Let's Hope for a Psychic Psummer

Cave - Psychic Psummer 2009

krautrock, psychedelic, minimal, experimental (as always), groovy

Juan es su nombre?!

This post is dedicated to the Dark Lord himself(or visitor #666). Frosty greetings to the scalding hellfire of Beelzebub’s residence thus… which happens to be an island somewhere in the atlantic ocean just around the corner of Miami, I think.

I’ve got some contemporary krautyness to share, originated in Chicago, Illinois.

This is mazy goodness. You will make acquaintance with hypnotic, repetitive, tense, meditative, aggressive and explosive riffs/tunes etc. pick one.

It makes you wanna dance, or at least pick your brain…

To my great disappointment I missed out on both live shows in Holland last year, for revolutionary reasons though.

Recline, dance, consume.

Requiem for John Sex in mediocre sound quality:

MySpace

Allmusic

John is his name since 1511

Fresh, legal winds are blowin'

Ergo Phizmiz - The Faust Cycle or The House of Dr. Faustus 2009
radio play, experimental, inter-everything


"Faustus....FAUSTUS....Faustus. faauuuustuuuuuus. ..."

"Suddenly all the bird people turn in unison and stare at me. Marcel Duchamp stops speaking, staring right ahead. I've obviously interruped something, I should be going."

"I pick up a sausage, the problem is I'm vegetarian, but I'm also English and I can't quite yet figure out what comes first, I better have a bite."





I felt like this blog could need some contemporary crazyness.

This radio play is epic. Epic in terms as, "I hardly managed to sit through reading Ulysses" or Peace &War maybe, or as I havn't properly finished Paradise Lost or Beowulf. However, I don't know how appropriate it is to compare this piece of art to some poopy, old literary canon(s). Although it comes close if considering the major allusion in its title, Ergo Phizmiz certainly created something like a post-post(without the war)-modern faustian feeling.
To set a contrast: this artist is tagged as Avant-Retard on last.fm, maybe some people just don't get it. Avant, avant, avant.

Expect some kind of deeply disturbing, elevating yet jolly sound-meditation.. for hours and hours and hours...
This intertextual explosion is a mix of narrated passages which will penetrate your mind in a poetry-like, dreamy, collage, trip -like fashion, interwoven with longer and shorter and longer pieces of, well to keep it simple, music.

It's free.

Expect everything.

If I Can have wings then you Can have some more.

Can-Tago Mago-1971
Krautrock, experimental, progressive.



















After a rather crazy weekend involving red wine, 5AM vodka, Hawkeyes struggling to another win and a haunted cornfield, today is thankfully another lazy Sunday, which means another lazy Sunday afternoon post for you guys, and a huge step in out journey through Can's discography, in the first of their three masterpieces; "Tago Mago", "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days". "Tago Mago" is the first full album to feature Damo Suzuki after his warm up on the previous album "Soundtracks". The album is one of my favorites, one I will never get old off. Its depth, creativity, composition and sheer crazyness of the album makes it for me one of the essential albums I post on this blog.

All the songs are excellent, with the first half being the stronger, mainly due to its listenability, as the 2nd halfs swirling noise in the epics "Aumgn" and "Peking O" are hard to access for quite some listens through the album,

The first half contains 4 near perfect songs, songs in a style and of such pure expression that hadn't been heard before. "Paperhouse" is the album opener, its downbeat pulse and flowing keys work to create something simply beautiful and the rather simple sympathetic guitar creates a sad yet honest feel to the song. Its not until Jaki Leibzeit's drums really kick into the song after the first few minutes that you get a true idea of where this album and band are heading. The rest of the song is a swirling organised sonic mess of epic proportions. Damo's sound, tone and lyrics really work well, and the band have much more creative freedom than with Mooney. The pause in the middle is just enough time to catch your breath before the ferocious closer to the song, in which Irmin Schmidt pushes along the band with great force straight into the next song "Mushroom".

The song is even more downbeat than "Paperhouse" bordering on insanity, the torment displayed in Damo's muttered lyrics influences the whole feel of music, this song portrays madness so well, its hypnotic. A huge explosion begins the next song and what a stunner it is, 7 minutes of pure brilliance.
"Oh Yeah" is an atmospheric consuming juggernaut. Damo's backwards singing creates a rather uncomfortable feel from the out, and Jaki's drumming is truly magnificent on this song and especially the next "Halleluhwah". I've listened to both songs just to absorb the drumming and vocals as something by themselves. But really the main ethos of Can and why they are so good is the fact that the band has no egos, its not about virtuoso performances and long decadent solos that would plague English progressive music, its about creating fluid, meaningfully expressive music, the skill its takes to turn 5 individuals in to one sound is much more than simply technical prowess.

