The Chesterfield Kings - “Psychedelic Sunrise” (2007) review

The Chesterfield Kings - Psychedelic Sunrise (Wicked Cool, 2007)

Without a doubt, shortly into America’s punk musical phase, The Chesterfield Kings revamped the garage rock psych sounds of the mid 60’s, infusing those vibes with their own special take, and with that in mind, many if not all of The Chesterfield Kings’ albums sound very much the same, though if one has followed the band, you know that they’ve stated numerous times that they intended not to present any material that sounded as if it had stepped passed that 1966 line of demarcation.

Geoff Gibbons - “Buffalo Hotel” (2017) review

Geoff Gibbons - Buffalo Hotel (Self-released, 2017)

https://soundcloud.com/geoffgibbonsmusic/sets/buffalo-hotel-geoff-gibbons

Geoff Gibbons’s newest album “Buffalo Hotel” is a cliché country ride that panders to formula, but is salvaged by the musician’s free flowing, pop-y songwriting. The Vancouver artist, now several decades into his career, rests on the side of redeemable only by a hair. The saving grace of the release lies not in the instrumentation or composition, but in the sincerity of his craft.

Jung an Tagen

“I get bored of my own intents”

‘Agent Im Object’ is the second album for Editions Mego by Vienna based electronic musician Jung an Tagen. It’s a serialistic record based on polyrhytms.

Calliope - “Sea of Red” premiere

VIOLENCE! DRUGS! SEX! MOTORCYCLES! Directed by Calliope’s own, Victor Buell IV, the music video for “Sea of Red” is straight out of a lost vault of 70’s B-films. The video is as gritty and menacing as the song itself. You can find “Sea of Red” on Calliope’s upcoming album, Chapel Perilous, available March 31st on Romanus Records. Here’s your chance to get our hands on the new LP now. 

Bear Call - “French Creepes” premiere

With a skewed sense of romanticism and a fear of wasting youth, Skyler Warren started Bear Call with Nikk Moreno late 2014 in San Francisco, California. After recording a self-titled EP, the band’s songwriting collaboratively expanded to include Aaron Mortemore. The band blends 60s soul with melodic garage psych creating a sound described as something “reminiscent of a suburban coming-of-age film, replete with internal conflicts, punk ferocity and the hyperactivity of growing up in a stagnant neighborhood”. 

Still House Plants

“Creating music becomes as effortless as the birds singing in the morning”

Still House Plants is a young band from Glasgow consisting of the Fine Arts students David Kennedy, Finlay Clark, and Jessica Hickie-Kallenbach. They play sparingly, jazz influenced pop songs.

Kontiki Suite - “On Sunset Lake” (2013) review

Kontiki Suite - On Sunset Lake (2013)

https://kontikisuite.bandcamp.com/album/on-sunset-lake

Drifting on a summer breeze out of Laurel Canyon by way of the UK, Kontiki Suite shimmer the evening fire with a blend of warm easy going laidback and slightly lazy psychedelic country songs that will lay waste to any evening. And when the band is at their peak, they’re downright wonderful, though with the stone in the road being that all of their material is not created nearly as blissfully wonderful as “Brighter Than You,” “My Own Little World,” “All I Can Say,” “Free From Sound,” “Pages Of My Mind,” “Moonlight” and “Hollywood” … which have all been drawn from their (to date) albums The Greatest Show On Earth and On Sunset Lake.

Love Machine - “Blue Eyes” premiere

Love Machine preach Americana and Krautrock, look like they’ve been stolen from the Woodstock stage and are somehow from Düsseldorf. With Times To Come appears on Unique Records on March 2, 2018, the third album of the formation around frontman Marcel Rösche. Inspired by rock ‘n’roll and folk rock influences, the album testifies to their unshakable belief in the power of eternal groove, combining contemporary psychedelia, harmony vocals and slide guitars with analog synthesizers and voodoo percussions. What comes out is a sweaty, mind-expanding cocktail that leads above all live to unawakened states beyond good and evil, prompting us to let go of all reality and reason.

The Travis Edward Pike Story

The Travis Edward Pike Story … by Lenny Helsing

Pike’s story begins sometime during the early 1960s when the Boston, Massachusetts based youngster – who would grow up to become a singer, songwriter and storyteller – joined the US Navy and was posted overseas in Germany. While stationed there he would go out to clubs and bars, attracting the attention of the clientele and club owners, due to his friends arranging to get him on stage to sing a number or two with whatever band was providing the live action.

Drive By Wire - “Spellbound” album premiere

On February 23rd, desert rockers Drive By Wire will guide you into their psychedelic sound with the release of the new album “Spellbound” via Argonauta Records.
Today, It’s Psychedelic Baby is glad to premiere the entire album and unleash an exclusive track by track commentary.

Pre-order “Spellbound” here: http://hyperurl.co/DriveByWire-NewCD

SUPERNOVA 1006 - “Juggernaut” premiere

The band was formed back in 2014 by Andrey Yukhovich and Anton Korchevsky in Khabarovsk. The first name of the band was “lost in translation” and that was changed to SUPERNOVA 1006 later. In 2015 Anton left the band and Elizabeth Dolgikh replaced him. Supernova 1006 are based in Saint Petersburg, Russia and their music is a huge hybrid between post-punk, post-industrial, coldwave, shoegaze and electronic post-punk.

New track Juggernaut is taken from Blackout LP out Feb 28th on Other Voices Records, Sierpien Records and Gothic Music.

Black Lizard - “Celebration Of A New Dawn” album premiere

Since forming back in 2008, Finnish garage-rockers Black Lizard have been busy leading the charge in the ever-fruitful Scandinavian underground with their relentless gig schedule and a constant stream of releases. They’ve collaborated with the likes of Anton Newcombe and Sonic Boom and toured Europe several times, appearing at a number of festivals, including Great Escape, and sharing the stage with everyone from Brian Jonestown Massacre, DIIV, The Men, The Horrors, Allah-Las and Veronica Falls.

Larry Wendt

“Being in the moment of this world”

Larry Wendt (1946, Napa, California) is a ‘low tech’ electronic composer who was active at the San Jose State University since 1971, where he got involved in Text Sound/Sound Poetry compositions from the mid 1970s on. For most of his electronic manipulations, he used his ‘hand-built’ self-developed DSP micro processors.

Guru & Hake - “Medicine Man” / “After Space Legacy” premiere

Brighton Psych-Punk / Psych-Rock bands Guru & Hake are releasing new singles, available via a 10” split and digitally. The singles will be released 24th February and will be available digitally and on 10” split vinyl.

New single ‘Medicine Man’ is the band’s most visceral yet, opening with eerie feedback and a menacing bass line, the song kicks into a track that oozes with the attitude and commotion that defines them as a band.

If there is any band that could co-headline with GURU, it’s HAKE. Although riding a slightly more psychedelic wave, they offer an equally captivating performance which is captured perfectly on their upcoming single ‘After Space Legacy’.

From The Vault: Spirit - “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus” (1970)

Many consider Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, released in 1970, to be Spirit’s finest hour, though I still find their initial self titled album to be their crowning moment. Nevertheless, Spirit, a nearly mythical band, arrived at the apex of experimental classic rock, lacing their music with jazz, rock, folk, and bathing all of that in the waters of psychedelia.

Oddnote - “Oddnote” (2018) review

Oddnote - Oddnote (Self-released, 2018)

https://soundcloud.com/oddnote/sets/oddnote

The Nasheville-based group Oddnote has released its debut self-titled LP, and there is quite a bit to dig into. The five members have come together to create a predominately grunge rock sound, reviving the slowly arpeggiated bass lines, throat-bruising vocals, and brunt force distortion of the 90s. The album, released on January 13th of this year, seems to take influence from household names like Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, and The Foo Fighters.

Guitarist and Scientist Martin Weaver of Wicked Lady

“We prided ourselves on being loud, hard and not giving a shit.”

I recently moved to Portugal and have become friends with an amazing guy named Martin Weaver. Martin is best known for his band Wicked Lady. They were a wild UK band that existed in one form or another from about 1968 to 1972. While there is almost none of photo material or recordings available, the band did make some recordings in their basement rehearsals. According to Martin, nearly all of the photos claiming to be Wicked Lady on the internet were actually when they were playing with a band called Dark. The band’s name is not from the movie but comes from a pub drink that was sold at that time in the UK. Today, only Martin Weaver, the guitar player and singer is alive to tell the stories about Wicked Lady!

Mephistofeles interview with Gabriel Ravera

Mephistofeles is a band from Paraná, Argentina. They describe themselves as a proto doom/heavy psych rock. Influenced by Electric Wizard and the likes, they released a few extremely dirty releases.

https://mephistofeles.bandcamp.com/

Meanr Mynr - “The Sacrifice” (2017) review

Meanr Mynr – The Sacrifice (Self-released, 2017)

http://meanrmynr.com/album/the-sacrifice

Genre-bending is a rousing frontier that has been pushed further and further over the decades. Seemingly disparate sounds have been juxtaposed to arrive somewhere fresh and lively, while others have been incongruously mashed together only to end up as a duct taped disaster. The Denver-based artist Meanr Mynr is one such pioneer, stirring together prog rock, reggae, and electronica in a cauldron of shadowy angst.

Ken Viola interview

Interview with Ken Viola about Shattered Dreams & Broken Songs album. Recording unreleased song by Neil Young backed by members of the E Street Band and working with Grateful Dead for decades.

From the South - “Cool, Cool Memories” (2012) review

From the South - Cool, Cool Memories (Birds Love Fighting, 2012)

https://fromthesouth.bandcamp.com/album/cool-cool-memories

Straight from Australia and into your heart, From The South venture into the atmospheric realm of shimmering jangling pop with harmonic instrumentation and deeply lush vocals designed to spirit you into the night, where tender earthbound songs resound, recounting an honesty so seldom heard in today’s music.

Allah-Las interview with Pedrum Siadatian

Following their 2016 album Calico Review, Allah-Las return with Covers #1, the first in a series of EPs exploring tunes near and new to the band. For the debut EP in the series, the band offers renditions of George Harrison’s “Fish On The Sand,” Kathy Heideman’s “The Earth Won’t Hold Me,” 90s LA cult band Further’s “JO Eleven,” and Television’s “Hard On Love,” an unreleased song from the band’s Marquee Moon recording sessions. 

JAZZ CORNER Presents: Woody Shaw - “The Moontrane” (1975)

Woody Shaw - The Moontrane (Muse Records, 1975)

Originally released on Muse Records in 1975. The version of this album on the Mosaic box set Woody Shaw: The Complete Muse Sessions includes three bonus tracks.

The Bad Losers interview

There’s a certain element of both fans and musicians who feel that the Mersey, garage and freakbeat sounds of the mid 60’s were some of the best and most robust around, and with but a bit of tweaking, these modern renditions could stand resoundingly tall, coming across with a bit more strength style and lushness, aspects that were often overlooked when the genre was first laid down.

Sandra Boss

“Heavy breathing and hyperventilating”

Copenhagen based sound artist Sandra Boss released a tape in an edition of 40 copies called Luft, which contains two recordings of MIDI controlled pipe organ music.

Chik White

“The simplicity is what makes it so complex”

Chik White is a Canadian ex-punk who started playing a jaw harp in 2010, released on several tape releases, and appeared on the compilation Stranger Calls To Lands. 

Richmond Fontaine - “Don’t Skip Out on Me” (2018) review

Richmond Fontaine - Don’t Skip Out on Me (Fluff and Gravy Records, 2018)

Don’t Skip Out On Me Now is a soundtrack of sorts, only it’s the soundtrack to a book by the same title written by Willy Vlautin, with a teaser that goes something like this: Don’t Skip Out On Me may just cause your heart crumple into a little wad of paper, only to find that when you open it back up, it’s formed into a perfect paper airplane sailing across the blue skies from the hand of a boy, sparking the question as to how a bi-cultural man finds a sense of self when he’s been abandoned by his parents? Of course the answer is, he invents it, he invents it with his hands, his fists, and his heart. As to Vlautin, no one anywhere writes as beautifully about people whose stories stay this close to the dirt.

