that Hair (2016)

bandcamp / -o-

ἀμήν (2014)

There's a 2-part abstraction at play here, one inevitable (sound), and one contrived. Because its form is vibration and its style is haze, it inevitably attacks its corresponding sense and then chooses to grab both head and heart, mush them together, and hurl them back in a sort of bombardment further fucked up by its self-conscious rendering of everything as very stoned and/or distant. If we give it/him/Love the benefit of the doubt, this stylistic vagueness aids in universalising the album's theme. It becomes direct and simple and so visceral- if we're made to feel anything while hearing it, it's our pain and/or happiness being felt and whether McMahon feels the same hardly matters at all. This stylistic death of author turns singer-songwriter autobio bs on its head and actually works if we believe in McMahon (Love's) generosity, but it's so obvious that if it fails in its task and we're made to feel nothing, we're supposed to blame it on the smog and not him or his songs. However stoned/distant/hazy, it's initially difficult to let Love float by unnoticed and this is largely thanks to McMahon's vocalisms. Like the music, it's not the details (words) that matter, but the delivery. And as is the case with the music, the delivery actively obscures the details. The reference point for this method is Astral Weeks, and as with Astral Weeks it's hard not to believe that he's beaten, bruised, and is expressing something genuine. The difference is that on Love, he's gone, vanished, and it's just us, the audience, left. Whether we leave feeling heavier (as we should) again comes down to smog- we could potentially just feel more confused, which without that feeling of heaviness means Love falls short- a formal study in smog and not the emotion at all. I sort of felt it but learned nothing- either it lost me, or I lost it. Unfortunately the intention is there but the work is not. And if that's the point I'm glad to let it go.

keep
stream
keep (physical)

∞ dolphins! (2011)

to say they were better than radiohead when i saw them would be weird and untrue, but i would happily hear 'forever dolphin love' jammed out for ~90 minutes by these guys rather than see the main act come up with their screens and pedals and laptops and serious faces whining because i paid my hundred(s) of dollars to hear them whine and i'll be damned if they don't whine for like three hours for all the shit i went through to pull extra hours to save those hundred(s) and then sit politely to let the whining commence and let my back go cold and shivery when they touch on something personal which may or may not resonate well beyond their politics and conceptual nihilism.

there's something creepy and icy about this, but it's also affectionate like being in love. i didn't realize it at the time, but it was easily one of the year's better albums when it was released. not that this little rating means anything to anyone, but check this out:

A

1 / 2 / buy

The Fuzztones - Lysergic Emanations (1985)

'cause you're living in a b horror movie any way. The Cramps had done Smell of Female 2 years earlier, Ramones were briefly good again, and The B-52's had run out of steam. Pinball machines, junkyards, subways, milkshakes, burgers, shit movies, alcohol, zombies, etc

B+

(included with some peel sessions)

dead man 2/phase 4 (2012)

As novel as the idea sounds, of recording Jim Jarmusch (sometimes great filmmaker and arbiter of hipster drone) jamming with Jozef van Wissem (cult lutist), their musical dialogues often transcend this conceit on The Mystery of Heaven, though their antecedents do it better and more naturally. Take Earth/Dead Man as a genre though, and you get to squeeze in good-era Growing and Loren Mazzacane Connors just because you feel like it. Derivative, but effective.

B-

try / buy

Lula Côrtes & Zé Ramalho - Paêbirú (1975)

Incredibly beautiful/intense psych, Paêbirú feels like it has an aim/purpose bigger than me and I'm either willing to believe that 'cause critics say I should or 'cause it just sounds that good and something mysterious/conceptual about it might just make it all the more engaging. Psych-er than your new psych, probably more musical too

A+

here

Sun City Girls - Torch of the Mystics (1990)

Sun City Girls belong to a fictional school of weirdo rockers I just invented called the 'post-Troutmask, post-Locust Abortion school of weirdos,' where they specialize in unpredictability, blending influences, and destroying rock and roll. Torch of the Mystics is a special record because it has the band blending psychedelic rock, 'world' music, punk, exotica, and folk without trying too hard to crack jokes, piss the listener off, or destroy any of the aforementioned influences. In fact, it's all pretty straightforward in its kaleidoscopic insanity. Space Prophet Dogon transcends their weirdness and lo-fi sensibilities because it's so beautiful. Burial in the Sky moves past 'world' appropriations and avant-garde intensity because in 38 minutes they earn genuine catharsis. All the weirdness of a band who looked back at Troutmask Replica's disemboweled rock through the scope of Locust Abortion Technician's new-psych mindfuckery, Torch of the Mystics is also as mysterious, exotic, and moving as the sources they assemble.

A+

here

Mark Fry - Dreaming With Alice (1972)

Less creepy than B'eirth's 60s psych inspired 'medieval' fragility which denied any real sense of time other than 'the medieval,' pushing The Kinks' and Donovan's timeless pastoral nostalgia to the limit of absolute escapist falseness, Fry's genuine 60s psych (1972, but it sounds that way) boldly touches on that familiar some time other than now simulacrum full with hippie mysticism and unsettling sepia imagery, but goes further to establish itself in time and place with things like raga jams (The Witch and Mandolin Man), popular with psych weirdos of the time

B+

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Onna - Onna (2009)

Compilation of cartoonist Keizo Miyanishi's psych project- Onna. A few tracks are lo-fi psych mixed with new wave as weirdo drum machines and bass keep the songs moving or just repeating and moans and guitars play around over the top. Like if LSD March were inspired by Suicide, but I don't think of Onna quite that highly. I get the feeling most people seek this out to hear a young Michio Kurihara on the live tracks that come after the aforementioned DIY bedroom psych ones. There's four of those, and they're pretty good

B-

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J.T. IV - Cosmic Lightning (2008)

Bizarro 70s-80s outsider punk rock accidentally marrying Stooges/VU worship, mindfuck sections, and folkish-lo-fi vulnerability

Yeah, it's that good

A

story
buy (when they stock up)

Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond (1972)

1. Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air) 4:08

2. Armworth 2:50

3. Myopic Void 3:37

4. Mesmerization Eclipse 3:45

5. Raging River of Fear 3:48

6. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro) 1:30

7. Frozen Over 3:55

8. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone) 4:05

9. I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part I) 3:07

10. As the Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea) 2:30

11. Astral Lady 1:15

12. As the Moon Speaks (Return) 2:16

13. I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part II) 1:11

Prog fans- Tool vs Bropeth vs Dream Theatre vs Mastodon vs Yes vs King Crimson vs Kayo Dot- all elitist jerks imo- to the non-elitist the best prog rocks hard like Red or bropeth (ass opposed to queentheatre or bitch theatre as people call them)

Captain Beyond rocks hard and I like it. I think the subcategory of heavy psych was invented for releases like this. Prog for Melvins and Creedence fans or some shit

Captain Beyond is a one-of-a-kind progressive album with rock, heavy metal, and jazz influences with a "space rock" lyrical bend. Formed by former members of Deep Purple (Rod Evans, vocals), Iron Butterfly (Rhino, lead guitar, and Lee Dorman, bass), and Johnny Winter (Bobby Caldwell, drums) Captain Beyond is an album that flows from riff to riff, drumbeat to drumbeat, often with various time signatures within the same song. Taking a tip from the Moody Blues, songs flow directly into each other without benefit of any lag time between selections. Taken as a whole, the album is kind of a rush, as quick, riff-laden guitar lines predominate for a few songs before slowing down temporarily into a lull until the next takeoff. Lyrically, the album differentiates itself by exploring themes of the outer world and meanings of existence, often with references to the moon, sea, sun, and so on. Listeners may get the feeling of taking a journey to space in a rocket ship headed for destination unknown. Musically, the album is superior in all aspects. Rod Evans has a strong rock voice, Rhino plays an enormous amount of hook-laden guitar lines, and Lee Dorman plays complex basslines (for example, at the end of "As the Moon Speaks-Return") that lead to typically rhythmic, nimble Bobby Caldwell drumming. The tightness between musicians is enormous, never lets up for long, and leaves the listener feeling like the ride should continue for the indefinite future.
-AMG

A

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Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited (1989)

Simply Saucer rocked real hard in Canada in the 1970s and nobody really gave a shit about them at the time making them ripe for the retrospective cultification from alternative minded music collectors and/or critics, and this 18 track hour and thirteen minute collection supremely helpful if the reader intends to do the same

Is it all worth it? Yeah, it is. Straight away you'll think this is Stooges-y and then this is Velvet Underground-y and then this is kraut rock-y and all the other stuff that'll remind you of other retrospectively cultified bands like Les Rallizes Dénudés. But does the internet ever get sick of obscuro psych noise rock?

nah

bitch

A-

Girls - 3 (2011)

Sup guys, leaving this hear to replace the 320 rip in circulation with skips in Forgiveness


On Album, Girls displayed a whole lot of great ideas, and arguably too many great ideas, because they sounded like as many bands as there were tracks, but whatever, we all loved that record, and those who didn't should listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost anyway because it's one of 2011's best albums and one that secures Girls as one of the best rock bands of this era 'cause the music and sentimentality of country music is brought in to gel the ideas together, meaning it's a consistent, epic, and moving record that definitely deserves your time

A+

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