Friday, March 29, 2013

St Vitus and Mos Generator- Loppen, Christiania March 28th, 2013


This was the third to last show of the European tour and the bands were still feeling fine and rocking…. Johnny (Record Heaven) and myself were on the guest list and arrived a few mins before 22. There was maybe 100 people. I ran into the guys in Sinister Creation, Finn, Rhona, and Finn (Doom Finn) and his girlfriend and we had a chat. Nils, Tom, Sven, Magnus and the others would all come out later. The guys in Vitus and Mos Generator were hanging out so were easy to approach and talk to if you wanted. Wino was less available. 

Mos Generator played a excellent set of hard rocking songs, with several from their new record, Nomads. These three guys have been playing together for like 20 years and have a real telepathy and they did some nice jamming. The band said they change the set every night and really like to mix things up and do some jamming. I really enjoyed the set. I don't remember all the tracks they played. I filmed two of them, the long jamming one is below. 

It did not take them long to remove the drum kit and St Vitus hit the stage pretty quickly, Nils and some of the others were not even here yet. The band was really LOUD but the sound was amazing and WINO was very intense and had been drinking pretty heavy, downing 4 glasses (3-4cl) of Jack Daniels (two in the 1st 3 songs!). They used one of the instrumental tracks from the new album as the intro and kicked direct into Blessed Night, the opener for more than a year now. The band sounded fantastic and very tight. They don't jam or improvise at all and play nearly the same set each night, which gives them the ability to smoke and drink a lot and they don't have to think too much about what do to as it is the same every night. That said, they are a damn powerful act and even and every song is powerful. War is our Destiny was played quite fast and the people in the front were going crazy… Quite a few fast songs were played int eh first part of the set. I was really surprised to hear them play Patra and The Troll. White Stallions really had the audience going as well. Last tour they were playing Mystic Lady in the set as well. The crowd was totally into and the band loves playing this club as the sound is so good on the stage and the people are right in your face so you can really feed on their energy. The encores were Dying Inside, a potent song about the evils of alcohol and then Born to Late… Everyone wanted more and the drummer hinted they had nothing to do before introducing the band before the encores but they are not flexible enough. Chandler was not going to play anymore.. I guess they played about 75-80mins.. Great show…


Set List: Blessed Night I Bleed Black, War is out Destiny, Look behind You, Let them Fall, Bleeding Ground, Patra, The Troll, Waste of Time, White Stallions, Thirsty and Miserable, Dying Inside, Born to Late

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Troubled Horse and Hound- BETA, Copenhagen March 22nd, 2013


My friend Tom came over for dinner and we heard some music at my place and then walked down to the club BETA. We arrived about 20mins to 22 and there were maybe 25 people. We ran into Thor from Syreregn and had a great chat. His friend was doing the DJ job and playing some cool music. HOUND started off a bit after 22. HOUND is an electric solo blues project from the singer Christian from the Danish band, Pet the Preacher (Bilocation Records). He played about a 30min set of tracks starting off pretty slow with some tracks that did not really grab me much. Passionate vocals. He was joined by a drummer (He might have said he was named Thomas?) for the last half of the set and this helped a lot and he even played some guitar solos. Christian has a cool voice and is very expressive but overall the tracks did not grab me that much. I filmed two songs. 

Set List: Intro>Pathfinder, Keep on Howling, Ghost world Hobo, No Good, Others in the Night, Travel Light, Blood Filled Universe

Since Hound set up on the floor in front of the stage it did not take long before Troubled Horse hit the stage at 23 sharp. I had a nice chat with the guitar player before and he remembered talking with me and hanging out a bit at Roadburn a few years back. Anyway, they started off totally rocking with the track Tainted from their record. The singer is a big guy and a good showman really funny and singing really well. The whole band is really enjoying themselves and he said this was bigger than most crowds they have played to in Sweden and they were happy to be here. There was maybe 60 people watching now. The guitar was great and did plenty of solos and you could hear he was very Richie Blackmore inspired. They played one song not on their record called Weep not Child and this had a pretty cool jam and lucky for me and you, I filmed it! IT was a rocking and very focused set with no messing around. I think they played about 50mins, which is way to short for a head line band. They could have at least played the other two songs from the record?? 

