Atragon are a five-piece Edinburgh-based band. Their debut, Volume 1, is available on Witch Hunter records and consists of two tracks released ostensibly as demo recordings but apparently polished and remixed for this release. The album continues the tradition of heavy doom releases featuring the ‘Volume X’ moniker, starting with Black Sabbath’s IV and continuing with Sleep’s I and II releases. The lineup of the band has already changed since the release of this album, with guitarist Danny Sweeney leaving the fold.

Track one, The Sound in the Halls, clocks in at ten minutes long and opens with a confident, and surprisingly memorable, riff. The guitar tone here is perfect for the genre being fuzzy but suitably heavy. The two guitarists are panned left and right, creating an impressive wall of sound. The drum hits are also very present in the mix. The influence of Electric Wizard is probably the most notable here with the tempo of the music appearing almost to slow down whist the riffs sound like they are constantly falling towards the ground. The vocals are also suitably tortured, being compressed and distorted to the point of incomprehension, and work well with this style of music.

Track two, Jesus Wept, starts off with a similarly downward spiralling riff. However this breaks away into the same sort of proto-Maiden gallop present on Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality or (surprise!) Volume IV albums; heavy in cymbal work in a similar manner. Once the band exhausts this tempo the music abruptly hits a much, much slower tempo as a different riff is introduced. Thematically this is identical to Electric Wizard’s Weird Tales off of Dopethrone, where a faster section of music preludes a catatonic section that nears drone-metal levels of single-digit beats-per-minute tempo. However either the mix or the confidence of the band seem a little suspect here as the band struggles to keep the music working at this tempo. Slow-filtered ambient sounds work well with the backdrop of sustained guitar chords, but something is missing here. After the band trawl this slow-tempo section they return to the original Sabbath-esque riff again bringing the track to an end a full fourteen minutes from the beginning.

What makes this release interesting is the fact it is a demo, and therefore representative of the band as a whole at the very beginning of their musical career. The influences are clearly audible, with Electric Wizard taking the lion’s share here (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!) though an earlier doom influence from Candlemass and Saint Vitus is also present in the sparse arrangement of some of the riffs. However bands such as Electric Wizard arrived at their sound and image through years of jamming, getting thrown out of clubs and rehearsal studios, and aggregating all the cheap but (then) terminally uncool tube amplifiers they could purchase. To lift this mentality and aspire towards this sound and aesthetic wholesale is quite a big step to take. Atragon do present their take on the doom genre very well, and to release such a strong debut album really stands in their favour. However there is almost an air of pastiche, or some sort of studied mythology, concerning their image and online presence which seems to revel in the same drudgery that Electric Wizard adopted through necessity. This makes it hard to understand the direction of the band; is this a parody in the nature of Spinal Tap or is this an earnest attempt at making some notably different music? It will be interesting to see what, if any, influences creep into Atragon’s music as time passes to get a better understanding of what is at play here.

On a slightly less existential level, the named are lucky that the producer here shared their vision and created such a dense and organic production. My only gripe is that the bass guitar seems to have been terminally low-pass-filtered so that it is present but not lending the same character to the recordings as the guitars. A healthy chunk of any classic doom-genre sound comes from having a rich bass guitar sound that compliments and works with the guitars whereas here it is mixed a little conservatively overall. However this is a demo recording, and given the weak bass mix on releases such as The Melvins’ debut Gluey Porch Treatments, it is still an impressively powerful release and hopefully indicative of good things to come.

For more info, visit: http://witchhunterrecords.flatnet.net and http://atragon.bandcamp.com/album/vol-i-demo

Reviewed by Alan Bragg

At Aural Innovations we were first introduced to Massachusetts based singer-songwriter Tim Mungenast’s work through his 1999 Birth Of Monsters and 2002 The Un-Stable boy albums, both sets of psychedelic pop and quirky rock songs. On his 2008 Steam-Powered Mars Lander album, Tim explored very different territory with some avant-garde and psychedelic improvisational instrumentals.

Timworld is the trio of Mungenast on guitar and vocals, Michael Bloom on bass, and Jon Proudman on drums. Many readers will know Bloom and Proudman from the band Cul de Sac, and if you don’t then look them up in the AI alpha index and you’ll see loads of reviews and an excellent profile/interview that Jeff Fitzgerald did in AI #20.

Dhoom consists of live performances from 2006 and 2010, including both short tunes and lengthy explorations. And while there are some vocals, the album is dominated by the trio’s brand of jazz-rock fusion and spaced out psychedelia, with healthy infusions of Beefheart, Hendrix, and more. The CD opens with the 9 minute title track, a jam rocking instrumental with a late 60s San Francisco psychedelic vibe, though the rhythm section has a jazz-rock Cream-like groove. Tim’s leads conjure up thoughts of Neil Young as the guitarist on Trout Mask Replica, if you can imagine that. This leads directly into the twisted avant-psych rocking Space Goat, “a song about a goat that fights crime in outer space”. How can you NOT love that?!!

Cerulean is a short instrumental with lulling melodic guitar leads. Making Scary New Gods Out of Corn Husks features a cool combination of fuzz bass, soundscape guitar and guest (Karen Langlie (aka Wisteriax) on cello adding to the atmospherics. Spinach is one of the vocal numbers and a song from Tim’s Birth Of Monsters album and includes additional harmonies from Kelly Godshall. I dig the warbling surf-Blues guitar and Tim launches into a bit of raunchy acid rock for the finale. Karen Lost In Middle Earth (Mist and Boulders) is an 11 minute avant-space-jazz-soundscape jam. The cello is back, creating much of the strange scratchy atmospherics. And there’s some really cool and creative bass and guitar interplay, with the bass taking on a wild aquatic sound, like a fretless being played underwater. Moon Tropism is an instrumental jam with a powerhouse jazz-rocking rhythm section and spaced out snake-like guitar leads.

