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.

Fapardokly - “Fapardokly” (1967) review

“The growth of an incredible musician”

Fapardokly - Fapardokly (1967/2017 Gear Fab Records reissue) 

Formed from the remnants of Merrell and The Exiles in 1967, Fapardokly was formed, and is a both delightful and important documentation of musical growth of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Merrell Fankhauser. Their sole, s/t 1967 LP is given new life in Gear Fab Records’ 2017 reissue.

Glitterbust - “Glitterbust” (2016) review

Glitterbust - Glitterbust (Burger Records, 2016)

Glitterbust is one of the more odd and energetic albums that’s come my way in a very long time. It’s impossible to call this body of work noise-rock, jazz, fusion, or even experimental versions of any of the aforementioned genres, because the band incorporates all of those effortlessly and flawlessly.

“Pharmacopious” (Part 3) by Jenell Kesler

Wouldn’t want to speculate, but there must have been something in the wind that reached out, turned up my collar and set me here peering in through Gram’s rusted screen-door that afternoon, my date waiting in the car at the curb, with a license, but no receipt, and knowing nothing of my demons.

Lichen Gumbo

“Cabin fever”

Think Half Machine Lip Moves by Chrome. Think Twin Infinitives by Royal Trux. Think Hairdryer Peace The Hospitals. Now stop thinking. Now play Boilin’ by Lichen Gumbo. 

Drunk Elk

“How I one day woke up and decided to live life again”

Ten years after its first release, Drunk Elk’s the self-titled debut gets a re-release on the L.A. based House Rules label.

How do you look back now at this record, ten years after its original release?

Simon Krause: Me and Dave had some songs and were looking for another member. I was playing bass and Dave was on vocals. We wrote “Quintessence” and “Drunk Elk Theme Song”. We asked Sam Acres to join because we heard him play keyboards in a band Kisses Bye-Bye. Sam was doing his PHD and living with his girlfriend and a cat.

Dave Askew: Me and Simon formed this band out of boredom, and wanted to do something fun to stop ourselves from going completely insane.

Maybe It’s Time To Take Art Jackson’s Atrocity Seriously

When it first surfaced over 10 years ago on MySpace, the album Gout, by Art Jackson’s Atrocity, was mired in mystery and confusion. It originally purported to be a never-issued Columbia Records promo LP from 1974, guided and funded by Miles Davis, and featuring an East St. Louis collective of ex-Black Panthers fronted by a hotshot 20-something junkie guitarist who was making avant-garde jazz-rock ahead of their time.

Tomutonttu

“Taking in the horror and the beauty of this world and reacting to it”

Jan Anderzén talks about his work as ‘a minuscule part of this enormous hive mind project that strives towards more harmonious existence in the mama matrix most mysterious’, his Kevätjuhla LP on Alter being the latest part of this.

“A Melange Of Musical Pipedreams And Pandemonium” by Vernon Joyson (2017) review

“A Melange Of Musical Pipedreams And Pandemonium”

by Vernon Joyson reviewed

Having outgrown its britches, or binding capacity, as the case may be, author Vernon Joynson’s title “Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares from Far Away Lands Revisited” has been put to bed and replaced by two new titles, the first of these “A Melange Of Musical Pipedreams And Pandemonium: Australian, New Zealand, Africa, Turkish And Middle Eastern Rock, Pop, Beat, R&B, Folk, Psych And Prog 1963-1976” is reviewed here. It is also important to note that while the book mainly covers the period 1963-1976, releases by bands that carried on beyond this time frame are included, albeit perhaps not in quite such detail.

Hot Curl - “Late Bloom” EP premiere

Hot Curl is an indie surf / psychedelic / garage rock band based out of Brooklyn, NY. It was formed at the start of 2015 and consisted of members from various projects that singer / guitarist Prescott Horn had been a part of. The band currently consists of Prescott Horn (Vox/ Guitar), Justin Lisa (Drums), Alejandro Triana (Guitar), Justin Lisa (Drums), and Sharif Mekawy (Bass/Vox).They have one release to date; their 2016, four-song EP titled ‘Beached’. This EP combines elements of low-fi indie rock and surf rock akin to bands on the Captured Tracks label such as DIIV, Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing. After playing a multitude of shows around Brooklyn and Manhattan they went back into the studio at Converse Rubber Tracks to record a follow up EP to ‘Beached’. This new EP finds them exploring more psychedelic and garage rock realms than it’s dream-pop oriented predecessor.

