TimeMazine

TimeMazine

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Purple Overdose - Fire Dance (7"vinyl Single Dec 2012)



Purple Overdose - Fire Dance

Unreleased Track

exclusively

on a 7" vinyl split Single

with

Issue #7

of

Psychedelic Fanzine

"TimeMazine"

Limited...Limited...Limited...

250 Black + 250 Blue

Listen! Watch! Grab!




 

Once... there was an Indian...

... Purple Overdosed to

... Fire...

suddenly...

He started to...

... Dance...




Tuesday, December 18, 2012

THE STRYPES - Young, Gifted And Blue E.P (2012)



THE STRYPES - Young, Gifted And Blue E.P
2012 (7” EP Heavy Soul)



I’m sick and tired all these years of Boy-Bands, of Girl-Bands, playing garbage music… Here’s 4 talented promising young men (really young men, just 14 years old) that are going to set the whole world on fire! Everything started back in November 2010 with an appearance at the ‘Late Late Toy Show’. A digital single followed (their interpretation of the Beatles “You can Do That”, released July 22nd 2011). Hailing from Cavan, Ireland, The Strypes are the most fresh and exciting ‘new thing’ to emerge from Europe! The title of their debut EP release, describes it all. Young, Gifted and Blue! Add a really mature coolness, a hipster Mod attitude, an uncontrolled charm, a 60s R n’ B feeling, a true devotion to the Blues and you’ll get the picture! So, it’s Ross Farrelly on Lead Vocals/Percussion/Harmonica, Josh McClorey on Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals/Keyboards, Pete O'Hanlon on Bass/Harmonica/Backing Vocals and Evan Walsh on Drums. Catch their names, the whole global musical community will talk about them in the direct future. And the future is all theirs! A Brilliant EP by Heavy Soul Records, a tribute to W. Dixon “You Can’t Judge A Book”, J. Moore “I Got Love If You Want It”, Billy Boy Arnold “I Wish You Would” and the holy triad Holland, Dozier, Holland “Leavin’ Here”. Listen to these tracks, and instantly, pictures of a young Van Morrison, or a young Eric Burdon, or a young Eric Clapton, unwillingly come to mind! What a wonderful feeling I get by listening over and over again. I really don’t care if it’ll take them a long time to introduce their own music, their own compositions. I just don’t care. I enjoy listening to their covers. After all, they won my anticipation for original music and they deserve it! Period! Meet The Strypes! They Got Their Mojos Working! And they do it Bloody Well! A wonderful appetizer! TimeLord Michalis













Monday, December 17, 2012

DRUG FREE YOUTH – The Avocado Index (2012)



DRUG FREE YOUTH – The Avocado Index
2012 (LP/CD Nowhere Street Music)



This is the follow-up to 2006’s debut album “A Message From Now”. Hard to believe that this is a one-man-band and the visions that this Psyche-Head (George F.) is generously offering to us (listeners). So, George went to the nearby forest picked up a couple of native mushroom varieties, then he closeted himself in his room with a bunch of analog (mostly) gear and wrote, played, recorded and mixed 19 tracks (varied from 0:40sec to 3:36min). He named the whole venture “The Avocado Index” and released it as an LP/CD/Free mp3 Download through his close friend George Markou's Nowhere Street Music label. The LP is full of inspired 60s music with an attitude to experiment in various and scarce musical forms – from neo-psych and modern-punk-pop to sci-fi music and avant garde! Album starts with the instrumental “Pulsating Yellow Heart”, John Cage’s mind meets Mimis Plessas melodies while Rick Wakeman shares keyboards with Joseph Byrd! “Faces From The Past” is a happy Ska/Rocksteady computerized sunny effected anthem inspired by the “Golden” age of the new –wave 80s (I swear I heard Ian’s voice calling “…This is the way Step Inside…”) The experimental and full of weird sounds “Miniature Ninjas” follows. “The Mysteries Of Life: Ms Abigeil Doe” is an aggressive acid garage punky 2min dynamite. “Bonus Beats” with its spacey effects and the sharp fuzzy guitars comes next while “The Broken Circle” is another keyboard dominated experimental instrumental with lots of effects. Back to normal with “Patterns”, a song that moves into a psychedelic vein with vocals coming straight from the bottom of a well. The experimental “Thieves Of Forgotten Dreams” with its whispered vocals moves in a sci-fi spacey vein. “Σύννεφα Από Καραμέλα” (Caramel Clouds) is a mushroom inspired psyched garage song with Greek lyrics…  Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies… Side A closes with “Doppelganger Love” – a garage punker with a sick-poppy atmosphere (cool!!!) Side B opens with the garagy “Time”, a guitar&farfisa driven song with a west-coast fuzzy feeling. “A Cat” is another instro moving into a psych-garage style while “Sans Marker” welcomes sunshine west-coast psychedelia with lots of experimentation going all the way, this one could easily fit in “The Beat Of The Earth” album. “Veronique” is a pop-psych song reminding Neighb'rhood Childr'n or Music Emporium. More experimentation on “A Voice Repeats”. “Εργοτάξιο” (Construction Site) has Greek lyrics (worth mentioning that the last verse is written by Yorgos Romanos who released the ultra rare psychedelic masterpiece back in 1970 “Two Small Blue Horses”) and is a cocktail-sound of guitars, keyboards, spacey effects, really an explosive one. “Surveillance Alphabet” with its sci-fi atmosphere and the synth effects makes me sure that somewhere there in George’s room was the ghost of Iannis Xenakis (but I still wonder what the seagulls are doing there). “Tomorrow” is a fast organ dominated new-ager with a psych feel. Album closes with the nostalgic neo-psych futuristic “The Future”. The Avocado Index is a record destined to be “Cult” from its very first day of release. TimeLord Michalis









MR. PETER HAYDEN – Born A Trip (2012)



MR. PETER HAYDEN – Born A Trip
2012 (CD Kauriala Society)



Though they’re 10 years old, this is the 2nd full length album release, by this Finnish psych quintet. We were somehow accustomed with Mr Peter Hayden’s long trippy improvisational acidly drenched jams, but this one really overtakes our expectations. Born A Trip is a travelogue ambient astral musical adventure and consists of just one song, the self-titled 68:20min, Born A Trip! It starts slowly, torturous with a guitar oriented sound and then it transforms into a space capsule full of distorted and effected guitars. After a 10min period, the sonic storm is calming down, and from now on the ‘discovery mission’ takes over. 23rd minute… Images of undiscovered landscapes… 31st minute… Nowhere to Land… The trip continues… Space is Deep… So Deep… Approaching new territories… 40 minute… There’s a new Light, then darkness again through lots of progressive elements and heavy psychness… 48 minute… A small Ray of Light. Is it a self-luminous planet?... Peaceful… Serene… 55 minute… Darkness, Darkness… Inside a Black Hole… Endless Tunnel… Where is that noise coming from? Ah! Is it Earth? Yes! It is! But How?... End of transmission. Wish I had pushed the ‘repeat’ button on the CD player… Well, it’s worth tripping with Mr. Peter Hayden’s time-vehicle! Take this Trip! TimeLord Michalis





Tuesday, December 11, 2012

PERMANENT CLEAR LIGHT – Higher Than The Sun/Afterwards (2012)



PERMANENT CLEAR LIGHT –
Higher Than The Sun/Afterwards
2012 (7” FdM Records)



I believe that it is the luck of sun in the Scandinavia area (Finland) that forces/inspires people/artists to create such sunny, joyful euphoric melodic tunes! Permanent Clear Light introduced themselves 2 years ago taking part on FdM’s compilation “A Phase We’re Going Through” with Who’s “In The City”. Having occupied another 4 FdM comp releases, now the time has come for a 7” single of their own! On Side A, there’s their own composition “Higher Than The Sun”, so sunny but so full of melancholy simultaneously. Question: What the hell Bowie’s Space Oddity is doing inside Floyd’s Dark Side? Answer: It’s just Permanent Clear Light’s mystic formula to drag us Higher Than the Sun, maintaining our Molecular Structure in its entirety! On Side B, they cover Peter Hammil’s “Afterwards” (originally on Van de Graaf’s Grey Aerosol Machine), a cool version, thrifty but lightly space effected in the middle with beautiful vocal harmonies, makes me think that this one could have been recorded back in the early 70s. Versions like this, explains why the band happen to be one of FdM’s favorites! After all, don’t forget that – as someone used to say back in the 80s – It’s Always The Sun… and nothing but the Sun… TimeLord Michalis











Monday, December 10, 2012

IN THE LABYRINTH – One Trail To Heaven (2011)



IN THE LABYRINTH – One Trail To Heaven
2011 (CD Trail Records)
www.inthelabyrinth.com



For sure this is one splendid appetizer. It will definitely make you wanna search, find and buy all the other “works” of this Swedish progressive psychedelic band. It’s like a ‘Best Of’ including songs from their 3 CDs so far (1994’s The Garden Of Mysteries, 1999’s Walking On Clouds and 2002’s Dryad) plus some unreleased original material including a Moody Blues cover (“Cities”). One hour of fine-old-sweet-progressive-folk-eastern influenced-psychedelic instrumental (mostly) music. Mastermind of the band is multi-instrumentalist Peter Lindhal who plays a serious amount of instruments in order to achieve his purposes. Mellotron, viola,guitar, bass, saz, zither, mandolin, baroque travers-flute, quena, synths, piano, melodeon, darbouka, daf to name a few… It’s hard to pick favorites. He deals with so many branches of well-played progressive music. Like a huge Labyrinth with numerous corridors. Each corridor, a different musical inspiration, a separate musical approach. The whole album is overwhelmed by a continuous flow of musical sounds and timeless tales that were put in the right order by the right person. Peter, a modern Thiseas, opened a trail to Heaven, in which, All of Us are Free to follow! 
TimeLord Michalis






BEYOND-O-MATIC – Time To Get Up (2010)



BEYOND-O-MATIC – Time To Get Up
2010 (CD Trail Records)



I’d like to thank Alexander from Trail Records who kindly sent me a few of their releases for reviewing. Alexander put me on an underground ‘trip’ and I suggest all of you follow the steps I made. Well, Beyond-o-matic was a band (hailed from San Francisco) who released 3 albums back in the 90s. They reformed in 2003 and recorded an album that was never released till 2010. “Time To Get Up” consists of 7 tracks moving into 70s psychedelic space rock using sounds from instruments like Croos5 bariguitar, long stiff finger of doom, synthesizers, table, accordion, flute creating a unique ambient idiosyncratic  atmosphere. “Plague Of Bliss” (6:12min) opens the album, a slow spacey number combining heavenly inspirational vocals and harmonies. “Hawaiian Lady” (the longest track, 14:18min) is a magical epic anthem with wah-wah guitars, spacey synth effects becoming really progressively trippy at times with a groovy funky feeling. “Starbong” welcomes Early 70s Floyd, mid 70s Gong and Hawkwind, a psychedelic cosmic tune infused with various effects and a flute coming straight from the Canterbury scene. “Trying To Find You” (12:09min) is a far-out space-rocker, a mind-expanding psychedelic space trip. The self titled “Time To Get Up” (11:09min) follows. A floating-around-the-stars kosmique piece of stardust! “The Liquid Midnight” (1:16min) acts like a vocal interlude (an intermission - I don’t really know from what) and album closes with “Child Of Fog”, a space-pop number reminding of late 70s Floyd. A Space Journey worth tripping to! TimeLord Michalis







THE LUCK OF EDEN HALL



THE LUCK OF EDEN HALL –
Butterfly Revolutions Vol.2
2011 (CD self release)



I can’t think of any US band playing the psychedelic pop 60s with such freshness and inspiration as Gregory Curvey and his band does. Just before the year (2011) of the Butterfly expired, the band from Chicago kept its promise and released the follow-up to Butterfly Revolutions, the promising Vol.2. The recipe remains quite the same, but without becoming boring either for just a second from the 41:08 of the album. Gregory (mastermind of LOEH) has the ability/privilege to create beautiful pop-psych tunes through a procedure that he calls it ‘Popped Psychedelic Rock and Rollism’ (sic!). So, what we have here are 12 songs full of 60s influences (from the Beatles and the Byrds to Stones and Love) filtered with today’s sound. A mix of melodic, dreamy psychedelically catchy tunes that sometimes becoming a little more heavier or rock-oriented, all dressed with nice vocals, interesting effects under a great musicianship. Album starts in a real smooth way with the lyrical & dreamy “Metropolis” but continues in a more speedy way with the more 70s-less 60s heavy rocker “Complicated Mind”. “Caroline” and “North Hampton Woods” are sweet psych-ballads that bring to mind the mellower moments of their homies (and good friends too) Smashing Pumpkins. It’s because of songs like “The Ottoman Girl” that make them the ideal band to open with “SF Sorrow is Born” the Fruits de Mer Tribute Compilation “Sorrow’s Children”. One of the best moments of the album follows, the late-Beatlesque “Henrietta Lacks A Smile” with a great use of piano and strings. “Flowers” and “Whither Fare Thou Be” are the rockier tunes here with a touch of psych of course. “Revolutions” acts like a soft & slow organic interlude, while “Realization Loop” increases the volume to high levels. “We Are Not Self Control” has a dreamy relaxing melody and album closes with my personal highlight, the psychedelically flavoured “A Drop In The Ocean”. Butterfly has spoken. Follow her Oracle! TimeLord Michalis









THE LUCK OF EDEN HALL –
Butterfly Eat Gumdrops
2012 (CD Self Released)
www.theluckofedenhall.com



I’m privileged and honored to have the 006 CD album of this extra-limited-to-200 copies newest psychedelic adventure of Gregory and The Luck Of Eden Hall. I’ve said it many times, on earlier reviews. I’m saying it once more. This is about the Art of Making little Beautiful Psychedelic-Pop musical pieces flavored with the whole 60s psych culture! Gregory and the rest of the gang, bend over the album with so much love, creativity, passion and care that all these are reflected in the final result, the 11 compositions. Album takes off with the nostalgic, melodic, piano based “High Heeled Flippers”. An outtake from the “White” album. Definitely! The trippy&heavy pop-psych and full of sitar sound “Bangalore” follows. The freshy “Ten Meters Over The Ground” can lift you more than 10 meters over the ground. How the hell they come with such melodies? The double (or whatever) vocal harmonies along with the synth sound and the mellotron and the backward guitars make “Summertime Girl” not just another Love song. I dare to say a psych sophisticated one! “Amoreena Had Enough Yesterday” has great orchestration and reminds of some of the best of George Martin’s productions (got it?) Distinctive backward guitar sound once more on the sunny fresh poppy “Green Faery”. “Wasting The Days Of Youth” shines with its neo-psychedelic feel and pompous orchestration while “Goodnight Anne Berlin” flirts with British (what else?) Psych in band’s own characteristic style. Yes! They managed to create their OWN style! “A Carney’s Delirium” has some really wondrous electric guitar playing while “This Is Strange” (which Gregory kindly enough gave us permission to include on this Issue’s CD comp) is just what a 3 and a half min neo-psych-pop song is all about!  Album closes with the self-titled “Alligators Eat Gumdrops” in a rockier way, only to leave you wondering “is this the 10th  11th time that I’m repeating this album?” I believe that probably this is their best album so far, and I’m waiting for the day that some label in Europe will discover their genius and release their “works” here too. Enjoy it! TimeLord Michalis