Penned by Jon Proudman, Turok, the Goatherder is, not surprisingly, a percussion driven instrumental. The drumming is relentless high powered jazz-rock, augmented by spacey soundscapes, jazzy bass leads and freaky cavernous guitar leads. Very cool. Dreampipe is a jamming acidic jazz-rock instrumental with a cool grooving rhythmic pulse against which the guitar explores, creating psychedelic jazz solos, whimsical melodic bits, carefully drawn out efx’d licks, and gets a bit into Beefheart territory. Finally, Mersault’s Blues, a 3 minute song on Tim’s Birth Of Monsters album, is an 11 minute combination of melodic rock vocal number and psychedelic-jazz-Beefheartian improvisational fun. Lots of cool tripped out guitar explorations and some of Tim’s most manic soloing of the set.

In summary, this is psychedelia with a twist. Or maybe I should say twisted psychedelia. Whatever you want to call it, the Mungenast/Bloom/Proudman trio are drawing on a variety of influences to make creatively unique music. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the Bloom/Proudman rhythm section, which could hold their own with the best jazz-rock musicians. Along with Tim’s guitar, we’re treated to a set of freaky psychedelic fun that stands well outside the box.

For more information you can visit http://www.timmungenast.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Jerry Kranitz (in NO particular order)

Saturnia – AlphaOmegaAlpha
Vibravoid – Zero Gravity
Darxtar – Aged to Perfection
Ohead – Visitor
Can – The Lost Tapes
Sendelica – The Satori in Elegance of the Majestic Stonegazer
Various Artists – Head Music (contemporary bands doing covers of early 70s Krautrock songs)
Space Mirrors – In Darkness They Whisper
Sula Bassana – Dark Days
Floorian – Cosmosaic
Various Artists – For Lee Jackson In Space
Litmus – Slaughterbahn
Vespero – Subkraut: U-Boats Willkommen Hier
The Linus Pauling Quartet – Bag Of Hammers
EYE – Center Of The Sun
EYE – 7″ single on Lost Weekend Records
Chickencage Experience – An Eggspoiltation Movie
Mantric Muse – self-titled
Earthling Society – ZodiaK
Nick Riff – Escape Velocity
Jay Tausig/Ed Unitsky – The entire “Trip Around The Sun” series
Hal McGee live performance in Columbus, Ohio

Jeff Fitzgerald

20) Astra – The Black Chord
San Diego psych/proggers return for their sophomore effort. Not as strong as the epic double album The Weirding, but still a fine album nonetheless.

19) Mechanik – Inner Temple Outer Temple/You Yourself Are the Teacher and the Guru (EPs)
These spacerockers from Spain have a very original and exciting sound. Looking forward to hearing a full-length from them sometime soon (hopefully).

18) Roy and the Devil’s Motorcycle – Tell It To the People
Swiss band returns after a long hiatus, but this time minus the cowpunk attitude, for a more laidback, wasted hippie psych/country/rock album. If you like your psych with some twang, this is the perfect album for you.

17) Hawkwind – Onward
Sure, I liked it, it’s Hawkwind, and it did make my Top 20 list. But it’s not one of their best albums. Some good tunes on it, but it’s a bit overproduced and doesn’t quite have the energy I expect from the band.

16) White Manna – s/t
Earthy, mantric and very absorbing heavy psychedelia from these California freaksters. A great, acid drenched debut.

15) Sula Bassana – Dark Days
Epic album from Dave Schmidt, has some really great tracks on it like Underground and Surrealistic Journey, but also a little lesser stuff too. Still a fine effort from our man in Austria.

14) The Future Kings of England – Who Is This Who Is Coming
Haunting and chilling prog/psych based on a creepy ghost story by M. R. James. Some really evocative stuff on this album. Dark, gothic and moody…perfect for listening to with the lights out.

13) Saturnia – AlphaOmegaAlpha
Sprawling double CD from Portugal’s Saturnia is maybe a bit TOO much. It might have worked better as a single CD. But there are some fantastic tracks on the album nonetheless, especially the awesome opener I Am Utopia.

12) Earthling Society – ZodiaK
I liked the latter half of this album a bit more than the first half, but it was all good. A rawer, more immediate sound from Fred and the boys in two lengthy tracks (and one tiny little one in between them).

11) Moonwagon – Foyers of the Future
An excellent follow up to this Swedish band’s stunning debut. There’s a bit of a Yes vibe in some of these instrumental tracks, but it’s more spacier than Yes tended to get.

10) Cranium Pie – Geometry of Thistles
I know, these were older recordings from a previous line-up of Cranium Pie to the line-up that recorded last year’s stunning Mechanisms Part 1, but these beautiful, strange psychedelic folk songs have a mystery and magic all their own.

09) Space Mushroom Fuzz – Something Weird’s Going On
One of two great albums this Boston duo released this year. Kick-ass psych and spacerock draws on Hawkwind as an influence, but only partially. They give it their own distinct feel.

08) Motion Sickness of Time Travel – s/t
I really loved this double album from electronic musician Rachel Evans. Just 4 long tracks, rekindling the spirit of the 70’s analogue synth explorers, but giving it a modern (and feminine) twist as well.

07) MV & EE – Space Homestead
More great wasted psychedelic folk music from these modern day hippies. Possibly their best album since 2006’s Green Blues!

06) Hawklords – We Are One
This album from former Hawksters had all the raw energy and creativeness that seemed lacking in Hawkwind’s Onward. Some terrific, punky spacerock, picking up where 25 Years On left off.

