HOMEMADE LOFI PSYCH --- WHERE TO START?





"There is so much great music here..." WHERE TO START???

I recommend to
start with the HLFP-Samplers (especially HLFP 04).
Here you will come to know many of the bands/musicians featured in this blog. If you like what you hear, you may check out more of their music later on.
(You may also click on the picture on the sidebar and you will find the original post with download links.)

There is also a "FOCUS ON..." section. Here you will find albums that imo are absolutely great (***** = "five-stars-recordings") and that are essential listening and strongly recommended for download.


I TRY to RE-UP some stuff that has been down from time to

time, but I still don't have enough time to

listen to/post much new stuff.

Sorry!

IMPRESSUM: see here!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Planet Rye Co - Sampler (USA 2001-2007)


"PLANET RYE CO: Austin, Texas "Psycho-Delia"
PLANET RYE CO is an Austin, Texas psychedelic rock and experimental group. The project was founded by JoDee Purkeypile in 2001. The groups' members include Sean Crooks, Chris Sensat, Brendan Rogers, and Gregg White (who along with JoDee are also members of The Alice Rose), though, throughout their 8 years of home-recorded lunacy, Planet Rye Co has become home to several guest musicians and contributors, some of whom had no prior musical experience whatsoever, which of course makes for some interesting listening. ---The band has recorded over 20 album's worth of material, much of which has circulated throughout a small cult fanbase in Austin. From Barrett-esque psych-pop to roaring experimental chaos, from tripped-out folk to endearingly soulful songs about demons, pumpkins, witches, and ghosts- Rye Co's music is kaleidoscopic, if anything, but also highly entertaining madness. The band is preparing their live debut for the Fall of 2009 in Austin.
Visit www.myspace.com/planetryeco for more... --- Although the group's homegrown and operated label, Emerald Wood Records, is planning a series of official releases for this Winter, here's a quick sampler containing 10 of some of Planet Rye Co's best work. Enjoy at your own risk..."


"Fear, happiness, misery, joy; all of them are in the music we make. Nothing is sacred to us. There are two sides to every trip; good, and bad. That doesn't just mean hallucinations. 'Psychedelic' music can be anything, it can sound like anything. It's just a label to categorize our music. Lyrically, our songs can go anywhere. Musically, they can sound however we want..."

I absolutely agree with the above!
Very creative and original band with many different moods, sometimes weird (though not as weird as for example the FLOWERS OF DISGUST), sometimes playing a more conventional style of psychedelia – sometimes funny, sometimes more serious or even dark. Check it out!

Favourite track: 'Juniper and Tidings'


PLANET RYE CO - SAMPLER

(mp3-zip,10 tracks, 25 min, 55,8 MB)

1 Tracer Ape (2007)

2 Ferris Wheel (2005)

3 Flames (2001)

4 Alexander, Son of Snakes (2005)

5 Flap Your Wings (2002)

6 Juniper and Tidings (2007)

7 The Costume Child (2007)

8 Fireplace (2005)

9 Night in a Tomb (2007)

10 Plastic Pumpkin (2006)

Written and Produced by JoDee Purkeypile.

All songs copyright 2001-2007

Get it here or here!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Mahood - The Drone Album (FR 2008/9 Work in Progress)

2 more tracks by French electronic/drone artist MAHOOD, originally posted on
http://tontonmahood.blogspot.com/.

"... here is the beginning a my own series of analog drones. I've recorded many of them since 1997 (first with an old 8bit "granular sintesis" software on my Mac Performa at the time), but few of them really convinced me - and what could I do with them until today? -- This first (= drone 7) ... is more a collection of ambient pieces put together than a real drone, but it's intended to be heard in a drone feeling. Some parts were played live when I played for PanSonic last year (you can hear them on the MySpace link "listen to my music"). -- Very basic recording (no mastering and basic mixing), and for the occasion the instruments were:

> Korg Polysix

> Korg Monopoly

> Sequential Circuits SixTrak

> Roland Juno 106

> folk guitar

> maracas."


