Jonathan Segel- Superfluidity (Bumps of Goose FREED5058)

Multi-instrumentalist, Jonathan Segel (Camper van Beethoven, Sista Maj, Øresund Space Collective and many others projects) is back with a double CD of songs and jams.  Besides the female vocals (Kelly, Sanna), drums (Mattias, Chris and Andreas),  and Trombone (Stian),  Jonathan plays everything else.  The first CD is mostly 3min tracks with some really cool and fun lyrics and remind me of the shorter tracks on Hieronymous Firebrain and the Dent CDs he released years back, while the longer tracks (my faves), Sleep for a hundred years, Phenomenon and On and Like Mercury, have a lot more going on and some amazing music.  The 2^nd CD is again a mix of 2-5mins vocal oriented tracks but two instrumentals (The Dying Stars- great..) and The luxury of Living. Overall, this is a very electic and excellent set of music. A great starter if you have never heard his work and if you are a fan you will like it as well.  Playing with people like Mattias (Drums) and Micke (Kungens Man) has been a great thing for Jonathan. Also check out Sista Maj (http://sistamaj.bandcamp.com) . Enjoy..

https://www.jonathansegel.com/

ØSC, Black Moon Circle, Træsmak- Loppen, Christiania March 18th, 2017

It has been a couple of years since we last played at Loppen. As this is my favorite club, anywhere in the world, to play, it was a great choice of venue for my going away party. It was quite an emotional event this evening. I am just so glad a lot of good friends and fans from around Europe could make it. Hubert from Austria, Artsi, Santtu, Eetu, Jaire, Vesa, Hekka from Finland, lots of friends from Sweden, some from Hamburg, etc…  And of course the local Danish crowd that supports us (I can’t name you all!!). We had a pre-sale of around 100 tickets so that is great. I guess we had around 200 in the end.

Træsmak, Johan, from First band from outer Space’s new band were great. The crowd really seem to like this 70s sound and vibe sung in Swedish. They played mostly all originals. They tried to play Freedom by Buffalo, a request from me, but it was too dark for Johan to read the lyrics, so they aborted the song. Later they did Mount Everest by November. Good show but they ran a bit over time. I guested on 2 songs with them.

Black Moon Circle (foto by Vesa)

The Black Moon Circle gig was great despite the bass amplifier breaking down just after the opening number, American Eagle. This was a 10min break while they tried to sort it out. I did a bit of synth space out for the last 4mins. Then we went directly into Lunar Rocket and out ending jam track, Warp Speed. This was the longest version of that song and maybe our best ever, although I think Vemund maybe played more intense guitar on the Roadburn version but it was not 27mins!!  People were really into it. You can hear the entire show below..

https://archive.org/details/BMC2017-03-18.FLAC

The ØSC gig got amazing reviews from people and although we started 30mins later than planned the place was still pretty packed with people. About 200 I guess. Lars did amazing lights and the sound was great.  Everyone played at a high level. I was pretty tired though and was the weak link as this was my third gig of the night.  We had 7 jams in 2hrs ranging from around 12 mins to 28mins in length. You can hear the show at the link below.  Musically, we had never had this line up before with Nicklas (Papir), Tobias (Carpet Knights) on guitars, Jonathan on violin. Martin, Jiri, me and Mogens have played a lot together though.  I think the people wanted more but I was very tired now and it was after 02.35…. Check out the concert below.

https://archive.org/details/OSC2017-03-18.FLAC

Great night. Thanks to everyone who came out and to my great band of super talented musicians. You guys are the fucking best…… It will be a year before ØSC plays in Denmark with Dr Space again. Jiri is keeping the band alive and they will still play without me once I have left Denmark.. Keep an eye out..

