Kozfest- Axminster, UK July 28-30th, 2023

July 28th

We flew into Bristol the night before and very delayed. Anyway, we arrived in Axminster at 1411.  Easy to get a cab and it as 5.4£.  Lovely place we stay up the hill and Sarah the host is lovely. She gave us a ride to the festival with all my gear and merch, etc.. 

First band we saw was Sonic Trip Project. We could hear a bit of Shom and it sounded good. Met Santtu and Jaire, they were already totally smashed and would stay this way the entire evening. Far out…  STP were great and early on in their set, an older lady came up and danced for 5mins and it turns out she was the American lady who danced with Hawkwind on the original Space Ritual tour 51 years ago.. Far out… 

Codex Sarafini took a while to get going with a long spaced out first song.Might have been that new on they just released a video for.  They have a special look with the red robes and veils.  I quite like the sound and vibe but it all really does sound too much the same… one long song for an hr… Good band though..

Santiago Kings were a 5 piece- rock.stoner band.. Only heard 2 songs. It was not really what I was into. Lacertilla had an intense singer and a bit of a slower Orange Goblin vibe at times but they had so many sound problems with the bass cabs of the PA going on and off the drummer was killing his ride cymbal and they did not turn off the overhead so it just was killer to be anywhere near the tent. Just awful sound..

Set List: We go Here, Tangled Up, Trying to do a good Thing, Never see the sun, Further, We are the Flood, the Wired and the Weird, Round and Round, Deviate from the Plan

We had some African food. It was supposed to be spicy but it was not hot at all. Very tasty. A bit too salty though..  Yum… big portion..  I tried several of the local beers but they are served warm and some have almost no carbonation. Strange.. Best one was Hangmans stone.

Electric Cake Salad had two guitars, bass, programmed drums and a dancer.. It had a groove, reminded me of the 80s sound with a more agrro guitar.. Crowd was into it but it was not my thing. They need a real drummer…. 

Litmus they were my fave band of the day.. Just a great powerful set. All the guys sang well and pounded it out. They synths were perhaps a bit too dominant in the PA though.  I really loved it.. I recorded this one from the back.. A great mix of old and new stuff. Quite a few different songs than the Live in the Studio 2022 CD, which is nice. 

Setlist: Evil. Eartthbound, Never Coming Back, Kings of Infinite Space, Southern Side, God Bomb, Masson, Destroy the Mothership, Tempest, Under the Sign

Invisible Opera Company of Tibet, had a free form jam in the Nik Turner- Wally Tent and it was packed and sounded really awesome. Got a few pics..  WIsh they had been in a real stage.. SOmeone said it was the first time in 30 years they had played.. Not sure that is true.. I seem to recall the name on lots of festivals??? I later got a clarification that the guy playing drums it was the first time he had jammed with them in 30 years!! I did not expect such heavy psych rock. 

Saw a bit of the organisers band, Deviant Amps and that was really cool and spacey and some nice visuals as well. Cool to see Seaweed and Claudia playing with them. We saw half and then headed over to see Helicon. 

Helicon guys are super nice and it was great to see them play their brand of spacey 60s inspired psych with a bit of sitar on some of the songs.  Sound was a bit rough to start but got better. It was a lot of stuff to set up in less than 30mins… We only heard half the show.  Tent was pretty packed though.. 

Here and Now band. Wow.. only Keith Bailey from the original band but they had a cool sound with this strange mix of poppy weirdness and GONG like space outs. Guitar player and lead singer (young guy), he was great…  They had a good energy. Nice visuals…  We saw about an hr and then it was time to walk back to the town to sleep.  What an awesome little festival. 

July 29th

I am tired. IT was a long day but we stayed in bed til 10.. Hungry but no food around here. Ate the last granola bar.. We will have to walk to town or the festival for food. Lots of cool bands today starting early but I think I should rest up.. OSC are 2230-midnight…   Crowd seems very excited to hear us. Sold most of the records yesterday.. 

I made it to just catch the last 20mins of the Mandala Synth Orchestra (Cary Grace, Jez, Bob hedger, guy from Here and Now and one I did not know). It was a lot of modular drone with the occasional space bubble or sweep. 5 folks sitting on the floor playing modular and other synths. Would have loved to have joined..  

