MOONSONG – MOONSONG EP (D/L). NUVEM LEOPARDO – REVOLVER MERCURIO (D/L). THE TAILBREAKERS – THE TAILBREAKERS (D/L). ALRIGHT – ALRIGHT (Negative Fun 7” Single, D/L). THE BEATCOMBERS – TWIINS (D/L)

Strange Things Are Happening is back with a quick round up of some new and newish groovy Garage/Psych Bandcamp releases that are available for you to download for free.

First up is an absolutely fantastic EP from Moonsong (AKA Cody Nielsen from Fayetteville, Arkansas). Packed full of hook laden psychedelic ear candy, it’s an EP of gently twisted Psych Pop with echoes of early Todd Rundgren and the vibe of current records by the likes of Pond and Tame Impala.

There are five tracks of experimental but perfectly accessible, snappy 3 minute Psychedelic Pop tunes, which bring to mind A Wizard, A True Star period Rundgren, the brilliant ’Two as One’ and ‘Expansions’ are perfect examples of this. There is also a very current, neo-psychedelic feel to this EP……’Instability’ is driven by disco drums and throbbing synthesizers and ‘Start Over’ is full of sparkling guitars, both tracks would not sound out of place on the last Pond album.

You really must give this EP a listen…..there is no excuse as it is available as a “name your price” download from the Moonsong Bandcamp page http://moon-song.bandcamp.com/releases. You can also find this EP on both iTunes and Spotify.

For those of you that like your psychedelia to be of a darker hue, you need to check out Revolver Mercurio by Nuvem Leopardo (a self-recorded, mainly solo project by Brazilian psychonaut Marcel Willou). It’s an intriguing blend of Mogadon laced heavy Psych and Black Sabbath inspired dense riffing that lovers of early 70s head music will enjoy.

Break out the bong and let Nuvem Leopardo drag you down into an ocean of warm fuzz, let it wash over you while you weightlessly drift. Revolver Mercurio is a proper psychedelic Stoner Rock record and deserves your attention………the tracks ‘Narcisos’, ‘No Centro Do Sol’ and ‘Tangerina ou Romã’ are very, very heavy but also very, very heady.

You can get Revolver Mercurio from the Nuvem Leopardo Bandcamp page at https://nuvemleopardo.bandcamp.com/album/revolver-mercurio where it is available as a “name your price” download.

Next up is a 3 track download from 60s Garage Rock influenced Canadian band The Tailbreakers. Very much in the mould of bands like the Allah Las, Black Angels and The Spyrals, The Tailbreakers have a great sparse, classic Garage Rock sound that you will dig if you like the Nuggets/Pebbles era bands.

There will be a full album dropping at the end of September on Ongakubaka Records which we hope we will get to hear, but in the meantime you can wrap your ears round these groovy tunes. A “name your price” download is available from The Tailbreakers Bandcamp page at https://thetailbreakers.bandcamp.com/album/the-tailbreakers.

Coming to you from Negative Fun records is a 7” single by fuzzy Garage/Punk three piece Alright. Fizzing with energy this is a great little record and of the 3 tracks ‘Mixed Signals’ is no doubt the stand out track. Available as either a 7” single or a “name your price” digital download, go to their Bandcamp page at http://alrightnc.bandcamp.com/ and check it out, alright!

And finally, coming out of outta Wellington, New Zealand is Beatcomber……a five piece super lo-fi garage band. Twiins is a two track single/download…..whereas the track ‘Twiins’ is seriously woozy, no-fi tune with a cool Velvet Underground vibe, ‘PsyychSafari’ is a mind-blowingly good reverb drenched, swirling organ Garage/Surf mash-up, groovy floor filler that is worth the price of admission for a “name your price” download……plus you have to admire a band that has a tambourine player. Download the tracks here http://beatcomber.bandcamp.com/album/twiins

THEEPSYCHEDELICATESSEN

TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC BASEMENT- THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN on BIGJAF.NET

People.....this Saturday (15th August) we are back on Internet Radio for the first time for quite a while. We are doing a one-off 3hr Psych special with our showbiz chum the estimable Mr Geoffrey Leppard, resident Stoner Rock/Psych Rock cosmonaut at wunnerful BigJaf.net. We are going to have fun with this and will be playing lots of great tunes that we don't usually get chance to play out on our club nights.......we will be spinning a mix of newish Shoegaze, Psych Rock, Space Rock and other groovy psychedelic goodies....some you will know, others maybe not but we hope you will dig the show we have put together for broadcast. Don't forget to stock up on Rizla and Monster Munch.

Transmissions From The Psychedelic Basement goes out onwww.mixlr.com/wwwbigjafnet at 8pm GMT on 15.8.15 and will also be broadcast by our new friends from the USA Grip of Delusion Radio the next day. The full 3hrs goes out via www.gripofdelusion.com on Sunday 16.8.15 at 1pm GMT, 2pm CET and 8am EST (ideal soundtrack for a psychedelic breakfast People). No worries if you miss the original broadcasts as the show will be archived and be available for listening to at a later date (will post details about this later).

The show is going to be 3hrs of continuous music lovingly mixed together by Geoff and ourselves......there are no commercials or gabbin' between tracks, so here is a full track listing for show so you can check out the bands and buy their records......

Vibracathedral Orchestra - Es Inaceptable Para Mi
Gonjasufi - Kobwebz
Cloudland Canyon - Krautwerk
Hellstorm - Cry of the Newborn
Ultimate Spinach - (Ballad of) The Hip Death Goddess
Traffic - Freedom Rider
The Amorphous Androgynous - The Emptiness of Nothingness
White Noise Sound - (In Both) Dreams and Ecstasies
Causa Sui - Mirelle
Blitzen Trapper - Stolen Shoes & a Rifle
Chatham Rise - Autopilot,
White Glow - Unreachable Hopes,
Jetman Jet Team - Rainbow Party,
White Noise Sound - There Is No Tomorrow,
The Lucid Dream - Heading For The Waves,
The Luck of Eden Hall - A Very Large Array,
Beautify Junkyards - Radioactivity,
The Besnard Lakes - 46 Satires,
Grand Rapids - Great Shakes,
The Dalai Lama Rama Fa Fa Fa - You Make Me Crazy,
Sand Pebbles - A Thousand Flowers,
White Manna - E Shara,
Verma - Sacrifice,
Cosmic Letdown - Venera 6,
The Asteroid #4 - Rukma Vimana,
Pretty Lightning - A Gift From A Bone To A Bell,
Sun Dial - North Eastern,
Grand Rapids - Blow Up,
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Anenome,
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions - Golden Hair,
Elephant Stone - Between The Lines,
Plastic Man - North Polar Land,
The Vickers - Love You To.

Turn On, Tune In..........er.........Trip Out

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/