MAGMA live in London Tue. 6 Oct. 2009

A night of cosmic rock and psychedelic disco in London curated by Andy Votel – who will also be DJing in the foyer outside the Barbican Hall – with Chrome Hoof, JP Massiera and French prog-rock legends Magma.

The immense French prog-rock ensemble MAGMA has been led for 40 years by drummer and mystic Christian Vander on a unique quest to combine free jazz, motorik beats, choral music and modern classical into an unclassifiable whole.

The legendary French psych-rock and twisted disco pioneer J.P. MASSIERA - whose recordings from the 1960s and 1970s now change hands for hundreds of pounds – makes a one-off UK appearance in collaboration with London’s extraordinary ritualistic collective CHROME HOOF – the nearest thing to these prog masters that present-day music scene has to offer.

Plus music from DJ ANDY VOTEL before the show and during the interval.

(Promo by: Matteo Plachesi from the Barbican Centre, London)

Barbican Centre, London

Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS

Tuesday 6. Oct. 2009

Tickets from £12.50
Click here for more info, to watch clips & to book tickets!
www.barbican.org.uk/contemporary

5:12 - But Falling Is Something We've Always Been Good At... (USA 2009)

5:12 is Matthew Mann from Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri.

"I've been into music since the day i was released into the world. What would the world be without these uniqe sounds and stories that need to be told? I remember being 13 and getting a keyboard for christmas. I had a portable tape player I would carry around and record various sounds then mix together sounds from my keyboard with various everyday noise. Eventually I firgured out how to transfer my songs to a computer and I released my first (and very raw) album of just me and a keyboard in 2006. I would write all my own lyrics and make this music and eventually fit into CLLCT. Every since then I've been constantly finding new ways to make music. Even though I'm pretty new to the DIY scene, I still think my creativity is still worth hearing through my music. (...) There's nothing I love more than banging on a keyboard and sceaming and moaning my heart out. While I'm no musical genius I promise you'll never find a lack of passion or mood in my music. Passion is my middle name." (M.M.)

"But Falling Is Something We've Always Been Good At..." is obviously a very political, very critical album. I can't say very much about the lyrics (since I don't understand everything because of the English language and also the mix) and I don't want to discuss any politics here, but one surely will notice that the music itself is quite impressive. The singing style might be a little irritating at first listen, but it also adds to the overall hazy, sometimes even desperate atmosphere. The songs are more kind of soundscapes, rich with voice samples, piano/keyboard playing and the singing voice, somewhere muddled in the mix. An often unsettling and adventurous listening experience for sure. (More info in the zip-file).

Enjoy!

Please note: The artists alone are responsible for lyrical and musical content (also regarding sampled material)!

http://www.myspace.com/themediocremoderation

5:12 - But Falling Is Something We've Always Been Good At... (USA 2009)

(mp3-zip, 14 tracks, 52,3 MB, 57 min)

Get it here! Re-up 04/2024

5:12 - I'll never forget about you (USA 2009)

5:12 is Matthew Mann.

"I compose ambient/psychadelic/experimental music mostly through various computer programs, curcuit bending, my electrical keyboard and my trusty organ..."

"In the mass sea of dreams, I see a rocking horse. The most beautiful rocking horse. It's inner workings made of a pure velvet and gold. It illuminates my eyelids with it's taunting gestures. With every inhale I take, the rocking horse starts to fade, almost as if my memories were fading before me, tearing down like melting chocolate. The rocking horse eventually disapears and nothing is before me. It seems natural that nothing is before me so I forget all about the beautiful illuminating rocking horse. My memory has wiped it clean. I awake. The time is 5:12." (from 'Mass Sea Of Dreams', qouted from http://cllct.com/art/512)

Matthew Mann has recorded quite a number of albums in the last years under the name 5:12, and "I'll never forget about you" surely is a good starting point since it is a collection of his 14 "best" songs (in his opinion). The earliest recordings featured here are from 2006. Don't expect any mainstream electronic pop music. The songs are quite experimental and without a doubt very interesting, though one has to get used to Matthew's voice and singing style first which is rather special and somehow or other an acquired taste...

Matthew makes good use of atmospheric voice and ambient sound samples, and just like RANGERS he manages to create his own sound and so doesn't really sound like anybody else. And that is a very good thing!

Enjoy!