Kev Eillis and the Space Cadets was a really fun show.  He surrounded himself with a half female band (violin, bass, flute-penny whistle) and they just rocked and spaced out with funny lyrics.. A good time. 

The Honey Pot, a Fruits De Mer band, were next on the main stage and wow.. This was really nice and the crowd really loved their long jammed out take of White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.  Very nice set…

Chumley Warners Brothers, featuring Richard Chadwick (Hawkwind), Bridget Wishart (Ex-Hawkwind) and one other played a friendly set of music. It was nice to see them but musically it did not do anything for me. Acoustic guitar, hand drums and bridget sang and played an electronic flute. 

Deltanaut, were probably the heaviest band at the festival. Hammond driven, stoner, a bit of doom, bit of 70s….  Had some great stuff.. I enjoyed the songs that I heard a lot. 

Moon Goose was one of the bands that I was really looking forward to and they did not disappoint!   I thought it was going to be more proggy but it was very Kraut inspired with intense repeated and driving drums and bass with one fairly normal guitar, a guy who freaked out a bit now and then and a keyboard player playing weird samples and interesting chords.. Very cool…

We had some food now and did not see Trevors Head (punky) and only caught a bit of Sloth Metropolis. Some of them wore strange masks and it was a very odd but cool music… I wish I could have seen more of them.  

The Kundalini Genie, were a young 6 piece band with 4 guitar players, male and female lead vocals. They reminded me a lot of The Sonic Dawn or some other 60s inspired Danish bands. Would have sounded the same if they had 2 less guitar players though. Not a lot of solo parts. They had a great vibe and sound, if not very original. 

Damidge, an old punky UK band (with Alex Pym on guitar), were fun. Old punks…. The lead singer sat on a stool for a lot of the set..  Not really my thing but they were fun…

Only a few more acts until Øresund Space Collective….. trying to relax…  We heard the entire Paradise 9 set from the beer tent. IT was really nice music..  I liked it a lot.. 

Setlist: Nothing 4 Tomorrow, Deconstruct, Into the Ethers, Crystalized Moments, Inner Spark, Sci Fi Reality, Shine On, These are the Days, Take me to the Future

Had to get my head together, the band and gear and move it into the main tent before ZubZub started.  Zub Zub is a techno act by Zia (Ex bass player in Ozric Tentacles) and with accompanyment by Alex Pym on guitar. They often have jumping Jon (Ex Ozrics) playing with them as well but not today.  It was not my thing at all. Just a laptop computer, Zia dancing about and Alex layering in some cool guitar and some ripping solos now and again. 

Sadly, we did not get to see any of Kungens Man as they were on as we were setting up and soundchecking. We did get to chat with them a lot though…  I heard they were a great. 

Our (Øresund Space Collective) soundcheck went great and sound was awesome on the stage. We hit the stage with a short space in and then it was pretty much high energy Space rock for the next 85mins.. We only did 3 jams and damn, everyone was on fire. Tim gave some much drive and energy and Jiri matched it with some killer bass and Omar and Vince just played amazing solos.. Mogens also did 4 or 5 cool synth solos and then I just layered some sounds in on the top. Chris Pardon (Nik Turner, Hawklords) joined us for the last 30mins.  It was like we all flew in the same musical UFO and were in such good musical contact. Band was just awesome this night.  The organiser told us it was one of the top 3 concerts ever at the festival. Wow.... The audience loved it. We had such an amazing response. It was filmed and multi-track recorded. I also did an audience recording. 

I just packed up my stuff, said thanks to the guys and some of the fans and off to where we were staying. We got lucky and a local was driving back into town and gave us a ride.  What a day.. Awesome festival day. 

They had a Uncle Wallys small tent with a music program as well and some bands have done two shows at the festival or just little jam get togethers. We heard a bit of Black Helium, doing some acid-psych rock and that was pretty cool.. . Gregg McKella did a set with some friends, including Martin Litmus on bass.. The Telephones started things off and Vince Cory (STP) joined them. Cool idea. I thought it was going to be more jam oriented but nice..

July 30th

We were up early but it has been raining most of the morning after a great nice mostly sunny day yesterday.   I do not see us going down there before mid afternoon today.  Some cool bands playing, Spiral Navigators, Black Helium, Dead Otter, Sendelica, Cary Grace Band, Nukli, Invisible opera company of Tibet, etc…

Sue decided not to go at all and wanted to go our for a real meal in town so I was going to go see a few bands and come back. The weather was crap. It had rained all morning. I did not manage to get down there until 1430 and ran into Tim and Mogens so we walked back to the site. We did manage to catch most of the Spiral Navigators.  A really crazy band with a realy old HW-GONG vibe- space rock with a bit of chaos.. Good fun!!! 

I left and got back at 17 and Sue and walked down to The George Hotel but sadly the kitchen was closed so the choices were Fish and Chips place (had not seating), Chinese, Kebab or an Indian place. We rarely eat Chinese so we tried that. Appetizers were really good but the main meal had no taste at all. Luckily it came with some fresh chile (which were very mild but added some taste to the tasteless chicken and cashew nut sauce.  36£ or something. Insane prices in the UK.

I walked Sue nearly back and then quickly headed back so I could catch some of Sendelica . I missed the first 25mins or so. IT was good but nearly the exact same as last year when we saw them. Nice folks. Spoke to Glenn a bit (the bass player). We hung in the hotel bar last year in Liverpool. 

  The ØSC guys were having a jam session in the Wally tent (Vince, Jiri, Tim and Mogens) and some guest folks did some singing. I only saw a bit and was off to see Nukli. 

 Nukli I was really looking forward to and they did not disappoint. They played a great set and some cool old stuff from the 80s..  What a great bass and drummer combination. Mark is just incredible. Best bass player at the festival I would guess.  Gives the guitar player a lot of freedom. It was a great set. Love the way they use the space in their songs. The new drummer is really great and powerful.. Super good set. 

Set List: Afrika, Tomorrow People, The Kings Hat, World of Light, Free Festival, Acid Funk, Red Alert!, Visions of Amber

Black Helium were on the main stage  but overlapped with Nukli so I only could see the last 25mins. Young band playing psych rock. Not really doing anything new but they have a cool sound. Great visuals and nice to see the stage not so bright. There set in the Wally tent was much more psyched out.. I went back to the Wally tent and a new jam was starting with Richard Chadwick on drums (later Tim joined in). I had a nice chat and hung in the tent for a bit.  Feet were tried as I had walked the 25mins each way 3x this day to where we stay.  I did not see any of Radical Dance Faction (features Joie Hinton, ex Ozrics).  

Black Helium

Dead Otter were the last band of the festival and the tent was pretty packed.  I love these guys. It is a great mix of instrumental music styles- stoner rock, psych, etc.. Both guitar players play cool stuff and the drums and bass are really solid.  Funny guys from Glasgow. Super nice.. I only saw hr.. Said good bye to a lot of folks.. 

Set List: Pathfinder, Whansy, Waning, Eye Gal., Ex Querra, FcrF, S. Shadows, Open Eyes, Komarov, Seen Enough, B.O.W., Assault and Battery

Awesome festival… Paul, the organiser is a hero to pull this off. Wow.. Congrats... Thanks to everyone that I met and chatted with and hung out..  Lovely people you are!!!!

Unifant Festival- Travanchina, Portugal July 21-22nd, 2023

Unifant Festival is a local non-profit organization who have been putting on a small music festival for the last 6 years (not festival in 2020-21) but were back this year with a full 1 1/2 program.  I have been doing some volunteer work the last months to help the festival and all working at the festival are volunteers. The bands also all play for one meal and one drinks ticket (per person) and if you are further than 50km away, you get gas money as well. 

Anyway, we arrived around 17 on Friday and the festival site looked fantastic. There is a large dome with a small stage and sound booth as the main area. The large eating place down below the dome is where most people can be found or at the bar, which has a small DJ booth next to it. They also make pizzas.  No cash is exchanged and everything done via 10€ tickets and most drinks were 1-2€ (each tick on the card was 0.5€).  This is all very well organized. 