05) Moon of Ostara – The Star Child
Fred Laird of Earthling Society’s debut solo album finds him exploring more rhythmic ambient sounds with synth and guitar in a similar vein to Krautrock explorers Harmonia and Ashra. Mesmerizing!

04) The Cosmic Dead – The Exalted King
Killer improvised spacerock from these Scottish rockers. Some great, long explorations to the fringes of the universe!

03) Seid – Magic Handshake
I wasn’t sure we were going to hear from these guys again. What a welcome surpise to hear them return with possibly their best album yet. Everything on here from Hawkwind-style spacerock to Eastern psychedelia and everything in between.

02) Lumerians – Transmissions From Telos Vol. IV
The San Francisco weirdoes stretch out for some longer, instrumental jams. Highly original and innovative stuff that’s sure to please spacefreaks everywhere!

01) Black Science – An Echo Through the Eyes of Forever
The second and sadly final album from Black Science, full of melodic, hooky spacerock and wild, disorienting psychedelia, complete with tripped out lyrics and concepts. An amazing album from its catchy start, to its stretched out 15-minute epic finish.

Pat Albertson

01) White Hills – “Live At Roadburn 2011″
Stunning live album that the band have already followed up on with a new studio release entitled “Frying On This Rock”;

02) Poseidotica – “Cronicas Del Futuro”
First class instrumental progressive metal. If only it was so damn short! Nice cover art, though;

03) Astra – “The Black Chord”
A worthy follow-up to 2009’s “The Weirding” debut; best of the new generation of progressive rockers;

04) Six Organs Of Admittance – “Ascent”
A Comets On Fire reunion in all but name, this adds Comets-style feedback psych to the creepy folk sounds of Six Organs;

05) Farflung/Black Rainbows – “Split CD”
Just half an album of new material from Farflung this time around, but it is great to know they are back in the game (and re-releasing some of their stellar back catalogue to boot). The stoner rock of Black Rainbows is worth a listen too, if a little ill-matched with Farflung;

06) Topati Bertiga – “Riot”
Technically amazing fusion debut from this Indonesian guitar trio;

07) Vibravoid – “Zero Gravity”
Another far out space rockin’ trip from this prolific German neo-psych outfit;

08) Hawkwind – Onward (2CD edition)
Dave Brock shows he has still got the music in him after all these years, finding time to release three new albums in 2012 (the other two being credited to Hawkwind Light Orchestra (pretty good) and a solo release of fans-only home demo recordings). The late and lamented Huw Lloyd-Langton guests on one track;

09) Acid Mother Temple And The Melting Paraiso UFO – “Son Of A Bitches Brew”
If you let your imagination run wild, this really does sound like Miles Davis playing psychedelic acid rock!

10) Oresund Space Collective – “Give Your Brain A Rest From the Matrix”
A little more laid back than their usual material, this release has a distinct (other-)world feel to it;

11) Causa Sui – “The Pewt’r Sessions 1-2″
Arriving in CD format in 2012, after a limited-edition vinyl release late last year, Causa Sui have mercifully turned down the overbearing saxophone heard on parts of “The Summer Sessions”, and delivered some guitar-heavy space jams;

12) Rush – “Clockwork Angels”
A little mainstream perhaps, but the fact that this concept album has since been novelised in book form proves that Rush have not turned their back entirely on progressive rock;

13) Howlin Rain – “Russian Wilds”
Perhaps not quite as satisfying as “Magnificent Fiend”, Howlin Rain’s third CD release still holds much to enjoy;

14) Hawklords – “We Are One”
A Hawklords reunion without Brock or Calvert?! No way! Politics aside, “We Are One” is worthy of inclusion in the (ex-)Hawkwind canon, with most of the material written by 1990 former Hawks Jerry Richards and Ron Tree, with help from former Hawklords Harvey Bainbridge and Steve Swindells. Hawkwind followers should also check out Harvey’s hilarious and thinly-veiled novel “The Light From Dead Stars”, indicating that a reconciliation with Dave ain’t gonna happen any time soon;

15) Litmus – “Slaughterbahn”
A welcome release from Litmus, this fourth album appears to indicate that their tank is in danger of running dry. Time to have another listen to “Warrior On The Edge Of Time”, guys!

Keith Henderson

01) Brainticket – Space Rock Invasion DVD (also featuring Huw Lloyd-Langton & Nektar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIiyI-gGOds

02) Mantric Muse – S/T
http://www.last.fm/music/Mantric+Muse/Mantric+Muse

03) White Manna – S/T
http://whitemanna.bandcamp.com

04) Parastatic – Lost Highway; plus “Far Beyond” (single)
http://parastatic.bandcamp.com

05) Hidria Spacefolk – Astronautica
http://hidriaspacefolk.bandcamp.com

06) Eternal Tapestry – Dawn In 2 Dimensions
https://soundcloud.com/experimedia/eternal-tapestry-dawn-in-2

07) Hawkwind – Onward
http://www.last.fm/music/Hawkwind/Onward

08) Aqua Nebula Oscillator – Third
http://www.myspace.com/aquanebulaoscillator/music/songs?filter=featured

09) Øresund Space Collective – West, Space & Love
http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com/album/west-space-and-love

10) Ancestors – In Dreams & Time
http://ancestorsla.bandcamp.com/album/in-dreams-and-time

11) V/A – Hope & Dreams compilation (Indonesian post-rock including Little Space Donkey, Under The Big Bright Yellow Sun, others)
https://soundcloud.com/post-rock-indonesia/sets/va-hope-and-dreams-2012

