Salamander - Birds of Appetite (2003)

Salamander is a band I know next to nothing about (you can find a more complete bio at Camera Obscura); based out of Minneapolis, this troupe of psychedelic marauders has apparently been turning out their own smoldering brand of space rock since the early 90's, although the label bio linked to above would seem to suggest the band's currently status as one of semi-permanent hiatus. While the basic instrumentation here is somewhat standard psych-rock fare (guitar/bass/drums), the band prides itself on both its non-traditional use of said rock instrumentation and its use of non-traditional rock instrumentation, including "hammered dulcimer, shenai (an oboe-like instrument), and something they call the 'space whistle'." This particular album, 2003's Birds of Appetite, was my first introduction to these masters of ambiance (though I have no idea how or where I discovered it), and it remains my favorite of their works.

While the Om-like album opener 'Vessel is Vacant' suggests strict Summer of Love worship with its tablas and half-chanted vocals, it's eventual descent into gentle drone foreshadows the album's subsequent minimalist turn. On Birds, Salamander is most successful at creating long, smoldering songs that utilize crescendo much as a post-rock band might without falling into the conventions of that most amorphous of genres; for all of it's bombastic song lengths (it does feature four songs over the eight-minute mark), this album has a distinct late-night psych feel matched by a earthy, folkish tone. With little or no vocals on most of the sparsely layered tracks, the music is left here to speak for itself, evoking a mystical, haze-ridden atmosphere with a drummer and lead guitar player who make no attempt to mask the influence of Indian classical music on their playing styles. The band's name - which comes to us from a semi-mystical animal thought in ancient times to be born of fire - is a perfect fit for the mood achieved here, at once brooding, lysergic and somehow vaguely alchemical.

Those of you with a Paypal account can still get the 'Birds of Appetite' CD here, or download it from us.

Gong - Pre-Modernist Wireless: Peel Sessions 1971-74

First off, thanks to postcooksey for shame-kicking my lazy ass into restarting this once-stagnant blog. I have a slew of to-be-posted albums on my desktop, and it is time for me to get to work on them. Here's goes.

This album, which is actually not an album at all, compiles the appearances of trans-continental prog champions Gong on the legendary John Peel show on BBC Radio. Gong, a band of tripped-out fuckheads that is almost as famous for its bizarre mythology as for the idiosyncratic music it produced, show themselves here as a capable live act, with the songs losing none of their charm whatsoever without the playground of a studio (a common trait of late-60's sike, where production techniques often masked boring, by-the-book pop numbers as bold and experimental). In fact, what this set accomplishes is to demonstrate that for all the conceptual wonder-pinnings of their long-form concept albums, Gong wrote fucking great self-contained songs that hold up even without spoken-word interludes about 'pot-head pixies' and the like (not that there's anything wrong with that!). From acid-folk ('Magick Brother') to irreverent ska ('Clarence in Wonderland') and of course the cosmic anthem "You Can't Kill Me," Gong provides one of those rare listening experiences that feel like one has been temporarily transported into the mind of a lunatic, only to discover that it's actually a lot more fun than the so-called 'real world' (a dull waste of time, this author can assure you).

For those of you unfamiliar with Gong's studio output, you can find their essential first five albums over at Black Acid; as a hint, the band generally followed the era's transition from psychedelic to progressive rock, with their early works resembling an especially spaced-out take on late-60s psych, exploding into full-blown prog with the infamous "Radio Gnome Trilogy."

It seems to be out of print but you can find "Pre-Modernist Wireless" as a $45 import on Amazon, or opt for sheer musical piracy here.

Azul - Blue Demo (2002?)

A BURNING MINDS exclusive, this 5-track demo EP was cut by some friends of mine from high school in the early 2000s. Centered around some absolutely insane sax and guitar interplay, Azul lay down some of the best and hardest jazz/psych I've ever heard, all the more impressive if you consider that most of this material was written when they were 16, and their sound on this recording is full and hearty. Hands-down one of my favorite live acts, Azul went their separate ways after school, occassionally playing reunion shows in their native North Hollywood and the surrounding S.F. Valley. Lead singer and axe-slinger Brandon Intelligator now plays guitar in an NYC indie band called The Restless.

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Pearls Before Swine - One Nation Underground (1967) + Balaklava (1968)

A tragically underlooked talent that is only now beginning to receive the renown he/they deserve, Tom Rapp and his Pearls Before Swine emerged from the oversaturated 60's folk-rock scene with a strangely timeless surrealist sound unlike any of their contemporaries. Rapp's echo-drenched lisp winds bittersweetly through a maze of styles and tempos here, from old-timey pieces ('Guardian Angel', see below) and faux-raga ('I Shall Not Care') to rousing garage/folk ('Uncle John'), and the moods achieved across these albums are simply too numerous to count. Located somewhere in the same sonic universe as 'Highway 61'-era Dylan and the 13th Floor Elevators, Pearls Before Swine are simply one-of-a-kind, the work of a bona fide rock'n'roll genius (I am tempted to say 'auteur') and a high watermark in the acid-folk tradition. On a personal note, these two albums - which represent the band's work on independent labels - were among the few I had with me on my journeys in India last fall, earning them an especially special place in my rainbow-colored heart.

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The Trees Community - The Christ Tree Box Set (1975; reissued 2007)

One of the more unique musical statements you're likely to hear in this lifetime, The Christ Tree box is a retrospective collection of Christian acid-folk troubadours The Trees Community, a wandering band of Jesus People who composed haunting, lushen reinterpretations of classic and contemporary hymnals. With more than 80 instruments played by only seven members, The Trees Community explore a compelling space between religious and psychedelic consciousness, mixing hippie communitarianism with Christian agape to produce a powerful alternative to contemporary fundamentalisms. My own discomfort with devotional music aside, this collection ranks among the finest psych-folk I've come across, its lyrical tone serving as icing on an already freaky cake. Check out 'Psalm 42' below, guaranteed to soothe even the most Satanic beast within.

excellent allmusic review

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downloads: disc one - disc two - disc three - disc four

Manuel Göttsching - Inventions for Electric Guitar (1974)

While technically credited to his Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra outfit, Inventions for Electric Guitar is in fact a Manuel Göttsching solo exercise, following the legendary space-rocker through a series of complex tape delays to produce three ambient prog epics somewhat reminiscent of Robert Fripp's 'Frippertronics' work with (and without) Brian Eno. While there are plenty of tape-delay masterworks out there to sort trhough, IFEG stakes out its own claim to worthiness on Göttsching's incredible speed and precision, along with a fine sense for mood and - dare I say it - negative space. What I love about this piece is its listening dynamism: while it can certainly be appreciated as an ambient piece, those who pay close attention are rewarded with countless intricacies that are all to more impressive when one considers that all sounds here were produced with a single electric guitar.

allmusic

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Aural Fit - Livestock (Tokyo, 2004)

Another lucky internet find for yours truly, Aural Fit embody just about everything I seek in music, an insanely heavy, sludgedout headfest meant strictly for fucking minds. On this live album from 2004, the blues are lit aflame and then shredded through layers of bellowing squeal, descending into harsh, psychedelic noise before being twisted back into AMT Cosmic Inferno-like jams. Not for the faint of heart.

myspace

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The Klubs - Midnight Love Cycle (1968)

I found out about The Klubs completely by chance, stumbling across their album labeled as that of the "Best Freakbeat band ever," Freakbeat being the psychedelic variant of the Merseybeat sound most famously represented on the Beatles' earliest recordings. While I am hardly enough of an authority to verify this claim, it is hands down one of the best undiscovered gems of the late 60's UK psych scene, a melodic, fuzzy exploration fusing an early rock'n'roll backbeat with spacey vocals and eerie guitarwork. Throw in some of the warmest lo-fi production imaginable and one of the very best cuts of the era ("Can't Ebenezer See My Mind") and you've got yourself an unqualified forgotten classic. The expanded CD edition includes alternate versions and some unreleased tracks from subsequent spin-offs.

Official Website

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edit: I left out Tracks #13-17 - some live versions from a 1999 reunion show - in order to post the album to Sharebee. At your collective request, here they are.

Kawabata Makoto and the Mothers of Invasion - Hot Rattlesnakes (2006)

Yet another side project from Acid Mothers Temple mastermind/speed guru Kawabata Makoto, Hot Rattlesnakes takes Makoto's typically fuzz-laden cosmic riffing into intriguingly ambient territory, most notably on middle track Fripian Flipped Over Niffy Their King of Frippery. Those who like his material with AMT should feel right at home here, and these Mothers might even ending up converting an acolyte or two. Highly recommended.

allmusic


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