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..
The Norwegian Trio, Kanaan are back with the new album. Recorded by the bass player Esk in Oslo, the album features 8 songs and a more heavy vibe, real stoner rock stuff at times but still their own unique twist to things… Prelude starts things off with a short beautiful piece of music, reminding me a bit of the new Papir material but then you take off with Return to the Tundrasphere! Has the band ever been this heavy before? I don’t think so. Cool guitar riff, heavy low end bass and powerful drums. Some great melodic parts as well, a mixture of symphonic heavy (with mellotron) and stoner. Super cool and heavy riff rock at the end of this long track. Pink Riff is a short track but super intense and quite psychedelic at times with some spacey sounds mixed in with a very intense bass and drum attack. What a blast!! Feels almost like I am playing with them on this one! Bourdon slows things down with some effected bass and guitars and then get you get the very fuzzed out bass and guitar with some wild solos and intensity.. Mirage is a relaxing spacey piece to end the record..
Side B, starts with Mudboound and a heavy bass line and QOTSA guitar hook, riff and a bit of a Colour Haze vibe. The track sticks with the dirty and fuzzy sound with some occasional guitar outbursts before settling down to a spacey mid section. Great and dynamic track. Crash is actually a slow doom drone track, who would have expected that??? No Star left Unturned sees the band going for some heavy psych rock to end this pretty intense album. Wow.. Awesome stuff..
This Italian group are back with their 4th release. I had only heard the 2nd one before getting this new one. It features 5 tracks plus a bonus track. It comes in a really nice like dvd size digpack. The opening track is a mixture of deep bass drone, church organ and some spacey wind and sounds. After a few minutes there is a spoken word section with some delay. Hard to understand. As the track continues it gets more and more spaced out with different sounds flying around here and there. 10mins.. Next track starts with some spaced out sounds with long delays and then a more sequences synthesizer kicks in while the spoken words start to appear. This track has a bit more energy but is still very spaced out and intense. The Window is next and has a dark mysterious feel to it like it could be in a horror film scene. The music is quite like a more spacey and less layered Tangerine Dream. Diegetic Distortion is more noisy and experimental in nature.
Nothing will be Better is buzzing about to start with some distant sounds of machines and other noises that and eventually a highly effected voice appears and bells and you start to get worried. The bonus track, Heat was improvised in March 2020 and again features some sequences synth but with a programmed drum as well and some samples. It has a mid pace and nice build and is the least spaced out song and quite repetitive in nature. I really liked this stuff. Think of a more dark Tangerine Dream meets Dario Argento in a dark alley….
I have been listening to these really cool tracks as Dave has added them slowly to bandcamp and really enjoyed them a lot. These tracks are recorded live with a loop station guitar, effect pedals, 2 loop stations, 2 guitar amps, a syncable drum computer, a very old organ from GDR (Weltmeister TO 200/5), a very old synthesizer (Roland SH 5) and a modern one (Roland SE-02).
The Roadburn haze was debuted back in April and what an awesome track this is.. A very dark and cool guitar line and quite hypnotic. Killer track. Rolling is all synth based. Die Karawane has a slow spacey start and some nice building guitar with some beautiful melodies.. Wastelandgarden is a very dark, brooding synth track with a bit of delay guitar. Dopeshuttle is very slow and droney to start. Bass sort of reverberates and some guitar effects fly around a bit here and there and a nice breeze and some SH-5 bubbles burst here and there.. and then the motorik drums kick in and off you go for an intense trip…. Stargate is another long but slow track but this one stays in drone mode with some trippy guitars and stuff all the way through. One Way is the last track and my least favourite but it has a beautiful melody and is perhaps just a bit too happy.. Great release.
Roadburn Haze 14:59, 2. Rolling In Outer Space 5:04, 3. Die Karawane der Unsterblichen 13:41, 4. Wastelandgarden 6:41, 5. Dopeshuttle 17:45, 6. Stargate 14:05, 7. One Way 6:03
About a year ago I was approached by Roadburn records and asked if I was interested in contacting On Trial and also mixing this concert they played in 2007… I have been friends with the band for many years and was very familiar with their sound so I accepted the challenge and spent a month mixing all the tracks and then with the bands help and looking at the Live at Gutter Island record, we chose the tracks that would be the most different material as that live album was also from this tour. Anyway, I am very happy with the way it turned out. Great artwork, sound and performance by the band.. Check out Blood River below! If you like On Trial, you will dig it!!
