Category: Psychedelic

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Gumboot Soup

Australian psych-rock work horses King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard set out at the beginning of 2017 to do something in one year that many bands don’t do over the course of an entire career – release five albums.  Yes, five albums in one year.  The band has always been prolific, but this seemed a bit nuts.

First came Flying Microtonal Banana, then Murder of the Universe, then Sketches of Brunswick East, then Polygondwanaland, and finally (released New Year’s Eve 2017, no less) Gumboot Soup.

The endcap on KGATLW’s crazy year is a mix of mellow and heavy that sums up 2017 pretty well for them.  Opener “Beginner’s Luck” is, on its surface, a song about gambling in a casino but is secretly about addictions and temptations.  The walking bass line on it is great.  “Greenhouse Heat Death” takes us from the mellow feel of the opening track to the distorted and warped feel of KGATLW’s heavier material.  Some microtonal touches are sprinkled in for good measure, too.

Stu MacKenzie‘s flute takes lead on the quirky “Barefoot Desert.”  “Muddy Water” is a sharp track that I suspect might be a take on a Taoist story about being a happy turtle in the mud instead of becoming a glorious dead shell in a palace.  The song builds into  Middle Eastern-flavored rocker that never lets go of your attention.

Believe it or not, the band moves into a bit of synth-psych (or is it psych-synth?) on “Superposition,” combining synthesizers with flute, more great bass and drumming, and ethereal vocals.  “Down the Sink” has a Bee Gees-inspired beat that I love.  I hadn’t considered before if KGATLW were inspired by their fellow Aussies, but this track makes it seem obvious.  It’s not a disco cut, mind you, but that wicked dual drummer beat is definitely something Barry Gibb might’ve cooked up in the studio.

“The Great Chain of Being” is a guttural chunk of stoner metal and a wild contrast to some of the earlier tracks.  It’s like Sleep and Electric Wizard squaring off in a dirty pub.  Just to mess with us, they follow it with “The Last Oasis” – a lovely track that reminds me of some of Thundercat‘s work, but with lyrics that sound like they’ve been lounging under a palm tree all day.

“All Is Known” is sort of a bridge between Flying Microtonal Banana and Nonagon Infinity as it combines the microtonal guitar work of the first album with the dead-run beats and mind-blown lyrics of the second.  “I’m Sleepin’ In” could easily be a Sketches of East Brunswick B-side.  I love its subtle harmonica work behind the distorted hip hop beats.  The closing track is “The Wheel” – an acid lounge cut that tells us that the cosmic “wheel that spins us into our future” is the same one that brings us back to where we started.

It would’ve been easy for KGATLW to make their final release of 2017 a live album or a collection of B-sides and outtakes, but they stuck to their promise and delivered five albums of original material.  Each of them is quality stuff, and Gumboot Soup is no exception.

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Moon Duo releases 12″ single of Stooges and Alan Vega covers.

Moon Duo Announces Alan Vega (of Suicide) and The Stooges Covers 12″
and UK/EU Tour

Listen To Moon Duo’s Version of Alan Vega’s “Jukebox Babe” Here
Following a 2017 that saw the release of their critically acclaimed two-part Occult Architectureopus, Portland psych heroes Moon Duo are back with a new limited edition 12″, featuring covers of classic songs by Alan Vega of Suicide and The Stooges. Their new take on Vega’s “Jukebox Babe” is streaming now, and the 12″, which also features The Stooges’ “No Fun,” is due for release on January 19. The band shared the following statement on the songs:
“We started playing ‘No Fun’ after BBC6 Radio asked us to record an Iggy song for his 70th birthday. We added it to our set to work it out for the session and kept playing it every night because everyone loves that song. We worked up a version of ‘Jukebox Babe’ because our sound engineer Larry got it stuck in his head and was singing it all the time. We figured, we may as well play it if we’re going to hear it all the time,” the band explains.
“The Stooges and Iggy, and Suicide/Alan Vega/Martin Rev, are all huge influences on us. But we never want to do faithful covers of great songs, because what’s the point. So we tried to push both of the tracks in less obvious directions, incorporating other influences, like California psych and cosmic disco, giving them more of a summer vibe. We knew Sonic Boom was working outside of Lisbon, so we asked him to produce the tracks, recording them in August for maximal summer heat.”
The band is also announcing a tour beginning on January 26 that will hit the UK, Ireland, Turkey, and Portugal.
STREAM MOON DUO’S VERSION OF ALAN VEGA’S “JUKEBOX BABE”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pDWw7ZVY1s
https://soundcloud.com/sacredbones/moon-duo-jukebox-babe-alan-vega-cover/s-QrwMt

MOON DUO TOUR DATES:
Jan. 26, 2018 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Jan. 27, 2018 – Belfast, UK @ Black Box
Jan. 28, 2018 – Cork, IE @ Crane Lane
Jan. 30, 2018 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
Jan. 31, 2018 – Edinburgh, UK @ La Belle Angele
Feb. 1, 2018 – Manchester, UK @ White Hotel
Feb. 2, 2018 – Liverpool, UK @ District
Feb. 3, 2018 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell
Feb. 4, 2018 – London, UK @ XOYO
Feb. 7, 2018 – Istanbul, TR @ Zorlu
Feb. 9, 2018 – Braga, PT @ Gnration
Feb. 10, 2018 – Coimbra, PT @ Salao Brazil
Feb. 11, 2018 – Leiria, PT @ Texas Bar
Feb. 12, 2018 – Lisbon, PT @ Musicbox

PREORDER:
Physical 12” – https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/releases/products/sbr193-moon-duo-jukebox-babe-no-fun
Digital – https://moonduo.bandcamp.com/album/jukebox-babe-no-fun
Download hi-res album art and press images – www.pitchperfectpr.com/moon-duo/
Keep your mind open.
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Houston psych / prog legends Spiny Normen’s unreleased album to arrive 40 years after it was recorded.

Spiny Normen premiere lead track from unreleased album 40-years after recording via Paste Magazine
1978 outsider psych-rock from Brown Acid compilation faves’ long-lost unreleased album coming soon from RidingEasy Records
Hear & share “Arrowhead” (YouTube) (Paste Magazine)
“A dark masterpiece.” — Paste Magazine
Spiny Normen premiere the first track from their forthcoming posthumous album — 40 years in the making — today via Paste Magazine. Hear and share album opener “Arrowhead” HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
Spiny Normen is an incredible mid-70’s Houston hard rock, progressive, psychedelic rock band (yes, all that and more) that featured mellotron, vox jaguar, crunchy, heavy guitars, flute with echo effects, and lots more. A totally lost relic this album is, recorded at the community college and never released. This band has a very English, dark, mysterious and proggy but very acid drenched feeling to it.
Vocalist/guitarist Steve Brudniak dishes on the band’s founding and this exceptional recording:
Circa 1976, Gerry and I would skip class, smoke whatever scrap of contraband we could scrape together and meet in the high school auditorium where there was a piano and bang out crunchy rhythms…. At home I shoved a mic into the family upright piano and overdrove a cheap recorder and home made echo-plex to get an impressive cacophony. Gerry was playing guitar, listening to Alice Cooper, hair down to his back and about the only Mexican American in a white bread school. He was cool! So when he said one day, “Hey man we should jam some time!” I was stoked. We did, man it was fun! I was soon on the lookout for a keyboard to become legit with. I found the already ancient Vox Jaguar in the Houston paper that had belonged to Fever Tree, one of the original psychedelic bands of the late 60s. I didn’t know how famous they were at the time but I bought it for $160 and a Kustom blue sparkle vinyl amp with a speaker that I blew out just right, that made the most beautiful distortion, accompanied by a beloved phase shifter.
We began torturing our parents in various suburban garages and bedrooms after adding Norman Davis on drums and Steve Koch on bass. Back then it was a Black Sabbath sounding, blues based crunch. Songs like “Carry Your Water” and “Space Age Flyer” were early comps.
We made a 4-track recording in a local studio around then that our drummer didn’t show up to the session for. All of us being Monty Python fans, and the Norman-no-show gave us the name Spiny Normen (with an E) which two more bands have since taken.
Over the next three years we began to experiment, waaaay off into the beaten path, spending months penning intense, bizarre, surreal and mind affecting pieces influenced by King Crimson, Pink Floyd, film soundtracks, Vandergraaf Generator, and the like along with some bad bad acid trips on my part. I was collecting keyboards …a melotron (hell yes!) a single key play moog. Gerry was adding echoes, early guitar synth and tons of pedals. I learned the flute. New bass player Bruce Salmon and a try at another vocalist Bob Riley and various drummers, my favorite being Robert Winters, were in and out. In we went with a hired stand up bass player and a little Gerry Diaz engineering knowledge to the Alvin community college 8-track recording studio and just played like psychedelic Mozarts. Timpani, live effects, sound effect records, backward echo, violin bow on guitar and plenty of echo. Gerry and I on vocals now. What came out was still, to this day, in my humble opinion, some very complex, untouched territory, holy-what-the-? stuff. We were all about 19.
It didn’t last long and we were way behind and way ahead of our time. I’m so ffffn thrilled though at 54 to see what this world of open-ended listeners will think of Spiny Normen now. The 19 year old Steve is getting his dream fulfilled. Gerry and I still experiment here and again with guitar and theremin in an effort called Psylobison. Just as touched, but its not going to give you such bad dreams.
Spiny Normen will be available on LP, CD and download on March 2nd, 2018 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at RidingEasyRecs.com.
Artist: Spiny Normen
Album: Spiny Normen
Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: March 2nd, 2018
01. Arrowhead
02. Wrecko Wild Man Ride
03. Carry Your Water
04. The Monkeyweasel
05. To Meet the Mad Hatter
06. The Bell Park Loon
07. In The Darkness of Night
08. The Sound of Younger Times