This is very much a family festival with lots of activities for kids and lots of them around. 

The opening ceremony started at 18 and about 50 people were there. It was lead by Suze Elliot, a local spiritualist.  She said a lot of nice words and created a great positive atmosphere. There were alot of small drums, shakers so people could get into the tribal spirit.  

1830, the local hard rock band, The Precipice, lead by Belgian singer-guitarist, Rudy.  They are a tight 3 piece playing all original songs with lyrics that provoke and make you think about the world we live in…  Sadly, they played to about 10 people, as most everyone left for the bar or food area.  They played 1 hr.. I had seen them a year ago and they had a few new songs, They still have no recorded output but Stephen, the drummer, said next year they plan to record the songs properly.

Set List: Don't wait for Judgement Day, Freedom of Life, Sleepwalkers, What If, Flush, The Lock, 2020-2021, Plug Out, ?, Stand tall for Who, Hold the Wine, The Precipice

The Precipice

A local DJ, Aaron Vansant, played some melodic electronic music for the next hr or so.  Aaron, I recognized him from the local seeds shop in Oliveria do Hospital. Super nice guy.  He also performed for nearly no people but you could hear the music over the entire site. I guess there were about 80 people about, including all the voluneers and lots of kids!! 

I Spy, a local band lead by Andy Shades (famous around these parts), were back. They played last year at the one day event.  Rob, the drummer, really seem to have improved a lot and he and Gino were tight. They were plagued by a lot of monitor issues on the stage and Andy was so fed up, he nearly quit the gig and left but thankfully he did not..  Again, not many people attending or dancing. Pity.. 

Set List: Jam. Rising, Drop in the Ocean, Trust that Feeling, Abort, Bottletops, Leaf of Faith. Wild Embrace, Breathe it In, Said and Done, Paga Kiss, Now Here, Monsters, One Step Away, NO Business

I Spy

Later in the evening there was Acetate (UK), based in Portugal now, Bernas and Organick (one of the main organizers).  I heard that Organick was great and played from 130 to 4 in the morning.  

July 22nd

The group that I play in with Dr Weaver, Doctors of Space, we were the first band on and we arrived at 11:10 and set up went pretty smooth but it was hot!!!! MOst of the stage was shaded but where it was not, it was hot and it was hard to see the digital displays on some of our gear.  We had a good sound on stage, at least I felt I could hear all well.  I was told it was massive and cool out front as well. We started right at 12 and played til 13.  The audience ranged from 1-10 people.  It is really strange to not really have any people at the stage. We had fun and played 6 tracks (all improvised).  It was a like an old school drum and bass set really to appeal more to this electronic music crowd, even though none of them showed up to the gig.   We had a lot of positive feedback from people all over the camp site which was good but it does not give you any energy and support when only a few people are at the stage. It is a bit demoralizing… It was worse for the next guy.

Doctors of Space

Luis Olivera, a super nice guy from Penalva da Alva, had a huge pedal board set up and played some originals and some cover songs for an hour on both acoustic and electric guitar.  Sadly, he also played for almost no people. He was a very nice guy. We enjoyed his set from the eating area but it was not that loud. 

Luis Olivera

Next was a Capoeira Workshop, a special type of dance and exercize workshop that they have every here. There were 30 or so people getting into it. 

Acetate was on next but we did not catch his act.  He was going to do a totally different set than the night before.  I had a nice chat with him. Cool guy… Another Shamanic Workshop was planned after that and then just music with Mae Bird, Persy, Yellowstone, Emo Dee lite, Fliptrix, Geometri, Quietman and DC. A lot of DJs and one rapper. 

I think it was a good success but less people than they had planned. There were only 100 tickets to be sold but I do not think there were even 100 people (not during the day) and this includes all the volunteers. I guess 50 or less tickets were sold.  

