Moonlight (now: Nursery) - hyphydisco (3 tracks) (USA 2009)

MOONLIGHT (now NURSERY) is Franklin Wong currently living in Santa Cruz, CA, USA (originally from Palo Alto/Sunnyvale, Bay Area). These tracks were recorded in November 2009.

"all the sounds and crazy effects that sound like they would have been done with a computer were in fact done with a kaoss pad, no auto-tune, minimal, only 4 tracks thick... The track is called "Midnight Chase"... The style would be a fusion of lonely night drives with disco noir romanticism... with a dash of blueberry jello..."

Q: How recorded?

A: It was recorded with a firewire mbox as a computer interface but I do not use software to compose my music, I personally prefer to stay as far away from a laptop when music is involved and I'm looking to go back to using an 8 track recorder again. Minimalism... Recording is always a hard thing to do and I find usually that the volume of the songs are really low... so I have to find shimmied ways to jack up the volume.
Q: Who invoved? Who played what?

A: I play guitar, synthesizer, vocals, and drum machine on this track (= Midnight Chase), nothing is sequenced.

Q: Any more releases (apart from Midnight Chase)?

A: I have 2 other songs up on the myspace, "Ghost House" which is like a spooky darkwave disco hands in the air sort of track where I play synth & drum machine. (I'm looking to have a female friend of mine provide vocals for that song), and "Seeds of Ugliness" which is more of a Darkwave Post-Punk Industrial track where I play synth, guitar, drum machine, and vocals.

Q: Since when does this band/project exist?

A: This is my solo project that I started in September (2009).

Q: Any previous bands worth mentioning?

A: I play in another 2 piece band called Poison Diamonds. Some local bands whom we support and are good friends with are The Hundred Days (indie post punk and at times shoes gazey) from San Francisco, Bro Montana from Santa Cruz, Moon Cadillac from Santa Cruz, and Audiobomb from Oakland.

Q: How'd you "label" your music?

A: Hmm... I'd say it's Romantic Night Drive disco... or ... Car Chase disco noir... Post punk, industrial, italo-disco, disco punk, freestyle, and indietronica.

Q: Influences?

A: Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Xiu Xiu, Nick Cave & The Birthday Party, Belle Epoque, Dark Day, Glass Candy, The Chromatics, Goblin, Joy Division, Adult, Passions, Micron 63, Gang of Four, The Rapture, Ghostland Observatory, Portishead, Chris & Cosey, ABBA, Music Go Music, Musique, Bauhaus, Kasms, Death in June, The Cure, Kraftwerk, New Order, Giorgio Moroder, Liars the list goes on...

Q: Website/Myspace?

A: http://www.myspace.com/GoingSomewhereSolo

Q: Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...

A: I don't use software to compose my music, everything is played by hand in some form, mainly because I don't know how to use computer software or any of that stuff... I play my music from a live musician approach, a lot of improvisation, minimalism, DIY ethos. If you have a MiniKorg 700s or Korg Rhythm 55b for sale hit me up! I need one of those! shout outs to Missingtoof.com & thanks to Homemade- lofi- psychedelic blog for checking us out! feel free to hit me up on the myspace, that's the closest thing to a website I have, I'd love to play any shows, house parties, etc...

Indeed I hear a strong late 70s euro-disco influence as well as CHRIS & COSEY or late KRAFTWERK. If you're into old synthie sounds you should definitely check this one out.

Enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/GoingSomewhereSolo

MOONLIGHT (new name: NURSERY) - hyphydisco

(3 tracks)

(mp3-zip, 3 songs, 12 min, 25,5 MB, art incl.)

Get it here or here or here!

Re:Interpretace - 2nd Annual Live FEBRUARY 8TH 2010 (CZCH)

Re:Interpretace - 2nd Annual Live FEBRUARY 8TH 2010 (CZCH)

A live improvisation in the Reichenberger Library on February 8th.

