Aural Innovations — May 2012

Census of Hallucinations — Dragonian Days

(Stone Premonitions 2012, SPCD 072)

Jerry Kranitz

Census of Hallucinations (CoH) were on a creative roll for years, cranking out outstanding albums at a steady pace. In recent years Tim Jones and the Stone Premonitions collective have released albums by a variety of projects, like Stone Premonitions 2010, Stella Polaris, and The Global Broad Band. And now, five years after their last album, Tim has resurrected CoH with himself on guitar, vocals and scribe of all lyrics, the Reverend Rabbit on bass, long time cohort Paddi on drums, and David "Ohead" Hendry on keyboards.

The album opens with Third Shopping Mall From The Sun (for Bill Hicks), a crunchy, high energy rocking rant about consumer culture. (I Googled Bill Hicks and found a "Third Mall From The Sun" YouTube video in which the comedian spews a diatribe against Debbie Gibson and terminal mall culture.) The title track features Tim cranking out ripping guitar on this hard rocking and steady grooving song. Ultra Violet is another killer rocker with great guitar, all setting the stage for Tim's acerbic lyrics, singing of the world's handful of pied pipers whose "lies are like radiation, infesting the minds of the nation". The Delivery Man is a dark moody rocker played at an unsettling rhythmic pace.

The guitar licks sting like a wasp on Hologram, the burn made all the more delicious combined with the jazzy rhythm guitar. I love the end of this song. The band has been rocking hard while Tim harangues about his favorite topic - the few that prosper at the expense of the many. But he firmly grabs our attention by transitioning the music to something more peaceful and lulling for the final verse, explaining that if we want change, we have to love everything and, perhaps more importantly, be what they don't want us to be.

Semantic Change is a funky rocker with some of Tim's more playful and poetic lyrics. Stupid Guitarist is a spacey ambient jazz piece with humorously self-deprecating lyrics. I really dig the off-kilter rhythmic pace and ambient jazzy vibe that starts off Modus Operandi. But the music makes intriguing shifts, as if it's trying to mimic Tim's increasingly caustic invective against the powers that be. Certainly one of the most interesting songs on the album and the one that took the most listens for me to wrap my head around. Finally, Age Of Light is a solid rocker that closes the album with Tim's most optimistic lyrics of the set - The tower of Babel is falling down. Cast out the dark and let in the light.

CoH has always been about the combination of well-crafted music and socio-political lyrics that often border on rage, and Dragonian Days demonstrates that Tim hasn't mellowed one bit - His cynicism, wit, AND smoking guitar are all well intact. And with Paddi, David Hendry and the reliable Rev, we've got the same crack, tight-as-a-knot band that CoH has always been. Welcome back...

For more information, visit the Census Of Hallucinations Bandcamp site.

Ginger — Seahorse

(Taliesyn Productions 2011, TAL002)

Mike Reed

Ginger is a four piece band from Zurich, Switzerland. What initially got me interested in Ginger was viewing their fan videos of their live performances on YouTube. Ginger fuses rather funky rhythms with (what many would consider) wailing guitar riffs.

Tracks that are well worth mentioning include the almost Jimi Hendrix-like guitar driven The Wheel, the slower-paced eight-minute Painful Hours with guest cellist Stephanie Kobza, the country-rock 200 Horses with nice arrangements plus some well-played Hammond organ, the stylish Wild Bill and the truly poetic - another eight-minute song - Inside I'm Free which in reality I thought was nearly worth the price of admission alone.

After I listened to this disc a third time, I also found to my liking Yeager, which possesses some fine wah-wah guitar effects with its lyrics paying tribute to famed Air Force general Chuck Yeager - who broke the sound barrier in 1947 while piloting an experimental Bell-X 1; and the bluesy Father that employs some enjoyable trumpet playing. It's a little tough to accurately describe Ginger's music because these four talented musicians play several genres - blues rock, some psychedelia and a certain amount of folk. It's apparent that some of what Ginger has to offer their listeners consists of strong (both dual and lead) vocals, well thought-out writing (and playing) as well as in-depth, woven walls of sound within.

Line-up: Marc Walser - guitar, Hammond organ, percussion & vocals, Michael Butikofer - guitar, trumpet & vocals, Ariane Bertogg - bass and Dominik Jucker - drums. For you record collectors, Seahorse is also available as a limited edition 180 gram transparent vinyl album. CD comes housed in a nice digi-pack, accompanied with an eight-page booklet complete with song lyrics. Definitely, a keeper.

For more info, visit the Ginger Bandcamp site. Ginger no longer exist, but former members started Marblewood.

Ginger — From the Road

(Taliesyn Productions 2011, TAL001)

Mike Reed

As a big live album fan that I've always been, I believe that I may like Ginger's Seahorse CD a bit more than this From the Road disc. Don't get me wrong, this nine song CD is still a fine effort and all but it simply didn't grow on me as much as Seahorse had managed to. From The Road is a live document of what Ginger had performed while out on tour during the fall of 2010 with gigs happening in their hometown of Zurich, Switzerland and Binningen as well as a couple of German shows - those being in Berlin and Gottingen.

Here, you get Ginger playing two classic rock covers plus tunes from the previously mentioned Seahorse CD and their first record LP Arlanda which I haven't heard yet. Starts out with a ten-minute cover of Pink Floyd's Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, the well-penned eleven-minute Crosstown Bar Blues, Jam, Winds Of Dust, Part II, Sugar Mama and the finale, an eight-minute tribute to Them's Van Morrison with Gloria.

CD's sound quality is quite good - for it possesses that "like you are there" vibe and sound with a definite Jimi Hendrix influence obviously present. Front insert is an eight-page CD booklet with full color photos of Ginger's live shows taken on this mini-trek.

The bio sheet for this CD release notes: 'From The Road' reads like a menu - a seven course candle light dinner. For starter, the band chose a psychedelic interpretation of a piece by Pink Floyd, followed by steady rock, impulsive shuffle, a rhythmic delicate drum solo, some heavy blues, entangled double guitar parts and to top that off - a break out of some free improvisation. Couldn't have said it better myself.

For more info, visit the Ginger Bandcamp site. Ginger no longer exist but former members started Marblewood.

Secret Saucer — Four On the Floor

(Self-Released 2011, CD)

Chuck Rosenberg

This is my first Secret Saucer album. I'd heard smatterings that I liked...apparently this album is more song-based than their previous output, but even the vocal tracks have improv dimensions, so there's plenty of pure exploratory space/prog-rock to be had. I like the idea of the stick-shift theme as referring to music that is more improvisational (manual) than automatic, though I dunno if that's what was intended...judging by the lyric, probably not.

Time Spent Out of Mind is a good tune, with a driving Hawkwind "Do That" type-riff but simulating Brock's later guitar-sound, alternating with cool keyboard sequences and space-effects. It's a pretty clean production they have, and generally I prefer when the sound is a little less polished...but a good tune is a good tune anyway...fellow Ohioan Nick Riff plays guest lead guitar on this one. Lunar Pull is a slower melodic piece with some really pretty keyboard playing, the lead guitar later takes over the roll that the keys played...really nice melodic playing...Architectural Metaphor's Greg Kozlowski on magic axe. His playing is so agile, I wish it was a little higher in the mix here.

Daedal might be my fave track, starts out with a really nice kinda Camel vibe, melodic guitar harmonics and a very '70s-sounding space-prog keyboard sound, but morphs into the heaviest stuff of the album, a really intense, more thrashing space-rock jam, bass rumbling, with all 'tronics and guitar-fx set on attack-mode.

Awaken is a minor-key acoustic ballad that I didn't care for as much, the vocals especially aren't really to my taste, more like your typical '70s melodic Prog style...but to presage the Floyd cover to come, you can faintly hear a little Barrett influence in some of the distant electric guitar sounds. The spacey keyboard playing is rather pleasant as well.

I've read that members of Quarkspace have been a part of SS in the past. None of their names are on the list of players here, but Celestial Spigot might indicate that they left their mark, the main beat and electric piano having a similar vibe to a lot of quarkjams. Guest Greg Klucher plays sax. I prefer the alternate bridge parts where the synths go wild.

The title track runs to nearly ten minutes, and begins as a somber brooding instrumental jam, with more Floydisms, flutey keyboards, low groaning keyboard lines. I really like the drummer's work here, nice fluid fills. I'm not nuts about the vocal, but it is brief. Aegean Bridge is mid-paced upbeat space-rock with nice round keyboard tones and bitchin' bubbling synth arpeggios...then some more excellent keyboard sounds. This is a pretty righteous little ditty.

Notch is a dark brooding electronics piece which serves as an intro for the equally dark and brooding Saucer Full of Secrets. When I first saw this title, I thought "Oh Jeez, not another Floyd cover"...but I figured SS had a right to it by name. It's also a memorial to the somewhat recent passing of PF keyboardist Rick Wright. I dig how they mimic the freaky soundscapes of the Floyd's live versions (as opposed to the studio one, which is "boingy-er")...of course when the rolling drums come in, things get really good. The rest of the track of course pays proper homage to the dramatic organ-based coda, but sounds too ordinary in the context of a cover...honestly, I was never really into the Floyd's outro, so nothing against SS. All in all, this is a solid release, and has variety.

Chatham Rise — No One EP

(Self-Released 2012, CD)

Chuck Rosenberg

Chatham Rise is the Minneapolis, MN combo of Tim, Collin, Sam, Ben and Brian. This four song EP is a perfectly fine little release - none of the tunes really stand out and all are quite good. We've all heard the terms shoe-gaze, goth-rock, dream-pop - all could apply here...and space-rock works too.

Though, if I understand the term correctly, perhaps less shoegazey as the guitar sound isn't quite as hazy. Still, I'm sure they have a couple pedals down there. It's a nice spacious sound, adding some keyboards and quiet far-away vocals. They sound a lot like Spiritualized on Fall In, it begins typically with a lone guitar, before the rest of the band enter and they all lock into a nice hypnotic mellow groove, as do all of these songs...things just float and flow along.

Autopilot is driven by rumbling bass, and there is a spacious texture made up of various aspects of guitar sounds and probably keys, too. The closer Hollows - if I had to choose a favorite, I'd go with this. Again, things start out with a lone slow guitar melody, and then bass and tom-toms join in and keep things slow-but-steady. I wait throughout this track to hear that really sweet bass pluck which only happens 2-3 times, during which one must be patient and appreciate the journey...good vocal, too (and even less decipherable than on the other tracks), really moody, melancholic stuff.

There's nothing new here in terms of style, but it's still highly enjoyable.

For more info, visit the Chatham Rise Bandcamp site.

Seid — Among the Monster Flowers Again

(Sulatron Records 2012, st1202, LP)

Chuck Rosenberg

This is an LP-ONLY reissue of a CD released in 2002 - but I received a promo-CDR only, so I cannot comment on the packaging. Scott Heller's review of the original CD release can be found in AI issue #19.

Seid are a super spacerocking combo from Norway. The album starts off with the great title-track theme fading in, a marching riff with lotsa great space-synth, but quickly kicks off into the totally awesome Fire Song - this is riff-heavy space-rock, and a great vocal here - I prefer it to some of the album's attempts at singing, this is more of a raw growl, and a very impassioned one. Then again, the singing style vocal in the bridge is excellent as well, and accompanies a beautiful melody with intoxicating keyboards...and then some sitar...before they launch back into the main riff.

