Jameson - 1967 - Color Him In

Quality: 3.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

It's been a while since we got our fix of supreme psych/sunshine pop producer Curt Boettcher, but here's one where he serves as pinch hitter. Featured star Jameson is far from the best singer and his songwriting ranges from ok to somewhat embarrassing, but the real star of the show is the psychedelic production gauze slathered over most of the tracks. We get Boettcher's signature background vocal arrangements wafting through the mix, as well as occasional blasts of unidentifible backwards insanity. Even the lesser tracks end up with a production treatment or two well worth hearing.

"Jamie" is a fine opening track, and makes you think that Mr. Jameson may well be worth hearing. You may not think this anymore once you reach the blue-eyed soul caterwauling of "Right By My Side," but the tripped out vocals and fourth dimensional fade-out to the song should still hold your attention. Fortunately, we also come across tracks like the handclap-driven "Windows and Doors" and the truly weird "The New Age." Truthfully, the album does peter out in the second half as the lamer side of AM pop becomes more apparent, and the tweeness of "Candy Colored Dragon" leaves you cringing behind the couch. You'll still find the occasional production tweek to make a note of on your musical scorecard.

If the name 'Curt Boettcher' means nothing to you, by all means seek out the Millennium's "Begin," which also happens to be the very first post at the psychedelic garage. Those of you already indoctrinated will find a few pleasures here, although you'll also have to deal with Jameson's somewhat tuneless singing and half-assed songs. If only Curt kicked him out of the vocal booth then we'd really have something here.

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Jameson - 1967 - Color Him In

Mythos - 1975 - Dreamlab

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

We don't see a whole lot of prog rock here at the psychedelic garage. I must admit that it has more than a little bit to do with my personal bias against prog. I've never really been able to enjoy a Yes or Emerson, Lake and Palmer album. I've had a little more luck with Caravan and King Crimson, but they still don't rank anywhere near my favorites. Yeah, I know that many see psychedelic rock and prog as kissing cousins, but the latter is missing a few of the elements that really make me dig the former. For one, I dig disorientation in my music. A lot of prog rock separates the instruments to a crystaline degree and the focus is often on instrumental prowess. I'm more into the strange blurring of instruments. I'm also a major proponent of drones and grooves, and I find that usually when a prog band stumbles into one of those they change it two seconds later.

Now, Mythos is a krautrock band, but there are certainly some prog-like elements at work here. For me it's a de-evolution in comparison with their first album. They often hit upon some truly awesome passages (and I'd say those bits actually surpass the previous album), but then some of the other parts make me think more of Jethro Tull, and that doesn't impress me as much.

So, let me point you straight to the parts that make me happy. The opening track, "Dedicated to Werner von Braun," is bloody awesome. For me it begs favorable comparisons with Ashra's "New Age of Earth" or "Blackouts." It rests on a nice delayed guitar pulse and produces one of those sonic clouds of blue smoke that always gets me going. If I end up as a rocket scientist when I grow up, I hope someone dedicates a similarly awesome track to me. "Message" fights the good fight for about three minutes, but then turns me of as it opts for a flute groove instead. This happens several times until about four minutes into the title track, when we once again get a few minutes of sonic opium.

I'll recommend this album for the prog fan, but it doesn't really hit the right buttons for me for three quarters of its running time. That last quarter flies into pristine spacey essence, however. If only they focused a bit more on that.

Mythos - 1971 - Mythos

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

In many ways Mythos strikes me as being Ash Ra Tempel-lite or something. I really don't mean that as an insult since the Tempel tends to barter in insane psychedelic squealing. These krautrockers play with a little more restraint, but the music is still very imaginative and the fire does kick up a notch here and there. Mythos tends to let you drift on downstream with them a little more. There's a fine tribal-sounding rhythm section along with some very groovy, if particularly flamboyant, guitar. There's a fair amount of drifting flutes to keep your attention, too. I guess it adds just a touch of more conventional prog rock to the proceedings.