On The Web:

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Rewind Review: The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)

The Soft Bulletin marked a departure for the Flaming Lips from their heavy, psychedelic guitars to, well, a softer touch and even more psychedelia.  It’s a lovely record that explores the band’s now-frequent themes of the universe, the self, death, and love.

“Race for the Prize,” for example, is the story of two scientists burdened with the competition of finding a cure for something, even though the stress of it might kill them and leave their wives widows and their children orphans.  The initial swell of keyboards lets us know right away that this won’t be a typical Flaming Lips record.

We learn that the scientists were successful on “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” even though the race did indeed kill them.  The cure they found?  Love.  It’s always been right in front of us.  The percussion on “The Spark That Bled” blends rock drums, orchestral beats, and psychedelic drippiness as lead singer Wayne Coyne sings about a moment of enlightenment.  “The Spiderbite Song” has Coyne thanking the cosmos that friends of his didn’t die too soon from things as varied as a spider bite, a car crash, or falling into crazy love.

“Buggin'” is, appropriately, a song about insects.  It’s rather peppy and fun, even as it discusses bugs dying against your car’s windshield.  I can’t describe “What Is the Light?” any better than the notes on the back of the album: “An untested hypothesis suggesting that the chemical (in our brains) by which we are able to experience the sensation of being in love is the same chemical that caused the ‘Big Bang’ that was the birth of the accelerating universe.”  That’s what this lovely, shimmering song not only discusses but also makes you believe.

If you ever doubted the Flaming Lips are inspired by Pink Floyd, just listen to “The Observer,” which is practically a lost cut from the Dark Side of the Moon sessions.  Wayne Coyne described “Waitin’ for a Superman” as “a sad song” when I saw them live two years ago.  It is a song about depression, and how even Superman can fail so we shouldn’t be crushed when we do the same.  It’s one of the Lips’ greatest songs, really.  It’s uplifting and bittersweet at the same time.

“Suddenly Everything Has Changed” is about one of Coyne’s favorite subjects – embracing the idea that one day we’ll all be dead.  Little moments of existential panic are actually reminders that we should appreciate things like the clouds we see on the drive home, the vegetables we just bought at the store, and the fact that we can fold laundry while floating on an orb in an endless universe. “The Gash” is a call to fight on even when to do so exposes wounds in us that must be healed no matter how frightening it is to confront them.

“Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” continues the Lips’ theme of not being afraid of death, for “life without death is just impossible,” as Coyne sings while the rest of the band plays bright keyboards and whimsical guitars behind him.

The album ends with the instrumental “Sleeping on the Roof,” a beautiful send-off that could be the sound of a dream, a funeral, a birth, or all three.  The entire album could be played during any of those events.  It’s another masterpiece by the Flaming Lips and still uplifting after nearly twenty years.

Keep your mind open.

 

 

Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 5 – 1

Happy New Year!  What were the best albums of last year?  Well, these topped the list for me.

#5 – Blanck Mass – World Eater

The somewhat startling cover is a warning for a powerful, teeth-baring electro record that somehow catches all the chaos this year displayed.  There was a lot of early buzz about this record upon its release, and for good reason.  It’s a stunning piece of synthwave, dark wave, and psychedelic fever dreams.

#4 – All Them Witches – Sleeping Through the War

This psychedelic blues-rock was pretty much a lock for my favorite rock record of the year as soon as I heard it.  ATW brew up haunting tracks that range in subjects from being stuck in purgatory to internet addiction (which are pretty much the same thing).

#3 – LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

Their reunion was possibly the most anticipated of the year, and they proved they hadn’t lost a thing on this great record.  Front man James Murphy‘s lyrics are as searing as ever as he confronts aging, love, social media, partying, and Millennials.  One of the singles, “Tonite” (one of my favorites of the year) is a great example.  It’s a song about songs, but it’s also about the fears and joys of aging.