12) Earthless/Premonition 13/Radio Moscow (US) – Split LP
https://soundcloud.com/volcoment/earthless-living-cosmic-nod
https://soundcloud.com/volcoment/premonition-13-noche-oscura

13) Monkey3 – Beyond The Black Sky
http://www.myspace.com/monkeythreecom

14) Pharaoh Overlord – Lunar Jetman
http://www.roadburn.com/2012/02/album-of-the-day-pharaoh-overlord-lunar-jetman

15) Black Mountain – Year Zero
https://soundcloud.com/jagjaguwar/black-mountain-mary-lou
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=37832

16) Sula Bassana – Dark Days
https://soundcloud.com/sulabassana

17) Linus Pauling Quartet – Bag Of Hammers
https://soundcloud.com/audibletreats/sets/linus-pauling-quartet-bag-of

18) Sylvester Anfang II – S/T (Latitudes)
https://soundcloud.com/southern/sylvester-anfang-ii-jam-3

19) Vibravoid – Gravity Zero
http://thesodashop.bandcamp.com/track/photosynthesis-in-darkness

20) The Spyrals – S/T
http://thespyrals.bandcamp.com

Christian Mumford

My Top 30 in no particalar order, it’s generally been a good year for Hawkwind & related releases, yet we also remember the passing of our dear Huw Lloyd Langton… so here I go:

Hawkwind – Onward 2CD
The band most of “us” at AI, love and associate with “our” genre returned in 2012 with a friendly, likeable, “by numbers” Hawk-album that divided fans quite abit. What the hell, I liked it! Onward we go! Let grumpy people be grumpy, f*ck em!

Lastwind – The Return Of A Sonic Assassin CD
Paul Hayles, former Sonic Assassins/Hawkwind keysman delivered this monster of a stoned trip out Hawkwind style album last summer, with a band consisting of members of The Groundhogs. It’s totally Ace stuff! Especially the track “Winds Of Time”. Out on Flicknife, just grab it!

Alan Davey – Cybertooth CD
Hawkwind’s stalwart long standing ex-bassist/vocalist has cut his teeth with many solo releases and with bands like Pre-Med and Gunslinger. But this is Messianic Cyber Punky thematic Hawkwindness that has an extra added unreal futuristic electronic sound to it. Get it, it’s fantastic!

Hawklords – We Are One CD
At first I hated this… I thought it was quickly tossed together, tuneless drivel, unpalpable and a disgrace to the name’s legacy being Bob & Dave, and just being a sleazy cash-in. Granted, Hawklords like Harvey B. and Steve Swindells are here, it grew on me, not because it was Hawklords at all, it isn’t, it’s just pretty intense rockin’, head-on, heavy spacerock!

Steve Swindells – The Lost Albums 2CD
Hawklords member Swindells two early 80’s unreleased LP’s on a double CD set, called “The Invisible Man” and “Treachery” follow the same straightforward punky keyboard rock of his debut from 1980. Outstanding track here is “Metro-Gnome”, but both albums are stayers all the way through. Out on the resurrected Flicknife label, 2011 release but i did not hear until early this year so I’ll include it here.

Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve (live) 2CD/DVD/Blu-Ray box
Porcupine Blonde & bespectacled intellectual prog-prodigy Wilson. Here he really shines, i like his solo work far more than the harder sounding Porcupine Tree of late, this and the RSD LP are both essential.

Porcupine Tree – Octane Twisted (live) 2CD+DVD
All of “The Incident” + older tracks performed live, its quality one can expect from a solid musician team of Steven Wilson & band.

Sun Dial – Mind Control 12″
Gary Ramon sounds like a rough vocalist these days, seeing as the previous SD effort from 2010 was an angry heavy metal album with snarling vocals “mettle-dood” style i hated at first, but on further listen after lingering on my CD shelf, i liked it second time around. The Mind Control LP has still the metal vocals from Ramon ala Layne Staley or James Hetfield at their angriest. I have been a fan of SD through thick and thin since seeing the “Fireball” video on MTV in the early 90s and subsequent frantic obsession. On this album Gary Ramon is still abit of a mystic lyric wise, but songs like the title track is pure Krautrock while the final song on the album is a cover of Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home A Heartache”- i only recommend this LP to those who are familiar with SD from way back like me ’cause its not their best one by far, but still a pretty good effort.

Psychic TV/PTV3 – Silver Sundown Machine VS. Alien Lightning Meat Machine 12″
Genesis P-Orridge returns to straight up rock music since the last few years have been rock orientated – here PTV do an 18 minute mash up of 2 early Hawkwind songs with some spoken bits, and it’s not bad at all. The B-side is not Hawkwind, but a spoken word psych jam of sorts that is a bit nonsensical, lasting for another 18 minutes.

Peter Hammill – Consequences CD
For his umpfourtieth solo album Hammill gets weirder, with stuff like “Constantly Overheard” and “That Wasn’t What I Said” and other personal semi-psychotic Hammillism that only Hammill can do.

Van Der Graaf Generator – ALT CD
Unlike the 2011 effort from the trio that now is VdGG this is all odd instrumental jams, raw and low fi. I like it alot, a departure it is still undoubtly VdGG.

Savage Republic – Varvakios CD
With the going ons in Greece and other EU disaster zones it seems only fitting that post-punk desert droners motorik sounding, always politico observations of SR should be where the heat is, as it was recorded over a few days in Greece. Underrated band that has an over 30 year history.

Magma – Félicité Thösz CD
More goodness and godlike Zeuhl from Vander & Co, it’s an excellent effort that shows no trite retread or over aging from this band.

