IMBOLC (02 Febrary 2011)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

SEPI KUU

RANNAN USVASSA


Original Issue: 1980 Heliander (Help 703)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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An amazing find... intense droning Finnish vocals and searing fuzz guitars with hand percussion. Sounds like the more serious tracks on Walter Wegmuller's "Tarot" album. Or even Sergius Golowin's "Lord Krishna Von Goloka". Comes completely out of left field, and is pretty much one of a kind, especially considering the time and place.

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from New Gibraltar :

Rannan Usvassa (Heliander HELP 703) may be the most obscure Finnish progressive rock album. In fact, even the identity of the musicians behind the pseudonym Sepi Kuu is unclear. Stylistically Rannan Usvassa (In the Mist of the Shore) is actually more late-in-the-day psychedelia than progressive rock, as most of the album's twelve short tracks build on a few chords strummed or arpeggiated on acoustic guitar, over which an unsonorous voice more recites than sings blank verse about existential angst and mysticism by the numbers. Organ, oscillators and flute gather their modal mist around these structures, while a fuzz guitar occasionally snakes up to thicken arrangements with background growls or, in the case of "Puhukaa mitä puhutte" ("Say What You Will") and the title track, understated solos, in a style remotely comparable to early Jade Warrior. Bass and percussion also make appearances, played with the same homespun plainness and lack of technical boasting that marks the whole project - for better or worse.

There is a decidedly amateurish air about the monotonous staccato thrum of "Tämän linnoituksen on kestettävä" ("This Fortress Must Stand") or the stop-start, kindergarten-variety proto-industrial-metal muck that accompanies the vicious circle of amateur-philosopher homilies in "Ajatus" ("Thought"). And yet "Muuratut kasvot" ("Bricked Faces") digs up surprising lyricism from its dusky vocal melodies, ringing guitar arpeggios and meditative keyboard solo, while the one instrumental "Manvantara" cleverly flanks its centre-position solo flute with asynchronous sets of drums panned to the opposite sides of the stereo field, each coupled with a feedbacking guitar or synthesizer. As a small-time psychedelic album Rannan Usvassa is quite acceptable, but any aura of lost classic obscurity may have furnished it with is totally unwarranted. And obscurity was a fact in 2004, for the original vinyl was very rare and no CD release existed (the Tachika pirate-CD-R edition does not rate as one).

Kai Karmanheimo

MABON (21 September 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

KALACAKRA

CRAWLING TO LHASA


Original Issue: 1971 Private Release (K-ST-2000)

Reissue: 2001 Garden Of Delights (CD 053) Buy it here!!!

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1 Naerby Shiras (9:20)
2 Jaceline (6:19)
3 Raga N°11 (5:36)
4 September Full Moon (9:39)
5 Arapahos Circle Dance (2:32)
6 Tante Olga (7:35)
7 Vamos (6:52)
8 Deja Vu (5:38)

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from Progarchives:

Really gorgeous eastern psychedelic kraut (related) improv in the mood of Siloah, Parson Sound, Lamp of the Universe, Dom.Some sections contain primitive, blues damaged folk jams. The result is astonishing, highly mysterious and luminous. "Naerby Shiras" is an acoustic, repetitive, dreamy and druggy little piece, dominated by simplistic but efficient guitars motifs, some dancing flute lines and discreet narrations at the end. Really warm & acid stuff. "Jaceline" is a percussive, floating ballad within a forest ambience, accompanied by voices and words, violin contrasts and vibraphone. The "pastoral" acoustic guitar parts always prevail. "Raga no 11" features an intense, chanting like raga improvisation with rhythms and "mantra" sonorities. "September full moon" contain folkish strings and rhythms for a rather light, bucolic composition. "Arapaho's dancing dance" is bluesy like tune with circular rhythms, evasive guitar parts and kinda folky harmonica arrangements. A charming artefact with some tripped out moments!

Philippe

FULL BUCK MOON (07 July 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

FINN SIMON

PASS THE DISTANCE


Original Issue: 1970 Mushroom (100 MR 2)

Reissue: 2004 Durtro/Jnana (DURTRO/JNANA 1970 CD) (Buy it here!!!)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Listen to "Jerusalem" and, just after the last note, please write a comment with your thoughts

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1 Very Close Friend (1:19)
2 The Courtyard (5:43)
3 What A Day (3:16)
4 Fades (Pass The Distance) (3:39)
5 Jerusalem (6:44)
6 Where's Your Master Gone (3:13)
7 Laughing 'Til Tomorrow (2:54)
8 Hiawatha (4:58)
9 Patrice (2:49)
10 Big White Car (5:48)
11 Children's Eyes (4:36)
12 Good Morning (3:00)
13 Butterfly (3:27)
14 Colonel Bleep (3:04)

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from Foxy digitalis:

I normally don't review reissues. Other rags insist on giving precious print space to Pink Floyd reissues. My problem is not with the fact that I simply don't like Pink Floyd. That's fine, I don't like a lot of music. The problem I have with an independent music site taking the time to write a review of the latest Pink Floyd reissue is that it's a complete waste of time and resources. Everyone knows who Pink Floyd is and knows about their records. Trust me, they haven't changed in 20 years. Reviewing said reissues takes away valuable space from some great, lesser-known band that could actually benefit from the press. I shouldn't be surprised. These are the same 'zines who seem to only review things they are paid to, which destroys any remaining credibility they might have. But I digress...

Simon Finn's "Pass the Distance" has a strange and tumultuous past. It was originally issued in 1970 on Mushroom Records, but subsequently deleted because of issues with the artwork. Thankfully, Durtro has rescued this seminal, acid-soaked masterpiece. Remastered from the original tapes, it's been reissued with loads of additional information. I had heard about this album for years and managed to track down a few songs, but was not prepared for the onslaught of hallucinatory genius that it unleashes.

"Pass the Distance" is the forbearer for all the psych-folk that has been proliferating the airwaves over the past few years. All those brilliant Six Organs of Admittance and Fursaxa records you love owe a lot to this record. Finn was doing all the same things they are now, but he did it 30 years ago. That's what makes this album so impressive. Hearing it completely for the first time recently, it holds up. This could easily be mistaken for something brand new. That's a feat in-and-of itself.

The beauty of this album not only lies in the individual songs, all of which are excellent in their own right, but also in how they are pieced together to create the perfect flow. It's as if this record could not have been sequenced in any other way. Each song moves into the next like an aging artist moving through the various stages of his life. As in life, you can't change how time passes, and so it goes with "Pass the Distance." It goes like this because it has to.

