Aural Innovations - November 2015, Part 1

The Perc Meets The Hidden Gentleman — The Fruits of Sin and Labor

(Sireena 2015, CD, originally released 1990)

Jerry Kranitz

The Perc Meets The Hidden Gentleman is the duo of Tom "The Perc" Redecker and Emilio "The Hidden Gentleman" Winschetti. Originally released in 1990 in an LP edition of 2000, The Fruits of Sin & Labor was an A side of studio cuts and the B side live material, and this Sireena release (Redecker's label) reissues it on CD for the first time.

We've got a hell of a lot of variety here. Bronx Vanilla is a trippy vocal song with dirty Neil Young guitar and spacey flowing keys that opens the set. I like the low register, drugged, droney Folk quality of Redecker's voice. There's a "Reprise" version later with even more up front Neil Young grunge guitar. We then do a complete stylistic 360 degree turn with the Funk-Disco grooving Feed your Heart To Beat. Wow, did ya get the number of that truck?

The 4-part Comics Suite begins as a melodic vocals, piano and orchestral synth tune and then transitions to the Pete Meets Margo chat section, which sets the stage for the main rocking guitar, synth, piano and cheesy electro rhythm led song segment in which Redecker sings about Pete and Margo's afternoon in the bedroom. The Widow On Strings is another shocking contrast, being a short tune that's like a Philip Glass string ensemble composition with strange vocal accompaniment.

Hungry is the first of the live performance songs. It combines a drugged, Bluesy dobro sounding guitar with noisy Psych guitar and dark, droney vocals. It's sparse but emotional and even a little disturbing, like some kind of stripped down Velvet Underground tune. The vocals and keys on Respect & Devotion sound like a soaring symphonic funeral procession punctuated by pounding march-like electro percussion and periodic intense stinging guitar leads.

Niteride has a cool contrasting combination of dance pulse, ripping guitar leads and wild theatrical vocals. The nearly 13 minute Rock The Widow is by far the longest track of the set. Again we've got electro dance rhythms accompanied by excellent rocking lead and rhythm guitar and impassioned vocals. The keys are pretty basic, giving the music a homemade quality, yet the duo make full use of what's available to them to create a full sound during their performance. As the song develops and transitions through multiple themes there are some wildly intense vocal and instrumental segments that create a full on maelstrom of Rock theater. The audience responds enthusiastically to this one. Finally, I Want Ya Scalp is another freaky Funk-Disco dance floor stomper that closes the set.

This album completely defies any attempt at classification. Despite the unabashed diversity there's some cool and interesting music here. Check it out if what I've described sparks your interest.

For more information, visit the Sireena website. Visit The Perc Meets The Hidden Gentleman website or their Bandcamp page. The album is on Amazon and Spotify.

Sun Temple Circus — Sun Temple Circus

(Tribal Stomp Records/Shack Media 2015, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

Sun Temple Circus is the quartet of Tom "The Perc" Redecker on vocals, 12-string guitar and keyboards, Harry Payuta on bass, sitar and backing vocals, Marlon Klein on drums and percussion, and Jochen Schoberth on guitars. Founded in 2014, the band immediately went on tour, and this self-titled vinyl LP (hand numbered edition of 500) was recorded at the Lagerhaus in Bremen, Germany with guests Alpha Halley on keyboards and Uli Bosking on mandola.

We've got an interesting variety across the album's four tracks. Out of India is a trippy Indian raga accompanied by flowing spacey keys and a clattering but steadily driving and somewhat electro propulsive rhythmic pace. Finishing out Side A is the 10 minute Lighthouse, which starts off with sitar, electric guitar and synth noodling about.

But when the acoustic guitar starts to strum and Redecker's vocals kick into song the band find their groove. And what we've got is a West Coast Psych styled Folk-Rock song with lots of free-wheeling rockin' jamming. There's a cool Airplane/Dead/Woodstock vibe throughout, and the solo sitar is a nice touch. Next up is Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi, which was originally a 1966 single for French singer/songwriter Jacques Dutronc.

Sun Temple Circus are true to the spirit of the French sung original, though in place of the Freakbeat nature of Dutronc we've got a jamming Psych-Rock groove. Finally, the 14 minute Sun Madness is a Prog-Psych excursion with a tribal underpinning and swinging Funk grooves, but also an intensely hard driving Psychedelic onslaught that is simultaneously freeform jamming and theme focused. It's mostly instrumental, though Redecker pops in from time to time with a slightly varying verse.