"Halleluhwah" is 18.32 minutes long, but do not let you put you off, its a stunning song and as mentioned a testament to Leibzeit's drumming expertise. It has a similar feel as the rest of the album, essentially that the drums and bass keep their heavy hypnotic rhythm whilst Karoli and Schmidt are free to explore and weave sounds together over the top, to play with and enhance Damo's vocals. One must not also forget that many of the songs came from extended jams in between takes, and that Holgar Czukay'spioneering editing techinques allow the album to not watse one note, and "Halleluhwah" is that beat-trance monster example of Can's sheer excellence.

Side two contains the swirling madnesses that are "Aumgn" and "Peking O" as well as the closer "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea". "Aumgn" is a wonderful listen, dark and disturbing but with a hint of of the ambigious beauty that the album has at its center. It perhaps show its length too much unlike "Halleluhwah", and so does "Peking O" which are small issues in such an excellent album. "Peking O" is pure experimentalism, and Damo's song, as he chants and screams chaotically to a variety if themes and sounds. Its a crazy song, hard to fathom or make any sense out of, but that not the point, its just to enjoy 12 minutes of musical insanity.
The albums ends with "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea" a respite from the previous 30 minutes and a welcome comedown, much more peaceful than the rest of the album, yet still fits in wonderfully.

Tago Mago was an album not appreciated commercially or critically at the time, yet at least now is being heard by more people. A true masterpiece of the era, its pioneering, deep, beautiful. A gargantuan in experimental music, it has influenced nearly all those who have heard it. One should see this as an album, however I have described the songs.
Next time will be "Ege Bamyasi" the 2nd flawless album by Can from 1972.
Enjoy
jamscoopa

Info
Paperhouse Live (on youtube)
Spoon
AMG
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I Can see why you'd like this......

Can-Monster Movie-1969
Krautrock, experimental, progressive.


















Hallo, ich heisse jamscoopa und ich prezenten Can-Monster Movie. If you'll excuse me for ruining the german language I will present to you in chronological order (of release) the condensed discography of one of my favourite bands Can. I will start with the first proper Can album and the only one featuring the original singer Malcom Mooney.

From AMG:
Always at least three steps ahead of contemporary popular music, Can were the leading avant-garde rock group of the '70s. From their very beginning, their music didn't conform to any commonly held notions about rock & roll -- not even those of the countercultures. Inspired more by 20th century classical music than Chuck Berry, their closest contemporaries were Frank Zappa or possibly the Velvet Underground. Yet their music was more serious and inaccessible than either of those artists. Instead of recording tight pop songs or satire, Can experimented with noise, synthesizers, nontraditional music, cut-and-paste techniques, and, most importantly, electronic music; each album marked a significant step forward from the previous album, investigating new territories that other rock bands weren't interested in exploring.

This first album by Can, is fairly atypical of the sound they would evolve to and perfect in the trilogy of "Tago Mago", "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days". Malcom Mooney's voice adds something completely different than from his replacement Damo Suzuki, his bluesy, raw and broken voice tells of troubles which surface most on the stand out song "Yoo do Right".

"Yoo do Right" is a 20-minute monster, edited down from a 12-hour jam of terrifying proportions and beating its way through 8 minutes of white-hot guitar and keys that pulls your chest apart, drums clattering in circles and squares and obese rhomboid patterns about your head, before falling to the silent click of drumsticks and a boiled-to-nothing whisper and then lurching back to unending life, strafing and spinning and rending all in its path.

Monster Movie was released in 1969, and is Can's most rock-oriented album by a considerable margin. Its songs are raw and aggressive-- very much informed by The Velvet Underground's larval trance-rock-- and they mark Malcolm Mooney as nothing if not an inspired amateur. "Father Cannot Yell" leaps out of the gate with a hi-speed keyboard flutter and the snap of Jaki Liebezeit's snare. Although the band would later perfect a kind of ambient funk, here they were brawny (though precise), determined rockers to the hilt; five minutes into "Father Cannot Yell", the song climaxes with a blaze of bass, drums, and fuzzed-out guitar, and an entire legacy of minimalist rock (from Neu! to Comets On Fire) is predicted. Of course, the 20-minute "Yoo Doo Right" is the centerpiece, and gives the best indication of what Can would do afterward. The murky, primal atmosphere of drums that dominates the track never allows the listener to escape the band's propulsion; like much of Can's best music, "Yoo Doo Right" seduces me into hypnosis, and winds through a seemingly endless array of textures and variations. Monster Movie is an amazing debut, but would be Mooney's last. He suffered a nervous breakdown onstage and returned to America.