Favourite tracks: 'Sinking Stand' and 'The Pandemonium Skyline'

5:12 - I'll never forget about you (USA 2009)

(mp3-zip, 14 tracks, 64 min, 58,9 MB)

Get it here!

Still Light - Lything (2009 USA/UK)

STILL LIGHT are Kirill Nikolai, Lucy Hague and Sand Snowman.

Most of the music (predominantly acoustic!) was recorded in Kirill's closet/bedroom/living room in Boulder, CO, Lucy Hague's pad in Edinburgh, Scotland and Sand's home studio in London. It could probably be called psychedelic folk or freak folk, and – according to Kiril – it is influenced by all kind of different sounds, 60's and 70's folk/psych/prog/singer-songwriters, drone/ambient, jazz, classic rock, and some more contemporary music. The male/female vocal arrangements for example are very reminiscent of British folk-jazz band THE PENTANGLE. A beautiful, very dreamy, often rather dark exquisite ambiance is dominant and makes for a pleasurable listening experience.

(More info inside the zip-file.)

Highly recommended!

http://www.myspace.com/kirillnikolai

Myspace Lucy Hague

http://pillowstone.co.uk/wailingmiserere/

http://www.myspace.com/sandsnowman

Buy Sand Snowman LPs here:

http://www.crazy-diamond.nl/dizq/detail.asp?ID=57807

STILL LIGHT:

Lucy Hague: vocals, piano, tin whistle

Sand Snowman: acoustic guitars, electric guitar, recorder, glockenspiel, organ, bass guitar

Kirill Nikolai: vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitar, slide guitar, ebow, organs, harmonium, mellotron, bass guitar, banjo, percussion

Still Light - Lything (USA/UK)

(mp3 zip, 6 tracks, 38 min, 96,4 MB, artwork incl.)

1. Through The Grain - 6.12

2. A Remedy - 5.48

3. Footprints In The Garden - 4.58

4. August - 10.47

5. Hour Of The Wolf - 2.49

6. Tenebre - 7.11

No longer available here!

Update:

IF YOU LIKE THE MUSIC, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARTISTS:

THE ALBUM IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM APOLLOLAAN RECORDINGS.

BUY IT HERE!

This cdr release is an edition of 50 copies, all with individually hand drawn and numbered inside covers, it comes with a wrap around front cover and insert.

atelierTheremin @ Zodiac, Berlin: Sept. 17 2009

Am Do. 17.09. ist es mal wieder soweit.

KRAUTOPIA besetzt das "WAU" (ehemals: "ZODIAC") unter dem heutigen HAU2 -

und verwandelt es ins experimentelle "ZODIAC LAB"!

EINTRITT ist FREI!

Einlass ab 20 Uhr bei DJ Mani M.s Perlen des 60/70er Krautrock – Start ist dann locker ab 21 Uhr.

Zur Livemusik von atelierTheremin mit analog-visual-Projektionen gibt es kurze Texte zu gesellschaftlichen Utopien und Experimenten, diesmal aus: "Für Heute: Zukunft aus der Gegenwart von Gestern".

Das "Zodiac Free Arts Lab" war um 1969 Berlins erster Underground-Szene-Treffpunkt.

Dort, wo sich heute die Lounge des Hebbel/HAU2 befindet, begegneten und vermischten sich Musik, Kunst und Politik – einige Gäste veröffentlichten Schallplatten (u. a. Klaus Schulze, Agitation Free, Peter Brötzmann, Manuel Göttsching & Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster, Tangerine Dream...), andere wurden auf Fahndungsplakaten veröffentlicht (z. B. Holger Meins und Bommi Baumann).

Wo?

Hallesches Ufer 32/ Ecke Großbeerenstraße

unter dem HAU2/ Hebbel am Ufer,

10963-Berlin-Kreuzberg Nähe U-Bhf. Möckernbrücke.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Berlin neo-krautrock band atelierTheremin will perform next Thursday, Sept. 17, at the revived legendary ZODIAC Club – in the late 60s home of well known first generation cosmic krautrock bands like TANGERINE DREAM, ASH RA TEMPEL and AGITATION FREE. Not to be missed!!!

Zodiac/HAU2/Hebbel am Ufer

Hallesches Ufer 32

Berlin-Kreuzberg

U-Bahn: Möckernbrücke.

http://www.atelier-theremin.info

Rocket Park - Teenage Folklore (USA 1999)

"On September 17th, 1999, ROCKET PARK released its first album by the time-honored tradition of the CD release party. Though the result of less than a year of recording (in fits and spurts), it felt to me like the culmination of years - nay, decades - of preparation, for though I'd been recording in various contexts for many a moon, I'd never really buckled down and produced a cohesive, album-length work. Eric Moore provided the kick up my ass, the cash and - last but not least - a bunch of awesome drumming to make it happen, and I thank him for all three.

Although Rocket Park would quickly become more of a band and less of a studio project, the free reign Eric gave me throughout the recording of this project made it a virtual solo album, albeit prominently featuring a drummer and lead guitarist who could bring the goods more readily than I. John Sebben, although pictured and credited, didn't really join the band until after the rhythm parts had been laid down, and by the time we recorded our next album, he was replaced by Dave Harris, whose arrival really helped define Rocket Park as a band (and whose departure led to a slow but decisive death for the group).

The music? Well, I suppose I was working towards a different ideal then. It's dense with sound, layered and highly produced, perhaps a bit too glossy and shiny for my current tastes, but I can't help a surge of pride and emotion when I listen. I was twenty-eight years old when the sessions began, impatient for my music to be heard, ready to go for broke. I think I did alright. Thanks again to Mike Martin (a great engineer who delivered exactly what was requested), Eric Moore (without whom...) and "Manik" Myk Thompson (not just for his blazing guitar lines, but for his wonderful cassettes that helped nudge me towards my current DIY approach to music)." (BAM)

Not much more to add. BRIAN ANDREW MAREK surely won't be a new name for you regular blog readers. Don't expect any spaced out psychedelia here (try THE VERTIGO SWIRL instead if you prefer the more psychedelic BAM) . "Teenage Folklore" is solid American rock music, no more and no less - no big surprises, but quite well done with a very clean production and excellent guitar playing. Though probably a little bit too mainstream for my personal taste regarding the song material and arrangements.

Check out Brian's older posts here, and also have a look at the RIDING THE RIFF post (and the comments) to learn more about Manik Myk, mentioned above.

Enjoy!

Favourite track: 'Want'

http://www.myspace.com/brianandrewmarek

Rocket Park - Teenage Folklore (1999)

(mp3-zip, 12 tracks, 47 min, 65,6 MB, artwork incl.)

Get it here! Re-up 04/2024

Rocket Park - Ghosts, Villains, Sirens and Superstars (USA 1995-2003)

"September 17th, 2009 is the tenth anniversary of the release of my old band ROCKET PARK's first album "Teenage Folklore", and I'm commemorating that milestone with this collection of live recordings and solo demos, presented in the same running order as the original album. Just to sweeten the deal, track thirteen is a previously unreleased song from the "Teenage Folklore" sessions, "Running Through the Night" - for the life of me, I'm not sure why we left if off. The fidelity of many tracks is questionable, as is usual for something like this - think of it as an official bootleg for Rocket Park and/or Brian Andrew Marek freaks only. Plain ol' freaks might dig it to." (BAM)

http://www.myspace.com/brianandrewmarek

Rocket Park - Ghosts, Villains, Sirens and Superstars:

The Alternate Teenage Folklore (1995-2003)

(mp3-zip, 13 tracks, 96,9 MB, 42 min, artwork incl.)

Get it here! Re-up 04/2024

Interpretace - The Last of Mohicans (CZCH VIII-28-2009)

"... our last session from friday named the last of mohicans, because it was done for virtual underground hamlet crow festival, plus short excerp from book galaxies like grains of sand by brian aldiss, it is about the term interpretace in meaning to religion for civilization of machines, sorry that this text is only in czech..." (Richard Charvat)

Not sure if I like the repetitious voice sample in the first few minutes of this experimental piece that much, but otherwise this very heavy industrial improvisation is among the very best of INTERPRETACE's work - reminding me of late (German industrial/kraut band) FAUST in places, though much more sensitive... Enjoy!

Interpretace - The Last of Mohicans (CZCH VIII-28-2009)

(mp3-zip of 1 track, 1:40'15, 92 MB,

incl. another zip w./ text material in Czch)

Old links are dead - will be reposted if requested.

Interpretace - Puddle-jampers (CZCH 2009)

'a short sound illustration inspired by Aldiss paper about "Interpretace".