There's lots of ripping guitar soloing, but also cosmic keys that give some sections a Psychedelic Jazz flavor. Very nice. I'll bet the shows on this tour varied a little from one night to the next.

For more information visit the Tribal Stomp Records website.

Little Fyodor & Babushka — Truly Rejected

(Little Fyodor 2015, 7" single/DL)

Jerry Kranitz

Little Fyodor is one of the world's truly fun and talented characters. He was one of the Godfathers of the American homemade music/cassette culture underground in the 1980s with his band Walls of Genius, who kicked started their activities in 2014 after a 30-year hiatus and have since demonstrated that they've still got it in a big way. Fyodor has been at it all these years under his own name too and after having covered the recent Walls of Genius recordings he sent me a care package with this latest single plus a couple from past years that I'd missed.

Little Fyodor (promo photo)

The latest from Little Fyodor is an 8-song 7" vinyl single that showcases the current Little Fyodor & Babushka live lineup. Fyodor and Babushka share vocals on the Truly Rejected title tune, an organ and punchy guitar punky whacky rocker that revels in outcast loser rejection. The title is named in honor of Truly Rejected Magazine which looks to be a Denver, Colorado based arts mag.

It Changes has a Punk meets 60s Garage-Psych vibe with super cool trip guitar leads from Amadeus Tonguefingers. Dave Willey's guest keys on Bar Bar add an Etron Fou LeLoublon flavor to this fun punky tune. I got a kick out of the zany but sincere and impressively constructed Broadway show tune feel of Done That, Do This.

Since his earliest days with Walls of Genius cover tunes have been a staple of any Little Fyodor album and he has an unmatched flair for imaginatively demolishing classics of all styles and genres. I don't have the words to effectively articulate the whacked out rocking whimsy that Babushka does to Rodgers & Hammerstein's Girl Who Cain't Say No (from Oklahoma).

Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment is very much in the spirit of the The Ramones original though with Fyodor's inimitable vocal imprint and Babushka's lusciously cheesy organ adds a weirded out 60s flavor. And The Beatles' I'm Down gets totally Fyodorized as a good time kinetic dance party rocker.

Little Fyodor — Peace Is Boring

(Little Fyodor/Public Eyesore 2009, CD/DL)

Jerry Kranitz

Little Fyodor's 2009 released Peace Is Boring is a 14 song set of cleverly crafted madcap fun. I love the Barnum and Baily circus band Punk-Psychedelic tight-as-a-knot sublime insanity of songs like That Was A Mistake, Spider Dream, and You Don't Know. The cover tunes, as usual, are all over the map. Death Sides Now takes Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now and totally Fyodorizes the lyrics.

Fyodor and Babushka treat the 50s classic Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In) like they're contributing to a Punk Rock children's compilation. Babushka does her best Nancy Sinatra on Lee Hazelwood's Boots. Well... actually she's just being Babushka. Dig that banjo and Garage Rock backing.

Similar to Truly Rejected, songs like All My Clothes Are Uncomfortable showcase the loser as less alienated and tragic than he might seem and more down to Earth comical. Cruising (Bummer Scene) is a little different, being a darkly chunky rocker with spacey horror show effects, whimsical bell percussion and a cool Country-Blues guitar solo. I lile the Jazz-Scat gibberish of Everybody's Sick.

Babushka goes into angst mode on the Country fun The God Gripe Song, another tune that if you ignore the lyrics sounds like it would be ideal for a children's record. I really dig the ominous whack job Zappa-Prog-Psych of Peace Is Boring. Fyodor goes Post-Punk Reggae on The Natural Progression Of Life. Death Wish is part Fyodor does Spinal Tab and part filthy dirty screaming Grunge-Psychedelia. Finally, Fuck-a-duck-a-luck-a-luck-a-ding-dong is a merry semantics be damned whackadoodle dandy of a closing number.

As whacky as it all might seem on the surface, Little Fyodor's songs are tightly and imaginatively arranged, and he's got the assistance of solid musicians. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Various Artists — The Unscratchable Itch: A Tribute To Little Fyodor

(Little Fyodor/Public Eyesore 2013, CD/DL)

Jerry Kranitz

I've got to hand it to Little Fyodor. Nobody sounds like him. Hell, he even rates a tribute album. The Unscratchable Itch: A Tribute to Little Fyodor consists of 21 artists doing their own renditions of Little Fyodor songs. The interpretations run the gamut from "relatively" normal, to attempts to go Fyodor style, to doing precisely what I always hope will occur when someone does a cover song which is to make it completely their own.

