DER BLUTHARSCH and the Infinite Church of the Leading Hand- Rejoice (HKR59)

This prolific Austrian psych band are back with another release. They have 41 albums on bandcamp! I quite like these guys and find them very creative and interesting.  This CD features 6 tracks with one main theme- Coming, Fear, Darkness, Darkness+, Rejoice, BURN!!!  First track opens with an almost classical overture like violin, drums and slowly the track develops based on the edgy violin. At 2mins or so the email singer does a like spoken word as the track slowly builds in intensity with the same theme reported over and over and over. Fear has a heavy guitar riff and a more clean one and just a powerful build with some synths and fear raising tension as it grows over the 5 minutes. At 2.5 minutes the female vocal comes in and speaks of fear and pain. Some really cool guitar work. Darkness features some nice organ, slide guitar, whispered vocals, and a sort of spaghetti western like feel and even some flute. It is a strange mixture of instruments but I like it. Darkness+ is next and we return to the original theme that started the record off but with a few modifications and more vocals but the violin theme is quite similar. Rejoice is a more happy track with some flute and an addictive groove. Burn ends the record and also has more of a groove to it and some sort of tribal vibe with a lot of complex layers.. What a cool record. Loved it… 

https://derblutharsch.bandcamp.com/ 

SOUNDS OF A NEW SOMA- LIVE AT STUDIO HELMTOWN (Tonzonen TON100) //TRIP (Tonzonen TON104)

I really dig Dirk (owner of Tonzonen Records) group, Sounds of a New Soma. I have almost all the records. The group (duo) formed in 2013 and has been quite productive. The Live in Studio Helmtown is their 2nd release from there. This is released in only 100 copies for the Tonzonen Record subscribers. This is a great album. They were really in the "zone".  It features two album side long tracks. I did not get the first one from this live studio session. This one was recorded on April 10th, 2020.  

As for the Trip, this is something totally unique to the SOANS catalog. The artwork has virtually no information so this makes it quite mysterious. Like the previous record this features just two long and strange tracks (my wife did not like it at all).. Probably not my fave record by them either but it is cool to see them explore and do something really unique. Check them out!! 

www.tonzonen.de

GRAND ASTORIA, THE- FROM THE GREAT BEYOND EP (Addicted 770)

I did not know that my friend Kamille had a new Grand Astoria record out until I got this  in the mail from the Russian label. It is listed under misc at Discogs so I am not 100% sure this is all new material but I think so.  Anyway, the EP features 6 well produced tracks staring with the mainly acoustic guitar and vocal track From the Great Beyond. A few spacey sounds mixed in as well until 2 minutes then some keyboard dominate the melodic theme but this is a track focused on the vocals, which are sung almost all the way through. Wasteland starts with a heavy riff and some dark lyrics. Short 3min track. Njanatilka is a heavy metal track with some double kick drums and a heavy riff that is repeated over and over for the first minute. The vocal is very pressed and strained at the very edge of the vocalist range. The track has a very groggy mid section with nice keys and flute before stepping back into the heavy direction. Great stuff. Us against the World, is a very intense track with a lot of ups and downs, heavy, melodic, etc… Towards the end, the vocals are in the higher range again as the drummer pounds and the guitars twist and grate and the intensity just does not let up. Phew… The CD ends with a short track called Ten Years Anniversary Riff.  

This is a killer band, one of the best and most unique in this genre in Russia. Just excellent stuff.  The CD digisleeve comes with a nice booklet with all the dark lyrics! Nice package. 

http://thegrandastoria.bandcamp.com

http://noname666.bandcamp.com

LITMUS- GOD BOMB 7” (Litmus Music 2020)

Space rock-punk band Litmus are back with their first release in 9 years. The band is basically a trio (Marek Bublik, Martin Harvey, Simon Fiddler) for the last few years and occasionally they have a synth player (James in this case).  The band have stayed active on the UK scene playing gigs every year but this is the first new music in a while. It features 2 tracks. God bomb starts things off on the A side (see video below) with some spaced out sounds and then a mid-paced rocker with a mellotron backing while the vocals kick in and then the simple rock riff is backed by more spaced sounds. All the band contribute to the vocals. Cool track. 

Flip the 7” over for Post Sonic Age, this is a more intense rocker again with mellotron and a bit of punky edge with an effected vocal but the chorus is clean. Lyrically it is about the digital music/world revolution that has changed and fucked up the world. Catchy track.  Hope the guys are working on a full length record. I dig this track. 

https://litmusmusic.neocities.org/Litmus_Website/Litmus_Website.html 

PREE TONE- BREKKA (Addicted 756)

Last year I reviewed an album by these guys. The band is a trio. This one is 5 tracks. Fifth O starts things off and is a sort of strange mix of psyche stuff and indie with a raw production and some nice effects on the voice that give it a bit of psychedelic feel. Hidden Beauty has a strong energy and the same low mixed vocals but fewer effects and a melodic thread throughout. I miss some guitar solos but they have some effects at the end of the track. Cakesniffer, is next and a strange title.  80s indie psych stuff is a big influence on these guys.  This track though turns into a sort of hypnotic stoner rock for a bit after 4mins. That really caught me by surprise as the band get quite tripped out.  Super cool track. Invention of Living from is next and the vocal is quite spacey in this high energy track with a bit of reverb. The last track, Flow, this one has some repeated guitar lines and is a bit noisy and krautrock like. The guitar slowly gets a bit more effected and trippy..  Cool record guys..

