Aural Innovations Issue #7 — Album Reviews Part 1

Hawkwind — Dawn of Hawkwind

(Voiceprint/Blueprint 1999, BP309CD ltd. ed. with book)

Keith Henderson

From the personal archives of the Hawklord himself, Dave Brock, comes this new compilation of old recordings from c. 1966-1971 that documents the birth of the greatest band of all-time. (Sorry for that bit of blatant fandom). As if telling you a story (which it really is), Brock himself does voice-over narrations at key places in the album. Once the 13 tracks (43 min.) have completed, we understand more about the amazing turn music took in just a short period of time. Nothing like it has happened since.

The first recordings are from the Dharma Blues Band (1966), standard readings of things like Skip James' My Baby's Gone and Sonny Boy Williamson's Dealing with the Devil. The abrupt transition in music lore 'round about 1967 is echoed here by Brock himself when he states simply, "Well then, from there, I went into the world of psychedelia." Indeed! Illusions is a very early spoken-word version of what would become Mirror of Illusion on the first Hawkwind album, and then eventually Mask of Morning on the 1990 Electric Tepee album.

This is undoubtedly the most interesting tidbit on the compilation, and illustrates how a single idea can be molded into several different forms, all effective in their own individual ways. From a radio broadcast contest is a snippet of a very Dylanesque tune, another of what Brock describes as 'boring music,' then some rockier blues tunes with driving guitars. Brock then formed the four-piece Famous Cure and went on tour in Holland... here we get a taste of the same blues rock (entitled Diamond Ring but it sounds like Dealing with the Devil again), but the guitar playing is fully psychedelic here.

After the earlier version (Hawkwind Zoo) of Hurry on Sundown, we next hear (as on the remastered S/T album) Brock's solo Cymballine, penned by Roger Waters. An excellent song... I don't even know the original, and here it sounds more like '67 Moody Blues anyway. To round things off, the first true Hawkwind sound appears in an early (unreleased before?) version of Master of the Universe, one of many classic space-rock anthems to come.

Dawn of HW is not really a Hawkwind album of course, but it's a cool thing to have if you're interested in how the entire space-rock genre was developed from the old delta blues style. And I am one of those people. Of the very early material, only Bring it on Home has been heard before on various HW compilations over the years (including the so-called Acid Daze releases), so most of this is newly uncovered.

The 28-page book includes a slew of fabulous old photos of Dave Brock and friends, and reproductions of odd documents that record some of his bands' activities. My favorite line in the book (from a Famous Cure promotional brochure in 1967) reads, "The business side is still always their weakest side, but people don't notice this when they play." Funny, I still believe that's true over thirty years later. Well, products like this are nice items for us rabid Hawkfans to snatch up, so perhaps they're still improving their business side after all.

Sons Of Selina — Fire In The Hole

(Delerium 1999, DELEC CD 050)

Jerry Kranitz

After a nearly five year wait the space punkin' Sons Of Selina have released their second CD. Well, I should mention that the band has had several cassettes on the Music & Elsewhere label and indeed I recognised four of the tracks on Fire In The Hole from earlier cassette releases. But this is a properly produced recording that turns the heavy rockin' Sons' music into a full-blown assault.

This is seriously aggressive music that is just freaky enough and has just enough synth-mania to earn it a place in the space realm. On Fire In The Hole, the Sons are Neil Birchall on vocals, bass, keyboards, samples, and loops, Steve Robins on vocals, keyboards and synths, Robin Hemuss on bass, acoustic and electric guitars, and keyboards, Steve Jones on acoustic and electric guitars, Martin Wilding on guitars, and Alan Matthews on drums.

Fire In The Hole is a mixture of tunes, some of which many might think are a bit wimpy for the Sons, and others which are pure 'rip your heart out' brain-crushing rock. On the lighter side, For Want Of A Better Name is the opening track and starts with a sequenced techno pattern that soon blasts into a tune which is absolutely not techno. It kind of sounds like Simple Minds if that band were psycho rockers. Our Glass is a good track though a bit on the mainstream side. Once Bitten is another lighter moment though it shows that the guys can really write songs. The vocals still have that 'I'll rip yer head off' edge but the music is dreamier than typical Sons. But then you read the lyrics and realise this isn't exactly a love song. And The Last Ditch is a dance instrumental that reminded me of Ultravox.

Those are good tunes. I like them. But... there's still plenty of pure balls to the wall Sons Of Selina freakout 'fry yer brains to shit head-bangin'. Among the highlight tracks are Terminus, which is classic thrashing Sons rock. On The Horns Of A Dilemma and Kalgan are total heavy metal space-rock freakouts. As Clear As Mud will set your heads to bangin' with its Hawkwind robotic voice, mixed with the Sons insane screaming vocals. Shower Scene From Carrie starts off sounding like a horror music theme song, but develops into another kick ass rocker. I can picture a whole crowd at a concert all singing "Isn't that a shame! Isn't that a shame!" And then there's the title track, Fire In The Hole. Move over Hawkwind. The ultimate cosmic space metal bashers are here. This song has got to be the heaviest and spaciest tune I've heard from the Sons yet. Bashing guitars, pounding drums, and twiddling synths.

Fire In The Hole isn't a lot different to Nour D'oui but is a perfect companion to it. Highest recommendation to those who like to head bang in the cosmos. Oh, I can't close without mentioning the cover. It depicts a pair of female legs almost up to the crotch. And a little white string is hanging down from the crotch. Fire In The Hole... Nuff said...

Mr. Quimby's Beard — The Unsolved Mysteries Of

(Stone Premonitions SPCD 008)

Scott Heller

I received a tape of their first CD called Out There and really enjoyed the Hawkwind inspired SpaceRock. I was a little disappointed to find this CD to be a cheap CD-R as some of my friends CD players could not play it. I assume it was released by the band, as they like everyone else who puts out stuff on Demi Monde, never get anything! Anyway, the sound quality is quite good and the songs great! This is an improvement on the first CD and has more excellent space-rock!

After the spacey introduction number the CD starts up with a song called Mystery that reminds me a lot of old Omnia Opera. Mystery is a vast number spanning 10 minutes and going through a number of phases from hard rocking to pure electronic. Great song. Snotty is a short mideastern instrumental track with a nice flangy guitar, not dissimilar from the Ozrics.

D-Jam has a laid back bass line and nice lead synth that leads into an Ozric Tentacles jam. Clouds is a very Hawkwind inspired song with nice Huw like guitar leads. Beyond the Light starts out like a classic Hawkwind instrumental before really picking up into a solid rocker. Theme, Astral Path and Chords change the flavour of the disc and bring the tempo down a bit. Theme takes you to the rain forest with some nice flute playing a spacey synth backing. Astral Path and Chords feature some nice psych-edelic flavours with some very nice guitar playing.