"Víra Vehikulů našla mezi stroji značný ohlas a časem se rozvinula v takzvané Interpretace,

nový náboženský proud, který zasáhl téměř veškeré strojní myšlení."

"Faith of the Puddle-jampers had influence on other machines. In the course of time evolved to so called

Interpretace a new religion about machine cogitation." ' (Richard)

Stylistically a little different from the INTERPRETACE sound we know from older posts. First of all these 3 tracks are indeed very short; Richard calls them "sound illustration". Also the music is more electronic than usual, like a mixture of LAURIE ANDERSON and KRAFTWERK... Enjoy!

BRIAN ALDISS is together with MICHAEL MOORCOCK and JAMES G. BALLARD the most famous exponent of the so called NEW WAVE of Science-fiction in the UK. (His 'Barefoot in the Head' aka 'Acid Head War' {1969} is probably the most psychedelic sci-fi novel ever).

Interpretace - Puddle-jampers (CZCH 2009)

(mp3-zip, 3 tracks, 2:51 min)

Sorry, old links are dead.

Another World of Beasts - HLFP Song Collection (SWED 2009)

ANOTHER WORLD OF BEASTS is the one-man krautrock-based music project by mattias from - as MySpace says - "antarctica" (in fact north of Sweden).

"been playing guitar since '95 maybe. began producing hiphop around '99 on my first computer. did that for two years or. -- bought a Zoom-mrs4 portable studio around '03, and began recording some guitar based psych and kraut, with computer drums, it all sounded shit, so pretty much just stopped with it. but kept on recording. produced hiphop some more, and changed my platform to computer alltogether. since, ive made alot of different types of music, some with friends, some by myself, and everything under various artist names. founded the hoax record label Terrorific Rekords '04, to be sort of a host for my musical output. -- and Another World of Beasts is my latest project for Terrorific Rekords."

"other projects:

The Beekeepers (band), Bring Out Your Dead, Cptn Love (band), The Foreign Offenders, Gift of Yahweh, Matt Réon, Miaz Laserquest, Mittens, The Poorhouse Accordionist, The Rapist, RWC-NWS, Schopenhauer, Seizur, Seth Boop, Silverarken (band), The Tango Magicians, The Tubefaces, The Unheard of, The Young Adults (band)"

www.myspace.com/terrorificrekords

www.myspace.com/silverarken

www.myspace.com/thetangomagicians

www.myspace.com/miazlaserquest

Listening to ANOTHER WORLD OF BEASTS one can clearly hear a strong krautrock influence, namely of Cologne-based experimental band THE CAN. Especially on 'Bortlängtan' my favourite song: You get the Michael Karoli fuzz guitar and the hypnotic Holger Czukay bass lines and some far out singing, not too far away from the unintelligible mumblings of a stoned DAMO SUZUKI. This could easily be a son of 'Mother Sky'... And 'Under stjärnor' and 'Tillblivelsen' sound like a crossing between AMON DÜÜL II and again THE CAN...

If you don't mind the strong THE CAN reference and you're into experimental krautrock then wait no longer: This stuff will be perfect for you! In fact: It's strongly recommended!

Favourite track: 'Bortlängtan'

http://www.myspace.com/anotherworldofbeasts

Another World of Beasts - HLFP Song Collection

(SWED 2009)

(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 33 min, 45,7 MB, art incl.)

Apokalypsen - 11:42

Bortlängtan - 8:04

Tillblivelsen - 6:45

Under stjärnor - 6:18

Get it here or here!

Alternative Megaupload: here.

Riding The Riff - Primordial Soup Kitchen (USA 2009)

Recently I received an e-mail by -valis (from the fantastic psychedelic blog Trip Inside This House - if you don't know it already you are asked to check it out immediately!), who suggested to post "Primordial Soup Kitchen" on homemade-lofi-psych to help spread RIDING THE RIFF's impressive EP as far and wide as possible. And of course it's a pleasure to post this album, a masterpiece with great songs and recorded and arranged very much in a psychedelic spirit, that somehow reminds me of the (British) (MAGIC) MUSHROOM BAND - with its mix of neo-psych and electronic trance music. Enjoy!

RIDING THE RIFF from St. Louis, MI, are Jim 'Seamus' McKinney and Manik Myk. The band has been in existence for about a year now.

Here's some info by Manik Myk:

"I met Jim "Seamus" McKinney through our mutual friend John McClellan. Jim had recorded, on his four track, John McClellan's CD entitled "Sea Shells". -- When the band John and I were in, Atlas Dropped the Ball, finally decided to record we tried several options. First, we tried to record it ourselves on a sixteen track, but had little success. Next, we tried a friend who was the opposite of a perfectionist. We met with little success. John suggested Jim. We made a crude 4 song demo. I was not that impressed with three of the songs (no fault of Jim's), but I really liked his production on my song "Demons to Chocolate". -- While Jim McKinney and I were almost neighbors in Maplewood, we did not start hanging out until I lived across town in Hazelwood. The first recordings we did together were songs that I wrote and were political in nature. The first e.p. was called "Heaven". We decided, after this, that writing political songs meant that not only did you reduce the size of your potential audience, but the songs had a shelf-life of about six months tops. Jim McKinney suggested that we do (a) psychedelic EP. I wanted to make sonic Christmas present. So, we did both. We made an EP that included "The Woman With the Love", "Turn Me On", & "Demons to Chocolate" with a retooled Jim McKinney bass part. about this time, Jim suggested that we name ourselves Riding the Riff and I agreed. We even, for an nanosecond, had a drummer and a bass player, but we never did a show. -- Jim told me that anytime I wanted to record at his studio I could. I wrote the lyrics for "My Life Among the nominally Sentient", and decided he was the man to produce and record it. I recorded it one afternoon and let Jim add his magic. Working with Jim is kind of like that Italian fable where you leave leather out at night, and the next morning you have shoes (presumably made by little shoe-gnomes or something). -- He had already recorded "Everything is Alive" and had featured some of his friends, including me, reading metaphysical books. I believe that this song sums up Jim's metaphysical beliefs rather succinctly. -- "Kissing the Flame" was another one of Jim's songs. I was fortunate enough to play bass on it. I watched him for several hours as he pursued the definitive guitar lead. "The Day the Roses Bled Sunshine" was a throwback to the Christmas album. (...)

We do not label our music. We ladle* it since it is Primordial Soup. (*A ladle is a long-handled utensil with a cup-shaped bowl for dipping or conveying liquids.)"

(M. M.)

http://www.myspace.com/ridingtheriff

Other EPs by RIDING THE RIFF:

'Heaven' - which contained "Heaven", "D.M.B." (Do More Bongs), "Gitmo" and "Rome".

'Riding the Riff Christmas 2008' - which included "The Women with the Love", "Turn Me On", and "Demons to Chocolate".

All songs recorded on the Roland VS 2000 sometimes using Q-Bass.

 

RIDING THE RIFF - Primordial Soup Kitchen

(USA 2009)

(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 24,7 MB, 18 min, front artwork incl.)

01 The Day the Roses Bled Sunshine

02 Everything Is Alive

03 Kissing the Flame

04 My Life among the Nominally Sentient

Get it … (links are dead; re-up by request)

The Holydrug Couple - Psychedelic Laboratory EP (CHI 2009)

THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE are from Santiago de Chile.

Excellent psychedelic rock band that you really should check out!

The Couple is

Ives Sepulveda : Guitars, voice, keyboard

Manuel Parra: Drums and percussion.

"These songs were recorded on Friday 21 of August. We recorded and mixed and mastered on the same rainy day. We did it with a compaq notebook, with two condenser mics, a couple of guitar amps and lots of reverb and delay and phasers. A drummer friend, from another friend band, did the recording stuff. Manuel recorded the drum first and I (Ives) recorded the guitars and voices and keyboards. -- We have no official releases. -- Our first gig was in November of 2008, in a very small place with a few friends. Our last gig in August was in a lot of bigger place with a lot of more people. --

Our influences goes from the sixties garage rock, progressive rock, the sixties counterculture in general (hippies, Vietnam war ..), psychedelic bands, Acid rock, krautrock too, and LSD and psylocibine of course, ahhh, and some Chilean psychedelic bands form the sixties like Los Jaivas, Los Blops or Los vidrios quebrados, they're very important." (I. S.)

http://www.myspace.com/holydrug

http://www.facebook.com/theholydrugcouple

THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE - PSYCHEDELIC LABORATORY 
EP (CHI 2009)

(mp3-zip, 2 tracks, 11:28 min, 16 MB, artwork incl.)

1. Ancient Land - 5.32

2. Now it's the time - 5.52
Get it here or here or here!
(New links Feb 2013)