Methexis- Topos CD (Self Released)

This is the 3^rd album by Greek  Multi-instrumentalist, Nikitas Kissonas, who composed, arranged, produced and played all the guitars, basses, and keyboards. There are some guests adding flute, trumpet and Theodore on the drums. Sadly, I lost my very detailed review of this album as I took you through each minute and I have no time to do it again, after a 3^rd listen. Lets just say this is a long journey with many changes occurring and the track taking some very different and unexpected twists and turns along the way. A very emotional ride and some of this would be great film music. It starts off quite heavy in the first track but these heavy guitars disappear and don’t reappear much until the 2^nd track. Some exceptional guitar at times. You still get the feel that it was pieces together and not played by a real band but these are great tracks if you take the time to let yourself go on the ride with Nikitas. These tracks would be very difficult to perform live or it would require months of preparation.

http://methexis.bandcamp.com

Agusa- In Concert (Pancromatic Records PLP2033)

Agusa are back with another live album, the 2^nd released in 2 months! I have not heard the double live in Rome one but this one was recorded in Greece in December 2016 and released on the Norwegian label, Pancromatic. It features 3 long tracks.  It starts off with Lande Längesen/ Sorgenfri and quite mellow with some beautiful flute playing. It is great to hear Uti vär Hage, from the first album played live again. A lot of good energy and a couple of great guitar solos in this track. The whole band is really on fire and sounding good. The recording has this sort of compressed, not super dynamic sound but all instruments are clear and the mix is decent. The B side is long track Gåanglåt fråan Vintergatan. It starts slowly with the drums and organ, after a short spoken introduction. Long organ solo and also a drum solo is included on this track as well. The band really shines. It is pressed in 500 copies on clear vinyl and 250 on a gold/purple vinyl.

http://agusa.bandcamp.com

Man and Robot Society- Robosapien (Sound Effect Records SER053)

This is a project by Jeff Hopp. He wrote, recorded and performed all the tracks.  The album features 7 spacey songs, with programmed drums/percussion (if there is any) and lots of spacey synths and samples. The opening track, Auto Pilot is a slow gliding song with minimal drums and a really nice synth line. There are some samples here and there and occasionally some strange sounds here and there. Dark Star is a longer track but also quite slow with some nice layers of synths over the slow bass drone. There is some really spacey stuff with some nice panning effects. Later a more organ like synth takes the lead as some of the themes are repeated over and over again. Unteathered EVA is like a one min track. Robosapien is a slightly faster pace and the percussion slowly get faster as the track grows with two main synth lines, a new age like one and a more freaky one. Every now and then a trippy sound will fly through the soundscape. Side 2 starts with a track Acid Reign with some really nice synth layers and is a bit more focused. A few new songs appear. Absolute Zero is a darker track, could be in a sci fi movie as you travel down a path unknown and not idea what might jump out…  Probe Alpha One is a strange one and also you feel like you are inside a robot of sorts…   This music is pretty cool but also for a pretty limited audience of space heads… Check it out..

http://soundeffect-records.gr

http://manandrobotsociety.com

https://manandrobotsociety.bandcamp.com/releases

Mad Farmer’s Liberation Front- Green Bean, Tábua, Portugal Dec 8th, 2018

The Mad Farmers Liberation Front (MFLF) are a band from Lomba (Benfeita) , Portugal. This was their official CD release party. This is the 2^nd time we have seen them live here at the Green Bean, a great local vegan/vegetarian café and coffee house.  They are a 3 piece band lead by guitar, violin-vocalist, Kin. Steve on keyboards (one he plays the bass lines on) and Rob on drums. All the members sing. Kin started off the show by saying this was a spontaneous event, nothing is planned, it is improvised and just set yourself free and have fun as if this was the last 2hrs on earth!  They played 2 sets of music, each about an hour. They has some microphone feedback issues during the first set that were a bit annoying but we all managed.

This is a very eclectic band, playing so many styles of music. The first set was primarily violin driven with Kin only playing guitar 2x. The funky track that I filmed is one of the tracks. They played quite a few of the songs from their recently released CD. These tracks are pretty straightforward songs with really positive lyrics and also some political as well.  

They play Balkan, Klezmer, Irish jigs, Russian jigs, funky, reggae, jazzy stuff.. Pretty amazing and a lot of jamming.  It is a fun and cool band and people were really dancing and having a great time.  Check out their web site.  I will post a review of the CD soon but they are very much a live band.

Some of the freaky audience

http://themadfarmers.com

Automaton- Talos (Sound Effect Records)

Automaton is a psychedelic doom band from Athens. I have played with the band a couple of times and it is a great and unique band in his genre.  Talos is an ancient Greek (Island of Crete) story that is used as a basis for the telling of this record (even though the vocals are mostly unintelligible but powerful!).  Trapped in Darkness starts things off and is a great 11min track (I made some synthesizers on an early mix of this). Starts with a bass and then the guitars come in as the dark mood is set and the track builds up. The guitar sounds and dynamics as well as he cool use of bass effects creates a great sound before the super intense vocal kicks in they have set a heavy tone. There are lots of interesting changes over the 11 mins. Great opener. Giant of Steel has a sampled voice at the start as it slowly builds with another sort of hanging, slow building guitar line that keeps the track mysterious and a little spacey. The drums have a bit of reverb on them at the start as well making it all about more spacious in sound. The sample runs through a lot of the track.  I like the mood on this one a lot until the vocal part at the end, which is quite disturbing. Very spacey overall.  Automaton Marching is a shorter 4min track and a bit faster and quite intense drumming and notes that just hang in the air with a eerie feel to the music as you expect to be attacked and murdered with a hammer but it never quite comes as the track ends with just the drums. Talos Awakens (nearly 10mins) is another of my fave tracks on the record with an almost piano like quality to the main guitar line. Apparently the vocal is in Greek. This track features a violin as well at the start but then becomes a traditional Automaton track as it goes up and down in mood but slowly gets more and more intense. I miss a killer guitar solo part but otherwise, amazing track. The Punisher, as the title says is the most brutal vocally and musically. YOB or Neurosis like. Some really interesting guitar parts as well. Submerged Again has some of my favourite guitar work on it as it is very spacey and emotional. The Epilogue finishes the record with some nice acoustic guitar. Great record.. Congrats my friends…

https://www.facebook.com/Automaton.Athens/

 https://automatonathens.bandcamp.com/album/talos