Back in January of last year, I first made contact with founder/drummer Jora (aka George) Valchuk of the Ukrainian band Atomic Simao, and he eventually agreed to participate in an interview by e-mail to go along with a review of their digital-only 2013 releases Nodo and Sphyro. At the time, political pressure on the Moscow-leaning Yanukovych administration was just beginning to turn into street protests in their home city of Kiev. Soon, however, those protests turned into violent confrontation and eventually Russian troop invasions, and then a real hot war broke out. So we’ve had to wait some time for things to settle down a bit before getting this piece put to digital paper, but it’s just as well, as the Greek label Cosmic Eye (cosmiceyerecords.blogspot.com) has just now released their first album Nodo in a limited-edition run of 350 copies (200 in colored vinyl, the rest black).

Both albums to date were recorded at Driben Indie Records in Kharkiv, in the eastern part of Ukraine. Time and travel limitations meant that these albums were actually made with a revised lineup, including guest appearances from the Kharkiv-based Janovsky band featuring Givotnoe; Artyom Janovsky and Ray Listratenko on guitar, and Vova ‘Givotnoe’ Sytnik on keyboards and pads. The current lineup, now based solidly in the Ukraine capital, is as follows:

Jora Valchuk – drums
Dima Dudko – sax
Nikita Gavrilenko – bass
Jenya Sophiychuk – guitar
Andrey Volkoff – keys, pads, samples
Andrey “Bart” Dvoryashin – percussion, Korg Kaoss pad, vocal samples

with Sophiychuk returning to handle guitar duties after being an original member some years ago, and Dudko and Dvoryashin being newer members on saxophone and percussion/samples, respectively, adding new musical voices to yield the current larger ensemble.

So with the vinyl reissue, I can now take a fresh look at Nodo as a “new” release, even with an older lineup. OK, I’m still working from the digital files, because I don’t have a vinyl copy in front of me. Sadly, my turntable is not even hooked up to anything at the moment (I need a new mat for it anyhow). I can at least tell you that the vinyl album includes only five of the six tracks included in the digital version, leaving off the superlong Asteroid Masterpeace (clocking in at 17 1/2 minutes) by necessity. But then if my information (via discogs.com) is correct, the vinyl Nodo includes slightly longer edits of four of the other tracks, roughly an extra minute each, making it a 44-minute album. And then it’s still possible to get the missing track in digital form with ease via the Bandcamp site, here: http://atomicsimao.bandcamp.com/track/asteroid-masterpeace

Nodo opens on arguably its highest note with Voodoo Chillum, an 11-minute freaky feast for the ears. The similarity of this title with that of a certain famous old Jimi Hendrix tune is not coincidental, as roughly three minutes in, we first start to hear the famous Voodoo Chile riff gently inserted in the left channel, though slowed down considerably. Meanwhile, awesome freak-out style guitar histrionics are going on in the right channel, meaning that this is not a true cover of the song, only an instrumental jam borrowing that one signature riff. Some quieter passages highlighted by heavier fuzzed-out bass guitar are interspersed later in the epic track. Stoned & Spontaneous is moved up in track order to fill out the rest of Side A with a similar length. Starting out as a mid-tempo jamming piece with echoey guitar in left channel, it picks up briefly in mid-tune with more urgency. It features a steady rhythm-backing throughout, and hosts a cool mix of psychy sounds; a swirling mass of sonic buzzes, bleeps and blares.

Do What You Do is a slowish, grungier, more chaotic, piece overlaying chugging riffs in the left channel with really nice Hendrixy soloing in right channel and more wild synth f/X. Beauty Does Not Belong To Anything starts out as more downtempo, textural stuff, and then gradually picks up pace, offering up a mix of jangle guitar and psychy fuzz guitar. The 8-minute (plus) Dancing Emptiness wraps up the vinyl reissue version, a mix of groovy rhythms, noises, sporadic guitar noodly bits, etc. It has an unfinished jam feel, more sound collage than true song, perhaps even qualifies as musique concrete. For me, Atomic Simao was a purely serendipitous find on Bandcamp via an ordinary keyword search on a certain combination of terms (such as “space,” “psych” or “krautrock”), as I often do to discover new bands. It doesn’t often lead to a major discovery, but every once in a while, a real gem comes out of nowhere to surprise me. Atomic Simao is such a band.

While the impressive debut Nodo comes across like a 45-rpm Acid Mothers Temple record accidentally played at 33 rpm (i.e., same freak-out style, less frantic pace), the sophomore recording Sphyro is (dare I say it?) more polished and groove-oriented. I won’t include a full review here for the sake of brevity, but with a total of 15 tracks, there are many more ideas presented here in shorter form. A few new voices have been added, including Dima Dudko on saxophone and a couple of tracks with some limited vocal parts of the chant style, but no actual lyrical lines. Both Korai Orom and the Ozrics (when John Egan “fronted” the band) have had similar vocalizations over otherwise-instrumental tracks, so then Sphyro tends in this direction and a bit away from the Hendrix/AMT-ethic of Nodo. Usually, I prefer the latter hypno-groove rock to psych freak-out stuff, but I think Nodo is actually the better album by a small margin. That said, the two long jams (“13″ and “I Know Cause You Know”) are really growing on me, and are actually more polished and impressive musical works. Fans of Korai Orom and the San Francisco jazz-krautrock jam band Mushroom would dig this stuff for sure. Though you really needn’t take my word for it… you can head over to Bandcamp (atomicsimao.bandcamp.com) anytime, and check them out for yourself. Jora tells me that Sphyro is slated for release soon on CD, and perhaps vinyl thereafter, so look out for that.

Back in May of 2014, Atomic Simao travelled to the Russian capital to participate in the Moscow Psych Fest with other noteworthy regional acts such as Vespero and Polska Radio One. A compilation album of tracks was organized to promote the event, and Atomic Simao contributed two songs, one a previously unreleased recording entitled Awakening, which you can also hear at their Bandcamp site. Jora tells me an additional track called Sleepy Meadows was recorded at the same time and is awaiting future release.

The band is currently planning their third studio release and doing concerts here and there. While we wait for that, you can (and should) hear one of their concerts (Live at GogolBARdello) at their SoundCloud page, here: soundcloud.com/atomic_simao

OK, without further ado, here is my E-nterview with Jora Valchuk (drums), Dima Dudko (sax), and Ray Listratenko (guitar) of Atomic Simao (Kiev, Ukraine). Of course, Ray is not currently playing with the band, but was a major player on the Nodo and Sphyro recordings and they may collaborate more in the future when circumstances allow. And he and Dima were kind enough to add their voices to my virtual conversation with founder/drummer Jora to help round out this interview portion.

Aural Innovations (AI): Atomic Simao is an interesting name. What does it mean? Simao looks Portuguese to me, in fact there’s a well-known soccer player with that name. Coincidence?

Jora Valchuk (JV): Partially coincidence. Simao is really the surname of a Portuguese football player. I’m not really a fan of his talent. He’s just a good player who once upon a time even played for FC Barcelona, but regardless of that I just love his surname, that’s all So the name is just two words that sound nice together.

AI: How did the band start? Did you all come from other bands?

JV: I was dreaming about starting a band while I was playing as a percussionist in a band called “DoZa”. I was looking for musicians to play experimental music without any borders. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. There were a lot of jams in the garage with different people without any idea of what it’s gonna be in the end. But one day we had a gig in Kharkiv and some of our members couldn’t come and so we spontaneously asked Artyom to play with us on guitar. He was playing at that concert with his band Janovsky featuring Givotnoe. And he agreed to play. After that gig we found a lot of common musical things between us and we decided to collaborate with each other in spite of living in two different cities (Kharkiv and Kiev). So the first Atomic Simao line-up was: Artyom – guitar; Jora -drums; Vova – electronica; Andrey – guitar loop.

