Marin Škrgatić was a singer and bandleader of Croatian extraction whose work here should have been given a wider audience during the 1970s. If you can believe it, according to Everland Music’s Bandcamp site, some of these songs were too progressive, if such a thing could ever exist. The tracks are not only influenced by prog, but you can hear jazzy and operatic elements in some of the tracks. This is an undisputed gem of Yu-Rock.
Psycada are a band out of Greece who produce some amazing psychedelic garage rock. The cover art caught my attention drew me in, but the music will keep you hooked.
Legendary Scottish Northern Soul DJ Keb Darge teams up with Jurassic 5 DJ and producer Cut Chemist to release 28 magnificent tracks of classic garage punk and psychedelic rock. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Picking up where they left off on the 2007 compilation ‘Lost & Found – Rockabilly & Jump Blues’, Keb Darge & Cut Chemist join forces once again, this time to explore the wonderful world of 1960s Garage music. While Rockabilly could be defined as a DIY emulation of the music of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and others by young American artists, Garage was heavily influenced by…
The earthquake which has ravaged Turkey and Syria should not be forgotten about despite the blindingly fast news barrage we’re living through. The Swiss label Bongo Joe have offered this pay-what-you-like compilation featuring Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Oldu O Zaman and Altın Gün, who have graciously given tracks to help this noble cause. Personally, if you would like to send more funds to Syria as well, consider using International Orthodox Christian Charities who have boots on the ground in the area.
As it turns out, Rialto, California-based Brainstory are my neighbors for the time being, seeing as I am working out of Fontana, the next city over. Brainstory are a band steeped in psychedelic soul, though you can hear elements of trip-hop and jazz that would not go out of place on a label like, say, Compost Recordings. Deep groove to relax the mind to.
O Branco e o Índio (The White and the Indian) are a neo-Krautrock band out of Brazil whose sound also touches upon art-rock, psych and experimental rock. Intensive listening, but very interesting.
As we celebrate Christmas on the Julian Calendar this day, I thought it nice to share with you an album I found from a Portuguese composer called handwrist, working in the medium of psychedelic, progressive and drone rock, perhaps with lo-fi touches, basing his compositions on the aforementioned Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, whom St. Basil the Great wrote about in the 4th Century. Merry Christmas to one and all.
Richard Dawson’s latest album is a fascinating listen. It mixes vocals that could fit in well with English folk, psychedelic rock, prog and AOR music, while being musically underpinned by something that could almost pass for freak folk at times, while falling back now and again on progressive rock structures. The album shapes and shifts on each track, and I was constantly surprised by what Dawson would come up with next. I don’t do Top Tens, but if I did, this would easily make such a list.
Peru was an absolute hotbed of garage rock activity during the 1960s, and one of the finest bands to come out of the country at the time were Los Yorks. Perhaps not as savage as some of their contemporaries, they were still able to write some mean hooks while writing their own material alongside some choice covers.
French label WV Sorcerer Productions 巫唱片 offers a pretty amazing collection of Chinese psychedelic rock bands, some still active, some gone, but all make pretty powerful listening. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “集中國各地十個迷幻搖滾樂隊和實驗音樂人的優秀作品，曲目總時長超過兩小時，展現中國地下獨立音樂新風景，帶你徜徉於虛實之境間。 Featuring the selected works of ten psychedelic bands and experimental musicians from all over China, including veteran musicians and new names, with a total length of over two hours. This compilation presents a new landscape of Chinese underground music, a journey through the realm of reality and imaginary.”