A great start to a great band, more to come.
jamscoopa

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Creepy, you see.....very creepy

Comus-First Utterance-1971
Acid-folk, folk-rock, proto-progressive, experimental.

Good evening boys and girls for your audiological experience tonight I bring to you a daft affair which will entertain, unsettle and drive you into delerium, or i guess you'll just put it on in the background or something.

Comus (with a hard S{not like Camus}) were an english folk rock band from the late 60s early 70s, who produced a few albums of little success or critical acclaim. First Utterance is their debut and their most interesting work. Based on a poem by John Milton it deals with as my good friend wikipedia tells me:

"two brothers and their sister lost in the wood. The Lady becomes fatigued, and the brothers wander off in search of sustenance. The Lady is captured by the debauched Comus, a character inspired by the god of mockery, brought to his pleasure palace, and magically affixed to a chair with "gums of glutinous heat." Comus urges the Lady to "be not coy" and drink from his magical cup (representing sexual pleasure and intemperance), but she repeatedly refuses, arguing for the virtuousness of temperance and chastity. Meanwhile her brothers, searching for her, come across the Attendant Spirit, an angelic figure sent to aid them, who takes the form of a shepherd and tells them how to defeat Comus. The three manage to rescue her and chase off Comus, but the Lady remains magically bound to her chair. With a song, the Spirit conjures the water nymph Sabrina who frees the Lady on account of her steadfast virtue."

It sounds reminiscent of very traditional folk at some points and at other times raucous ramblings of a madman over a drunken flute rock band lost in the woods waiting to die. This complement alone should entice a willing reader to listen, frankly its a very unique album, partly due its concept nature and also due to its rather odd song structures which seem to start, change and stop at odd intervals.

The lyrics are somewhat undeceipherable, whether there about torture, madness or rape is anyone's guess, but that is not the point, if you want pretty lyrics then this is not the place to listen, but if you want a full on journey through a theme of human suffering in a folk rock style than this is your definitive cup of tea.

"Diana" and "Drip Drip" are probably the two strongest songs although the latter tends to go on a fair bit too long, "Song to Comus" and "The Bite" also stand out as highlights on what is a fairly consistent album. A really novel experience and a cult classic, very interesting music, it always has a slightly bemusing effect on me, its really quite eerie. The strained vocals and high pitched violin create a vibe of unease, whilst the "gypsyesque" drum beats force the songs through unabated tension and feelings primal witchcraft. In the end you feel like you've been cursed somehow, only to remember "I don't believe in curses" then lots of your friends relatives get cancer. But you think the odds are high, 1 in 3 people will get cancer, of course it's not a curse, then one day you wake up in the middle of the night and a giant rabbit with a glowing eye is at the end of your bed and asks you to follow it and leads you on to commit a series of crimes, then you find that you time traveled and................oh
Enjoy, recommended for any curious listeners.
jamscoopa

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Utter

The most trusted name in the skies

Fly Pan Am - Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vecu (2002)
















Ah, c'est ca, c'est un expérience extraordinaire.

Bonjour people people,

so, this is Fly Pan Am, a Canadian experimental, avant-garde, post-rock, rather untagable band which is definitely worth a listen. Their sound is groovy, it's cool it's energetic, confusing and it's more or less constantly repeating everything which it entails. It's pure joy.
The intriguing thing about this record is the way one song abruptly passes on to the next, from unbearably amazing industrial-like sound sceneries to easy passages back to repeating and hyptnotising sound creations. You will find something new with every listen, I promise.
The best place to listen to it may be a huge empty warehouse with some amazing sound system of course. The album is superb as a whole, personal favourites are track two, four and six.

They released their albums through the Montreal-based Constellation Records, producing and collaborating on works with the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Shalabi Effect. (last.fm)

Please support and experience yourself.

Down by the pond a toad sits sighing.....

Bardo Pond-Bufo Alvarius Amen 29:15-1995
Acid-rock, experimental, psychedelic-rock, drone.

Hey heroes, for you today I have some distortedly dense droning psych from a band called Bardo Pond.

Bardo Pond issued its first album, Bufo Alvarius Amen 29:15, in early 1995; its title was taken from the scientific name for the notorious hallucinogenic toad found in the western U.S. The CD version appended "Amen 29:15," a near-half-hour jam that marked Takeda's recorded debut with the band. Later that year, Compulsiv released a CD EP of leftover tracks called Big Laughing Jym. Bufo Alvarius sparked the interest of Matador Records, which signed Bardo Pond and issued their breakthrough sophomore effort, Amanita, in 1996. Titled after a little-known hallucinogen from India, the album won critical praise and substantially heightened the band's profile, as did their increasingly improvisational live shows.

It starts with feedback, hum, and fuzz, then a heavy guitar riff emerging from the murk -- arguably Bardo Pond in a nutshell. Then again, enough other bands do the same thing, so why should the Pond get singled out? It's hard to pin down an exact reason, but whatever "it" is that a band needs to connect, they've got it. The slow, stony pace that "Adhesive" establishes for Bufo Alvarius Amen 29:15 continues through the album's remaining tracks, but in such a way that Bardo Pond rapidly become their own band and not merely the sum of their influences. There's something about the combination of lo-fi crunch, post-shoegaze bliss-out, stoner Quaalude head-nodding, and Loop/Spacemen 3-inspired drone that's truly unique.

Standout moments abound: "Back Porch" has a series of instrumental breaks with brief, beautiful guitar lines, while on the soft jangle of "On a Side Street," various solos unfold slowly but surely in the background as lowly sung lyrics amble about. "Capillary River" has some astonishing, transcendent soloing in the middle of the song, building up to a brilliant final verse as Gibbons' vocals are lost in feedback and haze. The low-key shuffle/drone "Absence" is a good showcase for Sollenberger's singing -- sweeter and clearer here than might be expected. The CD version includes what might be the ultimate head-trip of them all, at least for this particular album: the 30-minute "Amen." The central part of the song is a fairly simple chord progression repeated again and again, but it's the various touches throughout the number -- the extra drones, watery deep reverb on the bass, and slow overall rhythm -- that make it the understated monster it is.
(All From AMG)

Its the bands debut in all its raw form, but a great listen, check out "Amanita" "Lapsed"or "Dilate" if you like this. I will also be posting "Dadamah-This is not a dream" next which is Roy Montgomery's band. Montgomery collaborated with Bardo Pond on a side project "Hash Jar Tempo".(inspired by the brilliant Ash Ra Tempel, whom I will also post)
Excellent album, its takes time to hear through the uber heavy distortion, but once you do it works beautifully. They have also jammed with Damo Suzuki's Network, which I've been lucky enough to have seen twice, the live recordings of the gig are immense, although currently not up anywhere I know-links would be appreciated.
jamscoopa

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Everything is not a taste

Neu-Neu 75-1975
Krautrock, electronic, ambient, experimental.


















Happy Labor day y'all, I'm still not clear about what its actually celebrating here but hey its a day off work.
To you on this day I present to you the 3rd album by Neu!(pronounced noy), Neu! 75. This album is perhaps considered there masterpiece along with their original self titled effort.
Neu! consisted of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who had left Kraftwerk in 1971 to create a new sound. The sound was highly inventive and with the so called "Motorik" sound being birthed on "Hallogallo" and "Negativland"from there self titled it went on to influence there old band mates in Kraftwerk.
75 comes at the crossroads in the stylistic nature of the band, with Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger starting to assert there now differing view on the music. Preceding this albums release Rother had worked with another kraut band Cluster to form the "super group" Harmonia. Harmonia's tone of ambient repetitive electronics was contrasted by Dinger's evolving sound which was leaning much more to rock, a compromise was found by splitting the album in two, including Dinger's brother Thomas on guitar and Hans Lampe to play drums on the 2nd half. The album clearly reflects this divergence of taste.

The album opener "Isi" is a wonderfully melodic Rother song that creates images of the musical equivalent of flying. The other two Rother inspired songs also make up the 1st half of the album, "Seeland" and "Leb' Wohl"(meaning farewell). Both songs, but especially "Leb' Wohl" are really beautiful ambient creations.

The second side kicks of with "Hero", this side is Dinger's, a much more upbeat affair which is reminiscent of proto punk and is said to have inspired John Lyndon of The Sex pistols,(an unfortunate consequence) but Neu! are of course much better than punk ever was/is. The song works brilliantly for me, the controlled Neu! sound is contrasted perfectly by Dinger's deranged slurred vocals, this song describes the album extremely well. The second Dinger song is the 8 minute epic "E-Music" an overtly repetitive track that reminds me a lot of their debut/signature sound. The album closer "After Eight" is seemingly a remix/continuation of Hero.