There Must Be Some Way Out Of Here starts with a mysterious sounding low drone before the echoying effects and tribal beat slowly build up and is a great song. The title track, the Unsolved Mysteries, is a short instrumental guitar and synth piece, that seems to be a piece of a unfinished jam?? A Gliget of Yune and the Calling of the Clans are short excursions into space. The CD ends with the excellent Round and Round. My main complaint, is that too many of the songs are in the 3-4 minute range and really feel like just pieces of something bigger and leave you wanting more. Overall, a very enjoyable CD.

Mr. Quimby's Beard — Out There

(Demi Monde 1997, DMCD 1035)

Jerry Kranitz

Mr Quimby's Beard is a recent discovery for me and though this is an older release I thought it would be a good companion to Scott's review of their more recent CD. Though released in 1997 this was actually recorded in 1994 when the band consisted of Hardy on keyboards and vocals, Kidd on bass, Ray on guitar and vocals, Gaz on drums and bongos, and guests Dave (Thrash Bastard) Thorburn on guitar, and Jonna on bongos (on Snake Dance).

Mr Quimby's Beard plays a Hawkwind style that is very much in the heavy jamming space-rock spirit of bands like Tribe Of Cro, Spacehead, and Krel. Coming Down, Wake Up, and Try are like the heavier Hawkwind space-rockers. Song segments lead to blazing instrumental jams that soar to frenzied levels of intensity. This is total cosmic space-rock, but Hardy's keyboards give the music a quality that would likely crossover to the heavy progressive crowd as well.

The title track was another standout for me with its Middle Eastern atmosphere complete with tripped out chanting. But the tour de force of the album is Bringin' Up The Acid with its classic psychedelic Krautrock sound that includes dreamy vocal harmonies and a slow, drugged bassline. Of course the band ultimately blasts off and the track demonstrates what an intense jamming band Mr Quimby's Beard can be. Definitely a band that deserves to be more widely heard and essential for Hawkwind fans.

Ozric Tentacles — Floating Seeds

(UK 1999)

Scott Heller

The release of this CD was originally set for February and gradually was put off until the Ozrics split from Snapper. I was very lucky to get an advance tape of this interesting CD (Thanks Danny!) and I have to say it is a mixed bag. Those who are strickly into the Ozrics sound and don't really appreciate the new psychedelic techno stuff may be quite disappointed and turned off.

Unfortunately, those who would start at the beginning of the CD will be disappointed for sure as the first two remixes are the weakest on the whole CD. The CD starts off with Afroclonk by Space Raiders. This has hardly any similarity to the original at all and is OK.

Wobglass, one of the best songs on Become the Other is completely ruined by Will White. Ugh. Sparky Lightbourne's Burger remixes Neurochasm and you can hardly tell what part of the song he used to create his own.

After these songs, the CD gets interesting. Eat Static really show their stuff with a great version of Strangeitude! Pteranadon is also remixed in a really cool way by Hallucinogen (aka Simon Posford). It has a really nice groove to it. System 7 (Steve Hillage) mixes Sunhair and this is the only song on the CD, except for Eternal Wheel by Zion Train, that I think is what people might expect.

Steve uses the main riff of the song and mixes in techno beats but stays pretty true to the original. I was not at all impressed with the reggae dub thing that was done to Meander by DJ BNX. Zion Train do a great job on Eternal Wheel and that is it. Four great mixes and four so-so mixes. Not a release for everyone.

Seven Percent Solution — Gabriel's Waltz

(Lone Starfighter Records 1999)

Jerry Kranitz

The new release from Texas-based Seven Percent Solution offers up more of the bands' beautifully mind expanding psychedelia and is a magnificent follow up to their debut CD All About Satellites And Spaceships. The band consists of Reese Beeman on guitar, bass, and vocals, James Adkisson on guitar, Scott Sasser on drums, and Julian Capps on guitar and bass (apparently having replaced Dwayn Moore).

Seven Percent Solution plays dreamy guitar-driven psychedelia with soft lullaby vocals. The guitars work together to create some of the most beautiful psych I've heard in a while. This is floating trippy music rather than being acid psych. The guitarists do such an admirable and creative job of developing their sounds that it's hard to believe no keyboards or synths are used. While listening to the song The Innocentes I jotted down a note asking "are there really no keys?", and the band later confirmed that the music is all guitars with this track being the exception from both CD's (an omnichord was used on this track).

The band creates an atmosphere that one could get lost in right from the opening track (Dear Anne) with one guitar strumming softly while the other creates a synth-like choral background. Threshold is a similar song that really displays the bands ability to create both atmosphere and melody.

The End Of Faith is a standout track that takes the best of melodic 60's psychedelia and puts it into a fresh 90's context. Memories of the past without ever being retro. On Carousel the guitar almost sounds like an organ and is cosmic in the way that Sweden's Spacious Mind is. Actually a lot of this music reminded me of dreamier Spacious Mind. It's hard to pick a favorite track as the songs flow so well from one to the next, but the guitars on Bruise particularly grabbed me. They're harsher and more aggressive than the other tracks and they shimmer, gurgle, and quake in a lysergic stew that will take you to places you never dreamed existed.

The final track is a cover of Can's Oh Yeah. The band does of good job of making the song their own, though they dispense with Damo's vocals. (Readers should note that only the limited edition Lone Starfighter version of Gabriel's Waltz has Oh Yeah included as a bonus track. The regular release version on X-Ray does not.)

Despite the nature of the music most of the song's aren't very long, though the band clearly makes their statement in the timeframes used. Still, I'd love to hear what would result if they cut loose and let it rip for about fifteen minutes or so. Highly recommended.

Electric Orange — Electric Orange

(Delerium 1999, DELEC CD 042)

Jerry Kranitz

Electric Orange is led by Germany's Dirk Jan Müller who began playing classic Krautrock styled music, later indulging his interests in dance music, techno, and ambient. Just check out the instrumentation. Müller plays Hammond, Rhodes, clavinet, farfisa, mellotron, tape loops, synths, vibes, and percussion, and is joined by various guests on guitars, bass, drums, flute, and saxophone. This 2-CD set includes a re-release of the first Electric Orange album plus bonus tracks on disc two featuring Müller's dance and ambient explorations. Two very different sides of Electric Orange. All recordings seem to be from 1993-1994.

On disc one Electric Orange has the classic early 70's Krautrock instrumental down to a science. Tracks like Reflections Of 2072 And Everywhere and Sysyphus's Revenge Parts I - X are great space-rock, but with a jazz fusion edge like the best of bands like Amon Düül II, Embryo, Eela Craig, and countless others. The Hammond gives it a sound that recalls Deep Purple's lighter moments. Journey Through Weird Scenes Featuring Cows In Space, Soul Shadows, Baby Cakewalk, and Back In Strange Worlds are great space jazz pieces with sax jamming over a space-rock groove. And Cakewalk and Strange World both utilize a bubbling synth style that gives it an Ozrics sound.