So ST37 got a bit angry and let it out on these isolation recordings. The limited edition tape features 3 songs (jams) on each side. The opening track reminded me a bit of the craziness of the Butthole surfers while the 2nd track starts off like if Hawkwind were even more stoned in 1971 and recorded in a low fi manner. Crazy psychedelic soundscapes and wild jamming. Even sounds like a bit of flute in there! Later on there is a guy raving like a maniac about something!! The last track on side A, the Monster is Real continues the psychedelic mind fuck…
Side B starts off with Observing Dust which features long guitar soloing parts and psychd out sounds. The 2nd track is another sort of mind fuck and thankfully the last track is more relaxed and almost bluesy as your brain will need a rest by this point… Phew.. Quite a powerful release. Enjoy..
It has been quite a few years since Agusa put out a new studio album. They have been focusing on live albums the past years, having an equal number to their studio albums. Anyway, the band is really totally different now though, with only the guitar player, Mikael, from the original band. Tim (Drums) and Theresa (Flute) have been in the line up for some years though. Bass player, Simon and keyboard player, Jens, are the new fresh blood. These two long tracks were recorded in sections (according to Tim) and put together to make these long tracks. IT is the bands most progressive and least folky album yet and quite impressive playing and dynamics. I love the freshness of the sound. Awesome record….
The rumour of this record has been around for quite a while and it is great that it has finally come out. In Sept 2019, the bands played two shows in Lisboa. One night both bands played one set and the next night, they all jammed together.. The band was: Pedro Pestana: Guitar, fx, Joao Pais Filipe: Drums/Percussion and Komet Lulu – Bass and effects. Pablo Carneval - Drums, Sula Bassana – Guitar, fx
So what about the music?? Three tracks are presented, 6, 14 and 20mins. The music is quite a bit more Electric Moon than Talea music. Like Electric Moon with heavier drumming and more spaced out guitars… I would have liked if the drums were mixed higher and you could get more of the Talea groove feel but that is my preference.. Cool stuff.. A nice new musical collaboration!
Dark Bottle (from Finland) are back with a high energy politically charged release.Failed State is also quite catchy, with slide and banjo but a punky vibe… Let the through be told (very rare in the USA)!! Check out the great video below! This is what the band had to say about: “Don wrote this song while observing, from a distance but with a lot of concern, at what a mess things seem to be at the moment in the USA. We recorded it in short order at Nekala Propaganda Centre and video genius Joona Virtanen made a great video of it.”
The B side is the song Cop Killer by Body Count but with a totally new arrangement that leans more towards psychobilly.. I wonder what Ice T thinks?? I guess he would dig it and so will you!!Only made in 2 or 300 copies.. A very different release from some of the bands other material but damn good!!
This is not the first release on Fruits to recreate a classic album from the 70s. Here we have the 50th anniversary of the Van der Graaf Generator album recreated by Rob and collaborators Cary Grace, Brazilian band ‘Dr. Fantastico’ and The Purple Gang’s Chris Joe Beard. Here is some background info: Keyboard player and composer, Rob Gould, has already written and recorded 13 solo albums, not to mention an album’s worth of tracks that he’s recorded for Fruits De Mer Records - all cover versions - ranging from Pink Floyd's 'A Saucerful of Secrets', The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows', Manfred Mann's 'Funniest Gig' to two David Bowie songs, appearing on various FdM projects over the years.
I have to say I have never heard the original. VDGG and ELP since they did not have a of guitar, I never really got into them. Clearly this album had more or Rob and the gang added quite a bit of guitar. The album starts with the Lemmings (incluidng Cogs) and some beautiful piano and floating synthesizer followed by the bass. About 1.5 minutes in the drums kick in and off we go, with first vocals (mixed quite low at first, as you hardly can make out the words until the chorus, then they sort it out). After about 6mins it gets quite psychedelic with a lot of cool instrument experimentation. Around 8mins we return back to the main theme of sorts and the vocals are back in full. What an amazing spacey track in the end. Lovely… Man Erg is next for another 10mins. This is classic early 70s prog with the organ dominating the sound until 3mins and then things start to change in more interesting ways and there is a beautiful keyboard solo (actually multiple) that follows. Quite a track and very different from the first one. The final 26 min track starts slow and spacey with some nice piano playing. A surprise is to hear Carry sing but why not! It is great that they are not trying to do an exact copy of the record but a really cool interpretation. What a great release… Only made in 150 copies on CD (at least for now)..
Just got this in the mail from Albin Julius label, and has usual, there is no information so you have to do some research to find out a bit about these mysterious acts that he releases. This is a solo project by Marc de Backer, best know from Mucky Pup and Dog eat Dog, Mongolito and recently Wolvenest! This is the 9th release (15 on bandcamp) he has made He plays nearly all the instruments except the drums, a little bass and synth (DéHa). The CD features6 tracks in about 40mins. Baclanova starts with a nice melodic guitar and some droning synths and a really nice vibe. A bit over 3mins the drums kicks in and the track becomes mid tempo with two guitar riffs now as it builds and gets a bit heavier. Amazing track. The Death of yet another Dream starts slow with a sort of happy mood but quickly a sort of large epic soundscape begins to emerge. Another moving emotional track.. Ultrasolution starts with some mellotron choir voices and guitar. A spaced out voice makes a brief appearance before fading away into the void of the song only to reappear now and then. Spacey stuff but a similar guitar sound to the other two tracks. The guitar gradually becomes dominant and a bit like David Gilmour at times, saying a lot with few notes. nice music to just float away to. Years of Nothingness starts with a bass synth drone and drums. “Repeat after me… all these years of Nothingness……” a more trippy track than the others but a cool mood. I dug that.. Slowly is one of the more heavy tracks with a nice wah solo and heavy riff. Later on their is a synth solo followed by a more wild guitar solo while the rhythm guitar plays more or less the same riff over and over.. The title track ends this album with another short guitar driven instrumental. Great album. I was really surprised how much I liked it. Check it out for sure!
The info below was supplied by the record label.
The Insektlife Cycle are an instrumental rock group based in Pateros Metro Manila, Philippines, formed in 2013 by members of the bands Hateure & Barabbas. They have already released singles with Fruits de Mer Records and an album with Sugarbush Records. Their new four-track EP is being released by Fruits de Mer Records as a super-limited 8” lathe-cut (just 100 copies worldwide). The band describe it as, “a sonic work of instrumental heavy psych and modern blues in sunshine acid” The record has been engineered by guitarist Ronnel Vivo and produced by the band. It will also be released in the Philippines by local label PAWN Records on cassette. The lathe-cuts are being made by Phil at http://www.345rpm.com
As for the music the CD features 4 short instrumental tracks with some intense lead guitar on the opening track, Old Year’s Eve. It is based on a pretty heavy bass and guitar riff but some keyboard is mixed in. Superstrung! kicks in fast and again with the same sounding heavy bass and drums a bit more up front in the mix and guitar a bit back but also some nice lead runs. These tracks all feel like excerpts from longer jams and not really focused tracks. These first two could be from the same jam.. It has that feel to it.. Sol Velvet changes the mood with some nice synths underneath the bass and drums. The guitar is more melodic as well. Recline is a relaxed track with a nice almost surf vibe in a way… anyway good spacey beach music. It would have been nice if the synths-keyboards were mixed a wee bit higher… Cool stuff. I had never heard these guys. The 8” lathe will also come with a limited CD with two extra tracks, I am told. This is going to be rare.. Only 50 tapes and 80 8”s….
Toca. da Raposa is a local camping site run by a lovely Belgian lady, Meike and they are usually sold out all summer long. She likes to have live music a few times a month. Doctors of Space (my duo with Martin Weaver) were supposed to play there in March 2020 then covid fucked it all up. I asked about playing again and did not get a straight answer. I think everyone is asking her to play there as it is one of the few places having some live music.
Anyway, there was a lot of people that I knew there and the band was set up on the patio area where they do pizzas on weds. Band was in a good mood and the sound was much better even though the left speaker was giving some distortion due to surges in the electricity (this is what I was told) and that was annoying.
The band started about 20:30 and played one 45min set and took a break. I filmed one of the songs, about not believing science and what you are told about covid (see below). A lot of Andy’s songs are political or ecological in nature and the music is pretty high energy except when they do into their lounge jazz mode and he plays the saxophone. I wish the drummer was not so laid back all the time, it would push the music into a more rock direction if he played with more force. Anyway, it was a good mix of funky, jazzy, rock songs, all originals. People and kids were dancing and having a great time. A couple of locals came up and did some singing-rapping during a couple of instrumental parts. I had a really good time.
Two locals who were singing, rapping a bit.
Intro Jazz jam
Andy had a briefcase with some of this releases, none of which I had ever seen. He says he has made 12 albums under lots of different names, Us, Andy Shades, Fie Fi Foe and a few others. I should have taken a picture of them. Anyway, here is a video of one of the new songs as mentioned above.
