Aural Innovations Issue #8 — Album Reviews, Part 1
Aural Innovations was a magazine and website on space rock and related genres, offering reviews, interviews, and general articles. It ran from 1998 to January 2016. The website is no longer active, and all articles are being imported into DPRP, to keep everything available for everyone. Read Aural Innovations — A Brief History, written by AI founder Jerry Kranitz.
Farflung — The Myth Of Solid Ground
(Farflung Music 1999, Ltd Ed CD-R)
Jerry Kranitz
Farflung's first two releases - 25,000 Feet Per Second and The Raven That Ate The Moon - are in my opinion among spacerock's great classics. Last year's The Belief Module was pretty good though it didn't capture the excitement of the first two. Now we have The Myth Of Solid Ground, an interesting combination of punked out space and wild ambient music.
On the heavier side is Breach Of I (15 Second Break), a punked out tune like those that made Farflung among the best spaceROCKers. All the great smashing guitars and wailing efx'd vocals are here. During the instrumental section a guitar launches into a frantic space surf bit while the rhythm section blasts away, though the tune eases the listener to the finale on a more floating ambient note. Prototype Of A Traveler is another rocker like something off of 25000 Feet Per Second with its classic shooting space guitars and synths. It has an early 70's jam rock feel while still remaining totally Farflung, and again it ends on a quiet note. Farflung is landing easy on this ride. Those Clouds Are Solid is yet another punked out rocker with heavy efx'd vocals and buzzsaw guitars. And The Larval Stage is Farflung's version of heavy space metal.
The album has a more exploratory side to it as well. The opening track, When I Woke To Sleep No More, is a 13 minute journey that travels through numerous themes. The first several minutes are like an extended buildup of multiple guitar parts and synths which lead into Farflung's version of an ambient segment with droning looped bits and various other sounds. The intensity level builds in the last few minutes with heavier percussion, high pitched droning synths, and an efx'd robotic monolog. Something In The Water begins with a high pitched pulsating synth, the sound of underwater rumblings, and a cry for help. The pulsating synth continues as the music meanders through ambient space noodlings. Really atmospheric stuff, but definitely Farflung style. And for something really different there's I Have Seen The Saucers which sounds like it was recorded using toy instruments. Oddly dissonant. Interesting.
In summary, I didn't know what to make of this disc at first, but after several listens I think it holds up (fairly) well against the earlier classics while still moving the band in a somewhat different direction, perhaps drawing on influences from the member's various other projects. I'm not sure what the actual release date is on this as it's a limited edition pre-release I got from the band at the Strange Daze festival, and I think the label they said it will be on is Big Jesus. I'll try to get the actual label and distro info for next issue.
Canis Minor — Humans Are An Ant Farm (With Beepers)
(Tail Chasers Music, LTD. 1999, Cassette)
Jerry Kranitz
Canis Minor is the duo of Thom Karshish on Chapman Stick and Joe Silver on keyboards. Sounds pretty simple huh? Well these two create a full ensemble of deep space instrumental explorations that can be both meditational and mind blowing. At its core, Canis Minor plays ambient space music, but this label doesn't do them justice. Certainly there are space soundscape journeys. Karshish's Stick really extends the music's possibilities and often functions in a keyboard role. To be honest there are times when I don't know whether Karshish or Silver is playing. And a couple times he was jamming away on what sounded like a spaced out Flamenco guitar. Some of the best stuff is on side two which gets noisily chaotic and frighteningly intense, and even at times borders on avant space chamber music.
Aside from the array of sounds the two create is the ability of the duo to improvise coherently that explores, develops, and just goes with a natural flow. All the music is improvised and as Silver explains, "We usually start by picking a key, and then one of us starts playing something we like, timed by whatever the delay setting happens to be. Then the other times he delays to that one and joins in".
I had seen Canis Minor perform at the last two Strange Daze festivals before hearing any recorded music, and while this isn't all that different there was a much heavier side to the band that appeared at the main stage performances (I missed the tent show this year). What we were treated to there that is not included on this tape is the addition of Billie "Capt America" Capozzi on rapid fire spoken word monologuing (also improvised!). A unique trio indeed. (All three are also in the band Finally Balanced.)
But overall this is music you can really groove to as well as get completely lost in. The best space music will take you places you've not been before and Canis Minor has found a few unexplored nooks and crannies. Recommended.
Bionaut — Au Naturel
(CD, 69:00) 
Doug Walker
In 1975, the then experimental Virgin Records released what was the sixth LP by Tnagerine Dream, entitled Ricochet. I must've played the LP at least 300 times the first weekend I bought it, completely enchanted with the band's entire concept to Electronic Music-making. Ricochet filled the promise of the band's earlier works, was more concise and spacey than Phaedra (1974, their first LP to feature the sequencer in instead of bass guitar and drums) or Rubycon (1975, which introduced Prepared Piano to the mix).
The release of Ricochet traumatised the space-rock community, and its innovations set the standard for the next 20 years of development of Electronic Music. Ricochet became my hot weather music (and still is an oft-played disc here), soothing many a hot NYC summer night with rhythms and sounds that seem to mirror the urban environment, be it NYC or some city on Mars.
Bionaut has reached into the well of material originally pioneered by TD; this Massachusetts duo has crafted two fine CDs of floating, Berlin school Electronic Music. These CDs are great examples of an American take on this musical format.
Formed by Architectural Metaphor synthesist Paul Eggelston and ex-AM synthesist / percussionist Chris Green, the band has performed at all three Strange Daze Festivals, the Burning Man festival, and in and around Boston, MA.
Au Naturel was recorded in 1996, and is a strong blast of space based on the Berlin signatures of drone / sequencer / choral comps / lead synth formula, enhanced by an array of sampled sounds (tubular bells, ocean waves crashing, and Mellotron hovering in the background). Both synthesists utilise a battery of analogue and digital equipment and have created a set of medium-length works that stand up to repeated playing; I am especially impressed by the restraint these players used in creating the CD, and the fact that most of the music is improvised.
Paul Eggelston's talents are on display in a way that contrasts his work in ArcMet; in Bionaut, one gets to hear his ideas more clearly, and his intent as a player in this context seems more relaxed than when he is playing in AM's thicker and more arranged sound. Particularly impressive here is Born To GOA, which is driven by up-tempo sequencers and swept by slashes of "vintage keys" Mellotron.
Bionaut — Big Causeway To Gone
(CD 70:00)
Doug Walker
Big Causeway to Gone was recorded two years later in 1998, but unfortunately breaks no new ground, although the band has actually refined their approach to the music. Leary's Second Debut opens the side with samples of an oft-used-these-days clip from a sixties' anti-LSD public service video, but it goes a little long.
