Acid Mothers Temple- 41st Century Splendid Man Returns
(Essence Music ESS010)


From Aural Innovations #39 (May 2008)

Acid Mothers Temple is Kawabata Makoto and friends!! Originally released as an extremely limited 12" picture vinyl on Tumult Records, this extended CD edition features two extra tracks, new artwork - including a stunning psychedelic painting by Jason Killinger - and comes in deluxe, custom old school miniature LP gatefold packaging!

RUCK ZUCK: Spaghetti western sci-fi intro, Gong meets Neu meets Hawkwind, frantic drumming and synth, wailing female vocals, wicked ass! This is what all space rock bands wish they sounded like, but this isn't retro/derivative at all! The real deal! 41ST CENTURY SPLENDID MAN: This one is 14 minutes and 41 seconds long. It starts off quiet and still, space is the place. The song title is a nod to the song 21st Century Schizoid Man on the first King Crimson album, In The Court of the Crimson King, in my opinion one of the finest rock albums ever made. Drones, Ennio Morricone-ish creepy ambiance. Strange muffled percussion with tinkling bottle sounds?! The perfect mix/blend of space rock and experimental, it's so easy but almost no bands can get it right! The track keeps getting better and more intense, becomes down right spooky! Weird marching percussion, off the hook strangeness! GENESIS OF HUMANITY starts off with synth deep spaceness, goes into zany rock riff like space rock Zappa!! Then goes into manic rock drumming with whacked guitar and keys! There are some female groanings and whispers at the end and some more Gong sounds! DALAI GAMA: Straight ahead rock weirdness, mushroom madness! Then goes drumless and slow with some didgeridoo, some space stillness with Yoko-esque vocalizations. HELLO ESKIMO OR POLYHEDRAL MU (14:20): Uptempo industrial space wierdness then manic uptempo drums and guitar. Yeah, it's the real shit! I've heard musician friends of mine and magazine people who supposedly have good taste make disparaging comments about Acid Mothers Temple and I have to conclude that these people just cannot "get it/understand it" because they themselves cannot go there mentally/spiritually!!! Because Acid Mothers Temple is the logical culmination of the last 40 years of rock, underground rock/experimental music! What every other band wishes they could do and what these guys do effortlessly. Oh, great song titles also! Droney half speed mantra rock! Then picks up the tempo to lopsided bizzarro carnival rock! This is one of the many incarnations of the band, a combo also featuring, at the time of the recordings, the beautiful vocals of Cotton Casino and the appearance of Tatsuya Yoshida from Ruins as one of the special guests.

You can visit the record label Web site at: http://www.essence-music.com

Visit the band web site at: www.acidmothers.com/

Reviewed by Carlton Crutcher


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