Video: Cut Keys – “Blue Dream”
Here’s a new video from Brooklyn psych voyagers Cut Keys. A little story behind the video:
We travelled down to Atlanta over the weekend for 3 sleepless nights of cigarettes, dead squirrels, and music video shooting. Everyone got a bit delirious in the wee hours, and the paint gently burned our faces (see above photo).
Sink into this soaring guitar jammer from these Bushwick friends.
Henry Tree – “Mr. Fear” (1969)
Henry Tree were a band from the land of Cleveland, Ohio who released a single album, titled Electric Holy Man, in 1969. Consisting of Leroy Markish on guitar and lead vocals, Carmen Castaldi on drums, Charles McLauughlin on bass, the group also featured an un-credited, jazz wizard guitarist named Bill DeArango. Combining Traffic style bluesy numbers and fuzzed out jams with DeArango’s jazz guided odysseys, this is a highly impressive psych LP with terrific guitar work.
DGB Presents: Föllakzoid // The Holydrug Couple
Poster art by Curtis Godino.
Our next show will be an evening of Chilean psych rock, when Föllakzoid and The Holydrug Couple grace us with their presence at Mercury Lounge on March 21. Drippy Eye will be providing visuals. Come out and catch two of the best bands from the ever growing Chilean psychedelic underground scene with a side of liquid light. RSVP.
Tickets are $10 adv or $12 at the door. We’ll be giving away tickets to the show so stay tuned for details.
Purchase tickets HERE.
NEW MUSIC: The Holydrug Couple
Two forest travelers from the land of Chile joined together a number of years back and began exploring lengthy spiritual jam sessions, eventually forming the basis of The Holydrug Couple. Their loose, bluesy psych sound nods to classic references like Crazy Horse while also channeling Indian raga and the “hidden arts.” Part of the rapidly growing Chilean underground psych scene that includes bands like Follakzoid, The Holydrug Couple released their new album, Noctuary, last month on Sacred Bones and will be making their way to the US for a tour this year. We just might have a part in it. Listen to “Ancient Land” below.
Purchase Noctuary via Sacred Bones.
Herbcraft – “No Land”
Three years after Matt Lajoie began Herbcraft as a bedroom recording project, the Portland, Maine-based band has evolved into a more collaborative project and will release its third long player, The Astral Body Electric, on March 5 via Woodsist. The album was recorded direct to tape by Doug Tuttle (Mmoss) in an 18th-century New England barn and “aurally massaged” into the 4th dimension by Matt “MV” Valentine with his signature “Spectrasound” mastering technique. Hear the first track, “No Land,” a psychy stew of Lajoe’s shimmering guitar, Dawn Aquarius’ wah’ed organ riffs and jungle flutes, below.
The Besnard Lakes – “People Of The Sticks”
After a lengthy period of gestation, Montreal-based cosmic voyagers The Besnard Lakes return with a new album, titled Until in Excess, Imperceptiple UFO , on April 2 via Jagjaguwar. The album comes as the follow-up to one of our favorite albums from a few years back, The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night which was preceded by the similarly great …Dark Horses. Listen below as new song “People of the Sticks” transports us right back into the trademark narcotic embrace of The Besnard Lakes.
Mazhar & Fuat – “Adimiz Miskindir Bizim” (1974)
I recently stumbled across the incredible 1974 album by Turkish psych-folk duo Mazhar & Fuat, titled Türküz Türkü Çağırırız (which translates to “We are Turks, we sing Turkish folk songs”). The duo, formed in 1973, released this one album before joining up with bass guitar player Özkan Uğur to become the famous pop trio MFÖ. But before their foray into the world of Turkish pop, these fine musicians left behind what is considered to be one of the crown jewels of the Turkish psych era. The album, sung almost entirely in Turkish (as you may have gathered from the title), blends various ’60s rock and folk influences with flowing Eastern melodies referencing the traditional music of Arabia, India and beyond. The song chosen for you today is titled “Adimiz Miskindir Bizim,” which translates loosely to “Our Mix of Step.”