But really, the genius is in the songs. Every one of them is worth mentioning, but I don't have the time or space to go through why each track is wonderful. Instead, I'll focus on the three most impressive, and let me tell you, whittling it down to this trio of songs was not easy. First is the short and whimsical "Patrice." It's near the end of the album and offers a breath of fresh air after some heavier tracks. It's like the period of time right after a midlife crisis where nothing phases you. Life is simply beautiful and you are thankful for all the things in it. This song glides along under the sun without a care in the world. With a combination of acoustic guitar, flutes, and other reed instruments, this has vague hints of Nick Drake, but is distinctly Finn's own creation. "My poetry just lives to guide you, my songs to start your day," he half-whispers. It's these heartfelt and sincere sentiments that make this song great. The overall feel is one of someone in love with someone they view as perfect. It's sappy in all the right ways and simply makes you feel very, very good.

Contrasting the darker undercurrents present throughout "Pass the Distance" with the hopeful hallucinatory anthems it?s full of is "Where's Your Master Gone." This melodic track is like Bob Dylan on acid. With the meandering lead guitar track and minimal percussion accenting Finn's guitar, they create an uneasy, somewhat solemn web for him to sing on top of. His words are gorgeous, and in this context, powerful. It brings to mind the most psychedelic Beatles stuff, but takes it even further. "How do you know when you should set someone to go?" Finn asks. "The wizard spoke his piece, the person at least was never to be born." His soft voice floats in the air like a fine mist spewing from overcast skies. His words evaporate as soon as they're released. "You are no more evil now than man was and is and ever more will be," he sings. It's a powerful castigation, and his words are still relevant today. It's absolutely fantastic.

But on this album, there are nine amazing songs and then there is "Jerusalem." I would rate this as one of the ten best songs I've ever heard in my life. For a song about Jesus and his impact on the world, Finn's lyrics cut like a knife. Brilliant is the understatement of the year. This hallucinatory tale is as moving as anything you'll ever hear, and when Finn lets go with his acid tongue, even the staunchest cynics will be impressed. "And Jesus was a good guy who lived on figs and wine. A political revolutionary out to let you have a good time," he wails. This is somebody who has a true grasp on Jesus the man, which is oft overlooked by Christians. As the church organ drones build in the background, the intensity is turned up notch after notch. It's almost intimidating. "Did he imagine at that moment that 2 million hypocrites would praise his name? And were he now to come down, those hypocrites would crucify him again," he screams. It's biting commentary, and paired with this stunning music, it will do nothing but blow your fucking mind.

If there ever was an essential record to own, "Pass the Distance" is it. This is influential work and for any avid reader of this website, I urge you to go out and pick this album up today. Every word I can use to describe it doesn't do it justice. You have to hear it. You have to experience it. You have to let it run through your veins. Some of these songs are more lighthearted than others, and some take you on an emotional tailspin that you'll never fully recover from. "Pass the Distance" is an album that should have never been in the vaults for 30 years. This is an album that will make you see music differently and pay closer attention to the intricacies therein. Simon Finn's innovative work will stand up with any of your favorite records, and will likely nestle itself comfortably at the top. Absolutely essential. 10/10

Brad Rose

FULL PINK MOON (09 April 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

TIME MACHINES

TIME MACHINES


Original Issue: 1998 Eskaton (ESKATON 010)

Reissue: 2001 Eskaton (ESKATON 028)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

Psycho-active musick!!! Handle with care

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1 7-Methoxy-ß-Carboline: (Telepathine) (23:10)
2 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine: (DOET/Hecate) (13:28)
3 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyl: (5-MeO-DMT) (10:02)
4 4-Indolol,3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl],Phosphate Ester: (Psilocybin) (26:51)

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from Wikipedia:

Time Machines is Coil's landmark drone music album, released under the alias Time Machines. It consists of 4 tracks which are composed of a single tone, called a drone. Each tone represents a certain hallucinogenic chemical (see track titles).

It is similar to Brian Eno's early ambient albums, but more functional in that, instead of creating an atmosphere of calm, it facilitates time travel, according to band founder John Balance. Each tone was tested and retested in the studio for maximum narcotic potency. John Balance described the album as an attempt to "dissolve time".

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from Almost Cool Music Reviews:

Since I've never taken any sort of hallucinatory drugs, I'm probably the wrong person to be reviewing this album, but I'm going to take a stab at it anyway. This album is a concept album of sorts in that there are 4 tracks (varying in length from 10 to 27 minutes) of strictly tonal qualities that have been constructed to "facilitate travel through time." As if that weren't enough, instead of track titles, the four pieces are named as chemical structures of hallucinatory drugs (track 2 is "2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine:(DOET/Hecate)").

If you're a fan of Coils previous work, this album may even take some work for you to get through. Quite simply, it is the most minimal piece of work that they have ever done. The tracks on this disc are droning and long and change only slightly throughout their duration. If you've ever listened to music of this sort (as I have quite a bit), you'll know that it's best to either leave it on in the foreground and let yourself completely be consumed by it (as in meditation), or put it on a little more quietly in the background and let it blend in with lots of other things that are going on around you. As it says in the cover, "Artifacts generated by your listening environment are an intrinsic part of the experience." Be it police sirens, the hum of your refridgerator, or the clink-clank of dishes as you wash them, almost every noise will seem to blend into the the background tone that is this recording.

As with other Coil releases, the packaging on the disc is very cool. The first 2,000 copies printed come with 6 brightly colored stickers that, when overlayed (which you really can't do without messing them up) create a new symbol. As explained above, the music is very trying, especially if you have a short attention span. It's very minimal and kind of creepy, but if you let it, it will suck you in. It's probably even better on hallucinatory drugs, but I'll stick to listening to it while I'm doing yoga.

FULL HUNTER'S MOON (14 October 2008)

The Musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

VELVET UNDERGROUND (THE)

APRIL 1966, SCEPTER STUDIOS (NORMAN DOLPH ACETATE)


Original Issue: 1966

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Dedicated to all my dear male followers...from Margot, your "Venus in furs" ;-)

shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

whiplash girlchild in the dark

comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart


downy sins of streetlight fancies

chase the costumes she shall wear

ermine furs adorn the imperious

severin, severin awaits you there


i am tired, i am weary

i could sleep for a thousand years

a thousand dreams that would awake me

different colors made of tears


kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather

shiny leather in the dark

tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart


severin, severin, speak so slightly

severin, down on your bended knee

taste the whip, in love not given lightly

taste the whip, now plead for me


i am tired, i am weary

i could sleep for a thousand years

a thousand dreams that would awake me

different colors made of tears


shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

whiplash girlchild in the dark

severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

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1 European Son
2 The Black Angel's Death Song
3 All Tomorrow's Parties
4 I'll Be Your Mirror
5 Heroin
6 Femme Fatale
7 Venus In Furs
8 I'm Waiting For The Man
9 Run Run Run

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from the E-Bay auction:

This auction is for a unique 12" LP acetate whose unearthing has been storied in several underground/label international news features, periodicals and a documentary over the last several years including Rolling Stone Magazine (December 30, 2004), Mojo Magazine (May 2005), U.K. Record Collector Magazine (May 2005), Goldmine Magazine (December 8, 2006), The Globe & Mail (May 28, 2005 and January 14, 2006), and the 2006 Documentary "Velvet Underground Under Review (An Independent Critical Analysis)".

Following is excerpted and adapted (with the author's approval) from the article written by Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records in Portland Oregon which is featured in the December 8, 2006 issue of Goldmine Magazine currently on news-stands through mid December:

THE MYSTERY OF THE VELVET UNDERGROUND'S "REAL FIRST RECORD" (AND HOW THE ONLY EXISTING COPY WAS BOUGHT FOR 75 CENTS)

In September of 2002 Warren Hill of Montreal Canada was perusing a box of records at a Chelsea, New York street sale when he happened upon a nice Leadbelly 10" on Folkways, a water damaged copy of the first Modern Lovers LP on Beserkely, and a brittle 12" piece of acetone-covered aluminum with the words "Velvet Underground. 4-25-66. Att N. Dolph" written on the label. He purchased the three records for 75 cents each.

As I have a small knowledge of records and am an old friend of Warren's, I got a call from him the next day in which he described the acetate. Because of the date and the unique type of pressing, we both agreed that it was probably an in-studio acetate made during the recording of the first Velvet Underground LP back in 1966 (I had heard that they occasionally would have a vinyl cutting lathe in the studio to cut records of the day's recordings for the artists and/or producers to take home for review). Warren didn't want to play the mysterious platter due to the fragile nature of acetates, and the cheap nature of his record needle, so we agreed that the next time he was visiting me in Portland we would check it out together. If it turned out to be what we thought it was, maybe we could sell it at Mississippi Records, the small neighbourhood record store in Portland that I work at. Sight unseen and sound unheard, I assumed that it was likely an acetate pressing of the recording which would be eventually be released as the group's first album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico".

It took awhile for Warren to visit, but when he did he brought along the acetate. We cued it up and were stunned -- the first song was not "Sunday Morning" as on the "Velvet Underground & Nico" Verve LP, but rather it was "European Son"- the song that is last on that LP, and it was a version neither of us had ever heard before! It was less bombastic and more bluesy than the released version, and it clocked in at a full two minutes longer. I immediately took the needle off the record, and realized that we had something special. Between the two of us we had heard many Velvets outtakes on both official and less than official releases, but the present material had never been heard by either of us.

The next few days found us scrambling for clues and information about what to make of this find; calling every record collector/historian we knew and reading everything we could find concerning the early recordings of the VU. We pieced together that this was probably a surviving copy of the legendary Scepter studios recordings which had been regarded as lost (hence the epic moniker "the lost scepter studios recordings" applied to these unheard sessions over the years). The recording is comprised of the primitive first "finished" version of the LP that Andy Warhol had shopped to Columbia as a ready-to-release debut album by his protege collective "The Velvet Underground".

This acetate, which is possibly the only surviving copy, represents the first Velvet Underground album as Andy Warhol intended it to be released.

Though the same compositions and even a few of the same "takes" (albeit in different mixes) were used on the subsequent commercial release, that which was eventually issued as their debut album on Verve, "The Velvet Underground & Nico", was a significantly different creation. I had heard of these nascent recordings before... it was said by some that the master tapes had burned in a fire, by others that all of those recordings ended up being on the released album, and still by others that the only existing copy of that material was on an acetate owned by David Bowie, and that he was known to tout it as his most prized possession.

The truth about what we held was fuzzy until Warren managed to track down the N. Dolph referred to on the label for an interview.

Norman Dolph was a perennial in the New York art & music scene of the 1960's. He worked as a sales representative at Columbia Records through 1967, and was deeply involved with different facets of the independent music world on the side. Andy Warhol, who was managing the Velvets at the time, contacted Dolph & offered him a painting in exchange for services as "ghost" (uncredited) producer for the Velvet's first recording session. Warhol wanted to record a Velvets album before they had a record company behind them as this would tend to minimize meddling label executives' mobility in compromising the musical arrangement's distraught primal force, not to mention the unprecedented taboo lyrics which openly address sex, drugs, and depravity. Warhol's plan was to have Dolph record it and then shop it around to labels (first & foremost Columbia) as a finished recording.

...and so Dolph rented out Scepter studios, and with an engineer named John Licata by his side, they recorded the Velvets for four days. At the time Scepter studios was between reconstruction and demolition with walls falling over and holes in the floor. Velvets' bass & viola player John Cale would later recall the environment as "Post-Apocalyptic".

Dolph took the master tapes made during this session to the Columbia building, which still had an in-house pressing plant, and cut the acetate "after hours" with people he knew on the inside. Dolph then sent the acetate to Columbia to see if they were interested in releasing it. It was returned promptly with a note that said something akin to "do you think we're out of our f**king minds?" Dolph then gave the acetate to Andy Warhol or John Cale, he cannot remember which.

Six of the songs recorded during the Scepter session made it on to the "Velvet Underground & Nico" LP, albeit with radically different mixes. The other four songs were re-recorded in LA by Tom Wilson. As far as we know, the only listenable copy of the original versions of Heroin, Venus In Furs, I'm Waiting For The Man, and European Son exist on the acetate that Warren found. (A Japanese bootleg of the same material did appear, but in poor, arguably ‘unlistenable' sound quality. It is possible that the source tape for the Japanese bootleg was made from this very acetate decades ago when it was in different hands. Who knows?) We have since realized that we are in possession of a likely one of a kind artifact - the first recordings by one of the most influential rock bands of all time!

After establishing the authenticity of Warren's find we photographed the item and made a high quality digital back-up copy of the material. A media frenzy ensued, with articles appearing in Rolling Stone, Mojo, Record Collector, The Globe & Mail, and many other news sources. Calls started flooding in from people interested in buying the acetate, as well as record companies interested in releasing the songs on it. After much consideration, we decided that it would be best to release it to the highest bidder through an auction facilitated by our good friends at Saturn Records in Oakland, California (a store that has a well-established presence in the international vinyl collecting community, and an excellent reputation on the internet).

As to the most interesting mystery brought up by the appearance of this item - how did such an important artifact disappear for 37 years & end up at a Chelsea New York yard sale priced at 75 cents? ...We have no answer.

The track differences between the acetate versions and the commercial recordings on "The Velvet Underground & Nico" are detailed as follows:

1.European Son- completely different version,. Guitar solo is much bluesier. Less noisy and experimental. Longer by 2 minutes or so.

2.Black Angel's Death Song-Same take as released version. Different mix.

3.All Tomorrow's Parties- Same take as released version. Different mix.

4.I'll Be Your Mirror-Same take as released version. Radically different mix. No echo on Nico's vocals. Background vocals on end of song are more subdued.

5.Heroin-Completely different take than released version. Guitar line is different. Vocal inflections different, and a few different lyrics. Drumming is more primitive & off kilter. There is a tambourine dragging throughout the song.