All the contributors do a good job but I'll give you a flavor of what for me are the standouts: The Voodoo Organist does a nasty 60s Garage-Psych rocking take on Get Out Of My Head. I love Dan Susnara's lounge crooner take on You Give Me Hard On, nicely colored by incessant vinyl scratching and goofy effects. The Inactivists take the same song in a different direction, giving it a sultry Psychedelic-Jazz spin.

Nobody but Amy Denio could make a Little Fyodor song sound lovely like she does with her Avant-Pop version of The God Gripe Song. Brian M. Clark is totally demonic with his sludgy Psychedelic-Doom rendition of Happy People. Diablo Montalban does a very cool and wildly chaotic cheesy keyboard and Throbbing Gristle Industrial version of Cruising (Bummer Scene). Gort vs. Goom do a very cool tripped out cover of I Don't Know What To Do that's like The Residents and Renaldo and the Loaf backing a singer, though it's also got a tasty guitar solo.

Fyodor's brother moron in Walls of Genius Evan Cantor does a cool swinging lounge-Blues version of I Wanna Be The Buddha. Swami Loopynanda (Charles Rice Goff III) goes lysergic mind-fucked Psychedelic with his wigged out Residents gone Space Rock interpretation of Red Meat/Throbbing Earthworm. Darren Douglas Danahy is nicely spaced out too with his funky freaky electro-grooving cover of No Relief In Sight. The spaced out whack job vibes continue with Reverend Leadpipe and the Evil Do'ers doing an ultra-frenetic and rhythmically disorienting You Will Die.

Blood Rhythms do what is probably the most challenging to recognize cover of a Little Fyodor song with Won't Somebody Fill The Void. No surprise given that it was recorded live at the 2012 Denver Noise Fest. Lasse Jensen (who also curated this compilation) does a goofily rollicking cover of Everybody's Fucking. And Nervesandgel do a nifty rhythmic Residents and darkly electro freaked out rendition of Doomed.

Well... If you've read this far than I've apparently got your attention. Much fun awaits you at the following links…

To stream, download and purchase these and other Little Fyodor albums visit the Little Fyodor Bandcamp site. Visit the Little Fyodor website. There's lots of interview and live performance segments with Little Fyodor in the just released Great American Cassette Masters DVD documentary that I highly recommend. (The website talkstoryfilms.net where it was available no longer exists.) You haven't lived until you've seen Little Fyodor performing with a birdcage on his head.

Magic Moments At Twilight Time — Flashbax Ω Ultimate

(Klappstuhl Records 2015, CD/DL)

Jerry Kranitz

Back in 1998, when Aural Innovations was in its early printed zine days, I received the first of many submissions from the UK-based Music & Elsewhere label. M&E was primarily a cassette label, but this was a CD: the 1996 released Creavolution by Magic Moments At Twilight Time (MMATT). The first lines of my review, which appeared in AI #3, read as follows: "MMATT has recorded what for me is probably the first space-rock 'n roll, dance party, sci-fi concept album I've ever heard. I mean we're talking Hawkwind on Dick Clark's American Bandstand". When you receive 100s of submissions over many years, it's hard to revisit many of them. But Creavolution is one I've returned to periodically because... well, it's just so damn FUN!

Mick Magic was a founding member of MMATT and also the M&E label head honcho. He's been mining the archives of late, having recently released the Decadion 1 and 2 compilations which are two separate 12+ hour mp3 collections featuring a whopping variety of music from the 90s underground.

And now Mick has turned his attention to MMATT. Flashbax ? Ultimate is a retrospective collection of MMATT music featuring all the different band line-ups with selections from their 1987 - 1992 cassette albums, just before work on the Creavolution CD began. The compilation consists of 18 tracks and over 2 hours of music. The first 12 tracks are available as a CDR for those who like physical products and comes with a download code for the entire package plus a 25-page PDF booklet that's jam packed with band history (much of which reads like a sci-fi B-movie script), lyrics, track notes and photos.