Jellyfish - these vocals are so silly, even somewhat annoying ("Psyche-jellow-ish"??). Only a band whose second language is English could come up with this - such a dynamic often leads to cool sounds, but not so much here. The music is wacky, too, but in a good way - lots of different instruments play the main theme, including clarinet, bassoon, banjo - and there are loads of swishing and swooshing synth...finishes off with a nice Theremin whirl. Nice cosmic Floydish guitar stylings in the mellow intro to King Leon, eventually turns into a heavy organ/guitar-driven tune - I thought he was shouting "King Lear!", until I looked at the track listing.

Next is 5/4 - another beaut of super cosmic rock, nice mellow groove, better singing, more terrific keyboards, Mellotron, nice weeping-guitar stylings. The last couple minutes of this track is a decent electronic piece, which I might have preferred to have been tracked separately.

Lois Loona is not a fave, but even this tune provides an excellent onslaught of aggressive guitar and 'tronics about half way in. The moody The Tale of the King on the Hill was not one of my initial favorites, but it keeps growing on me - the guitars have a twangy jangly '60s effect...I don't know what they call it, I'm sure there's a term for this technique. The second half of the track gets into a great power-riffing groove - I haven't quite come to terms yet with the term "stoner-rock", but it seems to be pretty entrenched in the scene. Anyway, the sludginess here reminds me of that kind of heaviness, while not sounding like a Sabbath or Hawkwind clone.

The Red Planet is another phenomenal mellotron-fueled high-flyer, but they only play that part once - why is this only a two-and-a-half minute song??? - It's fucking criminal!!! Loop it. Sleep starts off slowly for me, in a minor key, but then warms up with a nice wistful riff in that jangly guitar style mentioned earlier - actually reminds me of Jimmy Page, if anyone. There's a fair amount of Hammond organ throughout the entire album, which also lends to it having a somewhat '60s vibe at times, but in many other ways the music diverges from that, and Seid overall have a fairly modern Euro-Space-Rock sound. Phenomenal outro, a more expansive reprise of the intro title-track - a mind-blowing mélange of organ, wild synth action, sitar, flutes, and a fully developed baritone horn section. The tuba player even plays a well-known classical riff that will probably sound familiar, though I couldn't quite place it.

All in all, while there are a couple generic riffs and some of the vocals leave something to be desired, this is top-notch versatile space/psych-rock, played by extremely capable musicians with excellent group chemistry. You should own this in one form or another. Looking forward to hearing what came later.

For more info, visit the Sulatron Records website.

Electric Moon — The Doomsday Machine

(Nasoni Records 2011, 118-2)

Pat Albertson

For those not already in the know, Electric Moon is yet another band featuring the prolific Sula Bassana (guitars and effects), with Komet Lulu (fuzzbass, effects, vocals) and mono-monickered Alex (drums, percussion). Bassana (aka Dave Schmidt) currently oversees Sulatron Records, while simultaneously contributing to a number of other bands on the label.

Formed by Schmidt in 2009, Electric Moon has released several albums in quick succession, including a number of limited-edition live sets. The Doomsday Machine is their second studio release, although even this was recorded mostly live, with few overdubs.

When the press release for The Doomsday Machine states that "the whole thing is enveloped by a gloomy atmosphere", it certainly does not overstate the matter. The twenty minute title track which opens the album leaks doom from every pore. This is pure psychedelic drone, relentless in its intensity, and heavy enough to make their earlier studio album - Lunatics - seem like a shot at mainstream rock!

About halfway through this epic track, the machine disintegrates into an echoed and distorted soundscape with eerie cymbal crashes and electronic guitar feedback. The stomping beat and chants return in the final few minutes to finish off any work left undone. Echoing, sparse and definitely more compact at just over five minutes, Kliener Knaller sounds more like conventional rock, albeit with a definite psychedelic vibe to it.

Spaceman rocks on solidly and gradually increases velocity, until it reaches cruising speed about halfway through its thirteen minute duration. Intensity, if not solemnity, is reined back for Stardust Service, which waxes and wanes across 20 minutes. The album closes with yet another lengthy (21:44) drone-and-sludge fest - Feigenonolog - which would be great had it not been preceded by an hour of cosmic intensity. As it is, the album feels a little overwrought, with some great playing and fine ideas stretched a little beyond optimum. Perhaps if a few of those longer tracks had been trimmed back a little, the album would have attained spacerock classic status. As it is, it serves as a good primer to the sprawling worlds of Sula Bassana and Electric Moon.

For more info, check out the Electric Moon Bandcamp site and the Nasoni Records website.

Various Artists — Tripwave: A Retrospective Collection of Russian Psychedelic Progressive Music

(Trail Records 2011, 010)

Pat Albertson

Trail Records was founded in 2007 by two artists who had the realisation that there are many musicians around the globe whose work remains largely unheard through lack of financial support and promotion. Their goal was, and remains, to release music taken from different cultural backgrounds and traditions in limited edition form, with neither mass production nor commercial gain being priorities.

To this end, they have chosen to compile a retrospective of Russian psychedelic and progressive music from across the last 20-odd years, from 1989 to 2010. Few of the bands present have achieved international recognition, and most of the tracks are either previously unreleased or else remixed for the album. Not too surprisingly, all vocals are in Russian, but Tripwave have helpfully provided English translations in the CD booklet.

Trail Records have arranged their Tripwave compilation chronilogically, and the album opens with the ten minute Celt by Eastern Syndrome who recorded three albums between 1987 and 1990 (guitarist/vocalist and founding member Constantine Bitukov passed away in 2004). Built primarily around a single bass and guitar riff throughout its first section, the vocals are a little too prominent in the mix, although the track does featuring some tasty guitar and sax interplay, including a central breakdown session. Nex

up is Moon Dream by The Moon Periot, who existed between 1985 and 1992. The bass is very prominent in this song, which has an almost funky post-punk feel to it. Again, the drawback here is the crooning vocals, which distract from the music. Information on Do Major, whose 1992 track To Rake Your Fingers Through the Grass appears here, is rather sparse. More funky slap bass is on offer with a Bjork-style vocalist wailing over the top of some tasty double-tracked guitars. Decadance, who contribute the five minute Dream #5: Love from 1999, are similarly obscure, and their contribution is sadly not particularly memorable, other than for a rather fine prog-metal guitar solo in the mid-section.

By contrast, 2004's Solaris by Disen Gage, a dual guitar four-piece formed in 1999 and seemingly still active, is one of the best tracks on the album, calling to mind Porcupine Tree's firm basslines and razor-sharp guitar. Next up is Rada & Ternovnik (Blackthorn), whose sparse and chilling sound on 2004's Interlude defies easy comparison - perhaps mid-period King Crimson might be closest. Much of the track consists of a really ripping guitar solo, which is eventually joined by the high pitched wail from Rada herself.

Following on is KRTL, whose 2006 track Soda calls to mind Ozric Tentacles at their best - a really scorching track. Moscow-based Deti Picasso contribute Happy End Is Inevitable from 2007, with vocalist Gaya Arutyunyan's singing being something of an acquired taste, particularly when the tracks breaks down into an anarchic noise section halfway through. Vespero, perhaps the most internationally well-known of the groups here, contribute the eight minute Inna Burst into Tears from 2007, sounding a little early post-Syd Pink Floyd, with more of those wailing and wordless female vocals (seemingly a common trait in Russian progressive rock) tastefully mixed in with the melodic guitar lines.

Next is Kafedra.org, whose lengthy guitar/synth improvisation Entrance To Invisibility features chanted female vocals over the top. Closing the album on a high note is Thee, recorded by St Petersburg's Liompa, a haunting and atmospheric piece from 2010 that fires up the volume and distortion near the end.

To these Westernised ears, the music contained on this compilation leans much more towards progressive rock, rather than psychedelia, and the vocals can sound a little distracting at times. However, it can serve as an introduction to other Russian progressive and melodic bands for those who have already discovered Vespero.

To learn more about the bands appearing on this disc, and to order muisc, go to the Trail Records Bandcamp site.

Sally Tomato's Pidgin — Planets

(Severe Recordings 2012)

Pat Albertson

When looking for spacerock inspiration, what better place to start than right here in our own solar system? In the early 1900's Gustav Holst brought us a musical meditation on "The Planets", and almost a hundred years later the subject is revisited with Planets by Sally Tomato's Pidgin (a less spacerocking name would be hard to imagine!). Conceptualist and vocalist Sally Pidgin (who has starred in autobiographical rock opera/movie Toy Room in 2010) is backed up by Eric Flint on drums and percussion, and Carlos Severe Marcelin on "everything else" (Sally's enignmatic contribution on the CD sleeve is to play "herself").

Although taking inspiration from that same subject matter as Holst, Planets is not a rock adaption of that classical work, but rather an original (or nearly so) song cycle that takes the listener on a trip outwards from the sun and into the void. Not only that, Sally and co have provided an even bigger bang for your buck; Holst worked his way through only seven planets, while she has included all nine of them, plus other heavenly bodies including the astroid belt, sun, dwarf planets and assorted moons across 20 mostly instrumental tracks in just under 60 minutes.

The journey starts with Sol, with Sally's ethereal whisper floating above gentle keyboards and finger-picked acoustic guitar, swiftly joined by harmonised electrics and stately electronic backing. In spite of its weighty subject matter, the music does not come across like some overblown prog-metal epic, but rather bright and clear moments of pop music, focusing more on melody than heaviness or musical virtuosity.

This feeling is continued across Mercury, before some slightly harder-edged guitars kick in. Venus continues in a similar vein, followed by a brief 30 second percussive stopover on Earth's Moon (here entitled Luna). Arriving on Earth, we are greeted with a rather intentionally-cheesy 50s movie voiceover selling us a budget travel tour of the planet, featuring "men and women in unusual positions", and sound bites from satisfied customers ("They have all the best recipes figured out"). The acoustic guitars recall visions of Steve Howe, and its four minutes make it one of the longer tracks on the album.

Mars eschews any of "Bringer of War" heaviness, but does feature some cutting harmonised electric guitars. Main Belt manages to get closer to heavy metal across its two minute duration with shredding guitars and double kick drums, which cut out a little too early, although I guess there is still a lot of space left to travel.

Trips to smaller moon and asteroids - Pallas, Ceres, the beatless and purely electronic Io and Titan - are generally compact soundbites, whistle stops between the main destinations. Jupiter has more of a pop/rock fusion feel, and is inspired by Mozart's Jupiter Symphony No. 41, which predated Holst's work by over a century; five minutes in length, it feels like one of the more fully realised tracks on the album.

The tuneful Saturn sounds like mid-'70's style Genesis with multi-layered keyboard parts and acoustic strummed guitars, again with a duration befitting one of the largest planets in the system. Neptune" has a precise '80's prog feel to it, while Oberon features a rather cosmic voiceover by Sally. The tricky time signatures and jarring voices of Uranus contain elements of King Crimson mathrock as played by a Victorian amusement park roundabout!

Pluto features a press statement from the Society for the Preservation of Pluto as a Planet. The journey ends with dwarf planets Haumea (brief Eno-esque piano notes and wordless keening vocals) and Eris, which features samples from such sci-fi gems as Lost in Space, before the infinite void is reached.

Planets lacks the heavy instrumental jams that have come to be typically associated with the genre known as spacerock; however, its carefully composed and tastefully executed themes make it worthy of exploration by fans of the more dreamier and pop-oriented side of classic progressive rock.

For more information, see the Sally Tomato Bandcamp site, which is a sub-page of the CSM Creates label Bandcamp site. Visit the Severe Recordings website.

