Another dig into the crate pulls a newer release this time so some classic tracks will just have to wait until next week, but that's the way the needle drops so I say deal with it.

	Tall Birds - 'Internalize/ The Sky Is Falling' Members of the Catheters regroup and reform as the Tall Birds, a garage combo that makes heavy use of the Stooges/MC5 model as a touchstone. A fairly decent release considering its their first. Sub Pop
even threw them some alumni status and put it out for them, so hey that's a leg up you don't get everyday. A little sloppy, but a far sight from the sloppiness that was the Catheters. Hell I think I might have even picked this up for the fun of the cover art alone. Well worth the $4.00 spin. Download: [MP3] Tall Birds -Internalize

Pterodactyl

Brooklyn's Pterodactyl drop a crack to your skull like frickin' pop rocks on fire. The band plays pure spastic, bi-polar sludge rock that leaves no room for breath and even less for contemplation. If you take time to comprehend what's going on you've already lost sight of what's happening. Mixing elements of psych, punk and whatever wavelength the greater majority of Oneida have tapped, into a massive record that induces a case of the shakes in a most enjoyable way. Oneida, seeing the kindred spirit I suppose, have kindly signed the boys to their own Brah imprint and thrust the output onto a frightened public. Pterodactyl squeeze the manic love beast until it screams for more and then lay it down to tape so you can soak it up. Enjoy! Pterodactyl is out April 24th.

Download:
[MP3] Pterodactyl-Three Succeed
[MP3] Pterodactyl-Rampage 2

*Removed at label's request*

Part Chimp

British noise barons/ grunge miners Part Chimp wrangle together the jagged pieces of their B-sides and some rarities for a pummeling collection that gives a pretty good overview of what the band is all about. The band, who in no way give of the vibe of English Isles so much as they do Seattle circa 1993, channel the ghosts of grunge's past into a torrent of distortion soaked sweat and fury. Forgoing the whims of fashion and fickle tastes, Part Chimp take a swing at your head and challenge an arms-crossed indie audience to remember when they used to slam into the person next to them out of principle. The collection digs up the debris left behind by the band so far, and for the most part it's a pretty nice pile (with the exception of a well-meaning but questionable Beatles cover). Cup is out soon on Monitor, home of RSTB faves Indian Jewelry and features a pretty great contribution of album art from Shaun Flynn.

Download:
[MP3] Part Chimp -Crash The High Octave
[MP3] Part Chimp -Miser Chimp

Rameses III

Just after their collaboration with The North Sea, Rameses III follow up with a marvelously serene EP inspired by and written for Jon Spira's upcoming film Suityman. Mixing washes of acoustic guitar with puddles of drone that don't so much drown the album as they just lap at the edges. The EP is largely warm and filled with wonder, touching on the film's themes of memory loss; like seeing everything for the first time and finding the beauty in the minutia. For the duration of the EP it seems as if everything slows down for just a few seconds longer to allow you to breathe easier and look just a moment longer. Honey Rose is out now on Important Records.

Download:
[MP3] Ramses III-Theme II

While many other country's get their due for being breeding grounds of the psychedelic scene, Sweden is just getting theirs in retrospect. A massive gathering of talent in the area left behind a slew of releases that are seeing acceptance with a wider audience due to some great reissue labels and some hometown startups like Subliminal Sounds.

	Baby Grandmothers - Baby Grandmothers Though they only recorded one single at the time, which was released in Finland and not their native Sweden, The Baby Grandmothers managed to secure a spot as one of the heaviest
and most original bands in the Swedish scene. Comprised of members of famous R'n'B/Garage combo The T-Boones, and Bassist Bengt “Bella” Linnarsson, the band took their garage roots and threw a lot of soul crushing fuzz and thunder into the mix. The results were some exemplary live performances and an incendiary single that has been sought after by psych collectors to this day. Subliminal in Sweden and Anthology in the U.S. have gathered up all that can be found of the Baby Grandmothers' history and churned out a collection that rivals the output of many who intentionally threw down psychedelic albums at the time. The Swedish band time forgot comes back for another round. Download: [MP3] Baby Grandmothers - Somebody Keeps Calling My Name [MP3] Baby Grandmothers - Being is More Than Life
	International Harvester - Sov Gott Rose-Marie The band is most known for being the stepping stone on the way to it's more popular incarnation as Träd, Gräs och Stenar but in their years together they created some pretty lasting impressions as well. Built
from the barely cold ashes of Pärsson Sound, the band created dark rhythmic jams that felt improvised but with a sense of mastery behind the curtain. A series of shorter songs and interlude type pieces build the album to the climax of three much longer tapestries of sound. The band was ultimately more successful than their roots in Pärsson Sound whoss solely instrumental approach was lost on some, but they wouldn't really get the national attention they deserved until their final transgression int to the aforementioned TGOS. A heady footnote in Sweden's scene nonetheless and a rather interesting amalgamation of Swedish tradition with the emerging psychedelic wave in general. Download: [MP3] International Harvester - There Is No Other Place [MP3] International Harvester - Sov Gott Rose-Marie (Sleep Tight Rose-Marie)

Dungen

Following their massive release and subsequent re-release of Ta Det Lugnt, Dungen finally return with a new album of Acid Prog classics of future's past. Still mining the water's of 1976, Gustav Estes and crew have created an album that retains the same spirit as their last but turns down a bit of the urgency and ups the moody moments in between the searing guitar. The fret-ravaging blasts of Fuzz still lurk around every corner but this album seems a little less tumultuous, not that I can understand a word that comes out of his mouth, but there's more of an even temper. Maybe it just doesn't catch me as off guard as the last did. However, it's still an exceptional character study in mid-70's rock excess for which I have loved Dungen in the past. Their new album Tio Bitar is out May 1st.

Download:
[MP3] Dungen -Du Ska Inte Tro Att Det Ordnar Sig*
[MP3] Dungen -Mon Amour*

*Removed per label's request.

[MP3] Dungen -Familj

So in honor of all that is the vinyl single I'm starting a new feature. I started record collecting when I was younger and bought 7"s because they were accessible and cheap. Even though I moved on to a love of full albums of the vinyl persuasion, I still have a soft spot for the 7, 10 or 12" single. Most especially I have a soft spot for the b-sides and random tracks that they contain. So, every so often I'm going to throw a spotlight on a 7" from my collection, be it new or old and just offer up some extra songs for you to enjoy. Probably self-indulgent I know but hey why not. Most things are.

	Mudhoney - 'Pump It Up' Probably one of the more random 7"s in my collection and I'm pretty sure an outright impulse buy at the time. The song comes from the Mudhoney/ George Clinton promotional 7" released by Fox in support of the movie PCU. A pairing of a great
song with a great band but with mixed results. I think I still love it out of shear sentimental value. At least Fox went and did it right, ugly cover art but the 7" is clear red vinyl. An unlikely pairing that could only have come out of shear marketing interests but amusing no less. Download: [MP3] Mudhoney -Pump It Up

Grails

Following their dark opus, Black Tar Prophecies with a move to Temporary Residence, Grails pick up the stark tale just where they left off. Their latest album Burning Off Impurities is a journey further into the reaches of instrumental western psychedelia. You can feel the dust in your nose and throat and the hot wind on the back of your neck with each note. Grails seem to be mining the same camp that Earth stumbled on, finding the drone and psychedelic impulses of spaghetti westerns. This is a Morricone feverdream; as recapped by the ghosts of Jimmy Page and Tony Iomi. A dark forboding ladscape that continues to wear on the soul even when the cost is clear. Burning off the Impurities is out on May

Download:
[MP3] Grails -Dead Vine Blues
[MP3] Grails -Origin-ing

Zodiacs

Some of the heaviest, haziest guitar psych I've heard that doesn't involve Kawabata Makoto. This record floats somewhere between drone and acid psych and is loosely anchored by a couple of blues riffs somewhere in there. Appropriately titled Gone, the album slows down only slightly to wallow in fuzzed out organ riffs before mountains of feedback and strangled fuzz rip the left side of your brain apart. This is a drugged up, late night ode to catharsis; but it remains unclear if the songs are exorcising the demons or beckoning them. Shying away from their more folk oriented current projects, the album combines the talents of Hush Arbors' Keith Wood, Wooden Wand's James Toth and nails it down with the drumming of Clay Ruby from Sunburned Hand of the Man. A formidable force that turns on, turns way up and melts your face like it was nothing but business. Gone is the band's first non-CDr release and comes out via the ever consistent Holy Mountain Records


Download:
[MP3] Zodiacs -Road Star Blues

Finally got around to getting a new mix tape up today. So much for keeping it monthly but hey you know how it goes. Lots of random nuggets to enjoy this time around. For the AMT crowd theres a some tracks from Makoto's side projects Father Moo & The Black Sheep and Mainliner plus a Pink Floyd cover featuring AMT's own Cotton Casino. A new Deerhunter track in there and some crushing Japanoise from Tetuzui Akiyama and psych supergroup Cosmic Invention (featuring Masaki Batoh and Michio Kuihara)

Sometimes extenuating circumstances can create the best music. Though joy makes a good record its usually overwhelming adversity that makes the great ones. In this case the incarceration and thought of impending incarceration brought out greatness in artists who might not have otherwise been spurred to such lengths.

	Alexander "Skip" Spence - Oar Recorded just after a stint in Bellevue's psychiatric ward due to an axe wielding breakdown, this solo record by the former member of Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service is the sound of a frayed and weighted
mind. Spence had a sudden burst of creativity following his hospital stay that remains one of the most barren and open explorations of the tortured soul ever put on tape. Mostly sung in a weary, husky folk style but touching on fits of psychedelia that swarm with sound collages and phased out vocals. The album is nothing if not bleak but that's exactly what makes it great; no pretense, just one man's mania poured on the floor and left for someone else to clean up. Download: [MP3] Alexander "Skip" Spence - War In Peace [MP3] Alexander "Skip" Spence - Books of Moses
	Gary Higgins - Red Hash On the opposite side of the spectrum is Gary Higgins' psych-folk masterpiece recorded in just under forty hours preceding his imprisonment for marijuana related charges. Red Hash is the sound of a man's last scrape at being heard
before disappearing from the world for a while. The songs have a hopeful loneliness to them but are for the most part rather breezy feeling, but the breeze blows mostly cold. The album feels as if it was the last escape before the hammer came down; everything that needed to be said and tied up laid out before communication slowed to a trickle. Higgins has since his release enjoyed a resurfaced career due to the album's re-release that escapes most lost artists of the era. I suppose he might be one of the more deserving of a second chance. Download: [MP3] Gary Higgins - Telegraph Towers [MP3] Gary Higgins - Don't Ya Know

Lavender Diamond

Following their recent signing to Matador and the reissue of their EP The Calvary of Light, Lavender Diamond finally return with a proper full length. The band's endearingly sweet melodies are completely shattered by the force and charisma of Becky Stark's vocals. Her delivery fairly shimmers with a hopeful innocence and added to their hippyish leanings towards an overt message of peace and love saving the day make this a completely delightful listen. It's a welcomely unjaded record in a time when cynicism is much more accepted than hope. Stark conjures images of unspoiled childhood; just spinning in circles until you fall down laughing. A time when you don't worry about the grass stains on your knees and the dirt in your hair. Their record Imagine Our Love captures this feeling of naiveté and mixes it with beautifully somber songs that let you know that their hope is anything but naive, just a positive outlook in the face of overwhelming life. Imagine Our Love is out on May 8th.

Download:
[MP3] Lavender Diamond -Here Comes One
[MP3] Lavender Diamond -Like An Arrow

Stars Of The Lid

Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride return to form after a 6 year hiatus. Their latest opus, And Their Refinement Of The Decline is a wandering fever dream of a record that rises and falls in almost alarmingly serene pulses. To fully absorb this album is to vault backward into space and trust that you'll only fall into nothingness. A feeling of lying back and sinking; which is terrifying but slowly as acceptance creeps in becomes not only natural but rather enjoyable. Some people are certainly going to refer to the "background qualities" that the music might possess but quite contrarily, this album is most effective the more you concentrate on it; letting the music surround you like an environment of sound. I think maybe they hit it spot on with the title of this one. It's a dark spiral downward but certainly a perfectly pleasant one. Wiltzie and McBride have nailed the sweet somber vibrations of decay, dissolution and dealing with the inevitability of both.

Download:
[MP3] Stars Of The Lid -Humectez La Mouture
[MP3] Stars Of The Lid -Articulate Silences Part 1

Floating Flower

Shamanistic and decidedly down tempo release from the Acid Mother's camp; this CD reissue of the previously vinyl only releases 1 and 2 combines the trancy keyboards and guitars courtesy Kawabata Makoto with the vocal incantations and tabla of Makoto compatriots Yuki and Kaneko Tetsuya. With the latter two being friends of Mokoto's who regularly spend their time traveling around India, the raga vibe is all over this release. Makoto's distinctive guitar has the fire and static turned down but is no less mesmerizing as it languishes under Yuki's indecipherable yowls and stabs of violin and the slow pulse of Tetsuya's Tabla. For a pair that Makoto describes as unconcerned with releasing music, the sounds that they took the time to lay down are wonderful. This record feels like the unforced and obvious output of people who have spent their lives around the style; just playing the music they feel is right for the time.

Download:
[MP3] Floating Flower -Shizuku No Youni
[MP3] Floating Flower -Walk In The Air

Robert Henke

With all the attention and praise heaped upon FM3's buddha machine, I'm kinda surprised that this one has fallen under the collective radar out there. Henke, an established electronic musician as a member of Monolake and part of the team that put together the Ableton Software, has taken on the task of manipulating the famed Buddha Machine's loops into 10 hypnotic dronescapes. The pieces could be nothing more than tranquil but Henke seems to do more than just play the loops one on top of another as the title would suggest. More often that not each piece samples one of the loops and chops pieces and processes together into a completely new reverberation. Some even step up the machine's OM-inducing tempos and add a bit of tweak to the otherwise somber project. To further enhance the piece's appeal Henke has released the project in a run of 500 numbered 5x7" sets nicely packaged in an accompanying box, in addition to the standard CD copies. It splits up the effect as a whole but allows time to focus on each loop. Layering Buddha is out now on Henke's own Imbalance Computer Music.

Download:
[MP3] Robert Henke -Layer 004
[MP3] Robert Henke -Layer 006

And as an added bonus, if you couldn't get enough of the FM3 fervor; the collective has put together a CD of various music elite remixing and recontextualizing the loops of the Buddha Machine. The compilation, entitled Jukebox Buddha sees contributions from FM3 member Wang Fan, Sunn o))), Es, Henke, Sun City Girls and more.

Download:
[MP3] Es -3 Tietä Valojen Taa
[MP3] Sun City Girls -Dry Valley

A couple heavy blues inflenced guitar classics that have the tracks of the psychedelic generation breathing down their neck but traces of the proto-metal that was yet to come. The transitory time between these periods remains a rather shining and formative time for the electric guitar. A time when the instrument began to stand out as a force that couldn't be ignored.

	N.S.U. - Turn On, Or Turn Me Down This Scottish band played a tight rhythmic blues influenced style that had the hints of what would come with proto-metal. Its a little light in places to really hinge on that tag too closely but the heaviness is
definitely there. The real draw for this album is the pulsing intensity that hangs in both the lighter songs and definitely when they step up the tempo and hit that hard edge on the guitar. A pleasant alternative to the formerly British dominated heavy rock of the period. It retains many of the same qualities but has its own distinct interpretation of both the blues and psych influences popping up at the time. Not an instant classic but a slow grower that shows more interesting shades each time you listen. Download: [MP3] N.S.U.- Turn On, Or Turn Me Down [MP3] N.S.U.- You Can't Take It From My Heart
	Big Brother Feat. Ernie Joseph - Confusion Influenced by the guitar sounds of Hendrix, Cream and Jeff Beck, The Bill Holmes produced Confusion is an incendiary classic of British blues style guitar rock. The band, not to be confused with the similarly
named and of course more popular Big Brother and the Holding Company made a name for themselves as a great live performance, often encouraging audience participation. Their on stage energy comes across well on the record, resulting in a loose charismatic album that only slows down long enough to sing a serenade on "Wake Me In The Morning." The rest blisters through with searing guitar virtuosity from Ernie Joseph and an organ sound that shows no signs of prog's impending overindulgence. A rock record from start to finish. Download: [MP3] Big Brother Feat. Ernie Joseph - L.L.A. (Lubricated Love Affair) [MP3] Big Brother Feat. Ernie Joseph - Saint James Infirmary

Efterklang

Another solid release from Copenhagen collective Efterkalang. The "mini-album" Under Giant Trees continues to combine the band's intermingling of somber classical influence and glitchy electronica with their soaring emotive vocals. The band evolved the new material on the road while touring their last album and decided to record the full versions upon returning home with Amiina members Edda and Hildur adding some string work. The songs are simple on the surface but unfold into cataclysmic epics of icy wind and shimmering light and ,like most of their music, flooded with both innocence and phenomenal talent. The release will be out April 2nd in a limited edition of 4,500 numbered CDs and 1,200 LPs pressed on White Vinyl. The release follows their recent one-sided LP on Burnt Toast Vinyl and anticipates a proper second album to be released later in 2007.

[MP3] Efterklang -Jojo

Hauschka

German composer Volker Bertelmann explores the possibilities of the prepared piano on his debut for FatCat, Room To Expand. In an ever expanding genre of composers with a cinematic scope, Bertelmann adds an element of uncontrolled disarray to his beautiful vignettes that brim with candid emotion. Like realizing for the first time that routine has become you, the pieces reveal the layers underneath the piano's perfect surface. The pieces themselves expressive and quirky; begin to feel worn by blips and odd clunks of hammers hitting clamps and decisively placed bits of leather strapping. The mellifluous plinking of piano keys begins to unravel into frailty. The alternately sprightly and somber pieces rattle and buzz until you can fairly peel away the layers of false pretense exposing the shaky and worn truth beneath.

Download:
[MP3] Hauschka -One Wish
[MP3] Hauschka -Sweet Spring Come

Rio En Medio

Danielle Stech Homsy sings sweet melancholy ghost songs for the broken hearted. Like the forewarning of spirits from every direction, her vocals lilt with an otherworldly distance from the music that supports it. Said music is a mixture of dissonant folk and swirling tones that try as they might are second to the crushing weight of Homsy's voice. Herself as spectral narrator; an echo of warning across vast spans of time. The music however, can't be discounted; utilizing a rather lackadaisical pluck of guitars and somber clang of bells amongst the disorienting clamor of effects, she finds the beauty in distance and the comfort of space. The entire album sings in the trees and plays on the wind; at once sweet and cold and lonely. Rio En Medio's The Bride of Dynamite is out now on Gnomonsong.

Download:
[MP3] Rio En Medio -Tiger's Ear
[MP3] Rio En Medio -Joe Was On The Plane

Normanoak

Essentially the one man side project of Chris Barth from the Impossible Shapes; a rougher, less electric but no less eclectic version of the Shapes' folk inflected punk. Whereas the Shapes often sound like Pan fronting a post-punk forest collective, Normanoak is Pan's drunken afterparty. Barth's songs feel like the bare bones workings of a creative mind that can't quit itself. The songs aren't as complete as anything that the full band has put out but the charm in them seems to be that you've caught him with his guard down; a snapshot of 4 a.m. insomniac demos that beg to be listened to and reasoned with. Occasionally though, as will happen with just that type of recording, moments of brilliant songcraft sneak out of nowhere and become lodged in your head. Normanoak's latest LP is out on Secretly Canadian.

Download:
[MP3] Normanoak -Your Love
[MP3] Normanoak -Mercury

A smattering of psyche-pop and a couple of real heavy garage numbers emanating from the RSTB Jukebox today. What can I say the box is a bit bi-polar that way.


[MP3] Jeff Thomas -Straight Aero
A shuffling lighthearted ode to clean living, Jeff Thomas tips his feet into the waters of psych but with a solid pop base. The song hinges on a rollicking baas line and barroom piano with a touch of menace in the chorus and a reverberating outro. Not the stuff of albums but a great one off to be sure.

[MP3] The Attack -Mr Pinnodmy's Dilemma
A dark and almost sinister tale of being handicapped, the Attack's minor key blues are a great example of British psyche. Expressive and explosive but with almost too much experimentalism. The track travels from dirge like verses to blistering solos and an eccentric vocal bridge. Not your average 60's pop song.

[MP3] The Moody Blues -Thinking Is The Best Way To Travel
The Moody Blues were one of the longer running 60's psyche mainstays. Their music could be catchy as hell or extremely self indulgent. Thankfully this track is both. One of the more "out there" mainstream pop songs. This track starts in with jangly guitar but barely gets on its feet before it dissolves into a tone generator workshop; then with no warning back into the jangle it goes. An exercise in 60's obsessions with new sounds and consciousness expansion.

[MP3] Heard-Stop It Baby
One of the grittier garage numbers I've heard. The recording itself sounds rolled in dirt. A crunch of fuzz guitar and the wail of teen lust vocals anchor this one to the back of your neck. This band may not have tested time but they proved that the snottier the delivery the better the garage single.

[MP3] The Glass Family-House Of Glass
A reeling organ based psych-pop nugget full of backwards effects and psyche flourish. Still more examples of bands trying out an expanding genre but with decidedly likeable results. This has the feel of a sort of forced psychedlia but rather than sounding campy it ends up as really interesting pop.

Badgerlore

Badgerlore is the mournful wail of six ravaged souls. A veritable gathering of the new noise-folk collective mind; Badgerlore features Rob Fisk of 7 yr rabbit cycle/deerhoof, Ben Chasney of Six Organs of Admittance, Tom Carter from Charlambides, Pete Swanson of Yellow Swans, RSTB stalwart Glen Donaldson of Skygreen Leopards/ Flying Canyon and Liz Harris from Grouper. The band has really begun to take shape over the last few records, the original project was mostly Chasney and Fisk and featured a heavy mixture of bells and feedback. As the numbers have grown so too has the sound. The current incarnation of Badgerlore floats in a sea of ambient drones but with a decidedly somber wail of voices and the decisive pluck of withered strings. The album's title We Are All Hopeful Farmers, We Are All Scared Rabbits would give an indication of hope versus despair but the album seems less hopeful and more like a commune with the ghosts of hope. The album is being released from the now thriving Table of the Elements subsidiary Xeric, home to the younger crowd of Table's noisemakers.

Download:
[MP3] Badgerlore -Mountain Wine
[MP3] Badgerlore -Goodnight, Sweet Rabbits

Battles

Battles continue to find the perfect balance of psych, math and leftfield electronic. I haven't had a chance to hear the whole record yet but the lead off single "Atlas" definitely takes a step forward from their last slew of releases. "Atlas" picks up the rhythmic gauntlet that "Tras" threw down. The track is a frightening death march of drums and squirrelly high pitched vocals that all culminate in a ferocious breakdown of mathematically ravaged guitar at the bridge. The Atlas 12" is out April 3rd and the new album Mirrored is out in early May. Both are being released via Warp.

The video for the song is a great visual accompaniment. You can find a higher res version of it HERE

Download:
[MP3] Battles -Atlas

Christmas Decorations

There's something about the songs on Communal Rust that perfectly mirror the feelings of frayed sanity; the calm right before the collapse, after moments of sheer frustration or wild anger. This is the realization that not only have you lost the struggle but that the struggle didn’t matter to begin with. The quiet drones puddle at your feet as you stare blankly into the fluorescents above your head and the sound of static blips in and out in time with the images that flicker past the backs of your eyelids. Not to make this sound like a bad thing, the calm is total immersion into a feeling of release. The men from Christmas Decorations capture the exact moment when you accept total tranquility over struggle. It's not defeat, it's just letting go. Featuring the talents of Nick Forte of Felipe and Forte and Steve Silverstein, Communal Rust is out now on Community Library Recordings.

Download:
[MP3] Christmas Decorations -Twig Harpoon
[MP3] Christmas Decorations -Aphid Text

Soft Circle

The solo project of Hisham Akira Bharoocha, Full Bloom is a journey into tribal spacerock. Combining terse rhythms with the blissed out shimmer of guitar drone, Soft Circle is at once spiritual and experimental. Though Bharoocha has his roots with such famous noisemakers at Black Dice and Lightning Bolt, this project seems to have more to do with eastern raga, tribal percussion and transcendental release than the destruction of eardrums or torturing of senses. Bharoocha's voice floats in indistinguishable chants above the tranquil vibration of guitar as songs build into hypnotic planes of rhythm. The mechanic precision of the drumming creates an outward struggle for dominance with the organic peacefulness of the melodies; ultimately neither seems to win leaving a trail of peaceful chaos. Full Bloom is out now on Eastern Developments.

Download:
[MP3] Soft Circle -Ascend
[MP3] Soft Circle -Shimmer