Smoke Mohawk – Viva El Heavy Man CD
Norwegian We/Gluecifer spinoff band’s second album, this is more psychedelic than their last CD. The track “Jump Out of Tyme” really grabbed my LSD processing unit upstairs…

Ulver – Childhood’s End CD
From dreamy arctic blackmetal via industrial-electronica and progressive metal forms, Norway’s Ulver never cease to change. Here they basically covered the “Nuggets” of the 60’s without straying too far from the originals and it’s excellent and lovingly produced.

Turbonegro – Sexual Harassment CD
With the departure of Hank and the arrival of british singer Tony Sylvester, Turbonegro hit the nail on the head for excessive glam-punk. Very much in style with any previous releases with outrageous themes etc, if you like this sort of stuff, punk – buy it!

Hawkwind Light Orchestra – Stellar Variations CD
This is most of Hawkwind putting out a damn fine album as HLO. Some tracks have a very classy feel ala 80s lineups and 90s as well. Get it if you like Hawkwind even remotely!

Dave Brock – Looking For Love In The Lost Land Of Dreams CD
Some of Dave’s finest lyrical accomplishments to date, a worthy album overall.

Marillion – Sounds That Can’t Be Made CD
I think Steve Hogarth’s long tenure with this band has been a sprawling, confusing, at times nondescript watered down pop version of the heady Fish era daze in the 80’s (though the 2 first ones with SH are distinct good albums with some memorable hard rock moments that did not pale against Fish ‘s tenure, namely “Season’s End” and “Holidays In Eden” albums), it lacks ‘rocking out’ like on the early stuff, but still is a worthwhile listen for old and new fans.

Burzum – Umskiptar CD
Not as good lyrically as last year’s mature work from an aging Odinist like Vikernes, the album “Fallen”, this year sees him adapting Icelandic text as theme. Not easy, it is a bit sprawling compared to last year’s truly epic “Fallen”.

Litmus – Slaughterbahn CD
Rollicking straight ahead Hawkwind style spacerock, it’s the fourth Litmus album! Its got some very good numbers here, the most recommended track here is “Streamers”.

Cradle of Filth – Midnight In The Labyrinth 2CD
I’m not including the latest CoF CD “The Manticore And Other Horrors”, because the previous double CD of orchestral reworkings of the band’s best songs really shines, especially the epic version of “Funeral In Carpathia”, the band’s symfo-wargasm #1!

Änglagård – Viljans Öga CD
Progressive symphonic rock, traditional elements of Genesis, VdGG and ELP as always, its mystical, something from the deep forests of Sweden.

Nick Riff – Escape Velocity CD
Barrett-esque psychedelia for all Seekers out there. The last in the Riffdisc series, yet a return to the early Freak Element sound from the early days. Wondrous songs from the heart and the psychedelicized mind of Mr. Riff.

The Stranglers – Giants CD
Black dressed forefathers of gritty old punk tricks have survived 4 decades and still deliver no matter how old and tired some members look. Hugh Cornwell was fired 20 years ago for those who dropped out of Stranglersville, have gone through 2 singers since, and so here they are again!

Øresund Space Collective – West, Space & Love 12″
Sounding like Popol Vuh and other krautrock for an album, this vinyl only release surprised me totally. It’s Art, it’s Great and you can Buy it for your Home!

Candlemass – Psalms For The Dead CD
Being the final album for the band, it has some nuggets on there, like the closer “Black As Time”, the song i always end up jumping to on my iPod.

Witchcraft – Legend CD
Strange that these occultists should get political and have such meanings to convey, under the name Witchcraft, but as a rocking doom record it still delivers some great heavy and tuneful songs.

Space Mirrors – In Darkness They Whisper CD
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, Russian-based international metal ensemble churns out metal riffs really fast with weird spoken vocals and flute from Nik Turner and Alan Davey guesting as well.

Omenopus – The Plague/Scars 2CD
Bridget Wishart of Hawkwind returned to the music world several years ago via the Spirits Burning collective. Here her airy yet dark poetry finds its niche with tinkery industrial dark rock music. Well worth it.

Vintage Cucumber is a solo project from German musician Johannes Schulz, who on this 9-track album plays guitar, bass, drums, synth, effects and voices.

After a brief, strange voice collage, Johannes launches into Captain Klötenpötter´s Reise, which is part space-ambience and part beat-enhanced soundscape journey. There are bits of melody, various degrees of rhythmic pattern and rock elements, and Johannes does a good job of blending intensity and brain candy. We then traverse through a few relatively short tracks. One is a noodling guitar pattern, followed by some fun freaky electronics that quickly become a very cool but all too brief tune that blends Can styled rock with motorik beats and Trance. Next we get another short sci-fi electronic piece as voices in German greet the computer world with Good Morning. Farbstoff Gurkenmehl is the next longer, better developed piece. It starts out with a Trance-atmospheric space freakout, which soon transitions to a peacefully lulling and beautifully melodic psychedelic tune, which takes on folk elements and gets increasingly spaced out. Very nice. And Come on, auf zu den asiatischen Gärten features more dreamy drifty soundscapes, Trance and meditative psychedelia. An interesting combination of elements.

But the epic stretch-out track of the set is the 20 minute The Hots fette Sonne. It starts off rocking like a blend of Pink Floyd and Can… actually it sounds like Michael Karoli sitting in with Pink Floyd. But Johannes continually shifts gears, injecting the Trance and ambient influences we’ve heard in previous tracks, and there are even some space-jazzy sections. Overall the music psychedeliciously trips along at a steady, drugged pace, which I closed my eyes and grooved along to, but there’s also lots of spaced out effects dominated sections that I enjoyed.

Stylistically the album as a whole is a little disjointed, but I’ll give a thumbs up to Johannes for bringing together these disparate styles and influences in intriguing ways. If any of this sparks your interest you can stream the album at the Vintage Cucumber Bandcamp site, and Johannes has set the download for name-your-price.