From The Back Bay To The Bluebird

In the Bread with Jonathan Richman

On the way to the Bluebird Theater on the bus the other night, to see Jonathan Richman sing and play guitar, accompanied by his bandmate of 24 years, Tommy Larkins, on the drums, I wondered what Jonathan would say about all the bad politics lately. This would be the third time I’d seen him live, one of the more important figures in contemporary rock and roll history, someone who could have choked down the whole poison sandwich of fame in the 1970s but decided against it, who’s manifested decades of inimitable, excellent music under the radar instead ever since. Everybody was in a bad mood about politics lately, and as de facto focal points, performers could add themselves to that discontent in assumptive political fighterly manner, or effect an attractive alternative. I looked up to this guy as someone who knew better than consensus opinion. I figured he’d probably say something about the political funk, just to give us friends and fans the high sign, and I wanted to hear whatever it was. However he handled the question, I felt sure he wouldn’t let it cheapen or dominate whatever he put across otherwise.

The Babe Rainbow - “The Babe Rainbow” (2015) review

The Babe Rainbow - The Babe Rainbow (Flightless Records, 2015)

https://thebaberainbow.bandcamp.com/album/the-babe-rainbow-ep

Babe Rainbow’s EP, released as a limited edition of 1000 on pink vinyl, creeps up on you like the first inklings that the dose of acid you just took is kicking in, causing an uncontrollable smile inch across your face, and visionary happiness to ooze from every pore.

Tomorrows Tulips - “When” (2014) review

Tomorrows Tulips - When (Burger Records, 2014)

Intoxicatingly simple and ear catching, Tomorrows Tulips lay down a sonic atmospheric of ultra mellow southern California low-fi dream pop played and sung in the lower registers with limited and pleasingly repetitive chord changes that move across the room like the afternoon sun, highlighting bits of dust slowly dancing through the air by the smallest breeze, and causing your eternally sleeping cat to stretch out even more comfortably on his back.

Ross Beattie presents It’s Psychedelic Baby podcast #15 (June)

A brand new podcast hosted by Ross Beattie (The Night Tripper)

Stone Garden - Oceans Inside Me

Faust - Lights Flicker

Albert Ayler - Untitled Duet

Oiseaux Tempête - Baalshamin

The Sonic Dawn - Six Seven

Morgen - Purple

Thurston Moore - Exalted 

Tim Buckley - Come Here Woman

Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Illistrum

Relatively Clean Rivers - A Thousand Years 

Kikagaku Moyo - Nobakitani

Sun Ra - Other Worlds

Colour Haze - Black Lilly

The Black Angels - Half Believing

Raja Ram & Quintessence’s Complete Island Recordings

Just released are the remastered Island recordings of Quintessence (Move Into The Light, Cherry Red Records under their Esoteric imprint ECLEC 22584). Complete with a single and full-length live track from the Bumpers compilation, as well as original art-work and photos, this double CD box is a most worthwhile addition highlighting the period that was the English counter-culture’s heyday as the 60s turned a corner into the 70s. They were heady days indeed, in more senses than might first seem.

“Psychedelia 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums 1966-1970” by Richard Morton Jack (2017) review

“Psychedelia 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums 1966-1970” by Richard Morton Jack (Sterling Publishing) 2017

Defying description, psychedelia still holds ground as one of the most radical and exciting movements in musical history. Shunning concrete rules, these colorful expressions stemmed from experimentation and improvisation. Anything goes was the attitude!

WITCH playing first ever UK gigs & Documentary

WITCH playing first ever UK gigs & Documentary on lead singer Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda enters final stages of production.

WE INTEND TO CAUSE HAVOC TRAILER 2017 from Pantheon Pictures on Vimeo.

Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda, lead singer and last surviving original member of legendary Zambian Garage Psych Rock band WITCH will be performing at Moth Club in London on September 22nd and at Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia on September 23rd 2017. Joining him onstage to play songs from their 5 album catalog will be Jacco Gardner on bass, Jay Whitefield (Whitefield Brothers, Poets of Rhythm) on lead guitar, Patrick Mwondela (“Disco” WITCH) on keys, Nic Mauskoviç (Jacco Gardner Band, Eerie Wanda, The Mauskoviç Dance Band, Altin Gün) on drums and Stefan Lilov (L’Eclair) on rhythm guitar.