The album is excellent, I'll also so post their debut and 2nd album which both rank along side this. Neu! may be an acquired taste and many listens are needed to fully appreciate this album. True inovators who are often overshadowed by the "mother" band Kraftwerk, Neu!'s sound is one which is solely theirs which although influential can easily stand its ground against anything similar since.
jamscoopa


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You don't have a burning desire at all

The Books - Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities - 2006
















Bonjour mesdames et messieurs,

I'll break my silence today with something to satisfy and sooth our experimental souls. I present The Books, an amazingly consfusing and inspiring duo consisting of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong.
If you like to think deep while brushing your teeth or unlocking your front door, or standing in a french elevator you will be able to enjoy this Geräuschkulisse(soundscape). Their music is something between electronic, folk, accoustic, samples, speech and sounds which can be described as a poor copy of bodily functions.
This being the newest piece of work which was actually designed for an elevator in the french Ministry of Culture (produced on their request), starts of with gentle songs and chants which come close to earlier albums such as Lemon Of Pink (2003). The mostly characteristically short "songs" progress to only consist of recordings and speech. You may remain in a delighted and slightly confused but actually wiser state of mind after listetning to this peculiar music.
It's a short but rather dense album, so enjoy and brush away.

Please buy and support.

But most of all, listen.

The brave and free

The United States of America-The United States of America-1968
Psychedelic, electronic, experimental.

















A cult psychedelic classic here for you tonight ladies and gentlemen. The United States of America's self titled and sole album rank as one of the best of the 60s, which is a tough decade to stand out in. Recorded and released in 1968 this is unfortunately the bands only release, yet it is a work of huge quality both in its experimental sound and catchy juxtaposed songs. In a broad way it is reminiscent of The Zombies "Odyssey and Oracle" where light poppy songs are accompanied by less than poppy lyrics. Its dreamy ballad songs are some of the albums best songs and due to its freaky female vocals remind me a lot of Velvet Underground and Nico and also a much distorted Grace Slick in Jefferson airplane.
The album was revolutionary for its pioneering use of electronics(the ring modulator) and heavy mesmerizing themes, its very much a unique album in this sense but one that also fits its era perfectly. Along with Silver apples who also released their self titled album in 1968, this album sound was predicting later decades of ambient synthesizer dominant music, and whose only equivalents can been seen as those in krautrock.

The album starts with a circus themed "The American Metaphysical Circus", a highlight and bizarre song(see the mildly jaded amg review). The other stand out songs are "Cloud song", "Where is yesterday" and some nice bass in "Coming Down", but really the whole album is excellent. If you like psychedelic, interesting or experimental music check out this album.
jamscoopa

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Faust..........

Faust-Self Titled-1970
Krautrock, Experimental, progressive.

















Well kids, what to say about Faust? They can be considered in the top tier of the german progressive movement in the late 60's and early 70's, a genre deemed by the english press at the time as "Krautrock". This being one of my favourite genres and favourite bands, Faust's eccentricity, creativity and originality set them apart from anything else before them and have influenced a huge range of bands since. A mix of electronic, rock, industrial noise, acoustic and editing techniques, it's truly original, a musical revolution of sorts. This is the first of the 4 top quality canon albums in the 70's, the self titled album is composed of 3 songs.

The first song "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" is a semi electronic affair with great usage of tape editing, it also samples some of the eras great bands with lines from "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "All You Need Is Love", with feedback and mesmerizing jingles throughout, its a mixed up affair. Its like sticking Mozart in a blender and playing whats left through a broken record player, whilst hoovering, listening to the radio and making a cup of tea.
Separated from the anglo-american rock scene, Faust and the other early Krautrock bands such as; CAN, Amon Duul II, Tangerine Dream etc(I'll feature these later.) were free to do as they pleased, and what they did is certainly pleasing.

The 2nd song on the album "Meadow Meal" starts as feedback before breaking into a starkly ominous industrial sound-scape (pardon my french), it is then interupted by a group mantra. A riff of unsettling simplicity then carries the song until a organ finally closes a superbly imaginative track, a real experience indeed.

The album closer Miss Fortune is a 16 minute epic beginning with a more rock orientated start reminiscent of beach boys only distorted and edited out of comprehension with what sounds like a oscillator and looping. The album is not for the faint of hearted and will take a few listens to understand it. At some points it sounds incredibly foreign for those who are used to more standard rock, and even those who look for something different.

Faust's selftitled is stunning album for anyone willing to devote some attention to it. The ethos of "Krautrock" is just that, to listen to and experience the music to absorb it live, not for a catchy memory to weaken itself through over play. Check out "So Far", and there other masterpeice "Faust IV" if you like this....
More krautrock to come soon-any requests welcomed.
jamscoopa

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carrots