Hawkwind - “At the Roundhouse” (2017) review

Hawkwind - At the Roundhouse (Cherry Red Records, 2017)

Hawkwind are back with another live release. This was recorded live at the Roundhouse in London on their In The Woods tour in 2017. It was the first time the band played at the Roundhouse since 1977 (Motörhead was the support act!).

Jimi Hendrix - “Both Sides of the Sky” (2018) review

Jimi Hendrix - Both Sides of the Sky (Sony, 2018) 

As near as I can figure, there’s not going to be a shortage of new or unheard Hendrix music for the rest of my life, as at his recording studio, Electric Ladyland, there was a wall of closets, where everything Hendrix ever put to tape was cataloged and stored, with Hendrix at the time of his death, having the only key.

“Amour Bohemian” by MERCH

MERCH is the recording monicker of Joe Medina. He creates richly grand cinematic vocal music. His latest album “Amour Bohemian” is a psychedelic album with high quality production and orchestration. You can hear some quite unique sounds on it. So if you are for modern psychedelia, go for it!

The Steppenwolf Story - Chapter Eight

Steppenwolf “For Ladies Only” (1971)

It was a full year between studio album releases by Steppenwolf, with “For Ladies Only,” their sixth and final studio effort on ABC/Dunhill Records, appearing in record stores in November 1971. In an effort to fill the gap the label had released the compilation LP “Gold” in March 1971, peaking at #24 on the Billboard charts, incredibly their eighth top 30 album in three years, and attaining gold record status.

Soft Motion - “Miss Sunshine” premiere

Delve deep inside a hallucinogenic dreamland with Soft Motions new release “Miss Sunshine”.

Soft Motion’s multi-instrumentalist Chris Horwood has been creating sonic sounds and electro dance grooves in his treehouse studio located deep in the hinterland of Byron Bay, Australia. Chris’s tracks explore an uncharted direction through an innovative writing process, with the focus always on searching for that new sound.

The Bad Losers - “Easy” (2015) review

The Bad Losers - Easy (Equation Records, 2015)

There’s a certain element of both fans and musicians who feel that the Mersey, garage and freakbeat sounds of the mid 60’s were some of the best and most robust around, and with but a bit of tweaking, these modern renditions could stand resoundingly tall, coming across with a bit more strength style and lushness, aspects that were often overlooked when the genre was first laid down. 

Brandstifter

“Life’s a loop: you get up, eat, drink, work, go to bed, make love, get up...”

Luna & Cheval Sombre - “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” (2017)

Luna & Cheval Sombre - Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Feral Child, 2017)

Never one’s to shy away from cover versions of their favorite or inspiring songs, Luna along with Cheval Sombre get together in a manner of speaking to record back to back versions of the highly underrated, though very sweet, Velvet Underground song “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” (from the Loaded era).

Ross Beattie presents It’s Psychedelic Baby podcast #23 (February)

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

Baronen & Satan - Why Does The Blood Never Stick To Your Teeth

Agitation Free - Pulse

The Mountain Movers - Angels Don’t Worry

The Blue Magoos - President’s Council On Psychedelic Fitness 

The Breast Fed Yak - Exorcising Demons From The Hempstead Bus Depot

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians - Wack Magick 

Harmonia - Ohrwurm

Pretty Lightning - Pale Yellow

Marion Brown - Why Not?

Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull

Azusa Plane - Drinking Scotch With Delmore

Eternal Tapestry - Ancient Echoes

The Volta Sound - That Timothy Leary Shit

Current 93 - Niemandswasser

Ultimate Painting - “Up!” (2018) review

Ultimate Painting - Up! (Bella Union, 2018)

Ultimate Painting’s new intoxicatingly delicious album Up! on 180 gram yellow vinyl, again with a lovely inspiring album jacket and multi coloured inner sleeve is a breath of fresh air in a room that’s been feeling a bit confined as winter draws to a close, and spring offers this delightful flight of musical fantasy.