For more information you can visit the Vintage Cucumber web site at: http://vintagecucumber.bandcamp.com
Visit Vintage Cucumber on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/VintageCucumber

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

In 2012 Columbus, Ohio based EYE released their first LP – Center Of The Sun – on Kemado Records, which to my ears was the best early 70s influenced slab of Space-Psych-Prog-Hard Rock released that year (CLICK HERE to read my review). Just in time for Christmas, they’ve got a new 7″ out with two very different songs.

Backdoor Jane is a kick ass slab of instrumental early 70s style hard rock, with powerhouse guitars and a wee little inkling of the band’s penchant for Prog. These guys are tight as a knot on this tune. Wooden Nickels goes in a different direction, being a dreamy Folk-Prog-Psych song, with acoustic guitar, flute, Mellotron, and really nice vocals. This could almost have been some lost track from The Wicker Man. I love the contrast between the two songs.

The single (available in Black and Clear vinyl editions) is out on Lost Weekend Records, which is the label of the [nearly] all vinyl record store of the same name, also here in Columbus. Owner Kyle is a dedicated supporter of local music. I see on the EYE Facebook page that they plan to release a live cassette in January, and will be wrapping up their second full length album in early 2013.

For more information visit the EYE web site at: https://www.facebook.com/EYE00
Visit the Lost Weekend Records web site at: http://www.lostweekendrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Written in 1816 by E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was famously turned into a ballet composed by P.I. Tchailovsky in 1892. In 2010, a film titled The Nutcracker in 3D was released, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and scored by Russian musician, composer, and electronic avant-garde pioneer Edward Artemiev.

Artemiev’s score is derived from Tchaikovskiy, hence the credit to P.I. Tchaikovskiy / Edward Artemiev, and while there are certainly familiar melodies, the music as a whole is clearly Artemiev’s. As CD notes author Natalia Kozhevnikova describes the composition, it’s like Artemiev is “working with someone else’s material which then became his own”. The music is composed and arranged by Artemiev, performed by the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Murad Annamamedov. The lyrics by Yuri Ryashentsev are in Russian, though the CD notes list them and the titles in English. I’ve not seen the movie but Artemiev’s son and Electroshock label head Artemiy clarifies that The Nutcracker & The Rat King is not a soundtrack album from the film. There are some parts of the music that were used in the film, but Artemiev made a larger suite, re-arranged the tracks and composed additional material.

The CD opens with melodies that most will recognize, and very quickly begins a succession of thematic transitions, many quite dramatic. After the introductory bit we find ourselves in full marching band mode, enjoy playful show tune songs, Rock, Jazz, Swing, Classical, and throughout we are swept through a succession of emotion packed compositional twists and turns. It’s a great combination of classical symphony and Broadway production. Artemiev and the orchestra interpreting his score excel at communicating a passionate narrative through music, and the result is one hell of a fun hour. I should add that the recording quality is beautiful. Listening under the headphones was like being in the concert hall.

For more information you can visit the Electroshock Records web site at http://www.electroshock.ru

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Mud Pie Sun are a two piece band consisting of Steven Pitcherella and Tom Quinn. Their music could be loosely termed as psychedelic, though a stronger sense of melancholy and warm reminiscence carries through their music giving it a somewhat more human and less psychoactive quality that makes it instantly endearing.

The album opens with the noise collage Spring of 1805 which somewhat anachronistically features vehicle and traffic noises. After a while one of these traffic noises is revealed to be a fuzz-boxed guitar sustaining notes that heralds in the intro to Worrisummer. This track features a prominent heart-on-sleeve J Mascis-worthy guitar line which overlaps with the acoustic strumming and suitably echoed vocals. However when the listener anticipates the ‘rest of the band’ joining the simple fuzz + acoustic layout of the track it instead marches on with this simple instrumentation. Track Three More Days follows, this time featuring a slightly fraught tremolo guitar line over the same acoustic backing. The vocals here sound at least slightly medicated, delivered with a syrupy drawl that occasionally wanders far off pitch and key, especially in the wordless chorus. A sparse but fortifying accordion part adds the first new texture to the album, reminding us that there is more on offer here than the simple post-party jam session feel of the first track.

The title track displays the first use of percussion on the album, with a lofi Mo Tucker beat allowing a frantic pace to be slowly reached as a slightly hypnotic lyric is repeated. Lyrically the track is all about a great summer that never dragged on and remained good, and whilst this subject matter is as basic as necessary it conveys these feelings with a childlike earnestness.

The next track, The Other Side, features a slightly Monkees-esque organ part which jars slightly with the atonal electric guitar parts. Generally the instrumentation is thinly recorded, with guitars squeezed and thinned out to the extent that they sound like they were picked up by answering machines rather than the product of studio work. Drums are equally idiosyncratically mixed and equalized giving the album a strongly DIY vibe. When I was presented with the band’s rationale I was anticipating a punchy garage-rock album in the vein of Dead Moon, so was (pleasantly) surprised when the music of Mud Pie Sun in general turned out to take a much lighter turn, featuring the same hesitant approach as Syd Barrett’s two solo albums.

In general the album maintains this lightness of touch. Multiple guitar overdubs fill out the sound made by the two musicians, with layered acoustic and clean electric guitars providing the main rhythmic drive of the songs. The vocals are often subdued as well, with The Snowshoe Blues featuring wonderfully out-of-tune backing vocals that somehow work with the music rather than against. In general the music is painfully honest and intimate, and would be far too easy to criticise purely on the grounds of technical or musical values contained within. However this overlooks the frail beauty and folk-art quality of this music, which is especially noteworthy when you consider the near twenty year time frame it took for this album to be boiled, simmered, roasted and chilled to reach its current state. Somehow, flaws intact, you can detect the level of selflessness within the album that can only be reached through such a maturation process.

For more info, visit: http://www.mudpiesun.com

Reviewed by Alan Bragg

New York City based Brian Wilson Shock Treatment (BWST) have been cranking out raucous psychedelic garage rock for nearly a decade now. Operation Sun Probe is their latest and for this outing the band consists of Brian X. Rose on bass, guitar and vocals, Mr. StarryNight (aka Scott Prato) on lead guitar, analog synth and vocals, Mark McClemens on drums, and Bonnie Kane on sax, flute and electronics. Aural Innovations review followers will recall the Big Plastic Finger review I posted yesterday. Well note that Scott, Bonnie and Mark are in both bands. A talented and creative bunch indeed.

As the band name suggests, these guys are heavily influenced by the psychedelic 60s. The album opens with the space rocking Colossal Atomic Man, singing of the guy who due to having the misfortune of being in a town that suffers a nuclear plant meltdown grows to 60 feet tall. It’s a Frankenstein meets Iron Man tale, and my favorite lyrics are, “His sister came out to save his soul, but he freaked out and the tanks they rolled.” Other highlights include Legeia, which is a spaced out garage psych rocker, singing of the mermaid who lies in wait to seduce passing sailors. It rocks hard but as if to communicate that seductive feel, there’s a laid back segment, with flute and acidic, melodic guitar lines. Cell Phone Radiation Blues features psychedelic rock n’ rolling Blues, and I really dig the last couple minutes as the band take off on a spaced out rocking jam. The Flood sounds like a 60s pop song with an injection of edgy psych rock. And I Walk In Shadows has a prog-psychedelic anthem feel.

The Circle Is A Square takes things in a different direction, being a space-prog instrumental with synths that sound like a John Carpenter movie soundtrack, along with ominous guitar and a beautiful flute melody. A cool, schizophrenic mixture of foreboding and uplifting sensations. The title track is similar and goes into deep space. This would make the perfect soundtrack to a sci-fi TV show and brings back memories of the old Thunderbirds series or something like that. Actually it reminds me of Alan Davey’s Chaos Delight album.

The album also includes two cover songs. If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was a song written by Donovan as the theme to the 1969 movie of the same name, and sung by someone named J.P. Rags. I had to Google a bit to get the scoop as I’d never heard this song, and also found a YouTube video of Donovan appearing in the film singing a different song. Anyway, BWST maintain the peaceful folky feel of the original, while sneaking in some lightly grungy guitars, tasty warbling guitar solos, and a lovely flute melody. Swinging 360 degrees in the other direction, the band cover Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown, demonstrating what a short stretch it is from Black Flag’s brand of punk to BWST’s speedy, ripping psychedelic take on the tune.

Operation Sun Probe is available in vinyl LP and digital download formats (buy the LP from the BWST Bandcamp site and you get the download too). Note that the download includes two additional songs not on the LP. In summary, Operation Sun Probe is a fun set of smoldering punky psychedelic garage rock, songs with a 60s vibe that would be at home on a Nuggets compilation, and much more.

For more information you can visit The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment web site at: http://www.brianwilsonshocktreatment.com
Purchase the vinyl LP and digital downloads at The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment Bandcamp site: http://brianwilsonshocktreatment.bandcamp.com
Bonnie and Scott also run Starry Night Records, which stocks both new and used vinyl, much of the used stuff being collectable: http://starrynightrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Big Plastic Finger is the New York City based quartet of Bonnie Kane on saxophone, flute and electronics, Scott Prato on guitar and electronics, Brian McCorkle on bass, vocals and electronics, and Mark McClemens on drums. I had previously known of Mark from his time in the late great space rock band Born to Go. And Bonnie and Scott have been in a laundry list of bands that occupy virtually every point on the psychedelic-space rock-garage-jazz spectrum, including The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment, who also have a new album out (review posted shortly after this one). I have fond memories (over a decade ago now) of seeing Born to Go at the old Strange Daze Space Rock festivals, as well as Bonnie performing there with W.O.O. Revelator, and Bonnie and Scott with World Of Tomorrow.

Launching The Tone Arm is an intense set of improvised Psychedelic Jazz Funk Space-Noise-Core jams. Characteristic of what’s to come is the opening track, Winnebago Man, a tripped out cacophony of saxophone, guitar, bass, drums and manic alien electronic effects. The bass sounds like Bill Laswell did on those wild 1980s experimental rock-jazz-funk albums, and the guitar has a Beefheartian sound. But the whole is a free-wheeling but intense spaced out free-jazz-psychedelic garage rocking jam. The roller coaster ride continues on Things We Don’t Want To Admit Are True. I love improvised music where each musician is seemingly off in their own realm, yet it all gels together seamlessly. Bonnie free-jazz jams on sax, Mark pounds away on his kit, Brian’s bass rolls along and you can feel each note deep in your chest, Scott is cranking out a variety of interesting and contrasting rock and psych patterns on guitar, and it’s all happening in a gorgeous noise-festie glom. Finding A Good Use For The Growing Pile is another cool free-jazz and space-noise-punk-core jam. I like how Scott plays a slow bubbling guitar solo against the ultra-intense noise party that’s blazing away, and Brian’s vocals add to the psychedelic freakout aspect of the music. Ditto for Assembly Of Presence. I like the contrasting combination of Bonnie’s wailing sax and Scott’s guitar which is creating psychedelic effects and soundscapes, but also rocking out. The effects are like a massive alien invasion, and the rhythm section is ROCKIN’. Low Together (Worm Forward) is another standout which opens with a rocking combination of jamming flute and funky psych guitar. After a few minutes Bonnie switches back to sax, we hear some manic vocals, and the electronics go supernova again.

The two sides of this vinyl LP (digital download also) clock in at nearly 45 minutes and listening to the entire album left me drained. This is really intense spaced out rockin’ stuff. Highly recommended to people who think it would be fun if John Coltrane, Captain Beefheart, Guru Guru, Material, Massacre and F/i could all play together as one band.

For more information you can visit the Big Plastic Finger web site at: http://bigplasticfinger.com
Purchase the vinyl LP and digital downloads at the Big Plastic Finger Bandcamp site: http://bigplasticfinger.bandcamp.com
Bonnie and Scott also run Starry Night Records, which stocks both new and used vinyl, much of the used stuff being collectable: http://starrynightrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Escape Velocity is the fifth release in the Riffdisc series that Nick began in 2006. As he explained to Jeff Fitzgerald in Aural Innovations #42, the goal of the series, “is that each release has a slightly different focus in regards to lyrical approach and musical style. This came about due to the fact that some people only like the heavy fuzz psych, some like the etheric acoustic style, and some like the cosmic space rock and the experimental pieces. The previous releases contained all these elements at once depending on the song. My concept for the Riffdisc series was to separate and expand each element a little more by focusing each release on one of these characteristics and still maintain my musical identity.”

Here’s a quick recap: First was Magick Museum, which compiled Nick’s psych rockers from the 1990s. Next was The World’s Alive, credited to Nick Riff’s Freak Element, an album recorded in 1999 but not released until 2008. Then Nick embarked on a string of albums featuring new recordings. Photon Shift included what were some of Nick’s most overtly space rock songs to date. It was accompanied by an EP of duo performances with Nick on acoustic guitar and vocals and Peter Platten on synths and vocals. It consisted largely of dreamy folk-psych songs with spacey electronic treatments. And last year’s The Universe Is Mental was the most off-the-beaten-Riff-path of Nick’s albums yet, being a mostly instrumental set of exploratory space rock/psychedelic excursions.

Which brings us to Escape Velocity, the final installment in the Riffdisc series. The album showcases Nick as singer-songwriter front and center, but with heavy doses of the inter-galactic psychedelic proghead that dwells within.

The album opens with Missing Time, which starts off as a steady grooving rock song. Then at the 2 minute mark Nick goes into a spacey-dreamy transitional bit, surrounded by bubbling alien electronics, and swings back and forth between these contrasting themes. Crazy Horse is one of several analogies referenced in the promo sheet and there’s a solo later in the song that has a Neil Young vibe to it. It’s a solid opening track that’s part cosmic folk-psych and part singer-songwriter rock ‘n roll. Infinity is next and includes interesting, contrasting thematic shifts like Missing Time. On this song Nick transitions between piano and acoustic guitar driven psychedelic groove rock and lulling spacey segments. I especially like the section with the blend of orchestral soundscape atmospherics, lulling acoustic guitar, light alien electronics, and a gorgeous piano melody that makes for a hypnotic psych-prog blend. This is followed by Psychic Blues, which cruises along at a bouncy rhythmic pace that sounds pretty cool along with the acoustic guitar and organ, and Nick keeps things spaced out by working in colorful space electronics.

Too Much To Know kicks off with a somewhat tribal percussion groove, quickly adding acoustic guitar and proggy keyboards. Nick’s slightly efx’d warbling vocals are trippy, and I like the combination of acoustic guitar, 60s styled high pitches organ melody, dark mellotronic keys and sundry other effects. Near the end Nick goes into deep space with a slow efx’d guitar solo, played within a bubbling psychedelic cauldron of atmospherics and effects. Side Effects is a barroom style rock ‘n roller with sassy saxophone leads. But Nick can’t resist infusing the music with freaked out space rock effects, which get pretty intense near the end, blurring the line between pub rock swing and lysergic fun. I love it. Radiant Beings is the shortest song of the set, being a robotic whimsical rocker.

The title track features down ‘n dirty acoustic guitar riffage combined with heavy bleepy blurpy spaced out electronic effects. But it’s also got dreamy drifty melodic psychedelic segments with orchestral atmospherics that add a heavenly vibe to the music. And for the grand finale we’re treated to a balls-to-the-walls dual acid guitar freakout jam. The album closes with Open Mind, one of the most uplifting songs of the set, with head boppin’ melodic hooks that will put a smile on your face. It’s full band, led by acoustic guitar plus orchestration, and a bouncy groove like the best 60s pop. But after about 4 minutes Nick seriously shifts gears, creating a dark and ominous space-prog rumbling, like an alien force is gearing up for attack. It just keeps pounding away, and the wait for what’s to come is downright nerve-wracking. Yet there’s no explosion, no peak… it just quickly lightens and fades… and that’s the end.

The promo sheet describes “psych-folk-prog songwriting” and I’d say that’s a great description of what this album is about. At the core is Nick Riff the singer-songwriter, though this minstrel has a penchant for all things psychedelic and a proghead’s resistance to staying in any one place for very long. The songs are accessible, and Nick is a talented songwriter, yet the music is performed, arranged and recorded in the true spirit of adventure and will nicely satisfy any space-psych hunger. I’ll add that any Nick Riff album holds it own as a stand-alone, and if you look to the Aural Innovations alpha index you’ll see we’ve reviewed all his albums. But I also feel that Nick is an artist who listeners need more than one of his albums to get a real feel for what he’s about, and I see on his web site that the CDs are very reasonably priced so space cadets can affordably take the plunge.

For more information you can visit the Nick Riff web site at: http://www.nickriff.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz