“…It’s a colorful collage of vintage sounds,
recalling innovators like Syd Barrett and the more sprawling sonic textures of
the 13th Floor Elevators, but in a modern atmosphere…”
”Pristine
is a Norwegian, Psychedelic, Blues Rock band. Heidi Solheim is the captivating
front woman, with her memorable long red hair and striking eyes. This band
offers a significant sound, incorporating Soul, Funk, Blues and Rock. Their
debut album, Detoxing, is full of passionate, Fusion songs.
The first,
named “Damned If I Do” has heavy Jazz and Blues elements, including a catchy
chorus. The atmospheric start includes a scratching dark organ sound, a basic
hi hat beat and gradual building vocals, which results in a heavy climax, a
climbing guitar solo, and an emotional vocal conclusion. However this comes to
an abrupt stop halfway through; (musical stops like this can be extremely
effective, as they are unexpected). While “Damned If I Do” and “You Don’t Know”
are brilliant songs, the sudden stops are in danger of ruining the flow of the
rhythm.
One of the
stand out tracks is “Breaking Bad” as this song identifies the beauty of
simplicity, and the wonder of Blues Rock at its best. The band sounds tight and
powerful, providing catchy Blues riffs with strong female vocals. “Damage Is
Done” is mainly a funk track that again highlights the talents of Heidi’s
voice, as she elegantly switches from passionate Classic Blues Rock to
emotional, soulful vocals. “The Last Day” is a soulful ballad, showing the versatility
of Heidi’s enchanting voice; this slow paced reflective song really outlines
the ease of her vocal delivery and her poetic, yet catchy lyrics. The albums
self-titled song, “Detoxing,” shows the psychedelic features of this band,
incorporating their influences of both Hendrix and Zeppelin.
This album
is one to reach for on those lazy days, where you require passionate vocals,
with uplifting Blues guitar riffs, interesting musical arrangements and varying
Fusion genre songs to ease you into the day.”
”Les
Triaboliques are Ben Mandelson, Lu Edmonds, and Justin Adams—guitar players who
began their popular music careers during the British punk era playing with
bands like Magazine and The Dammed, or in the case of Adams, as sideman for
people like Sinead O'Connor. They are the first to admit that American music of
the twentieth century was the first and major influence on their music, but
unlike others their musical voyage didn't stop there.
Perhaps it's only
fitting that Justin Adams has become well known for his work with the Tuareg
nomad band Tinariwen just as he, Edmonds, and Mandelson have been musical and
literal nomads. Wandering the world from Siberia to North Africa and stops in
between, each of them has absorbed a variety of influences that has broadened
their musical horizons far beyond what we normally find in popular music. It
seems only natural these three wanderers would eventually end up together when
the winds blew them back home to Great Britain—where they all originally hail
from—pooling their talents and experiences to make this recording.
The eleven tracks on
the disc not only represent their multiple influences, but also the huge
variety of instruments that each of them have taken up. Brilliantly, what
they've decided to do is not wed an instrument to its country of origin—i.e.
have an oud solely play Turkish music—but have used them where they fit best
and feel most appropriate irrespective of an individual piece of music's
background. Naturally, some of the results might sound a little startling to
your ears, especially until you get used to the sounds of the various
instruments, but if you can put aside any preconceived notions on how a song is
supposed to sound you're in for some delightful surprises..”
”…For
the uninitiated, the band, helmed by guitarist/vocalist Christian Koch, have a
mission statement that consists of bringing the great era of ’60′s and early
’70′s psychedelic rock into the present. In doing this, they are eager to draw
a line in the sand between their brand of psychedelia and that which comes
under the varying labels of heavy psych/stoner/doom rock. Although no stranger
to lengthy live jams and improvisations of their own (check out their awesome live
version of Can’s Mother Sky on youtube), Vibravoid place a strong emphasis on
song craft, either of their own design, or interpretations of classic psych
covers from the past. Zero Gravity contains three such covers, all previously
released by the band but exceedingly hard to get hold of, plus eight originals
(two of which are CD-only bonus tracks) across almost 60 minutes of music. Most
of the tracks are relatively short, with the album bookended by a couple of
excellent extended pieces.”
READ FULL REVIEW
”In
case you wondered whatever became of the tradition of the blues jam, it was
alive and kicking for a few days in Detroit when raw and rootsy guitar-and-drum
duo Left Lane Cruiser headed into a recording studio with James Leg, the
keyboard player and vocal howler from the Black Diamond Heavies, to lay down a
set of high-octane cover tunes. Producer Jim Diamond sat in on bass and
Harmonica Shah stopped by to blow some harp, and the result is Painkillers, a
loud and rowdy collection of bluesy wailing for the 21st century. Like plenty
of bands on the punk-blues axis, both Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg approach
their music with the ferocity of a starving dog that's been tossed a bloody
steak, and if you're looking for anything approaching subtlety, Painkillers is
not for you. But the musicians on this date all seem to be on the same page --
they want to get loud and boogie like they're expecting to be taken to jail in
the morning, and for a makeshift band, these performances are surprisingly
tight and emphatic. Leg's trademark "Tom Waits with a sore throat"
growl is as over-the top as it's always been, but in this context, it suits the
material just fine, and his swirling organ and thickly distorted electric piano
are rich and satisfying, while the manic slide guitar of Frederick "Joe"
Evans IV and hard-stomping drumming of Brenn Beck are as greasy as a good
burger and just as tasty. Diamond's rock-solid bass work and full-bodied
engineering is just the right icing on this particular cake, as are the primal
harp blasts from Harmonica Shah, and if the set list -- a list of blues and
blues-rock standards ranging from Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to the
Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin -- isn't especially imaginative, these guys
attack like the best sort of bar band, and the version of Bob Seger's
"Come to Poppa" suggests they were embracing the Detroit experience
to the fullest. Painkillers suggests an overdriven, punk-infused variation on
Canned Heat's old formula, and if they're never going to get to cut an album
with John Lee Hooker, at least they have the good sense to see that their
boogie isn't endless, and for 35 minutes, this is a house party worth a visit.”
~ Mark Deming at allmusic.com
Artist: various
Album: Psych Funk 101: 1968-1975 A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum
Released: 2009
Quality: mp3CBR 192
Size: 104 MB
”With a growing interest in -- to use a term very loosely -- "world music" and all its very permutations, heralded in part by the work of Luaka Bop and series like Ethiopiques, it makes sense that the compilation Psych-Funk 101: 1968-1975 A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum was sold on the Stones Throw website. Madlib and brother Oh No have both put out compilations sampling various countries' records (Indian, for the former, and Turkish, Greek, Italian, and Lebanese funk for the latter), and the underground funk scene has certainly gained a strong following in metropolises worldwide. And the compilation, put out by World Psychedelic Funk Classics, for its own part, should help inform the discussion of psychedelic funk (or, as the liner notes point out, the related but unique genre funky psychedelia), as it provides a very interesting and in-depth look at how English and American musical traditions made their way into the rest of the world. Despite its title, however, and informative liner notes, Psych-Funk 101 is not a primer in the genre, as the majority of the artists included are obscure, even in their own countries, and none of the songs have been reissued before. Still, musicians like South Korean guitarist Shin Jung Hyun ("The Man Who Must Leave") and Italian composer Armando Sciascia ("Circuito Chiuso") are both included, along with recognized artists like Ennio Morricone, Mulatu Astatke, and Omar Khorshid, doing work that may be less recognizable (Morricone, for example, as part of the Group, or Il Gruppo di Improvvisione Nuova Consonanza, the experimental composers circle of the '70s, and playing trumpet on the noise-and-effects-driven "The Feed-Back"). There are a couple of unfortunate missteps here -- Staff Carpenborg & the Electric Corona sound exactly like their name: slipshod, and the nearly two-minute introductory tack-on of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" before Metin H Alatli's otherwise satisfying "Mevlana Boyle Dede" is completely pointless, to the point of detraction -- but the compilation is still one of the better ones out there. The tracks are funky and experimental and cool enough to appeal to a music fan looking for new sounds, but obscure enough to teach even a seasoned crate-digger a couple of things.” ~Marisa Brown, allmusic.com
”…Saltash
Bells is Surman's first solo recording since 1995's A Biography of the Rev.
Absalom Dawe, though he's been far from inactive, releasing the quartet-based
Brewster's Rooster (2009) and Rain on the Window (2008)—a sublime duo set with
organist Howard Moody recorded at Ultern Kirke in Oslo, where Surman now
resides with wife/singer Karin Krog—in addition to two non-ECM recordings:
Cuneiforms's marvelous archival find, Flashpoint: NDR Jazz Workshop—April '69
(2011), and the large-ensemble The Rainbow Band Sessions (Losen, 2011).
Credits for Surman's previous one-man efforts
cited them taking place during the course of a month; Saltash Bells, in
contrast, was recorded over just two days in 2009 and one more in 2011. Surman
adds tenor saxophone, and alto and contrabass clarinets to his core arsenal of
soprano and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet and synthesizers...even
harmonica, for the first time, on the epic "Sailing Westwards,"
gently layered so seamlessly with his synth patterns as to feel like a unified
voice.
Loops, synthesizer sequences and multi-tracked
horns suggest preconception, but in Surman's sphere these remain a means of
using improvisation to create further improvisational contexts, whether it's
building foundations or soaring over them, as he does towards the end of
"Sailing Westwards," his soprano responding to the various layers
that combine to shape this hypnotic closer of cinematic proportions.