I have a long talk with the guitar player after the gig and he said the others are not really into jamming at all and are not used to it but he would love to jam and experiment more. We will see… 

Set List: Tainted Water, As you Sow, One Step closer to my Grave, Sleep in your Head, Shirleen, Weep not Child>Jam, I've been Losing, Bring my Horses Home, Another Man's Name 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

A Celebration of Alex Hunt- The Gunnersbury, Chiswick, UK March 9th, 2013 Paradise 9, Deviant Amps, Chris Bowsher, Olympic Countdown


This was a benefit concert to raise money for adrenoleukodistrophy (ALD), a terrible disease that strikes down some young folks far too young. One of the members of this band lost their son to this disease. I am guessing there were about 60 people here and my friend Kozmik Ken, was he DJ. Nice to see him again. I had also met Greg from Paradise 9 before and we also chatted a little bit.  Very much an older crowd here tonight, at least the ones that showed up early.. The place used to be called The John Bull and was a real rock venue in the 70s. Cool they still do music today.

          The lead guitar player from Paradise 9, has another band called Olympic Clamp Down and they opened the show with 4 or 5 songs. They had no real drummer but a guy with a drum pad, snare drum and one cymbal as well as bass and guitar. The songs were pretty straight up slightly snotty rock and roll except on really excellent track that sounded like the Talking heads. That one was really cool. There was only about 30 people when they played and it was mostly friends.

          Next up was the Deviant Amps. They are also a three piece but with a highly energenic left handed drummer.  They play some sort of psychedelic rock as well. They started off with pretty average and not very interesting songs but after about 3-4, they really took off and the lead singer started playing some cool spaced out guitar. The bass player also played some fantastic lines. One of their songs had a bass line a bit like Master of the Universe by Hawkwind. They played a very political track called Lies, which was good. The last track, Shine On was by far the best track. In the end it was a pretty cool set.

Set List: A Star and the Moon, If you got yours, I’ve got mine, Magic Carpet Ride (Not Steppenwolf), Baby shouldn’t go There, Don’t look into the Sun, Trick of the Light, Lies (A politicians tale, Summer Rain, Shine On

          Next up was a very strange dreadlocked fellow, who we saw do a bit of a soundcheck and he seemed quite in his own world. He did a set up four like spoken word things over prerecorded music. One of the track was super cool reggae stuff but damn, this guy Chris Bowsher, just had serious delivery issues. He also seemed super stoned and out of it. There was a small crowd who dug it and two of the tracks were really good but he was just not. Apparently, he was the frontman in a 80s free festival band called RFD. Not one I plan to look up.

          Finally around 10:45, late for music in London, Paradise 9 had set up all their stuff. They had a lot of guests on their set including the soundman playing some bongos, an extra female singer for one song and flute on a few songs. Anyway, they played songs from all their records and they dedicated the 2nd song, Distant Dreams, to Alex, the young kid that recently left this earth. The band plays so many different styles of psychedelic rock, sometimes a bit punky, sometimes spaced out, and sometimes just straight up. The lead guitar player is great and add such cool flavors to the music. Greg, who plays the guitar, some electronics (kaossocilator, effects) also played clarinet on two tracks. One of the brand new songs was really fantastic. See the video. It was a fun set and I am glad I got to see them. People generally had a good time.

Set List: Crystalized Moments, Distant Dreams, Anyhow Anyway, Digital Signs, Ethers, Glow, Points of View, Take me to the Future, State of the Nation, Falling for you, Is this the Time, ?


Ektroverde- Music for Outlets tape (Ruton Music RUT 005)

Ektroverde is a Circle side project that appears every few years with some strange but often cool music. I really like the space rock stuff they have done but this is not at all in that category. This release is all fast tempo electronic loops and drums with some strange sound effects mixed in. You might hear such strange stuff in Outlet stores (in Finland??). One of the tracks on the b side of the tape has some really cool bass line running through it.. Real bass or synthesizer?? Sounds like bass to me.. The very last track also finally slows things down with some more bass and a different lead synths sound. The material was recorded in 1996 and 4 of the 5 tracks from the Music for Supermarkets Mini-CD (released in 1997) are also included. Wonder why they left one track off (Kierros). The tape is limited to only 100 copies and is probably already sold out but you never know..  It gets a bit repetitive and uninteresting eventually.  Pretty much only for the hard core Circle collectors..

The Higher Craft- Solar Tides (THC Music)


The UK psychedelic rock band, The Higher Craft, are back with a new 12 track, 54min CD. It is pressed in very limited quantities in a really unique packaging. While their last album, told a unique story through special objects and tarot like cards, this one is a different concept. It is a mix of some new material, some remastered material and live songs (from 2010,2011 and 2012).  The CD starts off with a quite a psychedelic start with the spacey title track, Solar Tides. Very dreamy. Flight Home is a longer track with some cool acoustic guitar and a strange dynamic with weird changes in the song. Quite far out. Travel unto Thee is also quite spacey with the sound of the ocean drifting through and the voice is a bit haunting at times. The more hard rock or heavy metal side of the band appears later in the track with some heavy riffs and a cool guitar solo. Can you see in the Dark is a short track with a electronic drum groove and is like really out of place and totally different than anything else on the record but I actually dug it. Window in the Water is an acoustic number with very beautiful free vocals. My Philosophy is another spacey acoustic guitar track also has some additional hand percussion and strange sounds going on, that would with the trip that was the Quest into the Stepping Stone age CD. Gateway (2nd Movement), originally appeared on an EP by the band. Lunar Tides closes the new studio material and next are some live tracks including the Lazy Daisy from the bands first CD. A big surprise was hearing the great Magic Mushroom band track, Magick Eye! Wow.. The version here is really heavy and quite hard to recognize as the MMB song. The Receiver is a very fast and intense track live from the Alchemy Festival 2012. The CD ends with a track called Terminator is a short spaced out far out spoken word electronic drone track of sorts.. Very interesting ending and pretty cool release.

BONG- Live at St. Mary’s Old Church and Burial Ground (MIE014)

This is a very limited release in only 250 copies on vinyl and digital release only. It comes in a black and red sleeve with a heavy cardboard insert with a one sided image of the cover (I don’t see the point of this insert being exactly like the cover unless you want to hang it on the wall. Anyway, the record is two long tracks, starting with the intense Church track. IT starts with a small space out and hymn before the pounding drums kick in. It is a long droney trip like all the BONG tracks. I had hoped for some cool spacey lead guitar but just heavy riffs and trippy baaja… Intense… Flip the record over for Burial. This side slowly fades in as David starts the hymn of the dark side and the music reverberates and nearly shakes the floor. It must have sounded amazing in that church. Later the vocal returns as the track has gained a lot of intensity and the drums pick up speed. One has to keep in mind that BONG is about the live heavy drone experience. They are not changing their style much and for most people it would be hard to tell these tracks from any number of other long drone tracks they have done in the past years but whenever I crank this up, it still sends you to that spaced out place. Not a lot of innovation here but heavy, spaced and droned out to the max…

Papir- III (El Paraiso Records EPR012)

The all instrumental rock trio from Copenhagen are back with their 3rd record in 3 years. The vinyl only release features 5 tracks and follows in the footsteps of the sound and feel of the last brilliant Standum double LP/CD release. Untitled I starts off with a cool vibe that slowly builds into a really intense frantic guitar driven piece that returns to the brilliant spacey melodic guitar line that lead the track. Great telepathic energy between Christian and Kristoffer on the bass and drums. Unititled II starts very slow and melodic with the bass lines really sticking out nicely to lead the way as Nicklas slowly builds up the guitar melody and path to enlightenment. This one the band sticks to repetition until nearly the end when it breaks down into an interesting more heavy 70s style riff and solo. Unititled III ends side A and is a short 5min mellow melodic delay guitar driven track that just floats.. Flip the record over for Untitled IV, the long track at 15mins. It starts with some wah guitar and a strong driving bass line. It goes through a lot of dynamic changes and some spacey sounds are layered in here and there as well. The end a quite heavy guitar riff kicks in and then some dual layered guitar soloing takes over as it gets quite psychedelic. Great song. Track III-IIII is nearly 7 mins and end the record. It starts slow and spacey with Kristoffer slowly building up the drum tempo as Christian glides the bass groove. Nicklas takes his time to find the notes he is searching for, while another layer of spacey guitar is layered in. A killer bass line eventually drives this one to a cool conclusion as the guitar maintains it’s own unique space. The track ends with some heavy riffing and a great solo.  Another super cool record.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Taylor’s Universe- Worn Out (Marvel of Beauty Records MOBCD023)