The Return Of Eugene, Be Careful!... now what do you suppose this is based on? Actually I pulled out my Ummagumma and gave Eugene a listen and Electric Orange's version is essentially a cover, but one that is just as freaked out and scary as Pink Floyd's. Electripity Chapter XVI is a good follow up to Eugene as it's a similarly spacey freakout with scary efx'd vocals and psychedelic guitar/organ jams.

On disc two Electric Orange explores dance and ambient interests that never stray from the space realm. Borrowed Toothpaste Paranoia features hippy hoppy dance beats but the instrumentation is the same giving us a total spaced out Krautrocking dance music. In fact, this has more spaced out guitar work than the first disc. On Spacejunk dance rhythms alternate with ambient soundscape moments, and the two mix well. Tribal percussion, psych guitar, and those voicings typically heard on techno albums are present. Note that this is not music you could dance consistently to and I'm not sure that is Müller's intention. What he does is incorporate dance and trip hop influences into the music so that it's only an element of the entire track. So you can trip out just as much as you can trip hop to this music.

On tracks like Wet Rotation, Verheerende Folgen, and Krautwerk, Electric Orange explores world music ambient percussive soundscapes. Müller gets into minimalist territory where there is no groove. The focus is on percussion that plays a repeating, and only slightly changing, pattern accompanied by simple textured synth backgrounds. Verheerende Folgen is my favorite of these as it eventually develops into a soundscape dance number that even later turns into a dancable space-rock guitar freakout. Müller does a very interesting job of combining various styles. Finally, Magick Case and Fairy Tale are two offbeat vocal numbers that close the set. Magick Case is a playful collage tune that made me think of a psychedelic children's song. And Fairy Tale is a wild collage tune along the lines of Eugene with backward loops and various other psycho sounds.

Electric Orange do a great job of playing old time space-rock nostalgia on disc one, but I have to say that disc two is the more creative effort of the two. Both together make for a highly recommended package.

Cauldron — The Sanctuary Suite

(The Wild Places 1999, WILD006)

Jerry Kranitz

Cauldron is yet another member of the musical family that includes Sweden's Spacious Mind and Holy River Family Band. This time it's the duo of Jens Unosson (Spacious and Holy River) on organ, synthesizers, trumpet, and belltree, and Arne Jonasson (Holy River) on electric and acoustic guitars, bass, sitar, nychelharpa, pumporgan, saxophone, harmonica, tablas, and percussion. The Sanctuary Suite consists of four psychedelic instrumental tracks which the liner notes say are songs based on musical sketches by Jens and Arne (two from each musician).

The Sea/The Road is a 20-minute extended piece in which Arne plays simple but trippy psychedelic guitar solos against Jens' synth textures, waves washing up against the shore, and screeches that are like the sounds that whales make. This is neither intense nor complex. Just very ambient, psychedelic soundscapes which serve as ear candy for the listener. During the last five minutes a bass is introduced creating a sense of rhythm and the guitar picks up the pace a bit, jamming along with a harmonica. It's got a bit of a Reggae feel, the music having developed into an upbeat, almost danceable number.

The Cathedral opens with similar guitar soloing, but includes intense rapid keyboard work. Part of it sounds like bagpipes, and there's a single droning note that is maintained throughout the track that I could feel deep in my chest like you get from a heavy pounding bass. A tribal drum soon sets the rhythmic pattern while the guitar gets a bit more cosmically potent and the bagpipe synths hit the higher registers. I enjoy Arne's guitar soloing for his ability to play slow simple guitar solo lines that still manage to be wildly intense. The Cathedral also includes freakout sitar and Jens let loose with an array of spaced out synth sounds.

The City is an Eastern influenced slide sitar workout played against a backdrop of bonging cathedral bells and subtle keyboard textures. Not by any means ambient and best not played in the same frame of mind as when listening to The Sea/The Road, but a great exercise in jarring one's brain.

The East/The Dream/The Bliss is similar to The City but more overtly Indian influenced. The sitar goes into the stratosphere to produce some of the wildest Eastern influenced psych I've heard. We then move into a segment that includes throbbing synths, organ, tablas, trumpet and sax, and jazzy guitar to go along with the trumpet and sax. The whole thing gets very Miles Davis in a kaleidoscope way and is the most stylistically different tune I've heard from these guys' various band projects. Jazz for psych fans touring the Taj Mahal!

If you're new to the whole Spacious Mind/Holy River family then I would recommend starting with any Spacious Mind album or Holy River Family Bands' second release Welcome To Riverhouse. But veteran fans of those bands will enjoy the variety on Cauldron and find it a welcome new release from these masters of mind expansion.

Daevid Allen's University of Errors — Money Doesn't Make It

(innerSPACE 1999, 7707)

Keith Henderson

A chance meeting between Gong's Daevid Allen and the members of Mushroom led to the entirely spontaneous formation of The University of Errors. Literally days later, the tracks archived on Money Doesn't Make It were recorded, and now less than a year later we can all enjoy the results of this synergistic pairing.

The mixing of Daevid's unique word-play compositions with the improvisational genius of Mushroom's core members has produced a fine work of art, but one that also has a message and a heaping of sly humour. Daevid (it doesn't seem right calling him 'Allen') wasn't blessed with the world's best singing voice, but here he puts on quite an excellent vocal performance. And even though there is no hint of synthesizers (or keyboards of any kind) herein, it retains a truly cosmic feel throughout.

From the opening title track, Daevid gets straight to the point, that being a general cynicism with modern technology and the commercial hype of the western world. "Burn your money, free that child. Don't teach children to work a crooked mind." He delivers these words of wisdom in a somewhat rappish style against a phased-out rhythm section (?) and Josh Pollock's psychedelic guitar wizardry.

On Prince of Sidewalk Scooter, Submarine Cap'n Michael Clare lays down a fabulously smooth bassline that seems to grab up all the other instruments and carry them along on a blanket of air. Oh, this is a wonderous nine-minute piece, ethereal bits of gliss guitar sprinkled amongst more inspired ranting from Daevid ending simply with, "Throw your computer in the trash." How often I get that urge... but the thing is, my computer is where I write these reviews. Sorry.

From ranting and rapping, we switch to chanting and incantations for False Teacher and Mullimbimby Mother, as the band jams along to an Eastern 'tune.' Erik Pearson, another Mushroom protagonist, adds some excellent flute touches to a mix of swirly, often phased (or treated) strums and drums, and a partially hidden (but inspired) guitar solo from Pollock on the latter. The latter part of the album is a collection of shorter, more peculiar bits and pieces, highlighted by the heavier riffing in Talkwind Upswerve and a reprise of the title track. Here, studio trickery results in a herky-jerky cut-and-splice reading of Burn Your Money. Effective way to wrap up 45 minutes of very strong material.

I don't know where this union of Bay Area musicnauts and the Astral Alien will eventually lead, or even whether it will continue with regularity (the planned live dates are a promising sign), but this is the strongest release from the Gong family I've heard in a long while. It's the kind of thing though that certainly feeds on spontaneity - so I hope future efforts also happen without any prior planning, as it seems to have worked wonders on this debut effort. Go out of your way to track this one down, if you can.

