Frozen Planet.... 1969 - “From The Centre Of A Parallel Universe” album premiere

 

Frozen Planet....1969 have wasted no time in following up their album from early 2017 Electric Smokehouse with another 40+ minutes of improvisational sonic-psych chaos. Available on splatter or black vinyl and CD. Headspin Records & Pepper Shaker Records

Don’t forget to read our interview with the band: Frozen Planet.... 1969 interview

http://www.headspinrecords.nl

https://www.facebook.com/HeadSpinRecords/

Shiny Beast Mailorder

https://www.facebook.com/shinybeast.nl/

https://www.facebook.com/Frozenplanet1969

https://www.facebook.com/peppershakerrecords/

Dominique Lawalrée

“Music to find consolation in and to quiet the mind”

Dominique Lawalrée is a 62 year old self-taught classical composer and church organist from Brussels who got mostly associated with the ‘New Simplicity’ movement. He made over 500 recordings which he mainly released on his own Editions Walrus label. The recently released First Meeting album on Ergot Records is a compilation of his first four LPs.

I asked Dominique 12 questions via e-mail, he replied with: “Thank you for the questions. Excuse my poor English. Feel free to make corrections.” I decided not to.

Chelou - “The Quiet” (2014) review

Chelou - The Quiet (The Weird & The Wonderful, 2014)

https://chelou.bandcamp.com/album/the-quiet-ep

While this London based artist is still in his infancy, having only released a handful of singles and a couple EPs, his first release is an atypically talented hallmark of minimalist folk fused with electronic pop. Spanning only 4 songs, The Quiet, is consistently lo-fi in just the right way.

Drywater - “Backbone Of The Nation” (1973) review

Drywater “Backbone Of The Nation” (RPC, 1973/Gear Fab, 2017)

Recorded in 1973 by guitarist/vocalists, Dennis Cheplick and Jack Sarvis, aided by Cheplick’s brother, Greg, on drums and Sarvis’ future brother-in-law, Ken Turcic on bass, Backbone Of The Nation was originally released on the RPC label in a limited pressing of 25 copies. The album was recorded “live” by the quartet at a local Pennsylvania studio, Marjon Records, with the LPs ten tracks being recorded in 3 hours with no overdubs or editing, at a total cost of $100. In this Gear Fab Records reissue the album’s ten tracks are supplemented by two bonus tracks, for a total run time of slightly over 41 minutes.

Hard Stuff - “The Complete Purple Records Anthology 1971-1973” (2017) review

Hard Stuff - The Complete Purple Records Anthology 1971-1973 (Purple Records, 2017)

Hard Stuff came to life when the musical differences between guitarist/vocalist John DuCann and drummer Paul Hammond with keyboardist Vincent Crane reached a boiling point regarding the direction that Atomic Rooster would follow in the wake of their #4 UK hit “Devil’s Answer.” Crane wanted to follow a soulful direction while DuCann and Hammond favored a heavier rocking sound for the band. Quatermass bass guitarist/vocalist John Gustafson was asked by DuCann to join Atomic Rooster, and agreed, only to find that Crane owned the rights to the band’s name.

“Pharmacopious” (Part 5) by Jenell Kesler

A  few days later I found myself just off the interstate at the Phillips 66 station watching the last of the giant moths dance in the erie haze of the vapor lights.  It was October, the fume-dreamers were already wrapped in surplus Army blankets, their eyes were blank, rolled back in their heads, their tanks already filled.  In the backside of their brains they were racing the moon across freshly harvested cornfields, dancing the dust out of splintered floorboards, or laced in the trails of vapor-locked winged insects being picked off one by one by tiny bats, while field mice, fearing nothing from these motionless beings snuggled in the pockets of their flannel shirts, making a meal of the Snickers Bar they’d bought with their last dollar to quench the morning sweet-tooth of a huffer’s high.