Ray Listratenko (RL): We all came from different bands. As for me I was playing in rock group called The Wind. We played acoustic ballads and new-age themes. That then transformed into electric psychedelic rock. Now I am deeply involved in loop technology. Discovering more space in hidden melodies.

Dima Dudko (DD): As for me, I was at the first Atomic Simao gig as a listener. And later after a rehearsal with the band called DoZa (who I played with then), I dropped by another concert by Simao. There we jammed and I was invited.

AI: Did you have similar musical background, or more diversity? What other styles were involved? Did you have formal music training in school, or are you all self-taught?

DD: Some styles and bands we like are in common. We played a lot together with Jora and Bart before Simao. There were some common bands we played in. Later, the sax brought some jazzy notes into stoned Nodo-style Simao music That was after Nodo. I think we can call ourselves self-taught.

JV: We all have very different musical backgrounds. As for me I am self-taught drummer and was raised and influenced on break-beat and acid-jazz music. I think everyone brings a unique part of himself into our sound. Maybe this is a recipe!

RL: When I was a kid, my parents took me to a musical school to study accordion. I remember I was crying, begging them to stop torturing me

AI: To my ears, it seems like many of your songs must have started out as freeform jamming. Is that accurate, or are your songs more composed than that?

JV: Our first two albums we’re totally free-jamming music. But now we’re in process to release new material with new members. Third album will be more structured. A lot of drive-y funky space music with trippy saxophone sauce! It will be more organized and very diverse in comparison with our first albums.

DD: Even if some of them are actually composed beforehand, such a composing process is still a kind of jam-like type.

AI: Do you record “live” all at once in the studio, or through overdubbing to a rhythm track?

JV: It comes spontaneously. Totally improvised stuff. I can compare it with the “catch a wave” feeling, when everybody feels each other without a glance. But yes, we make overdubs when it’s necessary, for example, some band members re-recorded almost all their parts when we all came back to Kiev after the Kharkiv trip to record at Driben Indie Records.

DD: I like the approach of combining these two methods. That’s about us [in a nutshell].

RL: To record “live” all at once takes a special state of mind amongst all of the bandmates. You are not able to explain to everybody how he might sound or what to play next. The truth is you have it or you don’t have it. Personally I felt such an inspiration for only the second time in my whole life thanks to all the people who took part there. I think it’s pure magic.

AI: Between your two guitarists on Nodo, Artyom and Ray, it seems like you have a nice mixture of textural stylings and/or circular guitar licks combined with freak-out echo-guitar soloing a la Hendrix or Acid Mothers Temple. Have they been playing together for a long time, and how has their “chemistry” as a unit evolved?

JV: Artyom and Ray played before together and they also have a psychedelic/ambient/space-rock project called ‘RayJa Expedition.’ I think they perfectly complementary each other. You can find it in VK [the “Russian Facebook”] at http://vk.com/rayjaexpedition

RL: Artyom is the most comfortable guitar player I ever played with! You can improvise with him almost on the go and it all transforms into a beautiful melody.

AI: Now you’ve added saxophone to the mix, with the addition of Dima, so there’s even a new lead instrument involved. How does everyone now combine their various riffs and solos without “stepping over” one another, so to speak? How does everyone communicate their intentions to each other when playing either in studio, or on stage, and how do you and the bassists adjust to what they’re doing?

DD: Usually I try to solve this problem due to my habit of listening to the soloists in the band while I’m on the stage/rehearsal/studio. If there’s a place for me at the moment I play. Let’s say that instruments in the band are voices, then sometimes I get a chance to take part in some kind of a dialogue (Q&A for example) or play the same phrase/melody with the guitarist for example, even when it’s getting really loud and messy and it seems that there’s no place for an additional instrument. But sometimes it’s possible to get carried away and to forget about others It happens. The two guitars plus sax period was tough But there were more possibilities and variety. Sphyro is a good example.

RL: When you play such kind of music you can always feel when there is time to step in and when it is time to support somebody who struggles while soloing

JV: The main thing is to listen to each other and then you’ll have a chance that it’s gonna be music, not sonic-gibberish. I think that the saxophone added a lot to our music. Now we have a sound very similar to sex between psychedelic and jazz music!

AI: I hear you will soon re-release your first album on vinyl in Greece [now available!]. Is the recent trend back towards vinyl amongst underground bands also present in the Ukraine as it is elsewhere?

DD: I think so, yes. Because a couple of underground bands I know in Ukraine are also getting vinyls released lately.

JV: I can remember The Crawls. They released their album with Nasoni Records on vinyl. But it’s not a trend for the Ukrainian scene. It’s more like a pleasant surprise.

AI: How did you end up recording your albums at the studio in Kharkiv?

DD: It began with our Kharkiv fellows and I guess the reason was that this studio was a kind of popular place to record. In addition, some very popular Ukrainian performers were their clients. Then the place itself is interesting and cozy Interiors, animals, etc.

AI: Have you been able to put together traveling tours outside of Kiev, or are you mainly focused on doing individual shows and festivals here and there around the capital?

JV: We had a lot of gigs in Kiev and played shows in Kharkiv, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy. Also took part at Moscow Psych Festival in Russia, and had a gig in the famous St. Petersburg club ‘Griboedoff.’ And had two shows in Gomel, Belarus. Now we have plans to arrange our first European tour.

AI: How is the climate right now in Ukraine for underground (specifically psychedelic) music of this nature?

JV: I’ve discovered some good bands for last two years. Such as The Curse of Wendigo, Somali Yacht Club, Dreadnought, In Submarine, RayJa Expedition. A lot of talented people here in Ukraine we haven’t heard yet, but we will!

DD: I think even psychedelic-like bands can be found in most of the large and medium cities here. Especially ones where different styles of music can be combined and associated with psychedelia. And overall, underground music I’m sure is widespread in every place throughout Ukraine

AI: When we first made contact, the political situation in Ukraine just involved street protests there in Kiev. Since then, of course, it turned into a real “hot” war for control in the east. How has this turmoil affected your daily lives, and what impact has it had on continuing the band? Has there actually been anything good come of the whole tragic situation?

DD: Thank God we are all alive and got the opportunity to go on with our music. Some of our current and former bandmates were rooting for the protests and some were against that. And some of us even managed not to quarrel about that and maintain normal relations between us. We were meeting different people in the eastern cities when we were on tour in the spring there. There were different points of view, but everywhere we met a community that was good to us and enjoyed our music. Even in Moscow in the end of spring we were met with hospitality at our gig. People wanted to hear us there for a long time. We met our fans, friends and relatives there. We wished peace to everybody from the stage. Those were good moments.

AI: Sun In Everyone is a track on your newest album, Sphyro, and you [Jora] sometimes use the pseudonym Sun Everyone for yourself (as you are credited on the Nodo album liner notes). Is this a concept that is important for your views on life, or anything spiritually?

JV: No it’s not The dudes decided to name a song similar to my ‘vk’ account nickname. The truth is that these words belong to Socrates: “Sun is in everyone. Just let it shine.”

DD: That track is one of my favourites. We thought the name was very appropriate and fitting A warm track and sunny sound plus a bit of philosophy.

AI: Where do you see the band heading in the near future? Have you thought of adding actual vocals, with written lyrics to some songs, or will you stay primarily instrumental?

DD: The sound of the third album will be different. A couple of other members added and yes, a tiny bit of vocal phrases.

JV: We added vocal partially to our third album, which we’re hoping to release in March-April, 2015!