East Ra - Sutra (Croatia 2009)

In February last year I posted "Cold Summer" by Croatian underground psych band EAST RA.

"Sutra" is their latest release, their second album, this time sung in their own language.

dino-s translated the original song titles for us, so that we might get an idea what the songs are about.

These are raw, rather lo-fi recordings, again mostly folkrock mainly based on acoustic guitar playing and often unpolished, sometimes blues-y vocals. Probably not quite as dark as the first album, but just as atmospheric.

Amazing work!

http://www.myspace.com/eastra1

EAST RA - Sutra (2009)

(mp3-zip, 15 tracks, 62 min, 140,1 MB, artwork incl.)

01. the witch (Štriga)

02. cock blues (Kurac Blues)

03. little green song (Moli zeleni kanat)

04. watering can (Žbrufador)

05. flower (Rožica)

06. dark road (Škura cesta)

07. chamomile and coffe (Kamamila i kafe)

08. arm, knee (Ruka, koleno)

09. orange (Naronca)

10. our meadow (Joko joko)

11. very very (Naš kršin)

12. my cloud and i (Moj oblak i ja)

13. went hiding in the woods (Šo son se skrit va bošak)

14. border of miracle (Kunfin od mirakula)

15. this morning (Sutra)

Get it here!

JohnnyX Guitar - it´s all end in nothing (GER 2008/9)

Christian Schmidt from Hamburg, Germany, is JOHNNYX GUITAR.

He himself describes his music as "surreal ambient music".

It's for the most part instrumental music with occasional voices mixed in to good effect (e.g. kind = child, where children's and parents' voices are used).

Enjoy!

Christian is into recording music since 2004. In 2008 he started this project JOHNNYX GUITAR.

He already released the following recordings under the name TIS:

Pain E.P. (12", EP); Psycho Shoxxs 2005

Distinction (12"); Electric Movement Records 2006

Drug Trip (12"); Electric Movement Records 2006

God And Demons E.P (EP) (2 versions), Kurbel 2006

God And Demons E.P (12", EP); Kurbel 2006

God And Demons (12", Promo, W/Lbl); Kurbel 2006

Unknown Emotions (12"); Electric Movement Records

http://www.myspace.com/johnnyxguitar

JOHNNYX GUITAR - It's all end in nothing

(GER 2008/9)

(mp3-zip, 8 tracks, 76 min)

1. something in space

2. roO

3. horn

4. alma

5. plastic wood

6. dieing pool

7. kind

8. clom

Get it here!

Old And Gray - Souls Worth Saving (USA 2010)

"I've been releasing an album a month since Oct 25th 2009, and yesterday (= February 25th 2010) marked the release of my 3rd album. It's called Souls Worth Saving and i would love to share it with you. Actually i'd love to share it with as many people as i possibly can, and part of my goal is to reach a million downloads by October 2010. the albums i release are free (donations accepted). If you like the album, please share it with your friends in any way." (OaG in email)

http://oldandgray.bandcamp.com/

One more release by OLD AND GRAY, part of the "one album a month project" (though I don't quite get it: releasing albums since October and this one, released in February, is Number 3...? Hmm?).

Again very well produced tracks, well worth your attention. This time more in a dark alternative/indie rock context with some electronics mixed in.

Favourite track: Little Creatures but that whole thing is of very high quality

OLD AND GRAY - Souls Worth Saving (2010)

(mp3-zip, 3 tracks, 13 min, 29,6 Mb)

Get it here!

Old And Gray - Things Are Blurry (USA 2009)

"i'm doing this thing where i release an album a month, and try to see how many people i can share it with... i'm on album two." (OaG)

Part of the "one album a month project" (though with 27 minutes I would call it rather an ep...).

Get it! It's excellent. More guitar driven than "She's Buried Deep" posted earlier.

Favourite track: In Addition... He Floats Away, The Sun Disappeared (baby version)

http://oldandgray.bandcamp.com/album/things-are-blurry

OLD AND GRAY - Things Are Blurry

(mp3-zip, 5 tracks, 27 min, 61,1 MB)

Get it here or here or here!

Old And Gray - She's Buried Deep (USA 2004)

OLD AND GRAY originally from Redwood City, CA, recently relocated to Berkeley, CA. He is into music since 1984. He recently sang for a band called PHANTOM FLOAT, and currently is the drummer for ROOM FOR A GHOST.

"She's Buried Deep" was recorded in 2004 and first released in 2005.

All tracks and all parts were played by OLD AND GRAY, recorded "outside, in the laudry room, in cars, in garages, in the bathroom, on train tracks, in my room. Using one mic all the way through. an i5 and a bullet mic depending on the song."

Q: Influences?

A: mostly the instruments i try to play. they have a huge influence on the way things sound. besides that, i'm totally influenced by things that happen around me, what i had for lunch, and people that play music and REALLY mean it.

Q: Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...

A: i really want to find a band in the berkeley area to work with. i really want to start up a gypsy concert network in the berkeley area. – i really want to create a community of people that organize house shows, and share art. – i also think that being a musician is CRAZY. bands break up too often, and lose sight of having fun even quicker. i think one thing to do is help the bands around you.

Q: How'd you "label" your music?

"she's buried deep" is pretty fuzzy, lo-fi, electronic, dark, experimental, rock. kinda ambient too.

Interesting dark experimental album, some rock, some pop, some avantgarde elements. Very well produced. Doesn't sound like anyone else. Self-contained and courageous. Recommended.

Favourite track: Can You See?, Three Dead Moods

http://oldandgray.bandcamp.com/album/shes-buried-deep

OLD AND GRAY - She's Buried Deep

(mp3-zip, 8 tracks, 34 min, 76,9 MB)

Get it here!

Pradada - Add Pink Fuzz (CAN 2006)

Francis Ouellette from Hobo Cult Records suggested some time ago that I'd check out the free downloadable first album by PRADADA titled "Add Pink Fuzz" – and so here it is for your listening pleasure.

PRADADA are from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and they will have a new psychedelic album out soon, called "Phantasy Visions". Listen to some of their newer tunes at Myspace. Especially "Lay Down Your Heads" is truly an excellent song:

http://www.myspace.com/pradada

"Add Pink Fuzz" is probably more experimental than their more recent work, but nevertheless very interesting, recorded rather lo-fi, often arranged around a simple rhythm machine, dark chords and melodies and using dark lyrics/spoken passages as well (e.g. "she left"). Some tracks are short instrumentals.

BEWARE: This stuff is really recorded rather lo-fi, so nothing for hi-fi freaks!!!

Many more albums by PRADATA (and some other artists) downloadable at Hobo Cult Records:

http://hobocultalbums.blogspot.com/

Favourite track: "perfect anything", "she left (dizzy oh my)"

Enjoy!

PRADADA - Add Pink Fuzz (CAN 2006)

1) avant garde

2) hero

3) born again

4) choose to go

5) she left

6) dark wave

7) can you explain?

8) un et demi

9) ghoody

10) cemetery

11) bastards of wunderland

12) on that fateful day

13) organ deep love

14) in the back yard

15) railroad disaster

16) perfect anything

17) indians in the parkin lot

18) she left (dizzy oh my)

19) bells of distance

20) hi-tekWoman

(mp3-zip, 20 tracks, 46 min, 60 MB)

Get it here or here or here!

HLFP 04 SOUND EXPLOSIONS

Well, it's been some time since the last Homemade-Lofi-Psych-Sampler... More than a year, to be exact.