Widowmaker - “Running Free: The Jet Recordings 1976-1977” (2017)

Widowmaker - Running Free: The Jet Recordings 1976-1977 (Esoteric Recordings, 2017)

Widowmaker was formed in late 1975 by ex-Spooky Tooth and Mott The Hoople guitarist Luther Grosvenor, at the time known as Ariel Bender, as a means of recording songs he had written, something he had been unable to do since Mott The Hoople’s recordings were dominated by Ian Hunter penned tunes. Grosvenor was joined by ex-Lindisfarne drummer Paul Nichols and former Mungo Jerry and Chicken Shack bassist Bob Daisley. The trio became of the nucleus of the new band, with Grosvenor handling all the vocals.

Kozfest 2017 Day One: Dubbal

Kozfest opened on Friday July 28th just as a major storm front moved into Uffculme, UK, the precise area where the festival was being held. The weather for the entire duration of the festival varied in its intensity, but intense it was. The heavy rain and wind may have incited the musicians to reach real heights of creativity, but every band that performed played as though their survival depended on it. Perhaps they were simply in touch with the elements. 

Los Bravos - “Black Is Black: The Anthology 1966-1969” (2017) review

Los Bravos - Black Is Black: The Anthology 1966-1969 (RPM Records, 2017)

Formed in 1965 by members of Madrid’s Los Sonor and Mallorca’s The Runaways, Los Bravos, in 1966, became the first Spanish band to have a single sell more than a million copies. Manager, Alain Milhaud, who was given full control of the band’s performances, musical direction, recordings, and image, put Los Bravos in the studio with producer Ivor Raymonde. One of the songs from those recordings, “Black Is Black” written by Tony Hayes, Steve Wadey and Michelle Grainger, and featuring performances by studio musicians including Vic Flack and John McLaughlin, reached #2 on the UK charts and #4 on the US charts, becoming the biggest selling song by a Spanish band in either of those nations and giving Los Bravos a permanent place in pop history. Although the band did experience some success in the following years they would never approach the heights gained by this tune.

The Eddies - “Best Of The Eddies” (2017) review

The Eddies - Best Of The Eddies (Snap! Records, 2017)

For the past decade or so, the Eddies have reaped universal acclaim with their perfectly punchy pop rock tunes. Consisting of twin brothers Dale (vocals, guitar) and Dean (vocals, bass) Hoth, and Len Curiel on drums, the Southern California based band also features the multi-instrumental talents of famed producer Earl Mankey. Culled from cuts off the group’s trio of previous studio albums, Best Of The Eddies locks in as an ideal introduction for virgin listeners as well as long time fans who aspire to collect everything the group releases. 

Skinny Milk - “Creatures” premiere

From the Lo-Fi, fuzzy depths of Brighton’s underbelly emerges the brand new single “CREATURE” from the heavy psych/garage two-piece: SKINNY MILK. A disgustingly heavy yet catchy King Gizzard-esque 2m 23s single is set to make chaotic waves this Autumn.

https://www.instagram.com/skinny_milk11/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/skinnymilk11?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/skinnymilkband/

Rick Deitrick left his solo LP’s on hiking trails, “so people would find them.”

Tompkins Square is proud to release two solo acoustic guitar albums by Rick Deitrick, out August 25th. Gentle Wilderness was released as a private press LP in 1978. River Sun River Moon consists of previously unreleased recordings from the same time period. Deitrick came to our attention via Brooks Rice and Michael Klausman, who compiled Imaginational Anthem Vol 8 : The Private Press, which features Rick’s “Missy Christa” from Gentle Wilderness.

Morels - “Drift” (2017) review

Morels - Drift (2017)

https://morels.bandcamp.com/releases

Stepping out from behind the hazy blue smoke curtain and dripping orange sky of his tripped out band Bad Liquor Pond, Dave Gibson heads straight into the intoxication of sunlight, where Morels’ first album Drift ebbs and flows, awash in warm breezy layered blissful stoner nods of light-handed delight.

Asimov - “Truth” (2017) review

Asimov - Truth (New Records, 2017)

https://asimovstenarmusik.bandcamp.com/

Truth is the third album from Lisbon, Portugal’s heavy psych monsters Asimov. Their heady brew of heavy psych stew is generated by just two dudes, Carlos Ferreira and João Arsénio, who, alongside the standard guitars, drums, and organs, include “visions” and “dementia” in their arsenal of headfrying and shapeshifting “instruments”. Ten-minute opener ‘Nothing In Return” (not the Roky Erickson song) pulsates like a hellbound train with a hypnotic, motoric beat driving an improvisational vibe similar to krautrock kings of oblivion like Can and Amon Düül II blowing bongloads of righteous boo with Hawkwind. A biker’s roar emanates from the vocalist’s guttural tonsils like the prince of darkness presiding over a bonfire of fried synapses. And that’s just the appetizer!

Surf City - “We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This” (2013) review

Surf City - We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This (Fire Records, 2013)

For Surf City’s Jekyll Island I wrote: “With ever present jangling guitars, sonic reverb overlays, a solid rhythm section, and drumming that lays down a cool groove, it takes few effects to support the agreeably front and center vocals that grab your attention and hold you transfixed. Surf City have nailed down their use of pop melodies, understand the essence of hooks, the impact of texture, where they lay out a panavision Valium sunset that surrounds and completely engulfs with hazy washes that are so warped that you will be laid out horizontally, floating in mid air.”

Sky Saxon and the Vibravoid - “A Poetry Of Love” album premiere

In late 2008 Sky Sunlight Saxon, the Vibravoid and Atomic on guitar teamed up for a 5 weeks period to record and play some shows.

Over 8 hrs of music have been recorded - live and improvised - to select some of Sky´s best late work from it.

Tracks like “You Can Let Love Start” present a reflective and acoustic Sky Saxon with a heart breaking song.

“A Kettle Of Tea” feature Sky´s precise and meaningful lyrics to a masterful extend filled with an abundance of dreamlike Mellotron sounds.

We included 5 unreleased tracks, that were not released on the sold out 2010 album “A Poetry Of Love” that only featured 4 tracks of the recording sessions.

Most of the music is experimental, rocking, shocking and different to one might expect – but showcases the art and performing qualities of an ingenious spirit.

We can only say that the time we have spent with Sky was the most unique and wonderful we could ever experience, we could revive a glimpse of the true spirit that made the 1960s the decade of Rock, Pop and Psychedelia.

We hope that we are able to help Sky to spread his message across the world, because it is a very good one:

“Make Love Not War – Flower Power is real, if you want it!”

http://www.stonedkarma.com/

https://www.facebook.com/vibravoidofficial/

Clear Blue Sky - “Clear Blue Sky” (1970) review

Clear Blue Sky: The First Album Now Remastered

Back when there were less cloudy horizons across the world, global record labels were actually eager for new music (what they’d have called, from their expense-laden desks, the new music) though rarely exporting what’s now called world music. They set up specialised subsidiaries for new cross-genres: EMI started Harvest, Decca had Deram, and Philips founded Vertigo. Starting in 1969 with Colosseum and Juicy Lucy (featuring a teenage Mick Moody), Vertigo signed a power trio with an average age of 18 (the guitarist was younger) for a debut and the label’s 19^th release exemplifying the creative passion of contemporary hard prog-psych adapting the structures of heavy blues. As sure as a policewoman falls in love with a policeman, Clear Blue Sky cut the mustard.

Balagan - “Moonlight” premiere

Balagan come from the hebrew for “chaos” and this is how the sound of this Berlin based Israeli/Icelandic garage outfit can be described. The songs of their debut EP are powerful, wild and impetuous and definitely make you want more.

Balagan is a heart project for the three musicians from Iceland and Tel Aviv who have already made a name for themselves in the Berlin music background with bands like Haxxan, Plastic Gods or Haangli. With Balagan they create their very own romance, deeply hidden in the musical chaos, which they play with heartfelt.

Recorded in the legendary Funkhaus studios, A Mess now appears on the newly founded Berlin label ROOD WOOF Records.

Soft Speaker - “Nautical Romance” (2017) review

Soft Speaker - Nautical Romance (Edelweiss Grammofon, 2017) 

Soft Speaker’s Nautical Romance took me by complete surprise, and I assure you, is nothing like you’d expect from viewing the front cover, and certainly less from the album’s back image; with both featuring members of the band.

