Forest Ray - “Laughing” premiere

Forest Ray experiments in the analog and psychedelic. Their progressively vintage sound will have you spiralling back to the 1960s and beyond in a whirlwind of fuzz wound like a Roland Space Echo. Garage punk and psych with tinges of post-punk and drone rock recorded on an 8 track reel to reel. Started in San Luis Obispo, CA by Peter Sumic and Robby Porovich and currently based in Seattle. Their first record, Musical Witchcraft, was released October 28th, 2016 on 180g vinyl.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forestraymusic/

Bandcamp: https://forestray.bandcamp.com/

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/forestray

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forestrayrecords/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wSFpxyTiQ4LcKxSf2Z4FQ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQuOl_9aKK-bMzpb4RVCuQ

Edgar Winter - “Tell Me In A Whisper, The Solo Albums 1970-1981” (2018) review

Edgar Winter - Tell Me In A Whisper, The Solo Albums 1970-1981 (Cherry Red Records, 2018)

Born in Texas in 1946, two years after his famous brother and blues guitar legend Johnny, Edgar Winter first began performing with his elder sibling in the 1960s, but since 1970 has been a successful solo artist in his own right. Cherry Red Records, UK, has compiled and released the musical legacy of Edgar Winter from 1970 through 1981 in the form of two box sets.

Fourth Dimension (4D) - “Millennial Kingdom Vol. 2” (2018) review

Fourth Dimension (4D) – Millennial Kingdom Vol. 2 (Dankradio, 2017) 

https://jodyg4d.bandcamp.com/album/millennial-kingdom-vol-2

Fourth Dimension (4D) has put out a new collection of jazzy progressive rock featuring the artist’s hard edge drumming and rampant soloing. Jody Giachello, the man behind Fourth Dimension (4D), has performed with acts like HAIM and toured internationally. There’s no doubt he’s a force of nature on drums. The new LP is certainly a bit lofty in its artwork and title, Millennial Kingdom Vol. 2, but proves to be an engaging listen for anyone wondering what might happen if Herbie Hancock had ever collaborated with John Bonham.

His Name is Alive - “Black Wings” (2018) review

His Name is Alive - Black Wings (HHBTM Records, 2018)

Between the late 1980s and the present, Michigan’s His Name is Alive has unleashed a dizzying number of releases in an impressively vast array of musical styles. The band, with its ever-revolving cast of members who have always been grounded by founder and mainstay Warren Defever, has done eerie dream pop, pop-soul hybrids, straight soul, free jazz, noise experiments, spacey heavy rock, and more. Put together a compilation of their material that’s pulled from various eras and albums and play it for someone who’s not familiar with them, then watch that person’s jaw drop when you tell them it’s all one band.

From The Vault: The Church - “Priest = Aura” (1992)

Hypnotic, surreal, moody, self reflective, intense, psychedelic, a sound track of sorts, way too long, excessive filler ... all these statements could easily describe the release of Priest = Aura by The Church, and in the end, no matter what one can say for or against this album, there are enough strong songs to make it a fine outing.

Lee Van Cleef interview

Heavy trio from Naples. Enjoy heavy improvised jams from their Holy Smoke album.

The Conqueroo interview with Bob Brown

Austin, Texas’s Conqueroo band called it a day in San Francisco in 1969. Alongside the likes of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Shiva’s Headband, Bubble Puppy, The Golden Dawn and Janis Joplin, the Conqueroo were pioneers of the Texas 60s psychedelic scene and mainstays of the now legendary Vulcan Gas Co, an outpost of wild music, longhair energy, communal spirit and pioneering arts that was continually in the firing line of the Austin police department. Its first art director was Gilbert Shelton who would go on to fame and fortune with his universally loved Fat Freddy’s Cat and the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers cartoon strips. You can find out more in Scott Conn’s fine doc, Dirt Road to Psychedelia: Austin Texas during the 1960s.

Lamp of the Universe - “Hidden Knowledge” (2016) review

Lamp of the Universe - Hidden Knowledge (Clostridium Records, 2016)

https://lampoftheuniverse.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-knowledge

Very similar albums, yet with hidden gems ...

Being a child of the psychedelic 60’s, there’s no way I could have avoided the sitar and the musical influences that revolved around it, where majestic songs where laced with those hypnotic sounds, causing many of us to reach out for more, with visions of being swept away into an ethereally delightful atmosphere of blissed out wonder.

Edgar Winter - “I’ve Got News For You” (2018) review

Edgar Winter - I’ve Got News For You (Cherry Red Records, 2018)

Known best as the brother of blues guitar legend Johnny Winter, for a period in the 1970s Edgar Winter was one of rock music’s brightest stars, first with his band White Trash and later with The Edgar Winter Group. Between 1971 and 1977 Edgar released three albums with each band, resulting in three top twenty five albums and three top thirty five singles. With “I’ve Got News For You” Cherry Red Records, UK, compiles these six albums, supplemented by twenty eight bonus tracks, a total of ninety spread across the six discs, and documenting this spectacular period in the career of this talented multi-instrumentalist. 

Hermitess - “Animal Heart” premiere

A sonic journey that features the harp and a circle women's voices supported by a cast of eclectic collaborators, Hermitess is an inquisitive, contrary, wounded, wise and ever dreaming incantation.

Margo Guryan interview

Margo Guryan recorded a now legendary album Take A Picture in 1968. Her story doesn’t end up there. In the following interview we are going to take you to the world of jazz and her prominent involvement with some of the greatest musicians of our time.

The Hanging Stars - “Golden Vanity” / “Floodbound” (2015) review

The Hanging Stars - Golden Vanity / Floodbound (The Great Pop Supplement, 2015)

https://thehangingstars.bandcamp.com/album/golden-vanity-single

When this single arrived at my door I was rather stuck by the sincerity and hazed splendor of the neo-psychedelic jangle pop held within these groves, riding on smooth currents and delivering easy laidback intoxication. So I was eager to hear more, especially when I discovered that there were two formal albums to be had.

Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, & John Jorgenson

( l to r: John Jorgenson, Chris Hillman) 

© Pam Baumgardner

Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, & John Jorgenson

@ The Lobero Theatre,Santa Barbara, CA., February 16

Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, and John Jorgenson--backed by upright bassist Mark Fain -- gave an outstanding performance at the Lobero Theatre on Friday, February 16th in a benefit concert for victims of the Thomas Fire and Mudslide, which recently tragically impacted the communities of both Ventura County and Santa Barbara County in California. 

Heaven - “All Love Is Blue” (2018) review

Heaven - All Love Is Blue (Little Cloud Records, 2018)

https://littlecloudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/all-love-is-blue

As with All Love Is Blue, Heaven’s first album Telepathic Love also featured the word ‘love’ prominently in the title, causing me to wonder if there’s a theme being developed. Nevertheless, I found the first album to come across rather hauntingly mystified, as if it were hiding, requiring one to search it out, and feeling rather special with the vinyl tucked under my arm as I strolled down the sidewalk, oblivious to everyone, though with everyone taking note of me.

Television Personalities - “Beautiful Despair” (2018) review

Television Personalities - Beautiful Despair (Fire Records, 2018)

https://televisionpersonalities.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful-despair

With Beautiful Despair the world now has what is essentially a brand new Television Personalities album bestowed upon them; alas these are not brand new, current recordings, but rather they are a bunch of incredible, hitherto unheard cuts and come as something of a revelation (especially to long-time appreciators of the group) for these long lost recordings were created back in 1990 at the then London flat-dwelling of bassist / vocalist / multi-instrumentalist ideas man and producer Jowe Head. This album not only contains a batch of the demo ideas that would see the light of day on the group’s next official album, also released on Fire here in the UK, and on Seed in USA, the sprawling double album set Closer To God which saw the TVPs widen their scope and their audience demographic, whilst keeping their art, humour, pathos and intellect truly intact, right at the core of their musical business.

Aritomo interview

Aritomo is a Japanese singer/songwriter. He released quite a lot of LPs so far. All of the music of Aritomo is recorded analog. He never uses digital. Aritomo’s music hardly resembles any other folk music, but rather is a sort of experimental progressive folk rock.

Zuma Birds - “Contact Light” (2017) review

Zuma Birds - Contact Light (2017)

http://zumabirds.bandcamp.com

Zuma Birds are a new trio from Madrid lead by guitarist and vocalist, Shakin’ Dave. The band’s main inspiration are the great bands of the 60’s and 70’s... Neil Young, Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, etc. ... with their own twist. Dave has a very special tenor voice.

Werner Herzog: Sound & Vision

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht--screening and Q & A

Hollywood Berlin: Exiles and Immigrants @ UCSB Pollock Theater 

Visionary German director Werner Herzog was present at UCSB’s Pollock Theater on Thursday, October 12, for a post-screening discussion of his 1979 art house film Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, moderated by Professor of Film and Media Studies Patrice Petro. Considered an homage to F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Weimar era silent film classic Nosferatu (itself based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel), Herzog’s iteration of Nosferatu stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, Isabelle Adjani as Lucky Harker, and Roland Topor as Renfield; with a film score by Popol Vuh. The film incorporates elements of fairy tale, myth, humor, horror, and eroticism--with many tableaus strikingly shot by cinematographer Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein; as well as a riviting opening sequence--filmed by Herzog--juxtaposing a bat in flight superimposed over mummies from Guanajuato, Mexico.

Ty Segall - “Ty Rex” (2015) review

Ty Segall - Ty Rex (Goner Records, 2015)

Ty Rex combines Ty Segall’s six-song Ty Rex 12” EP and two-song Ty Rex II 7” EP (originally Record Store Day releases which paid tribute to the magnificence of Mark Bolan and his legacy from both his early folk-hippie duo Tyrannosaurus Rex and his later glam rock band T. Rex incarnations) and tacks on a new cover of the 1973 non-album single “20th Century Boy.”

Father Sky Mother Earth interview

Father Sky Mother Earth is a drone doom duo from Hamburg, Germany. The Drone Doom Duo has released two monumental meditative albums since the beginning in autumn 2016. “Across the River of Time” of Time is an atmospheric journey through your own universe. Dark, intense and ecstatic.

From The Vault: Vanilla Fudge “Rock & Roll” (1969)

Vanilla Fudge “Rock & Roll” (Atco Records 1969)

Formed 1966 in Long Island, New York and initially called the Pigeons, Vanilla Fudge arrived at a time when rock musicians were exploring virgin frontiers to the point where weird and wild became the standard practice. But Vanilla Fudge’s philosophy and approach stemmed from an entirely different dimension altogether.

H+ - “Hidden Dimensions” (2018) review

H+ - Hidden Dimensions (Self-released, 2017) review

https://hplusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-dimensions

Who knew a music teacher living in Bermuda would be behind the IDM glitch pop project H+. Founded in 2016, the artist is preparing to release his tenth EP. Given his interest in microsounds, analog sound manipulation, and various collaging techniques, it’s easy to label him experimental. He describes his work as a mixture of musique concrète, dub reggae, and deep dubstep. Last month he unveiled “Hidden Dimensions,” a full length album featuring a fascinating collection of progressive electronic compositions.

New Candys interview

New Candys formed in Venice (Italy) in 2008. Their influences have roots in The Velvet Underground and Syd Barrett. After a self-produced EP, in 2012 they released the album Stars Reach The Abyss on Foolica, a UK tour followed. In 2015 they took part in The Reverb Conspiracy, compilation curated by Fuzz Club/The Reverberation Appreciation Society (Levitation Austin). Later that year New Candys As Medicine, album mixed by John Wills (producer and drummer of Loop), has been released on both Picture In My Ear/ Fuzz Club and added to The Committee To Keep Music Evil catalogue. Three EU/UK tours followed, including festivals like The Secret Garden Party 2015 and Liverpoool Psych Fest 2016. Their third album Bleeding Magenta has been released October 6th 2017 on Fuzz Club. Their fourth EU/UK tour followed in December 2017. They are currently touring Australia.

Alex Rumboldt

“A cat unearthed. Artificially cancerous uterus. Adaptive car underbody. A cute uncle. A callous undoing.”

Alex Rumboldt build up a strange and impressive discography as Aaiesieux with Found Sounds, a grooveless lath-cut, a 138.5 hour long ambient record and many more.

Ether Feather - “The Falconer” premiere

Although they took their name from a Captain Beefheart lyric, Los Angeles psych metal trio Ether Feather seems to worship more at the alters of Budgie, and Pentagram. 

Scrambled Limbs - “Portmanteau” premiere

Lone musician playing classic inspired psych music recorded with far too little equipment, Scrambled Limbs is the sound of a multitude of influences, ranging from Genesis to Ty Segall, whisked together and curdled in a pan. Eponymous debut EP was released in 2016 and received some positive critical reception as well as being featured on a selection of compilations including The Active Listener, Psychgazer, Clean Nice Quiet, The Musical Junkie and Dayz of Purple and Orange.

Mt. Mountain - “EP” (2014) review

Mt. Mountain - EP (2014)

https://mtmountain.bandcamp.com/album/ep

Mt. Mountain’s self-titled EP is a lazy sounding hypnotic hazy drugged space adventure, provided the space you seek is no wider than your listing area, as Mt. Mountain swim though the warm dark waters of couch-bound excess, where even lifting your arm is an effort, though in so doing, causes giggling bubbles to rise from the inner regions of one’s mind at the folly of such a useless and meaningless endeavor.

Melt Dunes - “Flesh EP” premiere

Photo credit: Paul Gonella

Portsmouth psychedelic warlords Melt Dunes have been rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the fiercest live bands the U.K has to offer, warping the minds and bodies of anyone who comes into orbit and with only two singles released to date on both Strong Island Recordings and Fuzz Club, Melt Dunes’ are set to unleash their debut EP the ‘Flesh EP’ 16 March.

Lucille Furs interview

Lucille Furs are a “baroque pop” band from Chicago. Their debut self-titled album was released a few months ago.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” (2015) review

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (Heavenly Records, 2015)

Recorded entirely on acoustic instruments and released on 13 November 2015 on the band’s Bandcamp, and then a week later on Heavenly Records, Paper Mâché Dream Balloon makes for an ideal introduction to the acoustic sound of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard for those who might find their previous (and subsequent) albums a little too heavy.

The Black Sand - “Lost in a Dream” (2017) review

The Black Sand - Lost in a Dream (2017)

Floating in from New Zealand, The Black Sand deliver a hypnotic series of fuzzed out sustained neo-psychedelic songs that are heavily washed in reverb and effects to enrapture and waste away any evening, with the band referring to these sojourns as ‘lullabies’. 

Thee Oh Sees - “Mutilator Defeated At Last” (2015) review

Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last (Castle Face, 2015)

Lo-fi garage psych groovesters Thee Oh Sees album, Mutilator Defeated At Last will completely melt your mind--in a good way! The record hits the sweet spot from the get go and just sounds better with each repeated listening--and it boasts enhanced production values from the band’s earlier efforts and a tight rhythm section in Tim Hellman and Nick Murray.

Eric Burdon & the Animals @ The Libbey Bowl. Saturday, May 6, 2017

Photo by Sean Mageean

Eric Burdon Generates Animal Magnetism at Libbey Bowl Birthday Bash

The best concerts are those where a much-beloved artist or band takes it to an ecstatic level, engulfing the audience completely in a passionate performance. Of course, Eric Burdon is indisputably one of the greatest rock and blues male vocalists alive; a seasoned pro and perennial badass--so it was already understood that he could and would deliver. But his latest incarnation of the Animals, comprised of guitarist Johnzo West, bassist Justin Andres, keyboardist Davey Allen, saxophonist Ruben Salinas, trombonist Evan Mackey, and drummer Dustin Koester, who played to a packed Libbey Bowl on Saturday, May 6th, proved without a doubt to be one of the finest, tightest, most in-the-groove bands it has ever been my pleasure to witness bring it on home to an audience, with guts and gusto!

“I Said, She Said, Ah Cid: The Exploito World of Alshire Records 1967-71” (2018) review

“I Said, She Said, Ah Cid: The Exploito World of Alshire Records 1967-71” (Grapefruit, 2018)

Formed in 1967 by Hollywood based record distributor Al Sherman, the label which immodestly took its name from the syllables of his moniker, Alshire Records, was the outlet for many records of the psychedelic exploitation genre. The cream of these releases are surveyed in the three disc, eighty two track box set released on Cherry Red Records’ Grapefruit Records imprint and reviewed here.

Ross Beattie presents It’s Psychedelic Baby podcast #24 (March)

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

Afrirampo - Afrirampo

Sun Araw - Heavy Deeds

Taiwan Housing Project - Multidimensional Spectrum

Unimother 27 - Ossesso

LSD March - Black Bouquet 

E.A.R/Sonic Boom - Takemitsu

The Yellow Payges - I'm A Man/Here Tis

Negativland - An Actual Attack

Experimental Audio Research - Delta 6 (Hydroponic)

Hala Strana - Black Dust

Bardo Pond - And I Will

Family Fodder - Playing Golf (With My Skin Crawling)

Twig Harper & Daniel Higgs - Number Four

Simon Finn - Hiawatha

From The Vault: Pink Floyd - “Animals” (1977)

An album we need now more than ever ...

It’s taken me a very long time to consider both the effects and truth behind Pink Floyd’s release of Animals in 1977, though now, already knee deep into the 21st Century, it’s impossible not to hear the apathetic lines: “If you didn’t care what happened to me/ And I didn’t care for you/ We would zig-zag our way through the boredom and the pain/ Occasionally glancing through the rain/ Wondering which of the buggers to blame/ And watching for pigs on the wing,” as a writing on the wall.

Moteur! - “No-Go Zone” premiere

Bermuda Cruise, experimental record label from Montpellier, France, presents the first song from free-rock band Moteur!’s new album entitled En Traits Libres.

Recorded in a gallery in Montpellier which gives its name to the album, En Traits Libres is composed of four uncut improvisations. Moteur! explores the freest forms of musical creations by way of free improvisation, and creates an instinctive and original music, influenced by free jazz, krautrock, rock in opposition and no-wave.