6.Femme Fatale- Same take as released version. Radically different mix. Percussion more prominent. Alternate take on background vocals. Much more "poppy".

7.Venus In Furs- Different take than released version. Vocal inflections completely different. Instrumentation more based around Cales' violin than the guitar as in the released version.

8.I'm Waiting For The Man- Different take than released version. Guitar line is completely different. Vocal inflections different, and a few different lyrics. No drums, just tambourine. Bluesy guitar solo.

9.Run Run Run- Same take as released version. Different mix.

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

PÄRSON SOUND

PÄRSON SOUND

Original Issue: 2001 Subliminal Sounds (TILCD02) Buy it here!

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

One of the most incredible aural artifacts coming out of the 1960s.

This ranks quite high in Margot's top ten albums of all times!

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01 - Intro (0:53)
02 - Tio Minuter (10:30)
03 - From Tunis To India in Fullmoon (On Testosterone) (20:29)
04 - India (Slight Return) (13:06)
05 - A Glimpse Inside The Glyptotec-66 (6:02)
06 - One Quiet Afternoon (In The King’s Garden) (10:33)
07 - Sov Gott Rose-Marie (13:18)
08 - Skrubba (28:57)
09 - Milano (7:57)
10 - On How To Live (7:26)
11 - Blåslåten (5:41)

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from Subliminal Sounds homepage:

Defying the world to ignore the psychedelic shamanism and intense spirituality of their music, the battle cry of late 60s Stockholm underground quintet Pärson Sound was "We, Here and Now!". Unfortunately, up to now their music has been a well-kept secret, despite such high profile appearances as supporting The Doors, and being personally invited by Andy Warhol to open his 1968 exhibition at Stockholm's Museum of Modern Art (Magnus Haglund mentions them in his feature on the Swedish avant garde, The Ecstatic Society, in The Wire 210). Compiling unreleased live and studio recordings, Pärson Sound is an astonishing find that successfully buckles all notions of how rock, jazz and experimental music should behave. The first CD opens with a lulling guitar drone that fools you into thinking that the remaining nine minutes or so of 'Tio Minuter" ("Ten Minutes") will be equally laid-back and hypnotic. It turns out that the intro is a short musical fuse setting off a cacophonic hard rock explosion that owes more to the psychedelic Metal brutalities of 60s heavyweights Blue Cheer than the minimalistic tone patterns of La Monte Young and Terry Riley (whose ideas Pärson Sound were also strongly attracted to; indeed they met in an ad hoc ensemble put together to perform Riley's music). Rather than just endlessly chipping and hammering at rock's surface noise, however, the group carry out complex sound experiments, whose full richness only emerge with several patient replays. On "From Tunes To India In Fullmoon (On Testosterone)», a live recording from 1968, the group bring into play their love and understanding of free jazz. Bo Anders Persson's looping electric guitar, Thomas Ticholm's aggressive sax and Anne Ericsson's howling electric cello supply the swifling black center for a sonic tornado. The main members of Pärson Sound went on to form the equally short lived International Harvester, who recorded one album for Love Records called Sov Gott Rose Marie (Good Night Rose Marie). Disc two opens and closes with works from this period, both of which plunge head on into a rock filled swamp of strange sounds, devotional drones and amplified abstraction. – EDWIN POUNCEY/WIRE, UK

If this one is not gonna be number one in the 2001 Droneon poll, I'm gonna grow myself a beard and eat it, cuz a more sublime marriage of drone and rock has yet to be invented. Pärson Sound was a Swedish communal drone-sludge assemblage that preceded International Harvester, Harvester, and Trad Gras och Stenar. These are archival recordings, the band never released an album at the time (we're talking 1967/68). Imagine a reverb-drenched pact of the Godz and Sabbath jamming on "Sister Ray" played at 16 rpm, with Terry Riley dumping some time-lag-accumulated sax on top, while someone else is sawing a cello in two Cale/Conrad-style. And that's just the (approximate) scenario of the first couple of tracks. There are also some non-rockin' tape-drone experiments by bandleader BoAnders Persson, plus, on the second disc you'll find embryonic versions of songs that would later turn up on International Harvester's sole album Sov Gott Rose-Marie (I've heard there's a Korean CD of this one floating around, but haven't seen it yet), only these early takes even surpass the "better known" versions. A friend of mine exclaimed: "now Bardo Pond can go jump off a cliff." Now I'm not for violent imagery like that, so lets just say that Pärson Sound out-psychs all and everything. God-like!...Swedish rock rules. – Droneeon/USA

This is most definitely something any fan of psychedelic freak rock weirdness would want to be aware of. Pärson Sound would achieve wider acclaim a couple years later when it changed its name to International Harvester and Träd, Gräs och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones). Before then this Swedish ensemble specialized in an especially atonal form of trance or drone rock, a large sampling of which has been compiled here from various rehearsals and live recordings. I'm not sure if any of this has ever seen the light of day before now, but I'm thinking not. I can see why, as this isn't exactly dripping with commercial potential. Still the Pärson Sound proves to be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to expansive, wall of sound guitar drone hypnotism, especially considering this stuff was recorded in 1967-68, a good two years before the Krautrock explosion would really kick in. Similar trajectories could be found at the time in the works of the Grateful Dead, the early Velvets, and of course Floyd, the free-form improvisations of AMM, but the Pärson Sound brought something uniquely glacial and incredibly heavy to their sound. The massive guitar jams that comprise this double CD are the sort that Amon Duul II would take to monumental heights on their first two albums. But even then there's something intrinsically minimal and relentlessly repetitive going on here, no doubt inspired by several members of the band joining Terry Riley for some of his performances when he visited Sweden in the Spring of '67. Many of these tracks average 10 minutes or longer in length, but that hardly matters. Once you hear the first glistening rays of atonal violin screech of the intro on disk 1, such concerns simply evaporate. Violin and synth drones give way to the earth-shattering doom sludge of opener "Tio Minuter" (Ten Minutes), which rings and drones like some medieval church bell for a good six minutes before veering off into a mellower free jazz cul-de-sac for its remaining four. The very next track "From Tunis to India in Full Moon (On Testosterone)" is 20 minutes of blasted acid-destruction that screams for bonfires and naked virgins covered in streaked body paint, and acid.lots of acid. The similarities between what these people were doing then and Bardo Pond is doing right now are striking, only this is decidedly more Swedish, and primal. This is tribal improve/drone rock that you can bury your head under for hours at a time, but it's the mellower, and more minimal asides thrown in along the way that keep it interesting. This one's for fans of seriously damaged psychedelic excess only (that's everybody reading this, right?).
– mats gustafson/Broken face, Sweden

"I might as well go ahead and divulge a tidbit or two upfront: Pärson Sound is a musical outfit with Swedish origins and a predilection for psychedelia. Depending on the take, it's a concoction capable of sending you on a run to the nearest exit or reaching for the knob to crank the volume. What's more, prior to this year, the majority of the music world had never heard the name, much less encountered any of the music. Hence, a little rundown is in order: For a brief period during 1967-68, Pärson Sound was a frontrunner in the burgeoning Swedish music scene, leading to a few shows accompanying Terry Riley, an opening gig for the Doors and an invite from Andy Warhol to play an art exhibit in Stockholm. Regrettably, no album was ever cut and the band's activity ended almost as soon as it began-- although later manifestations would emerge and continue under the names Harvester (sometimes known as International Harvester) and Träd, Gräs och Stenar (translation: Trees, Grass and Stones).

Up until this recent release, Pärson Sound was basically just a blip on a musical roadmap, their name appearing sparingly in Warhol articles or Swedish musical histories. So I'll let you in on a little secret. As January rapidly approaches, I can say this two-disc set is by far the most unexpected surprise of the year. Serving up a platter of archival recordings (rehearsals, studio and live cuts), this Pärson Sound collection is drug-addled psychedelic mindfuckery at its best. And that's just the beginning. Successfully marrying the ideas of rock, jazz, and drone experimentalism, this Swedish quintet sounds like it wasn't just trying to break free of the limitations inherent in each genre; at times, it sounds like they were trying to blow the doors off the hinges.

Opening the first disc, "Tio Minuter" ("Ten Minutes") starts out quietly enough, beginning with a hushed guitar atop distant vocal chants. Don't let it fool you. It's a ruse. One minute in, the band forsakes the mesmerizing guitar for an intense, cacophonous clamor. Sounding as if someone suddenly set the stage on fire, Pärson Sound unleashes a grinding series of brutal guitar riffs. Stretching out beyond ten minutes, the band isn't content to remain in one sound territory. The track builds from a mammoth sludge-fest into a ringing guitar drone backed by the screeching sounds of Arne Ericsson sawing away at his electric-cello. Everything settles into a glacial pace near the end as the sounds of ghostly tape-lagged voices glide over each other, an invocation for the ether-regions (which makes sense-- séance is a credited instrument in the liner notes).

The blissed-out trance work continues with "From Tunis to India in Fullmoon (On Testosterone)," a miasmic sound orgy that drips with ecstatic energy. It's a Bacchanalian noise festival, an acid-drenched lunar ride in which everyone is whipped into rapturous primal frenzy while Pan taps his hoof and bleats out the age-old hypnotic spell. Driving forward into free-jazz, "Tunis" finds Pärson Sound openly and aggressively exploring ideas through improvisation. The entire track is a swirling sound-world, held fast by Thomas Mera Gartz's pounding percussion. Guitarists Bo Anders Persson and Ericsson immerse themselves in locked drones, enticing out a series of resonating vibrations, while saxophonist Thomas Tidholm reels off a series of rasping moans and pain-filled squeals. Coalescing into a tight-knit entity near the end, Persson hammers out a delirious buzzsaw solo over the increasing urgency of Gartz's percussion. The resulting din is pure astrophysical beauty.

"A Glimpse Inside the Glyptotec-66" leaves the instruments behind, abandoning them for tape-looped guitar and Persson's lagged-voice experiments. Recorded for 1966's Young Nordic Music Festival, "Glimpse" is a surprisingly early collage for guitar and voice that places Persson alongside contemporary minimalists Terry Riley and Steve Reich. Having captured several glittering guitar drones and sequencing them on tape, he slowly adds pre-recorded tapes of voice mixed with his live moans and vocalized syllables. "One Quiet Afternoon (In the King's Garden)" is a massive squall of noise. Again toying with pre-recorded tape experiments, Pärson Sound creeps along, drowning everything in a rumbling clatter (much of it produced from the feedback-saturated tapes). Howling, pre-recorded voices amble over each other while the tapes are either accelerated to furious speeds or slowed to a dazed crawl.

The second disc in the set both opens and closes with nascent versions of songs that would appear later on International Harvester's debut. Stretching to thirteen minutes, "Sov Gott Rose-Marie" is centered on a reverie-inducing guitar solo, but builds gradually into a frightening full-band chant of the title. With three members repeatedly intoning the title phrase, other instruments begin to pile up, climbing over each other and saturating the space. The result is a haunting, claustrophobic grumble filled with battered organ keys, pummeled bass strings and the fading remains of an earlier guitar drone.

A track that starts with smoldering embers, "Milano," moves at an increasingly rapid piece as time elapses and Pärson Sound stoke the fire. Subsumed within the booming percussion and electrically charged cello, Persson leisurely constructs a guitar solo that moves swiftly from rattling mess to drifting murmur. Moving in a recurring pattern, Persson's guitar workouts are sprawling meditative journeys-- shifting repetition often giving way to gradual movement and pulsing breath. With only five tracks per disc, the average length of each song is easily ten minutes or more, occasional stretching to the half-hour mark (the lengthy spiritualistic drone "Skrubba") and once or twice staying in the seven-minute range (the acoustic "On How to Live"). In spite of this, any concerns related to length tend to dissipate once your head is fully submerged in the band's constantly inventive surroundings.

During their brief stint, Pärson Sound had a rallying cry of "We, Here and Now!" that embraced their musical philosophy of a defragmented universal language. The time elapsed since their active years have seen a number of acts such as Amon Düül, Acid Mothers Temple, Bardo Pond and Taj Mahal Travelers traverse the same paths, garnishing accolades and international success. For a fan of any of these bands, or anyone fascinated by psychedelic, acid-blasted madness, this is ground zero. Rating: 9.3 – Luke Buckman/Pitchforkmedia

RUNIC MOON (nordic musick)

KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT

KELLARI JUNIVERSUMI

Original Issue: 2002 Fonal Records (FR-21) (Buy it here!)

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Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

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1 Puiden Sydämet Antavat Tahdin (2:23)
2 Kellari Juniversumi (2:48)
3 Taivas Ja Meri, Yhteen Sulautuneina (3:17)
4 Utuaurat (1:50)
5 Mustametsä (2:38)
6 ...On Pieni Metsä (1:24)
7 Planeetta Kaukainen Muo Kutsuu (1:29)
8 Kuuntelin Kuinka Puut Kuiskivat (2:42)
9 Monien Kalojen Aalto (3:05)
10 Kuuma Tomu (3:32)
11 Amerikka (2:18)
12 Kummitushiiri (2:19)
13 Salainen Paikka (2:04)
14 Pallo (3:38)
15 Kuutarhassa (3:27)
16 Soihdun Tuhkaa (2:46)
17 Heijastuksia! Kaikuja! (5:10)

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from Boomkat:

After a slew of cassette, 7” and cdr releases, the wonderful people at Fonal saw fit to throw Mr. Anderzén’s work into public view and unsurprisingly it received universal acclaim.

Taking cues from the American new-psych gods Jewelled Antler Collective (of whom Anderzén is a sometime member) this is free music at its very best; unpretentious compositions which retain an undeniable sense of irreverence and can be experimental without losing sight of listenability.

All sorts of sounds are thrown into the mix – layer upon layer of analogue synth squelches, detuned guitars and other miscellaneous small instruments adding to the texture and wall-of-sound on this record.

For fans of Fonal this record is an absolute must, an important stepping stone for the label and a hugely influential part of the modern weird-folk-psych scene.

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from Aquarius Records:

Hallelujah! More droning, buzzing, flickering folk-psych from Finland's mysterious Kemialliset Ystavat collective.

Sure, we know who's in the band -- Broken Face 'zine artist/contributor Jan Anderzen, Fonal label head Sami Sanpakkila (Es, Kiila), and a host of other Finns -- but they still SOUND mysterious. The damaged four-track folk sound of NYC's Tower Recordings filtered through the forest ambience of AQ-fave improv-psych outfit Thuja might, MIGHT be an approximation of Kemialliset's sonic space.

They inhabit that territory previously explored by the likes of Amon Duul, Ghost, Kalacakra, Toho Sara, Parson Sound, International Harvester, Amps For Christ, Six Organs Of Admittance, Algarnas Tradgard, etc.

If any of these names bring a warm sensation to your frontal lobes, then you're likely already a Kemialliset fan even if you haven't yet heard 'em. Each track (there's 17 of 'em, spread over 47 minutes) is a psychedelic miniature constructed of drifting, chanting vocals, gentle melodies, and primitive rhythms, contrasting distorted electric guitar wash with pretty, chiming percussion, strings and woodwinds. Freaky and far-out yet mostly mellow and warm and cosy.

Fucking lovely. Ah, Finland.

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

JACKMAN DAVID

SOL MARA

Original Issue: 1989 Dom Bartwuchs (DOM BW 01C)

Reissue: 1999 Die Stadt/Robot Records (DS19/RR-21)

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Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Under-rated mind-bending minimalist masterpiece!
High volume listening is recommended for maximum effect

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1 Sol Mara (10:55)
2 Sol Mara (10:17)
3 Sol Mara (20:41)
4 Sol Mara (17:27)

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from The Wire (issue 185):

Irascible maverick and one-time Scratch Orchestra member David Jackman is best known for Organum which specialises in grating noise blizzards, ambient environmental sound and metallic screeching, all with a striking ritualistic quality.

But the solo album, Sol Mara, takes a very different track. First released as a one sided record included with Organum's Ikon, its CD version accompanies the original with three variations, all built entirely from looped samples of bamboo flute.

It lies somewhere between the Fourth World music of Jon Hassell, a limpid, reverie set in a World Music netherzone, and ponderous, hypnotic minimalism.

RISING MOON (japrocksampler musick)

CAESAR J.A.
JASHŪMON

Original Issue: 1972 Victor (SF-1021)

Reissue: 1999 Blue Interactions (PCD-1465)

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Impossibly hard-to-find (even the reissue) masterpiece by J.A. Caesar ranking #10 in Julian Cope's Japrocksampler bible!

Recorded live at a theatrical performance by Tenjo Sajiki at Shibuya Kokaido on January 30, 1972.

This guy was a graphic design student, who adopted the name J.A. [Julius Arnold] Caesar, often also found spelled Seazer and even Ceazar [just to confuse internet searches even further!], and was known by the late 60's as one of the few 'true hippies' on the local scene. He apparently won a competition for hair length!

His music often featured elements of Japanese percussion, 'sekkyobushi narrative music', progressive and psychedelic rock, raw heavy rock, and other influences as diverse as Carl Orff and Pierre Henry.

1 Kyōjobushi
2 Jin
3 Shishi no Ko
4 Tōkyō Junreika
5 Haraisō
6 Kyōchō
7 Hahasute Hannyakyō
8 Okasaretara Nakeba Ii
9 Doko e Doko e to Satsu!
10 Kurama Tengu
11 Jashūmon
12 Bokoi Jigoku
13 Karasu
14 Kanokeburo
15 Wasan
16 Tsuru no Tēma
17 Kuchibue Sanka
18 1970 nen 8 gatsu
19 Wasan

from Volcanic Tongue:

Beautiful book/CD Japan-only reissue of a particularly inspired side from Tenjo Sajiki, the Japanese avant guerrilla theatre company founded by legendary poet/film maker/counter-cultural provocateur Shuji Terayama that existed contemporaneously to first wave avantists like Flower Travellin’ Band, Keiji Haino’s Lost Aaraaff and Les Rallizes Denudes and that featured dusted acid/rock/folk/avant moves composed and executed by the young wunderkind JA Seazer.

Alan Cummings rates this particular one as a real early peak for Seazer’s music. Written for a series of foreign performances in 1971 – Nancy, Rotterdam, Belgrade, Zagreb and other areas of the Balkans – Seazer is rumoured to have composed and recorded all of the music for Jashumon/Heresy in the space of a few hours the night before the troupe left.

This particular recording is drawn from the only Japanese performance of the play, January 1972 in Tokyo. Released at the time on a now very rare side by Victor, this massive new edition adds a clutch of new material, including two powerful performances by Kan Mikami.

The music is fairly astounding throughout and for the most part defies any attempt at pithy generic description but the piece include flashes of huge, organ-led marches supported by clouds of choral song and throat-shredding death/folk vocals, brief episodes of forlorn traditional breath lost in a thin soup of electronics and gongs, massed acid chants ala Ya Ho Wha 13 and bursts of modal guitar psych.

The accompanying book is a beauty, featuring a ton of performance shots and all-Japanese text.

Highest recommendation.

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

MOOLAH
WOE YEH DEMONS POSSESSED (Annuit Cœptis)

Original Issue: 1974 Druidstone (No Number)

Reissue: 2005 EM (EM1051CD)


Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

Dear MoonMusick friends...DO NOT MISS THIS ONE.
A REAL CULT RECORD!
ONE OF THE MOST OBSCURE (AND BEAUTIFUL) ALBUMS EVER RECORDED BY A HUMAN (?) BEING!!!

1 Crystal waters (5:30)
2 Terror is real (4:10)
3 Courage (8:20)
4 The hatd hit (6:55)
5 Mirror's (7:00)
6 Redemption (6:44)

From Head Heritage

Straight from the sub-subterranean collective basement patronized by all of the world’s greatest psychotic (ehh-hm visionary) artists comes another ultra obscure gem going by the name of Woe Ye Demon Possessed by the group(?)/or maybe it’s just a regular old dude with a rack of wacky effects, Moolah.