It is a great family festival and I would highly recommend it..

peace

https://www.unifant.pt/

Casafloresta- Casa da Cultura, Seia, PT June 17th, 2023

This was a very interesting event in the Culture House in Seia. I was invited by the Suse (the sound woman, who also worked on my music studio).  It was a combination of film, piano, guitar, accordion, 10 string viola guitar, some voice and sound samples. The music was very dissonant at times and experimental and QUIET.  I was very irritated but the lady in front of me who was on her phone half the concert with this huge bright white rectangle screen lighting up the area. Stupid..

Anyway, the woman playing the piano was amazing and creative and reached inside and made strange noises and bowed strings, and just played so cool… The guy who accompanied her mainly on the computer samples and acoustic guitar, he also played anything but normal guitar.  Repetitive picked patterns mixed with use of the body of the guitar. It was pretty interesting but very slow to evolve. I do not think I have the patience to play this kind of music and neither to most listeners!!! 

They played about 50mins and then there was a open discussion about the project that brings art and nature together.. It was lead by the woman, Corinna Lawrenz, who created this concept. I think… I did not stay for the discussion.  I do not have any pictures. 

http://www.aescuta.pt

On the Road with It was the Elf- Atalier, Fabrik Cultural Espaço, Coimbra, Portugal June 9th, 2023

The guys picked me up about 11 or so and we headed off towards Coimbra. Van is pretty small and crowded but the old Mazda does well. We stopped at a beautiful place on the Mondego River, near Penacova for a lunch break.  Guys were in a good mood, happy, having some smokes and talking…..

Mondego River

We arrived in Coimbra and found a parking place and just went to a cafe and chatted and had a few beers and then at 1630 drove over to the club, met the folks running it and loaded all the gear it. What a huge place. You can probably fill this with 5-600 people.  A nice wooden stage but the sound in this place was not good for hard rock-heavy metal…  

All was going smooth until 19 when a guy who holds a tango class was not told there was a show and insisted on doing his class so everything was on hold for an hr.. People just drank and smoked.  I was getting hungry so had to go get something as there would be no food before 2130!… 

Soundcheck was ok from 20 to 21 or so and then we walked 20mins up the hill to the top of Coimbra to an old college collective called Los Incas. What a really cool place.. They had just made spaghetti bolognese for the big group and there was wine and beer..  We were back about 2215 and some people were in the place now but we waited until 23 to play. Things are so late in Portugal.. 23 for the first band to play is crazy..  Cost was 6€.  Bands get 2€ each from the door. 

I played on the intro song for It was the Elf and then left the stage. They played about 7 or 8 songs, I think, quite a few from the latest album, Ancestors and older ones. Diogo is a great front man. He uses this quite harsh distortion on his voice which makes it quite intense. He also plays a bit of synth there and there.  They have a quite unique take on stoner rock. Super solid bass (Manu) and drums (ED) and then Vasco with interesting guitar parts, not just straight up stoner riffs.  Pity when he plays solos, he loses most of his volume so you could not hear any of them. I do not think any new ones. I joined them again for a jam at the end but it was so short. NO idea who stopped it or what but like 5mins??? Pity…..

Set List: Intro Synths, Rain, The Return Of The Bear, Black Caravan, The Mountains Elder, Sun, Parte Pulso, Red Hell Gold Fish, Dr. Space Jam

It was the Elf

SPITGOD, is a brother sister duo playing heavy sludge-death-doom stuff. Wow. Betina, the small petite drummer, she was so intense, wow.. never seen a female drummer play like that.  The crowd was really into it (about 50 people)..  They were really good at what they did but this type of music is nothing new but it allows the people to get their aggression out, which is good..  It was LOUD and harsh the sound..

Spitgod (from the soundcheck)

I was dying by the end of the set though as of these 60 people, I think 55 were smoking. Tobacco smoking is alive and well with the young people in Portugal.  Impressed…. It had been years since I had been to such a smokey place. I will never go back there.. 

It was about 1am when I got a ride back to the crash place. The other guys rolled in at 7 in the morning I am told.. Far out.. it was a fun trip….  I wish I could have gone to gig on the next day but it was another door deal, no food, no accommodation and they were going to all drive back at 3 in the morning after the gig, nearly 3hrs! I am too old to do these kind of gigs. 

