Aural Innovations — February 2013, Part 1

Troldmand — Live at Loppen

(Space Rock Productions 2012)

Albert Pollard

This CD was recorded live at Loppen, Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark 2011. It has four tracks, all of which are totally instrumental, lasting around 40 minutes.

From the very first note of the first track, Et Samfund Under Jorden, I get an expectation of what is to follow. I hear, as the song progresses, a strong Amon Düül II style unfolding into an improvised disjointed mayhem, which just so happens to be my kind of madness.

I hear a lot of strangeness coming from the synthesizers and the guitars alike, which keeps me interested throughout, and I find that the further into the essence of the song we go, the more Amon Düül II it gets, which nicely demonstrates what the band are about from the off, and by the end of the track I am keen to hear more.

Track two, Det Borende X, is a fourteen-minute journey through the bowels of space, and from a listener's point of view I feel that this is my favourite track of the CD, very spacey yet very earthy.

As we begin, I hear very subtle traces of Pink Floyd coming from the guitars, very much in the Echoes vein throughout, yet from these humble sounds, when the effected sustained bass guitar drones enter, we really begin to build minute by minute into a very nice trippy piece of music indeed. A one that is raw in the Igra Staklini Perli way, just as much in your face as Samsara Blues Experiment's Long Distance Trip, and full of soul and passion as Pink Floyd were at the heights of the Pompeii era.

Track three, Atomrig, is a stoner styled mania, seared with Hawkwind's Space Ritual era synthesizer bubbles that remain almost constant for the majority of the 4 minutes onslaught, until we abruptly halt and slowly enter into a true Hawkwind Space Ritual era piece, styled on the likes of 7 by 7 and Upside Down, etc., and this takes us through the next 4 minutes to the end. Very soulful Hawkwind sounding.

Track four, Rockford, Illinois, likewise takes the Hawkwind feel, taking the basics of a would be Brainstorm, as well as a number of other 70's rock style riffs, and melding them all into one 9 minute space extravaganza, very much again in the Space Ritual era Hawkwind sound.

All tracks comprise of guitars, bass, drums, and manic synthesizers, which are an obvious must. All tracks are very power driven and earthy. All the instrumentation is well constructed and executed. The sound is good for a live gig, and really it is an experience to behold.

For more information you can visit the Troldmand Bandcamp site.

Cyber Zen Sound Engine — Cooperation

(self-released 2011, CZ063890)

Albert Pollard

Cooperation is the 4th album to date by Cyber Zen Sound Engine, and not having heard any of their other albums, I will jump straight in and be as honest as I can be.

The album has 16 instrumental pieces, all of which last under 5 minutes, and all flow in a style that plays more with piano and clean guitar reverberated spaces than it does with the freak out synthesizer soundscapes that so often frequent my reviews.

The music visualises a middle of the road melancholia. The clean guitars and the hollow drones haunt the ears with soft emotion. The subtle sound canvases foretell a place of neither darkness nor light, aligning rather with the bland grey matter, the place in between that conforms to the laws, instead of stretching the limits of the imagination. Therefore I feel that the tracks come and go; too short to express fully what they so desire to tell.

Each piece of music seems to stand alone. Glimpses of subtle Pink Floyd can be heard amongst the guitar pieces, as well as within the piano conjurations. Other pieces break the tempo and vary the mood by use of ethnic percussive elements that become the main rhythmical structure to the compositions when introduced, whereas the Pink Floyd moments were more prominently organic in organ/guitar/piano, void of all such percussion, and also void of the former ethnic flavour, which was nice!

I mention the word hollow in respect to the sounds used, they are too thin for me, as the word is in such realms, and this I find is my main concern. It is not bad musically at all, and I do not state it as such; I just find that, when doing such works as these, a good fat earthy synthesizer is more to my association, and an in depth exploration of one track may take 20 minutes to fully unfold... because as a listener I thrive to find affinity with the soul of the music, the earthy based hypnotism that engulfs the void of mind, projecting, with or without aid of substance, the sub-conscious to the nether regions, of which I am more akin... but it is not to be sadly, and this grieves my heart full sore.

It's all just a touch too nice for me...

Tekniset — Technical Problems

(Freak Dance Records 2011)

Albert Pollard

Imagine if you will, a world where all life forms bow before The GREAT RAVING ALTAR OF TECHNO. Where the eternal holy thud thud thud thud thud thud thud ascends all matter frequentially towards that pinnacle of ecstasy some call God.

In that place, the bass lines stimulate the etheric spinal fluid, aligning each energy vortex in sequential succession until the TECHNO CHAKRIC CROWN IS ADORNED. And thus, HEAVEN is contained within... from which the two-fold manifestation of substance & spirit is symbolised through the dualistic DRUM & BASS, that which resonates with a pulse value of 140 BPM, or there about, depending on how deep the devotion is.

AS ABOVE SO BELOW...

Religiously, before this altar, E's, wiz, and LSD, are offered in appeasement of TECHNOGRAMMATON, the TECHCO GOD, who commands that all music foreign to Techno be manipulated with the eternal holy thud, and be born-again as the Techno floor fillers of the future, for those who still chose to exist in the 1990's.

Imagine once more, TV theme tunes TECHNOED UP... Classical music TECHNOED UP... Everything TECHNOED UP... disco, funk, classical, pop, folk, and everything in between TECHNOED UP... This is Techno heaven for the insane...