http://www.myspace.com/puzzlekit


"A small post of a 2nd drone I've recently made (= drone 2). Very basic recording, once more (sorry - I promise I buy a sound card for my Mac as soon as I can), so please if you try it PLAY IT LOUD.-- For this occasion, the instruments were:

> Roland SH5 (synth)

> Roland CR78 (rythm box) plugged in Korg MS20 (synth)

> Korg MonoPoly (synth)

Played, recorded and mixed much faster than "part 1" in near live conditions. And it's shorter too (8'48)." (info from MAHOOD)


MAHOOD - The Drone Album
(FR 2008/9 'Work in Progress')
(mp3-zip, 2 tracks, 27:14 min, 52,9 MB)
Get it here or here!

Mahood - Granular Sintesis - (FR 1997)

Discovered this electronic album some time ago on MAHOOD's own blog http://tontonmahood.blogspot.com/ and thought this might be of interest to some HLFP blog readers.
MAHOOD is from Paris, France.

"More or less 4 tracks (20 minutes), with the exclusive use of a basic software on my Performa 6200, called "SoundEffects". The only source of the sound is sine waves, transformed / cut with the effects of the software (particularly with the most complex, called... "granular synthesis") - except the sampled percussions on track 1 (the only track I really don't like, it's of no use). -- I'm particularly proud of the 3rd and 4th tracks (and the transition between), the 4th track was one of my favourite at the time - very hypnotic if you're not irritated by the repetition. -- Be concious that it's a really lo-fi recording : 11.000khz, 8bit, recorded on a basic 4 tracks tape recorded, transfered on MiniDisc etc... So if you try play it loud!" (MAHOOD)


MAHOOD - Granular Sintesis (FR 1997)

(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 21 min, 37,5 MB)

Get it here or here!


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Light Seems Dark - Soundtrack From The Film 'Affekt' (GER. 1999)

Since 'Psychedelic Virgin' by short-lived German organ dominated psychedelic rock band LIGHT SEEMS DARK is one of the most downloaded albums from this blog – and a very fine one, that's for sure – I decided to post their only other recordings: the soundtrack from a no budget trash movie (called 'AFFEKT' by an unknown director). Again a true homemade lofi psych recording, done on a 4-track analog Fostex tape recorder – very much in the style of early PINK FLOYD in their 1969 soundtrack phase.
A nice addition to LSD's main work posted earlier.
'Main Theme' is suprisingly funky, while 'Callings From The Distanace' is a shorter instrumental version, different from the one on 'Psychedelic Virgin'. The remaining three tracks are instrumental improvisations.
Enjoy!

Light Seems Dark - Soundtrack From The Film
'Affekt' (GER. 1999)
(mp3-zip, 5 tracks, 11 min, 25,8 MB, @ 320)
New links Jan. 2013:
Get it here or here or here!

Lunar Testing Lab - Seashore Blvd (USA 2009)

LUNAR TESTING LAB is Eric Watson from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
His "Space Program" album, officially released on "i, absentee", was picked as # 5 cd of 2008 by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow.
The EP "Seashore Blvd" was recorded in May 2009, and was strongly recommended for posting on HLFP by Will Treffry of PANEYE, who is a big fan of it ("You will not regret listening to this. It is without question some of the best music i've heard in quite a while..." - I totally agree!)
Eric is into electronic music since 1991 or so; he began the LUNAR TESTING LAB project in 2004; influences he mentions are Boards of Canada, BMSR, funk, and 1970's moog music, and he uses a lot of samples and "a few synth sounds" to make his music.
The result is a unique mixture of jazz, funk, electronic and lounge; guess I'll call that "space lounge music" – a truely great record, strongly recommended to fans of AIR and psychedelic electronic music.

Favourite track: hmmm, difficult. Probably the opener: "Black Sands" and "Topaze Bay". The whole EP is great. Recommended especially for Sunday morning listening.


LUNAR TESTING LAB - Seashore Blvd (USA 2009)
(mp3 zip, 8 tracks, 27 min, 43,1 MB, front cover incl.)
Get it here!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Heinz Edelmann (Yellow Submarine art direction) (1934-2009) R.I.P.

Heinz Edelmann (June 20, 1934 - July 21, 2009) was a German illustrator and designer. He was born in 1934 in Czechoslovakia. He is a well-known illustrator in Europe, but is probably most famous for his art direction and character designs for the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine. He also designed Curro for the 1992 Seville World's Fair. He died in Stuttgart, aged 75. (source: wikipedia)

Interview Transcript (about The Beatles' Yellow Submarine) read here!

Shalloboi - 04-18-2009 - Chicago, Elastic Arts Foundation (USA 2009)

"here it is at last - the recording from the strings show from saturday night. it turned out a good deal better than i expected it to. the show was also possibly the best show we have ever played. the strings sounded good (and were audible- which was a sizable concern on my part) and we played well. we played nearly all new songs. i think we only played one released song. -- this live show was recorded in april at elastic arts foundation in chicago - the string players were katelyn eldridge- violin, chris gagnon - viola and aleskandra lederer - cello. -- most of the songs are from the record we are currently working on, which will be a vinyl-only release called 'all hope is blind' and basically the finished tracks that we have right now basically sound the way they do here on this live recording." (T. R.)


If you are not familiar with SHALLOBOI's music, I'd recommend to check out their studio recordings first, before listening to this live recording. Or you may also have a listen to the 3rd HLFP Sampler, where they are also featured with one track.

Thanks a lot Tyler, for making those exquisite recordings available.

Enjoy!


Shalloboi - 04-18-2009 - Chicago,

Elastic Arts Foundation (USA 2009)

(mp3 zip, 8 tracks, 49 min, 67,3 MB)

1. the sun is so bright

2. christmas song revisited

3. whisper

4. paper doves

5. falling stars

6. 4am train

7. narcoleptic

8. glasslands

Get it here or here!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Shalloboi - dandelions (USA 2009)

A new SHALLOBOI album for you to enjoy! That's what I call good news!
Thank you, Tyler Ritter, for sharing!

All songs were written by Tyler except 'sleep now...' (by tyler ritter/traditional) that contains verses from 'goodnight irene' which is in the public domain
.
Personal is:
tyler ritter = guitars, voice, 6-string bass, bass, percussion, loops, hammond organ 

stefanie goodwin = drums, voice, percussion, glockenspiel

billy speer = cello

christopher gagnon = violin

andrew royal = violin on 'glasslands'

recorded from april 2006 to april 2009 mostly at the panda room - chicago, il and at billy's apartment and house- kansas city, mo

SHALLOBOI sound like a crossing between SIGUR RÓS and MÚM (and a bit MY BLOODY VALENTINE). Also to my mind comes JULIE CRUISE. So if you like those artists YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT!
"Dandelions" is even more quiet than "Down to Sleep" (from 2008). It has that exquisite relaxed sleepy feeling that makes you feel comfortable all the way, though this very atmospheric music sometimes is quite mellow, even melancholic...

Excellent album, excellent band! In fact one of my favourites from this blog...

Don't forget to check out the older post.
Favourite track: 'field of flowers'

IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR AND YOU WANT TO SUPPORT THE BAND – BUY THEIR RECORDS AT AMAZON.

Shalloboi - dandelions (USA 2009)
(mp3 zip, 8 tracks, 52 min, 92,8 MB,front cover artwork incl.)
Get it here or here!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Soho Riots - EP (MEX 2009)


SOHO RIOTS are from Guadalajara, which is about 5 hours from Mexico City. The actual lineup is as follows: Lorena Quintanilla: guitar and vocals; Pilar Servín: guitar and vocals; Alberto González: drums and vocals; Bernardo Orozco: guitar; Ricardo Venegas: bass guitar and keys; Javier Orozco: vocals and keys.

"Those songs ... were recorded last summer on Bernardo's house, when Soho Riots was still a three-piece band (Lorena, Pilar and me, Alberto). We recorded them with a pretty basic setup, a macbook pro, a presonus firepod, a couple of condenser mics, and a bunch of guitar pedals (analogue delays, vintage phasers and flangers, an old casiotone keyboard etc.) in order to add an analogue flavor. Everything was mixed by the band and mastered by our much appreciated friend, Homero. When the small record was done we made some hand-crafted copies and share them with some friends of ours and later, some people would start asking for our music. One of them was Eric Gamboa, a guy who runs a netlabel called Poni Republic. That's how an alternate version of the EP got into the label's site (the only difference it has from the one we send you is that it has Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man instead of Pedestrian Knows Best). - - Also, around those days, we realized that, in order to play a decent representation of the songs we recorded, we needed more people in the band, so we invited Bernardo, Ricardo and Javier to play along. That's pretty much it. - - I guess our sound can be easily labeled as psychedelic, garage music or even shoegaze. That's why it is no wonder we enjoy listening to The Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, 13th Floor Elevators, The Black Angels, The Byrds, My Bloody Valentine..." (Alberto González)

Wow, pretty amazing stuff - a mix of garage acid punk, weird vocals and wall of sound shoegazer elements. It probably shouldn't come as a big surprise that this band is producing such great psychedelic music in Mexico (of all places), if one recalls, that Mexico has in fact quite a tradition of great psychedelic bands, that already played in the late 60ies and early 70ies (e.g. DUG DUG'S, THE FLYING KARPETS, THE SPIDERS, LA REVOLUCIÓN DE EMILIANO ZAPATA...).

Don't miss this little jewel!

Favourite song: "The Day of the Days"

http://www.myspace.com/sohoriots

http://ponirepublic.blogspot.com/2008/12/soho-riots.html

SOHO RIOTS - EP (MEX 2009)

(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 19 min, 25,8 MB)

Get it here or here!

low - fye: The Comfort Soak (UK-Wales 2009)

No need to introduce LOW - FYE to you blog readers; this is already his 3rd release on Homemade-Lofi-Psych. "The Comfort Soak" is the most recent collection of haunting songs, all written by LOW - FYE in spring 2009. Sparse, sketchy songs played on acoustic guitar with some occasional sound collages added to the mix ("Voices") in lofi aesthetics - reminding of a moody solo SYD BARRETT (ca. 1969/70).
Very cool stuff - VERY cool!
Recommended listening!

Check out older posts here.

low - fye: The Comfort Soak (UK-Wales 2009)
(mp3-zip, 10 tracks, 18 min, 16,2 MB)
Get it here or here!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Manual Zombie - S. T. (HLFP Compilation) (USA 2009)


MANUAL ZOMBIE is a New York/Brooklyn-based psychedelic band (like SKY PICNIC), a duo of two guys: Ahmad and Ben. Compared to SKY PICNIC their music is more sinister and far less influenced by 60ies/70ies psychedelic rock. MANUAL ZOMBIE's sound is at least to some degree rooted in the 90ies grunge, post punk and metal sound (though on tracks like "automatic people" some Sweet-Sister-Ray-VU-Punk is greeting). I'd also say I hear some BLACK FLAG influences, and I especially love that excellent distorted guitar playing. Their other main weapon is the voice - often spooky and menacing with strange spoken word passages: This is a trip to the dark realms of psychedelia. Enjoy!



