Glaze of Cathexis - 2014 - The 2014 EPs

Rounding up some of the recordings from last year to tickle your ear.  Koans of the Paradox is from the Cryptic Hullabaloo album (which is now theoretically free, by the way), and includes a few outtakes from the sessions.  You'll hear the Focus on the Sun tunes, which are some older ones re-recorded into a full-on shoegaze blast.  Bringing us into the future is the teaser EP for the upcoming Trade Wind Navigators album, which I hope will be our Revolver backwards.  Capping everything off is a cover of the Beatles' "Octopus' Garden," which I recorded because my daughter made me put it on repeat twenty times through during a summer car ride.

We hope you dig our psychedelic vibes.  This set is completely free - but please head over to Bandcamp if you're feeling the good vibrations to support our musical vision.  Both lyricist/visual artist/shaman Scott and myself have families and professional obligations cropping up around us, and to keep the Glaze running we've got to prove that it's a real thing, so to speak.

Here's a link for the free set of EPs:
http://www17.zippyshare.com/v/4UUm40Cf/file.html

And to hang out at our Bandcamp, see thee yonder:

https://glazeofcathexis.bandcamp.com/

Crashfaster - 2014 - superchroma

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

When I was a five-year old psychedelic doctor in the early 80's, I already had gotten the impression that the Duran Duran and Eurythmics on the radio were far more entertaining than those damn kids' songs they were playing in the kindergarten.  That's why I've already taken the liberty of brainwashing my daughter into listening to the Beatles 80% of the time (10% for the Beach Boys and my own music, and the other 10% for mommy's booty music).  Anyway, these fluorescent synth grooves, backed by that fluorescent cover sparked up those memories.  This EP features lazer-sharp electronic warbles programmed by the crystalline mind prism (my designation, not theirs), and some anthemic four-on-the-floor club vocals.

The first two tracks along with the finale would've been just the right tune to follow "Borderline" on the radio playing poolside in 1983.  Those are the tunes that got my attention.  "Tonight" and "Hi" take on later influences, with the former sounding a bit like 80's Kraftwerk doing dubstep, and the later sounding vaguely trip-hoppy.  Only "Goodbye" would have left the five-year-old doctor unhappy with its industrial vibe and electronic sandpaper vocals - and it is still my least favorite on here.

I guess synth pop isn't quite psychedelic, but I think it's the start of the line that eventually led me deep into the strange recesses of sound I obsess myself with these day.  Crashfaster is by no means full-on retro, but they leave me with a similar impression that I got from those acts of 30 years past.

Have a visit here:
https://crashfaster.bandcamp.com/album/superchroma

The Red Plastic Buddha - 2014 - Songs For Mara

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

You can aim directly for a modern recreation of the Nuggets sound, but the Red Plastic Buddha gives some heed to the resonance of slightly more modern acts like Luna and Primal Scream.  MAn, I'm a little depressed having to qualify those acts as being modern.  I've gone on some rants about the charm of mid Saturday afternoon college radio, and this is some music that would light your fire in that context.

These fellers do best with a bit of sneer.  "She's An Alien" gets it - "Go" gets it - and "Cosmonaut" hits the foot on the accelerator.  There's a cover of Love's "A House is Not A Motel," but "Trip Inside This House" is not a 13th Floor Elevators cover, and "Girlfriend" is not a Matthew Sweet cover.  I sort of thought they might be.  The ambient instrumentals "Staring Into the Void" and "Jupiter Gas" open up the chamber of spirits, which is fun but not quite the band's real strength.  I'd recommend that they go for their own Xtrmntr.

This really is the darker side of the psych pop liquified sphere.  The proper passion is here and it sounds good - I'm going to take the time to mention to the band, however, that they'd really benefit from the tube-blaster, slightly EQing in the red, saturated tape sound.  Sometimes modern technology is not what we need, but do take the time to explore the band's vibrations over yonder:

https://redplasticbuddha.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-mara

Cirqles - 2014 - Meander

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

Falling headfirst through my submission and instinctively grabbing hold of the things that grab my ear.  Here we've got a meeting of the nexus between dreampop, Meddle-era Pink Floyd, and trip hop.  It's not a bad place to be.  Draw a line from possible electronic future from the U.K. sound of the 90's had brit pop not stormed the land and you may find your way here.  It's sort of like if Radiohead had gone for Kid A somewhere between Pablo Honey and the Bends.  Not as nuanced as what we got, but teeming with softly pulsing vibrations of the strange.

While the opening track suggests a psychedelically bending Renaissance Fair, the tunes settle into a 1987 synth pop groove, with the drum programming stuttering a various frame rates.  What do I dig most?  The sweet spot becomes apparent on the silk road following "Clouds," mirrored with their mercury glistening ossification of "In the Dark."  A groovy time is guaranteed for most.

Stretch out the new romantic tendons of your soul, and greet them with a touch of Thom Yorke despondence.  The sound pans through your headphones - prog rock slipstreamed through digital electricity.  Begin your journey here:

https://cirqles.bandcamp.com/ 

The Gateless Gate - 2014 - Myrrh

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

I get a lot of submissions, but a few artists really do strike my fancy.  I've got my ears open for the Gateless Gate, who attempt to bowstep their way towards transcendence.  This EP goes for a very subdued version of the M83 soundtrack-mode bombast.  I don't dig it quite as much as the Tibetian shadow mask, but it sounds pretty good with it's wafting synthetic clouds.

We've got a very unified bit of music here, with each track melding into its successor.  The pivot is a cover of the Church's Myrrh, which I believe is the first attempt at lyrical incantations by the groop.  It's good, but sometimes the bookends gleam more brightly.  "Nightmare Decent Into Jericho City" set upon us a strange Middle Eastern vibe, blasting its sinuous grooves into an as yet unrevealed Michael Mann flick.  At the end of the sequence, "Their Hollow Laughter, the Pain in Their Eyes" opens up the full-scale full moon L.A. cityscape - sound of the fog rising into a slowly disintegrating core.

I'm a rooter for the Gateless Gate.  Their debut drew my allegiance and I want to hear where they go next.  This EP is but another interesting detour, but I applaud that sort of quest. I think this set is for the initiated, but you'll get a glimpse of pure music shamanism even if you back into this unprepared.  Enter the gate this way:

https://thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com/album/myrrh