Spidergawd- IV (Crispin Glover Records VODU8CGR072)

As the title suggests, this is the 4^th album from the Trondheim based, Spidergawd (there is also a band with this name from Los Angeles).  Bent (Motorpsycho) is not on this album and has been replaced by Hallvard. Is this Love sounds a lot like Monster Magnet during the heavy section (Dopes to Infinity) but the rest of the track is unique and a pretty heavy at times but also pretty commercial in the pop section. Overall, it is pretty intense stuff though. I am the Night starts with drums and bass (great studio production!) and then it gets more and more intense and a great wah guitar solo. Loucille  is a mid paced sort of power rocker. I don’t know why but I get 80s KISS for some reason?? Ballad of a Millionare (Song for Elina) slows things down a bit but the heavy vibe is still there and Per’s powerful vocals are ever present.  Side B starts with the single from the album, What have you Become, a fast paced rocker! The Inevitable starts off with some sax and harmonica and a really cool slow build. It eventually gets quite heavy and is the longest and most musically diverse track on the record. Heaven comes Tomorrow starts with the band going into rock and roll attack mode before, storming off on the cool riff. The record ends with Stranglehold (not the Ted Nugent classic!). It has a heavy Nugent like riff though and rocks… The saxophone plays much less a role on this record than in the past and plays mostly dark tones and not many solos. They have a guest harmonica and pedal steel on one track, which is cool. This band gets more heavy and rocking with each record.

http://spidergawd.no

http://www.crispingloverrecords.com/

FLOORIAN- AT YOUR SURFACE CD (Self Released SKP004)

It has been a few years since I heard a Floorian CD. Jerry at Aural Innovations is a friend and fan of these guys and put us in contact. Although this album came out last year, I felt I needed to tell you about it.  This is the bands 4th record (2004, 2009, 2016) and features 6 tracks of dreamy psychedelic music. The first track has a very eastern feel with the way the organ is played. Quite spacey stuff especially the vocals on this relaxed track.  From on High has a more heavy guitar riff but a slow relaxed pace with again spacey vocals but a catchy chorus (like Wooden Shjips or something).  Good contrasts in this track.  Face is very spaced out and psychedelic.  Icaro features a quite simple guitar line, spacey drone synth and a simple sung vocal (no words).  This really evolves into a very cool song with a far out drone ending. Spinning Time brings back a more melodic stoned rock and roll vibe.  Agra Man closes this album and has a slow spacey fade up with a repeated guitar line and dreamy synth.  The eastern theme and a table like drum appears in this long track. Cool stuff guys..

http://www.floorian.com

Woodland- Go Nowhere (Crispin Glover Records WOOD1CGR071)

Woodland is band from Trondheim, Norway. The five piece band recorded the record back in 2015 but it is finally out now. Tbis is the bands 2^nd record (the first was in 2014). The record features 10 tracks (LP also comes with a CD). The band play pretty straight up rock and roll with a fun vibe, sing along choruses, a bit bluesy at times, maybe even a little country thrown in. Got me Wrong starts things off and reminds me of the Danish band Bite the Bullet’s last record. Dead Set is a really great track with some acoustic track, animated vocals and a bit of piano thrown in. All in my Head is bluesy one with a bit of an effect on the vocal and a raw guitar sound.  The singer is a lot like the guy from Bite the Bullet. Funny. I bet these bands have never heard each other? Wild Eyes is a foot stomping blues track.  Very inspired by the American jam bands for sure.  Luck¨s Gone Bad ends side A with a nice passionately sung piano lead track that could have been recorded by the stoned hippies in Topanga Valley in the early 70s.. Side B starts with Dust Bowl (hear below) a nice bluesy foot stomper with some nice guitar playing. A song for a smokey bar with sawdust on the floor. Set me Free is a bit more hard hitting. I really like the slow stoney vibe of Long Gone and the slow patient vibe, just wish the song was longer. Great song. No Shinning Light has a quite cool hook to it and a whole chorus of backing vocals on this one! The title track closes this really cool record. A lot of great songs.

http://www.crispingloverrecords.com/