Glaze of Cathexis - 2012 - Canyons in the Sonic Whirlpools

Movin' on to some more original music from the psychedelic garage.  The goal is to take you on a psychedelic journey through folk-rock, surf music, and straight up rock n' roll.  This set originated from the same sessions that produced I Often Dream of the Apocalypse, and again feature Gonzoriffic filmmaker Andrew Shearer drumming away.  I thought about making it double album length, but I'm more of a fan of shortish, 35-40 minute rock albums, so I split the tracks.  These tracks include all the work I did with my regular collaborator Scott Atkinson.  These are all his lyrics (as well as album artwork), so I'll present you with his strange, 13th Floor Elevators-inspired rant on the music:

Beyond the event horizon... beyond the border of the Unknown and Known... lies the Canyons of the Sonic Whirlpool.  The bustling, dark confines of a Saigon cafe - the mind's images turn into floating waterways of fluid Engroovied Mandalas.  Ceramic pots in a forlorn windowbay alcove above speak of high plains of Midnite Blue. Seizing the present moment in the shimmering light soars the Dream's Vision.  Patterns of creation and decay echo across the ancient tiled floor, motes of dust sparkling... Chromium Lightning blazes like an inspired demigod's trident.  Thoughts wheel in Hurricanes of Disorder, white horses flare on the seas in my mind... Waves of Moonlight shine... All becomes Sunflowers and Rainshowers in the primal gardens... call of the deepest Mekong beckons.  Bright voices of light read from the Akashic records beyond all delusion, the Inner Shaman's Guide to Perception proclaims Don't Stand Down... in Saigon in mossy alleyways and thick, soupy canals amid the flurry of racing Xe Oms, like points of light, we find ourselves bathed in light on the Turbid, Shingle Beach.



Anyway, I'd love to hear your comments, and if you dig the tunes, do share them!

Lighthouse - 1971 - One Fine Morning

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

Well, I've got to admit that the buttons that Lighthouse press are not really the ones that send my spirit soaring.  First off, I'm not really a fan of "horny" rock - y'know, like Chicago or Blood, Sweat, and Tears.  Lighthouse has a very prominent horn section tootling away through much of the album.  They are also notable dabblers in the bar-band-blasting-with-a-blues-growling-white-dude sort of vibe.  There's nothing particularly wrong with what these Canadians were up to if the previous things are a few of your favorites.  Fortunately, there's also a touch of light psych to keep my attention.

So, for that little pinch of psych, check out "Little Kind Words" and "1849."  Still, they float around on poofy clouds of woodwinds and lounge swings that's a little bombastic for my tastes.  The seem to telepathically tune to their fellow Canadians in the Band on "Hats Off (to the Stranger" and Show Me the Way, but with lots of Rock of Ages horns, of course.  The opening tune and "Old Man" come forward with the full-scale jazz rock big band thing, while the closing "Sweet Lullaby" gets a little too big for its britches.

The very trippy album cover pulled me in, and now here I am writing about an album that I don't particularly like.  Still, Lighthouse does a pretty fine job of accomplishing what it set out to do.  If evoking Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears does get your heart all a flutter, then I think that you may be the sonic receiving candidate that this vinyl is waiting for.