F*** this s***… IT'S TOO F***ING BANGING… It's done well mind you.

Spectral Haze — Demo

(2012, digital downlolad)

Alan Bragg

Spectral Haze hail from Oslo, Norway, and have four members. This band appears to be a supergroup of sorts, with members previously doing stints in Purple Hill Witch, High Priest Of Saturn and Resonaut. A cursory glance at their Facebook page shows images of blissed out guys wielding Gibson guitars and Rickenbacker basses in time honoured tradition, yet the band touch on some distinctly new musical ideas throughout their work here.

Track one, Forging an Astral Void, starts out with an echoed guitar riff with a twanging country edge. To me this is very reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic cowboy music of Fields of the Nephilim, and this eerie and shamanistic atmosphere is heightened further by the wolfman yelling of the vocalist. Individual lyrics are entirely lost, with the vocals heavily saturated in reverb and mixed to the back of the music. This allows the twin guitars to work closely, and at times the track freewheels with the grace of Levitation-era Hawkind, complete with soaring lead guitar work and pummelling bass lines.

Track two, Kali Magick, starts with a low key rhythm guitar part which is joined by bass and drums. The bass tone here is perfect, matching closely that of Geezer Butler's early work in both grind and warmth. Tremolo-heavy guitar work, sometimes exploring Klezmer intervals and note clusters but often featuring the same Morricone twang as the first track, dominates here. The lupine vocals also make a reappearance as this track slowly stomps along, pausing at regular intervals for tom-heavy drum work. The track picks up in tempo half way through, and the band run through riffs reminiscent of Monster Magnet or Orange Goblin in their tonality; blues runs dominate here. The lower-tempo tremolo passages of the intro are revisited before the track finishes.

Track three, Kashf (Gaining Familiarity with Things Unseen Behind the Veils), follows. What a name! This track is a lower-tempo doom lope with the same Yiddish guitar lines of the first track. The riffs are again nicely elliptical, building a groove from repetition, with tight work from the rhythm section allowing the lead guitar to again cut loose. This track again breaks into a more frantic tempo, becoming almost as messy and undisciplined as Phallus Dei era Amon Düül II jamming, with those wolf cries again apparent in the back ground.

Track four, Tribe of the Cosmic Crow Giant, has more of a direct spacerock overtone than the previous tracks. The track is full on from the beginning, with the vocals again reduced to an ambient texture draped over the charging rhythm section. Like the first track, the drummer occasionally lapses into a surf-rock style back beat which works oddly well for such heavy music. The track has the same insistent beat as Deep Purple's Highway Star, only without any trace of bloated neo-classical soloing. Instead those Yiddish guitar phrases are again soloed. Perhaps the guitarist is attempting to mimic 'Eastern' music in the same spiritual vein as Al Cisneros's Tibetan-Chant-for-Rickenbacker post-Sleep Om project. Either way it is nice to hear a guitarist move out from the simple blues progressions that can otherwise keep this style of music firmly tethered to a pub rock vibe at times.

Overall I enjoyed this demo. The chiming guitar parts, reminiscent of Spaghetti Western soundtracks, gives the music a subtly different doom flavour that helps the band stick out from competition. As a demo it sounds really well recorded, though the first two tracks were preluded by gaps of silence on my copy, which initially gave me cause for concern. The vocals are buried in the mix, so any hope of interpreting the lyrics is completely lost. However, in their own way, the vocals help add to the overall mystical and esoteric vibe of the music, taking it beyond the usual territory of blues jamming and transporting it further out into the cosmos.

For more information you can visit the Spectral Haze Bandcamp site.

Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere — Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere

(Discus Music 2012, DISCUS 40 CD)

Jeff Fitzgerald

"It is the job of the progressive artist to propose an alternative reality, and preferably one in which all notions of common sense have been completely eradicated. This collection is our proposal." So states the opening lines of the promo sheet that came with this double CD. This massive project (around 150 minutes of music) is the work of long-time associates Martin Archer (organ, electric piano, laptop, saxophones and bass clarinet) and Chris Bywater (organ, synthesizers, laptop, acoustic and electronic percussion and electric violin), with the help of Steve Dinsdale (drums, percussion and synthesizer), Walt Shaw (percussion and electronics) and Terry Todd (bass guitar). That's just the core band. Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere earns the "Orchestra" part of their name by rounding out their sound with a string quartet and wind and voice ensembles. Up to some 30 musicians appear on the album.

So how is the album? The band make references to Terry Riley and Alice Coltrane in their promo sheet, and those are two perfect touchstones in beginning to describe this music. You can especially hear this on, for example, the first two cuts on the album, Scene From Above Parts 1 and 2 (clocking in at 5 and 15 minutes respectively) as the band blends lush but very moody orchestral arrangements and jazzy, free explorations in the vein of Alice Coltrane's World Galaxy album with minimalist electronic patterns similar to Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air.

But that's only where things start as the band stretches out and explores a lot of territory over the course of two discs. The Opposition Effect, with its pounding martial rhythms, gothic organ, John Coltrane-esque saxophone and Carl Orff like choral interjections would not be out of place on, say, Magma's Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh album, and When Thin Clouds Scud Across a Bright Moon , with its hypnotic rhythms and circular choirs, could almost be a lost Phillip Glass composition. Space fans have something to enjoy here too, with tracks like the 14-minute long Anti-Crepuscular Rays, sounding like very early Tangerine Dream falling in league with David Bedford's Stars End.