AI: Do you have hopes of making the band truly a financial success, or are you in it mainly for the artistic expression and creative outlet?

JV: Of course it would be nice! But it’s not the main thing for me. We love the way we exist, the way we create our music, the way we joke about our music. These things really make me happy !

DD: Financial success is actually not the goal, but who knows

Stream and download Atomic Simao’s albums at: http://atomicsimao.bandcamp.com

The vinyl edition of Nodo is available at the Atomic Simao Bandcamp site and through Cosmic Eye Records at: http://cosmiceyerecords.blogspot.com

Review and interview by Keith Henderson

Happy New Year!!!

Jerry Kranitz (in NO particular order)

Ax Genrich & Band – In A World Of Dinosaurs
The Guru Guru, Krautrock pioneering guitar master is still at large and still the master. For me, this was THE guitar album of 2014.

Chrome – Feel It Like A Scientist
Helios Creed is back with a new Chrome lineup! It Rocks, it’s awesome, I want a U.S. tour!!

Oresund Space Collective – Damo Suzuki moder OSC / Music for Pogonologists
I’ve got two of their releases from the past year in my Best of list. OSC continue to go in at least a little different direction with each new performance. For all improvised, instrumental Space Rock, these guys are among the best on the contemporary scene.

The Timelords – Convergence
Kick ass Hawkwind inspired Space Rock. Nuff said…

Xoo – Tales From A Red Planet
Xoo do a great job of blending Hawkwind styled Space Rock with Progressive Rock influences and good old rock ‘n’ roll with catchy melodies. And it’s a CONCEPT album about a colonized Mars in the year 2073.

Polska Radio One – Cosmos Inside
Outstanding and varied set of music from this Russian band who are Psychedelic but can be completely spaced out, and they liberally apply 60s influences without in any way being retro.

Omenopus – The Archives
This concept album is an epic in every sense of the word, continually shifting between music, song, spoken word sections, and loads of effects, making for a genuine sci-fi space rock tale. Hawkwind meets Goth-Metal and more!

Electric Moon – Mind Explosion / Electric Moon – Innside Outside
Another band that I had to include two of their 2014 releases in my Best of list. For long freeform magic carpet ride Space-Psych jams, these guys are the masters.

Census of Hallucinations – The Nine / Imagine John Lennon
And ANOTHER band that I included both their 2014 releases. Piloted by musicians that have been at it for over 40 years, Census of Hallucinations have been evolving their unique brand of Space/Psych/Prog since their debut in 2000.

Tor-Peders – Brev Fran Ederstorp
This Swedish band recorded what for me is as glorious a retro experience as any early 70s Prog-Psych junkie could hope for. Space Rock, Prog-Psych/Krautrock explorations, twin guitar and organ, Surf-Psych… I love it.

Astralasia – Wind On Water
Astralasia are really indulging their inner Space/Kraut rockers on this outing. Not the Trance/Dub/Techno you might expect.

The Diaphanoids – LSME
This Italian duo play a craftily constructed and absolutely brain frying blend of Trance, Acid-Psych, 70s Krautrock and Space Rock.

EYE – Second Sight
Absolutely freakin’ MONSTROUS early 70s inspired Space/Psych/Prog/Hard Rock from this Columbus, Ohio band. This is THE retro experience of the year!

Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart – Make Believe It Real
Don Falcone’s on-going multiple collaboration Spirits Burning project never disappoints and is always fun for the roster of contributors. Bridget Wishart is a regular but this is the third outing in which she is co-credited. A killer cauldron of Space/Psych/Prog.

Earthling Society – England Have My Bones
For their tenth anniversary release, Earthling Society continue to draw inspiration from the pioneering German Krautrock bands, 60s Psychedelia, Jazz, the blanga of Hawkwind, and more, without ever sounding retro and, yes, still sounding like Earthling Society. These guys are keeping Space Rock interesting, stimulating and fresh.

Civilian Zen – Tell Lie Vision
The best from these guys yet. Influences run the gamut from Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree circa Sky Moves Sideways, Space Prog, Space Blues, and more.

Spaceseed – The Fraternal Order Of
The Georgia based good ‘ol boys of Space Rock pull a stunner with this set of heavy driving Hawkwind inspired Space Rock, Space Metal, Punk Industrial Rock n Roll, Space Folk, and a stellar cast of guests including Bridget Wishart, Cyndee Lee Rule, Alisa Coral, Steve Hayes, and Astro Al.

3rd Ear Experience – Incredible Good Fortune
Killer instrumental Space Rock that’s like Hawkwind, The Spacious Mind and Ozric Tentacles all rolled into one and given a solid 70s Hard Rock backbone and a healthy dose of Prog Rock.

ST 37 – I’m Not Good
These Space-Psych-Punk veterans from Austin are still going strong and still cranking out killer albums. A smoker from start to finish.

Mooch – Mrs Silbury’s Delicious Mushroom Flavoured Biscuits
Mrs Silbury features Mooch at their space rocking best, as ship commander Steve Palmer employs a monster cast, including Bridget Wishart, Gary “Moonboot” Masters, Cyndee Lee Rule, Jez Creek, and Alex Pym.

Christian Mumford

2014 saw many great albums released by new and old artists, echoes of future past as we journey into 2015…. so here is my Top 20 so far… gotta say the biggest disappointment was Mayhem’s “Esoteric Warfare” CD… yucky old whispering Attilla and his industrial sounding cohorts do not match the old band with Dead or Maniac on vocals… so forget all that krap and krank up the spacerock… in no particular order:

Pink Floyd – The Endless River
Mainly being a Syd era fan up to about Meddle and DSOTM era, aside from all the people decrying Guilmore as jerking off all over, i found it rather accessible and laid back, melodic, being culled from demo material 20 years ago, it harkens to the early 70s for me… likey (with reservations!!!).

Krankschaft – Three
Steve Pond carries the ICU/Calvert band on with robotic corporate intergalactic warfare and EMI era Hawkwind sound. Its a great album to get in galactic fist fights with as a kranky and rusty old droid warrior, the CD is a lavish affair with lots of goodies.

IQ – The Road Of Bones
Better neo prog than most bands of this style still around, i am traditionally more Fish era Marillion and Twelfth Night fandom as regards the genre, IQ being abit “pretty” back in the 80s for me. But the new album is pretty damn great.

The Legendary Pink Dots – 10 To The Power Of 9
Dots return with a very strong effort, the epic krautrock industrial noise affair this album is, with some great lyrical content unheard since the 90s era to me, anyway. Buy or die!

Edward Ka-Spel – The Victoria Dimension
Steampunk darkwave dystopia about mining towns and dark towers harkens back to 80s LPDs era like “Asylum” and “The Tower” and Edward’s “China Doll” albums. Very strange and Barrettesque lo key beatnik ramblings with a nod to darker times.

Edward Ka-Spel & Philippe Petit – Planet Earth, Are You Recieving Us!?
Very sleek synth thrashing in the analogue galaxies of deep space and beyond, Edward delivering some exotic space poetry and whatnot in the best Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind skool of space rock, lovely effort.

Gong – I See You
Allen’s latest and final Gong album brims with rebellion and hippie protest anarcho philosophy for the modern age – buy and say good bye to this band of merry Pothead Pixies!

Monster Magnet – Milking The Stars
A sort of re boot / re mix of “Last Patrol” from last year i really enjoyed with its nod to 60s garage rock and Stooges and Hawkwind as usual.

Orange Goblin – Back From The Abyss
New era of new galaxies – these drinking trippers deserve a mention for a solid yet slightly obscure album!

Fu Manchu – Gigantoid
Scott Hill and his crew of stoners map out new territory of Foo Fightin inhalations and hallucinations – not their best but still pretty decent.

Pendragon – Men Who Climb Mountains
This band has been pretty good in the new millenium, especially 2005’s “Believe” struck a chord in me. This latest CD is more neo prog goodness with deeper going lyrics than most of their ilk.

ST 37 – I’m Not Good
This Texas band of space rawk noisemakers have been around forever it seems, and this Cleo label effort seems to be their strongest in a looong time. Plus I had some artwork in the CD booklet so root for that as well!

Peter Hammill – …all that might have been…
I got the 3CD box just upon its release and it is prime Hammill for all VdGG liking souls still starving for ethereal art music and the sounds of a shrill screaming vocalist from England’s finer schools of prog.

Oresund Space Collective – OSC moder Damo Suzuki
3-LP set with the danish improv space rockers and Can’s Damo Suzuki. Its urban krautrock and pretty damn edgy, makes the jazz interest in me either succumb to metal or punk side of things. All improvised goodness!

Hawklords – Censored
The merry band of ex-Hawks just get better and better and the 3rd effort is the best yet. Ron Tree shines, Jerry Richards and Harvey Bainbridge being other shiny Hawks!

Steve Rothery – The Ghosts Of Pripryat
With guests like Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett, the Marillion guitarist weaves some work unheard since his days in Marillion ca. “Misplaced Childhood”. It is a likeable guitar album overall.

Secret Saucer – Nachvollziehens
A remix and live album of sorts, the spacerock supergroup have another go at the older reportoire with renewed energy, including Steve Bemand (TOSH, Timelords, Hawkwind)’s stellar guitarwork!

The Legendary Pink Dots – Chemical Playschool 16+18
A lavish double CD-R chock full of psychedelic dots, overall file under “mystical shit”. And Edward traverses aural experiments in a low key dreampop fashion.

Marillion – Live At The Forum 11/12/14
A nice double christmas treat recorded in London 11. December, its a wondrous mix of new and old Marillion for the holidays. The best of the past few years Racket releases.

Dr. Hasbeen – Infinite Paradox
More Hawkwind inspired spacerock from this crew. Know what to expect! Comes in a great digipack its a lovely litte album, though nothing groundbreaking.

BEST LIVE CONCERT 2014
Seeing Hawkwind TWICE in Norway, in Drammen in January and Oslo in September. I met Tim Blake in Drammen, outside, and that was the best of the two shows. JOY!

Musical discoveries for me in 2014
Vibravoid, Shiny Gnomes, Napalm Death, & King Diamond / Mercyful Fate

Jeff Fitzgerald

3rd Ear Experience – Incredible Good Fortune

Annot Rhul – Leviathan

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr – Spiralo

Juke – The Chimera’s Tale

La Piramide di Sangue – Sette

Lumerians – Transmissions from Telos Vol. III

Margin – Psychedelic Teatime

Plank – Aphidelity

Polska Radio One – Cosmos Inside

Radar Men from the Moon – Strange Wave Galore

The Green Tambourine Band -Let Yourself Be – Aum

Secret Saucer – Nachvollziehens

Solar Project – Aquarmada

Spacebandits – Anti Matters

The Diaphanoids – LSME

The Grand Astoria – La Belle Epoque

The Lay Llamas – Ostro

The Main Sequence – The Main Sequence

Wax Fang – The Astronaut

White Manna – Come Down Safari

Keith Henderson

Out of 114 (!) candidates I heard this year in the space-/psych-/stoner-/kraut-/post-rock realm, my Top 30 (original, full-length) releases of 2014 are as follows:

1. 3rd Ear Experience (US) – Incredible Good Fortune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDRAflD9ut8

2. Space Invaders (Germany) & Nik Turner (UK) – Sonic Noise Opera
http://space-invaders.bandcamp.com/album/sonic-noise-opera

3. Camera (Germany) – Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide
https://soundcloud.com/bureau-1/sets/camera-remember-i-was-carbon

4. The Spacelords (Germany) – Synapse
http://thespacelords1.bandcamp.com/releases

5. Sleepin Pillow (Greece) – The World Is Over…
http://smashrecordsgreece.bandcamp.com/album/this-world-is-over

6. Barrows (US) – Red Giant
http://barrowstheband.bandcamp.com/album/red-giant

7. Eye (US) – Live At Relay (B-side new material), plus Second Sight (end 2013)
http://eyemusic.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-relay

8. Yuri Gagarin (Sweden) – Yuri Gagarin
https://yurigagarinswe.bandcamp.com/album/yuri-gagarin-2014-remix

9. ST 37 (US) – I’m Not Good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtX1fkZHjvc

10. Gong (Australia) – I See You
http://www.planetgong.co.uk/bazaar/cd/iseeyou.shtml

11. Deep Space Destructors (Finland) – III
http://deepspacedestructors.bandcamp.com/album/iii

12. sleepmakeswaves (Australia) – Love Of Cartography
http://sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com/album/love-of-cartography

13. Polska Radio One (Russia) – Kholodnoe Solntse (Cold Sun), plus Volga & Severnaya Yagoda singles
http://polskaradioone.bandcamp.com/album/

14. Annot Rhül (Norway) – Leviathan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZKNSacTd6Q

15. Papir (Denmark) – IIII
https://soundcloud.com/elparaiso/papir-iiii-i

16. Eloy (Germany) – Reincarnation On Stage (Live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DFyaBflg0k

17. La Hell Gang (Chile) – Thru’ Me Again
http://lahellgang.bandcamp.com/album/thru-me-again-lp-2014

18. White Manna (US) – Live Frequencies
http://whitemanna.bandcamp.com/album/live-frequencies

19. Black Moon Circle (formerly Perandg) (Norway) – Andromeda
http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com/album/andromeda

20. My Brother The Wind (Sweden) – Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One
http://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/once-there-was-a-time-when-time-and-space-were-one

21. Oresund Space Collective (Denmark) – Music For Pogonologists
http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-pogonologists

22. Vespero (Russia) – Cello Liventures
http://raig.bandcamp.com/album/vespero-cello-liventures-in-memory-of-vladimir-belov

23. This Is Nowhere (Greece) – Turn On, Tune Down, Drop D
http://thisisnowhere.bandcamp.com/releases

24. Ziguri (Germany) – Kölsch/Schickert/Erdenreich
https://soundcloud.com/bureau-1/sets/ziguri-k-lsch-schickert

25. Cobracalia (US) – Cobracalia
https://soundcloud.com/slowburn-records/cobracalia-dandyloin

26. Spiralmaze (Greece) – Back To The Center
http://spiralmaze.bandcamp.com

27. Radar Men From The Moon (Netherlands) – Strange Wave Galore
http://radarmenfromthemoon.bandcamp.com/album/strange-wave-galore

28. Keepers Brew (UK) – Astrolabe
http://keepersbrew.bandcamp.com

29. Fever Dog (US) – Second Wind
https://feverdog.bandcamp.com/album/second-wind

30. La Piramide di Sangue (Italy) – Sette
http://boringmachines.bandcamp.com/album/la-piramide-di-sangue-sette

Archival Reissue Of The Year
Cave (US) – Release (collection of singles & rarities from ’08-’12)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqzLeLKOpnE

Unreleased Recordings Of The Year
Thunderbolt Pagoda (ex-Skye Klad/Salamander) (US) – potential third album material
http://thunderboltpagoda.tumblr.com/archive (click on various purple squares from May-October 2014)

Album Cover Of The Year
Virgen Sideral (Peru) – Virgen Sideral
http://godrecordsgardenofdreams.bandcamp.com/album/virgen-sideral-st

Recent Return From Long Hiatus
SIANspheric (Canada)
http://bandcamp.sianspheric.com/album/the-owl

Tribute Album Of The Year
V/A – A Momentary Lapse Of Vinyl (Fruits de Mer 2xCD, to Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd)
http://mechanik.bandcamp.com/track/remember-a-day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_tb_-pZOvg
http://simiancrease.bandcamp.com/track/bike-featuring-jim-jenkin-andy-gay-rex-sunmoon

Special note of those bands releasing worthy albums in 2013 that I did not hear until 2014, including Deep Space (selected material reissued nicely in 2014 by Sulatron), the aforementioned Eye’s second studio, Black Rainbows, Causa Sui, Fairuz Derin Bulut, Anjo Gabriel, Föllakzoid, New Keepers Of The Water Towers, the first Polska Radio One, etc.

Amongst Myselves is the solo project of Australian composer and musician Steve Roberts and The Past Is Another Country is his 7th album since 1999.

This is Space-Ambient music that requires attentive listening to fully absorb, yet at the same time has a subliminal quality that performs mind massage while planting imagery in the listener’s brain. In my case this ranged from lone man in the bowels of the spacecraft scenes to darkly atmospheric drifting through pitch black space. If it’s true that in space no one can hear you scream, then the lightly symphonic rumbling drones and slowly sweeping soundscape waves certainly paint a sonic portrait of what the experience of being there might be like. The music can also be peacefully majestic and uplifting, like an angelic drift toward the event horizon of a black hole. Who could imagine that the point of no return could be so blissful? Dark Places, Winter Shadows is one of my favorite tracks. It retains the deep space character of the album while incorporating phantasmal voices, ghostly harmonies, the sounds of nature, a needle spinning around the end of an LP side, and dark orchestral drama, as if we were traversing across multiple dimensions that intertwine with the living and spectral worlds. Cave Of The Swimmers goes in a slightly different direction and is one of the most quietly understated pieces, suggesting cosmic drama in some alien environment where the ambience provides the underlying drive for a succession of singular pulsations, waves, rushing wind, and percussive clatter. The Day The Crickets Listened surprised me by getting downright musical, with guitar plucking and strumming a pleasant melody surrounded by bubbling space symphonics, drones and soundscapes to create a kind of Ambient Space-Prog excursion.

I noticed in the promo sheet that Roberts’ intention with this album is to focus on experimental landscapes and leave the more melodic pieces behind, and indeed that is largely what the music on The Past Is Another Country is about. In short, headphones and surrender are the way to experience and enjoy this 60 minutes of Space-Ambient bliss.

For more information visit the Amongst Myselves web site at: http://www.amongstmyselves.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Homemade music veteran Bret Hart’s December Sketches is a collection of loop experimentation tunes where he uses a pedalboard configuration to send his instruments and electronics before being fed into the looper.

I like the quirky yet nonetheless seamless flow of Graham Crackers, as Bret plays melodic leads to the various looped patterns which include machine-like crunches, off-kilter stabs of notes, and other sundry sounds. LALALALALA sounds at first like an outtake from a late 70s Residents’ album played at a nicely drugged half speed. The strange La-La-La’ing voices give it much of the Residents feel, and added to that are sludgy stoned bass (or guitar), freaky guitar licks that sounds like Mike Radledge Soft Machine keys, and it’s all anchored by dosed percussion. This is fucked up Psychedelic surrealism clunking along at a chaotically measured slow motion pace and seriously messin’ with your head. Working the Oracle kicks off with high intensity yet atmospheric blasts of sound, devolving into a chaotic symphony of harmoniously out of sync Psych guitars, some noisily harsh and others noisily melodic. Another Graham Cracker once again finds that oddball balance between eardrum searing harshness and pleasant melody. I like the multiple guitar leads, all of which have a different sound, all to varying degrees being noise infused acidic, and drifting along at a clunky dope flowing pace. Fuzzy Sketch of Tulips is a melodic, whimsical, and lysergically surreal tune. Debutante Comes Out lays down incessantly repetitive electronic blasts that sound like we’re in Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory. Bret starts playing the riff to the Beatles’ Day Tripper, zoning and jamming at the same drugged drifting pace that characterizes most of these tunes. One of the leads has a beautifully sing-song but sporadically acid damaged quality that feels like Fripp meets Hendrix on the Star Spangled Banner, making for another symphony of freaky brain fuckedness. Its fer what ails ya. Finally, PorcuPie Ala Mode sounds like Captain Beefheart styled Blues played by Psychedelic Industrial Stoner Noise artists from space.

It’s creatively crazy stuff and if you’ve read this far then get ye forth quickly to Bret’s Soundcloud page where you can hear it all for yourself.

Stream and download December Sketches at: https://soundcloud.com/bretharoldhart/sets/december-sketches
Click the Vimeo link in the top-right corner of the Soundcloud page to see a video of Bret explaining the pedal board he used.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

The excellent German label Clostridium Records has released a nifty split album featuring Lamp Of The Universe and an Italian one-man project I’ve never heard of called Trip Hill. Trip Hill is headed up by Fabrizio Cecchi, who according to discogs.com has sporadically released albums as Trip Hill since 1998.

Clostridium have championed Lamp Of The Universe since the label’s inception, having begun by reissuing the two out of print debut Lamp albums from 2001 and 2002, and have made new material available since. Lamp Of The Universe is a solo project from New Zealand based multi-instrumentalist Craig Williamson who has also been in the heavy rock bands Datura and Arc of Ascent. The Lamp contribution to this split is a nearly 22 minute epic titled Domain Of The Buddha. I see in the credits the track is from 2006. I checked all my Lamp albums and Googled it and this apparently has never been released before and it blows my mind that Craig would have sat on it all these years because it’s a stunner. A gently narcotic drone wave sweeps the listener through space as a mesmerizing flute plays its lovely melody, liquid acid guitar pulsates, the sitar lightly drones, tripped out effects bubble and shimmer, and Craig’s delicate vocals play shaman guide for this trance inducing journey. Every Psychedelic cliché that any writer has ever come up with absolutely, totally, appropriately applies here.

After a noisy intro we learn why Trip Hill makes such a good pairing for Lamp Of The Universe. Bright Spring starts off sounding like Syd-era Floyd with sitar and freaky electronic effects and then develops into an intense acid rocker. Actually the effects have a strange rhythm that brings to mind the feel of the jug in the 13th Floor Elevators. Raining Metallic Mushroom is a cool tune that combines trippy Eastern influenced Psych with a strange kind of traditional music feel, and punctuates it all with punchy acid guitar leads. I Need Someone is a cool grooving and hard rocking Psych song with spaced out electronic effects and blazing wah guitar. And Driving Over The Rainbow sounds a like a melodic drone blend of West Coast Psych and the Beatles at their trippiest. I’d like to hear more of Cecchi’s work.

The album is available in both CD and LP editions. Vinyl junkies should check the Clostridium web site for three tasty options.

For more information visit the Clostridium Records web site at: http://www.clostridiumrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

If, Bwana is the long lived project of Al Margolis, revered by many homemade musicians as the godfather of American cassette culture. Margolis’ Sound of Pig label (which later morphed into Pogus Productions) was a showcase for many experimental music artists throughout the 1980s-90s.

Tibetan Belles consists of 10 tracks, some recorded in the studio and some in various live performances. The 10 minute title track is a powerful opener, being a sparse yet compelling solo bells performance. The highlights are the extended fades after the bells are struck, as they ring, oscillate, and impose a hypnotically commanding presence in the listener’s brain. With the headphones on at low volume, the ringing of these bells are a simultaneously hypnotic and unsettling experience, being beautifully and effectively recorded. Margolis is equally spare with a Casio sound exploration, recalling an electronic experimentation from the 60s as he accentuates various bleeps, blurps and sundry sci-fi sounds. Ditto for the Roland Micro Composer piece which is like an old time electronic music demonstration, creating a grab bag of retro 50s movie soundtrack effects and alien sine waves which worked on my brain much as the bells did. This theme continues on the guitar synth and Moog Rogue tracks. I never would have guessed the instrument was a guitar synth, making the whirling, whistling and howling sci-fi sounds all the more entrancing, and conjuring up some Louis and Bebe Barron electronic master class, or late 60s World’s Fair World Of Tomorrow exhibit on the Rogue track. Margolis also manipulates conventional instruments, including noisily caressing violin and some interesting spluttering trumpet sounds.

What makes Tibetan Belles such a provocative listen is the recording quality, which is excellent and puts singular focus on the sounds, making the experience feel like being the sole audience member during a sensory deprivation tank performance. Even the Lodge track, which is clearly live, sounds good.

To purchase the CDR version of Tibetan Belles visit the information packed Haltapes web site at: http://www.haltapes.com
Stream and download at the Haltapes Bandcamp site at: http://halmcgee.bandcamp.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

A.J. Kaufmann – “Stoned Gypsy Wanderer” (Kendra Steiner Editions 2014, CDR/DL)

I was introduced to the music of Polish musician, songwriter and poet A.J. Kaufmann in 2013 through Sauer Adler, his duo project with Kacper Wojaczek. I was impressed with their lo-fi yet rich and robust brand of 60s inspired Psychedelia, Prog-Psych and Folk-Psych, and their The Trips and Dreams of Stephen Adler album released earlier this year demonstrated a knack for fine songwriting and impressive instrumental arrangements.

A.J. recently sent me a package including his first solo album, the 2011 vinyl LP released Second Hand Man, several of his poetry chapbooks, and his latest album, Stoned Gypsy Wanderer. Both albums feature outstanding artwork by Justin Jackley, an Austin, Texas based artist whose work I’ve become increasingly familiar with over the past year (check him out at justinjackley.com)

A.J. currently has 15 albums available on his Bandcamp site, featuring music that ranges from stripped down Folk to music that is not unlike Sauer Adler, and Stoned Gypsy Wanderer will surely appeal to Sauer Adler fans. Like Sauer Adler, A.J.’s music has a lo-fi homemade feel, but he does so much with the tools at his disposal.

Several of the album’s 14 songs have a vocals and acoustic guitar driven acid-minstrel quality that reminds me of the Bevis Frond, though like Nik Saloman, A.J. has his own sound. Representative tunes include Amaranth Blues and the title track, plus the majestic C.O.K.E., with its screaming guitar, and I love the trippy, mind-bending effects that augment This is Not New York and Slavia Nova. There’s lot of variety too. I love the jangly yet endearingly dissonant Folk-Psych of Berger. Crown Of Things is a darkly Gothic, droning Acid-Pop song with lysergic guitar lines that weave a snake-like trail amongst the catchy melody. Wine Of Rape is a hauntingly seductive slab of Psychedelic Prog-Pop, with organ, piano and orchestration. There are also songs with a high energy rocking feel, and even some that are whimsically fun. Still Within gushes with spirited Psych infused Folk Rock and ripping electric guitar fills. A.J. goes totally trippy on the equally energetic Whispering Egypt, with its wildly wah’d freak guitar, haunting organ and spaced out mesmerizing vibe. I like the lively, Celtic tinged Veil Of Isis and the bouncy In a Blue and Violet Morning. Iceberg has a stoned, trippy, carnival-like rhythmic pulse, horn section, and jabbing keyboard notes. And Operation is the most different track of the set, having a quirky New Wav-ish rocking feel that reminded me of an early 80s Bill Nelson song. Stoned Gypsy Wanderer is a captivating set of songs which mine the Psychedelic, Folk and Prog realms and are then stamped with A.J.’s own personal touch.

Wanting to know more about A.J. and his background I conducted the following interview by email…

Aural Innovations (AI): Looking at the dates of the many albums available at Bandcamp it looks like you’ve been recording since 2009? Tell me about when and what inspired you to become a musician?

A.J. Kaufmann (A.J.): Well, me and my friend Mati were recording since we were kids really, since 2002. Back then we used to record bass, guitars and vocals live direct to tape in a high rise block apartment in Poznan, Poland. I think the influences have been primarily Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and Amon Duul II; also Manilla Road and other classic metal bands. Those tapes were awful in terms of our skills, performance and quality, though I still occasionally recycle those riffs, as heard in parts of the Stoned Gypsy Wanderer album. But yes, by myself, I started recording in 2009, demoing new and old songs. I always liked to write and make noise, since I was a kid. I think originally there hasn’t been a philosophy or particular reason to start writing and playing music. I just did various things with notebooks and guitars.

AI: Other than Sauer Adler and your solo work, have you been in any other bands? If so, what was the music like?

A.J.: Yes, I mentioned my early teens project with Mati. It was called Brain Salad first, later Strange World. Lots of noise. It lasted 2 years and we did seven C90 cassettes. Other than that I played in a local indie band called Orchid. The singer had a Patti Smith kind of vibe going on. And I think that’s all worth mentioning here – Strange World because it was the first project that performed original songs, and Orchid because it was cool playing live on the radio and in local clubs with them as a lead guitarist – my first gigs in that role. I don’t feel too good having to work with other people. I feel best working alone.

AI: Your music is difficult to neatly summarize, but seems to draw on a variety of Psychedelic, Folk and Prog influences. In some cases you sound like a coffee shop Folk singer, in others like an acid minstrel not unlike the Bevis Frond, and still others have a fuller Prog-Psych feel.

A.J.: Yes, I listen to everything really, and as Jerry Garcia once said about the Dead, I believe – “We’re clever thieves”. So, I try to “steal” the best from everything I like most and mix it together, get the best ideas for a sound, style or feeling. Coffee shop folk singer sounds closest to my soul, since when I lived in Berlin I used to perform at so called Liedermacher Nachte – Songwriter Nights. So an acid minstrel is also close to the feeling. Thinking psychedelic I love 13th Floor Elevators most, Guthrie and Dylan on the folk side, and I think Rush up to Moving Pictures has no rivals in the field of prog rock. My debut album has been distributed by Lynx Music which deals with art rock primarily, so I was surprised that the local art rock press actually not only was interested in, but also liked an album I consider pop.

AI: Continuing on the theme of influences, the only analogies to other artists I made in the Sauer Adler reviews was Syd Barrett and Peter Hammill. Anything to that? I’ll add that Operation from Stoned Gypsy Wanderer strikes me as having an early 80s Bill Nelson feel.

A.J.: I had to look up Bill Nelson, and then laughed cause last year I bought my first Be Bop Deluxe album, Futurama. Paid no attention to the band members’ names. Sorry. Funny, cause Operation was giving my best shot at copying Killing Joke. Syd Barrett and Peter Hammill are OK in my book, and I sometimes give Syd’s music a spin. I would like to add Robert Calvert. I think I’m his biggest fan in my city. There is more poetry in Quark Strangeness and Charm, the song, alone, than in what fills some of the big names on the scene’s books these days. I know Kacper is a fan of Dream Theater, Genesis and Rush. Oh, and Deep Purple.

AI: I count 15 A.J. Kaufmann albums on Bandcamp. Many of them seem to compile recordings from 2009 to the present. And nearly all released just in the past couple years. What’s been going on that’s made you so prolific in such a short amount of time?

A.J.: Wish I knew that. I have no idea, really. Some of the songs are really old, with ideas dating back to 2002, some are recorded instantly after the writing process, some are fully improvised. Maybe I realized my stuff is good enough to release it, after 6 years of working as a poet, and one critically acclaimed studio album. So, I’ve had some studio experience with my debut LP, watching Andrzej at work, then I watched Kacper at work, and I learned from them both, got some better software and decided it’s time to reach out to the people and stop pretending “oh, you know, I just record these on this computer mic, it’s nothing, really”. But I still use this Labtec mic, this time only when I intend to achieve real lo-fi quality. I don’t need big budgets for my lo-fi sound.

AI: Second Hand Man, from 2011, is noted on Bandcamp as your first solo album. How did you happen to end up with a vinyl release? Is Mimic’s Cool your own label?

A.J.: Yes, that’s the debut. Wish I had a real label of my own one day. I use the SyfPop or dada folk moniker for digital releases. The Second Hand Man story was a complicated situation involving big money, ZAiKS and hot air balloons, everyone fooling everyone, but I’m just glad that the vinyl is out there. I think it was released just moments before, or on the wave of Polish vinyl craze, so I believe that’s the main reason for its appearance in this format. Anyway, I’m glad mostly because I love listening to LPs myself, and that Justin Jackley’s artwork looks most beautiful when it’s large. Despite great reviews, expectations, and the vinyl release, the album never was a commercial success.

AI: Your latest album, Stoned Gypsy Wanderer is a CDR release on the Kendra Steiner label. With all the music you have recorded, how did that one come to their attention and interest?

A.J.: Kendra Steiner Editions keeps publishing my poetry since 2008. Bill Shute is the owner and driving force of the operation since 2006. I know he respects me as a person and poet, and he also knows I make music. Stoned Gypsy Wanderer was originally meant to be another digital-only release, but when Bill heard it he liked it so much, he sent me an e-mail and asked about the rights to the album, and since he wanted a fresh psychedelic album for his label, I said all clear. I think, privately, he likened the ambience to Eno, Dylan demos and mentioned P.F. Sloan. He’s got a great taste in music, one can tell by the music releases on KSE.

AI: Stoned Gypsy Wanderer is such a great title. Does that describe you?

A.J.: Glad you like it. In a way, yes. It certainly describes the part of me, or that persona, that recorded this album. The recording process and lifestyle during it was insane.

AI: One aspect of your music, both solo and Sauer Adler, that I find attractive, is it has a lo-fi/homemade quality, but you manage to achieve far more than living room results. You seem to do so much with a little. What kind of gear do you use and under what conditions do you typically record?

A.J.: Thank you. The Sauer Adler sound is all Kacper’s work. I think I’m listed as a co-producer on The Trips and Dreams of Stephen Adler, but that’s for small creative input and ideas. Kacper is now a licensed sound engineer, so he can really do much with a little all on his own. Making music solo, at Amaranth House, I use my two favorite guitars: a plain Fender El-Acoustic that has been with me since 2008, and a Gibson SG ’61 Reissue which I bought new. And a Laney amp. For vocals I use Shure SM58. I also use the old Labtec computer mic if I want THE lo-fi sound. And software of course. I have no professional microphones or other usual studio equipment at all. Currently, I re-arranged the recording room so it feels hippiesque and easy, recording mostly sitting on the floor, no chairs at all, no unnecessary distractions. Green tea and incense It helps to focus.

AI: How do you see your solo work differing from Sauer Adler? The music is not dramatically different.

A.J.: Maybe right now it isn’t, cause Sauer Adler started basically as a vehicle for my songs, but we are slowly evolving. Kacper is writing more and more for Sauer Adler, like Dance of the Rainbow Elephant or Addiction from our latest album and we are also writing more together, as a real songwriting team, so we hope to get better and better at that, and with our upcoming Wojaczekful of Kaufmann EP we will debut all new songs we co-wrote. One of it will be Come for Tea which I demoed for my Fazam Orgazam album.

AI: You sent me some of your poetry chapbooks. Do you consider yourself primarily a writer or musician? Or are the two inseparable?

A.J.: Primarily a writer – poet, songwriter – cause I know I’m a good one. I believe I called myself a musician on occasions, maybe even in earlier interviews, but I would never seriously call myself that again. I mean, am I a singer? No, David Bowie is. Am I a guitarist? No, look at Tony Iommi.

AI: I was looking with interest at the newpolishbeat.wordpress.com web site from the back of your books. Is this a networking site for Polish poets?

A.J.: No, this was my own Polish micro-press. I self-financed and published 27 chapbooks. Each was a limited hand-numbered edition of 25 copies. Apart from my own work I published USA’s Michael Aaron Casares and Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal among others. Both poets I respect up to this day. The chapbooks you received were actually New Polish Beat chapbooks, plus a collaboration with Bill Shute which was published by Kendra Steiner Editions back in 2008. Meditations on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

AI: For music networking and distribution, are Bandcamp and Facebook your primary vehicles? I’m fascinated by the directions, which are still unclear, that music distribution is going and always interested in hearing about the experiences that different artists are having.

A.J.: Bandcamp and Facebook, right. I’m relatively new to it, as tools of networking and distribution. But I perceive Bandcamp as being simple and honest, and, so far, I can recommend it wholeheartedly. Facebook is theoretically good for spreading the news, sharing links, information and keeping in touch via chat, though recently I feel I need more ways of reaching potential fans and more promotional possibilities. I’m sure there are better tools than Facebook for that. I got loads of fresh music that’s only got one flaw – very few people have heard it.

AI: I only rarely receive submissions from bands in Poland, or any of the Eastern European countries for that matter. Are you unusual in your country or are there other Psych bands in Poland that I just haven’t heard of?

A.J.: I thought you do, I don’t think I’m unusual, don’t feel like it anyway. I’m sure there’s other psychedelic singers/songwriters and bands in Poland. If they exist, I don’t know them and don’t listen to their music. It might surprise you, but I rarely listen to any psychedelic music at home. Right now it’s lots of new romantic and 80s electronica. And when I want to listen to psychedelic music I choose US/UK classics, I don’t need imitations. And I believe most of the modern psychedelic craze is just revival work, sadly. More fashion than content. I can however recommend a great 60s/70s psychedelic/progressive band from Poland, Klan and their classic album Mrowisko. It’s a must hear, and I believe they’re active again. Also, I’m more keen on the space rock scene which I keep discovering not only on my own, but also through Aural Innovations reviews and radio.

AI: Do you get to perform live much? I see a live Sauer Adler performance at a bookstore from early 2014 on Bandcamp.

A.J.: Yes, I think I know which performance you’re referring to. Chaotic, poor sound quality, but fun. Sauer Adler performs occasionally, so do I. If the pay is right, I play. If not, I have a whole variety of better things to do with my time. And good payment for live music in Poland is rare, unless you’re a celebrity, plus there’s not much interest in my music in the town where I currently live, which doesn’t make things easier.

AI: Any future news or plans you care to share?

A.J.: There’s a lot planned for 2015, but the most important things include 2 new albums: Kaufi and Bright Galore, also a new lo-fi series, The Shapes of Folk to Come, which I hope will consist of 3 volumes of folksy noise, and the Sauer Adler EP I mentioned, Wojaczekful of Kaufmann. Also, I’m working with Bill Shute of KSE on a poetry chapbook weaved around the persona of The Red Elvis himself, Mr. Dean Reed. I think these are the most important plans for 2015.