Mazhar ve Fuat – “Adımız Miskindir Bizim”
Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968
In the mid-to-late 1960s, guitarist Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group) and Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra Records) assembled the groundbreaking compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era—a double album containing a collection of pioneering psychdelic sounds and liner notes that included one of the first uses of the term “punk rock.” In honor of its 40th anniversary, Kaye has teamed up with journalist David Fricke to compile Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations, which features the latest generation of Aussie bands paying tribute with covers of the original Nuggets tracks. In addition, the original collection is being re-released along with a couple of local compilations, featuring Australian artists from the same era and with a similar attitude as what was on the original Nuggets.
The collection of covers features contributions from the likes of Pond, Straight Arrows, Gooch Palms, King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard, Frowning Clouds, Laurels and Eagle & The Worm. Check out one of our favorites, Baptism of Uzi’s “Baby Please Don’t Go” along with Pond’s cover of “Hey Joe.”
NEW MUSIC: Kiki Pau
As Scandinavia continues to emerge as one of today’s most fertile psychedelic breeding grounds, here we have the first single off Helsinki-based outfit Kiki Pau‘s forthcoming album on Beyond Beyond is Beyond records. Pines, the group’s third album, was mixed by Dungen’s Gustav Ejstes and comes out Feburary 5. Hear the 9+ minute “Tomte Mars” below.
Kaipa – “Inget Nytt Under Solen” (1976)
As we prepare to venture to the great northern lands of Sweden in just one week’s time, we’ve decided to share this astral journey by Swedish prog rock band Kaipa. “Inget Nytt Under Solen” is the title track of the band’s 1976 sophomore album, which translates to “Nothing New Under the Sun,” from the much-quoted bible verse “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
(will upload downloadable mp3 shortly)
NEW MUSIC: Holy Wave
Imagine the ideal soundtrack to one of those retro 70s surf films shot on an old Super 8. What you conjure up will likely sound something like Austin-based psych band Holy Wave. Just listen to the jam “Albuquerque Freakout”, which takes on that classic wobbly Texas psych sound with layers of surf riffs, tambourines and howling echoes beneath the stoney vocal lines. This imagery carries throughout Holy Wave’s Evil Hits, out now on Burger Records, with vinyl coming February 2013 in conjunction with the Reverberation Appreciation Society. The release compiles 5 tracks from their 2011 release Knife Hits with 5 tracks from this year’s The Evil Has Landed EP. Picture those gnarly waves and tune in.
Holy Wave – “Albuquerque Freakout”
Also check out the song in the recent trailer for the 2012 Austin Psych Fest concert film below.
(more…)
NEW MUSIC: The Smoking Trees
Since 2001, Los Angeles-based musicians Sir Psych and L.A AL have been making and recording 60s-inspired psych and garage rock. Originally part the five member group The Clerk Two Project, the duo’s collaborations continued over the past 11 years, eventually forming what is now The Smoking Trees. Reminiscent of 60s acts like the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and some of their contemporaries, The Smoking Trees take us on a day-glo trip back to that era with their new album, Acetates, now available via Colour Tree Records. Watch the video for album track “In Another Land” and then head over to Bandcamp to stream or purchase the album in full.
Check back in the coming days to read an extended conversation with The Smoking Trees.
The Cairo Gang – “Now You Are One Of Us”
Since 2006, guitarist Emmet Kelley and a roving band of musicians have been creating some of the more interesting contemporary folk music as The Cairo Gang (a name taken from a group of slain anti-IRA British spies). Best known as a collaborator, Kelley has worked with artists such as Beth Orton and, most notably, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, with whom he made the 2010 album, The Wonder Show of the World. Following last year’s largely overlooked 7″, Kelley and the Gang returned with a new album, titled The Corner Man, last month on Empty Cellar, and, as the saying goes, it may just be their finest to date. Listen to album track “Now You Are One Of Us” below.