Think about that name. Moolah. What comes to mind, friends? I personally conjure images of bone in the nose voodoo mamas twirling in some swamp drug ecstasy. Maybe that comes from my association of the word Moolah with that famous female wrestler The Fabulous Moolah; not that that matters. I’m just typing to type at this point. You know, taking up space to make this look more profound than it really is.

Alright, back to the topic at hand. Moolah – Woe Ye Demon Possessed. I know nothing about this LP. I don’t know its history, who made it, what city it was made in (it is from the good ole’ Stars and Stripes, but one could very easily assume Deutschland). This makes for some very compelling mystery. I do know that there is a great buzz among collectors of rare psych records. So, naturally, being the conformist that I am, I too decided to hop on that kaleidoscopic, day glo bandwagon with the rest of the damned. This was a good decision on my part because Woe Ye Demon Possessed is pretty frakin’ awesome and in dire need of a cd reissue.

Seeing as how there’s no prominent data on the recording (even on the almighty internet), I gathered as much as I could from the cover; it’s that famous evil eye over the American dollar with the Latin phrase. I don’t even know how to order a beer in classical Latin. So I’m not about to feign a bullshit translation. One might assume that this somehow relates to wacky conspiracy theories about the Freemasons/ Bilderberg Group ad barfum. I don’t subscribe to that. I would guess it’s an ode of sorts of to the race of aliens who helped guide the Egyptians in their constructive efforts, the eye symbolic of their observations and inevitable return to Mother Gaia. There’s also that superb title Woe Ye Demon Possessed: the man enlightened with the knowledge of his extra terrestrial guardians is the one who’s possessed. (Perhaps not alien beings, but the one who’s possessed with the omniscient powers of the psychotrope is possessed, etc.)

On to the music! The only proper appellative I could grant would be – “a lost field recording made by an ‘animistic’ alien enlightened tribal people who somehow had the ability to bend time.”

That’s an incredibly pretentious way of putting it. In non wacko terms I can hear a strong Faust 1, Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel influence. Just add a twist of ultra lo fi and a sprinkle of Texas garage psych and you have something similar to the finished product. I’ve often suffered with many sleepless nights where I asked myself, “Damnit! When am I going to hear an American record with a distinct kosmische influence? When? Why God? Why?” Well, I think the Lord above answered my prayers and blessed with me this LP.

It starts off with a profound, deity invoking bang with “Crystal Waters”, a ritualistic piece that sounds as though it should be played on a ziggurat prior to a human sacrifice. If The Tempel was playing garages in the late 60’s, this would have been the product: Schulze synths on speed, heart beat drums, ancient keys. Great stuff. Follow that with a schizophrenic outburst/psycho-delic exorcism, “Terror Is Real”, and then a buried on the ocean floor fuzz hum bar room piano, “Courage”. You have one kick ass album side.

Side two is also profoundly sublime. Both “The Hard Hit” and “Mirror’s” follow the same unsettling bleeping buzz synth, chanting voices from another dimension pattern. It all builds up into crazy tension. I feel as though I’m at a séance of sorts. Plus, “The Hard Hit” features some weird kinda’ sorta’ motornik drums before they go off into the great beyond with those creepy voices. The last track “Redemption” brings back the piano and anachronistic radio fuzz. It calms everything down, leaves you staring off into space waiting for the redeemers themselves to finally land.

All in all, I found this to be a fabulous recording, a great shining diamond in the rough. Krautfreaks will agree too. I predict that this will eventually be reissued. Good things come to those who wait. Cult labels won’t be sleeping on this for much longer. Happy hunting. It’s well worth the chase, friends.

Giallo

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

JAN DUKES DE GREY
MICE AND RATS IN THE LOFT

Original Issue: 1971 Transatlantic (TRA 234)

Reissue: 2005 Breathless (BSS52001) Buy it here!!!


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

01 - Sun Symphonica
02 - Call Of The Wild
03 - Mice And Rats In The Loft

from Progarchives:

Every time I find one of hidden/lost early 70's gems, I find myself always carried some 30 years back even if I discover them now. Of course only a small percentage of those gems turns to be diamonds, but I believe this is one of them. How is it possible that such grandiose masterpieces are still not common knowledge among progheads? Because we are dealing with one of those masterpieces of Folk Prog to be classified along with other pearls such as Comus or Algarnas Tradgard.

The music is of an incredible and highly original nature that bond high vocal prowesses ala Tim Buckley with a rather sombre timber reminding you of Audience's Howard Werth (Hammill is not far away, either and so is Van Morrison) and outstanding musicianship so much that both original members Noy and Bairstow play multiple instruments and apparently with great ease. The third member, drummer Conlan has his hands full accompanying his comrades and I believe he also plays congas, although this is not mentioned on the credits. The only outside help they got are additional strings for the last 12 mins of their magnum opus Sun Symphonica.

And what a masterpiece this tune turns out to be!! If the first six minutes develop a good mix of folk rock somewhere between the Comus and Jethro Tull (circa Brick album), the strings come in and the music plunges into a deep madness likely to sink you into insanity if the strings were not to bring you back to the surface for a breath of fresh air every so often. The melange between the 12 string guitar strums, superb drumming all underlined by a swirling cluster of wind instruments and the strings (it does not mention the size of the orchestra, but my guess is a quintet) is one of the most perfect blend ever achieved far from the many catastrophes of the era (I will not name the guilty groups but only Procol and Caravan fared correctly). As Travis/Con Safo mentions in his excellent review below, the lyrics become intensely disturbing also, but do not reach the eerie call for murder and rape that Comus does in their song Drip Drip but they do curdle the blood. The beautiful atmosphere is completely different than Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die masterpiece but one cannot help thinking about it as those wild and sombre ambiances are driving you to the outer edges of reason. Nevertheless, the superb 12 min finale is completely spine chilling, hair raising, shivers and goose bumps being also on the menu as the abrupt end leaves a empty feel that can be assimilated to the last glass of wine of a 1947 Grand Cru Cos D'Estournel is emptied.

The second side pales a bit in comparison, but by no means are those two tracks anything else than gems themselves. Call Of The Wild is probably the folksiest of the three tunes, starts off with a great acoustic 12-string guitar beautifully underlined by a splendid yet serene flute. Again Comus is not far away from the mind even when the track moves through a series of wild tempo changes sometimes hinting at Indian Classical music. Yet another perfect call! A strange siren alerts you that the third and final track (the title track depicted by the strange artwork sleeve) just got under way, and that you are not yet through with madness as comes in a psyched guitar and great sax and insane vocals. The last part of the track is dedicated to improvisations on that theme and they come out grandiosely successful at it.

This is the kind of album I will personally make sure more people will know within the following months - a bit the same as I did for Comus, Circus and a few other gems. Run, walk, fly to your first vendor and order it (it is distributed by Sanctuary Record - a fitting name for such a masterpiece), because your life cannot be complete without having heard this. A pure moment of intense orgasmic pleasure!!!!!!

Sean Trane

Those who are familiar with Comus’ First Utterance will be delighted to learn that First Utterance has a twin brother in Mice and Rats in the Loft, the magnum opus of Jan Dukes de Grey. A similar psychedelic folk release (even down to the mildly disturbing lyrics, especially on the title track), Mice and Rats in the Loft is every bit as good as First Utterance. And for those who don’t know Comus’ disturbed music, Mice and Rats in the Loft might be a better place to go, given the lyrics aren’t nearly so harsh. Really, though, what it comes down to is the simple fact that Mice and Rats in the Loft is a monumental progressive folk release, one of the very best there is.

That simple truth is due to three long and complex compositions, whose lengths will remind potential buyers of this other famous CD (released one year after Mice and Rats in the Loft), Close to the Edge. The music bears little similarity, however. Whereas Close to the Edge is tight and firm, Mice and Rats in the Loft is a sprawling CD, mixing composition with improvisation, capitalizing on strong songwriting skills to build room for extended folk jams that truly make the CD, particularly on the track “Sun Symphonica” (the “Close to the Edge” of Mice and Rats in the Loft). At nearly nineteen minutes in length, “Sun Symphonica” is the centerpiece of the CD, and it’s a marvelous one at that. It has some symphonic touches (as the title suggests), but it’s mostly folk jamming. Again, as the title suggests, it’s quite light-hearted and happy, and it’s a stellar opener.

Even more stellar, though, is the closer, “Mice and Rats in the Loft.” The shortest of the bunch at eight minutes, the title track builds around a massive riff positively drenched in psychedelia. Every time the main riff kicks in, it feels fresh and new, bringing the song full circle from its jamming nature, taking it back to the land of sane in order to close out the CD. Sandwiched between these two epic songs is “Call of the Wild,” which is another track full of great songwriting and better jamming, though it’s not quite as good as the two around it.

Mice and Rats in the Loft is one of those releases that is unfairly obscure, and it definitely deserves more respect than it gets. Anybody looking for an excellent progressive folk experience should look no further than this hidden gem. Fans of Comus will delight in its psychedelic madness; everyone else will find they can’t help but do the same. An essential purchase for anyone with even the slightest interest in progressive folk music, or even folk music and psychedelic music in general. It’s a trip you won’t soon forget.

Finnforest

SACRIFICE MOON (offering musick)

kindly donated by Rob Vomit

MÓDULO 1000
NÃO FALE COM PAREDES

Original Issue: 1970 Top Tape (TT-1000)

Reissue: 2004 World In Sound ( WIS-1025) Buy it here!!!


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1 Turpe Est Sine Crine Caput
2 Não Fale Com Paredes
3 Espêlho
4 Lem - Ed - Êcalg
5 Ôlho Por Ôlho, Dente Por Dente
6 Metrô Mental
7 Teclados
8 Salve-Se Quem Puder
9 Animália

from Aquarius Records

Super fuzz wah guitar and organ jamming stoner psych-prog from Brazil, circa 1970. Nine tracks packed with sinewy jams, trippy fx, weighty grooves... definitely appealing to the same head-space as contemporaries like Iron Butterfly, Dug Dug's, Captain Beyond, Speed Glue & Shinki, Hendrix, Flower Travellin' Band, etc.

Here's a quote from one of the band members, the organist, that ought to give some flavor of what they were all about: "The music of Modulo 1000 had its own appeal to an audience that wanted a heavy, raw, experimental, psychedelic sound. Our kind of music did not make it to the radio stations. It was too wild. The distribution of the record was done in a very limited way. The record label directors, which probably didn't understand or even didn't like our music, did zero promotion for the LP." Thus, one darn heavy, weird, and utterly rare record!

from Progressive Homestead

What makes their sound so unique are the musical experiments within the style of the harsh sounds of heavy psychrock. Just listen to the keyboards combined with guitar in rhythmic psychedelic pulses on several tracks, like on the strong opener, “Turpe est sine crine caput” (=”hairless head is ugly”), sung in a distorted voice. Here is shown a clever inventiveness of the organist using a dead simple idea to a level of psychedelic effectiveness by lifting it up to a combination with rhythms and guitar playing, in a very original way, and with some wah-wah effects. Elsewhere roaring guitar solo’s and complex changes in rhythms and very small improvised free forms uplift the genre of the already effective psychedelic rock genre to something different with an extra originality.
The album gained much later a legendary status amongst collectors, and also a musical historical value for progressive and psychedelic music in Brazil. The album at that time did not receive any promotion and was not understood by radio or commercial music promoters. So it became almost impossible for the group to survive in the long term with their sound, even when they had their own followers who were looking for such a deeper-down-into-rock psychedelia, a certain rawness combined with creativity.

STONED MOON (pscikadilik musick)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE
TREMOLO

Original Issue: 1991 Creation (CRESCD085)

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

1. To Here Knows When
2. Swallow
3. Honey Power
4. Moon Song

SIMPLY THE PERFECT MUSICK FOR MAKING LOVE...SENSUAL, DREAMY, STONED! ESSENTIAL LISTENING FROM AN ESSENTIAL BAND!

from Amazon:

On Tremolo My Bloody Valentine create a mini-album that would be played right after Loveless and sound like a continuation more than anything. Tremolo also is a great record all by itself, it grooves and moves in all the right places, and sounds like it was recorded through the same hazy druggy sensualness that graced Loveless. However at times the drums seem even lower in the mix than on Loveless, which adds to its' dreaminess, which I guess is the point, but really I think the drums should have been more prominent, but hey whatever, it still sounds great. All in all I highly suggest picking this up if you're a MBV fan and already have Loveless and Isn't Anything.

Karl Haikara

If you've just gotten in to My Bloody Valentine with "Isn't Anything" and their classic "Loveless", the Tremolo EP is absolutely one of the best places to look afterwards for new songs. Coming off like a series of lost songs that didn't make it onto "Loveless", Tremolo is slightly more accessible (albeit just as beautiful) than their albums, and contains the superior version of the song "To Here Knows When" (the outro to this version fits the song FAR better than the distorted heavy metal one on "Loveless").

"Swallow" is simply breathtaking. Far-Eastern sounding strings and percussion float gently across Bilinda Butcher's dreamy vocals to make this goosebump inducing collage of sound. I have no idea why this never made it onto any of their records.

"Honey Power" is more of a rock-oriented track, with it's catchy, driving grungy guitars, but around the 2/3 mark, it transforms into a sleepy acoustic section that also manages to give you goosebumps.

"Moon Song" is strange, even by MBV standards. It's cold, stark, and contains none of the other song's warmth, but is still stunning, nonetheless, with Kevin Shields melancholy singing that intertwines perfectly with the melody.

With their 3rd album expected shortly after this EP was released, one might expect a rush job. Instead, you get a miniature masterpiece from one of indie rock's most legendary bands. What an excellent surprise.

Kazuo