YOU – PHASE (CD, D/L). ALL THEM WITCHES – A SWEET RELEASE EP (D/L). THE WAVES – DRIFTING (D/L). LOS LUCID – MONTAGE OF PSYLOSIBIN (D/L). MINDFLOWERS - ///3 (D/L). THE CALIFORNIA DEATH – CALIFORNIA DEATH (D/L)

We have been having another mooch around Bandcamp and here is a quick round up of some of the goodies/oddities we have found that you can download for free.

First up we have YOU, a bunch of stoners from New Mexico…….when they are not working at the Albuquerque Mind-Research Lab (which we think is in the drummers basement) they moonlight as a four piece(?) heavy Psych band. Phase is their second album and it was recorded in only two days……it sounds like they have gone into the studio and blasted through their live set with a minimum of fuss…….it’s a little bit rough round the edges but that is not such a bad thing. There is some great stuff here, particularly the epic 20 minute Prog/Psych ‘Alpha Channel’ and the sinuous ‘Dream Castor’……. It’s the kind of record that makes you want to skin up and dissolve into your sofa.

You can check out Phase at the YOU Bandcamp page http://youband.bandcamp.com/ where it is available as a “name your price” download and also available to buy on CD.

Seeing that Nashville is the place that everyone associates with MOR Country music it surprisingly has a thriving Psych scene with great bands like The Paperhead and The Sufis hailing from there. All Them Witches are another fantastic Nashville band who have already released two well received albums with a third due later this year……..while we wait for the new album there is a new EP, A Sweet Release, available to download from their Bandcamp page. There is a sand blasted, desert blues vibe about this band that has similarities with bands like Sleepy Sun and bluesy, loose-limbed stoner jams is All Them Witches thing exemplified by the sublime ‘El Paso Sleep On It’ and the opening track….the three part, 24 minute live recording ‘It Moved We Moved/Almost There/A Spider’s Gift’. The standout track is no doubt ‘Interstate Beach Party’ that has a massive groove with big drums and heavy bass locking together while guitar and Fender Rhodes piano bounce off each other. In total there is around an hours’ worth of music here and we suggest that you check it out.

A Sweet Release is a “name your price” download and you can find it here https://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/album/a-sweet-release-ep

This is absolutely fantastic……..The Waves are effectively the solo project of Austin Garner (although there is a drummer for live gigs) and from the sound of this single he is completely immersed in all things psychedelic. ‘Drifting’ is a totally blissed out song for balmy summer daze and ‘(I Can’t Seem to Get) Away From You’ is a Wondermints/Jellyfish style Psych Pop piano ballad with gorgeous multi-tracked harmonies……….download this and wait for the album. Available as a “name your price” download from http://thewaveslouisville.com/album/drifting-away-from-you plus there is a very cool pic of Nico on the cover.

What we have always loved about Bandcamp is that it is the ideal outlet for fruitcakes with guitars……we have often wondered about it being very groovy/a nightmare scenario if Charles Manson had an internet connection back in 69 (he would probably have been trolling Roman Polanski). Montage of Psylosibin by Los Lucid has obviously been recorded blasted on hallucinogenics and boy is it fucked up……….they have dosed up on mushrooms and left the tapes rolling. Nominally this could be described as Psychedelic Blues but it is far weirder than that. And here’s the argument. This is no doubt the most psychedelic album here as Los Lucid have fully committed themselves to the “psychedelic experience”, so does that mean that everybody else are fakers?? Montage of Psylosibin is either a work of absolute genius or total chaos…….we will let you decide which. Available as “name your price” download from http://loslucidpsychedelia.bandcamp.com/album/montage-of-psylosibin , however don’t give them any money as they will only use it to get wasted.

Meanwhile, back at the psychedelic basement we have been digging the MindFlowers for a couple of years now and really liked the first couple of records of swirly Pop Psych they put out, now after a bit of a hiatus they are back with their third release called……er……///3. This album is more of the same gentle psychedelia and there are some really cool tunes here…….the standout track has to be ‘Heat Wavve’ but ‘Youth’ and ‘Blue Sky‘ are also really groovy. It’s a record for a hot summer day, check it out. Available as a “name your price” download at https://mindflowers1.bandcamp.com/

We also found this cool little EP from The California Death that was posted on Bandcamp as a “name your price” download back in March……….it has a late Eighties Sarah Records jangle pop vibe with just a touch of the poppier side of Shoegaze and Surfer Rock…….we are going to go out on a limb here and call it “Surfgaze”. You can download this EP here http://californiadeath.bandcamp.com/album/california-death where you will also find a couple of more recent tracks.

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN