31 May 2014

Listen To Dr. Schluss' Glaze Of Cathexis and Damaged Tape

New May reviews found under this post!!

 As I review more albums, I'd love for you to check out my own music and leave some comments to tell me what you think. The Glaze of Cathexis albums are my more psychedelic rock based offerings, while the Damaged Tape recordings are my journeys into electronica. Please have a listen!


Damaged Tape
Damaged Tape - 2014 - Ancient Lights (coming March 2014)
Damaged Tape - 2012 - Conflagration of Nibiru



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21 May 2014

The Doctor's "Cryptic Hullabaloo" Coming to a Digital Store Near You


On May 27, Glaze of Cathexis' "Cryptic Hullabaloo" will be available at digital stores such as itunes, Amazon, and Spotify.  We really want our sounds and visions to spread to the world, and I think readers of this blog will dig the psychedelic sounds.  Please support us by sharing the tunes to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and we'd be honored if you want to ante in by purchasing the album!

Anyway, here's the Amazon link if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Cryptic-Hullabaloo-Glaze-Cathexis/dp/B00K7JW6QK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400639378&sr=8-1&keywords=glaze+of+cathexis

Scott's been madly creating videos like this one (with all original photography) to make this a multimedia experience:



And you can go here for the mother lode:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRyhLQqwns1AOlcDv4mTiA/videos

Have a chat with us on Twitter as well if you're so inclined:

https://twitter.com/Scott_and_Matt
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The Green Tambourine Band - 2014 - Let Yourself Be/Aum

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

Another batch of reconstituted 60's psychedelic pop vibes as they hear them in Scotland.  This basically functions as two EPs, the first of which includes several hazy, jangling poppers, while the flip side is more of a noise-fest freak out.  The former is pretty impressive, coming across like a more chilled out Brian Jonestown Massacre or a more folkish Moles (Richard Davies; Australia; just throwing out a few sign posts for you).  As for the latter half, it definitely has its moments, but I don't think the Green Tambourine Band ever earned its license to jam.  I mean, few rock bands have that license anyway - I guess Can and Yo La Tengo would be on the short list.

Again, the first half of the album really delves into the heart of 60's production sounds and songwriting - with just a touch of outsider oddness from the Scottish highlands
.  "You Are the One I Love," "I'm Free," and "Here She Comes" definitely earn a place on the radio of the cosmos, even if I'm pretty sure all those song titles have been used before.  "Lemon Sorbet" and "Through the Looking Glass" cover the more experimental grounds, with "Looking Glass" as the clear winner with it's twirling backward guitar vibrations.
The "Aum" suite didn't do it for me quite as much, featuring too many sections of plodding groove and wah-wah rhythm guitar - I would suggest that the band focus on their enviable songwriting instead.

So, get into this for the first half.  It spotlights the Green Tambourine Band at their psychedelic, folk-rokin' best is sure to get a few new tune hardwired into your head.

Bang the tambourine here:

http://theactivelistener.bandcamp.com/album/the-green-tambourine-band-let-yourself-be-aum-al017
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20 May 2014

Sky Picnic - 2014 - Paint Me A Dream

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

And so we meet Sky Picnic again. These folks seems to be plugging away pretty convincingly as a modern, paisley-shirt freak out, and is thus worth your full attention.  The songs and the tones go directly for that 1967 London psychedelia vibe, and they hit their marks for the most part.  They're at least attaining that Dukes of Stratosphere "Psonic Sunspot" level of authenticity.  This compilation covers their last two LPs, "Farther in This Fairytale" and "Paint Me A Dream."

While "Seven" and "June Sunshine" stand out as very groovy slices of psychedelic pop, the band seems a little more interested in oddball jamming.  Some of this works out quite well, with the strange, Floyd playin' "Nick's Boogie"-style explorations of "Universal Mind Decoder," and the slightly less percussive "Slumber's Gate."  But some of it does get a little aimless, such as "Freak Out Ethel," which starts off sounding a little too much like the aforementioned Pink Floyd's "Pow R Toc R."  I do dig "Ripple," which channels a touch of Slowdive-style shoegazing in a pretty groovy way.

I guess I'm being a little more critical with these folks since they're mining for the gold vein of psychedelic rock.  I think this band is capable of a straight up psychedelic masterpiece, though.  By tightening up the songwriting a bit, and avoiding the modern hipster twee timbre of some of the vocals, we're likely to get our minds truly blown.  There are certainly some moments on this comp that will make a few listens worth your while.


Travel to the picnic:

http://theactivelistener.bandcamp.com/album/the-active-listener-introduces-sky-picnic-al018
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Chalk Dinosaur - 2014 - Dawn

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

Yeah, that's a vintage Roland Juno 60 on the synthesizer, and that's more or less what you're going to hear on this EP.  Plumbing straight for the heart of 80's synth pop, Chalk Dinosaur's release is sort of a lower-budget M83, although M83 could probably stand to shed some bling from
their sound anyway.  Still, the wonky, meaty core of the analog electronic has made it through the recording process intact.  This is far from the most original sounding music I've come across, but it's pretty good at hitting those pleasure center buttons.

The opening title track is the one that shows the most promise.  It vibrates through a few different moods of a sci-fi Michael Mann film (no, just checked; dude never made a sci-fi for reals), and thus hits the nail on the widescreen synth extravaganza head.  The other three tunes hang on a mid-tempo 1986 synth rocker vibe, although probably a touch informed by some of the more recent indie kids like Death Cab For Cutie.  They chug on past for the most part, but it does nicely recreate a 15-minute FM radio set from the time that John Cusack could still do high-school flicks.

I'm hoping to see the group flesh out their compositional style on the track "Dawn" a little more, but this is still a fun EP to sink your teeth into.  Pick up some Fresca and Bugles and write yourself some bad, depressing poetry alongside the tune.

Visit the Dinosaur:

http://chalkdinosaur.bandcamp.com/
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