http://noname666.bandcamp.com

http://preetone.bandcamp.com 

LIQUID SOUND COMPANY- PSYCHOACTIVE SONGS FOR THE PSOUL (LSR2021)

It has been 10 years since the last LSC album. This album is released initially on a CD with the first 50 copies coming with a cool magnet! It features 8 tracks, of which 3 are instrumentals. It is great to hear how they have really maintained their core sound from 10-15 years ago. A lot of unusual instruments are used and sitar and flute (by guests) on Mahayuga, give it that bit of eastern feel. I think the band really nailed it with this record. Really cool songs and great lyrics.  Check them out for sure.. I am not sure when the vinyl edition will be out but I will want to grab it for sure!

https://liquidsoundcompany.bandcamp.com/ 

JUICE OH YEAH- JUICE OH YEAH CD (Addicted 741)

This is a Russian duo of fretless bass and drums. Boris, the bass player also sings and plays MS-20, 12 string guitar, gushing, banjo and some drums.  The CD features 5 long tracks of strange and high energy music. the opening track starts pretty high energy and drifts into a cool segment with the MS20 and then back into the song. This is the shortest song at only 4mins. Botttommm is a more melodic indie rocker with some strange backing vocals that are louder than the main vocal line and just a strange song and far out ending.  Wow… Endlong is over 12mins but starts slow and a bit spacey. They go into this sort of Russian chant stuff and then the track starts to get heavy. Later on there is a sort of drone organ mixed in as well with the heavy bass lines and pounding drums. Log features a female vocal or Boris has done an amazing job to change his voice. This one starts at a very slow pace and plods on with the focus on the voice. At 3mins really blasts into a totally new universe and the volume triples! The bass is also much more massive. Our subwoofer rocked the house! Downwards is the final track. The opening is based mostly on the bass lines and some chimes. The bass riff is a take on someone, but I just can’t place it. Anyway, what a great record…..  Cool stuff guys.. 

I have to say the first time I played this CD, I was like, what the fuck.. but by the 3rd time, I really got it and this band (or should I say Boris) is pretty cool. Quite unique sound. 

http://noname666.bandcamp.com

http://juiceohyeah.bandcamp.com

LA OTRACINA- WOKE ON WAVES LP (In For The Kill Records IFTK 016))

La Otracina was a really cool NY bands band. They formed way back in 2003 by Adam Kriney (Golden Grass) and released a lot of music and did some tours (saw them at Roadburn!) but the last release was 2012. This is an archive release and made in 30 vinyls and 100 CDs.  Here is what the band wrote about the record: “LA OTRACINA recorded two albums worth of instrumental music at those 2007 "Blood Moon Rider" sessions, one of which was the songs/compositions for the "Blood Moon Riders" album, and the other was 45 minutes of absolutely heady and masterfully crafted psychedelic exloratory improvisations, from the time-period when the group was at their freak-rock/free-improvisational peak! And after 14 years, these mind-blowing jams are now to be revealed to the universe for the first time ever as "Woke On Waves”.

I just have to say I am glad that I own this and while I only have a few of the bands albums, this one is really special and more spaced out some how at least on the ling album side A.  The band has a great energy as well. Damn cool archive release. 

https://laotracina.bandcamp.com/album/woke-on-waves 

CIOLKOWSKA- Psychedelia (Addicted)

I have heard quite a few of these guys records now. The opening track (Glue) is quite a pop number with a catchy keyboard theme (played on the guitar or ukulele?), not one I particularly like though. A bit too much 80s. The groove is great on this though and it starts to get a bit more interesting after 3.30 before returning to the same theme. Gingerbreads starts similar to the opening track but becomes more heavy, emotional before coming back to a like the first and then an almost like dub delay guitar makes things a bit more interesting. Mohavishnu has some nice ukulele at the start and later one. It is basically the lead instrument playing all the most important accents to the music,. The rhythm section of this band are very solid. Vocal is in a laid back style most of the time. Angelina (a Imandra cover song) is the longest on the album at 7.26. It is also a sort of poppy melodic track. It is best when it goes astray a bit. The next two tracks fit together (Room and Slippers). The CD ends with the title track, which is listed as a cover by a band called Silence. Guitar is a bit like Nirvana, maybe the vocal as well. The ukulele is really what makes this band special, otherwise it is a sort of indie pop rock most of the time. Not really my thing this album. Sorry.  While the album is called Psychedelia, I don’t find it psychedelic at all.  The term is too widely used these day and become to broad and generic almost which is sad, for the bands that truly make psychedelic music. 

http://ciolkowska.bandcamp.com

http://noname666.bandcamp.com