The first couple tracks are more meditative. Really, this album does manage to do an artistic job of upping the intensity until we find a few truly insane noise voids in the two part "Encyclopedia Terra." Stuck in the middle is "Hero's Death," which rides out a pretty reasonable groove for almost ten minutes. It's my least favorite track here, but it's still of fine quality. I'm more partial to the mystic mountain space jam of "Oriental Journey" with its waves of sound, or the aforementioned "Encyclopedia Terra." I think that suite is more like what I wanted to hear from the first Tangerine Dream album (I dig the goofy concept-ridden spoken word at the end as well). Electronic meditation indeed.

While this may not quite have the demon spark that possessed Can or Ash Ra Tempel, Mythos will come a long way in convincing you that sometimes a touch of restraint is worthwhile as well. Most of the key element of the more psychedelic-side of krautrock is front and center here, but it won't necessarily assault your fragile egg-shell mind as much as some of their peers will. I'm happy to give the cover art seven 'groovy points' as well.

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Mythos - 1971 - Mythos

Flower Travellin' Band - 1971 - Satori

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

You're not going to do much better than this for vintage Japanese acid rock. Flower Travellin' Band is a name I've often head thrown around the psychedelic sphere, but I found that their albums often didn't rise up to my expectation. Satori fortunately justifies their reputation for acid rock gurus and leaves some change left over as well. This one gets just the right mix of psychedelia, Black Sabbath-style heavy metal, instrumental prowess, and odd flourishes of more traditional Japanese music. The only bad thing I'm going to call this album out on is the fact that the vocalist has a little trouble with that whole pitch thing. Maybe he was just REALLY wasted. The Japanese shy away from illegal drugs in general, but mushrooms were legal at the time and the country does have some awesome cold medicine. Anyway, the vocals are not enough to do any real damage to the music, and besides, most of this thing is balls-out instrumentals.

The tracks don't really have titles, but are presented as "Satori Parts 1-5." All of them are pretty awesome. Part 1 is a full blown sludgy riff rocker, with the vocals doing their best to hit that metal yelp. Next up is a psychedelic Bo Diddley-beat sporting cut with some great twin guitar leads. Part 3 picks up the speed for a rip-roaring instrumental, while Part 4 finds them working a Chicago blues groove (Part 4 is my least favorite, but some of you will love it). The final bit finds them returning to instrumental heavy metal, with a spaced-out vocal interlude. It also has some stoner metal leads that are trying to play koto parts. What fun!

On Satori, Flower Travellin' Band are fully communing with their muse. Their influences are easily spotted, but they manage to create a pretty singular sound from them. Let this be your musical diplomat from 70's Japan. This is top flight acid rock by any standards.

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Flower Travellin' Band - 1971 - Satori

A Cid Symphony - 1968 - Acid Symphony

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5

A Cid Symphony makes me think of if the Incredible String Band was naught from the British Isles, but instead a shack without electricity in Appalacia. And we'll assume that they had a large supply of the substance suggested in their name. The music is definitely back country folk, but with a lysergic air, hippy philosophy, and a rambling nature. I doubt anyone will enjoy every track here, but you will likely find a few here you enjoy on this sprawling triple album.

I would suggest skipping the yodeling and silence of the first two tracks, and go straight for Loudusphone 3, which is a kind of dulcimer drone. It entertaining blurs some kind of line between American and Indian (of the India variety) folk. Side two retains this sort of minimalist folk vibe and things don't really change much until we're presented with the vocals on Golden Gate Number 2, which works well as hippy folk. The vocals become a bit more prominent on the Noismakers section of the album, which also finds a little room for found sound. The final section of the album has plenty of half-assed beat-poetry ramblings (BS indeed), but "Scrambled Psychedelic BS 1"manages a bit of interesting freak-folk.

