• Music

    CAN – The Singles

    April 13, 2021 - By 

    It looks like Mute Records are beginning to put more effort into their Bandcamp page, adding a lot of classic albums from their catalogue including licensed material from CAN, the legendary Krautrock band whose members all went on to do wonderful projects on their own. Though most readers here will have a favorite album they would rather feature (mine is Monster Movie), I’m posting this concentrating on my Chinese friends today so that they can sample what CAN were all about. The Singles is a decent introduction to their material.

  • Music

    Emil – Само сам знам / Only Alone I Know

    April 9, 2021 - By 

    Emil Biljarski has had a storied career, first as keyboardist of the seminal Hungarian psychedelic rock band Korai Öröm, and who continued the psychedelic, world music and even post-punk stylings in bands such as Fókatelep and Meszecsinka.  His pedigree is impeccable. He graces our blog with a new album which is a projection of music best described as a mish-mash of well-crafted pop songs, interludes which would be reminiscent of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Bowie-esque prog-pop, ethnic music from Southeast Europe, and on occasion, the bass playing on this track reminds me of a mid-period Killing Joke.  Well crafted, well…

  • Music

    Gaye Su Akyol – Yort Savul: İSYAN MANİFESTOSU!

    February 23, 2021 - By 

    Gaye Su Akyol has an EP release out, and it’s punchy.  Four powerful tracks of modern Andalou psychedelic rock and groove will be enough to whet your appetite for more. Turkey seems to really have it going on when it comes to psych music these days!  The Grey Lady (or the Old Hag, depending on what side of the political fence you sit on), known to readers as the New York Times, interviews Gaye Su, who has much to say about politics, the situation in Turkey, and awesome musicians like Barış Manço over here.

  • Music

    Seirios Savvaidis – Moly (μώλυ)

    February 22, 2021 - By 

    Seirios Savvaidis is a Greek singer and songwriter who brings a raw, ancient sound to his brand of folk music.  One can hear not only his acoustic guitar, but also bagpipes, bouzouki, percussions, electric guitar, accordion, synths, and polyphonic ensembles.  The music is dense, rich, and harkens back to a hazy, mystical era in Greek history. A really impressive album.  This will appeal to fans of the Japanese band Ghost, Krautrock like Popol Vuh and perhaps to those who like Current 93 as well.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Audion Magazine #36 (Multimedia)

    February 12, 2021 - By 

    I had a good friend whom I worked with at a record shop in Los Angeles called Dana, who was probably 20 years my senior or so, and he was always amazed at how I managed to retain so much information at a young age (I was 23 when I met him) about prog, psych and other weird musics.  I told him it was simple – I had family who liked weird things, and I bought Audion Magazine quarterly without fail for many years. I’m very happy to see the Freeman Brothers, who are responsible for this magazine and Ultima…

  • Music

    Rüstəm Quliyev – Azerbaijani Gitara

    February 6, 2021 - By 

    Rüstəm Quliyev’s story is one of tragedy.  First, he was born in the Nagorno-Karabach area of Azerbaijan (contested by Armenia as recently as last year, where a small war was fought over the territory).  The fighting was so bad in Quliyev’s youth that he had to flee. He would move to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where his music blossomed into a mix of local Azeri music, psych, progressive rock, and whatever else his rapacious appetite for music all over the world could be fit into each composition.  His releases could be bought as far afield as Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,…

  • Music

    Tom Carter – Beautiful Saviour

    February 4, 2021 - By 

    Tom Carter was the guitarist of improvisers Charalambides, one of the heirs of fine Texas psychedelia.  His new album, Beautiful Savior, comes as a pleasant, hopeful respite after being inundated by moronic ‘devil’-related titles.  Is this an acid-Christian album?  Who knows?  The tones from this album speak for themselves. The music is beautiful, sparse and has a hazy, relaxed feel to it.  It clocks in at around 30 minutes, which is far too short for enjoying such a blissfully folky album which reminds me so much of John Fahey.