Sunrose - “Fever” premiere

Sunrose are an independent 4-piece band based in the hills of Byron Bay who create timeless psychedelic pop/rock and translate their lifestyle of ocean, nature & sunshine into a sonic swirl of haunting vocals, grooved out rhythms and harmonic undulations dripping with vibrato & delay.   

New music video for “Fever,” the lead single from forthcoming debut EP Cosmic Horizon. The song is a fun, upbeat take on excitement & the delirium of sickness fusing surf pop rhythms, melodic hooks and a roller coaster ride full of twists & turns. 

Top Video Games with a Psychedelic Theme

There are psychedelic graphics in a lot of day to day activities, but game developers appear to particularly love this design convention. With immersive atmospheres and interesting worlds to experiment with, this medium is brilliant for those that want to create their own world.

Crank Sturgeon

“It’s not punk. It’s not art. It’s not even music. And it’s definitely not a haircut.”

Maine based noise musician Matt Anderson celebrates 25 years of Crank Sturgeon with his 150th release.

Bill Orcutt

“Music does what it wants”

An Account Of The Crimes Of Peter Thiel And His Subsequent Arrest, Trial And Execution is a 12” LP released by Bill Orcutt in an edition of 100 copies. It contains a loop that grows, collapses, grows and collapses again.

Rivener - “Rivener” album premiere

Lysergic free-rock improvisations.

New Haven-based duo Rivener’s lysergic improvisations are shape-shifting explorations of no wave, noise, free-jazz and psych with some elements loosely rooted in the rock tradition--ineffable expressions of the human spirit. Intrepid seekers always listening for the signs, guitarist/percussionist Paul Belbusti (Mercy Choir) and drummer Michael Kiefer (Myty Konkeror) mangle, stretch, bend, and breathe new meaning into these influences with subtle dynamic shifts, conjuring stormy, cosmic clouds of sound.

You can pre-order the album here: https://rivener.bandcamp.com/album/rivener

Second Hand - “Death May Be Your Santa Claus” (1971) review

Second Hand - Death May Be Your Santa Claus (1971)

(Esoteric/Cherry Red ECLEC 2594; 44.19 minutes)

Just released by Esoteric/Cherry Red, hot on the heels of their excellent Mushroom Story, is the ultra-rare second album by Second Hand, the studio band of Vic Keary’s eclectic Mushroom Records. With three equally rare bonus tracks, 24-bit remastering and well-illustrated booklet, this is a welcome issue for all interested in the origins of progressive rock.

The Beginner’s Mynd - “Don’t Lose Your Mind” (2017) review

The Beginner’s Mynd - Don’t Lose Your Mind (13 O’Clock Records, 2017)

https://thebeginnersmynd.bandcamp.com/album/dont-lose-your-mind

July 28, 2017 marked the release of the debut LP by Washington, D.C. area rock trio, The Beginner’s Mynd. The ten tunes composing “Don’t Lose Your Mind” serve as notice to one and all that these three talented musicians are a force to be reckoned with.

“Pharmacopious” (Part 4) by Jenell Kesler

A man said “Hi.”  I didn’t recognize him, then spun mid-step almost toppling over, realizing he was the guy taking care of my meter.  “How’s it going?” I asked.  From somewhere Sheba crawled into his lap for some serious petting, “Just fine, just fine.  You wouldn’t have a couple more of those reds would you, this kitten’s been demanding belly rubs?

Extremely rare NY Psych Rock Band “Daybreak” Given New Life

Extremely rare NY Psych Rock Given New Life

“Daybreak” by Daybreak (RPC1971/Gear Fab, 2017)

Originally available as a limited, 400 copies, self released LP on the vanity RPC Records label, Daybreak’s 1971 s/t sole album was recently given new life with its reissue on Gear Fab Records. Thankfully, the seven track classic piece of NY psych rock is now available to the masses for the first time ever. 