MMATT's music exists at the crossroads of the Space Rock, electronica, lo-fi homemade music, Punk and good 'ol Rock 'n' Roll realms, though there is nearly always some kind of sci-fi element plus healthy doses of humor. The music often sounds like a Hawkwind meets John Carpenter soundtrack with a New Wave dance groove in the place of the Blanga. Razor sharp riffage is embellished by space electronics that flitter and dance about like troops of gurgling aliens. The synths often bring to mind droning drifting Prog sci-fi soundtracks and at times sound like tinkling video game melodies, and not uncommon are spaced out Punk-Industrial effects that recall the looped and phased freakouts that characterized the early Chrome albums.

We've got some great songs here. Among the highlights are the deep space Dub infused Torch song electronica of Pandora. Traveller II is a bouncy cosmic dittie with cool lyrics: "I am a Traveller II, I've been across this spatial void a thousand times or more. I'm greeted by the aliens with rockets labelled 'Nuclear' exploding at my door". The aptly titled Blitzkrieg! is a punky chunky rocker with a cool combination of dirty metallic guitar and soaring synth lines.

I love the propulsive good time sci-fi Hard Rock of Psychojolting, which is characteristic of everything I dug about Creavolution when I first heard it. And more fun lyrics: "I stand on the electro-floor. I feel the oscillators roar. The rumble turns my alpha on. So welcome to The Psychotron". Ditto for the ultra-erotic Get Into The Dream Cream, which sounds like The Ramones gone Space Rock. Bewitched is an unrequited love song in the form of a disorienting but melodic sonic freakout.

Acidic Heaven starts off as a killer slab of Hawkwind/Chrome ominously blazing Psycho-Space Rock but eventually lifts its spirits and veers into a high energy tripped out rocker. Magic Moments At Twilight Time is the bands ass kicking sci-fi Rock 'n' Roll Creavo-origin tale: "The story started years ago when came down from the skies. A craft of gleaming silver white, not seen by Earthman's eyes. Aboard, an ageing scientist from some far distant world. From spatial peace he came amid this human madness hurled".

There's some gems among the bonus digital only tracks too. The 14-minute Xmas With Jody starts and ends like a radio play talking about the band's origins, and all throughout we've got a Space Rock jam that's like punky Hawkwind that's extra heavy on the electronic efx action. The 33-minute Sister Jody is an all instrumental, relentlessly rocking Blanga freakout Space Rock jam that was the entirety of Jay Time's audition in 1987. And we've got a promotional bit for Garry Lee's Starship Overflow radio show that customizes what would become the opening Creavolution song.

In summary, kick ass sci-fi dance party Rock 'n' Roll freaky Psyched out Space Rock and plenty of good fun mind-fuckery are the order of the day on this outstanding retrospective from one of the UK underground greats that deserve all the above ground attention they can get. I hereby declare this absolutely essential. Because really... when all is said and done... MMATT just love that Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle.

To stream and purchase the download visit, check out the Klappstuhl Bandcamp site. Visit the Music & Elsewhere/Mick Magic/MMATT website. You'll find the Decadion collections I mentioned here too.

Alan Davey — Sputnik Stan Vol. 1: A Fistful Of Junk

(EarthQuake Records 2015, CD/LP + Comic Book)

Jerry Kranitz

Alan Davey's latest is a cracking fun adventure with Sputnik Stan and his ship computer Mel Function as they whiz around space collecting junk and hoping the Hubble Telescope fails because that's the holy grail of junk. Stan likes to stop at the "U.F.O Cathouse" for a little R&R occasionally (which is conveniently attached to the International Space Station). And that's the quickie summary of the story which is presented in music, lyrics, narratives and a 20 page comic book with absolutely freakin' amazing artwork by Kevin M Sommers. Comic books are an IDEAL pairing for Space Rock!

Alan plays all instruments (guitars/bass, synths/keyboards, drum programming and sampling), and we've got vocal/narrative contributions from Kevin M Sommers, Frank Morris, Jody B Green, Zoie Green, Sarah Davey, Alisa Coral, Tina E Smith and Christopher Krawczyk.

Our story opens with spaced out atmospherics and effects as Mel reports to Stan, a gruff character who muses about his mission. We then launch headlong into Weigh It In Tranquility, a classic heavy duty Alan Space Rock 'n' Roller with pounding bass leads dueling with the guitar. But then we glide into melodic synth driven mission control mode which melts into Magnetosphere Disturbance, a pulsating Space-Prog number with hypnotic guitar leads that sing over the astral drifting synths.