Hash Jar Tempo — Under Glass

(Drunken Fish 1999, DFR-44)

Keith Henderson

Two of the more well-known entities in cosmic drone-rock, i.e., Philadelphia's Bardo Pond and New Zealand's Roy Montgomery, have once again met up to produce a follow-up to their 1997 Well Oiled disc. Obviously, their moniker was chosen in jest to acknowledge their German forefathers Ash Ra Tempel. I would classify Krautrock often as hypnotic but rarely droney, so these modern groups are innovators in their own right, whether you stay awake through their music or not.

The opener, Präludium und Fuge. D - Moll, is ten minutes of freaked-out guitar noises and other sonic effects coating a backdrop of a guitar drone that cleverly simulates a person's slow breathing... sound is seemingly sucked in for a spell, and then exhaled outwards. Next, the white noise of Labiomancy starts up and though there are constantly-moving lines present, the sameness of pace and volume effectively creates a unwavering monotone. Psychotic sax honking takes the lead in Sources in Cleveland, which is buoyed some by pulsing bass and slow-moving drumming. Hymenoptera in Amber Crybaby best recalls Gottsching's work via continuous, fluid guitar soloing, and ebbs and swells in the slightly phased rhythm track - a real high point. Gravitational Lens Opera winds up the album in strong fashion, adopting a more upbeat jangly guitar sound.

The material presented here has its ups and downs, but offers a few gems that improve greatly upon Hash Jar Tempo's mediocre first effort. Of course, music of this nature (i.e., instrumental music with little in the way of distinct heterogeneity) won't appeal to the average rock 'n' roll fan. But those who find comfort in the sweet drone of Slowdive or Windy & Carl will probably feel right at home here, though Hash Jar Tempo offer a bit more edge and tension. I'm generally content to listen to this kind of music for 30 minutes or so at a crack, so with some simple track programming on the ole CD changer, I'm happy to slip on Under Glass and select my faves.

Hash Jar Tempo — Well Oiled

(Drunken Fish 1997, DFR-24)

Jerry Kranitz

Scanning the used CD racks at a local campus establishment I couldn't help but have my attention drawn to a title called Hash Jar Tempo. Once I saw the cool cover of six people sitting seance style around a table I decided to grab it. On my first listen I was intrigued by the band's instrumental spacey psychedelia. Pretty much in the drone realm but the instruments are very clear making this a good head trip disc. LOTS of great guitar sounds (there may be up to three of them) much of which plays a role that synths usually do.

So I get on the internet to look for info on Hash Jar Tempo and find out that this is actually Bardo Pond! Which is very interesting because on most of the Bardo Pond music I've heard the instruments are not very clear. Just a big wall of drone noise that I can't seem to make heads or tails of. Therefore, I'm glad I knew nothing about this when I picked it up or I would have missed out on some tasty, if not mind blowing, instrumental psychedelia. Actually Hash Jar Tempo is a collaboration between the Bardos and New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery.

As I said, it's not a mind blower, but damn good relative to a lot of what comes out of the school of droning space-rock. There's a full 78 minutes of music here which is great, but as is so often the case they would have had a more solid release if they had cut out the stuff that's goes beyond the point of interest and kept the 45-50 minutes of stronger material.

Aum — Aum

(Smalaaum 1998, 001)

Scott Heller

This release is a little belated to be reviewed (it was recorded in August 1997, released in 1998) but the band deserve to be noticed! The band are considered by some to be the Belgian Ozric Tentacles equivalent. I think this is cutting the band a little short. The CD contains 5 psychedelic improvised pieces that do have a late 80's Ozrics feel to them. I understand that band have diversified now and have a full-time digerdoo player and flute/violin player, making the band a 6 piece.

Neuro-Notes starts the CD off with some really spacey synth sounds that make you feel like you are in the corridor in a sci-fi film, before the drums slowly build up. This song has a distinct 80's HW feel and must be a great concert opener. Tibetan Bowls is the stand out track on the CD. The band gets into a long groove that is reminiscent of Space is their Palestine by Hawkwind. Great song!

In a World of Sorcery is next and is the most distinctly Ozrics like song, similar to stuff on Arborescence. Crystallized is where the band heads off into deep reggae dub space. I like this number a lot, especially the way the synth sort of oscillates through the track. Ololiuqui ends the CD and is pretty much a tribal drumming and drone song, not all that interesting. The CD feels all too short at 36 minutes and leaves you wanting more but I look forward to the band's next output.

Alien Planetscapes — Transition 1991-1992

(Galactus/AP Music #112, 1999)

Jerry Kranitz

Besides the upcoming new studio release, Victims Of The Blacklist, 1999 will see three limited edition releases from Alien Planetscapes, two of which consist of archival material and the other being the bands' performance at the 1998 Strange Daze SpaceRock Festival. Below we discuss the Transition and Strange Daze releases.

For those of you who discovered Alien Planetscapes from their 1998 debut CD Life On Earth, Transition 1991-1992 is an excellent opportunity to explore the early 90's version of the band, which was musically different from the band that recorded Life On Earth, though still recognizably Alien Planetscapes. Transition consists of two tracks totalling over 70 minutes and both feature the freewheeling "let's make shit up" ethic that characterised the band at this time. Doug Walker's interest and experience with jazz is well incorporated into the music with the band embarking on lengthy jams that improvise and develop around central themes.

The first track was recorded live on 26 October 1991 and includes the lineup of Len Pace on drums and percussion, L.G.Mair on bass and effects, John Cordes on electric violin and mandolin, synthesizer, and effects, John Potenza on guitars, synthesizers, and effects, Louis Boone on acoustic and electronic percussion, synthesizer, tapes, and effects, and Doug Walker on synthesizer, sequencer, organs, keyboards, electronic reeds and flute, and effects. If forced to give a concise description of Alien Planetscapes at this time I'd say they're what Soft Machine might have sounded like had they declared themselves to be a space-rock band. But this is too simplistic and having had the opportunity to hear a fair amount of Alien Planetscapes material during the past year I really think that in all their full band incarnations they have a distinct sound of their own.

The second track is a studio recording from 17 October 1992 called In Seven Seconds and features the Alien Planetscapes "bigband" consisting of L.G.Mair, Louis Boone, and Doug Walker again, but this time are joined by Ernest Boyd on drums, Kevin Mapplebeck on guitars, devices, and effects, Valleri Popov on tenor saxophone and effects, and Darryll Little on alto saxophone and effects.

One element that stands out about Alien Planetscapes is that they are indeed a "band". That is, everyone shines but does so by their contribution to the whole rather than taking center stage solos. Everyone creates "sounds" regardless of their instrument and these sounds are critical to the piece. Whether it's wailing violin or efx'd slide guitar it all works together to create a very full band sound that has a strong jazz groove but is firmly in the cosmos creating more freaky sounds and effects than you've probably heard from one band. The band moves through a succession of these grooves from a Soft Machine circa Third sound, and at times a space fusiony Mahavishnu Orchestra feel. Alien Planetscapes excels at making jazz truly cosmic and there are hints of the full blown rock that was to come later on Life On Earth.