Amongst Myselves — Ambient, Landscape and Space

(self-released 2012)

Carlton Crutcher

From Australia, the music on Ambient, Landscape and Space is performed by Steve Roberts on guitar, bass and synth, with Bernard Haselhoff on guitar synth and Garry Roberts on electronic percussion. This release contains remixes of tracks from previous Amongst Myselves releases as well as 3 unreleased tracks showing other sides of Amongst Myselves' music.

GREYBOX SHADOW (INTO THE LIGHT MIX): Opens with birds and ghostly sounds...gets progressively louder...some nice drones, then one big beat!...gets better and better, true ambient space!! Some nice Bernard Haselhoff guitar synth!! BAY OF DREAMS (THROUGH THE MEMORIES MIX): A more contemplative feel on this one! Meditation music to float thru inner space!! Beautiful, ethereal...these guys have probably been doing this kind of stuff for 35 years in various projects. SHORELINE FADING: Starts with waves crashing...very short, just the sounds.

ARGO NAVIS (BLINDED MIX): Cicadas? or a synth version!? Keyboard melody with some burblin' drones...synth swooshes...very similar to the David Bowie Low ambient, instrumental pieces that were done with Brian Eno. SOUTHERN LIGHTS (BLACK HOLE MIX): Yes, let's drone into the black hole. Then comes the big doumbek drum by Garry Roberts (Steve's brother?). Bringing the earth together with space...yes, that's us here!! For an experimental album this is also very slick and commercial without the compromise...big wall of sound with the driving drumbeat! Then goes into ethereal drone space. INTERSTELLAR MESSAGE: Some Morse code intro then some Prog-like keys...a short one.

SHIP OF DREAMS (THE JOURNEY CONTINUES MIX): More loveliness, my wife says she "Loves it"...big military drum beat with soaring keys...probably can't compare this to anything!?! Maybe a cross between 70's Prog-rock and Tangerine Dream!!? SYENE (A NEW WORLD MIX): Rhis one is more Arabic, almost a Cure feel!! Pretty cool, just needs some Robert Smith vocals about how tormented and rich he is!! DEMON HAUNTED WORLD-SOMNIUM: The spooky track, some kinda female vocal?...effected out doumbek...and the haunted house slips off the side of a mountain into demon world out-thereness!!

INTERLUDE-THE DARK AND COLD: Then the rain and thunder, sounds like field recordings!...gets weirder and weirder...really sounds like a different band from the earlier tracks! Tripped out female(?) vocals by the mystery singer!! UP INTO THE AIR AND OVER THE EDGE (BETWEEN THE TREES AND CLOUDS MIX): More soaring beauty! What to say? This is what New Age music should have been, music with artistic and spiritual integrity!! Not just a product for people who don't know better!!! TALES (IT'S BEEN A GOOD TRIP MIX): Now the big Night Club Disco hit! Big bass and drum machine...again, different than any previous track!!

The CD also comes with a DVD of visual pieces, along with the music, that were created by Steve Roberts and visual artist Bernard Haselhoff. "With his experience in time-lapse cinematography, Steve Roberts has created several of the tracks using his custom computer controlled hardware and DSLR cameras. Time-lapse footage goes hand in hand with his form of ambient music and adds to the serenity when appropriate, while Bernard's use of his unsettling oil paintings brings an added depth to Amongst Myselves' darker moments."

A little Stonehenge, old photographs! Uber psychedelic! Some real artsy stuff, like you are looking from inside a snow globe!! Oh, there is some footage of the guys playing!! Nice to see some guys my age still kicking ass!! Some really cool early 70's-ish acid art/paintings...some really excellent camera work on a lot of this!! Reminds me of the movie Koyaanisqatsi!! It's hard to imagine why these guys aren't doing this kinda filmwork for some big money!??! Maybe it's the major label's/big studio's agenda to make "No" art!?!?

For more info, visit the Amongst Myselves website and the Amongst Myself Bandcamp site.

Altbau — Altbau

(self-released 2011)

Carlton Crutcher

From Berlin Germany, Altbau is Boerge on drums, Kalle Hochnebel on bass and sounds and The Rock Cylon RC50 on loops. They describe themselves as instrumental music somewhere between Motorhead and Mogwai, "influenced by rock, electro, no wave and funk the band creates soundscapes and grooves towering in a structured or freestyle way."

DEAF DRONES: Rock drums, bass and keys. Starts to pick up tempo and volume! Sounds like a guitar but none credited?! STRASSENTEERUNG: More well done funk, but to me there's not much original or unique about this?!? Well played and recorded funky instrumental rock!! Reminds me a lot of 1980's Austin Texas underground bands. I wanna like this but I just can't get into it, I've reviewed several CD's for Aural Innovations that are in this vein!! To me, it seems that if you're in a band that's committed to doing something different/experimental you should also consider breaking from the rock instrument and music structure!! However I'm starting to realize that the less challenging music has more mass appeal.

DYSFUNK: Comes out with very uptempo drum beat then the bass and guitar! Cool sounds!?!? The drums are great but dominate the sound so much that it starts to be samey. But then some nice driving guitar!! I'm sure Altbau are hugely popular in Germany but to me it's pretty normal and boring! This really sounds like basic tracks before the overdubs, without being justified as tracks that can stand on their on their own, without overdubs! TWYNN PEEKS: Clever title??!! The music reminds me of a tire commercial or a band doing a sound check! The playing is "good" but not artistically interesting or innovative in any way that I can tell. If you could hear the other instruments besides the drums then the tracks might stand a chance of being interesting?!?

DE MON STAR: I'm sure this music is fun to play but not so much fun to listen! Boerge on drums and Kalle Hochnebel on bass and sounds are accomplished/good musicians but not unique enough with their style of playing or song structure to warrant a CD of instrumental tracks!! Of course that's just my opinion and my opinion is probably very different than lots of people's opinions! Kinda like soundtrack music for an 80s detective show! Gets very rockin' but not rockin' enuff. The press release compares them to Motorhead and Mogwai and I would never say that!!