Zoie Green's lead vocals are lovely on the mesmerizing Hubble's Looking Tasty These Days. Stoic covers a lot of ground in just a few minutes, kicking off with electronic and compositional gymnastics. There's a lot of zig-zagging around before we launch into the main song, with its Rap-like vocals against a chaotic but steady rocking acidic pulse. Delysid Funk is a get down funky tune with a nasty Hard Rock edge and cool dual guitar leads. And when the DJ voice comes in we learn that Stan was listening to this song by "The Eclectic Devils" on the radio.

My Man On The Moon is another trademark Alan styled Space Rocker with a Prog and Metal infusion. Stan stops off at the U.F.O. Cathouse on Unidentified Flying Orgasm Parts 1 & 2, which is a mind-bobbling banquet of song, effects, and saucy swaggering Space Rock and Funk-Fusion when Stan hooks up with a couple of gals (played with appropriate nasty girl character by Sarah Davey and Alisa Coral). Finally, 18 Engines, One Mission is a destructive slab of fuzz Metal infused Space/Hawk Rock 'n' Roll that over 8 minutes takes plenty of time for both song, narrative and instrumental stretching out.

Throughout the set we hear Mel's reports and Stan's responses, and I got a kick out of Stan's constant quips to Mel, as if the female voiced computer were his nagging spouse. Particularly humorous is when Stan is dum-dee-dum singing to himself as he accumulates Aluminum, Titanium, Uranium and Magnesium. Kudos to Frank J Morris for doing such a good job as the voice of Stan.

In addition to Stan, Mel and the DJ interspersed between and within songs we've got various forms of Houston communications, who treat Stan as a Han Solo styled rogue. All well done and craftily mixed and stitched together to create a good time junk hero, Drive-In movie Space Rock adventure.

The CD will be available November 16. It's limited to 1000 and comes inserted into the 20 page 10.25 x 7 inch comic book. The CD comes in a 2 panel cardboard sleeve and that slips into the comic which comes with a plastic protective sleeve to eliminate corner folding when storing. All in full colour! The LP should be ready a few weeks later. It's limited to 200 and is a double colored vinyl package with Sides A & D being a 12" and Sides B & C being a 10". Alan plans to release Vol. 2 in 2017.

For more information visit Alan Davey on Facebook.

The Chemistry Set — The Endless More And More

(Fruits de Mer Records/Regal Crabomophone 2015, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

A little background for newcomers: UK psychsters The Chemistry Set got started back in 1987 during the Neo-Psych rage era, getting John Peel airplay and even appeared on Tony Wilson's (Factory Records) TV show. They toured the UK, Europe and US before splitting in the 90s and then kick starting again in 2008. They've since released five 7" singles on Fruits de Mer. And now we've got a killer set of 12 original songs, some of which appeared on the previous singles, that draw on a variety of Psychedelic and Rock 'n' Roll influences.

I'll hand it to The Chemistry Set... they have a compositional flair for melodic songs that hook you on the first spin. The musicianship, vocals, harmonies, production and arrangements are rock solid, creating a Psychedelic variety pack across these dozen tunes.

I love the Pop-Psych grandeur of The Splendour Of The Universe, colored by Beatles/Revolver styled freak guitar and spaced out Floydian effects. Bouncy Sunshine Pop meets energetic Rock 'n' Roll on International Rescue. The Canyon Of The Crescent Moon has a similar spring in its step, but also a swirling Arabian vibe and the chorus reminds me of Soft Hearted Scientists. Time To Beathe is a slowly lulling Psychedelic crooner with wildly tripped out space guitar embellishment. Imagine turning Astronomy Domine into a lullaby and you've got something like this song.

I like the Folk-Baroque sweetness of Winter Sun. Albert Hoffman is a Syd-like song that is, as you might expect from the title, laced with spaced out lysergic effects and a bonus grungy Psych guitar solo. Crawling Back To You sounds like a classic Paul McCartney fun time solo tune. Elapsed Memories alternates between haunting Psychedelic mysticism and Power-Pop. And speaking of mysticism, The Open Window goes full blown Indian raga for a cool grooving blend of mind-bending shamanic drone and Bluesy swagger in the vocals.

The band get heavier rockin' garage nasty on The Fountains Of Neptune. Dig that cool eerie organ and deep space swirl. Come Kiss Me Vibrate And Smile is similar but throws in some acoustic guitar jangle for a fun contrasting edge. And A Cure For The Inflected Afflicted is the heaviest rocker of the set, with 70s Hard Rock riffage and even a Blues harmonica fill. A solid set that grabbed me on the first listen and keeps on giving a half dozen spins later.