#2 – WALL – Untitled

This is a bittersweet choice because one of the best post-punk records, and best records in any genre, of the year is by a band who broke up before it was released or even named.  WALL‘s only full-length record is shrouded in mysterious lyrics about the current political landscape and the band itself.  It’s also full of sharp guitar hooks and sass that is sorely missed.  Consider yourself blessed if you caught one of their too few live shows.

#1 – Kelly Lee Owens – self-titled

I read a review of this album that described it as “a breath of fresh air.”  I’m not sure I can beat that description because this stunning debut is the most beautiful record I heard all year.  Ms. Owens’ synth soundscapes immediately seem to lighten gravity around you.  It’s a tonic for the toxic atmosphere we’re living in right now (both in the real world and in the one that blitzes us from cyberspace every day).  If 2017 got you down, listen to this album today and you will have a much better outlook on the year to come.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway there, folks. Things only get better from here.

#15 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana

The year of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard began with the first of their five planned releases for 2017.  Yes, five.  Flying Microtonal Banana unleashes the band’s new obsession with microtones and provided a link between their outstanding Nonagon Infinity to the rest of their catalogue.

#14  – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe

Easily the craziest album of the year for me, the second release from KGATLW of 2017 is a concept album about a man turned into a cyborg by a giant monster.  That man then decides the only way to end his suffering is to destroy the universe so he can finally embrace death.

#13 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club – Sketches of Brunswick East

Yes, that’s three KGATLW albums in a row in my top 15.  This one, a joint effort with Mild High Club, is my favorite and the mellowest.  It’s a delightful change from the heaviness of Murder of the Universe and has some of their best psychedelic grooves.

#12 – Jackie Shane – Any Other Way

This is probably the best reissue of the year.  In case you didn’t know (and many of us didn’t), Jackie Shane was a talented performer on the soul scene in the 1950’s and 1960’s who gained most of her fame in Canada and then disappeared into obscurity almost as fast as she became a star.  She also did this while being a transgendered black woman during a time when openly living in a such a way was a great way to get thrown in jail or worse.  This double-disc album is eye-opening and jaw-dropping.  You’ll be amazed that you’ve never heard her before and want to her more of her all the time.

#11 – Zombie Zombie – Livity

I almost forgot how much I missed France’s Zombie Zombie until I heard them again on this new album.  It’s an expansive soundscape of sci-fi synths, processed beats, and mood-shifting analog sounds.  You need this if you’re into electro, synthwave, or altering your reality.

Who’s in the top ten?  Come back soon, my friends!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 20 – 16

It’s top twenty time!

#20 – Brother O’ Brother – Neon Native

I’m happy to include some “local” (as in from the same state as I) cats on my list of top albums of the year.  This is a blistering garage-blues record that further proves you don’t need a lot of fancy gadgets and studio trickery to make hard-hitting rock.  They’re one of my favorite discoveries of the year.

#19 – The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions

This album is one of the best reactions to the year in politics that was 2017.  Band leader Carl Newman has openly spoken about how the 2016 election and his battle with depression formed a lot of the songs on this record, but it’s not all doom and gloom.  There’s a lot of hope on this fine power pop album, and we all need a lot of that right now.

#18 – Thundercat – Drunk

I didn’t expect to pick up a jazz fusion record this year, but this one is certainly outstanding and was all over the place in 2017.  It made the top of many lists, too, and for good reason.  It’s an incredible concept album about the day in the life of a guy who parties too much and knows he’ll probably regret it later.  It’s the closest we’ll get to a Frank Zappa album any time soon.

#17 – Priests – Nothing Feels Natural

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got on a big post-punk kick this year and albums like this are the reason why.  It’s a vicious takedown on corporate bigwigs, consumerism, and greed, and the music is sharp as a hatchet.

#16 – The Black Angels – Death Song

If you know me, then you’re not surprised that a Black Angels record made my top 30.  They’re one of my favorite bands, and this album is one of their hardest-hitting in a long while.  It, too, is a bit of a reaction to the 2016 election and the country we’re now living in and seeing on the nightly news, but the Black Angels also let us know that all things are transient and this, too, will pass.

We’re halfway to home!  Who makes the cut?  Come back soon to find out.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 25 – 21

Who made the top 25?  Read on!

#25 – Dion Lunadon – self-titled

As the story goes, Dion Lunadon was restless during a break that his band, A Place to Bury Strangers, was taking in-between tour dates.  He focused that restless energy into this powerhouse of a record that mixes everything from noise-rock to psychobilly grooves.  Thank heavens for eager artists.

