Bad Luck at the 2017 Ballard Jazz Festival in Seattle Wednesday May 17th

Neil Welch – tenor saxophone, Chris Icasiano – drums/percussion

Formed more than 10 years ago, Bad Luck are an avant-jazz duo featuring Neil Welch playing tenor saxophone and electronics and Chris Icasiano playing drums and percussion. Their musical collaborations began with late night marathon sessions exploring the nuances of creative jazz while they were students at the University of Washington. Founding members of the Racer Sessions avant-garde series, as well as Table & Chairs, a Seattle based arts organization that produces events and facilitates educational programs, they have released four albums on the Table & Chairs Music label and have a fifth scheduled for late 2017.

Ippu Mitsui - “L + R” (2017) review

Ippu Mitsui - L + R (Bearsuit Records, 2017)

https://bearsuitrecords.bandcamp.com/album/l-r

Japanese artist/musician Mitsui is one of the latest signings to the eclectic, mostly electronic Scottish imprint, Bearsuit Records, a longtime favourite around these parts. Last year he released a split LP with Annie And The Station Orchestra and here he forages out on his own, delivering hypnotic electronic beats that are full of energetic creativity and will make your pants get up and dance. The eleven tracks segue seamlessly like a classic DJ mix, with the stomping floorthrobber ‘Small Rider” sprinkling tinkling fairy dust over a ferocious backbeat. Inaudible vocal splicings slice through the patchwork quilt glitch rock of the appropriately titled ‘Patch Up’ and ‘Break Through 50 Watt’ and ‘In My Mind – Kokoro’ are chill out, romance music for the new generation; the former harkening back to vintage Warehouse grooves, while the latter reminds of the pronouncements of the backwards-talking midget in Twin Peaks!

The Origin Uber Band at the 2017 Ballard Jazz Festival Seattle, Friday May 19th

The Origin Uber Band consists primarily of artists who record for the Origin Arts label. Given that Origin has organized the Ballard Jazz Festival in Seattle since it began in 2002, it seems natural that some of the region’s best players would come together this year if for no other reason than to celebrate the festival’s 15th anniversary. Performing two staggering sets of music at the Conor Byrne Pub, it featured Dave Peterson – guitar; Richard Cole – tenor saxophone (first set); Brent Jensen – tenor saxophone (second set); Rick Mandyck – piano; Chuck Deardorf – electric bass; and John Bishop – drums.

Triptides - “Afterglow” album premiere

Triptides are premiering their new album Afterglow. Jangle echo-laden psychedelia at its best. 

“We recorded Afterglow in a period of transition. We knew that we would be moving from Bloomington, into Los Angeles at the end of the summer of 2014 but we wanted to create another album before we left town. As a result there’s a transitional energy comes through on the record; whether it’s the uncertainty that comes with change or the excitement associated with exploring the unknown.

The record is comprised of songs in which our love of 60’s psychedelia and pop are fully embraced. We had just acquired a 12 string electric guitar and a Farfisa Compact Duo and decided that they should be put to work right away. Maybe we thought it would be cool if Roger McGuinn played guitar on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn or if George Harrison stopped by a Strawberry Alarm Clock recording session with his 12 string Rickenbacker.

At the end of the day we weren’t getting hung up on recordings that were already created - we just wanted to make something entirely new by combining elements of what we love with the inescapable ideas of our own minds.” - Triptides

Afterglow will mean something different to everyone. 

What color are the flowers blooming through the swirling sounds? Who is she? When did all this time go by? What for?

We’ll let you decide.

The Brad Shepik Trio at the 2017 Ballard Jazz Festival Guitar Summit Thursday May 18th

Brad Shepik, who was raised in the Seattle area, began playing guitar at the age of 10 and studied music with the likes of Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie. Besides touring Europe and recording two albums with Paul Motian over the course of five years, he has also performed and recorded with Dave Douglas, Matt Darriau, and Yuri Yanakov’s Bulgarian Wedding Band.

Spiritualized in Other Medications (2017) review

With a pocket full of lush celestial narcotics and this wasted sonically layered infusion of Spiritualized covers, laid down lovingly by some of the best of those influenced by Spiritualized, and dare I suggest Spacemen 3, reality can be endlessly extended, be gone in a flash, or burn up as you fly too close to the sun.

Merrell Fankhauser And H.M.S. Bounty - “Things” (1968) review

“The continuing saga of a most talented artist!”

Merrell Fankhauser And H.M.S. Bounty “Things” (Gear Fab Records, 1968/2017 reissue)

Following the breakup of Fapardokly, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Merrell Fankhauser and guitarist/vocalist Bill Dodd of the band set off for Los Angeles to pursue a record deal, while band members John Oliver and Dick Lee chose not to follow and were replaced by basssist/vocalist Jack Jordan and drummer Larry Meyers. After a name change to H.M.S. Bounty the group did indeed land a contract with UNI/Shamley Records, the end result being the November, 1968 release of an LP titled simply Things. The album, wonderful as it is, containing two tracks that appeared on the national charts, “Things” and “Girl I’m Waiting For You”, received virtually no support from the label due to its recent signing of Neil Diamond, and despite gigging with such national acts as Canned Heat, CTA (later Chicago) and The Blues Image, among others, achieved only moderate sales. These facts, however, belie the continued musical evolution of Fankhauser’s songwriting, vocal and guitar talents, made obvious by the twelve tracks composing Things which are reviewed here , joined by the group’s final recording “I’m Flyin’ Home” (as a bonus track) from the quite recent reissue by Roger Maglio’s fine Gear Fab Records label.

Human Ottoman at Seaprog 2017 in Seattle Sunday June 4th

Human Ottoman is a prog rock band from Portland who “actively ear-pillage” the Pacific Northwest US. Their lineup features Julian Kosanovic playing cello, Grayson Fiske playing vibraphone, and Susan Lucia playing drums. The trio first met during music school, and focusing their classical training and jazz sensibilities, they have created a unique sound that transcends the boundaries of multiple genres.

A Quick Q & A with author Vernon Joynson

Hi Vernon,

Congratulations on your newest work, A Melange Of Musical Pipedreams And Pandemonium and thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for our It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine readers.

Your newest title has been published as part of a revision of your previous book Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares from Far Away Lands Revisited is it not? Why the new title rather than an updated edition of Dreams?

It would not have been possible to update the Dreams book as a single volume to the quality and standard I wanted and I had feedback about the high freight costs of shipping two-volume books and the weight of carrying them around. I also wanted to introduce the music from some new parts of the world to my readers so it made more sense to write two new titles.

Spaced Out: The Story of Mushroom Records

(Grapefruit/Cherry Red CRSEG036D; 77.38, 75.04)

Label retrospectives are released nowadays thick and fast as smog in Poland. Some compilations put together what doesn’t always seem to be linked, but when well-curated and for the first time, like here, they are a welcome addition. Music lovers may have once had originals but can’t now afford due to rarity value. Not the most loved of formats, at least CDs make up in cost and content-size what vinyl can’t do. There have been great retrospectives of famous labels such as Vertigo, Harvest and Dawn, as well as Cherry Red’s own Dandelion catalogue: equally wide-ranging in its eclecticism, this new offering spotlights what may have been missed in those featured genres. 

The discovery of Stonewall, the great lost artefact of hard rock

Stonewall recorded one of the most obscure hard rock albums of the 1970s. It was released in 1976 on a label called “Tiger Lily.” According to Assalti, drummer of the band, the actual recording is from 1972 and the release by “Tiger Lily” is a bootleg. The band never received anything and their music was literally stolen! For the first time in history here’s the TRUE story behind Stonewall, one of the most sought-after bands by collectors. Many thanks to Anthony Assalti for answering my questions.