Video: Tim Kuhl – “Indigo Blue” & Rockaway Hurricane Relief
Tim Kuhl is one of the finest drummers/percussionists I’ve had the pleasure of knowing during my time in New York. Part of the extended family of musicians that includes Superhuman Happiness, the band formerly known as Minerva Lions (of which he was/is the drummer), Thought, Beyondo, Knights on Earth and so on, Tim has plucked a group of these immensely talented musicians for his own self-titled project. The group features Mr. Kuhl on drums, Jared Samuel on double bass, Grey McMurray on guitar, Rick Parker on trombone, Joshua Valleau on accordion, and Philip Sterk on dobro.
On a late August weekend, these fine musicians made their way down to the Far Rockaway area of New York to film a video for their new song “Indigo Blue.” Just two short months later, the area was completely devastated by hurricane Sandy, leaving many people who live in the Rockaways in dire need of immediate help. Watch the video and read how you can help those in need below.
Pick up Tim’s new album St Helena via Bandcamp.
For an idea of the devastation caused by Sandy in Far Rockaway have a look at these images:
gothamist.com/2012/11/01/photos_haunting_photos_of_the_rocka.php#photo-17
Here are some links to ways to help:
CASH DONATIONS:
ccdsd.org/donate/secure-online-donations/
Be sure to earmark the funds for Rockaway Hurricane Relief
TEAM RUBICON
teamrubiconusa.org/
facebook.com/teamrubicon
VOLUNTEER INFO:
Both St. Francis de Sales Church and the Rockaway Beach Surf Club are volunteer hubs:
The Surf Club
302 beach 87th Street
Visit this link for more info and info on rideshare: gowanusstudio.org/relief/rideshare.html
St. Francis de Sales
219 Beach 129th Street
For those in need of help text SANDY to 69866 and for those who want to volunteer text MUTUAL AID to 69866.
MMOSS – “Spoiled Sun”
Following 2011′s release on Burger Records, New Hampshire-based psych band MMOSS have returned with a new album, titled Only Children, released earlier this week on Trouble in Mind. Only Children is a more cohesive sampling of the talents of these woodland folk and their lengthy kraut-inspired sound quests, filled with shimmering vocal harmonies and astral excursions. Below you can hear the lead track “Spoiled Sun” or check out the full album on Bandcamp.
Order Only Children from Trouble in Mind.
Video: The UFO Club – “Wolfman”
The debut full length from The UFO Club, a collaboration between The Black Angels’ Christian Bland and Nights Beats’ Lee Blackwell, is one of our favorite releases to come out of 2012. Re-imagining 50s pop through the prism of 60s psych, the pair pay homage to the legendary UFO Club of Pink Floyd-era 1960s London. Watch the video for the song “Wolfman” off their new LP below.
You can stream / listen to and buy the album in the format of your choice on the Austin Psych Fest website.
The War on Drugs’ Archive.org Page
These days, you won’t find too many bands outside the jam scene uploading their shows to archive.org. But count Philadelphia’s War on Drugs as one of the few exceptions. While not a traditional “jamband,” The War on Drugs rely hugely on improvisation—not only in the live setting, but in the song creation process as well. As frontman Adam Granduciel told me in a recent interview, the majority of the lyrics on the new album Slave Ambient were written while improvising and many of the songs slip into extended jam territory, especially in the live setting. On stage, it’s amazing to see the band working around pre-programmed samples which, more often than not, unfold into Neu!-inspired space-rock adventures. The Drugs currently have three shows up on their archive.org page, but expect more to appear following the current tour. Below, listen to one of the song’s from the Drugs’ recent show at Kings Barcade in Raleigh, NC and download the heady recording, if you so desire.
MP3: “Your Love Is Calling My Name” (4/7/11)
Download link: The War On Drugs Kings Barcade, Raleigh, NC 11/10/11
