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..
Local underground rave scene legend, Larry Lush and his partner in trance, Wilf are Quietman. This is a fantastic package and value; the hardback book and download code… It is also out on a CD. Anyway this is nearly 75mins of music and 19 tracks that harkens back to the 80s-90s when the rave scene became the trance scene. Now there are many subdivisions of trance.. I guess this one would be called classic..
For every song, there is an associated page with painting, drawing and description. Some are specifically about the song and others more general knowledge and information. I am so impressed with this package..
Larry and I have also made some music in Øresund Space Collective and in my studio as well. Anyway, fans of old school rave music will dig this and it nice to sit with the amazing artbook and hear the tracks and descriptions.. Check it out..
This group is a duo of duo Hanna Östergren/Jerry Johansson. Hanna has been in a number of psychedelic bands like HIlls, Laughing Eye, and DJINN. Jerry is known for his sitar playing and leading the act Grovjobb. This most excellent album features 5 tracks. Some of the tracks have bass and drums and others are just floating, eastern inspired psych, like being in a dream. Remains starts things off like an Indian raga and good Sunday morning piece of music with some drum accompaniment. Silence continues with another raga but Hanna adds in some Rhodes and other instruments along the way like the Shruti box. Still is a very short under 3min Rhodes and Mellotron track with some interesting other additions to keep it anything but normal!! Side B starts off with the track Mountain and some nice banjo with some original and traditional parts. Hanna plays the bass and drums on this one. After a while it really builds up in tempo and reminds me of something Hills might do but without the banjo!! Dawn ends the album with a 12min raga with some field recordings of birds, a drone, flute and a cool vibe. Nice album for a sunday morning…
Jerry Johansson: sitar, banjo, Mellotron, guitar Hanna Östergren: drums, organ, Rhodes, Mellotron, bass, voice, flute, percussion, shruti box, field recordings, album mixing
Most of you will know Gregg from his band Paradise 9. This CD features a lot of songs from his old busking days that he felt it was time to record properly. He worked closely with Martin Litmus at his studio to create this lovely album of personal songs and memories. The album features 11 original songs and one cover (Motherless Children). Gregg primarily plays acoustic guitar but he also plays glissando guitar, a bit of clarinet, synth… Martin plays the bass, keys, synths, percussion, backing vocals… This was a true musical collaboration and successful. Both guys have a background in space rock but this is more like spacey busker music, space folk. Check it out. It is out on CD now..
It was an honour to be invited to play on this CD/LP, which was released in December. Sadly, I was unable to attend the release party on Dec 27th, as many of the players who are featured here did. Anyway, this is experimental banjo music like you have not heard before. A totally unique album featuring 6 tracks. Don plays the Harmonium and two different types of banjos. It is one track but features mixes or additions by different people, so each track becomes a unique piece of music. Check out the bandcamp page for more details and ordering. You can also buy the CD and LP from me. Just write…
This is a super cool release of unreleased and rare tracks from all eras of Sula´s solo career and it starts off with a rocking track called Ridin´. This is live from Hamburg 2024, the same show that the tracks that were released on the split LP with Skyjoggers… Krachgarten (from 2012) did appear on a bandcamp compilation before. Really cool bass line on this track and nice delay guitars. A great space rock track in the end. Wow.. Arkelanfall is a short electrronic piece with Modulfix from 2009. Totally different vibe than the rock that started the CD. Trippy….
Animal Farm is a very funny one from 2008 with drums and Farm animal samples… This one drove our dogs crazy!! Was Du Denkst (2006) is a real archive recording and Dave thinks it is from 2006..
Soulcake is a cool track that appeared on a Greek Compilation CD in 2011 but has a much earlier orgin, late 90s early 2000s… A nice laid back and spacey vibe to this one with a hypnotic riff. Fiebertraum is from the later 90s and appeared on the rare Sulatronics CD-R (I own it!!)… Very drony and spacey synths to start. It slowly builds up with some intense drums and repeatitive synth lines and the tension builds but slowly drops off over time..A bit TD like Paranoid? i is also from the Sulatronics CD and quite a long track at 13mins. Super cool track… Suomenlinna was inspired by being on a Finnish Island in the late 90s.. Very laid back and trippy with loads of interesting manpulated sounds and repeated fender rhodes like keyboard line. Dreamy… Pilzwald, at 33 mins is quite the musical adventure. A very experimental track with Alexander Bulgrin, back then the singer (or ex singer) of Liquid Visions. This was recorded live and is quite the space out..
Dust to Dust opens with a classic stoner rock riff and groove but has a many cool parts and solos over the 12mins.. Closed Labryinth (8min) slows things down and is sung in his native language as well and features a sample (in English) that comes in at the beginning. Very clean production and sound but the programmed drums are a bit annoying at times. About 2.5mins in the riff gets heavy.. Some nice keyboard and synth work by Timur Reizis as the track evolves. Vocals are by ŹMICIER ŁUKJANČYK. Disturbing Dreams (over 9mins) starts with some nice melodic guitar with some delays on it before the drums come in and a lovely guitar solo. The track gets more heavy after 3mins. Interesting balance with the laid back vocals of Zmicier. Always interesting to hear a voice and not have any clue what he is singing. The female English spoken word is back at the end of the track. Great track. Space Comics Hero kicks up the speed with a more rocking track with a classic HM riff!! Some nice spacey sounds on this track as well at times. The title track starts with some synths and drums and then the heavy riff kicks in. Super cool and melodic guitar solo on this track.. Maybe the best on the record. THe album ends with Intersellar Racing, another 9 min track with a steady beat and nice delay guitars to start.. This is also a great track and a powerful faded out ending. Ripple should release this. WOuld be a lot more powerful with real drums as well.
Here is a synopsis of the record by Serge:
“A wandering through the pages of the science fiction anthology «Hecto Fuzz», six issues of which are dedicated to various aspects of human existence and humanity. We invite you to a musical journey — from prehistory, antiquity, the recent past, and a look toward a possible future.
Throughout history, Man has periodically approached another edge. The edge of the world known to Man at that moment in time. The edge of knowledge, the edge of skills, the edge of hope, and the edge of technology.
Only biological imperfection interrupts this cyclical process — dust to dust. And the banner of conquering yet another frontier is taken up by the next generation. The endless quest to understand oneself, the world around us, and one's place in it—these are the main themes explored by the musicians on this album. Welcome to a world of dreams and hopes!”