I'll be honest, this is far from my ideal of psychedelia. I'd say that these guys' aim is clear, but dulicmers and folk blues may not be the best path to producing a psychedelic opus. I do enjoy some of the more droning tracks, but I must admit that my favorite thing about this album is the cover art. Yet for those obsessed with the musical world of the 60's, this is a valuable time capsule, and truly a product of the era (says the fellow born in 1979).

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A Cid Symphony - 1968 - A Cid Symphony

Yatha Sidhra - 1974 - A Meditation Mass

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Here we have another one of those albums that you'll find pretty entertaining if you're already a fan of the genre (the Popol Vuh side of krautrock in this case), but it probably won't enter your top 20 list for said genre. This particular collection is a bit rear-loaded, with the prime cuts appearing on side two. If you're up for meditation, I'd probably recommend something else, but the music included here should still waft around nicely with your cheap incense.

These guys were too awesome for track names, so we're left with parts 1-4. "Part 1" loses eight points for including too much proto-new age flute, while "Part 2" is an ill advised attempt at lounge jazz. I suppose Quentin Tarentino could probably find some redemptive use for the latter, but the three minutes could have been better used on this album. "Part 3" starts to find a better sonic bearing as Yatha Sidra goes for more of a freak-out, complete with some reasonable acid rock guitar leads. The last part makes me think of a more 70's informed version of the early Pink Floyd track, "Nick's Boogie."

There's certainly enough here to temporarily fill that teutonic void in your heart. I wouldn't presume to put this in the same league as the Cosmic Jokers or the aforementioned Popol Vuh, though. This is more like the local leagues where they have the guy in a strange mascot suit come out at halftime and flail around.

The Electronic Hole - 1970 - The Electronic Hole

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.75 out of 5

The Electronic Hole exists in a strange netherworld between Cosmic Michael-style endearing ineptitude and strangely effective, stuttering, trance-inducing folk-rock sounds. The main problem, or charm if you want to see it that way, is that the Electronic Hole's ambition tends to outstrip their playing abilities. Drums stumble, vocals waver off key, and the rhythm guitar tends to get a little distracted. On the more conventional songs, this doesn't work out very well. Fortunately, there are some longer, droning tracks which make for a far groovier listen.

My view on this album is that the songs under five minutes are pretty disposable, but the ones longer than that are worth a listen. "The Golden Hour Part IV" is like a distilled, sloppier "Venus in Furs" with a garage-band plunking bassline driving it along, while "Love Will Find A Way Part II" has a fuzzed-out minimalism that strikes me as a predecessor to the signature Spacemen 3 sound. "Love Will Find A Way Part III" is one of those raga rockers that tend to shoot straight for the sweet spot in my ear. Meanwhile, tracks like the opening "The Golden Hour Part I" test my patience a bit as we hear the band attempt a sunburst West Coast rock sound, yet the band can't play their instruments very well and their ability to stay in time with each other is even worse.

Although harbouring some serious flaws, the Electronic Hole's long player has at least half of a pretty hep album for you psychedelic junkies. Hey, that's all Love's "Da Capo" can lay claim to as well. Anyway, you can start the dirty jokes about the band's name... now.

Bobby Beausoleil and the Freedom Orchestra - Lucifer Rising

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.75 out of 5

Let's just get it out of the way that there is some serious bad blood involved with this album. Bobby Beausoleil was a member of the Manson family (and almost a member of the band Love) and he has spent the last few decades behind bars. In fact, this album was recorded by a group of inmates. I'm going to refrain from focusing on the morality issues surrounding Beausoleil, and instead accept the fact that I really like this album. For me this music is the perfect archetype of the kind of west coast psychedelic music to fill a late-night bohemian club or to score wildly avant-garde films. Of course much of the music here adorned Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising.

Beausoleil was promised the soundtrack work for Lucifer Rising back in the 60's, but Anger never completed the film until the early 80's. By that time Beausoleil had been incarcerated for several years and had no lack of notoriety. Yet, Anger stayed true to his promise (along with the fact that Jimmy Page was unavailable) and this music more than justifies that decision.

The first disc of this reissue is pretty much a sonic rendering of the film. This is very mystical music with majestic organs and plaintive horns wafting through the intentionally cloudy mix. This being a soundtrack, themes are repeated through the six movements and the whole thing is constructed in a classical manner despite the fact that the sounds are clawing towards psychedelic rock. While not a pristine recording, the production is very well done and the playing is generally pretty top notch. It's far better than its prison roots would suggest.

As good as the soundtrack work is, I have a affinity for the bonus tracks on disc two. I imagine that these tracks are simply the result of the warden having given the musicians more time to record. The sound gets murkier, and the disciplined sound of the proper soundtrack gives way to far more wild psychedelia. "Punjab's Barber" sounds like it may have been an attempt at a different approach to the soundtrack while "Flash Gordon" is a full-fledged West Coast acid-rock freak out. The extended tracks skirt free jazz/Sun Ra territory with "The Magick Powerhouse of Oz," and oscillate between acid rock jamming and organ ambience on "The Freedom Orchestra."

With the Manson family connections and the strong occult leanings, I can see where many people would be put off by these recordings. If you're able to get past that, you'll find some exceptional psychedelic music included in this collection.

And I'd be nothing but a tease if I didn't get to the film as well. Kenneth Anger is one of the major avant-garde filmmakers in this country, and I'd have to say that this is probably my favorite of his films. It has some disturbing imagery along with Anger's typical homoerotic subtexts, but you'll also note that many of his innovations have also been adopted by more mainstream filmmakers. Viewing this film will most certainly highlight the more occult aspects of the music.

Walter Wegmuller - 1973 - Tarot

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

So this is where those low German grades in my middle and high school classes come back to haunt me. Walter Wegmuller was a Swiss mystic who stumbled into recording with the best psychedelic musicians in Germany, the core of which were the same fellows who made up the Cosmic Jokers. I must admit that I can't fully appreciate Wegmuller's contribution as the language barrier is firmly in place. That said, I do think his presence works out better than the similarly structured Sergius Golowin album. Wegmuller's German-language passages are typically restrained (although often heavily echoed) and the focus of the album often shifts to the Jokers. Musically, this is a krautrock epic version of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. I'd say that practically every facet of that genre circa 1973 is represented here, and they probably anticipated a few sounds as well. As a side note, I'm pretty sure that the titles reference various tarot cards, and I'd also be willing to infer that Wegmuller's spoken bits refer to those cards. Those of you that understand German will probably be able to wrap your brain around this album's concept in a way that the rest of us cannot. If anyone wants to post a few translations in the comments, I'd love to see them.

Making your way through this double album does require some effort, but you're sure to find several things that you enjoy here. For me the standout tracks are the deep space ones. After a questionable introductory track, "Der Magier' mainlines the listener directly into a magisterial nebula, Wegmuller's voice echoing through the cosmos, propelled by Manuel Gottschings echoing guitars and Klaus Schultze's analog synth madness. "Der Wagen" builds upon tribal-like rhythms, which is never a bad idea if you're looking for a rave up, which the musicians manage here with an intensity surely rivaling the Yardbirds - and with far more squealing electronic noises. Tracks like "Das Gluckstrand" and "Der Massigkeit" nicely channel early Tangerine Dream, but with more acid rock guitar and odd spoken word thrown in. While I wouldn't call it bad, I'm less partial to the more conventional rock blast of "Der Herrscher," the Hosianna Mantra vibe of "Der Hohepriester," and especially the slighly out of tune folk ramblings of "Der Teufel." Part of the charm of the album, however, is that these may very well turn out to be your favorite tracks as they tend to hit their musical targets, even if it's not one that I'd personally like to hear.

Although the presence of the star attraction is a bit of an oddity, Tarot pretty much serves as a primer for the prime years of krautrock. While this probably isn't going to overcome the double album curse for most people, you will find at least an album's worth of prime krautrock if you take the time to look for it. Once you've done that, feel free to allow the quality and trip-o-meters to notch all the way up to five.

