Miminokoto :: Hitoyogiri

Miminokoto bring the murky and insular Hitoyogiri out in the light on Important Records. More meditative than out and out droning, Hitoyogiri create a ragged smoky haze that is rich with melancholy and yearning. Stoking the embers for a slow burn seems the priority over catching fire right out of the gate for Miminokoto; a tact that serves their deep and somewhat bluesy voyage well, especially on cuts like Frozen Laughter where the guitar fireworks bubble up and dissipate as mysteriously as they came in. Milky Light might be the slight exception to the rule coming out up front with the guitar dripping and drenching throughout. A mostly instrumental track, highlighting guitarist Suzuki Junzo’s acrobatics, it’s a more pronounced peak in the viscous dynamics that serves the album as much as the track. Trembling Tongue guides the ride out, rolling Hitoyogiri to the close with the same compressed smoldering coals used to begin the burn with opener Hitoyogiri. It’s unmistakably a record made in the here and now, but coupled with some VU-like quivering and a kind of Neil Young raggedness, Hitoyogiri tips its hat to a wider range of ingredients that might not be so obvious on a first take.

Frozen Laughter :: Miminokoto :: Hitoyogiri (Important Records, 2011)

Tadpoles :: Feel Like a Freak (A Historical Sideshow of Missing Links)

Still more tasty activity in the Bakery Records camp…and a reason to wave your flag if you do indeed feel like a freak.

A companion piece to the 2001 best-of retrospective,”Use With Headphones Late At Night,” this compilation features 10 previously unreleased recordings and mixes detailing the more expansive aspects of the distinctive neo-psychedelic space-rock of the Tadpoles.

Bakery Records is making this a free download until the official release date of Sept. 6. So, get some. More info on the release and notes on each track are available at their BandCamp locale.

It goes without saying, and I do say it a lot, that Tadpoles are one of my all out favorite outfits, so this is a real treat. I didn’t cop Sunrise Ocean Bender for nothing…

If you don’t know them, here’s a chance to get a slice of ‘pole pie for nothing and get to know them. These may be alternate takes and mixes, but there is no mistaking who they came from, and where they were aiming. There’s been a flurry of activity over at Bakery, especially with Todd Parker & the Witches’ Greetings from the Star Chamber recently, some psychedelic ukulele and return visits like this with the formidable Tapdoles in various forms.

Let’s hope it keeps coming.

Al Lover’s Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortions) :: Psychedelic Reinterpretations of Contemporary Rock ‘n Roll

SF based producer Al Lover retools some fresh garage and psych rock into some fresher beats with his latest project, Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortion). With a handful of artists (Night Beats, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall,…) giving the green-light and the samples, Lover deconstructs and reinterprets their sonics into takes a purist would balk at. But purists are usually no fun, so they’ll miss out.

Inspired by the revitalized garage, and psych scene in SF, Al Lover takes his own approach to the effects used by local bands and applies them to his MPC with the aid of various guitar pedals and recording techniques. The layering of different tones and effects used on the samples produces a beefy, aggressive, original sound not heard in instrumental hip-hop today. The Idea being to experiment with new ideas while directly siting influences and source material as a way of sharing the music sampled with those who have yet to hear it, thus hopefully helping to further connect the underground music community.

Whether that sounds good on paper to you or not is your call, but it sure sounds good on the ears. Through all the reconstructed fuzz, boom and beats, the original intent of the bands shine through. No one is buried in a wall of remixed bluster to the point of disappearing. It’s a psych/garage record, just one you may not be used to hearing. Both sides of the project get a boost and some added grind like the mission statement says. The hip hop aspect has a crunchy, burly drive, while the psych side of things actually get a bump. They spar with each other, but Lover keeps it friendly and collaborative. Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortion) is insightful and integrated. If the goal was to expose people to music they may otherwise avoid by luring them in with something they do know, it works. There’s as much respect in the outing as there is remix.

Mutilated, mutated and served up fresh … Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortion) is available at coolallover.com. If you prefer some Beef-y chunks in your stew, check Lover’s Safe as Milk Replica.

Night Beats – H-Bomb :: Al Lover’s Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortions) :: Psychedelic Reinterpretations of Contemporary Rock ‘n Roll (Reflective Flesh Records, 2011)

Master Musicians of Bukkake :: Totem 3

I knew essentially nothing of this outfit before their narcotically stellar Totem 3 (Important Records, 2011) touched down. Or reached down. I had heard their name, but that was all I had. Along with preconceived ideas. Ideas that Totem 3 blow right out of the water and up into the thinner and thoughtful air. Full of a purposeful, cerebral pysch, Master Musicians of Bukkake steer a hefty ship through a droning caravan that opens up into more folk and native rooted passages; opener Bardo Sidpa blossoms into Twilight of Kali Yuga without a ripple. Or go from an exotic trip in the sand to full space flight. Totem 3 shares some common thought with the likes of Eternal Tapestry and The Grails; it’s a self-contained world, seemingly insular, but once you look inside it’s wide open, and no matter what the closer Failed Future claims, it’s full of promise.