Here's the new one, looking back to 2009:

Homemade-Lofi-Psych presents:

HLFP 04: "SOUND EXPLOSIONS"

– New far-out music for a new HEAD generation –

2009 was a very good year for homemade lofi psych. There was a total of 217 posts. Lots of interesting and sometimes even excellent psychedelic, experimental, weird folk and electronic music found its way to yours truly, and it was a real pleasure to listen to it and post it. And this is exactly the reason, why HLFP # 04 soon evolved into a double cd volume sampler, when I started to compile it.

Nevertheless I decided to not include the more experimental, pure electronic and weird folk songs (albeit there were many great ones in each of these sub-genres) and to concentrate on the more "really" psychedelic tinged rock and pop oriented pieces. Of course there are lots of borderline cases, but then: What exactly is your definition of "homemade lofi psychedelic music" anyway? Well, ... Probably some extra volumes of HLFP-Samplers will follow in the (near?) future, that will focus on those mentioned sub-genres not featured this time. Anyway, I'm rather sure that you will enjoy HLFP 04 as much as I do...

But enough talk for now. Sit back – it's time to listen and to surrender to the SOUND EXPLOSIONS!!!

HLFP 04 is especially dedicated to BaM. Thank you!

Comments are of course – as always - welcome.

HOMEMADE LOFI PSYCH HEADS UNITE!

mike-floyd, January 2010

SHARE FREELY! NOT FOR SALE!

Enjoy!

CD 1

01. MANUAL ZOMBIE: Automatic People (5:21)

02. RIDING THE RIFF: Everything Is Alive (4:57)

03. STRANGERS FAMILY BAND: Strange Transmission (7:00)

04. PANEYE: Pasta and Chalk (3:31)

05. THE GOODLUCK BOYS: Shadows 1 (4:48)

06. BRODERICK YOUNG: Ave Godzilla (2:30)

07. THE WHEN McGRUFF WAS KING: Many More Melting (6:00)

08. THE MONKEY EASTERN: The Shoegazing Samurai (2:49)

09. LUNAR TESTING LAB: Topaze Bay (3:16)

10. ENDLESS ENDLESS ENDLESS: Distortions (6:08)

11. THE THREE POTATO 4: Let Yourself Know (3:24)

12. FILE 13: Glowing Smiles (7:56)

13. BLEED STONE: Off To Sleep Arachnid (6:15)

14. THE VERTIGO SWIRL: Baited Breath (7:29)

15. THE BAVARIAN DRUGLORDS: Goldsoul (5:18)

16. RAVER: Solar (2:26)

CD 2

01. NOLO: Fondu (2:46)

02. WOLF BURN: Nature Sounds (3:34)

03. BLANCANUS: All Smiles (3:09)

04. BLACK SAND: Falling Down (3:55)

05. SKY PICNIC: Moons of Jupiter (6:48)

06. SOHO RIOTS: The Day of the Days (5:47)

07. TAD SONIC: First Attack (Chapter Two) (2:04)

08. LEONEL GARCIA: He Donated His Brain To Science (Fiction) (4:02)

09. MANIK MYK THOMPSON: Loose Cannon (5:34)

10. WONDER WHEEL: Future Home (5:06)

11. GLAZE OF CATHEXIS: That Halycon Moment (2:08)

12. THE DIAMOND CENTER: Cap'n Death (5:16)

13. TYLER PARKFORD: Trepanation (3:20)

14. THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE: Ancient Land (5:35)

15. ANOTHER WORLD OF BEASTS: Apokalypsen (7:59)

16. INTERPRETACE: Eq 9 & 9 (6:49)

17. SLEEPING, DREAMING: Dreaming (4:25)

18. JARED FAIRFIELD: Conch (1:14)

(mp3-zip of 2 cds; 34 tracks, 368,4 MB, artwork + info incl.)

Get it

here (CD1) and here (CD2)!

Don't forget to check out the older HLFP-Samplers, if you don't have them already:

HLFP 01: RELAX AND FLOAT DOWNSTREAM

HLFP 02: EMBRYO THOUGHTS

HLFP 03: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOG

SKY PICNIC's first full-length CD released

SKY PICNIC's first full length CD Farther In This Fairy Tale is available for purchase now. Official release date was 01-01-2010.

The cover is slightly reminiscent of the COUNT FIVE's late 60s parage-psych record (featuring the famous Psychotic Reaction), but guitarist/vocalist Chris Sherman assured me that this wasn't meant as a hommage, since none of the band members had known that cover. Musically it's much different to COUNT FIVE, much less garage-like and much more psychedelic in a classic sense: you'll find lots of traces of early PINK FLOYD or the BEATLES in their psychedelic phase.

Highlight is without a doubt the 12-minutes-plus spacey psych-prog epic "Universal Mind Decoder", also a live favourite by band and fans alike. (Listen to an excellent live version here.) But anyway, you won't find any bad track on this album. 46 minutes of sheer pleasure!

And a very good production soundwise: clear and strong.

http://www.myspace.com/skypicnic

http://www.skypicnicmusic.com/

You may buy Farther In This Fairy Tale here (US shipping only) or (for worlwide shipping) here.

And you really should do so! I love this album! An excellent debut by an excellent band.

I said it before and I'm going to say it again: SKY PICNIC are easily one of the best neo psychedelic bands around these days!

Another World of Beasts - Bortlängtan (Video) (SWED 2009)

"I've made a musicvideo for Bortlängtan. I circuit bended a nintendo 8bit and fed it with the frequencies from the tune..." (/mattias from AWOB)

Allister Thompson - Infinities (CAN 2006)

ALLISTER THOMPSON is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He's been playing his own music since the late 90s.

The biggest band he's been in was called CRASH KELLY (2002-2009), a 70s-style glam band, that released three albums on various labels internationally and toured Canada, the U.S. and parts of Europe. Allister was the rhythm guitar player/occasional bassist/backing vocalist in the group. "The highlight of our career was doing two tours opening for ALICE COOPER."

ALLISTER THOMPSON has recorded two albums under his own name: The first is "Infinities" (2006), where he played all instruments (g., bs., keyb., perc.) and sang everything. It was produced at home in lofi conditions and later mastered very well to sound "pretty sparkly". His second album, "Shadowlands", produced last winter, was recorded in a professional recording studio in Toronto with a full band on most tracks.

"I had called my music "psych folk", in the late 60s/early 70s tradition of Donovan, the Incredible String Band, Popol Vuh, that sort of thing. The new album has a bit of that on it but also a lot of psych-rock/early prog/Kraut influences. So I guess it's now "psychedelic folk rock"!

Primary influences: Nick Drake, John Martyn, Sandy Denny, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Popol Vuh, Flying Saucer Attack, The Church (the Aussie neo-psych band)." (A. T.)

Excellent mellow psychedelic folk recording strongly influenced by late 60s/early 70s British folk music – especially NICK DRAKE – with a slight ambient music touch. There are surely not too many current musicians that are working in the area that ALLISTER THOMPSON is in, i. e. mixing folk with more ambient/psych sounds, with lyrics that are more philosophical than personal.

"I personally generally dislike confessional singer songwriting (people whining about their relationships) and enjoy it when songwriters try to give their lyrics a greater meaning. That's my goal anyway." (A. T.)

Great music! The only thing I do not like that much is the cover artwork. I think it doesn't do justice to this rather sad, but beautiful music at all.

Enjoy!

Favourite track: 'Galaxies Turn'

http://www.myspace.com/allisterthompson

http://www.archive.org/details/AllisterThompsonInfinities

http://www.last.fm/music/Allister+Thompson

Listen to some of Allister's lates cd "Shadowlands" on Myspace. You can buy it at cdbaby.

IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARTIST!

ALLISTER THOMPSON - Infinities (2006)

(mp3-zip, 11 tracks, 51 min, 119,2 MB, artwork incl.)

Get it here or here or here!