PURE PHASE ENSEMBLE 4 (feat. Mark Gardener) – LIVE AT SPACEFEST! (Nasiono Records CD, D/L)

The PurePhase Ensemble is certainly quite a unique musical concept. It’s an international music collective, created especially for the annual SpaceFest festival in Gdansk in Poland, which plays live only the once before disbanding. Each year, in the first week of December, several musicians from Poland and elsewhere take part in several workshop sessions where they collectively compose a concert's worth of music which they then present live to the festival-goers. This one-off performance is recorded and subsequently released on Nasiono Records. The programme for each workshop is jointly curated by Ray Dickaty, a British saxophonist improviser and former member of Spiritualized (1997-2002), and Polish musician/Nasiono Records label boss Karol Schwarz. Along with these two key figures, every festival involves a new musical director who is asked to co-curate the workshop. For the 2014 SpaceFest Ride guitarist/singer Mark Gardener was invited to be the musical director for the fourth incarnation of the Pure Phase Ensemble and bring his significant talent as a musician and songwriter to the project.

If you have not heard any of Mark Gardener’s music since the messy implosion of Ride back in the mid 90s this record will be a bit of an eye opener…..this line-up of Pure Phase Ensemble mix up Kosmische jams, Space Rock freak outs and swirling Shoegaze a million miles away ‘Vapour Trail’. However, this is not just Mark Gardener and some Polish guys acting as his backing band but a proper collective effort with the entire band bringing something to the party, all playing off each other and sharing the musical limelight. With the involvement of Ray Dickaty in this project there is inevitably a feel of early Spiritualized here (calling the project Pure Phase Ensemble is also a bit of a giveaway)……..the crystalline ‘Morning Rise’ emerges from a hazy drone to open the record, with chiming guitars and lazy sax intertwining it is a beautiful tune that would not sound out of place on an album like Lazer Guided Melodies. ‘Peter Song’ is in the same vain with a bouncing, dubby bass line driving the song forward amidst a sea of swirling synths and sax. This version of Pure Phase Ensemble can also rock out like a mutha and kick up a wall of noise….. ‘Zostan na noc’ is a heavy, heavy monster of a loud/quite/loud Space Rock jam with skull crushing bass, squalling sax, big rock drums and pulverizing, distorted guitar riffs crashing into more delicate passages. The centrepiece of the whole album is ‘Notatki’, an epic 15 minute Kosmische wig out which really messes with your head …….building from a clicking rhythm track and pulsing synths ‘Notatki’ initially shares a lot of musical DNA with the Harmonia track ‘Veteranissimo’. As it gains pace the drums really kick in hard building and building, pushing the tune well into the outer reaches of deep space……… when you think the track has peaked it goes again……..more far out, finding more gears and pushing harder, growing into a big, beautiful cosmic freak out. This is an absolutely fantastic track that is worth the price of admission alone. The 55 minute set closes with ‘Happy Dancing Woman’, a joyous, polyrhythmic groove driven number that is the perfect conclusion to a brilliant set of what are mainly improvised songs. The only disappointing thing about this record is that this was a one off performance never to be repeated again. This performance was recorded before the no doubt very lucrative Ride reunion shows and it will be interesting to see what direction Mark Gardener takes when that adventure reaches its conclusion……we can only hope that he is able to put a band together and make music that is exciting and forward thinking as the songs on this album.

You can get your hands on the CD of Live At SpaceFest! from the Nasiono Records website at www.nasiono.net and the digital download is available from either the Pure Phase Ensemble Bandcamp page at https://purephaseensemble.bandcamp.com/ (where there is also a link that will take you to the Nasiono Records website) or iTunes. It’s a fantastic record and a must hear for fans of bands like Spirtualized…….check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

THEEPSYCHEDELICATESSEN                                       

THE SONICS – THE INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM. 28th JULY 2015

You would think that when you hit your early seventies life would be full of more leisurely activities; grandkids, tending the garden, Caribbean cruises etc. etc. etc………..Not these guys!!!! The Sonics are back with a new album (the first one for nearly 50 years) and are hitting the road hard, playing shows and festivals all over America and Europe throughout 2015. Along with early 60s contemporaries like the Kingsmen, the Wailers, the Dynamics, the Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders they helped set the template that would influence and inspire future generations of Garage, Punk and heavy Rock bands and the first two Sonics albums are now considered to be Garage Punk classics. With three members of the band from the classic line-up that recorded the seminal Here Are The Sonics back in 1965, guitarist Larry Parypa, sax player Rob Lind and Jerry Roslie on keyboards are joined by Freddie Dennis on bass and former Lita Ford/Dick Dale drummer Dusty Watson, The Sonics are still playing primal Garage Rock that is louder, harder and faster than anything by Garage/Punk bands half their age.

One of the uncertainties of going to see any “classic” band from the 60s/70s is that they may be shot to bits and sound shit……….there are no such worries with The Sonics as they still sound great. Sharing lead vocals, Roslie and Dennis are in good voice (Jerry Roslie still yelps and screams like a sexually frustrated teenager), Lind blows a mean sax and an even meaner mouth harp while Parypa coaxes a beautiful ugly noise from his guitar. Driving this forward at maximum velocity is the best drummer you have never heard of before……Dusty Watson was epic. From the opening bars of ‘Cinderella’ there is no let up from a barrage of the finest classic Garage Rock/R&B you are likely to ever hear………..with a set list taken mainly from the Here Are The Sonics and Boom albums, the Sonics mid 60s repertoire of original tunes and covers have set the standard for any aspiring Garage/Punk band ever since. You really can’t go wrong with a set that includes ‘Have Love Will Travel’, ‘Money’, ‘You’ve Got Your Head On Backwards’, ‘Boss Hoss’ and a ferocious ‘You Keep A Knocking’. The songs from the new album are also very good………..the formula has not been messed with and the old maxim “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” has been fully observed, they fit seamlessly into the set and stand up well against the classic tunes with ‘Bad Betty, their cover of The Kinks ‘The Hard Way’ and a reworking of the classic ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’ (once covered by The Chocolate Watch Band) all exceptional. There was a lot of love in the room for The Sonics and they responded by playing one of the best shows we have seen for quite a while…...these guys are totally loving what they do. The band tear through ‘Louie Louie’ before finishing with ‘Psycho’ saving ‘Strychnine’ and ‘The Witch’ for the encore……..three tunes that any mid 60s band would have killed for.

The Sonics are back……………still as cool as fuck, still playing harder, faster, louder and still one of the most important bands from the 60s……the tag “legend” is used far too much nowadays but this band are the real deal. If you get the chance, go see them live…….you really don’t know how long are gonna be back for.

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN    

V/A - ROCK BACK FOR NEPAL Vol. 1 - 3 (Patetico Recordings CD, D/L)

Rock Back for Nepal is a 3-part series of disaster relief compilations being released by U.S. indie label Patetico Recordings. The label is partnering with nearly 60 independent artists and several small indie labels around the globe to make this happen. They have all come together in order to raise funds for victims of the recent catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal. All money raised will go directly to the relief efforts.

The compilations are being supported by several luminaries of the independent rock and shoegaze scene, among others. "Whenever Tom Lugo reaches out to his musical family, you know it's for a crucial and essential cause. The Rock Back for Nepal CD compilation is no exception," explains Dean Garcia of seminal shoegaze bands Curve and SPC ECO. "I'm proud to be part of this relief effort / fund raiser for anyone affected by the recent earthquake disaster in Nepal and if I can help or contribute in some way to aid support and assistance to the many displaced people, I will without question. Please support this cause and donate as generously as you can.” 

Perhaps one of the most renowned personalities in the shoegaze / noise rock spheres, Oliver Ackermann (A Place To Bury Strangers, Skywave) has also lent his support to the cause. “It is a horrible tragedy this destruction of culture and life. I feel lucky that I can use my craft and contribute a song to this fund to help them raise money for relief. If we can all do something to help and give relief for the people of Nepal we should do it now.” 

"It's great to be among this sparkling array of brilliant artists, taking action in support of a great cause," says Marc Joy of Welsh outfit Lights That Change.  Alexx Kretov of Canadian-Ukrainian duo Ummagma is also hopeful."May the common freebie attitude fall to the wayside for this project. We really hope that people will support a higher cause by spending a few dollars and spreading this music far and wide." 

All three volumes are being released at the same time, and will be available through Bandcamp and Amazon.com exclusively, both digitally and on CD.The album artwork and design is by Gardy Perez.

The concept of the Rock Back compilation series was born in 2011 when disaster hit Japan and Tom Lugo, owner of Patetico Recordings, acted on his empathy for charitable causes and non-profit organizations by reaching out to the community of artists in his network. They collectively put together a compilation and the profits were donated to relief efforts. The response was overwhelming, with over 100 artists from across the globe joining in the efforts. What was to be a single CD compilation grew into the 8-disc compilation Rock Back for Japan. The compilation series hit the top 10 Indie Rock releases on Amazon.com’s chart for several weeks, with certain volumes holding the number 1 spot.

VOLUME 1 features

SPC ECO (UK), A Place to Bury Strangers (USA), Ummagma (Canada-Ukraine), Lights That Change (UK), Sounds of Sputnik (Russia), Stellarscope (USA), The Manhattan Love Suicides (UK), Clustersun (Italy), The One2s (USA), Panophonic (USA), Death Valley Rally (USA), The Virgance (UK), Purple Bloom (Japan), Arirang (Italy), The Artificial Shadow Band (Puerto Rico), Kitsch (Panama), and Revolution, I love you (USA).

VOLUME 2 features

Malka (NYC-Peru), Asalto al Parque Zoologico (Argentina), Stella Diana (Italy), Chatham Rise (USA), Tape Runs Out (UK), Under the Wire (USA), Psiconautas (Puerto Rico), Car Crash Sisters (Mexico), Last Remaining Pinnacle (USA), The Narentines (Switzerland), Human Colonies (Italy), Sueño con belugas (Puerto Rico), Blackfeather Jane, Dead Parties (Spain-Australia), Estrella Oscura (UK), Mayflower Madame (Norway), and Los Sub (Argentina).

VOLUME 3 features

Novanta (Italy), Lunar Twin (USA), Joaquim Barato (Portugal-Peru), Withershins (USA), Un-Reason (Italy), The Long Knives (USA), Lazarus (USA), Salvia (Chile), This Forever Sky (UK), Clarence Mayhew (USA), Corrosive Water (USA), Sonora Coisa (Brazil), The Paper Road (Portugal), Hijos de Paul (Argentina), Drass (Argentina), Cthulhu Martini (USA), Fovea (USA), Matotumba (Puerto Rico), Bergegas Mati (Indonesia), and Get Lost, Wire Avenue (Slovakia)

All 3 volumes are now available to download for $5 each (that's just over 3 quid in real money) from the Patetico Recordings Bandcamp page which can be found here http://pateticorecordings.bandcamp.com/ and are also available to download from Amazon. There will be CDs available....check Patetico Recordings website/Facebook page for more details.

MAFF – MAFF EP (D/L, CD)

Although strictly more of an Indie band than a mind bending Psych outfit there is still enough of a psychedelic edge to the debut EP from Chilean guitar band Maff to interest the discerning head. Taking inspiration from Indie/Noise bands The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Pixies, Ride, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine there is nothing startlingly original or challenging about Maff’s blend of Shoegaze, Alt Rock, Noise Pop and Indie verging on Grunge, however there is plenty of craft and invention that elevates this band above the ever growing amount of tedious early 90s British/US Indie Rock copyists.

Although this record is somewhat unfocussed, repeatedly jumping from genre to genre (sometimes in the same song), there are some really cool tunes here……. ‘Walking On Fire’ and the instrumental ‘Act 1’ are particularly good, but the standout track has to be ‘Someday’ which has all the grace of classic Slowdive. For a debut EP this is a pretty accomplished record and there is lots to love here for fans of Alt Rock bands like Husker Du, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr.

The Maff EP is available now as a download from iTunes, Amazon and the Maff bandcamp page at https://maffmusica.bandcamp.com/releases where there is also very limited edition CDs available.

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN  

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN promo piece.....RYAN'S GIG GUIDE July 2015

RYAN'S GIG GUIDE JULY 2015

Big thanks to Ryan's Gig Guide..... for more info about this gig, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1551719435089196/

DOLORES – PEACH FUZZ (D/L). TASHAKI MIYAKI – UNDER COVER VOL. ll (D/L). CROWN LARKS – BLOOD DANCER (Spacelung/Landbreathing Records LP, CD, D/L, Already Dead Tapes Cassette). BELLY HOLE FREAK – SUPERFREAK (Black Vagina Records LP, D/L).