To order the Stoned Gypsy Wanderer CDR, visit the Kendra Steiner Editions web site at:
http://kendrasteinereditions.wordpress.com (CLICK HERE to go direction to Stoned Gypsy Wanderer)
To stream and download Stoned Gypsy Wanderer and other A.J. Kaufmann albums, visit his Bandcamp site at: http://ajkaufmann.bandcamp.com
To stream and download Sauer Adler albums, visit: http://saueradler.bandcamp.com

Review and interview by Jerry Kranitz
Photography by Karolina Fiszer
Stylization by Laboratorium Loo

Ron Bracale is a Cleveland based musician who plays a variety of flutes, having studied under various Jazz, Indian Raga, Classical, Blues and Rock instructors. Combining his flutes with synthesizers, Bracale creates music intended to promote world peace and healing.

Sound New Agey? It is. But Bracale transcends the fluff by injecting interesting World Music, spaced out electronic and sound sample elements. Like a jamming shaman, the flute flutters its mystical call to prayer melodies, accompanied by space ambient soundscapes, drones and effects. I love the combination of om chant inspiration and alien freakiness on some tracks, and darkly droning deep space ambience on others. But illumination can be intense at times, like on Ocean Spirit, which sounds like the shaman busking at a busy train station by the wave crashing seaside. And Fearless Love, which places our peripatetic sage in the bowels of a space station engine room, cranking out his nurturing and somewhat jazzy melodies as the clanks, bubbles and clunks of the machinery drone around him.

Imagine a Native American medicine man playing the healing guru to a circle of meditating extra-terrestrials. Or maybe the kind of music Hawkwind would have recorded for the Windham Hill label. Or perhaps a form of Sun Ra cosmic soundscape-drone-jazz creation. The music on Entangled Spaces is all these things, with world music inspiration and deep space exploration served up in equal measure.

For more information visit Ron Bracale’s web site at: http://bracalemusic.com
Purchase Entangled Spaces and other Ron Bracale albums at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ronbracale8

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Now based in Seoul, South Korea, Lee Negin was part of the 1980s Detroit techno scene. My introduction to Negin’s music was just months ago with another 2014 release: The Cheeze Chronicles: Volume V, a “technopera” that I described as “a space crazed blend of 80s New Wave, Neue Neutsche Welle, Kraftwerk and The Residents” (CLICK HERE to read the review). Whereas The Cheeze Chronicles threatened to burst the fun and freaky meters, Negrin’s latest album, Groundless, teeters between pure electronic freakiness and cerebral mind massage.

The promo sheet describes the music as “a collection of extended electro-acoustic, ambient, electronic, new-world (other world), psychedelic dreamscapes”, though I’d say the psychedelic dreamscape motif is what predominates throughout. Forever (never, never) is a lysergic cauldron of psychedelic electronica, with deep space symphonics, dreamily spectral voice samples, spiraling waves of effects, and drones that are cosmic orchestral but also deeply cavernous, all anchored by a parade of warming melodies and sporadic rhythmic propulsions. The Shadow Play is a bustling mash of ducking and weaving alien effects that give the impression of an extra-terrestrial slalom race, before transitioning to a floating orchestral dreamland. The dreamy, deep space orchestration continues on Last Gasp, creating a mystifying and uplifting brand of psychedelic New Age music. I like the way the melodies and slowly pulsating drone waves intertwine to create a meditative experience that is nonetheless far too multi-faceted to permit any dozing on the listener’s part. A group of angels create music for the acid dosed heavens on Groundless, making for a lusciously convoluted yet gently wafting journey. Groundless II follows and is a little different, starting off avant space-orchestral and then transitioning to a cool grooving and intriguingly strange blend of rhythms and melodies. Finally, (Elegy for) The Last Ship Leaving features a mixture of cosmic chamber ensemble, space-ambience, and cinematic sci-fi soundtrack music, making for an empyrean night at the symphony, the theme of which is a concurrent tour through black holes, multi-dimensions, and the darkest but busiest regions of the universe.

So, wow, Negin has been around since the 80s and I’m just discovering him through two very different but ultimately related albums. I haven’t heard electronica that’s this strange, reflective, seductive and fun in quite a while.

For more information visit the Lee Negin web site at: http://leenegin.com
Visit the Passing Phase Records web site at: http://passingphasemusic.com
CDs and downloads of several Lee Negin albums are available at CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/leenegin

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

I’ve been following guitarist Jason Kesselring’s work since the early Aural Innovation days, starting with the late great Minneapolis based Space/Psych/Kraut Rock band Skye Klad (who I also got to see live at the 2000 Strange Daze Space Rock Festival). Kesselring went solo with Satyrswitch, a vehicle to explore his interest in Jansch/Graham/Basho guitar styles and other acoustic music. Now based in North Dakota, Kesselring’s solo project of recent years has been Comets ov Cupid, which across his first three albums covered textural Ambient/Drone explorations and blistering Space Rock for the alchemically inclined.

Eko Eko Aradia is the fourth Comets Ov Cupid album and draws inspiration from the 70s German Kosmische pioneers like Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze and Cluster, as well as ambient/minimalists like Fripp/Eno, Glenn Branca, Earth and Sunn 0))).

The album consists of 4 tracks in just under 40 minutes. All the pieces were played in one take with little to no overdubs. Acoustic and electric guitars are the main instruments, as well as theremin and a Micro Korg on the opening track, Sein Und Zeit, which starts off with expansive yet minimal soundscapes and spartan guitar patterns. Multiple guitar parts are gradually introduced until it sounds like a cosmic symphony of repetitive chordal arrangements and spaced out solos which brought to mind a Cluster enhanced duet between Manual Gottsching and Robert Fripp. This bleeds into the 15 minute title track, which begins with a dark, lightly symphonic drone and strange voice samples that repeat “Eko Eko Aradia”, which I learned from good ‘ol Wikipedia is the opening phrase to a Wiccan chant. The guitar adds to the drifting, cosmically orchestral feel, creating a doomy impression and lacing the atmosphere with swirling and soaring waves of caustically Psychedelic strikes and screeching runs of what sound like an acid damaged violin. The music soon settles into a sweeping yet disorienting minimalist orchestral exploration that straddles the line between intense acid-noise and cloud floating, atmospheric drone. As the finale seeps into Fly By The Comet, we sail along with lightly jamming acoustic guitar and hovering efx’d guitar that’s like a soundscape generating, gliss-like banshee violin, which becomes darkly intense and even a little rhythmic rocking as it morphs into The Infernal Star. And sure enough, the multiple guitar parts start to rock out like some kind of avant-Psychedelic Branca guitar symphony. The intensity increases to apocalyptic levels, with smoldering stoner doom surges and a sense of sheer cosmic corrosion. Yet despite the high intensity skirmish, the music never loses a general perception of meditative drift.

As an artisan/constructor of aural landscapes, Kesselring nimbly blends his classic Kosmiche and ambient/minimalist influences to create a journey into the furthest reaches of Psychedelic color and texture. And he does so without always so heavily drenching his guitar with effects that it’s beyond recognition.

The cover photo is worth a mention as it aroused my interest. It’s a futuristic ruin known in Fortean Folklore as the “North Dakota Illuminati Pyramid”. It’s a relic from the height of the Cold War though many conspiracies still abound as to its real function. When I questioned Jason about it he pointed me to a web site which explained that it was situated on a missile site radar complex used to locate missiles fired from foreign powers at the USA so that they could be destroyed. The base was armed with 30 Spartan anti-ballistic missiles with thermonuclear warheads and sixteen short-range Sprint missiles. How fortunate for the North Dakotans to play host to all that Cold War fun.

For more information visit the Comets ov Cupid web site at: http://cometsovcupid.com
The download is available at: http://cometsovcupid.bandcamp.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz