synths, hand drumming and sax as it slowly builds. Very jazzy and a
killer groove on this one. Follow the Fitawrari is another super grooving track
where everyone gets to make a cool solo and play a part, starting with the
violin! A sort of Moroccon like thing
going on. Gnawa… Next up guitar and what a solo around 7mins.. Cool stuff.
Amazing bass playing on this track as well. This one really blew me away. The
CD ends with the Emperor’s 2nd Self and this is much more relaxed
but some of the guitar is pretty psyched out, while the sax and violin in laid
back. Pretty awesome 70 min record.
Also known as the Fruits de Mer Records
guide to the hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy.. Yes.. 3 bands doing the same but
very different versions of the song, Journey to the Sorcerer featured in the
intro to the UK TV series. Astralasia starts things off with a drum machine and
keyboard oriented version. Icarus Peel
do a completey different and very laid back and spacey version until the end
part where there is some great guitar playing. Cool stuff… Blues Giant Zeta
Puppies play their version kind of like a mix of the first two bands. Also
enjoyable. Here the original version below!!
The 7” also comes with a CD with The
Eagles, Quantum Surf Rocket Garage Dolls, Pete Bingham (Sendelica) and
Astralasia bonus tracks!It did not come
with the promo so, I can’t comment further on this stuff. Sorry…
Bjergtaget (translates to Spellbound in
English) is a local Copenhagen band lead by singer songwriter, Stephan Krabsen
(guitar, vocals). He is backed by Mads Jensen on drums, Thor Bøding on bass and
backing vocals and Simone Maja on occasional vocals. This is a really laid back
record with Danish lyrics (very important part of this band). Thor’s backing
vocals and his style of singing has for sure influenced Stephan’s singing (or
vice versa?). The record was mostly
recorded live in the studio last year. It features 13 short tracks. You can
hear one below, which is pretty representative. They play a few gigs a year in
the Copenhagen area.
Sidewalk
Society are a California band that specialize on covering songs from the 60s,
so they are a natural band to hook up with Fruits de mer records. This 7” features 4 tracks and starts off with
Can’t help thinking about Me by David Bowie and the Lower Third. A quite
uptempo and fun song. I had never heard the original. Look at the View, is by a
band called Action that I don’t know at all.
This one that just makes you smile as this is such a happy song with
some fun parts. The end reminds me of the Beatles. The B-side of the single
starts with a Bowie track from 1980 that was on a single called Can’t help
thinking about Me. The vocal is very different from the previous track and a
more like spoke word delivery. Strange Roads by the Action closes this 7”.. 4
solid tracks. Sadly, none of these have been uploaded to youtube for you to
hear!