Saltash
Bells is not all layered constructs, however. The pensive "Glass
Flower" features Surman a capella on bass clarinet, while baritone
saxophone is the sole voice on "Ælfwin." Elsewhere,
"Triachordum" is a trio baritone piece, Surman's improvisational
voice adding the shifting vertical harmony to two horns separated by fifths
throughout, even as he fashions melodies in the moment over the course of
nearly four minutes. Surman's soprano saxophone on "Dark Reflections"
seems to be on a course that orbits around a series of shifting lines more buried
in the mix, while baritone and soprano saxophones evoke both lyricism and
unrelenting pulse on "The Crooked Inn."
Saltash
Bells is an intended reference to Surman's birthplace in Tavistock, a scenic
location on the River Tavy, which runs through West Devon to the English
Channel. Sounds of church bells and seagulls echoing over the landscape are but
two touchstones that imbue the charmingly pastoral Saltash Bells, an album that
confirms you can take the man out of the place but you can't take the place out
of the man.“
John Kelman, allaboutjazz.com
Dresden's
Robert and the Roboters merge a little surf, some traditional European melody
stylings, go-go keys, unusual beats, and creative arranging. While it's
definitely a sidetrip for a surf fan, it is nonetheless an enjoyable music with
fine instros to capture your attention.
”
In their prime, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band successfully mixed together R&B
with the instrumentation of a New Orleans brass band. Featuring Kirk Joseph on
sousaphone playing with the agility of an electric bassist, the group
revitalized the brass band tradition, opening up the repertoire and inspiring
some younger groups to imitate its boldness. Generally featuring five horns
(two trumpets, one trombone, and two saxes) along with the sousaphone, a snare
drummer, and a bass drummer, the DDBB were innovative in their own way, making
fine recordings for Rounder, Columbia, and the George Wein Collection (the
latter released through Concord). Guest artists have included Dr. John, Dizzy
Gillespie, and Danny Barker. the DDBB re-emerged in 1999 with John Medeski as
their producer, and many called the group's Buck Jump release a return to classic
form. The group then returned in 2002 with yet another surprising album,
Medicated Magic. Two years later, the band made its Artemis label debut with
Funeral for a Friend. In 2006, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the DDBB
issued their most ambitious album to date, What's Going On, a wide-ranging
musical tour de force that was a track-for-track remake of Marvin Gaye's
classic 1971 album. In addition to the DDBB, it also featured the talents of
many musicians from the Crescent City. The album was not so much a response to
Hurricane Katrina itself, but to the subsequent treatment of New Orleanians by
the city government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In
2011, the group issued My Feet Can't Fail Me Now, a further extrapolation on
Crescent City traditions wedded to hip-hop, modern R&B, funk, and rock. In
the spring of 2012, DDBB issued the more traditional Twenty Dozen, their debut
offering for Savoy Jazz.”
~ Scott Yanow, allmusic.com
”The
Cubical's gritty, growly swamp blues has already earned some attention in
circles where people place a premium on gritty, growly swamp blues. It really
is quite a striking sound, and certainly if you're a fan of gruff, grumbling
vocals a la Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, and you like your rock'n'roll
primal and pounding, then you will definitely go a bundle on this lot. They're
vaguely in that blues-rock ballpark occupied by fellow Scousers the Coral and
the Zutons, only straighter and less psychedelic, like the original punks on
the legendary Nuggets compilation. Dan Wilson, the son of an army sergeant and
a performer prone to "stalking the stage like a malevolent tramp begging
for the crowd's attention as if asking for change and a spare ciggy"
according to one innocent bystander, has a voice that fits perfectly in this
setting, and its only drawback is its distinctiveness – the low, menacing way
in which he chooses to grumble and roar is so obviously reminiscent of
Waits/Don Van Vliet it can often sound as much like an affectionate homage as a
straight pastiche.”
~ read the full review by Paul Lester, The Guardian
Artist: The Cubical
Album: It Ain’t Human
Released: 2011
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 133 MB
”The Cubical's gritty, growly swamp blues has already earned some attention in circles where people place a premium on gritty, growly swamp blues. It really is quite a striking sound, and certainly if you're a fan of gruff, grumbling vocals a la Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, and you like your rock'n'roll primal and pounding, then you will definitely go a bundle on this lot. They're vaguely in that blues-rock ballpark occupied by fellow Scousers the Coral and the Zutons, only straighter and less psychedelic, like the original punks on the legendary Nuggets compilation. Dan Wilson, the son of an army sergeant and a performer prone to "stalking the stage like a malevolent tramp begging for the crowd's attention as if asking for change and a spare ciggy" according to one innocent bystander, has a voice that fits perfectly in this setting, and its only drawback is its distinctiveness – the low, menacing way in which he chooses to grumble and roar is so obviously reminiscent of Waits/Don Van Vliet it can often sound as much like an affectionate homage as a straight pastiche.” ~ read the full review by Paul Lester, The Guardian