The title tune is up next, and is this CD's best, 22 minutes of the full Berlin School treatment (and is ironically longer than either side of Ricochet). The piece begins with a great thick drone filter-swept modulated by LFO, with filtered noise adding appropriate atonalities to the mix. The tune continues to build over its duration, finally fading the way it came in; some really great work here, but the similarity of the other cuts to the first CD might detract somewhat from this CD's effectiveness.
Bionaut live is quite different, more energetic and harder-edged, judging by the three times I've heard them at the Strange Daze festivals, with Paul and Chris rockin' it up. They play really well together, which are the fruits of their long musical association; I'd be curious to hear Arc Met with Chris involved again, as he has developed a distinct voice on his instruments. I'd recommend either CD to the uninitiated, as Bionaut's traditionalist approach can serve as a tonic to all the lame stuff heard these days; and I checked, they work well on those over 90 NYC summer nights, so pick up on these folks.
Oránj Climax — e-Noise
(1998, ORCD001)
Jerry Kranitz
Though these three releases are all from 1998, New York based Or'anj Climax has been playing improvised electronic music for over ten years. The trio includes Charles DeLozier on synths and drums, John Pichardo on synths and sequencing, and Escapade member John Ortega on synths and percussion..
e-Noise, though displayed as one 63 minute track in the CD player is a compilation of excerpts from various improvs edited together. This is electronica that includes looped effects, occasional real melodies, and a continuous parade of sounds. An interesting mixture. A simple repetitive bit will be playing accompanied by a completely different repeating bit, both against flowing synths.
The result is pleasant and the musicians' combined efforts produce music that is often dreamy and always busy. Like a more freewheeling and varied version of Tangerine Dream. But it's the banquet of sounds and varied layers of activity by the musicians that elevates this from standard floating electronica to being a far more active experience for the listener.
Oránj Climax — e-Noise too...
(Wavelength Records 1998, ORCD002)
Jerry Kranitz
e-Noise too seems to focus more on pure atmosphere than the first and, as one full length improvisational piece, is much slower in its development.
(An orchestral mellotron sound early on grabbed my attention.) The disc continues through numerous themes that feature the musicians experimenting with sounds, patterns, and textures. Overall, however, I think this disc would work better as several separate tracks rather than an entire work.
I found the first e-Noise far easier to listen to in one sitting than this one, which feels more like a random collage of good ideas than a coherent work.
Oránj Climax — Sahara
(Wavelength Records 1998. ORCD003)
Jerry Kranitz
Sahara is another full length piece, this time a more comfortable 43 minutes. Coherence is the big challenge for improvised music and Sahara accomplishes what seems to be lacking on e-Noise too. The music develops smoothly and I wouldn't have guessed it was improvised. In addition, the band must have been pretty fired up on this day as the music has an intensity that isn't present on either of the e-Noise discs.
The music is even more reminiscent of early Tangerine Dream or electronic Ash Ra Tempel, but we're also treated to a good bit of the varied sound explorations that I found enjoyable on the first e-Noise. Also, the music is more percussion heavy than the e-Noise discs and here serves to add to the atmosphere's intensity, and so the tribal beat commanded even more of my attention.
In summary, Oránj Climax would appeal to fans of ambient electronica who have had trouble finding something a little more interesting then the standard stuff. Having immersed myself in the improvisational band Escapade's music for this issue's interview it was also interesting to be able to explore a very different improv project of John Ortega's as well. Start with the first e-Noise or Sahara.
W.O.O.Revelator — Taking the Long View
(1999, AAS 002) 
Jerry Kranitz
My introduction to W.O.O. was through an article in Strider News (ALL AI readers should know Strider News!) and when I heard they would be performing at Strange Daze I decided to check out some CD's beforehand. Whole Other Orbit, World Of Opportunity, World Out of Order... W.O.O. can stand for a number of things depending on the circumstances says band leader and sax player Bonnie Kane. But for those who appreciate the aesthetic value of noise and sonic mayhem, W.O.O. has a lot to offer. And I was quite pleased to see that the Strange Daze crowd enjoyed W.O.O.'s brand of high energy free jazz with a tripped out, punked out edge. W.O.O. is neither for the timid nor those looking for something on the meditational side.
Taking The Long View features the trio that appeared at Strange Daze: Bonnie Kane on sax, flute, and efx, Chris Forsyth on electric guitar, and Ray Sage on drums and percussion. Coltrane at his wildest is what these tracks often remind me of but Forsyth is like an acid guitar version of a Fred Frith freakout, and Sage's drums can be relentless. All three instruments stand out making this indeed a cooperative trio.
That's not to say there aren't quieter moments and in some ways these can be the most exciting as all three musicians really seem to be going the furthest in their own direction while still retaining a group coherence. And there are even moments when the band can be downright dreamy like the finale of Interlacing when Bonnie plays the flute. (There was a similar moment at the Strange Daze show.) One of my favorite tracks is Infinitely Suspended which features smokey lounge beat jazz flute, dissonant guitar noodlings, and intermittent drum bashing from Sage that sounds like someone is holding him back against his will. Power trio instrumentals to the nth degree.
W.O.O. — im HuberLand
(W.O.O. Music 1999, Sweet-003)
Jerry Kranitz
Another 1999 release, and a bit different from the previous disc, is im Huberland, which features Kane, Sage, and poet performer David Huberman, along with various guests on bass and guitar.
All the tracks are from a European tour that included a refugee camp in Slovenia. Huberman sets the tone for the entire disc on the one minute opening track Ranter. I'm a ranter!!! I'm a raver!!!, he yells. Huberman has no shortage of aggression and he fits well with the W.O.O. musicians.
I think my favorite tracks are those from the refugee camp, possibly because I remember Bonnie telling me about the experience when we chatted at Strange Daze. You can hear the people in the background and even participating on Noise as Huberman screams "NOOOOIIIISE!!!", and the crowed responds in kind.
It took me a few listens to warm to this disc, but it's important to note that this is a big part of what W.O.O. is about. An earlier disc, In Your Own Juices, features numerous spoken word artists and I have to say that if spoken word rantings over the music I've described interests you then this earlier disc is the place to start. But for this listener it's the instrumental powerhouse W.O.O. Revelator that really trips my trigger.
World Of Tomorrow — Soul Motive
(W.O.T. Music 1999, WOT-001)
Jerry Kranitz
Related by common member Bonnie Kane (and several of whom were with the W.O.O. clan at Strange Daze is World Of Tommorrow, a still jazzy but more acid jam rock version of W.O.O. Revelator. Along with Bonnie's sax and flute is Cliff B. Ferdon on drums and trumpet, Scott "spaceboy12" Prato on bass, David Romanelli on guitars, and Corbridge Lion on trombone and effects.
Yup, lots of horns and acid rock to boot. Sirens was a tune that grabbed me, starting as a horn freakout not unlike Coltrane and Sanders on Om, but soon it settles into an easy going groove that's like a noisier, more dissonant version of Soft Machine. Ferdon's drumming is much like W.O.O.'s Sage in that he flails away on his own in a free jazz style that's still born to rock.
Entropy (Lords Of Chaos) is a spacey jazz piece with horns and flute soaring about the astral planes to the beat of a drugged thumping bass line. Fly Paper is a similar tune but gets back into that dissonant Soft Machine territory I enjoyed earlier, though with heavier psych guitar and ultimately a rockin' jam with the horns. And for total jazz-psych chaos David's Cheese & Cracker's and Camel Desert Caravan are not to be missed. Overall, AI readers who enjoy horns would like World Of Tomorrow better for their psychedelic leanings but I think this and W.O.O.'s Taking The Long View make a good pair.
Action Adventure Systems — So Fucking Good
(1999, AAS 002)
Jerry Kranitz
Ok, the friends and relations thing just keeps going with these guys. Remember The Geeky Dorks reviewed last issue? The ones with the wild My Pussy Hurts tune? Well Cliff Ferdon from that band was with the W.O.O. folks at Strange Daze, plays in World Of Tomorrow, and plays in Action Adventure Systems as well. Busy boy.
AAS is a ways off from W.O.O. and W.O.T. being a guitar/bass/drums power trio. But the mayhem factor is well represented on this 22 minute CDEP. The music is driving punk-metal but Thomas Leyland's guitar can crank out the crazed psych licks making this more than the screamfest it may sound like on the surface.
This Is How The World Works is a standout track with punk-like simple drum and bass bashing and yelling vocals, but the guitar is completely in space... well, maybe a circus in space. In fact there's lots of interesting guitar here, and I suppose it's the combination of the punk elements and the freaked out psych guitar that also left me curiously interested in The Geeky Dorks. Metal and punk fans who also like heavy psych would dig this.
Drumplay — Drumplay
(Signal Tree 1997, CD)
Jerry Kranitz
As you might guess by their name, Drumplay is a percussion ensemble that plays all manner of instruments meant to be bashed upon. Their music is improvised and the inspiration is Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Middle Eastern rhythms, though there is a strong element of jazz to be heard as well. Drumplay has strong ties to Cleveland, Ohio's spacerock community having appeared at all three Strange Daze festivals and have shared the bill with space bands for club performances as well.
My introduction to the band was when they opened for Gong this Summer. At that time the band included four or five members and they were joined for a good portion of their performance by Didier Malherbe, a combination that produced upbeat and spiritually uplifting music leaving a solid first impression on this listener. My second experience with the band was a yet to be released CD loaned to me at Strange Daze by band member James Onysko. With hammered dulcimer and sax accompanying the percussionists this was an impressive blend of jazz and world music with a free spirited feel that was a step beyond the live experience I'd had previously.
On their debut CD, Drumplay is a trio of James Onysko, Warren Levert, and Doug Turner. The first song, at 16 minutes, is pure percussion, and though the musicians meld well together and the world music influences thrive, my attention didn't hold too well throughout. I think my initial experiences with the band has left me preferring the expanded instrumentation and resulting fuller music. Subsequent tracks that include vibes (I think?) have a little more happening but still lack the excitement of my prior encounters.
Drumplay — Live At Nelson Ledges
(Signal Tree 1999, CD)
Jerry Kranitz
Live At Nelson Ledges has a slightly different lineup. In addition to Onysko and Levert is Brett Brandon, Sam Phillips, and Matthew Abelson on hammered dulcimer.
I have to say the addition of the hammered dulcimer does wonders for Drumplay's music. The opening 17-minute track begins with a deep bash to a gong, and then proceeds similarly to the music on the debut disc.
But the intensity and varied activity increases, as the track progresses with loads of percussion, vibes (I'm calling them vibes again but they aren't credited as such), and the dulcimer. Cool stuff that has a great groove to it.
Overall, I have to say it's the new disc I'm looking forward to and would recommend interested beginners to look for that one. Drumplay is an ensemble that shines as additional instruments are added.
Primordial Undermind — Universe I've Got
(Camera Obscura 1999, CAM032CD)
Jerry Kranitz
Primordial Undermind is a Friends And Relations band featuring Doug Pearson who played violin with Das Ludicroix at Strange Daze. P.U. started out in the Boston area but eventually relocated to California, now firmly entrenched in the Bay Area. Universe is their third release, the second on Camera Obscura. This one falls in the same vein as previous works, i.e. noisy psychedelic rock with dueling guitars and a touch of punk sentiment. Though this time, they haven't done much of the experimental droney pieces that were featured on 1997's You and Me and the Continuum. Also, newcomers Bret Holley (bass), Grawer (drums), and especially Doug Pearson (violin/analog noises.) have modified the sound, though it's still guitarist/vocalist Eric Arn's band primarily.
Universe gets off to a whopping fine start with the eight-minute Bandhu (gospel according to), a masterful mid-paced slurry of fuzz, reverb, and heavy bass, countered by the obligatory synth swashes and effects. A much faster rumbling bassline then kicks off Hypomorphic Array, and already I'm sold. Arn sings in a semi-mocking tone here, and while his voice isn't outstanding, it really suits the 'dirty' sound that P.U. has. The best use of the violin (though it sounds more like a reed instrument here) is found on Jean to Sloan, a laid-back eastern piece that works well between the more aggressive tunes. Manta recalls SunDial of the late 80's with a dose of extra fuzz and lots of cool synth swirls and nice jangly guitar bits... it runs a bit long though. A highly subdued version of BOC's Flaming Telepaths starts off in excellent fashion (with acoustic guitar and violin plucking) and Arn does a commendable job with the vocals, but in the end I'm not totally sold on this attempt. To wrap up, both Weightless Nemesis and the swirling, whirling Dervish offer copious servings of the rambling, intertwining guitars of Arn and Brian Craft along with more eerie sounds from the violin poking out from behind the sonic curtain.
Anyone who digs Bevis Frond, SunDial, and the like should immediately take to Primordial Undermind's slightly off-color psychy sound. But I don't feel the album as a whole quite lives up to the promise of the first two outstanding tracks. So I'd still recommend the first release, Yet More Wonders of the Invisible World on September Gurls (GR) as the place to start, if you can still find it. Though once you've gotten a taste that way, you'll want this one too!
The Land Of Guilt and Blarney — Mugged By Life
(Audiofile Round Tapes 1992, ART 154, CD)
Jerry Kranitz
Born to Go's Carl Howard has been an active cassette networker since the 1980's (having moved into CD's as well) and a busy musician to boot. As the following three reviews illustrate, his interests are as wide as the varied music he promotes through his Audiofile Tapes label.
The Land Of Guilt and Blarney is Born to Go's Louis Boone and Carl Howard on keyboards and effects, plus Reginald Taylor contributing some guitar. These are mostly longish exploratory instrumentals but covering very different styles. Club Deefo, Rhythm 'N' Bones, and Celibate Rock are primarily electronica tunes. Club Deefo is often on the spacey side, has a good sense of theme and development, and would be a great soundtrack to a sci-fi B-flick. Rhythm 'N' Bones has some eerie synth work and includes an odd-sounding, slightly psychedelic Middle Eastern guitar (I think it's the guitar). A little like an old Snakefinger/Residents tune. Celibate Rock is similar to Club Deefo but more on the orchestral prog rock side.
Taking a completely different turn toward avant-garde chamber music is This Mold House and Percusstipation. This Mold House features atmospheric strings, percussion, piano, and all manner of attacking them. I had to put on the headphones to catch all the quiet, subtle things happening here... not to mention that it just sounds better pumping it directly into the brain. Percusstipation is similar to This Mold House but far more intense. Always dark, the mood and atmosphere changes continually. And as the title suggests, this is a percussion heavy piece. I really found these to be the more interesting tracks, possibly because it introduced yet another side to these musicians whose work I'd previously known from Born to Go and early electronic Alien Planetscapes.
Nomuzic — Note About The Man
(Audiofile Round Tapes 1992/1999, ART 153, CD)
Jerry Kranitz
On Nomuzic's Notes About The Man, Carl goes in still another direction, giving us a dozen electronic vocal tunes that remind me of darker versions of Bill Nelson's post-Be Bop Deluxe electronic pop or maybe even John Foxx.
I think the dark feel comes from Carl's vocals, which sound remarkably like Peter Hammill.
Several guests (including a number of Alien Planetscapes alumni) contribute guitar, bass, and sax to several of the songs, and one of my favorites is The Chair in which Steve Berman manages to make his sax quite at home alongside the electronica.
The music itself is pretty good and includes plenty of spacey bits and interesting synth work. Check it out for Carl's Nomuzic take on the pop song.
Nomuzic — Celestial Reasonings
(Audiofile Round Tapes 1991, ART 230, CD)
Jerry Kranitz
In yet another twist, for Celestial Reasoning Nomuzic travels directly into the electronic space. Though there's some quite good but standard floating electronica here, there are also some very freaky explorations that have found the hidden, more colourful watering holes of space.
Voltar's Song is my hands-down favorite on the disc. A monologue, apparently taken from some old UFO files thingy, tells of encounters with aliens. The story is accompanied by some pretty wild sounds, noises, and general weirdness are making this a hell of a cool track.
The Fathers Perish is dominated by its monologue, this time very much along political lines, and is backed by efx'd voices and wild non-musical synth sounds.
The other two standout tracks are For Old Mibs and Earthwave. For Old Mibs is a subtle and slowly developing space exploration. A pulsing beat pounds in your chest while multiple synth lines dance about, all backed by a choral textured background.
Earthwave is similar to For Old Mibs, but explores the quietest, most frightening regions of space. What makes it really wild is the intermittent Japanese music and spacey Geisha vocals, and later tribal percussion and chants. World space music? Who knows but it's interesting and more creative than the standard space electronic faire.
Ozric Tentacles — Waterfall Cities
(Phoenix Rising 1999, 2005)
Jerry Kranitz
I probably shouldn't review new Ozric Tentacles releases because people are going to start thinking I'm down on the band, which isn't the case. Waterfall Cities is a hard driving set of cosmic kick ass spacerock. The musicianship is top notch and the band is as tight as ever. And... the formula is intact. Once again, we hear nothing to distinguish this new release from previous albums. I know there's no shortage of creativity among the band members. Their various side projects are a testament to that. Maybe they're playing it safe.
That said, I bought Waterfall Cities while attending an Ozrics show in Cleveland and I'll tell you that despite my criticism of their recordings I'd gladly hear the same set of tunes over and over if given the opportunity to see the band live. I don't think there was a single member of the audience, myself included, who wasn't blown away by this group of musicians. With the Fruit Salad lightshow embellishing the experience the Ozrics plowed their way through the concert equivalent of a super nova. And there are already some discussions of the band headlining next year's Strange Daze festival.
I also confess that despite my criticisms of the Ozric's recordings Waterfall Cities got some serious airplay on my car stereo. Their music succeeds equally whether rocking hard or dreamily floating. It FEELS good! The ultimate aural mind/body experience. I'll now file Waterfall Cities with the rest of my Ozric Tentacles CD's... still waiting for some adventure... some risk taking. This seems to be readily available in stores.
Mandragora Light Show Society — Beyond the Mushroam Gate
(GB45 Records, GB 9904-12, Germany 1999)
Scott Heller
This LP is a numbered edition of 1000 copies on 180 gram vinyl with a patchouli-scented label! It is also released on CD and recorded in Dolby Surround sound. This is the 3rd full length album by this German band whose roots are mainly in the 60's sound (the way they use the organ) but a lot of the music is full on spacerock with lots of trippy sounds and floating songs.
Pink Floyd is also a big influence on this band. The opening number on the record, I Don't Want To Rewind The Time, starts with some really spacey sounds. The basic song has loads of spaced and fuzzed out guitar and synths that flow in and out over the piano riff. The vocalist is not that great but does not play that big of a role in the band's sound. This song also features some nice saxophone. Unknown Gem is a very Syd Barrett influenced song with some really cool spacey synths and lyrics about a guy in a record store telling you that you have found a very rare record and you should buy it but is it really worth it?
Perpetuum Morality and The Graduation finishes side one and are shorter, very 60's style psychedelia. Side Two starts off with Der Hieronimus Bosch Trip. This song is excellent and starts slowly with guitar and synth sweeps, but soon the freaky organ and vocals roll on it, while a windy background and some backwards guitar fill the landscape. A very dynamic and cool song. This song must be really excellent in the surround sound! A Common Race is next and has a bit of the DOORS flavour to it. The album closes with Magic Rushroam. As you hear cars driving by, the space sounds and guitar slowly roll in and take over and the one line of lyrics is spoken, "Enchanted by the magic cap of wisdom and fun, that fits on your head. Every ordinary place turns to a marvelous space.". Very cool spaced out song to end the album, sort of like your short tripped out journey is ending and you hear the world drive by you. Pretty cool record.
ColorStar — Heavenicetrip!
(Bahia Music 1998, CDB 051) 
Keith Henderson
ColorStar is a band that I was a little late in sniffing out (thanks Richard), though I still felt the need to pass along my thoughts on this wonderful new spacerock clan. Better late than never. The quartet is from Hungary, and so immediately I'm drawn to comparing them to Korai Öröm (whom you can read about on page 12), and that's a pretty good start. The 'organic trance rock' pioneered on their 1997 disc (reviewed in AI#4) I believe will prove to be one of the all-time great works in spacerock history. I should feel the same way about Heavenicetrip, but only if it appeared first. So now instead of being a seminal groundbreaking work, it's merely a fantastic album that I will enjoy for many years to come. Not too shabby.
Most of the ideas that ColorStar present here aren't really unique, the kind of elements that the Ozric Tentacles and Dead Flowers thrived on for much of the 90's. The quasi-looping echo guitars (featured heavily on the title track, O-zone, and Six Steps on the Moon) lay down a blanket of crisp and light arpeggios for the beautiful synth tapestries to further enhance. Some of the bass lines (e.g., Fix Dance and Imarobot) are a tad funkier than is typical for spacerock, but I enjoyed the clean chunky sound. The drummer is excellent and rather intense at times, occasionally augmented with synthetic sounds (e.g., what I'll call 'popcorn percussion'). Here, these programmed parts honestly don't harm the overall flavor one bit... and it's always a danger.
The most original aspect of ColorStar's style is the inventive use of vocal embellishments, apart from the rare 'lyrical' vocals. Guitarist András Keleti sometimes recites poetic verse (mainly English), often chants in some strange language (pretty sure it's not Hungarian though... more like Tibetan), and 'half-sings' once or twice. Also, guest Juli Kepes normally has her voice altered in various ways, either repeatedly dubbed or treated in a way similar to the old vocoders that Hillage & Giraudy used in the 70's. Finally, the guitar soloist (whether that's Keleti or Péter Szalay I'm not sure) is a dead-ringer for Steve Wilson... there's one two minute section of the title track that is frighteningly similar to any Porcupine Tree instrumental passage you care to choose. And Podmóbü, what a wondrous piece! What starts out sounding like the Ozrics covering Run Like Hell turns light and airy when the guitar solo escapes gravity.
Heavenicetrip is such a good name for this excellent album. An hour's worth of just about everything that's great about 90's spacerock all piled into one small piece of plastic. One note: I'm afraid I can't tell you about Track 1 - the CD-ROM track. I lack a computer with a soundcard, so that'll have to remain a mystery until you grab up your own copy. One of the year's best, last year that is!
Nebula Trip — Nebula Trip
(Nebula Trip Productions 1999, Cassette)
Keith Henderson
Nebula Trip is a Connecticut based band playing improvised instrumental spacerock that sounds like the Ozric Tentacles, Tribe Of Cro, and even Rush. Though firmly in the space realm I hear elements that would also appeal to the progressive rock crowd as well. The 5-piece has been together three years and includes Anthony Bearse on keyboards and woodwinds, Tony Gaspar on drums and percussion, Tim Just on bass and guitar, Rich Pray on lead guitar and bass, and Carl Zepke on keyboards and percussion. This is a demo cassette featuring five of the eight songs that will appear on their soon to be released CD.
One of Nebula Trip's strengths is a strong bass/drum rhythm section that keeps things pounding, sometimes even getting a bit into space fusion, while the guitars, keyboards, and flute survey the landscape. The guitarist gets a LOT of milage out of his extended note licks that whine and sometimes scream. The echoed flute is a secondary instrument but pops up often enough to embellish the music nicely. Some of the songs have a more driving rockin' beat, which keeps me thinking of the Ozrics but also brings Rush to mind.
My favorite song (I couldn't tell which track was which) is an easy paced journey with a deep thudding bass beat. Orchestral keys and acidic guitar alternates between screaming licks and droning washes making this more of a freakout tune than the others. The rhythm section eventually launches into a bass/drum jam while the guitar and keys continue to trade licks. In fact, if Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson became the guitarist for the Ozrics I think you would get something like Nebula Trip. In summary, one of the more impressive instrumental space bands I've heard recently. Check out their new CD.
Gentle Tasaday — In the Mind's Eye of a Blind Tasaday
(Camera Obscura 1999, CAM023CD) 
Keith Henderson
Here are three more items from the Minneapolis SpaceRock Family (Salamander, Skye Klad, et al.), which you can read more about in the Live Review section. Both of Salamander's guitarists have been working on side projects lately, and Erik Wivinus' other band Skye Klad is also working on new material.
Let's start with Gentle Tasaday, the duo of Erik and Eric; the latter being Eric Hofferber who adds vocals, cornet, flute, electronics, and percussion to the gamut of instruments that Erik W. plays. First the name... I admit I initially read it as Gentle Tuesday. Doh! But no, I have since learned that the Tasaday are an isolated cave-dwelling tribe 'discovered' in the Philippines in 1971. Soon thereafter hailed as a Stone Age relic, now many anthropologists denounce them as fakes. Anyway, on to the music.
The album starts rather oddly with the high-pitched sonic f/X of Psychedelic Emergency (exactly how it sounds) and then another distant echoey piece (Stone Grape: Part One) with only a very subtle rhythm and some flute bits here and there. But then Sad Wheel of the Season presents a cool psychedelic/folk mix with quiet spoken word vocals and excellent lead guitar work (a little like Dave Brock's pre-HW Illusions). A similar style (acoustic and electric guitars working together now) takes hold in both Summer Story and Vision Burn, featuring what I'm guessing is e-bow applied to Erik's Vox Cheetah guitar.
The whispered readings finally become loud enough to make out in Walking on the Coals to the Coldest Despair, a seemingly random bunch of thoughts like "With sweet music in the air, I saw another vision". Awright. Gethsemane Aflame is undoubtedly the most uptempo and 'poppy' piece on the album, a welcome change of pace from the dronier pieces. The finale Of Cobwebs and Obtuse Angels is a pretty bizarre collection of sampled 'chipmunk voices' and horror-film style noises and f/X...what a way to finish! As far as the music goes, Gentle Tasaday is very much like Tombstone Valentine (see SD'99 review), or even moreso the Aether supergroup In the Summer of the Mushroom Honey (see AI#7). Eric H.'s spoken-style vocals are rather appropriate here, but I must admit to favouring TV's Richelle Toombs more prominent soulful singing over similar trancelike sounds. Gentle Tasaday is a worthwhile journey nonetheless.