Expo 70 is a very prolific group from the mid-west US lead by Justin Wright.Some of their albums are released on a Brazilian label what also released Acid Mothers Temple, Spacious Mind, Nadja, Merzbow and many others. I have only heard a few but I have really dug everything by this band so far.This CD is complied from jams that took place in 2013 (Tracks 1-2) and 2017 (3-6).Justin plays the guitars and synths, Aaron Osbourne on bass/percussion and for the 2013 session it was Mike Vera on drums and the later Chris Fugitt.The CD opens up with Sucking the Chrome of a Tailpipe/Nebula Raga and one of the heaviest things I have ever heard by the band. The opening riff is a real blast back to the Kyuss sound but then they diverge but still keep it heavy.Later this is some intense double tracked lead guitars that give it quite a psychedelic flavour.What a great 9 and a half minute track.The Slow Death of Tomorrow, starts slow and spacey with a low drone and some wind before the saxophone (no one is credited so perhaps it is synth based?) compliments the low drone.Quite a change….Chrome Finger tips starts slow and spacey and has a different sound production and is a sort of intro to Echoes of Ether which is a heavy doomy affair. Reminds me a bit of Sleep/Arc of Ascent style riffing until the guitar solo section which is fuzzed out and comes in sort bursts as he returns to the heavy riff every now and again.Gets more psyched out at the end with some intense drumming. Second Vision, First Sightis a bit hypnotic to start and much less heavy but that changes as the heavy riff is more in the background and the wah guitar with some delay is more in the front on this mix.The CD ends with First Vision, Second Sight ends this record in a very heavy way that it started with a very stoney, doom riff fest and some nice soloing on the top..Cool album and heavier than I had expected…This is released on CD and vinyl (which has different artwork).Great album…
Superfjord is a very good Finnish band with some progressive and psychedelic tendencies. The band has a couple of full length and 7” releases out. This is the first in a series of live recordings to be released to show case a bit of improvisation that the band does live. The 3 tracks here were recorded at Helsinki´s G lively in Jan 2020. The CD starts off with Moment 1 which is quite jazzy with some nice piano playing as the rest of the band slowly follows the lead. A bit of delay guitar here and there and then synths make it a bit spacey while the drums, bass and piano make it jazzy and increase the energy a bit. There is a really nice stereo separation of the instruments that sounds great on my 5.1 system with the two guitar well split left and right. The track is really getting quite intense by 5 mins as the jam progresses. At 7mins Olavi comes in and plays a long sax solo which then becomes the focus til the end. Moment 2 starts with the synth taking the lead and then the sax as the beat and groove slowly build. It is a very dynamic track but then drops down to just sax and a few instruments in the middle for a bit before building back up again. Great track… Around 9 mins, after a short vocal section, they seem not sure where to go but they find a new direction that then fades out but is cleary the same jam that continues into the track Rainbow which is a quite happy guitar lead track to start. Nice melody and also some vocals about Rainbows. Great guitar on this one and more uptempo until the band spaces at 10mins or with a bit more sax before building up again after 13mins into something very hypnotic and CIRCLE inspired. This is the longest track over 19mins before it fades out. Also some great bass lines cut through the mix nicely at times. Can’t wait to hear the next volume…
The band on this release is:
Sampo Fagerlund: drums, percussion Mikko Kapanen: vocals, guitars Juho Ojala: vocals, keyboards, synthesizers Jussi Ristikaarto: vocals, guitars, electronics, percussion Teemu Soininen: bass Olavi Töyli: tenor saxophone, percussion
FdM club members get quite a few cool complication CDs each year which often features current FdM label artists or ones that might appear in the future. This CD features 15 artists most of which I am not familiar with at all except Alain Pire, Vert-x and Vibravoid!
Seven Rivers of Fire- Very nice solo instrumental acoustic guitar track
The Superstars- starts with piano and vocals and then drums and a bit of guitar kick in as the track picks up tempo. Intense piano playing and a unique voice.
The Hologram People- Dreamy with some acoustic guitar, keyboards. Floating..
Jim Griffin- Some spacey sounds, then the drums and bass groove kick in and synths becomes more intense and layered. At last the guitar.Laid back space rock..
Silver Vials- The most guitar intense track so far, with a drone feel but off into space we go following that lovely guitar lead…
The Strange Happenings- A bit like Reefus Moons.. Anyway,, a great 60s psych song feel.
Alain Pire Experience- A bit more rock and roll for you…
Vibravoid- Wehrhahn Wah Wah a track from the next studio album and more synth based than normal.Something new in their sound.. Cool..
Jeremy-This is an uptempo rock and roll track with some really nice guitar. Love the way it cuts through the sound and the synths bubble and girgle in the background.
Revbjelde- Some quite loud bursts of bass sounds over a synth sequence.One of the more experimental pieces for sure.
Magnus Josefsson-This is a nice melodic guitar driven track with a beautiful melody.Makes you smile.
Thought Bubble- A bit of an eastern feel on this psych track. Keeps you on edge…
St Kraut- Hypnotic, strange sound production, mostly guitar driven.
Vert-X-After a spaced out start, super intense motorik space rock… as expected..
Palooka 5- This is a track that will surprise the hell out of you. Wow… hard to describe. Unique.
