Six Organs of Admittance - The Lost Electric Six Organs (2013)

I have been a huge fan of Six Organs of Admittance and Comets on Fire since my Santa Cruz days in the early 2000s. They were sage patriarchs of the psychedelic music scene in the city, and would go on to being internationally recognized powerhouses by the middle of said decade. Craig and I talked at length in the second episode of our podcast about the Comets on Fire house show we witnessed and the effect it had on our relationship with music.

Thankfully, someone is keeping the Comets on Fire flame alive, and it just so happens to be their frontman, Ethan Miller. Miller has been busy with Howlin' Rain, but managed to find time to start up a proper label (Silver Currents) to release rare live and studio recordings he has been involved with over the years. Rather than simply plopping down a few mp3s, Ethan is doing things right by releasing physical, handmade CDs and cassettes.

One of the standout releases thus far is The Lost Electric Six Organs record. I remember speaking with Ben Chasny briefly after a show in 2003, and he mentioned that he had recorded a whole set of tunes for his Six Organs project while working with his new band, Comets on Fire. Sadly, these recordings were never released/completed. Miller writes that "Chasny even designed a record cover for the LP release of this album but at some point it fell from his grace or just fell to the back of the burner and then off the stove completely, I'm not sure which."

Thankfully, these three tracks have been unearthed and given the proper release thanks to Miller. I have the cassette version myself, and you can see how these recordings offer a different perspective on psychedelia than Chasny was employing in his Six Organs project at the time. He would reunite with his Comets brethren to record Ascent, but this tape is the only recorded version of these songs, and an excellent window into two band's at the height of their creativity.

Get it here:
Six Organs of Admittance  - The Lost Electric Six Organs (2013)

Emperors of Gnouv – Masters of the Galaxy (2014)

Lord knows I love me some Prog music! Yep, even the stuff that others hate, so feel safe sending me your concept albums about the life cycle of a salamander without fear of chastisement. Anyone who sends in a submission with text detailing the space odyssey their record is attempting to emulate gets a few points in my book. Better yet, as I am preparing to head back down to San Diego in the next few days (and record a special edition of the podcast related to said city), I was eager to pull together a few submissions from the sunny city by the border. In walks Emperors of Gnouv to meet both demands. With a band name like that, and a record titled “Masters of the Galaxy,” you know a psychedelic experience is just on the horizon.

The group has crafted some beautiful and melodic progressive rock that brings to mind Camel and early Genesis records. Lots of odd time signatures and processed guitar lines are placed next to tricky base lines are stacked on high, with few vocals to be found. Best yet, this stuff is danceable and fresh enough to be put on stage with dance punk acts, and the drug addled crowd would hardly know the difference. I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys do next.

Get it here:
Emperors of Gnouv – Masters of the Galaxy (2014)

Glass Men - Black Diamond Express to Hell, pt. VII

Sioux Trails Records is back at it with another fine EP. While the releases I have heard thus far from the label have been in the experimental/freak folk field of sound, these guys are fuzzed out, jammy goodness. As "This is the Night" rolled past its fifth minute, the rhythmic distortion hit its high point, and more powerful forces were summoned. "This music belongs to no one" I heard grumble from down the hall, and to that I agreed. When you are attempting to bring  terror in the listener's heart, the melodies should belong to no living soul. They likely have owners from down in Hell, and seeing that this is the 7th part, I would love to know which ghoul claims its earlier forms.

Get it here:
Glass Men - Black Diamond Express to Hell pt. VII

Lunarmare - Lunarmare (2013)

Here's is Greece's space program, at least it sounds that way. Lunarmare's self-titled release is an extraterrestrial concept album, and if David Bowie taught regarding concept albums, little tops outer space. If have read passed my puns, I'm happy to share with you that although I was eager to make those puns they are not why I posted this album. It is a genuinely intense and well conceived effort by these gentlemen to melt together the awesome industry, mystery and drama of the space race into a collection of songs that can run from heavily distorted, guitar drone laced rock to atmospheric ambient (or perhaps un-atmospheric is a better choice). They can take you on a voyage for sure, as several tracks are in the seven minute range, which I always find useful when trying to lose myself in songs of this sort. It is most certainly a jam band but one that does remind me of Silver Bullets, Wooden Shjips and any number of Godspeed You! Black Emperor related bands (Fly Pan Am,  Silver Mt. Zion, Set Fire to Flames) at their better executed moments.

To be had here:
Lunarmare - Lunarmare (2013)

Coyote Indigo - Horning (2013)

I watched DiG! again the other day, and was reminded why I loved the documentary so much. The Dandy Warhols have faded into obscurity and the Brian Jonestown Massacre have cooled their fiery personal personas, but the film does leave a lingering in mind: what if the whole garage rock/psychedelia revival of the early 2000s had happened 5 years earlier under BJM’s leadership? Things would have been a lot more “out there” than it was with the White Stripes and the Strokes.

Coyote Indigo may have even found a fanbase outside the confines of Bandcamp. This Brazilian band reaches deep into the psychedelic lexicon and pulls out some of the genre's most enduring themes: Existential lyrics and guitar licks and a disregard for all that is safe. Not sure what state of mind this guy was in when he put these songs to tape, but it wasn’t with two feet firmly on the ground. Bust out the Absinthe and play “Bloom and Blow” while your stomach and mind slowly churn.

Get it here:
Coyote Indigo - Horning (2013)

Mirror Mirror - Segments (2012)

Rock n' Roll isn't always a party. To reach the existential, meditative portions of our mind, the music may need to be made equally as remote. Mirror Mirror from Spokane, Washington have taken this musical mindset to its logical conclusion and produced a very fine record titled Segments. There are elements of surf, 60's, and psychedelia but it is all smothered under deep baritone vocals and 8 pounds of reverb. Just listen to The Undivine and Locked from the Inside, two of my favorite tracks off the record. The pop elements are there, but the band has bigger aims than a bobbing head at a local house party. Taking the listener to new heights and distant universes requires a different approach.

Get it here:
Mirror Mirror - Segments (2012)

Merlin's Magic Music Box (2012)

I have never had the good fortune of experiencing the New Hampshire and Vermont music scenes in person. I imagine they all live in barn-like communes, sipping mushroom tea, all while crafting psychedelic music just outside the realm of social respectability. All the stuff I have picked up from the region only reinforces these preconceived notions. Chances are, everyone is on meth like they are here in rural California.

Merlin’s Magic Music Box might as well be a trunk full of drugs, because you will be going on a trip when you pop this bad boy into your music player. I picked it up on tape when it was released by Burger Records a few months ago, but the band was nice enough to have a digital download available for free. This is psychedelic riff-rawk perfected. All six tracks on this album are the perfect embodiment of what a jam band should sound like. There is little in the way of filler, as the listeners ears are pushed towards the guitar riffs that scream above the sonic, rhythmic residue below.

Sit back, smoke a blunt, eat some mushrooms, and let this shit take you away.

Get it here:
Merlin's Magic Music Box (2012)

The Cutaways - Do the Disconnect (2012)

This wasn’t submitted, but rather picked up on cassette from M-Theory in San Diego. The cover looked a lot like Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality, and since I love that record so, I picked it up. They happen to be a band from El Cajon and sound very little like metal. I am getting more of a psychedelic cowboy vibe from the group. You can hear a real love for Neil Young in these recordings, as well as a late 60’s jam-out set of sensations. This stuff would make for great barn burning live sets, if there were any barns in El Cajon.

Sadly, I could not locate a Bandcamp page for the group, but they do have a few tracks streaming at soundcloud, and their record label is selling digital copies at their website.

Buy it here:
The Cutaways - Do the Disconnect (2012)

Coastal Sightings (2012)

I just completed a trip up to the North, stopping in Portland, Seattle, and then Vancouver along the way to check out some of America’s great record shops on the Pacific. I love the cold, mysterious nature of the Pacific Northwest, with its dense wooded areas covered in a thick layer of clouds and rain. That environment has surely helped breed the interesting music scene that the PNW has garnered over the last 30 years.

Across the street from the famous Bop Street in Seattle is a little shop called Sonic Boom Records which has a decent selection of new cassette tapes. I picked up a couple of things, but what stood out was a release from Cairo Records which is a collection of jams from the PNW. Better yet, it is a cassette collection made up of two separate compilations throwing together psychedelic experimentation from musicians I had not heard until this point. M.Women and Stickers were two of the best acts on the comp, and well worth the time if you dig dissonant jam music that would piss off Phish fans everywhere.

Get it here:
Coastal Sightings (2012)

Bul-Bul Tarang Gang - Kali (2012)

When Bul-Bul Tarang Gong arrived from Europe, I didn’t know what to expect from the cassette. The cover was awesome, psychedelic yet primitive, and the tape featured percussionist Ravi Padmanabha who is well known for his ethno/rock/jazz improvisations. So we were off to a good start right from the go, but once I popped the tape into the deck, I knew I was in for a treat. What oozed out of my speakers was some of the best Raga meditations I have heard in some time. This is truly eternal music, insofar as it would be difficult to place its conception on a physical timeline. Listening to this set is engrossing and peaceful without turning to background music, and even gets into heavier harmonics on tracks like “Kali.”

There is clearly a Sun City Girl vibe here, as the band dances between Arabic and Asian inspired rhythms, complementing them with a wall of drums and chimes that mixes well with the harmonium and bass patterns. This is psychedelic “world music” at its finest, and deserving of repeated listens.

Buy it here:
Bul-Bul Tarang Gang - Kali (2012)

 

As Mountains - Monolight (2012)

My father is from Belgium. You know, that tiny little country in Europe that is known for waffles and chocolate. His parents came to the U.S. after the Second World War and eventually settled in the Bay Area in California. My father was around for the entire punk and psychedelic music scene Northern Cali was known for in the 60s and 70s, but I am pretty sure he didn’t take part in any of it. What a shame.

 So I was pleased to receive a submission from As Mountains, a post-rock band from Hasselt, Belgium. They have a very hygienic, trained sound that clearly owes a great deal to the experienced members of the genre that reached success in the 2000s. As I blasted these tracks through the stereo, my ears were engulfed by walls of guitar sound, all while the drums got louder and more aggressive as the band built to their climax. Well executed, but typical post-rock stuff. What separates this act from the rest in the field is the playful, nearly joyful, guitar plucking that accompanies many of the tracks. Listening to Matching Clouds in Lucerne actually brought a Sarah Records vibe, which was a pleasant surprise.

Get it here:
As Mountains - Monolight (2012)

1926 - I don't want to be with U (2012)

As we approach Thanksgiving here in America, many of us are taking long drives to reach our family and/or hometowns. I have a rather scenic drive ahead, but in some parts of the country, the drive can be bleak and seemingly endless. Before the advent of portable music, you would simply switch to whatever local radio station you could pick up, and hope for some interesting tunes to keep you company and your mind from turning to mush from boredom.

Thankfully, we live in an era when just about any sound is at our fingertips at the drop of a hat, and Poland's 1926 has produced a fine soundtrack to at least part of your journey. The group has created a long, expansive track that melds the shoegaze fuzz of Slowdive to the post-rock leanings of bands like A Silver Mt. Zion. This is well recorded stuff, with nice builds and crescendos that will have you head banging as you cross your own desolate landscape.

Get it here:
1926 - I don't want to be with u (2012)

Irureta - 100% Pure Sport (2012)

Everything about Irureta points to them being a French band, but I can’t for the life of me pin down if that’s true or not. The good folks at Teflon Beast Records released this prog-heavy pop record just a few months back, and I have enjoyed the cassette tape since receiving it. With the exception of the French sound clips tastefully placed during intros, the record is made up of psychedelic jamming that is sure to impress anyone who happens to read this blog consistently. L'Arret Gite Ethnique/Patinage Mental is still my favorite track off this full length, with its winding synthesizer and pulsing bass line preserving my interest for the duration of the 6 minute jam. Well worth a listen, even if you can't buy the cassette.

Get it here: Irureta - 100% Pure Sport (2012)