Multi-instrumentalist, Robin Taylor is back with another release and it features the same crew (Karsten Vogel, Hugh Steinmetz, Klaus Thane, Jakob Mygind, Louise Nipper) with which he has now made many records with but the addition of highly acclaimed jazz guitarist Jon Hemmersam, providing all the lead guitar. He is mainly featured on the opening track, Floating Rats. The track starts very floating with just saxophone as it slowly picks up and the drums, bass and finally guitar join the drone keyboard and horns. At 3mins the track really picks up in intensity and this is when Jon really kicks in with some fluid and fast guitar runs before being counterbalanced by the horns. There is a bit of back and forth between the horns and guitar to keep the track very fluid and interesting and then Robin kicks in with the organ to change the dynamic. Excellent track. Munich is the longest track on the album at 10½ mins and starts with some very happy beautiful horns to compliment the repetitive almost Kraftwerk like synths running beneath. Things change completely when the uptempo bass line takes the lead and the different horn players just jam away and Robin comes back with some organ as well. The track takes many different dynamics and includes adding some effects to the horns. Robin plays a major role in this track. . Imaginary Church is much shorter and features the organ quite prominent again in this 4½min track. Cruelty in Words is a quite happy track with cool dynamics and a mix of organ and piano in the quiet parts and the horns in the more melodic parts. Some interesting drums (sound almost programmed, artificial) in the mid section. Jon is hardly playing in this track only adding a couple of short solos near the end. Excellent track. Jens in Afghanistan starts with some military snare drum theme and some flute like horns. There is a sample of something about war playing in the background. The theme slowly gets a bit darker in nature but returns to the happy theme. Eventually the military snare drumming ends and then the track is very saxophone dominated with a repeated theme by the others for a period until the end.  Sergeant Pepperoni ends the CD. This track is 8½ mins long and starts with some spacey organ and saxophone as the others slowly enter the soundscape. Jon plays some fantastic guitar in this track and about half way through the track devolves into some freeform spacey chaos before reappearing out the end into the main theme again. Cool.. Another really excellent release from Robin and his creative crew..

Kama Loka (Kommun2:22)

The latest release on the Malmö, Sweden based label, Kommun2 is a sort of super group of folks who have recorded records for the label. This includes members from the Aron Band, SKL, Anders and others. The main compositions are by Morten Aron and Tobias Petterson (owner label, also plays bass and flute). Side A starts with the Aron track, Skovsøen (The Forest Lake) and it is sung in Danish. It has a very cool spacey, mysterious vibe with haunting voices, violin and guitar. Later it evolves into a more psychedelic vibe. Øjesten (Eye Rock) has a beautiful guitar melody and starts with violin. Mikael Ödesjö plays some fantastic guitar on this track. Trold i Bakke (Troll in Tray) is an instrumental piece by keyboardist Anders Pilegård. It starts off as a folky thing but then goes into a more psychedelic section and back to the main theme. Flip the record over and also change language from Danish to Swedish. Gånglåt till Floalt (Marching Tune Floalt) starts as all the tracks have with violin and then the organ takes the lead followed by the flute. Then the violin returns to a more folky theme before the psychedelic lead guitar takes over and really lifts the track into a new dimension, which reminds me of late 60s Pink Floyd with the spacey organ and vocals and feeling. The last track Når lingonen Mognar (After Lingonberries Matures is an old song by the Swedish band Harvester) is a hypnotic track with a repeated choir of voices. Cool stuff. The record comes in a super heavy sleeve with a beautiful artwork by the great Swedish painter, Peter Wallgren. Single pressing in 500 copies only.

Re-Evolution- FdM sings the Hollies (Fruits de Mer Records Crustacean 37)

This is quite a special release that comes as a 12” record plus a 7” in two colour vinyl versions limited to 800 copies. There are 16 different artists and the whole thing last about an hour. The songs back then were all pretty short. I am not that familiar with the Hollies, but they were a UK band from Manchester who played their own version of pop music akin to the Beatles with multi-harmony vocals. Most of the tracks here are taken from the Hollies brief psychedelic period from 1966-1967. Graham Nash was one of their key members. A few of the labels standard artists are represented like the Bevis Frond (the best song on the record, amazing version of Hard hard Year), Beautify Junkyards, The Re-stoned, The Higher State, Langor, Electric Stars, Auralcandy, The Gathering Gray, The Seventh Ring of Saturn, Hi Fiction Science, Sky Picnic, Us and Them and Jay Tausig but also a lot of bands I have never heard of. Anyway, since I have never heard the originals, it is really hard for me to comment but I think this is a great release and true to the spirit of the original psychedelic music birth of the 60s.. Great job..

Walden- Metchosin (Prairie Fire Tapes PF052)

Walden is a duo of Jacob Moyer (drums, lyrics, flutes, voice) and ES Festus (bass, electric, acoustic guitars). MMII-Golden Light broke over the waves starts with some acoustic guitar and then an intense spacey electric guitar riff kicks in that is repeated over and over as the bass takes the lead underneath the wall of sound that has developed. It eventually comes down as the guitar riffs slow down and the vocal starts and then the music gets very intense and a death-evil style vocal takes over as the guys almost reach thrash metal intensity and a layer of flute is added on for strange effect. A Walking Song is mainly acoustic guitar with a occasional rhythm that sounds like a knock at the door. Flip the tape over now for the MMXII- Every Star called our Names. This is a very fast uptempo piece to start and even more low fi than A side. While the music is pretty happy and melodic, the vocal is quite dark and almost evil but the lyrics are actually quite positive. Strange combination. The Coda I starts off with a bass, drums and flute and then the intense spacey riff guitar kicks in but the flute is still driving the track until it just fades out. Coda II ends the tape with some nice acoustic guitar playing. A very nice piece of music.  Inside the tape case you get the lyrics to the two songs that have them.

MONTIBUS COMMUNITAS " Montibus Communitas" (EYE 002)

Montibus Communitas is a trio from Peru joining up with some of the Dutch people in Ayahuasca Dark Trip. This is release is a vinyl only release in 300 copies. It features two tracks per LP side. The first track, Amaru, is very organ driven with some percussion (panning) and basic beats with some spacey sounds here and there. It is very repetitive and not all that interesting until the last 5mins and goes on for more than 15mins. It did not hold my attention very well and I kept waiting for something more interesting to happen. El ‘rio al amanecer is much shorter and ends the side. The water flows, some guitar is lightly played, a flute and birds create some cool ambience in this track. Salmo a Cristo is a short track starting side B of the record. It begins with a bit more noisy percussion and then the organ drone followed by some nice flute. Eventually some male and female voices appear as the organ drone gets louder and more intense in the mix and the percussion more to the background. Semilla starts with some forest birds before the effected organ sound fades up and a guitar and some other instruments slowly become recognizable. Very spacey trippy sound to start but then it lets lose it’s grip and begins to come to the standard production sound of the record. If you want to take some sort of organ drone forest trip, you might want to pick this up..

http://cosmiceyerecords.blogspot.dk/

Hemmelig Tempo- Who put John Cage on the Guestlist? (Gazul Records GA8850)

This is a very strange but also pretty cool CD but you just have to approach it will open ears. This group of Norwegians have been performing live for some years but this is their debut CD on the Gazul label, a side label of Musea. The material here was mainly played live in 2008 in locations in and around Bergen in Norway. It features Dokto Døv, Professor Fokuda-San, and Professor Waffel (can be seen playing with SEID) playing a wide range of analog synthesizers and effects with the occasional vacuum cleaner, water filled bucket and other strange things. The tracks are quite variable in length. I quite like the title track the way it has this mysterious drone and then these sounds like someone is trying to eat the tapes in the background or something strange is happening. Later some analog loops drive the track after a strange transition. This kind of strange drone, electronic trip music is pretty hard to describe. First Report from the Temporary Laboratory of Buddha Pavilion, has a dreamy like state with static sounds, bells, and a NASA sound sample at the end. Doktor Døvs on the last sound you will ever here is pretty strange stuff as well lasting nearly 10 mins. How to wear a lab coat is a track that is really cut up into strange pieces, samples, sounds, evolutions. Notes from Professor Fokudas mountain Seminar starts of droney and different sounds enter and leave at what seems to be random as the track evolves, sputters, trips, falls, gets back up again and finally leaves. The last track only lasts 4 seconds and then the 51min trip is over. The music is totally experimental, far out, challenging, sometimes exciting, sometimes a bit too weird but always intriguing for patient people. Cool stuff.

Hawkwind Light Orchestra- Stellar Variations (Esoteric Recordings EANTCD1008)


Some of the members of Hawkwind, the ones that live close to where Dave Brock lives and has the Hawkwind studio, have put together this record. All the songs are by Dave, Richard (Drums, vocals) and Niall (guitar, bass). The material was recorded in 2011 and appears as outtakes, experiments, strange visions, and stuff that just did not fit in with the Onward LP. I have to say the CD is real mixed bag. Some of it is really great and some just does not speak to me. The CD came out in December 2012 and the vinyl edition is due out in April and limited to 500 copies. 11 tracks, 53mins starting off with Stellar Perspective. The sound is quite psychedelic with multiple layers of guitars, spinning, pulsing synths and Dave’s vocal with some effects and more to the back and it slowly moves more to the front. Richard takes the 2nd lead vocal as the track slows down. Great bass playing. All our Dreams is more tranquiel and spacey with a more spoken word vocal. That classic spacey Dave Brock guitar is so nice. The track really evolves into an almost like dance track but maintains this cool guitar line. Not sure the keyboard really fits but what the hell. Cool track. Damp day in August is a short piece that leads into the up tempo and political track, It’s all Lies. Niall lays down the cool bass line and a catchy political track takes hold (“Forget about religion, it’s down with the Pope!”). Variation 3 is a short instrumental track with a lot of strange overdubs and sounds but a nice lead guitar section complimenting the distorted Fender Rhodes like piano. Four Legs good, two legs Bad has programmed drums and would have fit well on the White Zone record with its ambient space keyboard line.  It takes a dramatic change at 1min and then the repeated song title with strange voices, barking dogs, etc.. is quite far out.. almost disturbing. In the Footsteps of the Great One is next and I wonder who they are talking about as you can’t tell from the lyrics, some of which Dave borrows from some of his older songs. IT starts with an eastern string instrument before the spacey synths and vocals take over. Quite a few layers of stuff going on as the drum groove kicks in to give the track a steady rhythm. Spaced out! A song for a New Age is one the band has played live in the past (and written by Tim Blake) features Richard on the main vocal and Dave plays a nice guitar solo while Niall gives the track its main body with great bass playing. The track is pretty basic and not nearly as layered as most of the tracks. We serve Mankind starts with a trance techno like keyboard that briefly fades to the back as the guitar, bass and drums take over this dark electronic track. City of Rust starts with a flight introduction sample before the track begins. Powerful lyrics on this one and delivered in a spoken word fashion, kind of like the Calvert-Brock CD. Then at 1½ mins it turns into one of the most rocking tracks on the CD. Instant Predictions closes the CD also in a rocking way with Richard on the lead vocal. It has a really spaced out sound. Pretty cool record.

Harrow- Wanderer (Prairie Fire Tapes PF051)


Harrow is a three piece band from Victoria, Canada, that plays very raw, nasty, sometimes doomy stuff, other times quite melodic. This band reminds me of Kreator or Bathory without the guitar solos.  Into the Valley starts with acoustic guitar as the drums build up and then intense evil thrash kicks in. The next two songs are also found on the live side of the tape. Journey into the Mountain and To weather the Storm follow. This part of the tape mellows things out for a bit with some acoustic pieces until the band kicks in hard and heavy and screaming again. Exile and Rebirth end the powerful side A. Side B of the tapes is live at the Moontower and features a couple of the songs from the A side. The sound quality is really raw and nasty. Keening starts things off doomy but then it changes to a more melodic thread. The vocals are like death metal though. In the Shadow of the Stone (also on the A side) is more lead by the bass until the noisy thrash begins. Very low fi insane sound. Vast unending Lands continues the aural assault of raw, nasty metal in this short track. After a brief talk introduction, the band kicks into the intense Wraith. Watcher (not the Motorhead/ Hawkwind track), is also very extreme music. The side ends with Snow Falls on the Night of the Solstice, which is also featured on the A side of the tape. Very Intense and raw stuff. Not easy on the ears.. Recommend to play at low volume at least the B side of the tape.

http://www.prairefiretapes.com