#24 – The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics

A band that started out as a fictional joke between Sean Lennon and members of Fat White Family ended up putting out one of the wildest records of 2017.  It’s a great mix of psychedelia, electro, disco, and otherworldly chaos.

#23 – Jake Xerxes Fussell – What in the Natural World

Good heavens, this album is beautiful.  It’s somewhere between blues and outlaw country and is most Jake Fussell and his acoustic guitar singing heartbreaking songs about being broke, lost loves, and the bravery of river men in old times.  It will leave you wondering why you hadn’t heard of him before now.

#22 – Ron Gallo – Heavy Meta

Ron Gallo is working damn hard to remind you that rock and roll isn’t dead (We are, however, according to him.), so it would do you good to pay attention to his Stooges-inspired riffs, vocals, and attitude.  He’s already planning a release early next year, so get on this now and hear the buzz.

#21 – The Flaming Lips – Oczy Mlody

The Flaming Lips continue their journey through other dimensions and exploration of death, life, and love with this weird mix of psychedelia and shimmering power pop.  The addition of guest vocals by Miley Cyrus is a nice touch as well.

Next up, the top 20!  Come back soon!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 30 – 26

I reviewed close to 60 albums this year.  Post-punk made a big comeback for me this year, as did electro.  Let’s get this countdown started!

#30 – Ancient River – O.D.D.S. II

I’ve been listening to this psych-rock duo for years now, and they deserve to be better known to the world at large.  O.D.D.S. II was a wild, crazy record with heavy fuzz, vocals covered in so much reverb as to make them almost incoherent, and a mix of live and electronic beats.

#29 – Tinariwen – Elwan

These Tuareg musicians make music for desert landscapes, yet it fits in anywhere you are.  You could be in Antartica, the Amazon, or at the middle of Randolph and Michigan in downtown Chicago and this album’s haunting vocals and superb craftsmanship will make you feel your surroundings in a different way.

#28 – Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Lavender Blood

In a perfect world, this Detroit psych-rock trio are headlining music festivals.  This album, heavily influenced by a near-death experience shared by all three members during a flight to Greece, is their trippiest so far and might be the best Velvet Underground album never released.

#27 – Partner – In Search of Lost Time

This is probably the best debut album of 2017.  Josee Caron and Lucy Niles come out guns-a-blazin’ with this fine piece of power pop that contains heavy riffs, fun lyrics, and razor sharp song craft.  It’s loud and proud.

#26 – RIDE – The Weather Diaries

RIDE came back this year with one of the best albums, shoegaze or otherwise, I’d heard in a long time.  Shoegaze is enjoying a great resurgence right now, and it’s due in part to albums like this.  It’s a stunning piece and a record we didn’t realize how badly it was needed until we heard it.

Who’s in the top 25?  Stay tuned!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 10 singles of 2017: #’s 10 – 6

2017 was the first year in a long while when I bought singles and not just full albums or EP’s, so I thought I’d keep track of my favorites.  Here’s the first half of the list!

#10 – Marlon Williams – “Vampire Again”

Not only does this song have the sexiest groove of the year, it also has a great backstory.  Marlon Williams was bored on Halloween night in L.A. and noticed a local theatre was showing Nosferatu with a live orchestra performing music for the silent film.  He got high, dressed up as a vampire, and went to the event only to discover he was the only one in costume.  This is the story of that night.

#9 – Bebel Gilberto – “Creep” (live)

When my wife and I saw Bebel Gilberto in 2016, she played this song and mentioned that she was “thinking of releasing it.”  “Please do!” I yelled from the middle of the amphitheater.  She did, along with her wonderful EP Live at the Belly Up.  This song makes me cry every time I hear it.

#8 – Honey – “Dream Come Now”

Honey‘s fiery single “Dream Come Now” was one of the most exciting tracks I heard all year.  The opening guitar chaos made me immediately want to buy their album, New Moody Judy, which wasn’t available for another few months.  It was well worth the wait.

#7 – Ty Segall – “The Main Pretender”

This wild, groovy bit of soul-punk from Ty Segall is jaw-dropping, especially with the wicked saxophone work from Mikal Cronin.  This is like a lost Captain Beefheart track and a great example of Segall‘s love of multiple genres.

#6 – The Moonlandingz – “Black Hanz”

Weird, trippy, funky, and catchy, the Moonlandingz released “Black Hanz” and I was immediately hooked on them.  The chorus roots into your head and the song warps into a crazy dream sequence at one point.  It’s my favorite psychedelic track of the year.

Who’s in the top 5?  Tune in tomorrow, friends!

Keep your mind open.

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