Illuminating the Ten Directions moves seriously like an old sage showing you the way. One way is right into Prophecy Of The White Camel/Namoutarre, an exotic chanted filled excursion that transports you right into the camel’s saddle. You still got 9 directions left, so ante up to 6,000 Years of Darkness; a pastoral work out that evokes everything from Six Organs of Admittance to old school prog. All with the promised darkness and melancholy. Reign Of Quantity and the Signs Of The Times/Patriarch of the Iron Age makes it clear with endless open spaces and psuedo-mechanized propaganda, or instructions for a safe flight, that change is coming. Even a self-proclaimed failure of a change. Which Failed Future is most definitely not. An electronic tinged orbit that works in flights between multi-era Hawkwind chug to pinging Floyd-ish vacuums; an interplanetary processional that works into a tasteful frenzy before signing off, Failed Future is big sonic period on the end of this sentence. But it doesn’t come crashing down and broken. It sounds like it ends where it needs to end, and that there will be something else, eventually, to take you further on.

From the cover art to their name, there’s obviously a wicked sense of humor in full stride, but Totem 3 is anything but flippant or off-hand. Totem 3 is full of as much fore-thought as it is full of mind opening forward-looking vistas and alternates. You want an outstanding, artful psych record around the campfire? It does that. Instantly.You want something to think about between the ears, too? There’s plenty to mull over.

Partly for me it’s why and how I missed Totem 1 & 2.

Twilight of Kali Yuga :: Master Musicians of Bukkake :: Totem 3 (Important Records, 2011)

I Didn’t Have to Come to Maui to Be Treated Like a Jerk :: Sunrise Ocean Bender 7/8/11 podcast

I Didn’t Have to Come to Maui to Be Treated Like a Jerk (podcast)

The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me Today ≈ Tom Waits ≈ Bone Machine ≈ Island ≈ 1992

The Hula Hula Boys ≈ Warren Zevon ≈ The Envoy ≈ Rhino ≈ 2007

Watery Eyes ≈ Mitchell Froom ≈ Dopamine ≈ Atlantic ≈ 1998

Sweet Sister Starlight ≈ Fit and the Conniptions ≈ Sweet Sister Starlight ≈ self released ≈ 2011

*_*

Mother Knows Best ≈ Richard Thompson ≈ Rumour and Sigh ≈ Capitol ≈ 1991

Shin Kicker ≈ Rory Gallagher ≈ Photo-Finish ≈ Strange Music ≈ 1978

Fat Children ≈ Jarvis Cocker ≈ Jarvis ≈ Rough Trade ≈ 2007

Falterting Pulses ≈ The Outdoor Types ≈ It Is the Mercy ≈ I Blame the Parents ≈ 2011

*_*

Peterloo ≈ Extradition Order ≈ SInce the Bomb Dropped ≈ I Blame the Parents Records ≈ 2010

Texas Export ≈ Houdini Dax ≈ You Belong to Dax Darling ≈ See Monkey Do Monkey ≈ 2011

Habitual ≈ The Method ≈ Dissidents & Dancers ≈ See Monkey Do Monkey ≈ 2011

Chwech ≈ Y Niwl ≈ Y Niwl ≈ Aderyn Papur ≈ 2010

A Purposeless Existence Overgrown :: Sunrise Ocean Bender 7/1 podcast

A Purposeless Existence Overgrown {podcast}

Bardo Sidpa/Twilight of Kali Yuga ~~ Master Musicians of Bukkake ~~ Totem 3 ~~ Important Records ~~ 2011

Anesthesia ~~ Six Organs of Admittance ~~ The Luminous NIght ~~ Drag City ~~ 2009

The Lower Room ~~ Floorian ~~ More Fiend ~~ Drigh ~~ 2009

*_*

Black Tar Prophecy ~~ The Grails ~~ Black Tar Prophecies vols 1, 2, & 3 ~~ Important Records ~~ 2006

China Gate/Sakhalin ~~ Cul de Sac ~~ China Gate ~~ Thirsty Ear ~~ 1995

Beograd 6 ~~ Cul de Sac/Damo Suzuki ~~ Abhayamudra ~~ Strange Attractors ~~ 2004

Eastern Magnetics :: Eastern Magnetics

Point your compass north and get your head east. Toronto’s Eastern Magnetics put the drama and drone out, and above, on their self-released debut. Eastern Magnetics is a tumbling, brooding campaign more full of big omens than doom and gloom. Varanasi Sleigh Ride and Go Down I’m Ready are downright warm as they snake their way through, and cuts like Wild Seed and Rest Easy tip their hat to their shoes a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re harboring a Six.By Seven fan in their ranks by the way they control their wall of sound. They got the insistent chug of touchstones like Spiritualized coupled with some of the more psych-prog thump of outfits like Hopewell or Apse. Throw in the drama played up by others like Lumerians and its pull gets stronger, as slippery as it is to nail down.

The slow climb of most of the cuts, restrained vocals that float in and out; drumming that keeps rolling and lends an almost tribal feel, big keys up front…it all adds a warm tension that runs through the whole thing. Full of psych, prog accents, a little post-rock angularity here and there and an almost mournful whiff, Eastern Magnetics pulls you right in. Eastern Magnetics say they are “a Toronto based psychedelic rock’n'roll band.”  You bet, but we all know that “psychedelic rock’n'roll” covers a lot of ground. And they do just that, start to finish. Sounding like they’re playing in a planetarium-turned-cathedral, or maybe the other way around, Eastern Magnetics built an outstanding debut full of enough drama and lift to fill the pews.

Eastern Magnetics is available via iTunes.

Enemy Airspace :: Eastern Magnetics :: Eastern Magnetics (self released, 2011)

No One Down Here Knows How to Work the Brakes :: Sunrise Ocean Bender 6/24/2011 podcast

No One Down Here Knows How to Work the Brakes {podcast}

Andalucia ≈ Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica ≈ presents…The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel ≈ Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica /Exostica for Modern Living ≈ 2010

We Don’t Know ≈ The Method ≈ Dissidents & Dancers ≈ See Monkey Do Monkey ≈ 2011

Dewayne’s Drone ≈ Night Beats ≈ Night Beats ≈ Trouble in MInd ≈ 2011

Candide ≈ Extradition Order ≈ Since the Bomb Dropped ≈ I Blame the Parents ≈ 2010

Magnet Round the Sub ≈ The Moles ≈ The Future Sounds of Ashton ≈ See Monkey Do Monkey ≈ 2011

*_*

In A Living Swing ≈ Paperhead ≈ Focus In On…The Looking Glass ≈ Trouble in Mind ≈ 2011

All Over Now ≈ Baby Woodrose ≈ All Over Now/Bad Afro Comp ≈ Bad Afro ≈ 2011

Your Side Is Mine ≈ The Quarter After ≈ The Quarter After ≈ Bird Song Recordings ≈ 2008

Waste of Time ≈ The Norvins ≈ Yoga with Mona ≈ Sound Flat ≈ 2010

Another Time ≈ Radio Saigon ≈ Another Time/Bad Afro Comp ≈ Bad Afro ≈ 2011

Pack Your Bags, It’s Time to Trip

…Inside This House…

I got the call to help out DJ-brother in arms-guru, valis, of the mighty Trip Inside This House, launching out of St. Louis on KDHX, with some chocolate visuals to get into his aural peanut butter.

Every year valis does a Summer Solstice compilation for the event that you can grab at his stellar blog gratis. Well worth checking out if you need fuel in your rocket. Point that mouse in the proper compass direction, click, put up your feet, take a deep breath, put on your helmet and enjoy the free ride…

It was an honor to be asked to hop on board. Just look at our esteemed co-pilots:

The Magic Shoppe :: Trip Inside This House

Secret Colours :: Blackhole

The Orange Drop :: Soul Cleanser

The Dandelion Seeds :: Love and Sweet Dreams

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor :: Hole In The Brain

The Sirago 17 :: Fever Dream (Playing With Prescriptions)

The Telewire :: Without A Doubt

Todd Parker and the Witches :: Temple of the Goddess (Parker has also packed his Solstice track with 3 nuggets from the then-nascent Tadpoles that you can check here)

ROSCO :: AAA Trip Inside This House

Tone Rodent :: Black Iron

The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment :: King Of Atlantis

Stay :: Lucky Star

Fantasmes :: Tell Me

Fantasmes :: Tell Me (Nothing Is Wrong)

Grab yours, roll down the windows and head out: Trip Inside This House Summer Solstice Vol. IV

DJ Stod’s Psilocybin Sounds: Summer 2011

And so it begins…

It’s that time of year friends! The annual run-up to the High Holy Day, Summer Solstice! Who better to kick off the pre-Solstice celebrations than our great friend & psychedelic psounds Wizard, DJ Stod’..?

Though busier than a very busy thing, he’s taken the time to assemble a new mix of the great stuff because, as he says: “can’t get much time for mixes at the moment however as it’s THAT month then here you go…”

THAT month indeed! So, enjoy the weekend with this, and tune into June!

Thanks DJ Stod’!!!

via Trip Inside This House.