These are both strong tracks though I found In Seven Seconds to be a standout due to the addition of the two saxophones and the prominence of Doug's flute... hence the "bigband". This is truly cosmic music that could turn Hawkwind fans on to jazz as well as turning a lot of jazz fans on to SpaceRock. The best of many different worlds and recommended to the space-rock fan who is also open to the music of Sun Ra, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.

Alien Planetscapes — Strange Daze 8/15/98

(Galactus/AP Music #109, 1999)

Jerry Kranitz

Fast-forward to 1998 and the Strange Daze SpaceRock festival. The same lineup that appeared on the Life On Earth CD (minus Blais Siwula) is playing. They are Matthew Block on drums and percussion, Chris Altenhoff on bass, effects, tapes, and loops, Rob Alfonso on guitars, devices, and effects, and Doug Walker on synthesizers, keyboards, electronic flute, and effects.

This is a harder rocking, sometimes brain splitting version of Alien Planetscapes than heard on the earlier recordings, but the music is no less jamming and is equally cosmic. Alphonso's blazing guitar sound and Block's intense drumming are key factors in this transition. Also there is Walker's stated intention of not improvising in the lengthy fashion that AP used to.

Mr Sparkle, Source, and Radiation King are heavy space punked out rockers. These are intense hard driving tracks that don't let up until they end. Alfonso's guitar often gives the band a mid-70's King Crimson sound, but Alien Planetscapes gets downright metallic at times and the addition of Walker's synth work puts this in a heavy rock music class all its own.

Space Jam is just that... psychedelic Frippoid guitarscapes and synth madness create a journey that is both floating and at the same time crazed. Prince Jones gets even more into the Crimsoid realm sounding like a heavier version of Red. And Cold War is a rockin' blitzkrieg that ends in territory that borders on hardcore. Alien Planetscapes's jazzier roots return on Soft Martian, an exploratory tune that recalls the Soft Machine comparison. Soft Martian... Soft Machine... hmmmmm.

This version takes the band even more into orbit than the version on Life On Earth and Alien Planetscapes were a tough act to follow despite the fact that they were followed by the weekend's headliner Hawkwind. Fans of SpaceRock in all its forms should know Alien Planetscapes' music. Past material has been readily available from Carl Howard's Audiophile Tapes, but if you've been avoiding these cause you don't like cassettes then now's your chance.

Mushroom Honey — In the Summer of Mushroom Honey

(Aether Records 1999 aecd-105)

Keith Henderson

On a single spring day in 1998 (April 19th to be exact), a 'supergroup' of midwestern psychsters converged on the Funhouse Studios in Indianapolis, Indiana. All part of the Aether-Or family, members of Tombstone Valentine, Many Bright Things, Faraday Cage, and Twin Planet all took part in the improvisational jam session. I would imagine that these endeavors would rarely have a near-perfect success rate, so I'm astounded at the sustained quality that Mushroom Honey achieves, unless of course they recorded 18 hours of material and this album is only a small percentage of the archive.

I guess it'll be no surprise to you that there are several jams over 10 minutes long on Mushroom Honey. Well, four to be exact. Three are pretty much standard fare, but so well done that they are true standouts. Thank you, Mr. Bishop, is downright peculiar and a bit hard to digest at times (that's good!). The weirdest point is when bassist/vocalist Ron Esposito begins speaking in tongues (or so it seems) to a tossed salad of intended feedback noises and other flanged guitars. Something akin to the Zendik Tribe down in Texas anyway.

Much of the album is more subtle oriental-flavored psychedelia, with the obligatory hand percussion and occasional sitar appearance. But what makes it all work is the clear, soaring vocals from TV's Richelle Toombs on most tracks. Some times there are actual lyrics or readings from obscure texts, but often it's simply the addition of her 'space whisper' singing that adds the right amount of 'coloratura' to the throbbing and pulsating music below.

On my favorite tune Sweet Water, Toombs' singing could almost be considered gospel, but this spiritual nature and the deftness she displays at vibrato control are truly wondrous. The finale Shining Brightly does just that, another acoustic song with pretty vocals from Toombs dancing around light guitar licks... the kind of thing that seems to be most often recorded in northern Wales for some reason.

I give this album strong marks for being spontaneous and uplifting, yet still captured as a near flawless recording with a good mix and instrument separation. I'm not certain it needed to be 72 minutes long, but I'm sure that urge exists simply because of the nature of the medium. (The single LP version was necessarily edited down.) I've enjoyed what the individual bands have done on their own, and so it would have been hard to imagine how this could have gone wrong. I don't know whether the title is more for the album or the collective itself... but assuming it's the former, I'd like to dub this group Amon Düül 1 1/2.

Korai Öröm — Recycled

(KORA 004)

Scott Heller

This release takes tracks from all the bands CD's and sees them remixed by various Hungarian DJ's. The techno remix thing is becoming quite popular with various DJ's remixing Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles, but this is distinctly different.

The songs here are more mixed the way the old Jamaican masters like Lee Perry or more recently, The Mad Professor, have done with reggae. The extra techno beats are not layered on but the songs are just remixed and use most of the original Korai Öröm percussion.

Since none of the band's CD's have track numbers it is difficult to describe which songs are redone on this CD. On first listen, I did not really appreciate what the DJ's had done but after repeated listenings, the CD really grows on you.

The people who have remixed the material are: DJ Ridoo, DJ Titurz, DJ Virgacs, Kalunet, The Unflyables and Emil. This one takes longer to grow on you but it is still KO! Emil said the next CD might be a live one!

Alphane Moon — The Echoing Grove

(Camera Obscura 1999, CAM019CD)

Keith Henderson

Alphane Moon are the Welsh duo of Dafydd Roberts and his partner Ruth, who sometimes also record under the name Our Glassie Azoth. The tracks from Grove were recorded in 1994, released sporadically in small cassette runs, then an obscure 1996 US LP release, and now finally a CD release on (associate) Tony Dale's Camera Obscura label in Oz. There is no evidence of any bass guitar or percussion, the music usually carried along by multiple effects-laden guitar lines, incidental sounds, and occasional vocals.

The trend from cleaner, happier sounds at the outset towards a more disturbing atonal character in later tracks is unmistakable. I don't necessarily prefer one over the other, but in this case the cleaner tracks are the ones I strongly prefer. And that's because Circle of Four and To Almadine are both very original compositions, effectively applying massive amounts of looping echoed guitars and space-battle sound effects. A dab of eerie gliss tops off a very exciting sonic stew. Fans of the solo period (e.g., Inventions and Private Tapes) should really catch on to this music.