The Endless More And More will be available in January. Note that this is a vinyl LP only release, limited to 600 copies in a gatefold sleeve with a fold-out periodic table poster. The promo sheet also announces that in late spring 2016 there will be a limited edition box set that will be housed in a 'Chemistry Set' box with experiments, test tubes filled with candy and assorted paraphernalia, plus a bonus 12" featuring the band's previously released cover of Hendrix's Love or Confusion and two new remixes. Fun stuff indeed.

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records website. For the band, check out the Chemistry Set Bandcamp site and Chemistry Set on Facebook.

Jack Ellister — Tune Up Your Ministers And Start Transmission From Pool Holes To Class O Hypergiants

(Fruits de Mer Records 2015, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

After albums by Yordan Orchestra and MYTRON plus several singles of his own, Dutch Psych maestro Jack Ellister is back with his first full length LP.

The set opens with The Man With The Biochopper, which first appeared on Ellister's 2013 released Fruits de Mer single. I was smitten with this song on the first spin two years ago and dig it even more on this fresh revisit. It's a monstrously mind-bending slab of spaced out Psychedelia that's like a combination of Syd-era Floyd and the more contemporary Vibravoid, to give newcomers to Ellister's music a reference point. And I love how the song ends on a screaming high intensity note, leaving the listener white knuckled and pop-eyed, only to segue into the acoustic based The Sun Sends Me Hail, Victory, Power, Peace and Shelter (as much a mouthful as the album title).

It starts off gentle but then starts to rock out with Bowie flavored vocals, bringing to mind the acoustic songs from Hunky Dory. But things change quickly as the music gets more freaky and effects-laden and closes with a plane engine noisy finale. Saddle Up The Horse is a catchy, bouncy, Folk infused Psychedelic Power-Pop tune with some crazy wailing sax. Calm Adapter is a lysergically meditative, ambient and Shoegaze driven lullaby.

Great Esmeralda playfully teases the listener by alternating between freaky spaced out buildups and power rocking segments, before finally letting the full song loose. This bleeds seamlessly into the brief but totally freaked out Wishmachine, which combines free-wheeling tripped out instrumental bits and song snippets. Old South is the most instrumentally stripped down song of the set, being a tasty singer-songwriter acoustic guitar and vocals song.

Curator goes back into space, being a freakily haunting soundscape and effects driven song with ghostly vocals that are part drone-chant and part singing. Finally, A Hunter Needs A Gun closes the set as monstrously exciting as it opened, with a song that along with The Man With The Biochopper may be, in my opinion, the two best Psych songs of the year. It's totally trippy and totally catchy, Psychedelically uplifting and intense. I like how the guitar licks scream, the vocals are angst ridden, but both are tempered by heavenly drifting keys, melodic guitar solo and dreamy atmospherics. Lots happening here and it's all very cool.

In summary, this kick-ass set of spaced out Psychedelic songs with beautifully crafted production and arrangements. Highest recommendation!

This is a vinyl-only release pressed on blue/turquoise 180gr vinyl with poster in a frighteningly small quantity of only 111 copies. In fact, according to the Fruits de Mer website it's already sold out. No surprises there. But this is too damn good to not make more widely available. The cover art was done by artist Anne von Freyburg, who was Ellister's partner on the 2011 released Palast CDEP recorded as MYTRON.

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records website. And visit the Jack Ellister website or on Facebook.

Ex Norwegian / Permanent Clear Light — split single

(Fruits de Mer Records/Friends of the Fish 2015, 7" vinyl)

Jerry Kranitz

Despite their name, Ex Norwegian are from Miami Beach and, though new to me, have been around for a while with several albums under their belt. (Check them out at exnorwegian.com/ and on Bandcamp.)

Their contribution to this split single is a cover of String Driven Thing's It's A Game, which was also a hit for the Bay City Rollers. The song is well produced and arranged, having a killer rocking 70s Pop sound, excellent vocals and instrumental fills. Very cool. I'll have to check out more from these guys.

The flip side features a new song by Finnish trio Permanent Clear Light (see their Facebook page), who have contributed to numerous Fruits de Mer compilations and whose 2013 debut album Beyond These Things made my Best-Of list for that year.

Corneville Skyline is a bouncy, joyous Pop-Psych tune with lusciously trippy orchestration and effects and a solidly catchy melodic hook. Kind of reminds me of XTC too. According to the promo sheet, Permanent Clear Light expect to release their second album in spring 2016, which is GOOD news!

The single is pressed on lathe-cut 7" vinyl in a limited (VERY LIMITED!!!) quantity of only 50 copies.

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records website.

Michael Padilla — Atmospheres: Ambient Works Volume One

(Fruits de Mer Records/Strangefish 2015, LP+CD)

Jerry Kranitz

On his new solo album, Michael Padilla explores territory very different from his Psych bands The Soft Bombs and Dora Flood. Atmospheres consists of four soundscapes influenced by Eno's Discreet Music, created using a sampler and looper pedal.

Side A opens with Northern Lights, which floats us along on a celestial sailboat, gliding over an endless succession of gently ebbing and flowing soundscape waves of classic meditative and spiritually uplifting ambience.

Crossing East has a Mellotronic sound with its beautifully melodic keyboard/flute combo feel, as if it were one isolated layer from a classic 70s Prog album. Padilla travels down a more overtly orchestral path on the Side B dominating Ecstagony. An underlying tuba-like drone supports an astral string section that tugs at the heartstrings, creating the sensation of sitting in some kind of planetarium symphony hall.

The Waiting is a short coda to Ecstagony, though it's darker and heavier on the drones and the string section is replaced by an electronic horn section. Very nice set though I have to say I'm partial to the Side A tracks. And all this with just a sampler and looper pedal? I'd stupid about the details of the arsenals at musicians' disposal and always marvel at what technology can do.

Atmospheres will be available in January. Note that this is a vinyl LP only release, limited to 500 copies pressed on Fruits de Mer's first ever picture disc. Mindful of the concerns over picture disc sound quality the LP comes with a CD version that includes a fifth bonus track.

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records website.

Charles Rice Goff III and Michael LaGrega — Sharpness Of Formulation

(Taped Rugs Productions 2015, CDR/DL)

Jerry Kranitz

Charles Rice Goff III and Michael LaGrega follow up last year's Organic Matter in the Midst of Space with a set of 6 experimental sound collage space explorations. The duo utilize an arsenal of synths, keys, electronics, effects, violin, bass and other devices to create excursions that are simultaneously mind-bending and chaotically disorienting.

The fun starts with Annulment Of Suspension, an intense combination of space symphonics, alien insect analyses and percussion. Whirring and buzzing electronics pepper the proceedings as space waves and drones variously rush and flow, punctuated by percussive blasts and blows. The Machine Economy consists of a contrasting blend of heavenly space symphonics and machine-like electronica, noise and percussion patterns, which soon develops into a chaotic but strangely rhythmic and melodic dance song, bringing to mind a Vangelis/Kraftwerk/Hip-Hop mashup.

Goff created a very cool video for this piece, which you can click here to see or get it in the download package listed below. Do yourself a favor and view it on your computer, iPad or some similar device. You will NOT get the full lysergic effect on your little phone.

Goff and LaGrega have more fun crafting dissimilar elements on the 17+ minute Amid That Which Is. Ambience, freaky alien electronics and a parade of instruments and sounds converge to create a dreamily intense symphony of controlled chaos. The intensity level gets kicked up a notch when the percussion blasts are introduced along with wildly swarming electronic patterns, though it's all tempered by the underlying drifting ambience. The whole is a creatively perplexing glom of components that, once again, are brought together into a turbulent but craftily cohesive whole.

Next, we go into full-blown cosmic orchestra mode on Plasticity Nullifies Vividness, which sounds like some kind of interstellar Leonard Bernstein. Analysis Of Being-In features more art damaged space-ambience and symphonics blended with various sounds, electronics and effects to create an intense avant-garde sci-fi soundtrack feel.

Finally, The Manual Doorlock Buttons Of Perception is a multi-layered ambient/soundscape excursion with a 50s sci-fi soundtrack edge and a wee bit of zaniness that brings the set to an ultra-cosmic close.

In summary, Goff and LaGrega have a flair for bringing seemingly dissimilar elements together in creatively disorienting ways. Check out Sharpness Of Formulation for a deep space adventure that is both challenging and fun.

For LOADS of information visit the Taped Rugs Productions website. Listen to Sharpness Of Formulation and download for free at here at archive.org .