The Cosmic Jokers - 1974 - Sci-Fi Party

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

This was pretty much of a barrel-scraping release for the Cosmic Jokers, which is somewhat understandable when you factor in that the band was pissed off at the fellow releasing these slabs of vinyl. Sci-Fi Party is really in some strange netherworld between a label compilation and what we would now refer to as a remix album. There are bit off cutting room floor sounds spliced in, and bits and pieces of previous Cosmic Joker albums, Ash Ra Tempel albums, Wallenstein albums, and even the Cosmic Joker adorned Walter Wegmuller album (that you will see here at the garage shortly), all resequenced. That pretty much means that there is not much to review here as I've probably done it elsewhere already. I will say that I really dig it and tend to put this on about as much as the 'proper' albums (I guess they remain ethically improper). I really, really like the cover art as well. It makes me think of something someone would have in hand in the City of the Domes from Logan's Run. In fact, this album would probably play well in the sex party room from that film (but not the sex party room from the recently-released Caprica).

The Cosmic Jokers - 1974 - Galactic Supermarket

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

The endearingly disreputable Kosmiche Records producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser dug deeper into his bag of ill-gotten recordings for another wild ride through spaced-out psychedelia. Our intrepid explorers from Ash Ra Tempel and Wallenstein are once again here as your tour guides, along with Kaiser and guitarist Manuel Gottsching's girlfriends spouting of reverbed verbal oddities. This time out, the energy level is much higher with the rhythm section plowing through most of the album, and if I dare say so, these Germans managed some pretty funky moments here. Maybe that's why this was originally released without the Cosmic Joker's name attached.

There are again side-long expanses of music, titled "Kinder des Alles" and "Galactic Supermarket" here, but they legitimately subdivide into about three tracks each. I guess once you've infuriated your musicians, you have trouble getting track titles out of them. Only the second part of "Kinder des Alles" really scrapes the interstellar aether, but the grooves here are uniformally first-rate and there are plenty of deranged noises riding on top of them. It's best to absorb this one all at once, but keep an ear out for the phenomenal drum work in the second section of "Galactic Supermarket." In fact, that second side probably rates a few hairs over the first in my book.

Although far from a copy of the first album, Galactic Supermarket also deserves a place in the pantheon of krautrock. This is a much more rocking affair, and I'd say that especially on this one the 'supergroup' aspect coalesces more or less completely. In fact, I can't think of any other 'supergroups' that I prefer than the Cosmic Jokers. Too bad that the joke turned out to be played on the band itself.

The Cosmic Jokers - 1973 (or '74) - The Cosmic Jokers

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.75 out of 5

The Cosmic Jokers are a sham, like Milli Vanilli. Kosmiche records guru, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser, devised a fiendish plan to get in some krautrock superstars from Ash Ra Tempel and Wallenstein into a studio stocked with hallucinogens and a tape recorder for a nominal fee. Several months later the recordings started appearing on record shelves under the monkier "The Cosmic Jokers" without the musicians' knowledge. Apparently Klaus Schultze (synthesizing here) still holds a grudge about it. So, morally this band is the butt of an unfortunate scam. For better or for worse, this is also one of my favorite krautrock bands.

I have to admit that I'm not particularly familiar with Wallenstein, but the early Ash Ra Tempel fingerprints are all over this recording. I dig it more than Schwingungen, and it's certainly within spitting distance of Ash Ra's eponymous debut and Seven Up. Like those recordings, The album is basically divided into two side-long jams, here titled "Galactic Joke" and "Cosmic Joy."
This is the deep-space jamming side of krautrock, with guitarist Manuel Gottsching in particular turning in some of his best work. "Galactic Joke" works up a nice head of steam as Wallenstein's rhythm section works into some serious groove as Schultze and Gottsching plow into phased-out weirdness. "Cosmic Joy" is a little more chilled out, featuring far less percussion, but its cavernous plumes of sound may guide you through a few moments of zen.