With A Closed Gate, the duo offer what seems like a traditional Welsh folk song corrupted by recording it through an oscillating fan. Here, the heavy fuzz guitar makes its first appearance, and this will become the dominant sound throughout the remaining four tracks. And so Lunadial is a long, fuzzed out excursion with too many shrill effects for my tastes. The pretty folk music returns again in Reap a Field of Light, but then part two is another lengthy fuzz-fest, this time helped along by respites of the cleaner, echo-guitar and swirly madness. To say it's psychedelic would be quite the understatement.

This is crazy stuff, and I agree that it should have been given a wider voice than it was originally offered. But the music can get a little distracting, and is not always easy to absorb. So I'd warn against listening to Alphane Moon while on any mind-altering substances... this music is enough to alter your mind on its own.

Breitband — Fadu Und Der Unterschied

(Delerium 1999, DELEC CD 072)

Jerry Kranitz

Now this is an interesting disc. Breitband plays music that is typically heard from all-electronic works and indeed if I wasn't paying close attention and didn't read the liner notes I might think it was. But the instrumentation this German duo uses includes guitar, synthesizer, flutes, didgeridoo, kalimba, rainmakers, bells, jews harp, percussion, voice, and various found objects. Breitband's two members go by Dr. Oboti and PCMAN.

The CD title is also the name of its two tracks which are 34 minutes and 40 mintues respectively. Fadu starts off as an eerie atmospheric piece with a haunting background, intermittent percussion bits, and what sounds like a droning didgeridoo. This is one of those musical journeys that takes many interesting twists and turns rather than concerning itself with any real thematic development.

The band creates wonderful soundscapes and sequenced synth patterns along with all kinds of thundering ambient portions keeping the whole mood quite dark. I'm sure there is a lot of guitar work here that I'm not identifying, thinking it's a synth. The flutes embellish the music nicely, less as melody lines than as further contributors to the atmosphere. There's even a portion that recalls Gong with its chanting, musical droning, and tribal percussion. I was just waiting for the "ee'-ah-ho'-ah ee'-ah-ho'-ah". The mood gets uplifting near the end and a steadier paced rhythm kicks in, though we hear voices arguing and yelling in the background.

Der Unterschied is similar musically but is much wilder, due mostly to the strange voices that sound like something off a mid-70's Residents album. Damned if I know what language it is but it sounds cool along with the droning space atmospherics. Of course there's lots of other voicings added to the mix making this quite the vocal track, though the voices have more of a collage quality and certainly aren't singing. We even get something of a full band sound when the percussion kicks in and the keyboards (guitar?) starts soloing in what sounds like it could be Porcupine Tree.

Breitband has created a dark space journey that will take you on a bumpy, but ultimately safe trip to the furthest reaches of the solar system. We'll call it tribal soundscape electronica that's a bit on the psychedelic side and way out in space.

The Bevis Frond — Vavona Burr

(Woronzow Records 1999, WOO 31)

Jerry Kranitz

The latest from The Bevis Frond is the third in a row that features the Frond in a return to a Nick Saloman solo project. Well, he does get help on The Frond Cheer as guest Country Joe McDonald gives us an F-R-O-N and a D. Vavona Burr doesn't offer anything new but will nonetheless please those of us who enjoy Saloman's song-oriented acid rock. He has a distinct sound and voice which conveys real emotion in both music and song. This collection of 18 tunes offers up more of the Frond's raw garage style of crashing acoustic and electric guitars and the assorted molten acid solos.

Saloman is equally comfortable in easy paced moments and heavy acidic stretchouts. On the lighter side, Caught In The Headlight a nice acoustic tune with a sort of sitar sounding solo and a great wailing organ. One Leg Sand Dance is a jamming bluesy, and quite soulful, psych rocker. He demonstrates his flare for good rockin' and catchy melodies on tracks like Couldn't Care Less and Almost Like Being Alive.

Coming Down On You is another great 'stick in your head' melody rocker that has a bit of a Beatles influence. And for all-out acid rock my favorites are National Drag and Temple Falls. National Drag got my toes tappin' with its raw slide guitar and screaming echoed solos. And Temple Falls features Nick's cool wailing wah-wah licks.

There aren't any really extended instrumental stretchouts here. Begging Bowl is the longest track at eight minutes, and while it's got some great acid guitar it's still primarily a song, which is really the focus of Vavona Burr.

Adrian Shaw — Head Cleaner

(Woronzow Records 1999, WOO 32)

Jerry Kranitz

Hawkwinder, Fronder, and solo artist Adrian Shaw's newest release is a collection of songs that really grabbed me from the first listen. I'm not sure what it is. There's nothing particularly amazing here. Just a great collection of tunes with 'stick in your head' melodies, great acid psych, and strong guest contributions.

Head Cleaner opens with a bang as Simon House contributes cosmic freakout solo violin to Symbiosis, and finishes on a dreamier note with Simon playing a psychedelic lullaby solo. Mobius Trip is a valium-paced psych tune with short but wonderful moments of echoed stratosphere guitar. Staring At The Sun is a total acid psych tune with great guitar by Bari Watts and a riff that sounds quite close to Pictures Of Matchstick Men.

On the more straight rockin' side is Round And Round which is what ZZ Top might sound like if they were a head band. And Drowning is a raw heavy bluesy psych rocker 'a la Hendrix. What Else, Tattered Butterfly, and All In The Mind all have a Beatles feel to them with more mind-melting guitar by Watts on Butterfly and nice tasteful guitar from Nick Saloman on All In The Mind.

In summary, this is a solid collection of tunes that are strong both in the song and instrumental department. Adrian's sense of melody adds real weight to the instrumental moments which are totally cosmic but kept within the confines of song structures.

Gas Giant — Demo 1999

(Denmark)

Scott Heller

Gas Giant, formerly known as Blind Man Buff, have been on the Danish music scene in one form or another for the last 10 years but have only recently really come together as a band to produce their best, most potent material. The band released a 4 track CD under the name Blind Man Buff in 1997 but this material is a progression in a more heavy and spacey direction. Think Kyuss meets Pink Floyd (in some ways).

The demo starts with Never Leave This Way, which takes its opening guitar riff straight out of the KYUSS book, but then proceeds to develop a very heavy groove and Stefan plays some excellent spaced out guitar. Grow is a very different song for the band, starting off sounding a bit like a 70's funk or soul tune, before really taking off. Stefen really gets to show off at the end of the song with a long guitar solo as the groove takes over.

Back on the Headless Track, which has a very spacey effected guitar intro and Jesper's haunting vocals, starts slow then the heavy heavy guitar blasts in and the first guitar solo sounds a lot like David Gilmour. Most of the bands songs are in the 6 minute range, giving the band a lot of room to jam and experiment. Under the Tree is next and this version is a much more laid back version compared to the live version I have heard. The band have changed the ending of the song as well, but the song is one of the more melodic and a good one!

Senses sees the band continue in a more laid back groove, before Stefan kicks it up. Super Sun Trigger is one of the band's best songs with a great heavy guitar riff and some excellent effected guitar and more impassioned vocals. The rhythm section of Peter (drums) and Thomas really form an incredible tight groove on these last three numbers. Fire Tripping hits you hard and fast and again shows that this band can stand with the best of the Stoner rock genre! Embrace is a 12 minute epic and is the band's greatest achievement. The tune combines great spacey guitar, passionate singing and a great groove that just takes you away and builds until the song's climax!

On the best numbers, Gas Giant take their lessons from Kyuss and push it further into outer space. Stefan is simply brilliant at times, taking the band's sound to the next level of heavy space rock!

Flotilla — Flotilla

(World Domination 1999, wdm10100)

Keith Henderson

New from the folks that brought you the modern space-rock of Sky Cries Mary comes the self-titled debut from California's Flotilla. I can see the occasional similarity in the approaches these two entities take, but there are more differences than likenesses. This foursome weaves a colorful tapestry of warm spacey sounds and dreamy vocals, and the occasional catchy pop hook. Well, that does sound like SCM eh? But SCM is the more intense and dramatic entity... Flotilla is far more 'airy' in nature.

Following the Quark-like electronic opening piece (Blue Flame), the fully-fledged Through and Out streams through with various synthetic components - a choppy rhythm, ambient swashing, and some submarine frequencies. Love Can Strike Twice is a bit sappier, the male/female duet of Terry Border and Karina Argudo not quite the same as the Romero's of SCM (a matter of taste which you'd prefer), though the tune itself is catchy like their Moonbathing. My eyes opened far wider when In My Head appeared, this one an orchestral space odyssey of high stature. Maybe a bit slow-moving, but every so often it's nice to float through space before blasting into another galaxy. Following the cutesy but dull This Year's Clown, we are then treated to another slower dream-drone piece (Sea Alive), featuring phased effects and fuzzed bass. Some really nice sounds here.

Three more moderately-paced numbers fill out the album, a bit brief at 38 minutes, but a decent enough first effort with a few things to offer I haven't heard elsewhere. To be really specific, the sound of Flotilla most resembles a blend of Texas dream-space kings 7% Solution with the stylized synth-pop of Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin (ex-Hatfield & the North, et al.). An interesting idea, and I think they can develop it into something really special with a little cultivation in the songwriting department and an injection of energy here and there.

Electric Bird Noise — Unleashing The Inner Robot

(Artfag 1999, artfag001)

Jerry Kranitz

Electric Bird Noise is from South Carolina and consists of Brian Mckenzie on guitar, effects, and loops, Rev. Doc. Scromps on guitar, effects, bass, and keyboards, and Trey Mcmanus on moog synthesizer. The promo material descibes them as playing "cinematic instrumental guitar music". I guess that by cinematic Electric Bird Noise is thinking in terms of creating themes or soundtrack music. Indeed this seems to be the case as they alternate between aggression and more peaceful sonic landscapes. These guys do a good job of creating varied guitar sounds, but also rocking out when brief moments call for it.

Number Four opens the disc with a short but aggressive guitar assault. Don't make assumptions though because the next tune, Lazy Tumbleweeds, is softer and more ambient. But hold on to your hats cause Japanese Toy Song will blast you with strained guitars and tribal rhythms. The guitars become quite manic and I was reminded of some kind of space battle scene. Electric Bird Noise incorporates loops which along with the tribal rhythms and crashing guitars create a frantic mood that didn't allow me a moment to catch my breath.

Another highlight is Cloudless Sulfur, a loop heavy tune with interesting percussion sounds that again becomes more intense after a minute or two. I like how the guitars will scream for a moment or two and then drop back to the opening theme. This could easily be annoying but Electric Bird Noise makes these stop/start changes work. Number Three features Frippoid sustained guitar notes to a techno rhythm. Soon a second guitar plays a slow but scorching melody along with the sustained guitar. A solid example of guitar-based electronica style music.

Three Thousand And Two is the most dreamy ambient space piece on the disc. If we're talking cinematic this should have been the final track as it's a great closer. Gorgeous soundscapes that bring the listener in for a soft landing. Anf/Spraid With Raid is the only song with a standard rock guitar sound though this isn't by any means a regular rock tune. A very cool spacey tune that drifts more overtly into space-rock and even a bit of prog rock territory. A slow organ melody plays along with the space guitar and shooting synths to create a cosmically psychedelic atmosphere. One of my favorites.

Most of the songs on this disc make concise statements rather than developing much so this an album that needs to be heard in its entirety to be appreciated. But Electric Bird Noise does a good job of making limited themes go a long way and exploring the possibilities of thematic development that also produces creatively cosmic music. I'll bet these guys could handle a sci fi film soundtrack quite capably.

Standarte — Stimmung

(Black Widow 1999, BWRCD-028)

Keith Henderson

Standarte is an Italian quartet that has brought back a previously long-dead 70s style (I suppose that's just because no one else had yet chosen to revive it), that being the majestic organ-heavy hard rock of so many European rock groups of the time. Most notably Deep Purple, but there were many more bands of the sort in Germany and elsewhere I'm sure.

Stimmung is Standarte's third effort, and is a mix of new studio recordings and two separate live performances. An important point is that the band has added Davide Nicolini on guitar, filling the hole left behind by the unexplained departure of the guitarist who appeared on the eponymous first album (oddly no credit was given). After then forging on as a organ/bass/drum trio for 1996?'s Curses and Invocations, they've now returned to the more traditional rock band lineup.

Apart from the obvious Jon Lord-style organ, Standarte is pretty difficult to pin down overall. At times, the music is symphonic progressive, other times jazzy, funky and/or bluesy, and quite often psychedelic. Following a brief instrumental intro, what appear to be the same opening chords to Hawkwind's Assault and Battery kick in and introduce the bombastic, almost stoner-heavy (We want) a Peaceful Village. The BIG sound that the four produce (actually more like Captain Beyond than Deep Purple, to be precise) plays well against the moody organ and Mellotron stylings of Michele Profeti. Drummer/Vocalist Daniele Caputo has a strong, resonant voice, and sings in English with hardly a detectable accent. Following a brief quiet intro, the crashing and stomping continues in Kankweezler, then things become a little more fluid and brisk in the title track. Penned by the newcomer Nicolini, Sonnermensch is a bit of a departure, leaning towards a more driving and repetitive rhythm, but then also with dabbles of spacey synths applied.

The live portion (the first three recorded in Stockholm, Sweden), starts out with Moon in Cancer (originally on the second album), including a touch of extra-boomy bass from Stefano Gabbani and a really long-winded organ solo. The previously unreleased Dark Satanic Mill offers some nice slide guitar work and then an extended bridge section... at first, a space march - then leading into a quiet section which Nicolini colours with fluid guitar soloing. The traditional In My Time of Dying is redone here (also on the first album), a heavy blues anthem underlain by some particularly active drumming. After a puzzling (i.e., lengthy) bit of audience applause, we finally get to the last two tracks, recorded live from a radio broadcast. The sound is a bit muddy, but here they branch out more into the bluesy-psych side of things, especially with the cover of Velvett Fogg's Yellow Cave Woman.

Stimmung is strong throughout, and is a fine choice to discover Standarte's throwback style. Especially now that the guitar has been reintroduced (you really had to dig organ to enjoy the second album). Fans of the not-so-krautrock (but still German) 'big sound' artists of the 70s (like Grobschnitt, Jane, Birth Control, and Os Mundi) should really enjoy Standarte, and will have a hard time believing this material was recorded in the late 90's. I know I did.

Space Probe Taurus — Hallucination Generation

(1998 Sweden)

Melting Euphoria — She Wants To Take Us

(Purple Pyramid 1999, CLP 0527-2)

Jerry Kranitz

Melting Euphoria's follow up to 1997's Inside The Gardens Of The Mind offers more of the jamming instrumental space-rock that the previous effort had. ME has developed a standard sound that works well but changes little from song to song (can you say Ozrics?). However, it's to the bands credit that the sound they have established is a recognizable one. ME's signature sound is most characterised by the Merrill/Anthony Who? rhythm section of pounding tribal drums and low end driving bass. Joining them are, once again, Zero on synths and harp and Bob Clic on guitars and mandolin.

There are ten songs on the CD though the liner notes only list nine so my descriptions may not match with the titles I'm discussing. In any event, ME plays much shorter songs than instrumental space-rock bands typically do (4-6 minute range) which isn't a bad thing given that their strength is in making limited instrumental statements rather than extended thematic development, though there's more of that on this release than the previous one.

Songs like Surrounding Yesterday, Portals Of The Past", and Tabs Of Blue And Silver Sunshine are standard ME rockers though Tabs features some cool wah-wah'd guitar freakout moments. Flying Eyes Like Saucers offers a little more variety than other tracks. It's got an extended intro with cool pounding tribal percussion and acidic licks that say more in single notes than a lot of the more spitfire wailing solos.

Twilight Under Western Skies stands out as a more hard rockin' tune than I've typically heard from ME. And Field Of Reeds at 12 minutes is the band's one foray into an extended journey as they travel though multiple psychedelic themes that held my attention most of the time. I think the band does well within the timeframes they typically stick with, and they seem to be aware of this, but it's nice to see them stretch out a bit for a change. Overall this new release is exactly what Melting Euphoria is... good jamming space-rock, best enjoyed live.

Escape Velocity — Vesc=SQR(2G*M/r)

(Surf Into Space Productions 1999)

Jerry Kranitz

Surf SpaceRock? You betcha. From Dayton, Ohio, Escape Velocity play songs that sound like the B-52s meet the Ventures, but others that have a clear Hawkwind influence. The band is a trio of Digger Dug Doug on keyboards and vocals, Dr Gavin Atomsmasher on guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, and Tom So$ also on guitars, bass, drums, and vocals.

Songs like Your Weapons Are Useless and Beaches Of Planet X have a strong surf meets B-52s with a 60's edge sound to them. And Surf Till You Die shows that the guys really have a sense of melody. This is a standard 60's style surf tune but with synth lines looming eerily in the background and brief doomy vocals. When The Sun Explodes and Gravitational Constant sees the band exploring a kind of surf-Hawkwind territory.

Digger Dug does his Nik Turner vocal thing to the beach hoppin' dance beat. These could easily have been ICU tunes. Landing Pad and Dark Unknown bring the band into an even heavier, almost doomy, Hawkwind realm. In fact, the guitar bit near the end sounds like they're going to launch into Time We Left This World Today. And finally, Donner Colony is a punkish tune that gets way psychedelic with its trippy wah guitar.

Lots of good space-rockin' and surfin' fun. I want to see a double header show of these guys with Martian Death Lyric.

We — Livin' The Lore

(Voices Of Wonder 1999, VOW 070)

Jerry Kranitz

On this follow up to 1997's Wooferwheels, Norway's We give us another set of 'take no prisoners' tripped-out stoner rock. On Livin' The Lore the band is once again Thomas on vocals, Don on guitars, Goshie on bass, and Krisvaag on drums.

The disc opens full blown with Red Morning, which combines the recognisable We guitar sound with a lower end pulsing Black Sabbath sound and Thomas' intensely energetic vocals. I love Don's guitar style which blazes and destroys without self-centered flash. Stoner rock against a dark paisley background. Shades We Wear has a strong Led Zeppelin sound, though much darker. The solos are slow and non-technical but cut like a knife during both metallic and lighter psych moments.

Other highlights include Moanjam, the closest to being laid back that We gets. But laid back for them means easy going passages that ultimately burst into freakouts. Great acid metal guitar work on this tune. The nine minute This Day didn't grab me at first but it takes off in the second half for some of the most jamming psych moments on the disc. And Peddler is a hot rocker that struck me as a tune that could succeed on heavy rock FM radio.

The final title track is another great Sabbath style rocker that disappointed me a little cause my CD player indicated it was 13 minutes making me think the band would stretch out big time. But it ends after just three minutes and does the silence thing a lot of bands like to do until the last minute which is just them screwing around talking and laughing.

Still, like Wooferwheels before it, Livin' The Lore will appeal to doom metal fans who want to explore psychedelia, as well as heavy psych fans who wish to take a journey into stoner hell. One of the bands strengths is they have a distinct sound that sets them apart from their peers. Highly recommended to fans of acid drenched stoner rock.

Motorpsycho — Roadwork Vol. 1

(Stickman Records 1999)

Scott Heller

This is the first in a series of live CD's to be released on the German label Stickman Records by the Norwegian band, Motorpsycho. The album is subtitled Heavy Metall iz a poze, hardt rock iz a laifschteil live in Europe 1998.

Motorpsycho have been around for 10 years now and have released a lot of material, and of a very varied nature. I saw the band on this tour (1998) in Denmark and they were very impressive. The band is a three piece of bass, guitar, drums. The guitar player also plays some old analog keys and the bass player, who sings also plays guitar. The band create a lot of atmosphere in their music on this release.

The A K9 Suite is a five part 30 minute song that goes through heavy and slow movements but shows the band at their best at times. This is a band that I have never really appreciated their studio work, but live they are great and this release is very representative of their unique sound.

Super/Wheel starts off with a heavy bass line and then an almost bluesy guitar line enters. This song might be considered by some to fit in with the old Seattle grunge sound, but the band jam a lot harder. Not afraid to improvise! Towards the middle of the song the band move into an almost eastern style sound and brings the song down to a nice groove. The band ends the song with a heavy wah guitar solo that gets pretty spacey. Excellent 16 minute song!

You Lied is a straightforward heavy rocker as is Black to Comm, which sounds a bit like Sonic Youth in the distorted guitar area but more guitar soloing! Very heavy ending! Vortex Surfer starts with some keyboard and then the band build up to a heavy but melodic wall of sound that slowly slows until an intense end. Great live record and highly recommended!