Antarma and Sam Garrett- Cara Creek Eco Lodge, Fias da Beira, Portugal May 14th, 2023

This is not normally something I would attend but these guys had booked a few days in my studio on Monday and Tuesday so since they were playing 30mins away on Sunday, I thought I would check it out.  Cara Creek is an amazing place in a hidden valley of forest about 20mins from Oliveira do Hospital.  I was a bit late as I had a hard time to find the place but I caught at least half of Antarma´s set and all of Sam´s main set and part of the Bob Marley medley and jam and chant at the end with both of them..

Antarma is from the UK and his concert was in 2 parts where he played acoustic guitar and sings and the 2nd part was him on djembe and singing and chanting and with a lot of audience participation. He is really into the Indian spiritualism and that is what most of the songs were about, peace, love, emotional well being, and different gods like Shiva, Krishna, etc..  He was a very good performer and played some really complex guitar parts.  

Sam Garrett lives in the southern part of Portugal and mixes Rastafarian and Eastern spiritualism into his songs. The guitar parts are much more simple than Antarma and a lot of reggae inspiration as far as lyrics and music goes. He has a fantastic voice.  This set was a bit too religious for me but he had some great songs and what a voice.  This was more relaxed after the intense singing and dancing that ended the Antarma show.   They both performed at the end for a while. 

There was a crowd of close to 100 people, I guess and 70% women!!! A huge mix of hippies, kids, older English or European people, etc…  It was a lovely day as well with the sun shinning right down into the stage at sunset.  

Kanaan and Psycholona. Stengade, Copenhagen, Denmark May 17th, 2023

I had just arrived in town and got reminded when I ran into Per Engholm, that Kanaan was in town just down the street from where I am staying. I contacted the band and they invited me to join them so after I had eaten, I headed down to the club and it was great to see the guys.  They have achieved so much in the last few years since we first met and jammed together in Oslo. Wow.. 

It was great to talk and hang out with them for some hours and of course see them play. There was about 25-30 people when Psycholona hit the stage at 21.  I was talking with Todd and Deb from New Hampshire, who had come over to Europe to catch Somali yacht Club, who were to be on this tour but could not make it due to the war.  Anyway, Psycholona, laid down a cool classic stoner rock groove.  What can I say, the guys are really good at what they do. They are not reinventing the wheel or creating anything really new but solid songs and playing. They are tight. No jamming going on here.  Cool people and good show.

Set List: Blast Off, 1975, Rainbird, Down in the Valley, Meet your Devil, Star, Resin, Purple River, Blow, Warped

Kanaan, I had not seen since 2019 and they have really evolved for sure and are such amazing players. Each one of them. Their set was almost entirely new material so I was not familiar with it at all. They opened with a very intense version of Amazon. Then Downpour from the new album. A quite advanced proggy track. 

Pink Suite saw the band all three playing KORG MS-20s…. Esk had the KORG SQ1 sequencer as well connected to his. A very cool little interlude before the really heave Fuzz track.  After Orbit, I joined them for part one of Solaris from the new album.  This was spaced out for about 10mins and then they did part 2 and that was the end of the show. Wow.. awesome sound and powerful and diverse set.  Lovely people as well. Do not miss this tour.. 

Set List: Amazon, Downpour, Pink Suite, Black Time, Orbit, Solaris 1 and 2

Kanaan- foto by Stefan Ekberg

Naturale- Meditation over Mørket (Pariah Child/Svensk Psych Aften/Vinyltrolden/Virkelighedsfjern)

This release was a collaboration between 4 different labels. The project is headed by Kriller Anderson, multi-instrumentalist from Copenhagen, who has or does play in a lot of bands including Gaia, Måneskjøld, and many others. This album was recorded primarily in an old house in the Swedish countryside. All instruments except the bass (by Morten Bastkjær).  There are 3 tracks on the side A and 2 on the side B with different moods. The record starts off spokey but a nice acoustic floating number (Mørket (The Dark) starts things off.  Lyskmaskiner (Light Machine) you can hear some sounds recorded around the house but is mostly a slow growing keyboard based track. Later a drum machine comes in after a section of trippy stuff as the transition to Slukket.  Side B starts with organ and chanting song that is pretty much what it is… Ilden, has a nice keyboard drone and slowly picked guitar creating a very laid back mood to chill to... It later evolves into the most interesting and psychedelic track on the album. Really cool stuff.. Interesting album and cool to see Kriller just follow his own path….  Try to walk the road he has and see where it takes you…..