Vortex Navigation Company — Things Make Patterns as they Fall
(Camera Obscura 1999, CAM024CD)
Keith Henderson
Vortex Navigation Company is the duo of Salamander's Sean Connaughty and Wes Morden (sharing duties on guitar, vocals, and loops/fX), with various guests (mainly percussion), to a large part doing spontaneous improvisations in one or the other's basement 'studios'.
Green Pyramid is an experiment in mild droney dissonance and spooky lead guitar - not bad for a start. One of the few composed numbers, Holler features peculiar extra-bassy vocals over a misty potpourri of acoustic guitar, cricket chirping, and Peter Hollis' organ. It's October and Halloween is almost here... perfect timing! As you can probably tell, the whole album is moody and (presumably) introspective, and Europa is perhaps the best result of this approach. Subtle mallet percussion (by Wivinus no less) works beautifully behind the tapestry of warm echoey sounds... hard to distinguish the synthetic loops from the guitars sometimes. Later in the 20-minute piece, it turns slightly grey and even more soupy... a mind-numbing bliss out. Perhaps you won't even notice the Little Drummer Boy making an appearance in the background.
Down in the Willow Garden is a traditional folk ditty that Sean probably heard drifting across a plantation one day while time-travelling from his current Georgia home-away-from-home. The other VNC original composition is The Welcoming River, an acoustic piece but is rather unsettling in a very intriguing way - probably my favorite track on the album. On a par with Roger Waters' better dark-toned works anyway. Things wraps up with another lengthy echo-drone work Flying Low over Green Hills that builds towards a freak-out climax and then a gradual easing off. All in all, this album is a pretty nice collection of things to lighten your spirit even as it darkens the skies overhead.
Skye Klad — Mind's Eye b/w Kindred Raga
(pre-release copy 1999)
Keith Henderson
Skye Klad's newest single Mind's Eye is an upbeat four minutes of sheer delight, almost a surf/ska rhythm but then topped with dizzying psychedelia from the dueling guitars of Wivinus and Jason Kesselring. Adam Backstrom (I assume) adds the breathy Damo-esque vocals and what you have is a fun-filled number that could probably fool lots of unsuspecting normal people into listening to psychedelic music.
Kindred Raga is a reverberating rosin-wheel drone excursion just as the title suggests, complete with the obligatory chantlike vocalizations. This eight-minute piece would've worked nicely with either of the other two albums above. I don't know how or when these tracks will appear on vinyl/CD, but I'm happy to see that the full contingent of Twin Cities spaceheads are hard at work in the studio.
Captain's Log — Astral Voyage
(Private Release, Sweden 1999)
Scott Heller
This is the newest recording project by Juba Nurmenniemi of Pseudo Sun. He plays all the instruments except the drums on this project and decided to come up with another name instead of Pseudo Sun, as that is a real band project.
This music is much more like the cassette tape release by Pseudo Sun. This tape consists of 7 tracks (total of 60 minutes) of long space voyages into the unknown. The synths are very rich and spaced out while the bass lines very prominent.
There is more guitar soloing on this release than the other cassette release by Juba as well. Some of the numbers are mostly spaced out synth and bass excursions while others like At the Galactic Center and This Galaxy Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us, have a real guitar riff.
The latter, reminding me a bit of the sound of Bedoiun and the guitar riff from Reefer Madness by Hawkwind. I really enjoyed the CD-r a lot and highly recommend it for late night journeys into space and beyond.
The Atomic Bitchwax — The Atomic Bitchwax
(Tee Pee/ MIA 1009-2)
Scott Heller
This is the side project started 4 years ago by Ed Mundell, the guitar player from Monster Magnet. The band has mostly just played gigs in NY and New Jersey over the past years but finally found the time to record an LP and should be touring while Dave of MM writes the next record. This is not much like Monster Magnet at all, but deeply rooted in the 70s styles of bands like Mountain, Zephyr and Free. The guitar sound is more aggressive (that's just the way Ed plays!) but the song riffs are ace and there is some great jamming (I still think the guitar solos are too short!).
The CD opens with some guitar feedback and the band plays Stork Theme (written by the guys in Monster Magnet minus Dave!). There are quite a few instrumental songs on this debut CD, which includes a Tommy Bolin cover (one of Ed's all-time favorite guitar players!!) as well as a cover by the band Core (good friends of the band).
Birth to the Earth is the first song with vocals and has a sort of Mountain style riff to it. Hey Alright has a very punkish beginning before becoming a bit slower and Ed laying down some spacey guitar parts in the middle. Hope you Die has very angry lyrics and a similar riff to an earlier song. Getting Old is one of the highlights of the CD stating off with some really cool Electric Funeral-style Sabbath bass lines. The song slowly builds over the 8 minutes.
Last of the V8 Interceptors is a 6-minute instrumental with lots of effected guitar parts. Pretty cool. Shitkicker is the last ripping song before the CD ends with the 10-minute spaced out piece called The Formula. I enjoyed the LP a lot and I think people will find some similarities to 70's hard rock as well as bands like Nebula and Fu Manchu, in the way that most of the songs are in the 3 minute range and the guitar solos are short and riffs agressive. I hope they stretch out the jams live.
Lotto — Phonetical Signs of Incongruous Demeanor
(Holder of The Sacrament Records, 1999)
Christian Mumford
More twisted Nordic DIY mayhem from these early crash-test Amon Düül-meets-Einstürzende Neübaten freaks. Having reviewed them previously in these pages, leading them to getting airplay in Chicago, it only seems natural that their next offering would be housed in a stylish inlay tape card as well. 19 tracks of hallucinogenic nightmarish jams and strange found sounds litter this 90 minute cassette which should interest listeners of a more "avant-garde" slant as well as appreciators of dark, disturbing organic jamming. All the music is improvised, sounding much like a stone age Zoviet*France on occasion.
Whereas their first tape, The Sound of Lotto! was more of a varied retrospective over previous years, this new offering from brothers Knut Edvard and Brage Viken, and what I presume to be various helpers, move Lotto into a less Shaggs-on-bad acid territory and into more of the organic-industrial sounding soundscapes that are still very rough and raw, accompanied by chants and yelps, a maddening organ, a stuttering guitar, clanky drums and occasional primitive electronics and dark poetry.
Opening with In The Accursed Realm of The Dark God, the band carry on their own mythological theme with a brief narrative over muddy guitar sounds. Next up is Anionic Introversion with a hypnotic, doomy organ sound as well. Invocation of Tili Suru is more of a meditative piece of clanking on glasses and a drum with distant chants and groans. Kroofrudi Mibix is a bizarre piece of gurgling sounds and beating on a drum to more weird chanting and some outlandish muttering which defies description. Figment Dawn Dispeller PT. 1 sees Lotto's more full blown band sound moving into lo-fi spacerock territory building into a march of sorts which disperses into spacey guitar feedback.
On the second side, Nighted Exhibitions opens with a distant clock and a sudden intrusion of a gothic organ with a growling narrative. The sludgy doom rocker Executing a Grim Decision Made By The Dark God is another highlight of a more accessible vein, followed by the dramatic organ laden Sombre Stirrings of Vain Hope. Swirling Beyond The Past has a strange electronic organ and a subdued guitar, accompanied by a mystical whispered narrative. Consuming The Autumn Aliment is a longer droning instrumental piece with a sort of lazy drum overlaid with organ and keyboard. The oddly cacophonic Hortatory Oratario and Celestial Fronds Glazed With Glandular Gloss close the tape, and you realize that with concentrated effort, Lotto have yet again taken you on an outlandish journey, this time more conceptually perhaps than previously. For fans of strange music, non-music and anti-music alike.
Spacecraft — Earthtime Tapestry
(Lektronic Soundscapes 1999, LS-1014 CD)
Jerry Kranitz
On their third release, Spacecraft delivers more of their brand of cosmic atmospheric electronica. The core trio of Tony Gerber on guitars and synthesizers, John Rose on synthesizers, and Diane Timmons on synthesizers and vocals, is joined by Giles Reaves on synthesizers.
Spacecraft's strength continues to be their ability to create floating space tapestries that, while being relaxing, are well beyond simple New Age. The experience is active in that rather than being lulled into a meditative trance I find myself focusing on the imagery the music conjures up in my mind. As with previous releases, the sensation is one of actually being in space, both in sound and surroundings. Little of the eerie atmospheres I detected on Hummel are present here, the feeling consistently being uplifting and optimistic. That's not to say the music is drastically different than before because it's not. That's just the impression I get from Earthtime Tapestry, and impressions and feelings are very much a part of the Spacecraft experience.
Tracks like Beyond and Thread Of Continuity that include Diane Timmons' space chants are among my favorites. These songs sound like they were recorded in some astral cathedral with a lead angel stepping up to the mic. The songs are also shorter on this release with none breaking the ten minute mark. But it's a minor point as the songs flow so well from one to the next that it can easily be experienced as one large work. Recommended to fans of atmospheric electronica.
Overhang Party — 4
(Pataphysique 1998, DD-007)
Keith Henderson
This avant psych-noise trio is a new discovery for me, though I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the Japanese 'sound.' I'm all for the "stream-of-consciousness" (think Göttsching) guitar jamming that they so often feature, though the general deficiency in the lower registers is not something I usually prefer. On record, Overhang Party sounds more balanced as well as more restrained certainly.
The seven tunes on OP 4 comprise about an hour's worth of both vocal tunes and sound experiments. Kizashi is an interesting study of repeating patterns (I hesitate to call it 'drone' music, as it has a far different feel compared to US drone artists), which is readressed later in Barcelona. The application of bouncy bass (such as it is, given the band has no actual bass player) and percussion is what gives their drones a unique character.
Le Few Follet, on the other hand, sounds like ballroom music from the WWII era (our side). Here, bandleader/guitarist Rinji Fukuoka shows off some of his other abilities with a pleasant violin melody during the "bridge". Then the Ship was Sunk is a very peculiar piece of majestic Highlander (or Celtic) music, with Fukuoka's guitar coming across more like bagpipes. Later on though, the pace picks up and OP charge into an excellent blanga-style jam colored by more violin soloing. Mirror is another layered march-like tune with duet vocals that works well, and shows off Fukuoka's nimble fretwork. The finale, G House Blues is pure, unadulterated noise... 12 minutes of very bright and dissonant buzz-guitar and crazed violin. Yikes!
I feel that over time I will learn to appreciate this work more for all its idiosyncrasies and noisiness. Fukuoka has a very ordinary singing voice (albeit in Japanese), though I find myself drawn more to it with each listen. I think that those into the more avant garde krautrock, i.e., Amon Düül II and Faust (of course), should catch on to what they're trying to do here. If you're more the 'traditional' space-rocker, well maybe you'd just think they're a little strange. And why not?
Ektroverde — Music From The Film Futuro: A New Stance For Tomorrow
(1999, EKTRO-005CD)
Jerry Kranitz
Jussi Lehtisalo is one busy fellow. If you recall from past issues, Ektroverde is a side project of Finnish band Circle and between the two, there has been a steady output of music. Ektroverde is the more electronic and oddly jazzy cousin to Circles aggressive and unique brand of spacerock (though the band don't consider themselves spacerock). Here we feature three recent releases, two CD's, and one 7".
We'll start with the Futuro soundtrack. The film is a documentary about Finnish architect Matti Suuronen's 1968 design of Futuro, a house made of plastic and resembling a flying saucer, a reflection of the era's belief in technology's possibilities for solving mankind's problems. There is detailed interesting information on Ektroverde's web site and I would encourage those of you with internet access to take a peak. I listened to Ektroverde's music while looking at images from the film, all very 60's prefab space age and very art deco in a spacey way. The music is electronic and moves seamlessly through many themes.
Though dreamy in spots, the music is (quite intentionally I'm sure) also creatively mechanical, giving the feeling that the trade off for technology's benefits is rigidity. There are also instances of narration in Russian, Finnish, and some in English. In one the speaker describes his impressions of the Futuro house, and another discusses the benefits of fibre glass. But certainly the most telling quote is... "The flighted rotation ellipsoid is a space that is not surrounded by walls. It's surrounded by the endless space of your imagination. And for my work, fantasy is not enough. The art of the future is fantasy enriched with the results of science". It's all very well done and while the music stands well on its own merits, after having immersed myself in it while reading about the film I don't think I could listen to it without the film's images. I've got them too locked in together. But that's a good thing and I'd love to see Ektroverde take on more soundtrack projects.
Ektroverde — Arpeggio
(Bad Vugum 1999, BAD-87CD)
Jerry Kranitz
Ektroverde's latest release, Arpeggio, is very much along the lines of last year's Pingvin, though I can't say I like it nearly as much. Of the six tracks the two that grabbed me the most were Puuttuva and Taitaja. Puuttuva features a rapid repeating bassline and jazzy drums and piano accompanied by eerie spacey synth work.
The contrast of the almost standard intense jazz work on the one hand and the sometimes intense spaced out atmosphere is difficult to describe, but the effect is gripping. Taitaja is like Puuttuva, but less jazzy and more synth freaky. I even hear bagpipe sounds in the background. This is the kind of stuff I liked on last year's Pingvin CD.
Optoelektroniikkaa has a bouncy but mechanical synth and percussion beat accompanied by a slow slightly psychedelic guitar line (is it guitar?). Interpol is similar to Puuttuva but lacks that song's adventure and intensity. On Smetana things get more interesting and even a little more like Circle though it maintains Ektroverde's jazzy feel, including engaging synth patterns that bring back the trademark Ektroverde jazz/space contrast. Finally, Mtwara is an interesting mixture of electric piano, organ, and heavy tribal rhythms.
Ektroverde — Svart/Orange
(Fonal Records 1999, FR-10, 7" LP)
Jerry Kranitz
On the Svart/Orange 7", Ektroverde seems to stray more overtly into psychedelia... well, their brand of it anyway.
Svart unfortunately didn't grab me even with its trippy journeying guitars. Orange on the other hand, is a much better spacey psych tune played against the band's trademark of repeating patterns.
Cool 60's organ and lots of cosmic synth work. Despite some of the weak spots, Ektroverde (like Circle) still manages to occupy their own stylistic niche in the spacerock and avant progressive realms.
So far, however, my favorites are Pingvin and the Futuro soundtrack as both feature different sides of the band that make the two recordings a good pair for the uninitiated.
Sky Cries Mary — Until the Grinders Cease
(World Domination 1989/99, WDM10106)
Keith Henderson
Seattle's avant space combo Sky Cries Mary didn't start out as you might have guessed. The band was founded in the late 1980s by vocalist/lyricist Roderick Romero and the pair of multi-talented musicians (Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow) who soon split to form the Posies. Their Dear 23 album displayed fine songwriting, a kind of quirky modern exploration of Beatles' songs. The Posies have since disbanded, the two now working on various solo projects and with The Minus Five.
Of course, Roderick went on to recruit new members for SCM, including artist/vocalist/wife Anisa, evolving quickly into the outstanding space-rock orchestra we now know. The re-release of the rare first LP Until the Grinders Cease (recorded before the initial split) shows how different they were back then. These eight tracks (totalling only 32 minutes) are actually industrial music, aggressive without necessarily being too loud, but certainly not ethereal or dreamy.
The album starts with Propergenda, simply a drum beat and lone synthetic tone as backdrop for a mix of ranting and screaming. No idea what they're going on about here.... I'm sure it was important to them at the time. Shakespeare Factory is one of the more abrasive tracks, with non-stop cymbal crashing and agonized vocals, though I'm sure this stuff is tame compared to what's out there in hard-core industrial music. When the Fear Stops is the only track that is familiar SCM material, but that's because this one was remade for the A Return to the Inner Experience album.
Here, it's just a vocal duet and percussion...still works, but I prefer the full band version. Desert Song is rather interesting, initially a poetry reading by Roderick over a programmed electronic rhythm, but then a wild, noisy outburst takes over. However, the bulk of the album is regimented beat-driven material and/or other peculiar sound experiments, without much development in song structure or the layering of instruments. I don't see any reason to track this down unless you're a completist or something.
Anisa Romero & Jeff Greinke — Hana
(First World 1999, FWD 99.02)
Keith Henderson
SCM's Anisa Romero has recently joined up with ambient artist Jeff Greinke to produce the Hana CD, and have continued their partnership in a live setting opening for the parent group in recent months. Greinke (a fellow Penn State alum transplanted to Seattle) has been prolific since the early 1980's, both as a solo artist and fronting his group Land. Of the eight tracks presented, only two are written with lyrics though Romero contributes various 'vocal explorations' on the others. SCM's Ben Ireland also assists on percussion on four tracks and Juano Davison plays bass pedals on Above the Head.
Smoke is the better of the two 'lyrical' tracks, with each line lapping over Greinke's warm fuzzy sounds like successive waves upon a beach. Wash Me By is a little disappointing as I was hoping to hear Anisa sing on her own for a change, and of course she simply sings the same duet style with herself! The song is very reminiscent of some of the better SCM tunes, and would've worked with the full band. But I've got larger problems with the so-called 'manipulations' of Anisa's vocals on Lizard Opera. I found the effect quite bothersome, in that the coloratura soundbites repeating over and over just sounded really squirrely after a while. Sweet Sorrow has a similar effect... there's only so much 'lamenting' I can take. And there's not enough real music to thin it out.
I really expected to like Hana a lot, but found that there really isn't enough going on to hold my interest. And while Anisa has tremendous abilities (best witnessed live alongside Roderick in SCM), I would have preferred a less 'artistic' approach here. It's not just that her voice is really expressive and dramatic (dangerous territory from my perspective), here I simply see a limitation in singing just 'ambient' sounds.
Space whisper works best when mixed with a second vocalist I feel. Anyway, both of these albums show that the members of SCM have a variety of musical interests (always a healthy thing), but to the average spacerock fan I'd imagine that the new Seeds EP would be a much stronger bet (watch next issue for a review). One thought I had... perhaps listening to UtGC and Hana simultaneously might work? It would seem that each has about half of the right idea.
Fu Manchu — Eatin' Dust
(Man's Ruin/Mammoth 1998, MR 157CD)
Christian Mumford
Being a collection of various EP releases by these very heavy sludge maniacs, it opens with a monster version of Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla, with a truly primitive yelp of a delivery of the chorus Go go Godzilla! - it sounds like singer/guitarist Scott Hill is attempting to scream himself awake while Godzilla stomps through his neighborhood, cheering him on (no, they are a US band, not from Tokyo)! The shortened crazy midsection has the usual overloaded guitar fx with Scott Hill, now sounding half sedated, going God...zill-aaah...!!. A true classic in the cover version department.
Most of the stuff here is prime lobotomizing Fu Manchu material, though not as varied as 1997's studio proper effort The Action Is Go!. The track Module Overload has spacy synth sounding guitar fx towards the end, being the most "spacerock" of the tracks here, while Living Legend is almost narrative in its lyrics, and it all continues rumblingly in sludgy Fu Manchu vein through tracks like Shift Kicker and Orbiter amongst others, all dominated by a brutal valium assault of overloaded guitar riffs, bass and primitive pounding drums.
This band is a bit hard to describe in their simplistic approach, like a mammoth (literally!) guitar player shot full of tranquilizers still belting out the tunes by stomping on the fuzz pedals, sorta similar to early Mudhoney on lots of weed and downers, but without the angst and the added touch of sci fi. The title track kicks total ass! What more can I say, it all seems samey, fuzzy and comfy. Try it.