The Black Wizards - “What The Fuzz!” (2017) review

“Beyond The Fuzz,” a review of The Black Wizards’ second record What The Fuzz!

The Black Wizards exploded on the scene in late 2015 with bombastic first album Lake Of Fire. In a short space time, they evolved from a well intended but quite appealing EP to one hell of a long play. One does not even need to describe how well they master their instruments.

Hantrax

“I hope I can inspire people to be more sentimental”

After several electronic records, Hantrax released his first piano album. 

Why did you want to record a piano record and not and album with electronic music? 

I play the piano since I was 13, I studied classical music with a private teacher, Dorothea Haers, and at the age of 15 I was accepted to Jazzstudio in Antwerp. I have always loved it and I still practice piano every week, actually even for the electronic music I often use the piano to write the basic structure of the compositions. I’ve always been recording music without a specific purpose. 

I guess I choose to do it because it is a lingering passion, one that I don’t get to share a lot with many people. A passion I don’t talk too much about, one that was mostly shared with my closest circle, not with an audience. And it felt right and it was important and scary at the same time.

Victor Robyn from the Ekster label, whom I know for a long time, heard many of my piano recordings through the years and wanted to release a selection of improvisations, so the idea of releasing the music on vinyl was rather his. I sent him many recordings and trusted him with the selection.

Tol-Puddle Martyrs - “Polyphony” (2017) review

Tol-Puddle Martyrs - Polyphony (Secret Deals, 2017)

There is no denying all keen sixties audophiles are familiar with Tol-Puddle Martyrs, a Bendigo, Victoria, Australia band whose “Time Will Come” and “Social Cell” rank high in the sky as solid gold classics. 

The Warmth - “Hot Milk” (2017) review

The Warmth - Hot Milk (2017)

More years ago than I care to remember, I had the privilege of interviewing the late Frank Zappa, who said to me, “You could take any of our songs, insert them into any of our albums and they would work perfectly.” While that may initially suggest that there is no progression, I assure you it doesn’t.

Interview with Freddie Steady Krc of The Explosives

Recently noted drummer/vocalist/songwriter/guitarist/producer/record label owner Freddie Steady Krc, especially known for his work with The Explosives, who cut a fine album of their own and two with psychedelic rock legend Roky Erickson, took some time to answer some questions for It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine readers.

Ross Beattie presents It’s Psychedelic Baby podcast #17 (August)

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

Sun City Girls - Baked Asterisk 

Peter Brötzmann - Sanity

The Pretty Things - Cries From The Midnight Circus 

The Telescopes - Something In My Brain

Spectrum Meets Captain Memphis -  When Tomorrow Hits

Wand - Melted Rope

Raw Material - Time And Illusion 

Black Bombaim - Arabia

Catapilla - Naked Death

International Harvester - There Is No Other Place

Embryo - You Don't Know What's Happening

Amen Dunes - Baba Yaga

Träd Gräs Och Stenar - March Of The Grief 

Nico - Janitor Of Lunacy

Feel free to submit your music directly to Ross for upcoming podcast at: ross_bt@yahoo.com

From The Vault: The Rain Parade - “Emergency Third Rail Power Trip” (1983)

When the psychedelic 60’s faded into the sunset during the early 70’s, there were many who still clung to those beautiful bits of naive ideals and nostalgia for the enchanting swirling colours, the beautiful clothes, the gentleness and the magic of the recently outlawed lysergic and MDA, yet without the sense that doors were in the process of opening.

Pierre Berthet

“To hit anything”

Pierre Berthet is a 59 year old inventor, instrument builder, musician and composer from Liège, Belgium. He’s also one half of Dead Plants And Living Objects, the duo he formed with Rie Nakajima.

Luna - “A Place of Greater Safety” (2017) review

Luna - A Place of Greater Safety (2017)

One of my earliest introductions to rock was through the instrumentals of The Ventures, though I will confess, after adding a couple albums to my collection, I didn’t see the need for more. That being said, my foray into jazz opened a new set of doors regarding the idea of instrumentals, one where the songs were longer, more deeply considered and structured.