If I'm making it sound like Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere is all over the place and can't decide what they want to sound like, I don't mean it that way. There is a very homogenous quality to the music. The lack of guitars, along with the use of lengthy organ chords and mysterious orchestral arrangements tie it all together. The thing that's really interesting about it all is that it is neither rock music, nor classical, nor jazz, yet comprises elements of all three, blending them into a unique, but really kind of undefinable sound.

The explorations continue on the second disc, expanding outwards like the universe itself, into deep space ambience, experimental randomness and throbbing electronica. Sometimes, as on the track Their Dark Presence Stretches Through the Void, the music can get quite harrowing, suggesting a sense of almost Lovecraftian cosmic horror; or it can be vaguely unsettling, like the otherworldly woodland evoked in Rainforest Tension, but at other times it's quite playful, as on The Umbral Length of Shadows, with its pulsing electronic signature, calliope-like arrangements and whooping Atom Heart Mother-esque choirs. One thing it never is, is boring. The band is careful to let each piece constantly evolve. Even when it's tied together with a repetitive rhythm, the sounds swirling around it progress and allow the rhythm itself to seemingly transform with them.

If you're a fan of some of the above mentioned artists like Alice Coltrane, Magma, Phillip Glass, Terry Riley, Tangerine Dream and David Bedford, you must get this album. Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere is a cosmic feast for the ears and mind, and will take you to places unknown, from the depths of the human soul to the farthest, darkest reaches of the universe. Highly recommended!

For more info, visit the Discus Music website and the Discus Music Bandcamp site.

Guilty As Sin — Future History

(G.A.S. Productions, 2012)

Pat Albertson

US band Guilty As Sin could best be described as progressive death metal, and death metal itself has been described in author Nigel Latta's "Politically Incorrect Guide To Teenagers" book as being like a wall of distortion and screaming: "If you took Beethoven, covered him in metal bolts, fed him into a jet engine, and then revved the whole thing up, you would get some idea of how death metal sounds!" Like it or hate it, that is probably a fairly accurate description of that musical genure, and many of the tracks on Future History do indeed bring to mind Beethoven, bolts and jet engines to mind. However, as was the case with 2011's Psychotronic, Guilty As Sin have chosen to temper their distortion and screams with a dash of progressive rock, which may be appreciated by Aural Innovations readers who make it past the first few tracks.

Guilty mainstays Zak Ovian (drums), Dan Madam (guitars) and Ryan Dilbarian (bass), have added lead vocalist (and author of the distorted screams) Steve Milionis into their pyrotechnic mix, which has tended to enhance their death metal aspirations more than their progressive side. Statement of intent album-opener One Way Ticket To Oblivion holds back to a mere breakneck speed, but I hate Hipsters ("I hate hipsters, and I hate you!") and R.S.D.T.Y. (with its Ramones-style "1234" countdown) are so short and sharp that they barely register, taking less than two minutes each to put you through their musical meat grinder.

Ensnared by Stygian Tentacles stretches out a little, with a nice "eastern" guitar solo reminiscent of Rainbow's Stargazer played at 45rpm. Magical Papyri Of The Tetragrammaton and Midnight Hammer are the two most progressive tracks, the former a nine-minute epic with spoken-word vocals, the latter a seven-minute instrumental workout which gives Ryan Dilbarian a rare chance to shine (bass solos being none too common in death metal), and containing time-changes aplenty; as with the best tracks on Psychotronic, you could almost be listening to Dream Theatre on steroids or Rush at their heaviest.

Death From Alpha Centauri contains more death than it does Alpha Centauri, with a harsh Throbbing Gristle noise collage acting as a coda. Most baffling of all is the closing title track, featuring muted trumpet and trombone over programmed beats and scarcely a guitar or scream in hearing range.

When it comes down to it, only card-carrying death metallers are likely to find real enjoyment (an oxymoron?) in Guilty As Sin's visions of future history. However, those that do may be pleasantly surprised at how the band have managed to avoid sticking resolutely to that one-dimensional formula.

The Re-Stoned — Plasma

(R.A.I.G. 2012, CD / Nasoni Records 2013, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

Russian psychedelic and spaced out stoner rockers The Re-Stoned are back with their third album - Plasma. The album opens with the 11 minute Faces Of Earth, starting off with a slow and melodic psychedelic stoner groove and spaced out effects. Then near the 3 minute mark the band launch into a heavy stoned jam, with shimmering psych guitar licks and the space effects sweeping behind like a cosmic wind blowing through.

Grease is next and picks up the pace considerably, being a hot and heavy stoner rock 'n roll tune. It's got a 70s hard rock feel, but adds a contemporary stoner edge, a combination I like a lot. And they kick it up a notch by embellishing the music with rapid fire alien synth effects. A monster rockin' tune! The appropriately titled Acoustic takes The Re-Stoned into very a interesting different direction. It begins as an acoustic guitar and simple percussion combo, then adds trippy keyboards and effects, aided by Arkady Fedotov from Vespero on synths. I love the combination of acoustic music and spaced out effects, making this is pleasantly floating experience.

But this is just a side trip as The Re-Stoned follow Acoustic with the heavy tripped out psychedelic rocking Moon Dust, another kick-ass rocker with ripping liquid psych guitar licks against a stoned rocking groove. But the band ease up after a few minutes, transitioning to a cosmic soundscape exploration that carries the song to the end. The Clay God is next and has a more classic stoner rock feel, but at the same time not being sludgy, having that mixture of modern stoner and 70s hard rock that I think these guys do so well. And sure enough, after a couple minutes the band launch into a hard rocking segment that includes the trademark Re-Stoned synth enhancements which give it all a spaced out edge. Lots happening on this space, psych, stoner, hard rock trip!

The album closes with Alpha Rhythm, the longest track of the set at over 11 minutes. It begins with slowly soloing melodic guitars and synth effects, and just gradually develops from there. This track is all about mood and atmosphere and there's a subtle freakiness to it all that keeps things interesting throughout.

BUT... that's not all. The usually all instrumental Re-Stoned include two cover songs, pulling in singer Veronika Martynova to handle the vocals. These guys surprised me when they cropped up on the recently released Fruits de Mer Records compilation of contemporary bands covering songs by the 60s band The Hollies and did a damn fine job of covering that band's Then The Heartaches Begin and really making it their own. And they do the same with Jefferson Airplane's Today, taking the Airplane's 3 minute song and stretching it out to 7 minutes. The band do a good job of retaining the spirit of the original, while taking it into the expected stoned and spaced out direction. Jefferson Airplane never sounded like this before.

The other cover is Pink Floyd's Julia Dream. This is, at the core, very similar to the original, but the liquid psych guitars and flittering synth effects really take the music elsewhere. Very cool.

I must say this is hands down the best Re-Stoned album yet. These guys are really growing and progressing nicely. I'm especially impressed with the variety of music as the band explore acoustic and atmospheric realms and even include creatively interpreted covers.

Note that the R.A.I.G. label (Russian Association of Independent Genres) released the CD version and Nasoni Records released the vinyl LP, and that the LP edition consists of 6 tracks instead of 8, having excluded the songs Grease and Acoustic. Note also that LP edition has different art than the CD image shown.

For more info, visit the R.A.I.G. Bandcamp site and the Nasoni Records website. Or stream and download from the Re-Stoned Bandcamp site.

The Pancakes — Space Cow

(Kerntonschall Klanglabor 2005, CAKE 007, CD)

Jerry Kranitz

Formed by brother and sister team Rainer and Daniela Neeff, The Pancakes are a German trio who play psychedelic garage-rock, surf-rock, spaced out instrumental excursions, and more. Their first two albums - Brainshaker and Ugga Dtschagga - were reviewed in Aural Innovations #19, as well as a few Rainer and Daniela solo albums in subsequent issues. Keep reading for an overview of the rest of The Pancakes catalog to date. Then, read the detailed interview with Rainer Neeff providing history and insights into the band.

The album opens with mooing cows (plus other farm animals) and UFO effects. Then a voice says, "What's that? A flying saucer takes my cow?!"... and then we're off into the psychedelic surf rocking instrumental Banana, which has a fun hip-shakin' groove and cool spaced out guitar effects. Other highlights among the 12 tracks is Uuaah!, which is like a blend of 60s garage-psych and late 70s punk á la The Ramones.

Daniela's vocals would be just as much at home in either era. The music has catchy melodic hooks, makes the body want to move, and Rainer injects killer tripped out guitar gymnastic bits throughout. The Ghost brings to mind some lost 60s surf-psych Halloween gem, incorporating bits of Salsa, Link Wray, and more. See Your Face is like The Ventures joining up with The Cramps to make an acid rock 'n roll band. This is really FUN stuff! I keep thinking how these songs would be perfect for some Quentin Tarantino movie. Walking is a down 'n dirty psych rocker with wailing fuzz guitar and spaced out licks as Daniela spits out her sassy "No way out!" lyrics. And The Pancakes go south of the border on the lysergic oddball dance tune, Muchaschas Arriba.

There's also a couple longer tracks I enjoyed. The cows and farm animals are back on the 11 minute Man On The Moon, and it seems that here we learn their fate after having been abducted at the beginning of the set. It's a slow psychedelic stroll with a Bluesy edge. And there's lots of great guitar, from searing acid drenched anguish, to deep space liquid psych, to raw brain frying rock. But it's not just an extended jam, as there's a linear narrative unfolding, and throughout Daniela is like a punk inspired Torch chanteuse. This is one seriously passionate psychedelic powerhouse of a song.

Stars In the Underground opens with gorgeously nasty psychedelic metal riffs leading against a sultry rhythmic pulse. When the vocals kick in for the main song portion it's got a bit of a stoner vibe, mostly due to Daniela's vocals. But there's lots of great jamming and psychedelicious guitar exploration. What I like best is that when The Pancakes jam there's always a solid focus on rhythm, and in their case it's usually the kind that makes the body want to move. These guys are all about GROOVES, even at their most exploratory. Finally, Flying is a slow, raw, Bluesy, metallic and ultra sultry psychedelic journey.

For more information you can visit The Pancakes at their Kerntonschall Records Bandcamp site

The Pancakes — Aquanaut

(Kerntonschall 2007, 2-LP)

Jerry Kranitz

Recorded live on the 2006 Space Cow tour, Aquanaut is a 2-LP vinyl set released in a numbered edition of 280. After an Interstellar Overdrive sounding introductory bit, the band launch into the rousing rocker Peace. Ugga Dtschagga is the title track from their second album and opens with a screaming acid guitar workout from Rainer, which quickly morphs into a trademark Pancakes groove rocker. I love the part where Rainer goes ballistic on guitar while Daniela "jams" on vocals.

You Ain't Of My Kind is a swinging slab of surf-psych rock 'n roll. And the rest of Side 1 is dominated by a scorching live version of Man On The Moon, the lengthy tune I enjoyed so much on Space Cow, and which seems to have become a staple of the band's live set to this day. Fans of exploratory and rocking psychedelic guitar will be drooling over Rainer's playing on this tune. He goes deep into space and gets downright acid-stoner at times. But he's a highly articulate, expressive musician, even at his most spaced out.

Side 2 opens with the powerhouse rocking instrumental, Mozart, followed by a rousing rendition of The Ghost, another highlight song from the Space Cow album. Tommyknockers is a fun, whimsical punky song. And then we have The Bear, Side 2's blast-off into acid rocking space. The Pancakes rock hard on this one and Rainer is like a man possessed on guitar. This is a jamming, deep space and hard psych rock guitar exploration, and all the while the band is rocking and rolling, never allowing that groove to let up for a moment. Killer!! Side 2 wraps up with Find My Way, another fun, whimsical, punky rocker. These guys really cover a lot of territory.

Side 3 kicks off with an early 70s sounding Kosmiche jam, with cool eerie organ that goes great with the tripping guitar. This leads into Violet Planet, another example of The Pancakes penchant for fun, accessible, rhythmic songs that also manage to rock hard and include aggressive psych guitar. Kosmos is an energetic psych rocker with Rainer really ripping it up on guitar. The Pancakes dive into the Blues on Lone Desert Highway, with Rainer kicking out passionate, mucho fuzzed, and often screaming leads. And Take The Bus is a heavily Funk infused psych rocker.

Side 4 begins with Surfing To The Center Of The Universe, a schizophrenic song that hops between slow and sultry segments to rapid fire surf-psych. Catch The Stars has a simple catchy melody that I enjoyed. But the lengthy monster track of Side 4 and the big finale to the album is Greenwood Desert. It comes roaring out of the starting gate as a Blues infused rock 'n roll song. And, as expected, the band launch into a jam that leaves Rainer wide open to stretch out on guitar. This is all about high energy hard rock 'n roll with a raw nasty psych edge. I have to believe this sucker had the entire audience on their feet and pumping their fists. A killer finale to this outstanding 2-LP live set.

For more information you can visit The Pancakes at their Kerntonschall Records Bandcamp site

The Pancakes — Volcanic Frog Island

(Kerntonschall 2010, Cake 010, CD/LP)

Jerry Kranitz

Volcanic Frog Island is a 10 track album released in both vinyl and CD editions (you get a bonus track on the CD). Spanish Surf is a decent rocker, the best part being the rousing jam at the end. Duggyman is a cool, quirky song, with excellent guitar fills. "Duggymaaaan, inside my mind, Duggymaaaan, inside my head". Break It Away is a killer groove rocker, and in the middle Rainer goes acid ballistic on guitar while an efx'd voice... I can't quite make it out but sounds like it's talking about flying saucers in the forest.

Living In The City and Take The Bus are both characterized by funk, soul, and psychedelic swing. The Sun is a catchy psych rocker with a really cool 60s pop melody and a monster heavy psych guitar solo. If The Pancakes ever considered a single, this would be the one. Aladin is another 60s styled song, with bits of surf and a fun, quirky main melody. I'd make this the B-side to The Sun.

Then we've got some really good longer jam tunes. At 11 minutes, Seven Pleasures is the longest track of the set, being a combination of song and steady hard psych rocking jams. Rainer takes off and explores and we're treated to some tasty outer space effects. I love Daniela's vocals on this track, as they get downright menacing at times. Froggy D. is a raw, Bluesy surf-psych rocker. "The name is Froggy DDddeeeeeeeee!!". More great guitar and another killer vocal performance from Daniela. This would be a hot one seeing the band live.

Dr. Moreau meets Dracula at dawn and sends him back to space in 45 seconds (how's that for a title?) starts off as a slow, sultry spaced out jam, but quickly morphs into molten metallic acid psych, with stoned bass and trippy Eastern influences. Finally, The Too Long Fried Hemp-Pancake Women is the CD bonus track. The first couple minutes consist of weird voices and effects, but then launches into a grooving spaced out psych rocker that brought to mind Tribe Of Cro with a surf rock edge.

For more information you can visit The Pancakes at their Kerntonschall Records Bandcamp site

The Pancakes / Magi Razzo — Oh What's That? (split LP)

(Kerntonschall 2011, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

The Pancakes side of this split LP with Magi Razzo consists of five tracks recorded during the Space Cow and Volcanic Frog Island sessions. Four of the songs - The Ghost, The Too Long Fried-Hemp Pancake Women, Flying, and Banana - are songs from those albums, though the credits note these are unreleased versions. Hawaii is the one track I don't recognize.

The flip side features Magi Razzo, a band that existed on the German Punk and New Wave scene from 1979-1986 and released several albums and EPs, and also included Rainer and Daniela's father Werner Neeff. The 8 tracks on this LP were recorded in 1986 with the final lineup of the band, consisting of 6 musicians playing guitar, drums, Moog, guitar, bass, violin, mandolin and vocals in German.

The music is emblematic of the times, though I must say the musicianship is excellent, the band a tight unit, with good production and interesting arrangements. Among the highlights is Java Girl, a quirky brand of New Wav-ish rock with a kind of pop-Arabian vibe and surf guitar. Der Rhein ist tot includes cool flittering synth embellishments and wah'd psychy guitar leads on this otherwise dancey lounge-pop song.

Flashback No. 5 is a fast-paced instrumental that sounds like the theme to a 60s TV show. Kind of like The Ventures with a dose of early 80s New Wave. And it gets really cool and crazy later in the song when the violin starts screech jamming. Silicon Orbit is a little different, with a cool avant-garde feel from the violin and Moog, sounding like The Velvet Underground might have had they been born in the Punk era. Very interesting band. Oh, and the LP comes on nice translucent vinyl.

For more information you can visit The Pancakes at their Kerntonschall Records Bandcamp site

Various Artists — UFOs Over Ellmendingen

(Kerntonschall 2012, Kerntonschallrakete001)

Jerry Kranitz

Recorded live at the Alien Rocket Flight Festival Vol 2 on October 14, 2001, UFOs Over Ellmendingen is a vinyl LP set documenting performances by The Pancakes, Zone Six, and Ax Genrich.

The first half of Side 1 features Ax Genrich, the great guitarist from pioneering Krautrockers Guru Guru playing A Trip To Paradise, a song from his 2011 album of the same name. A grooving bassline and drums provide an anchor for Ax's vocals and exploratory psychedelic soundscape guitar, which soon becomes a full blown space jam with some mightily explosive guitar. I really dig the bass solo which Ax jams along with creating spaced out acid-atmospheric effects. I've been happy to see Ax active in recent years. He also released a new album, Fretboard Jungle, in 2012.

The rest of Side 1 is taken up by The Pancakes doing an explosive rendition of Man On The Moon. It starts off with ripping psych guitar before easing into the main song segment. Daniela leads the way with her vocals while Rainer's guitar is in especially aggressive spaced out acid rock mode. Wow, the whole band is cookin'; this is the HOTTEST I've heard The Pancakes yet! Excellent psych guitar! The Pancakes continue on Side 2 with a song called Elephant that I've not heard before. A funky wandering groove lays the foundation for lots of heavy psych rocking jamming and killer psycho guitar.

Rounding out the set is Zone Six, a band most Aural Innovations readers will know. What you may not know is that The Pancakes' Rainer Neeff has been their guitarist for the past few years, and in this configuration they're a trio with Sula Bassana (aka Dave Schmidt) on drums and Frau Komet on bass (two-thirds of Electric Moon!). Rollatorcat features 15 luscious minutes of heavy acid rocking improvisational space exploration.

I really enjoyed immersing myself in all these albums and The Pancakes are clearly one of the hot bands on the German underground psych scene. Their albums feature a great combination of songs and instrumental workouts. During songs you often have to listen closely to capture and appreciate Rainer's intricate guitar work. And Daniela has such a great voice for this music. Her vocals would be equally at home singing Punk or Blues, and I'd describe her singing with The Pancakes as a combination of both. Wanting to know more about the band I conducted the following interview via email with Rainer Neeff:

For more information you can visit The Pancakes at their Kerntonschall Records Bandcamp site

Voïvod — Target Earth

(Century Media 2013, 72770189612)

Christian Eric Mumford

Voïvod is an eminent Canadian underground/punk/thrash/progressive era band that have covered Astronomy Domine, The Nile Song and 21st Century Schitzoid Man, had Rush producer Terry Brown tweak their 1991 effort Angel Rat and has, during a slightly bad spell without former bassists Blacky or Eric Forrest, had Jason Newsted (from Metallica) as a member and, they've explored so many various interesting phases from the out and out futuristic Chrome-style cyber-space-thrash-punk album Killing Technology (1986) and the insanely gothic space assault like Phobos (1997) to more mellow psych/prog efforts like Angel Rat (1991) and The Outer Limits (1993). With an awesome cartoonist drummer leading the band, a la Christian Vander, named Away, who also does all the artwork and Voïvod comics for the band, they have an album which just came out in the wee month of January 2013 called Target Earth. More on the actual album a bit later in the article.

First: Voïvod is a band I rate very highly for the thrash genre, with an apocalyptic SF theme of a storyline continuing throughout all their albums, being concept albums about the warrior Voïvod and others like Korgull the Exterminator who come from a ravaged Earth in the future. Voïvod has travelled on and out into Space and beyond over the years a la Magma's Kobaian mythos, a band they in many ways echo, also having French as their native language, and thus a funny sounding accented vocalist named Snake. Along with Celtic Frost, Fates Warning up to 1990, Iced Earth, Manilla Road, and early Tiamat amongst others, Voïvod pioneered and blurred the boundaries between early black metal, thrash and progressive and punk genres

And the new album? Not so sure. In fact I discussed for an hour or two with Away at Betong in Oslo before and after Voïvod played a night in 1997, our common love of Hawkwind and Magma and Van Der Graaf Generator and many other prog acts from the seventies we shared interest in, as they tend to cover cutting edge prog stuff like Floyd and Crimson, when not being cutting edge with their own material. They always have a good idea mapping a course for each album in their musical story of Voïvod and his adventures. That night guitarist Piggy (who passed away from cancer some years ago) played strings by firing off all kinds of sounds with a toy raygun on all the different modes onto his guitar strings. It was awesome. Check out the 1997 Phobos CD for those crazy sounding experiments. A true art band if there ever was one! So, since Piggy's death they hired a new guitarist called Chewy who fills in rather nicely. Jason Newsted has been dispatched from the mothership to join Eric Forrest on the ex-member prison planet, only to be replaced by a returned Blacky.

And the result? I have to say my opinion of the new album falls somewhere between being underwhelmed yet satisfied, expecting something not so mindblowing as their older material. Their last CD, Infini from 2009 had some quality stuff and showed Voïvod were still a creative and vital act in an otherwise bleak metal landscape filled with Emo, symphonic and stoner and other modern upstart genres generally filled with poseurs too young to even have been born when Voïvod released their first album, the excellent War And Pain in 1983. Target Earth chugs along nicely without much notice. It's good, it just does not possess much melodic or progressive qualities, almost as if the band has decided for a simple and less complex approach, and each song just moves on in a similar fashion. Not the feast I expected upon Blacky's return, there is just some elements missing. A standout track can be found amongst the bonus tracks on the deluxe CD, namely Man in the Trees from Roadburn Fest.

I recommend Target Earth only to those familiar with the band already, but not as a starting point to check out the band. Set forth and sample the previously mentioned albums in this article, and take exploration from there. But, thank whomever is your deity, that we still have Voïvod after 30 years in existence.

For more info, visit the Voïvod website and the Century Media Bandcamp site.

Steve Hogarth and Richard Barbieri — Not the Weapon, But the Hand

(K-SCOPE 2012, 204)

Christian Eric Mumford

Are you curious how modern balladeering Marillion would sound like if they were gene-spliced with cutting edge prog like Porcupine Tree? Would the result be a poetry laden and technological creative soup along the lines of 'tronic wave experimental esoteric bands like The Legendary Pink Dots and their ilk? I am afraid the answer echoes and shouts "yes!" "yes!" repeatedly from a ghostly other dimension.

Not The Weapon But the Hand is a truly progressive album in the modern sense, it grows on you with its low key approach and many fine details. Hogarth is a fine vocalist when he really gels. Often his work with Marillion is a bit non-descript, but imagine an album somewhere in between his two solo efforts like the rocky-poppy Ice Cream Genius album from 1998 and the laid back mature balladeering of his Natural Selection live album some five years ago. Mature, reflected, subtle and intricately crafted. Richard Barbieri from Porcupine Tree and Japan does instrumentation and it works very well, with all his electronic ambience, guitars, experimental hi tech beats and washes of synths with Hogarth's voice narrating songcraftingly on top is very comfortable to listen to.

A Cat With Seven Souls and Your Beautiful Face are two of the tracks that struck me as very poetic and serious. There are no whimsical or humorous elements about this record, it definitely is "art rock" with all its pretensions, but not an out and out "prog" album. I could compare it to Steven Wilson's solo outings; to an extent, Peter Hammill's solo work, The Legendary Pink Dots, and a bit of Hogarth era Marillion.

But far better than Marillion with Hogarth on vocals. Hogarth really needs to distinguish his own voice. I feel his Marillion work does not hold up against the Fish era of the band, but now I realise there is no need to compare him with Fish. This is totally different than either, yet would appeal to fans of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson very much. Set forth and purchase this if you are a fan of Porcupine Tree, Marillion or serious poetic/muso "art rock" in general. A fine collection that will not date on your record shelf.

For more info, visit the Richard Barbieri website.

Sky Picnic — Paint Me A Dream

(Nasoni Records 2012, LP)

Jerry Kranitz

Sky Picnic are the Brooklyn, New York based trio of Chris Sherman on guitar and vocals, Leah Cinnamon on bass and vocals, and Pete Meriwether on drums and percussion. Paint Me A Dream is billed as their second full length album, though the band have also released a couple EPs, singles, and contributed to various compilations. Here's the skinny on the album's 9 songs:

The album opens with Lost Is Found, a psych rock song with a 60s feel and a killer intense acid freakout jam for the finale. The title track is next and is a more overtly 60s sounding song. It rocks out but has a floating trippy feel, a nice flute melody (maybe synth produced), acoustic and electric guitars, space effects, and a damn good melody. Freak Out Ethel starts off with an early Pink Floyd feel, like Astronomy Domine crossed with Careful With that Ax Eugene, but then morphs into a heavy driving psych rock instrumental.

Dream Yourself Away has a pleasant guitar melody and vocals, plus an orchestral mellotron-like backdrop. About halfway through the music quiets into the dream-state of the title... "dreeeeeeam yourself awaaaaay"... with cool efx'd guitar licks and haunting vocals, gradually building and receding in intensity, with the orchestral keys projecting the song into Prog-Psych realms. Another damn good song! Kaleidoscopic Cadence is a short but lovely acoustic Folk-Psych song, and wraps up with more of those classic Prog orchestral embellishments. Rippled continues the 60s dreamy Prog-Psych drift that I'm catching from the last two tracks, and in parts has an underlying Ennio Morricone soundtrack vibe.

Translucent Lucy is a chunky psychedelic rock 'n roll song with a bit of a surf edge and cool wah'd guitar solo. At 8 minutes Slumbers Gate is the longest track of the set. For the first couple minutes the band playfully meander. But then the drums start to rock out hard, while the guitar goes into deep space with the effects. This lasts a couple more minutes before things go quiet and the musicians focus on pure spaced out atmosphere and effects creation, once again recalling early experimental Pink Floyd. In fact, in the last couple minutes I'm reminded of Atom Heart Mother. Sky Picnic cover a lot of interesting ground on this track. Finally, Aurora is a brief instrumental that brings the album to a close on a heavy psych rocking note.

In summary, Sky Picnic are heavily 60s psychedelic influenced but are by NO means a retro act. Vibravoid might be a good analogy. I've liked all their releases but what stands out on Paint Me A Dream is the songwriting, which is a pretty impressive. Solid songs and melodies, AND lots of cool freaky and often spaced out psychedelic music.

Note that the album is available in black and colored vinyl editions, as well as digital download. AND for you vinyl junkies in the U.S. who are accustomed to paying big bucks for Nasoni imports, the LP is available for a very reasonable price at the Sky Picnic Bandcamp site.

Purchase the LP or digital download at the Sky Picnic bandcamp site, or visit the Nasoni Records website.

Solus3 — Corner Of The World / Corner Of The Dub

(self-released 2011, CD2 / self-released 2012, CD3)

Jerry Kranitz

My introduction to Solus3 was through Lunar Dunes, a UK based space rock band who have released two excellent albums - Lunar Dunes (2007) and Galaxsea (2011). Solus3 consists of four members of Lunar Dunes, and while Solus3 are deep in space, they are very different from Lunar Dunes.

Corner Of The World is the second Solus3 album and opens with the 10 minute Unfold. What a strange and fascinating blend of musical elements! There's a Dub foundation, along with spacey atmospherics and effects, didge-like throat singing, a steady lead and groove by harp (of all instruments), trumpet, and vocals from Krupa MaNomay (female) that are simultaneously haunting and sultry. It all comes together in ways that a very difficult to describe, and that's a good thing because these folks are doing something that to my ears is quite different. Bassist Ian Blackaby, who is in both bands, describes Solus3 as a kind of Post-Punk development of the Dunes, like Lunar Dunes without the guitar player and the harp taking the central role.

The fun continues on Tricked By A Monster, which is more of a structured, accessible jazz-Dub-in-space song, though there's no shortage of adventurous cosmic embellishments by the trumpet and effects, plus guitar from guest Jemma Freeman and Larry Whelan from Lunar Dunes contributes keyboards and saxophone. I love the combination of Dub-bass, floating harp leads and vocals. Corner Of The World is similar and I really like the section where the harp actually jams while the drums rock out.

Lollardy is a lysergic experimental space-jazz-lullaby that blends harp, trumpet, off-kilter percussion and what sounds like a bagpipe trying to be an Arabian call-to-prayer horn. When Porn Jam came on I instantly recognized it, though it took me a minute to make the connection with the track Moon Bathing, from the Lunar Dunes album Galaxsea, which this is a re-working of, being a trippy, hip-shaking lounge-jazz-in-space groover.

Reich is an instrumental with cool looped effects and cosmic keys, synths and harp, all zipping along playing a repetitive and slowly developing pattern. After a few minutes the music transitions to gentle drifting lullaby mode, though it quickly starts to edge back toward the more intense opening theme. Finally, the album wraps up with the 10+ minute Pumori, a hypnotic trip that takes us to a dark, smoky, surreal alien lounge and features Krupa's most soulful vocals of the set.

This is very interesting and mesmerizing music which will appeal to those who fancy a creative mix of psychedelia, Dub and jazz, though these descriptions don't begin to characterize what this off-the-beaten-path band are about. And speaking of Dub, the latest Solus3 album is titled Corner Of The Dub. It's described as "a half sibling to Corner Of The World" and features remixes by various artists of tracks from the Corner Of The World album.

We get two Tricked By A Monster treatments, one by The Krell, but the more interesting of which is by Gary Langan (Art Of Noise), which adds more effects and puts interesting freakout emphasis on the guitar. Dr. Das adds a more classic Dub vibe to Reich, without straying too far from the original, and I like the brief scorching effects. Shugmonkey injects a quirky, whimsical edge into Lollardy.

Corner Of The World is another tune that gets a double dose of remix surgery, but they're both by the same artist - Dub Colossus. He Dubs it up and adds lots of spaced out effects on his Firfir Remix, and does the same on his King Krar Remix, though it sounds like he focuses more on grooves for the later. Eccodek is all about atmosphere in their treatment of Unfold. There's a second Unfold entry, this time by Phil Meadley who takes it 360 degrees from Eccodek into hyper-kinetic electro-robot-dance territory.

Gianni Mantice takes the most liberties of just about anyone with his manipulation of Porn Jam and comes out with one of my favorites of the set. It's got lots of wild space effects, heavy grooves, plus a cool and strange Arabian styled male vocal. The one track that doesn't take on a single song from Corner Of The World is Monster Mori Remix, a nearly 10 minute piece that the promo sheet describes as "a Frankenstein monster of prog dubtronica built out of our spare parts", so I'm assuming it's a remix glom of various Solus3 tracks, and indeed I recognize a lot of it.

In summary, Corner Of The Dub is a fun listen when experienced alongside Corner Of The World. But I'd not like someone to hear it as their introduction to Solus3. Start with Corner Of The World and the band's excellent debut, The Sky Above The Roof.

For more information you can visit the Solus3 Bandcamp site.