https://kriller.bandcamp.com/album/meditation-over-m-rket 

Liquid Orbit- Spontaneous Floating Rock Creations (Nasoni Records NASONI231CD)

This is the 2nd Liquid Orbit album from the Bremen area based Germany band and quite an adventurous one!  The CD is taken from jam sessions the band had over the last few years and they took the best parts and put together 6 long tracks. All was recorded live including the vocals, which were spontaneous word creations.  It was mixed by the now legendary Willi Dammier (most will know him from his work with Colour Haze). The opening track has a nice uptempo beat and open spacey sound. So Slow, slows things down and is more mysterious. Love the exploring keyboards at the start and slow build. Walk that Highway starts with some mysterious dark theme and has some cool guitar and keyboard parts and fewer vocals. The Machine inside you reminds me of an old German classic but I can not place it but I love the organ especially on this one.. Passionate singing and great groove. All that Bitterness is a slow burner with a lot of mood and nice Rhodes like piano.. YOU…the Seeker ends this record with a track with a really nice groove and vibe. The vocals are a bit too dominant on much of the album for my tastes but there are a lot of awesome jamming tracks with cool guitar and keyboard parts and a very solid rhythm section. Don´t get me wrong, Sylvia is a fantastic singer!!  A very cool German band…

http://liquidorbit.bandcamp.com 

http://nasoni-records.com

Tetrao Urogallus- Gulo Gulo (Sulatron Records st 2303)

This is a fairly new and cool instrumental band from Hamburg Germany that is for sure inspired by the Budos Band. The core of the band is: Dennis Rux (Guitar, production) and David Nesselhauf (Bass). They are joined by Mark Norton (Sax), Jan Schepmann (Trumpet), Chris Haertel (Philicorda, Moog) and Corneel Canters (Drums). 

This is their 2nd album. Side A features shorter tracks with a Black Sabbath inspired riff on Lupus. Side B is mostly one long track called Vetus Imperium and the most musically diverse with repeated heavy guitar riff sections punctuated with synth solos, horn sections, spacey sounds as it goes thru several movements. If you like the Budos Band then this one is for you for sure.. 

https://tetraourogallus.bandcamp.com/album/tetrao-urogallus

www.facebook.com/gallusmajor
www.instagram.com/tetraourogallus_official

http://sulatron.com 

Astral Magic- Am I Dreaming (Self Released Astral Magic Music ASTRALA025)

Am I Dreaming? was put out on the 10” lathe-cut with three others tracks from three other future (back then…) albums. One track (the CD bonus) was on Flicknife comp, one was on the Irish 7” lathe-cut.  Some of the tracks are from earlier releases but in new versions. The LP came out in some special colour editions (purple, gold, orange, clear, etc) and then 200 on black vinyl.  It is  very nice release with a cool poster and the special coloured ones came with the CD with a bonus track.   Lots of cool people from the psychedelic rock underground appear on the record including Jay Tausing, Dr Koch, Gregory Curvey, Fred Laird, Jaire Pätäri, etc.. There are 8 tracks total.  It is another really cool release but I have to admit, it is becoming hard to hear something new in Astral Magic.  A lot of it sounds like tracks I have heard before. Of course a lot of these are from these other releases I mentioned above and this was a way to get these tracks out on a larger scale.  Still high quality psychedelic rock. Was released on Friday May 5th.. As well as another new CD called Cosmic Energy Flow and 7”..  

http://astralmagic.bandcamp.com

Glitter Wizard- Kiss the Boot EP (Kitten Robot Records)