MANUAL ZOMBIE's website lists four releases, and the 9 tracks from this collection here are taken from those records (that you can buy there) except for one song that was only recorded recently.
Favourite tracks: "Automatic People" and "No More Sun"

Next N.Y. live gig (w/ ORANGE OVEN and SKY PICNIC):



6 August 2009
Parkside Lounge
 317 E Houston St (btwn Ave B and Ave C),
New York, NY 10002
10 PM - FREE


MANUAL ZOMBIE - S. T. (HLFP Compilation)
(mp3 zip, 9 tracks, 34 min, 26 MB, art incl.)
Get it here or here or here! (New Links May 2012)

Karma - Senior Rocker (USA 2008)

KARMA is the brainchild of Zachary Ciulla, who now is living in Austin, TX, and used to live "out near DC". "Senior Rocker" is the first KARMA release in over three years - everything has been self-released so far. In DC. Zachary was in a indie/shoegazer band called CALENDAR (with his friends Geoff and George). - "I was the loudest fucking bass-player, haha. It was part of our sound, though."

"The initial tracks were recorded live, in like, 2 or 3 sessions with my friend Geoff (ex-Calendar drummer) at his basement in Arlington, Virginia. This was in October 2008. I just happened to be in-town visiting, and we decided to make the record right there. We took a super Lo-Fi approach, both out of interest and necessity, recording quickly and using whatever equipment he had laying around. We recorded onto my old TASCAM 8-track cassette-corder, which ate the tape at one point. Actually, we lost most of a song because of that. Anyways, after our time was up, I mastered the results onto another cassette, collecting not only the basic songs, but also outtakes and mangled or slowed-down snippets to use as filler material. That's where three of the tracks come from. Most of the overdubs were recorded back at my apartment in San Marcos, Texas. There I transferred the songs from that tape onto my computer, which is what I used for the rest of the process. The software I used was ACID for overdubbing and mixing, and Sound Forge for mastering. I finished this record on December 31st, 2008, just in time for New Years :) ... I played guitar and sang, Geoff played drums. I overdubbed more guitar and singing later, as well as bass and maybe one or two keyboard tracks back at my apartment. ... The cover is a picture of Geoff's dog, Toby, stoned as usual. Also, this album is dedicated to Geoff's dad, S... W... . We started recording the day after he passed away, it was sort of eerie, but strangely uplifting..." (Z. C.)

Zachary mentions GUIDED BY VOICES as a key influence (as well as MODEST MOUSE), and one can clearly hear that (though in fact I like KARMA's sound better...) An confident and uplifting, if somehow bittersweet and quirky listening experience. Pretty cool homemade lofi stuff, well worth a listen!
Favourite track: "Stilted"

http://www.myspace.com/karmarock Check it out! More free downloadable recordings there!

Karma - Senior Rocker (2008) (minus 2 songs)
(9 tracks (2 cover versions were left out), 29:18 min, 29,3 MB, front cover incl.)
Get it here or here!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Legion Within - Mouth Of Madness (USA 2009) (excerpt)

Legion Within's new album, “Mouth of Madness”, was released on June 16th.


"Their first formal release thru KMFDM Records, "Mouth of Madness" displays Legion Within as a mature band who have blended darkwave and industrial into their own distinctive brand of dark rock.


Crafting Mouth of Madness over two years was an arduous process. Written throughout a time when band member’s lives were rife with personal tragedy and upheaval, disquiet lays heavy within the music. The songs range from romance, escapism, and tragedy to tongue-in-cheek dark humor and flights of sadistic fancy.

Bouncing back from the industrial political-angst of 07’s the empty men, Mouth of Madness embraces the current political and emotional climate with a firm hand.  Singer William Wilson calls it, “Courageous Nihilism.  From day one we are all doomed.  But that's just the way it is, we deal with it..." (Press info)
LEGION WITHIN's new album is a great mix of Dark Wave, Industrial and Goth Rock. If you like bands like CASSANDRA COMPLEX or MARYLIN MANSON, you should definitly check them out. Here is an appetizer for you. 
If you like what you hear, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARTIST AND BUY THE RECORD.
The band is from Seattle.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/legionwithin
http://www.legionwithin.com/
Buy their record here:
http://www.kmfdmstore.com/index.php?cPath=62_67_72
LEGION WITHIN - Mouth Of Madness (2 tracks; excerpt from the album)
(mp3 zip, 2 tracks, 8 min, 10,7 MB) Get it here or here!