SEXCH8TEL (BONUS): Funky drums!...and bass and loops that are mixed down....around 3:10 gets pretty rockin' and interesting?? The drummer should just record a solo album of all drums and the world could hear how great he is!! Around 9:20 the loops get kinda interesting but it's over!

For more info, visit the Altbau Bandcamp site.

Temple Music — Children Of The Sun

(AntiClock Records 2012, cytacart001)

Carlton Crutcher

Temple Music started as a solo project of English musician Alan Trench, also known for his work with World Serpent and the dark folk band Orchis. For this release Alan, on guitar, synths, vocals and programming, is joined by Stephen Robinson (The Beloved) on bass, synths, and harmonium, R. Loftiss (Gray Field Recordings, Language of Light) on vocals and Frank Suchomel (Inalonelyplace, Language of Light) playing keyboards. Although coming out of the avant-folk scene, Temple Music also has roots in the European ritual/ambient/drone music of such acts as Hybrids, Mirror and Coil.

MIRRORS: Opens with white noise buzz and goes directly into uptempo pop rock. The nice lead vocal by Alan Trench kinda reminds me of some classic Echo and the Bunnymen or the Teardrop Explodes, but still keeping the experimental/underground credibility...."mirrors are windows" yes indeed!! CHILDREN OF THE SUN: Slower tempo on this but still with rock format! Nice feel, quality pop done for the right reasons! Alan Trench and R. Loftiss singing together and some badass Trench guitar. Very impressive! A pop anthem, reminds me of Swans during their folk phase!

ISM: And the hits keep coming, mid-tempo drum machine thump along with a nice melody. Sounds a bit like the Police "Every Step You Take". Some more intriguing lyrics - "the only way out, he said, is through". DEATH WENT FISHING: This one reminds me of Nikki Sudden. A beautiful damaged profound pop gem! The R. Loftiss vocal is so perfectly sung and mixed on all these songs that you don't really notice unless you're listening for it! It just adds a lightness and female energy.

MOMENTUM: Opens with industrial driving drum machine along with ethereal synths, then comes the distant punk guitar as the drums fade out! Very odd, almost upside down mix with the guitar buried and synth swooshes to the forefront! Now the Stephen Robinson harmonium! As everything else goes away...then the big out front acoustic guitar of strumming loveliness!!...along with some very nice keys by Frank Suchomel... Oh, and when the vocals finally come in, they just keep sounding cooler and cooler! Probably the most unique track on the CD without completely departing from the pop/rock format! More of the excellent lyrics by Trench/Robinson... starts to hit a nice groove musically like the Krautrock bands Harmonia/Cluster etc... And more of the great Trench guitar!! Also, this track is nice and long, my only complaint about this CD is that it's too short! Yes, the more port I drink the better it sounds!! Outro's with harmonium spaciness.

WARLORD OF THE ROYAL CROCODILES: This is kind of a hidden track, a Marc Bolan cover...opens with loud guitar explosion... the hit!!...very cool uptempo with nice R. Loftiss vocals, driving guitar and rhythm! Hits bizzarro chanting otherness! Wow, short and sweet, this one should have gone on for another 20 minutes at least.

This edition comes with a hand-painted cover by Alan Trench with gold stamping throughout and a separate lyric sheet.

Not this album but man others are available on the Temple Music Bandcamp site.

Instant Drone Factory — Ho Avuto Paura del Mare

(Living Tunes Records 2011, CD)

Jerry Kranitz

Instant Drone Factory are a multi-national mix of German, Italian and Japanese musicians, featuring Frank Gingeleit on guitar and guitar synthesizer, Andrea Tabacco on guitar and vocals, Thomas Hinkel on synthesizer and flute, Rie Miyazaki on bass and Morihide Sawada on drums (the latter two from Marble Sheep). Ho Avuto Paura del Mare (Italian for I Was Frightened By The Sea) is their latest album and includes guests Norbert Schwefel on piano and Verona Davis on vocals. I should add that the cover art is an oil-on-canvas painting by Raphaela Langenberg, inspired by the idea of being scared by the sea.

The album opens with Ain't Nobody. Piano and free-jazz drumming dominate, but are augmented by spacey guitar and effects. Then about halfway through the drums get more of a rock beat going, the guitar comes to the forefront and takes on an acidic quality, and brief vocals sing in a kind of Punk-Soul style. Lots of interesting contrasts and the entire 9 minute piece feels like an extended buildup. Put Down The Guns is a Can-like rocker with pounding tribal drumming, trippy jamming guitars, ethereal flute, a cool old time organ sound, effects, and Damo styled vocals.

I like the combination of crunchy guitar blasts and spaced out guitar on Out Of The Chaos. The piano plays a lulling melody in the background while the band marches along steadily playing very intense and determined Rock. Frank and Andreas' guitars really go together well on this tune. Ghost Rider is next and right out of the chute the band set a frantic, quirky rhythmic pace, with both guitar and synths creating atmospheric effects. Morhide is like a man possessed on the drums, the guitars are wild, and the vocals are like Captain Beefheart meets Damo.

In stark contrast to the previous two tracks, Ho Avuto Paura del Mare / Do You Love What You See starts off very meditative, with guitars, drums and synths all contributing to the soundscape pool. The vocals are anything but meditative, singing Italian lyrics in a sort of punk-ish crooning style. The music trips along, slowly evolving and establishing a cool jazzy groove, and all the while various spacey effects come and go. Then in the last few minutes the intensity level builds and the band rock out for the finale. RIPPING guitar! The musicians really gel on this 15 minute tune.

Instant Drone Factory will appeal to fans of classic Krautrock (particularly Can), but the musicians are clearly jazz influenced as well. The sound quality and production of the album are excellent, which is important with this band because each musician makes very distinct and often contrasting contributions and the listener needs to hear that to really appreciate the music. Check these guys out.

Check out Instant Drone Factory on SoundCloud.

Book of Shadows — Hanged Man

(Reverb Worship 2012, RW175)

Jerry Kranitz

Hanged Man was the first Book of Shadows album, only released in small quantities in 2003, and now reissued by Reverb Worship in an edition of 50 copies. I reviewed this album over 8 years ago so I'm diving in with a fresh ear. The reissue is minus 4 songs from the original release, but includes 3 tracks not on the original that Carlton tells me were from the sessions just prior to Hanged Man, before Aaron Bennack joined the band.

Two of the things that make the music so beautiful and interesting are Sharon's haunting, space whispery vocals, and the contrasting, and sometimes truly odd combinations of music and sounds that the musicians manage to bring together so nicely. The album opens with the The Beach, on which guitars, bass, keys and vocals create a spacey-ambient-wryd-folk brand of haunting beauty. As is the case throughout the album, Sharon's vocals are mesmerizing, like a spectre looming over the proceedings.

Bring Ginger Candy is a Carlton-Sharon due piece that features a cool and strange combination of lo-fi folk-psych and freaky alien electronics that kind of reminds me of Fit & Limo. I love the combination of beautiful melodies, atmosphere and vocals on Heavens Mirror. I like the shimmering effects that serve as a strange sort of contrasting support to the vocals. It's hard to describe but sounds really cool. On Keep Sharing, Aaron's guitar almost sounds like a Western movie theme, and surrounded by Sharon's one-women choir the effect is yet another example of captivating Book of Shadows combinations.

With Krisna we get pulsating electronics that provide spaced out rhythmic-like support to the song, with Sharon going into space whisper mode as she chants "Kriiiiiii-snaaaaaa". Sacred Grove features more spacey atmospherics, effects and vocals along with some of the most interesting guitar work from Aaron on the album. Free is similar, with space electronics, melodic guitar and space whispery vocals.

Samhain is a Carlton-Aaron duo piece. This is quite different because instead of Sharon's vocals we have Carlton doing spoken word. There's more interesting guitar patterns and effects along with spaced out keys. But then along with Carlton's narrative we've got a demonic efx'd "almost" voice and what sounds like crunchy metallic guitar chords joining in. And all along Aaron continues with the original guitar theme and Carlton continues speaking. Pretty wild stuff and further evidence of Book of Shadows' flair for contrasting elements that work together well. Finally, Intangible Smurf is a short track that brings the album to a close.

Among the new tracks that were from sessions recorded prior to Hanged Man is Woman Is The Altar, which consists of a repetitive robotic electronic pattern, spaced out theremin, and vocals. As the nearly 10 minute track evolves, the theremin jams while various other noises and effects wander through. Ring Pass Not combines spaced out electronics, guitar and space whispers, and includes Joel Crutcher from ST 37 on guitar. Finally, Common Heart is a Carlton-Sharon duo piece and at 9+ minutes another lengthier track. Experimental space electronics and Sharon's vocals make for an intriguing combination. I really floated along with this one.

Book of Shadows — Cayleper

(Ikuisuus 2011, is-049)

Jerry Kranitz

On the Cayleper album we get a mixture of Aaron Bennack composed duo and trio pieces, and improvisations by larger Book of Shadows lineups. It opens and closes with brief Sharon-Aaron duo tracks. Earhorn To The Other Side is a droney atmospheric piece with Sharon on vocals and Aaron on drums and flute. Jimmy Turned The Page is one of the most song-like tunes I've heard from Book of Shadows, with pleasant melodic guitar.

Tran-smitten is another Sharon-Aaron duo track featuring vocals plus folky guitar patterns that are soon interrupted by a brief noisy segment before returning to the original theme. The noise bit didn't work too well for me as they had a really nice groove going.

Zizabah is one of three Sharon-Carlton-Aaron tracks. Nice experimental sounds and soundscapes, and for the last minute they shift gears and go into deep space. Tommy Walked Down The Hall Of Trianglic Energies is a cool combination of church choir/Gregorian chant, ambience, bubbly-blurpy effects, and trip guitar. For ambient/soundscape drift this is one of my favorites of the set.

At nearly 11 minutes I Played Crawling Chaos On My Jambox In The Graveyard is the longest track of the set and another highlight. It's slowly developing with a cinematic feel and conjured up images of a deserted ghost town on another planet. I see tumbleweeds blowing down the dusty street, but the surface is in space. Wow, a simple combination of space whisper/chant vocals, guitar and ambience really got my imagination going. Kresnayarsk is an Aaron solo track, starting off with somber, moody piano, then adding effects which start off as embellishment and later take over the piano.

Cayleper also includes four improv tracks with larger Book of Shadows lineups. I like the way the music builds up on the space-noise exploratory Space Tide At The Trailer. Sharon sounds like the witches from the Suspiria soundtrack (which I had been listening to recently so it was fresh in my mind). The vocals get even witchier on The Listening Pilgrim. We've got busy sound patterns like bees buzzing around, blowing wind, anguished avant-Beefhearty Blues guitar, and more. Lots of interesting guitar that goes great with the electronics and vocals.

Coming At You Live Leper is the only track without Aaron, but adds Joel Crutcher on guitar. Its starts off as a symphony of noise, with pulsating drones and tortured guitars. Things soon settle down and the band embark on a noise-soundscape-psychedelic segment that gets increasingly intense before receding once again. Experimental free-improv with an atmospheric noise-psych edge. Finally, for Hawkfib we've got a 7 musician (4 guitars) Book of Shadows lineup. It starts off with the same noise-symphony feel, with freaked out psychedelic jamming, electric Miles-like funky grooves, and general sound and mood exploration. Lots of interesting variety on this album.

Book of Shadows — Festival of Shadows

(Lonktaar 2011, LONKTAAR 13, 2xCDR)

Jerry Kranitz

Festival of Shadows is a 2-CDR set released by Lonktaar in an edition of 44 copies. If you liked the previous album descriptions or are already a Book of Shadows fan, suffice it to say this is an interesting and varied collection, so instead of dissecting all 21 tracks I'll touch on the tracks that stood out for me.

Scudder consists of avant-folk acoustic guitar, wailing, rumbling, volcanic electric guitar, vocals and atmospherics. It all gets wild and fun as both guitars eventually start rocking out against a windswept backdrop. Somewhat similar is Never Seen, an interesting combination of strumming acoustic guitar, electric guitar, alien effects and vocals. Never Seen 2 features a similar theme, though in the last couple minutes drums kick in, setting a clear rhythmic pulse, with shimmering liquid psych guitar licks and electronic effects.

Cheer Up Charlie is a 19 minute track with three guitars, keys and vocals. It's relatively peaceful, with the three guitars strumming and playing various spacey effects, backed by soundscapes and Sharon's fluttering and sometimes banshee-like vocals. They get a groove going at times, which is an interesting contrast with what the vocals and keys are doing. There are some moments when the guitars start to rumble, the drones get louder and it sounds like things might start to get aggressive, but calm is maintained. Lots of good ideas on this one but the musicians aren't consistently in sync with one another throughout this lengthy track. But Book of Shadows follow it up with Nopalo, a concise 4+ minutes that combines contrasting elements working together seamlessly to create an avant-ambient space trip.

At 11+ minutes The First One From Sunday is another longer track. It's more on the audio-art experimental side, but includes an intriguing mixture of contrasting elements. It starts off as an industrial dirge, morphing into wind effects that sound like being in the frozen tundra. Along with this the vocals howl, the guitars trip along, and electronic effects color the landscape. Closing out the first CD is the 12 minute Gardens of the Ancients. Wow, this was a surprise. Carlton must have had a hankering for his ST 37 roots because that's what this kind of sounds like. They get a dark bass groove going, add sizzling guitar and a cacophony of space electronics and we're rocking out in space.

Opening the second CD is Psychic Driftwood Dragonfly, a song-like Sharon-Aaron duo track with lulling acoustic guitar and vocals. Aaron pops in with a quick shot of twisted ripping electric acid guitar, then pops in later with brief jamming Bluesy leads, and then again with wildman leads. Aaron gets a little Frippertronic on Ecstatic Tears Of Light, which includes cool loops and guitar leads. The Revenge Of Crash Corrigan is an experimental free-improv piece on which the music moves along steadily and busily, with all the musicians doing their own thing yet it all gels nicely. Later on the music morphs into something more spaced out and psychedelic atmospheric. Red Ochre features a different use of Sharon's vocals than I typically hear, doing something that reminds me of an old Laurie Anderson tune.

River World is a 33 minute improv epic with vocals, keys and four guitars. It all starts off a bit disjointed as the guitars amble along with some trippy avant-psychedelic noodling. After a while it starts coming together as a spacey soundscape/noise-psych sculpture. Pretty cool but it doesn't flow seamlessly enough for such a long track. But The Magician is a killer closing track. Sharon does spoken word while Carlton cranks out true UFO effects. Scott Telles from ST 37 joins in on keys and Sam Royal contributes drums and mandolin (the mandolin must be heavily efx'd because I can't detect it).

Book of Shadows — Poppets and Strings

(Kendra Steiner Editions 2011, KSE #202, 3" CDR)

Jerry Kranitz

Poppets and Strings is a 3" mini-CDR released by Kendra Steiner Editions in an edition of 82 numbered discs consisting of two 9-minute tracks.

Leander features the trio of Sharon, Carlton, and Brett Humphrey on guitar and electronics. Sharon is in space-whisper-meets-harpy mode, surrounded by haunting space-scapes and trippy guitar. The keys and electronics get really spaced out and the guitar feedback pulsates along with the keys.

I like how the music and vocals drift along and the vocals get gorgeously caterwauling along with the more intense musical moments.

The title track is a Sharon/Carlton duo piece with both contributing vocals and keys and recalls classic floating space electronica more than most Book of Shadows tracks I've heard. Even Sharon's vocals, while not 360 degrees from what we're accustomed to take on a slightly different character, though still function as an equally contributing instrument. An excellent deep space meditation.

Check it out at the Kendra Steiner Editions website.

Nacosta — Wilderness City

(Ancient Conductor Records 2011, AC 001)

Jeff Fitzgerald

Nacosta are a psychedelic folk group from Los Angeles, and Wilderness City is their debut EP. They bill themselves as bridging "a gap between Nick Drake's fingerpicked introspection and Sonic Youth's in your face noise collages." Hmm, don't quite hear anything like that going on. Nonetheless, I do really like what I hear.

One thing is for certain, these guys can write a catchy tune. This is amply evident from the psychedelically explosive opening salvo of Take, a terrific rock tune with great harmonies and exceedingly enticing sonic textures.

Things don't let up after that, but they do mellow out with the trippy, 60ish sounding folk tune New Magick, featuring some very memorable and groovy melodies indeed. I really like these guys' vocal harmonies. But don't think it's all pretty singing and folksy ditties. The next track, Blade of Grass takes us into some frightening sonic realms as it careens and swirls about with strange noises dripping like multi-colored rainfall from the acoustic guitar strings.

It segues quite nicely into the haunting The Betrayal, a dreamy, march-like excursion into longing melodies fused with intriguing, multi-layered rhythms. Nacosta excel at creating these great folk pop tunes that are married to multidimensional stratums of auditory experience, whether the droning, hypnotic bleed of Treehouse or the colorful explosion of the tripped out closer Clear. Great stuff!

I kept wishing this was a full-length album. Wilderness City is a good, solid 22 minutes of music, but it leaves you begging for more. Good news is they have another EP on the way!

For more info, visit the Nacosta Bandcamp site.