Eclectic SF Bay area band are back with a new rockin´ EP, going back to more of their glam rock roots and shorter more direct tracks including a cool Bowie cover…  This was recorded over a weekend in Los Angeles at the record label´s studio.  Then another weekend to do some overdubs and mix!  It starts off wtih She´s a Star!  It is a fast paced rock and roll number, a mix of GW own strange and funny parts and then real classic rock. Love the synths on this one. Check out the fun video below. Glitterati packs a lot into this 2.5 min track. The keyboard hook line is crucial to this one. The vocal chorus is so 70s cheese but it works… They back spacey sounds and short guitar solos in so you get it all!! Sequins and Leather slows things down. Flip over the record and you get a bit of Bowie.  One of his well loved songs from the early 70s..  Hard to beat the original but cool version.  Sugar Beat is one of my fave tracks. Something about the mix of the footstomping beat, vocals and that guitar riff!!  Pogo Tonight is a real 70s cheese pop number, that ELO synth, and … well.. you just have to hear it.. Not my fave track….  It is a really fun EP!! Enjoy…

Lorfin Terrafor - guitars and vocals, Wendy Stonehenge - lead vocals , Moon - bass and vocals, Doug Graves - synthesizers and sequencer , Fancy Cymballs - drums and vocals , Screamin’ Lord Duff - vocals , Geoff Yeaton - saxaphone 

This interview is a must read if you dig the band.. You will also learn more about the making of this album.,

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2023/04/glitter-wizard-interview-new-ep-kiss-the-boot.html 

http://glitterwizard.bandcamp.com 

Us and Them- We count the Evening Stars (Withdrawn Records 007)

The Swedish Duo, Anders and Britt are back with a short Ep featuring 4 covers songs that the band really like. The band are in a very relaxed mood on this EP. The first is a quite underground track from 1968 by Nick Garrie. It is the only semi-uptempo track with a nice strummed guitar and accented with the Rhodes piano. Lovely sung.  Beachwood Park by the Zombies is next.  It is a very relaxed track with some nice layered vocals on this beautiful track.   Little Girl in Bloom from the first Thin Lizzy record was an interesting choice for the band. It is also based on keyboards, drums and bass except the guitar solo section.  The EP ends with The Garden of Jane Delawney by the TREEs.  The addition of flute is quite nice.  I do not know any of these songs except the Thin Lizzy song but they did very nice versions of all the songs.  Beautiful music.  Check them out!! 

http://usandthem.se 

http://facebook.com/usandthemmusic

Siena Root- Revelation (Atomic Fire Records AFR0076DP)

This is the bands 8th studio album and the first since 2020.  It features 11 original tracks in 47mins… It starts off with Coincidence and Fate, which kicks in with what I would call a signature SR sound now, one you have heard before!!  Powerful female vocals are also a trademark and Zubaida is on her 2nd album with the band but also takes over all keyboard duties as well.. Impressive…  Professional Procrastinator is a funky and very cool track with some great playing and I like this spaced out sound that rises up before the band kicks it up to another level but so sad it ends at 3 mins. Fantastic sound and great to hear the band experiment a bit more!!! No Peace keeps the groove medium pace and the organ plays a bit more of a role in the sound on this one. Less than 3 mins this track! Fighting Gravity is a bit more bluesy. Dusty Roads is an acoustic number with flute by Lisa, and the mood changes a lot, Fantastic vocals. Winter Solstice is another acoustic one but more uptempo. Love the bass line on this track. Lisa is also on this track and Eric (used to be the organ player) also plays on this short track. Dalecarlia Stroll is instrumental and starts with some flute and the bass and organ kick in and disappear and the flute takes the lead again. It gradually gets more heavy and reminds me of Uriah Heep. Leaving the City is another acoustic track with sitar (Stian) and hand drums.  Great song. Little Burden is another relaxed and laid back track. Madukhauns is another sitar lead piece and a bit more traditional Indian inspired in a way.  Love it.. The last track, Keeper of the Flame, is an emotional one and focus on the guitar playing this time before rocking out at the end!!! 

The band deliver a mixture of their core sound but with a bit shorter tracks and solos, then provide a more relaxed vibe but with great songs to show another side of the band.  When you are this many albums out it is can be hard to escape your sound and move forward.  The band have some new ideas for sure but you also know this is Siena Root!!!  Great job folks…

http://www.sienaroot.com