Continuing our on going quest of hunting down recently released Bandcamp freebies for your delight and delectation, we have some more cool stuff for you to check out.

Suppose one of the consequences of calling a Blog site “Strange Things Are Happening” is that we get sent a lot of ……er…….strange things to listen to (which we think is very cool indeed…..psychedelia is a broad church) but we also are big fans of good old 60s influenced psychedelic sounds…… so imagine how blown away we were when we stumbled across Peach Fuzz, the fantastic new album from Wisconsin psych-heads Dolores. Mainly influenced by new psych-rock acts like Tame Impala, Pond and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dolores also add some classic Psych sounds and 70s Power Pop to their psychedelic stew

After sixty seconds of the ambient swirl of Peach Fuzz, the album kicks off proper with 'Oh No', a track reminiscent of the early Wondermints records and going back even further to 60s bands with a sweet West Coast sound like the Turtles……..this track sets the tone for the rest of the record, an album tightly packed with lush Psych Pop tunes and not a duff track in sight. The stand out track has to be ‘Next Stop’, six minutes of neo-psychedelic bliss that you would need a heart of stone not to love.

If you think that the latest Pond album was disappointing compared to their earlier stuff you need to check this out. Peach Fuzz is available as a “name your price” download from the Dolores Bandcamp page at https://mydolores.bandcamp.com/. This truly brilliant record is our Pop Psych album of the month.

Radically reinterpreting songs is as old as popular music itself……….nearly 50 years ago The Byrds and Gram Parsons were bringing old folk/country tunes to the attention of a groovy audience by adding Rickenbackers and rock drums, inventing Folk Rock and Cosmic Country Music in the process and Jimmy Page was meanwhile reworking blues tunes in his secret Satanic lair and taking all the credit for himself. Although taking a classic pop/rock/indie tune and stripping it down to the bare bones has become a bit of a cliché nowadays and tends to be the soundtrack to a million TV adverts, when done well a reworked cover version can be as compelling as the original (for example the Cocteau Twins reimagining of Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’). For LA based Dream Pop outfit Tashaki Miyaki this is their second foray into the cover version album, having previously released Under Cover Vol. l a few years ago and like that record Under Cover Vol. ll has the same eclectic mix of songs…….. Tashaki Miyaki take on artists as diverse as the Kinks and The Association from the 60s, Punk icons The Buzzcocks, 80s power balladeers Berlin, Funk/Soul legends Prince and Ann Peebles and also take a shot at the old standard ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ which must have been covered somewhere around a hundred times.

The opening track is an excellent Dream Pop deconstruction of ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)’ which brings out the true essence of the song revealing it to be one of the finest pop songs ever (but we are sure you already knew that!!!). Influenced by the likes of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cults, Best Coast, Spiritualized and Mazzy Star listening to this album is a bit like listening to oldies radio half-awake with very heavy eyelids……their subtle covers of the Kinks ‘This Time Tomorrow’ and The Association’s easy listening classic ‘Never My Love’ are pretty close to the original versions however their reverb heavy versions of ‘Take My Breath Away’ and ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ have the feel of a Angelo Badalamenti/Julee Cruise collaboration with Tashaki Miyaki sounding like the house band of a very weird cabaret club in a Lynchian psyco-drama. Sometimes more somnolent than dream like (but never comatose) this album is well worth a listen, we would loosely compare this fine record with the more mellow parts of the excellent album that Peggy Sue released where they covered all the songs included in the Kenneth Anger movie Scorpio Rising and at a push the album of Stones covers by Alt-Country bands called Paint It Black.

Under Cover Vol. ll is available as a “name your price” download from the Tashaki Miyaki Bandcamp page at https://tashakimiyaki.bandcamp.com/.

Strange things are happening in the Windy City. Crown Larks are children of the Chicago post-rock underground scene that once birthed bands like Tortoise and Slint………… there is no doubt that they are a psychedelic band, but not in any way in a serene, transcendental kind of psychedelic but more in a dropping loads of acid and running round a festival naked, crazy and covered in baked beans kinda way (those that know will know!!!!). Meeting somewhere at the junction that psychedelic Post-Rock/Prog Rock crashes into free jazz and the launch pad for avant-garde explorations, Crown Larks are pretty far out.

