8.31.2007

Showing his dark and fuzzy side, Ben Chasney issues his heaviest incarnation under the Six Organs moniker and splits the fun with a B side from OM.

Six Organs of Admittance/ OM - Split 7"
"Assyrian Blood" nicely matches all the dark and brooding images that the title brings to mind. A heavy, doom laden track that plows through hell on wheels of fuzz and smoke, reminding you exactly why Chasney
has taken up ranks with the boys in Comets on Fire. Maybe Ethan Miller needs to step aside on a track and let Chasney head up the thunder for once, instead of hitting him up for the pretty acoustic passages, just a suggestion. The flip side is a nice slab of washy drone and high plains guitar from OM that cools off the maelstrom left behind by the Organs track. This is definitely a single worth the money so if its not in your pile, maybe you ought to ask yourself, "why not?"

Download:
[MP3] Six Organs of Admittance -Assyrian Blood
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posted by dissensous at 11:52:00 AM 2 comments

Tunnels


JOMF member Nicholas Bindeman's soft side comes through in his solo outings as Tunnels. Eschewing even the modest melodies that JOMF display, Bindeman focuses his efforts on creating seas of billowy drone with a predilection for the softer, dreamier side of the genre. The four long pieces rumble with distant thunder and that slowly alternates between calm and menace, but never ventures too far into any real heavy dread. The seas of noise wash very slowly in Bindeman's world and the slightest tonal change marks a real difference in the tracks here. The album almost seems to be split into the lighter more uplifting pieces at the beginning and the shift towards the darker and more hollow tracks at the end; a general slope from blissful happiness into nothingness. Colour Seance is available from Yarnlazer records.

Download:
[MP3] Tunnels -Flower of Life
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posted by dissensous at 9:49:00 AM 0 comments

8.30.2007

Mountain Home


Boasting contributions from Greg Weeks and Marissa Nadler, Mountain Home's debut album stands as quite a first effort. Swathed in much the same haunting narrative and melancholy candor that marks Nadler and Weeks' own works its easy to see why Weeks chose this as one of the initial offerings from his Language of Stone label. The album is short but packs a lot of emotional depth into its few tracks; shifting from orchestral tinges to more traditional interpretations of folk standards over the course of the album. No matter how the band's style changes however, there remains an overwhelming tone of sadness that clings to the songs like a constant film of fog. This sadness keeps you coming back more and more to discover the source of the ache that hangs in both the male and female vocals. The band is about to embark on a short Californian Tour with Marissa Nadler so if you're on the West Coast keep an eye out

Download:
[MP3] Mountain Home -Nottamun Town
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posted by dissensous at 10:08:00 AM 0 comments

8.29.2007

Ólöf Arnalds


This album seems to have been glossed over stateside and probably rightly so since it hasn't seen a full release here yet. Við Og Við the debut solo release from Múm collaborator Ólöf Arnalds is a delicate and playful album full of sweet, hushed instrumentation. Arnalds sings like a private music box full of indecipherable good wishes and storybook wonders. Her voice is delicate but surprisingly full, for as quiet as it is, it can really fill up a room. Though this is most likely because after 3 notes all the air seems to rush out of the room and you can't help but listen attentively. Instrumentation remains fairly basic; some guitar and piano mostly played with a mournful ease that flits from the strings to her voice and back again. The album was produced by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros and was recorded in their studio in álafoss, Iceland. The album's already out in Iceland and will hit the rest of Europe this month; hopefully the rest of the world is short to follow.

Download:
[MP3] Ólöf Arnalds -Í Nýju Húsi
[MP3] Ólöf Arnalds -Við Og Við
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posted by dissensous at 9:43:00 AM 0 comments

8.28.2007

As usual the Jukebox is flirting with all kinds of 60's debris this week. From blues rockers to a shot of garage-soul to breezy psych with a nice mix of male and female vocals for everyone.

[MP3] The World of Oz -We've All Seen The Queen
Beatles influenced psych-pop with an orchestral bent. This group had an album out on Decca in the 60's but aside from a few singles little impression was made from it. This track has a flair for the dramatic mixed with a catchy strum and huge horn stabs, making it a nice example of 60's excess at its finest.

[MP3] Kangaroo -Daydream Stallion
This Barbara Keith fronted band made a reputation playing the Cafe Wha?, but their subsequent album was a hodgepodge of styles that didn't sit well together. This soaring breezy folk number is probably the best of the bunch and the only Barbara Keith penned track of the album. Keith would go on to a bit more success with a later solo career.

[MP3] Wilkinson Tri-Cycle -9-5 '59
A hard-hitting blues rock thumper with a bass line that propels it like premium and firey guitar laid down on the solos. The rest of their album, put out on CBS subsidiary Date records wasn't quite as memorable and like so many the band called it quits soon after.

[MP3] Affinity -United States of Mind
One of a handful of great singles by Affinity that didn't make it on to their sole self titled album, here the band take the Allan Hull tune "United States of Mind" and turn it into a counter culture anthem on the strength of Linda Hoyle powerful croon. An excellent fusion of sleepy jazz and folk-rock that far surpasses the original.

[MP3] The British-North American Act -Give Yourself a Ride
A woozy psych ramble from this blip on the 60's map is a mesh of West Coast harmonies and eastern inflected guitar. A nice example of the post Beatles eastern bent that began to pervade many releases of the late 60's and a rather enjoyable tune as well.

[MP3] The Music Machine -Double Yellow Line
A non-album single from the creators of "Talk Talk," this track also hinges on their huge stabs of farfisa and ratty guitar. Also present is Sean Bonniwell's impassioned delivery that made all their songs straddle the lines between soul and snotty garage punkers. Well worth it for that opening organ line alone!
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posted by dissensous at 10:35:00 AM 3 comments

8.27.2007

Wooden Shjips


This post definitely gets filed under the "Hell yeah its about time!" category. San Francisco's mighty Wooden Shjips have finally completed their much anticipated full length for Holy Mountain and a superb slice of thick fuzz and rumble it is. The self titled record picks up the toasted groove laid down by their previous 7 and 10 inch releases and heads further into the acid baked hills of the California coastline. Though nothing on the album quite touches the mighty fuzz wallop of "Dance, Californa," a new tamer direction fits their style well. The band dabbles more in atmospherics than speaker tweaking freakouts and a new emphasis on vocals adds another color to the band's already full arsenal. If their previous work lit up the California coast in a wash of flames and smoke, this album comes as a welcome storm to wash away the debris. Definitely a band that I hope will continue to evolve their sounds in the years to come. The album is out on 9/11, hit up your local shop for the LP version, fuzz craves vinyl.

Download:
[MP3] Wooden Shjips -We Ask You To Ride
[MP3] Wooden Shjips -Losin' Time
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posted by dissensous at 9:44:00 AM 2 comments

8.24.2007

The Third entry into the ongoing Social Registry Social club 7" series offers up a delightful helping of ambient drone.

Messages - Destination b/w Glades
Pairing up Pychic Ills' Tres Warren with visual artist Taketo Shimada, Messages takes the dark murky drone aspect of the Ills and turns it out into a nervous cascade of machine drone tactics and guitar repetition on top of sprawling
sine waves and turntable interjections. These post apocalyptic westerns for the next century spawn hope that this is not a one off for the duo. Definitely a nice side step for Warren, keeping in line with the experimentation of his previous work and making it into something wholly separate. This is the best release to come out of the series so far and it sports cover art that matches its ghostly impulses.

Download:
[MP3] Messages -Glades
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posted by dissensous at 11:15:00 AM 0 comments

Oakley Hall


Another slice of fuzzed up country rock from Oakley Hall and probably one of their most accomplished albums yet. The band label skip again and land on Merge this time with the album I'll Follow You. The album feels more cohesive in spirit than Gypsum Strings and contains some of the band's most song oriented work to date, songs that are both gritty and pleasant at the same time. It'll be nice to see how the band work out the new arrangements live as even though none of the songs meander too much on record, its a certain bet that the band will flesh them out in the live setting where the band really shine. This record just as with the last few is imbued with a sense of the road; restlessness and wanderlust foam at the edges of their country spirit. This may be the very reason they are so touted for their live performances, when you can't lay down you have no choice but to make each town your own. The band is embarking on another long tour so they'll most likely make your town their own soon.

Download:
[MP3] Oakley Hall -No Dreams
[MP3] Oakley Hall -All The Way Down
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posted by dissensous at 10:45:00 AM 0 comments

8.23.2007

Sir Richard Bishop


Coming very close on the heels of While My Guitar Violently Bleeds, everybody's favorite Sun City Girl has another masterpiece of guitar musings on the way. This time Bishop travels the entire map of improvisational guitar, treading ground in sun baked Eastern tones, his usual tendency towards furious speed and technique and some blues and jazz touches that seem rather new to the palette. He even expands the instrumentation on this one, featuring a lonesome lengthy piano piece and percussion on a few tracks. This is very much a Sir Richard Bishop record in the vein and spirit of Sun City Girls, Bishop melds styles together into a broad emotional picture and quite accurately captures the them of the title, Polytheistic Fragments. This is a record that blurs culture, linking each continent through their interaction with the guitar. As always, no matter which style he's chosen each song is imbued with and overwhelming sense of presence and passion. Each step Bishop takes is closer to either the pinnacle or the edge, I'm not entirely sure which but the results are nothing short of fantastic just the same.

Download:
[MP3] Sir Richard Bishop -Elysium Number Five
[MP3] Sir Richard Bishop -Rub' Al Khali
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posted by dissensous at 9:54:00 AM 0 comments

8.22.2007

Samara Lubelski


Another beautiful and entrancing record from Samara Lubelski, Parallel Suns follows up right where she left of with Spectacular of Passage and knocks your ears spiraling into a lush sonic utopia. Lubelski's solo work, in contrast to her contributions to Hall of Fame and Tower Recordings is decidedly poppy, but swaddled in sweet hushed vocals and light melodic touches that swerve somewhere just below the pop-psych radar. Samara seems to radiate calm in her music, the guitars and subtle keys shimmer with a mellifluous sound that is never sickly sweet but rather buoyant pulling your spirits upward each time you listen. The album was recorded in Germany with her collaborators from Metabolismus and finished in Brooklyn's famed Rare Book Room Studio and features contributions from P.G. Six and Hamish Kilgour of The Clean among others.

Download:
[MP3] Samara Lubelski -Tasting The Candy
[MP3] Samara Lubelski -Have You Seen The Colors
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posted by dissensous at 11:00:00 AM 0 comments

8.21.2007

As the influence of Haight-Ashbury spread across the country, the sounds of sunny folk-rock began to permeate many band's catalogues. While the sound wouldn't last forever some that got left by the wayside crafted some prime examples of the time.

West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - A Child's Guide To Good And Evil
The third album from this L.A. collective contains some truly gorgeous moments of harmony. Mixing folk, psych and bits of country into a blissful concoction
that eases the mind and blows like a pacific wind the album is received with mixed feelings by collectors who often compare it to their early work. This one seems to be one of the band's more cohesive album's however, and even introduces some of the band's more serious themes touching on war, poverty and morality. Eventually the band would make two more albums but this seems to be the last of their prime years.

Download:
[MP3] West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - In The Country
[MP3] West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Eighteen Is Over The Hill


31st of February - 31st of February
The band's hazy harmonies and gentle psych-folk caught the attention of Vanguard Records and the band put out an album in 1969 that, while accomplished lacked a certain originality that would
distinguish them enough to bring them to fame. The band met up with Duane and Greg Allman shortly after the release of their album and recorded some tracks with them which pretty much signaled the end for the band, as drummer Butch Trucks was lured away by the Allmans into the formation of the Allman Brothers and much greater success. This album stands as a nice example of the day and a curio for Allman fans.

Download:
[MP3] 31st of February - A Nickel's Worth Of Benny's Help
[MP3] 31st of February- The Greener Isle

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posted by dissensous at 11:14:00 AM 0 comments

8.15.2007

Akron/Family


Just as it looks like the world might suffer from a lethal dose of boredom and angst, the Akron/Family swoop in and deliver their second album thereby making us all a little luckier. It's hard to believe that this really is only the band's second full length album. Between the release of their debut in '05 the band have unleashed two great EP's including a split with Michael Gira and a tour only album, toured and recorded twice as Gira's backing band and Seth Olinsky released three discs worth of demo's. Yet the band sound as vibrant as ever on Love Is Simple, expounding on their ability to fuse hopeful 'love is the answer' aesthetics with inspired fiery guitar work and a knack for rhythmic and harmonic nuances that seem more intuitive than learned. The album swings from languid vocalizations to throbbing rhythms to free jams that would make a deadhead blush usually within the same song. Here's hoping that the band continue to follow absolutely no-one's lead and release music that speaks to their whims. Here's hoping they don't wait two years after its release to put this one on vinyl (*ahem* hint hint, Michael Gira I'm looking in your direction).

Download:
[MP3] Akron/Family -I've Got Some Friends
[MP3] Akron/Family -Ed Is A Portal
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posted by dissensous at 9:30:00 AM 4 comments

So as I will be gone for a few days vacation I'm posting the rest of the week's reviews up today plus a super-sized mixtape featuring tracks from Grizzly Bear, Earth, Sir Richard Bishop, The Black Angels, Animal Collective, and live and rare tracks from Wooden Wand. Smorgasboard Enjoy!
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posted by dissensous at 9:27:00 AM 1 comments

The second 12" from in a triple series from The Social Registry Rolls out the door and onto the turntables. Showing yet another side of the band, these singles have proven to be some of the band's best work.

Vietnam - TSR EP Number 2
This second EP, which flies under awning of album track "Mr. Goldfinger" includes an excellently mellowed Dr. John cover and claims the band's shortest and most fiery song yet, written and recorded in an hour. These EPs just seem to be
getting better, the songs on this release swerve out of their typically laid back stoner blues groove, veering both mellower and harder on the same release. When this series is complete it may well collect the most diverse and accomplished works the band has to offer, funny what releasing a band from the constraints of an album can do sometimes.

Download:
[MP3] Vietnam -Right Place Wrong Time
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posted by dissensous at 9:24:00 AM 0 comments

Orion Rigel Dommisse


One of the first releases out the door from Greg Weeks' Language of Stone, a Philly based label focusing on analog recording. Orion Rigel Dommisse, the New Paltz based folk songstress fits right in amongst Weeks' woodland folk aesthetic and delightfully structured recording limitation. On What I Want From You Is Sweet Dominesse mixes a charming blend of gypsy folk with confident yet youthful vocals into a beautifully somber folk record. Her themes are largely dark in nature focusing on death and moments of despair contrasting nicely with Domminesse's plaintively sweet natured delivery. The record features contributions from Weeks and Jesse Sparhawk who round out an exemplary cast of instrumental characters that shape the sound of Dominesse's record into the bittersweet gem it truly is.

Download:
[MP3] Orion Rigel Dommisse -Alice and Sarah
[MP3] Orion Rigel Dommisse -Drink Yourself (To Death)
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posted by dissensous at 9:15:00 AM 0 comments

Tyvek


Detroit foursome Tyvek play the kind of sloppy, energetic rock that's infused with immediacy and rejects sheen in a way punk once claimed to. Their off the cuff approach leaves little room for production but taps the essence of what once made rock such a cathartic expulsion of emotion. Each guitar snarls and pulses with the energy of the first days rock broke free from blues and country to stand on its own. Tyvek play with just such an energy and enthusiasm, like they're the first ones to ever stumble on the secret formula of rock. The band has an upcoming double 7", entitled Summer Burns on What's Your Rupture to be followed shortly by the bands's first full length. Both are worth picking up when the time comes so keep your eyes peeled.

Download:
[MP3] Tyvek -Give It Up
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posted by dissensous at 9:00:00 AM 0 comments

8.14.2007

In the explosion of psychedelia that fell on England in the late 60's, more than a few deserving bands were thrown by the wayside. Both of these bands were given early breaks by major labels, but just as suddenly as their view to success came, away it went, and far too soon.

Rainbow Ffolly - Sallies Fforth
Rainbow Ffolly recorded some demo tracks in late 1967 with producers Malcolm and John Jackson that found its way to EMI, who in turn decided to release the band's songs as a full album. Though the band protested that the songs weren't quite intended
to be an album they went through with the signing anyway. The results are actually quite cohesive and touch on many themes and influences from the British psychedelic scene with skill and humor. It falls in nicely with Magical Mystery Tour and S.F. Sorrow era Pretty Things. However even with the record label's support and a slew of dates the album didn't sell well enough to really keep the band afloat and as happens they were lost to time until being rescued by reissue.

Download:
[MP3] Rainbow Ffolly- No
[MP3] Rainbow Ffolly - Drive My Car

Skip Bifferty - Skip Bifferty
After garnering a healthy live following and support from John Peel, Skip Bifferty released their first and one of the best singles of their career, "On Love". The band then refined their sound, adding a dash of pop-psych flourish and
grabbing the attention of RCA Records UK division. The band tinkered with many facets of experimental sound that followed the psychedelic era, and eventually hooked up with Steve Marriot to produce their final single but a dispute with their manager eventually led to their demise. The members of the band went on to work long into the 70's in many other projects but never really captured a sound as immediate and cohesive as they did here.

Download:
[MP3] Skip Bifferty - On Love
[MP3] Skip Bifferty- Guru

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posted by dissensous at 11:10:00 AM 0 comments

8.13.2007

Eric Copeland


Eric Copeland's been a busy man lately; working with Avey Tare in Terrestrial Tones and prepping a new Black Dice record with the rest of the band, so it almost seems unlikely that he'd have much time for a solo project. But, as prolific luck would have it Copeland has produced a record that straddles the blurred lines that separate all his previous work. Echoing the more rhythmic and electronic direction of the new Black Dice material and waddling in the spacey atmospheres that marked his work in the Tones, Hermaphrodite has come together as a happily jarring mix of personalities. Veering into heated tribal rhythms, squirrelly electronics and vocal chants reminiscent of his compatriots in Animal Collective the record has more than its share of enjoyable moments plunging the listener deep into Copeland's world of bent wires and cough syrup cut-ups. Ending up some how both dark and entirely whimsical, the record is sadistically experimental twisting sounds until they scream and beg you to look the other way, but Copeland's ceaseless ability to find catchiness in these dismantled melodies keeps your ears perked until the last track.

Download:
[MP3] Eric Copeland -Green Burrito
[MP3] Eric Copeland -Dinca
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posted by dissensous at 10:16:00 AM 1 comments

8.10.2007

Mariee Sioux


Way back last summer, near the beginnings of this site, we posted some sparse and beautiful demos of songs by a Nevada City song writer named Mariee Sioux. Now almost a year later, Mariee has gone on to tour with Brightblack Morning Light and record a beautiful album of haunting, spiritual songs that frame her strong and bewitching voice in a verdant backdrop of muted strings and somber pipes. Faces In The Rocks still evokes the beautiful images of her lonesome demos but now it would appear that Mariee is not so lonesome, recording the album with her father, Gary Sobonya and acclaimed wood flautist Gentle Thunder amongst others. Mariee's gentle song-craft rolls like clouds before a rain, soft and ominous but with a promise of relief at every turn. Her album sees release via a new Nevada City based label, Grass Roots Record Co., home to Mariee, Aaron Ross, Lee Bob Watson and the captivating Family Album compilation that features all of Grass Roots' artists along with contributions from Alela Diane and Hella. The label and their artists both deserve to be watched with a keen eye in the coming months.

Download:
[MP3] Mariee Sioux -Wizard Flurry Home
[MP3] Mariee Sioux -Burried In Teeth

Bonus from Grass Roots Family Album Buy it here
[MP3] Alela Diane -Dry Grass and Shadows
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posted by dissensous at 10:20:00 PM 1 comments

I'm not up on my Chinese Zodiac but this seems to have been the year of the Panda Bear. Noah Lennox has captured the world's attention with his solo debut and Animal Collective's latest opus has his prints all over it.

Panda Bear - Take Pills 7"
The last in a series of 7 and 12" singles that accompany the debut of Panda Bear, this 7" claims the only non-album b-side of the bunch. Sounding more like a track that was cut for time rather than quality, "Bonfire of the Vanities" flickers like
a film reel against a dying bulb. The song weaves in and out of consciousness and aptly rounds out the series of great releases that have graced us this year. Again featuring the artwork of designer Agnes Montgomery; this is the final piece of the Person Pitch puzzle and the whole set makes a nice collection. Seek out the accompanying vinyls before they're gone forever.

Download:
[MP3] Panda Bear -Bonfire of the Vanities
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posted by dissensous at 10:02:00 AM 0 comments

8.09.2007

Voice of the Seven Woods


English fret wrangler Rick Tomlinson has been quietly building up a reputation for himself with 7"s and low release CD-r's for some time now but it's with his first full length album that he really distinguishes himself from the acoustic raga scene. Make no mistake, Tomlinson can play with the technical supremacy and agility of the best that have sprouted up today, he's given quite the effort of setting himself aside the likes of James Blackshaw, Sir Richard Bishop and Jack Rose. But whereas expectation would have him release a purely acoustic album full of all the twists and noodles he's able to pull off, Tomlinson has instead crafted an ode to psychedelic folk-rock that not only emulates the feel of a dusty lost classic, it one-ups many such classics out there. The album moves from Pentangle laced folk numbers into murky eastern psychedelic workouts and into some Jansch-ian solo British folk moments; trading between acoustic and electric skill with ease. It's quite honestly one of the best British folk albums put out in the last 10-15 years. Voice of the Seven Woods writhes with intensity and burns itself deep into your consciousness with each listen. The album is out now on Twisted Nerve and has certainly edged its way onto my top of '07 list.

Download:
[MP3] Voice of the Seven Woods -The Fire In My Head
[MP3] Voice of the Seven Woods -Silver Morning Branches
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posted by dissensous at 10:04:00 AM 1 comments

8.08.2007

Grampall Jookabox


Indiana duo Grampall Jookabox play folk music filtered through the eyes, hearts and mouths of junkyard soul, stream of conciousness lyricism and cut and paste aesthetics. For every poignant note the group touches on, they're equally ready to steamroll it with an abstract tangent. Scientific Cricket packs together into one album a legacy of dark rooted songwriting and modern experimental bents; treading the roads that Animal Collective, Beck and Leadbelly cut down before them and swerving between them with equal fervor. Decidedly lo-fi, and decisively rustic the album is a product of modern times emulating an impulse of the past and honestly its pretty good at what its trying to achieve. The duo make no excuses for themselves, they're simply following their muse as far as it will take them.

Download:
[MP3] Grampall Jookabox -Ponta
[MP3] Grampall Jookabox -Brick People Chant
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posted by dissensous at 11:27:00 AM 0 comments

8.07.2007

Another Tuesday and another jolt from the jukebox. This week the box swerves all over the sounds of the 60's, hitting on some rough shots of garage, fuzz tone psych and the sweet haven of the West Coast.

[MP3] The New Tweedy Bros. -I Can See It
A nice portrait of San Francisco psych, this track is distinctly West Coast and relies heavily on the Jefferson Airplane style that permeated Haight-Ashbury. Breezy and melodic but with a tough bite of fuzz, this is probably the best that the New Tweedy Bros. had to offer but its a great offering indeed.

[MP3] The Sevens -I'm Crying
A rollicking slab of garage that jangles with angst and swings with soul. This Swiss band had all the snarl and fervor of the best of their day and this track in particular picks up the pace, storms out of the garage and jumps up and down the block.

[MP3] Fifth Flight -Sugar Mountain
Pressed in a miniscule run on California Customs Records, this gentle psych band is best known for this cover of Neil Young's 'Sugar Mountain'. Taking Young's poignant tale and giving it a pastoral psych treatment, this track has cemented the band's status amongst collectors worldwide; gilding it with dashes of fuzz, heavy organ and breezy West Coast harmonies.

[MP3] The Moving Sidewalks -99th Floor
An absolute essential garage track and one of the Texas scene's finest. The Moving Sidewalks featured the searing guitar of one Billy Gibons better known for his work with ZZ Top. This track stomps and grinds like a southern fried 96 tears, trading soul for blues fire.

[MP3] Beacon Street Union -Green Destroys the Gold
Fuzzy psych soul shot like a rocket from the Bosstown scene. Much of Beacon Street Union's work was hit or miss but as this track shows when they did hit is was dead on and cut to the core. A great classic of the 60's sound.
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posted by dissensous at 10:00:00 AM 1 comments

8.06.2007

Life On Earth!


Dungen guitarist Mattias Gustavsson's solo project, also released on Swedish haven of the pychedelic Subliminal Sounds, is as captivating as anything he has done in the past. With help from members of The Works, Town & Country and Mia Doi Todd, Gustavsson has crafted an album that sounds out of place and time, floating halfway between the psych-folk-rock ruminations of 1971 and the resurgence that has spread in the past few years. While the album doesn't contain the bombast of his work with Dungen, it is marked with his first rate fretwork on a number of tracks, and an addmittedly softer side that shows through on the album's many temperate acoustic nubmers. The album is swaddled in incense and bliss; the culmination of Gustavsson's exhuberant release. If Dungen's music taps the fire and intensity of the psychedelic movement, Life On Earth! taps the communal spirituality that dissipated far too quickly into hardened cynicism. This one seems to have slipped out under the nose of far too many and a damn shame that is indeed.

Download:
[MP3] Life On Earth! -Sell Your Soul To Me
[MP3] Life On Earth! -Right In Between
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posted by dissensous at 10:10:00 AM 2 comments

8.03.2007

Yura Yura Teikoku


Japan's best kept secret, Yura Yura Teikoku are the only Japanes psych band to really break the mainstream and enjoy success in the country, but despite their homegrown notoriety they've broken almost no ground abroad. Working their way up through the Tokyo underground they were regulars at the UFO club and appeared on compilations from the legendary PSF label. The band's 1998 album 3x3x3 is a potent mix of garage rock and power pop that along with a reputation for remarkable live shows, elevated them to icon status. Now Mesh-Key records has released their latest record Sweet Spot a mix of pop, fire and tension and finally brought them to the states with a string of tours this past year. Sweet Spot exercises more restraint than unbridled passion but has enough moments of incredible song craft to retain the band's status as one of Tokyo's greatest exports of the non-silicon variety.

Download:
[MP3] Yura Yura Teikoku -Kyusyo
[MP3] Yura Yura Teikoku -Soft Death
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posted by dissensous at 9:52:00 AM 1 comments

8.02.2007

Dark Yoga


Dark Yoga is a loose musical collective that produces a heady esoteric mixture of free jazz via wah wah funk and free folk channeled through drone-heavy woodland chimes. When the collective hits their stride the results can be overwhelmingly tight in the loosest of terms. Even under the haziest fog of fuzzed out yelps and electronic squelps, a languid guitar weaves its way in and out of the din like a divining rod for the soul, a guide through Dark Yoga's trip. Some of the jams on LIVE BROADCAST: HEAVY TRUTH spread out like endless landscapes, flooding out over 20 minutes in some cases but the fluid guitar work keeps the band's basis grounded as the rest of the members reign in a steady stream of space blues and ritual chants. This marks another great disc out on Portland's Yarnlazer. The whole shot is recorded live so bets are on that if you get a chance to check them out in person you're in for a treat.

Download:
[MP3] Dark Yoga -Untitled 1
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posted by dissensous at 9:47:00 AM 0 comments

8.01.2007

Little Wings


Kyle Field returns for his 7th album with a few friends and a fuller sound. Soft Pow'r is Field's first album with a full band that includes Jona Bechtolt of YACHT and Adam Forkner from White Rainbow, introducing drums, piano and bass into a repertoire that previously consisted of Kyle on a beach with a guitar hashing out lazy late night melodies. The album is decidedly mellow in tone, with a usual air of delicate sadness that permeates all of Field's prior material. Seeing release via RAD, a new subsidiary of Portland's Marriage Records, it's a welcome return to the fold for Field who has just relocated from California to Portland. The album shows an aging attitude for the west coast songwriter, an easy transition from nontraditional songwriter into a new breed of lackadaisical troubadour.

Download:
[MP3] Little Wings -Gone Again
[MP3] Little Wings -Free Bird
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posted by dissensous at 9:26:00 AM 3 comments