One thing that the Cosmic Jokers has over all other krautrock is their complete lack of pretentiousness. In fact, that is very, very rare for any psychedelic jam. These are just a few wasted guys getting used in a studio. Their collective chops, however, are top flight and they manage to create some great music. In fact, for those of you unfamiliar with the strange side of krautrock, this is probably as good a boarding point as you'll find. Those of you already in the 'circle of trust' must hear this.

Michael Flower - 2005 - Return to Knowing Nothing (Phase Two)

Quality: 4.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Now here's what I was looking for with that Sitaar Tah! album. Michael Flower is also very interested in trance inducting sound, but his approach is very much rooted in modern minimalism along with those concepts that have carried on from eastern drones. This album is rife with experiments and most of them work out very well. The sound is a little ragged, but very charming. This is music that you'd expect to hear at 2am in the hippest of clubs.

While the emphasis is certainly on droning sounds, there is quite a bit of variety here. Bookending the album we find "FFR #1," which recalls 60's jazz weirdos like Pharaoh Sanders (although with less sax insanity and with more cosmic drone), and "Guitar Solo," which is like the more entertaining moments of your tripped-out buddies jamming in a garage. In between we find the chill drone of "ZAP!...That's Witchcraft," which must be near the top of my favorite song titles. "Antlers and Whiskers" mixes blaring horns with another good Terry Riley impression, while a touch of electronics find its way into "Twelve Tone Down" and "FFR 28 08 05."

This is a fun take on minimalism with a strong, grungy, urban twist. My father and I went to see the Japanese avant-metal band Boris a few months ago, after which he suggested that the band's height of guitar noise was like the sonic equivalent of blue smoke. I'm willing to attach a similar signifier to this album.

Sitaar Tah - 2007 - Tah

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

Sitaar Tah! is a Japanese ensemble of about 30 people focusing primarily on the, uh, sitar. The music itself is very cool with layers of sitars floating on top of electronics, organ, and I think some acoustic percussion. Obviously, the music owes quite a bit to Indian music, but there are plenty of modern sensibilities at work and the occasional strain of Japanese folk sounds (sitars and kotos are not that far off from each other). If you haven't caught on yet, I have a soft spot for sitar sounds, so this album got one foot in the door without even trying. It does live up to its promise in great part, but I do have one bone to pick concerning the production. My philosophy is that trance-inducing music works best with the ambiance of a secluded, ancient mountain temple, incense wafting through the air. Tah!!!, however, too often has more of a sterile studio sound. It makes me think of some of Bela Fleck's recordings production-wise, with all the instruments clearly separated and clearly defined. I suppose it works fine for Fleck's jazzy banjo aesthetic, but I do wish this album produced a touch more haze.

The record divides up pretty well into two camps - the first five tracks and the last one. That last one, entitled "Solo," is my favorite. It scraps percussion and actually produces some of the drifting production sounds that I enjoy. While there is a pad of sitar billowing out into the cosmos, I believe that some of the actual solo is performed on the koto. Maybe. The first five tracks are more of an electronic amalgam that hits and misses in about equal qualities. "In Sight" is a fine lead off track to acclimatize the listener to the ensemble's M.O. I also dig "Foyer" quite well; especially when freaky Terry Riley-esque sequenced organ tones begin invading the track in its second half. The three tracks in the middle are far from bad, but they do skirt close to the lamer side of electronica (like the drums in "Peering Into MNDR") and/or new age (like "Into Yaman Coir") a little more often than I'd like. Usually a crazed tabla appears just in time to course correct the music.

There is quite a lot going for the sounds of Sitaar Tah!(.) It's pretty hard to go wrong with a wall of sitars in my book, although there are a few annoying characteristics that I hope the group hashes out on other recordings. This is a wonderful album to provide droning weirdness to your day.

The Best Band Ever?