Following a EP released in 2013, Blood Dancer is the first long player from Crown Larks…….mixing together a myriad of influences from 60s Free Jazz Fusion, Krautrock (Faust mainly), 70s Prog/Jazz (Soft Machine???), the primal, shamanistic grooves of bands like Goat to the trippyness of neo-psychedelia, Crown Larks are Post-Punk, Post-Rock…………..Post-Everything really and there are not enough letter keys on a laptop to accurately describe their music……….we suggest that you download this seven track album from their Bandcamp page and make your own mind up. It’s not going to be to everyone’s tastes but is a record that demands to be listened to.

Blood Dancer is available as “name your price” download from the Crown Larks Bandcamp page at https://crownlarks.bandcamp.com/album/blood-dancer where you can also buy the album on vinyl, CD and cassette. Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 is available from your local hippie burn-out (possibly).

And finally…….more strange things from Italy. Fans of Captain Beefhart, Howlin Wolf and Tom Waits will really dig the demented lo-fi psychedelic Blues/Dixieland hybrid from Belly Hole Freak who’s new album Superfreak is now available on Black Vagina Records (not making any of this up….honest). Image if Seasick Steve was not as bland as fuck but born under the bad sign of a dirty blues crazy wind and you would still be nowhere near the weirdness of Belly Hole Freak, a one man band who is influenced by delta blues, early swing, Dixieland and inspired by giants such as Howlin’ Wolf, Captain Beefheart, Robert Johnson, Tom Waits.....I doubt if this crazy mutha is going to be invited onto Jools Holland’s smug shitfest of a show anytime soon.

There are some great tunes on this record…….. Amongst nine wonderfully deranged songs the three that are possibly the standout tracks are ’Wow’  a boogie number straight outta the Mississippi Delta, ‘Catfish’ is psychedelic Dixieland jazz and ‘Woodoo Soup Monkey’ is……er….souped up Howlin’ Wolf. This is a mighty fine record……..check it out, there is a lot to love here.

Superfreak is available as a “name your price” download or on vinyl from the Black Vagina Records Bandcamp page at http://blackvaginarecords.bandcamp.com/album/superfreak.......File under WTF. As we said earlier……..strange things are happening People.

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN

LA CASA AL MARE – THIS ASTRO EP (CD, D/L).

25 years on the influence of Creation Records late 80s early 90s “golden age” of innovative guitar bands now seems to be more evident than it as ever been..... what was once a snide jibe aimed at callow youths trying to pick out effects pedals on a darkened stage and mocked as “The Scene That Celebrates Itself”........ Shoegaze is back and this time it’s not going to go away in a hurry. The last few years has seen many of the bands from the original scene reform to play to a brand new receptive audience around the globe and in some cases are probably now more popular than they ever were back in the day……… It’s like Brit Pop never happened.

One of the great new bands that have been heavily influenced by the original UK Shoegaze scene are Italian Shoegaze/Noise Pop trio La Casa al Mare, on their recently released 7 track EP, This Astro (a collection of previously digital only releases and 3 new tracks), they so expertly recreate the My Bloody Valentine dense, twisted wall of noise you would think that Kevin Shields is considering getting on the phone to his lawyer. La Casa al Mare have lovingly crafted a set of songs of pure beauty that mix together the essence of the best parts of classic Shoegaze albums like Loveless and Souvikia and although you can hear their influences loud and clear, the sheer class of this EP transcends any accusations that they are mere copyists. The songs on this EP are a mix of heavily distorted classic MBV like drone attacks…. ‘I Don’t Want To’, the stand out track ‘Sunflowers’ and sounding something like MBVs ‘Blown A Wish’ on steroids, the excellent ‘M’...... with the more neo-psychedelic swirl of Slowdive with tracks like ’CD Girl’ and the stunning ‘Tonight Or Never’ having a lighter feel about them. This EP is essential listening for fans of the classic Creation bands and is also one of the best Shoegaze records to be released this year……give it a listen, you will not be disappointed (you will however feel the need to dig out your MBV and Slowdive records and give them a spin after hearing this).

This Astro is out now and is available as a limited edition 7 track CD or a 6 track download from the La Casa al Mare Bandcamp page. The CD is also being distributed in Japan by Hands And Moment records.

Watch Sunflowers video here

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN