Michael Padilla- Atmospheres- Ambient Works Vol 1 (Fruits de Mer Records Strangefish 7)

Michael has previously provided some other tracks for different compilations on the label but this a full length record with 3 long tracks and one short track of ambient space stuff.  This is totally different from the stuff he makes with The Soft Bombs and Dora Flood. Northern Lights is 11 mins and starts things off is extremely floating with these lush synths just slowly moving in waves as other things slowly happen. Great stuff for a late night or early Sunday morning after a hard Saturday night!  Just let it take you away. Crossing east is around 11mins and is equally laid back and ambient space stuff with a repeated line that he slowly layers another synth that sounds a bit like flute or violin at times. You can hear the track below. 

Ecstagony has a darker vibe to it and starts with a deep and slow growing synth drone before the more beautiful, relaxing synths layer in. The Waiting is a short 3min piece that ends this spacey ambient journey again starting with a more deep synth and then the more happy french horn like synth comes in and the mood changes. This is pressed in a limited edition on vinyl only....

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

APE MACHINE- Coalition of the Unwilling CD (Heavy Psych Sounds)

US band Ape Machine is back with a new EP to follow up their 2013 Mangled by the Machine on Ripple. They also released a live from Freak Valley album this year. Don’t mistake these guys for the Italian Ape Skull also on this record label. These Portland Oregon four piece retro rockers start off with the first of 6 tracks called Crushed from Within.  It starts off with a guitar solo straight away and reminds me a bit of Blue Cheer. These guys really like to borrow, steal, a lot of classic guitar lines. I hear them here and there a lot in their music but they make these songs their own and rock like hell. The sound production is quite special. A large open room sound on the guitar but a huge tight drum sound. Caleb is a passionate singer and he has a lot of space in this first very cool track. Disband has a lot of cool guitar parts and sometimes he sounds like a organ but Ian is best laying down the heavy riffs and solos, which he takes many short ones in this mid paced hard rock track.  Give what you Get reminds me a bit of Pentagram (the guitar riff).  A quick 3mins song. Under this Face has a familiar riff and groove but it is not a cover song. There are no keyboards listed on the CD so maybe Ian makes that sound with his guitar?? Ape’n’stein, is next and their unique take on the Edgar Winter classic, Frankenstein. The CD ends with Never my Way, a very Led Zeppelin inspired track, as the under 30mins passes quite fast. Check these guys out! They remind me a bit of the Danish band, Bite the Bullet at times.

http://heavypsychsounds.com

http://apemachine.bandcamp.com

The Grand Astoria- The Mighty Few (Fire Storm Production)

The Grand Astoria from St. Petersburg are one of the most prolific Russian bands on the psychedelic rock scene today. The band has 21 albums or EPs, live etc.. on the bandcamp site but this is their 6^th proper CD.  This is their latest release and it features just two long tracks, each with a lot of different movements. Curse of the Ninth starts things off and is quite heavy and intense for the first 7 mins and then it has a nice and very beautiful musical break with flutes, etc.. lovely stuff… This more mellow floating piece with flute, horns, etc.. and some cool drumming lasts about 8mins and then it gets quite heavy and intense again with a good mix of synthesizer and heavy rock guitars. I love this section. The track nearly ends after 21mins with a very nice floating vocal section that last about 3mins and I thought for sure the track was over but no, they return to the heavy nearly doom riffing that started the entire thing off as the track comes to an end after 28mins! Wow.  The Siege is another nearly 20min track. It starts off also with a heavy and dark theme but this does not last that long before it becomes more happy and relaxed and an almost reggae like rhythm takes hold with some nice melodic singing. They remind me so much of someone else but I just can’t place it at the moment. Just before 8mins the track starts to build up again with a guitar solo and more intense drums but still a slow military like beat. It gets really psychedelic after this point. Wow. Around 13mins we float back to reality as the track slowly spaces out and continues just as you thought it was all over. IT does come to a complete end and silence but at 15:50, it starts up again with just some guitar and bass as the drums and join. Great bass playing in this section. It goes for a further 3-4mins. I have to say this is a very impressive and cool album. I have enjoyed it very much, so many expressive moods and great playing. Great work guys and gals.

http://thegrandastoria.bandcamp.com

Girlsweat/Cosmic Dead Split tape (Evil Hoodoo EH-013)

Another quite limited edition release from the Evil Hoodoo folks. Side A starts off with a really psychedelic track from the Cosmic Dead called Tembling Balls. Some spacey synths, and exploring drums start things off and then the guitar feedback and sounds slowly come into the picture. Eventually a repetitive synth vibrates and a constant kick drum goes along more or less in time as the others just space out completely….. It just slowly builds in intensity… Totally far out, as you have grown to expect from this band.

The Girlsweat side is something totally different and 3 shorter tracks.  Tape Worm Part 1& 3 is a quite low fi noisy track (dangerous in the headphones) with a really fucked up sound production. Mostly just a bass line and some far out electronics and a very noisy guitar. Scraper her Out features some quite tortured and mind bending vocals to make the music even more disturbing. The last track called Further Pluto, is for sure way out there.. This is one really fucking crazy sounding band.  They are in another universe!!

http://Evilhoodoo.bandcamp.com

Suns of Thyme/Odd Couple Split 7” (H42 Records H32-24)

The latest 7” from H42 features two bands from Berlin. Side A starts off with the duo, Odd Couple. Their track Blue Footed Bobby reminds me of the Clash but with a slight 60s garage tinge. There is a 2^nd short song or is it just a strange ending to the first??? Anyway, it is totally different with an echoey vocal and simple guitar.  Flip the record over and you have Suns of Thyme. They had their debut LP out last year. Their track, Former Friend, reminds me a lot of the 80s UK psych sounds and it has a really catchy groove that has you shaking your head.  Cool track. This 7 inch comes in 150 black, 50 clear and 100 clear dark blue marbled vinyls… Enjoy.

http://www.oddcouple.de

http://sunsofthyme.de

http://h42records.de