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LP
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FTR 498LP
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"Massively ripped sophomore LP by this Portland OR psych sextet. Half of the line-up has shifted in the two years since their great debut album, but the same berserk stack of musical elements remains on the table. A lot of bands who fly the psych banner these days have a minimalist view of the music, and choose a sort of post-shoegaze lassitude to present their 'vision.' This can be astoundingly great, of course, but it also fails to address the central gobble-crazed nature of true psychedelia. Many of history's greatest psych outfits were hewn from bizarre hybrids of disparate parts. Frankenstein monsters in search of sacred ecstasy. One gets the same vibe off of Abronia. Totally unexpected bits pop up amidst their rhapsodic jamming, conjuring shards of memory as disparate as Relf-era Renaissance, Joseph Byrd's United States of America, and even (at least in spots) real early Siouxsee. These are just a few examples of how wide Abronia cast their net. Their instrumental brunt moves from neo-prog to folk rock to thunderheads cast in the same mold as the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's (I shit you not!). Taken together, these freakishly disparate elements mange to create a gorgeous and simmering whole. If you aren't tripping to Abronia now, I suggest a change of lifestyle." --Byron Coley, 2019
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LP
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FTR 496LP
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"A new reissue of this masterpiece by the Left Outsides, originally issued on cassette in 2015, then first put to vinyl in 2017, as the long-format follow-up to the classic The Shape of Things to Come LP. The current edition is demarcated by a glossy cover and metallic gold printing. Its music remains as timeless a gust of dark autumnal wind as any you'll ever hear. Some of the music here was written as part of the soundtrack to Gus Alavrez's 2009 noir-pastoral short, Stand and Deliver, but the songs evoke their own host of images. The band, consisting of Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas (once of the beautifully Fairport-tinged, 18th Day of May) blend vocals and stringed instruments in a way that recalls more traditional UK folk artists as much as it does their more acidic contemporaries. Their songs feature gorgeously plain melodies that emerge as though they have always existed, before disappearing in a swirl of primeval mist. The surprise cover they do, "Civil War Lament" (originally by Go-Betweens side project, Jack Frost), is of a piece with these originals. And the layered guitars of the last track, "The Creeping Fog," take the record out on waves of drone and feedback stretching from dusk until near dawn, at which point, Alison intones a poem of shadows. There Is a Place is a gentle monster of a record, and will well reward your careful attention." --Byron Coley, 2019 45rpm; Edition of 300.
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LP
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FTR 415LP
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Paradisiacal Mind, Dire Wolves' tenth (or possibly twelfth?) full-length since 2008, conjures a floating stellular kraut Americano with quite a lot to pull you in to the mix and then drift you right back out again. Following two simultaneous 2017 releases -- on Feeding Tube Records and Beyond Beyond Is Beyond -- that explored out-of-body experience, this latest work turns decidedly inward. Psychic rock that guides your vision to heaven, and heaven is in your mind. When cover artist Kyla Quigley asked the band to draw from the tarot to inform her new work, the card was The Star, a renewal of hope and strength to carry on. And so it all came together -- acute, right, and obtuse, all at once. A portion of the record was recorded in Oakland by Zachary Watkins (Black Spirituals), who helped set the atmosphere to capture the festival consciousness vibes. The remainder was realized on Bernal Hill, celebrating the 50+ year tradition of San Francisco psychedelic intensity. Additional players include Laura Naukkarinen (Lau Nau), Taralie Peterson (Spires That In The Sunset Rise), and Michael Whittaker (Jackie-O Motherfucker). Recommended to the open minds that celebrate such sounds as the punk-hippie crossover scene of mid '80s SST records, as well as listeners of Scandinavian/Teutonic communal motorik vibes. And those into spiritual jazz, meditative and primordial minimalism, and scratched Environments LPs from the dollar bin. For the heads.
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2LP
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FTR 420LP
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Feeding Tube Records and Cardinal Fuzz announce, at last, the long-awaited Sunflare album, ON. After three previous releases of brain-frying, high volume, pedal-to-the-metal freak-outs, Sunflare are at last back to bring some serious brain-buzzing, primitive punk scorch to a prevailing M.O.R. psych scene in need of some serious face melting. Hailing from Lisboa, Portugal, Sunflare are a scorchin' power trio specializing in high-energy Psychedelic Speed Freak wipe-outs. ON is here to fry minds with a driving rhythm section that brings new meaning to the word relentless and a guitar player that is perpetually freeform feedback soloing over every second committed to wax via the gnarliest of fuzz and wah-wah pedal abuse. Over two sides of vinyl there is never any let up as Sunflare deliver a blazing eruption of ear-piercing sound. With ON also comes a second LP of the long out-of-print "C30 - Red Tape" release (only ever available as a cassette back in 2010). As soon as you put this on, you will see why both Feeding Tube and Cardinal Fuzz were so desperate to include this as part of the ON package and commit it to vinyl at long last. If you like High Rise, Comets On Fire, and drinking petrol, then this is the band and record for you. ON is presented in a 320gsm wide spine card sleeve; comes with a download code.
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LP
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FTR 426LP
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"Back in the early Oughts, there was a great UK folk rock combo called The Eighteenth of May. They did one album and cut out. Trimdon Grange Explosion is that band, minus two members, and their debut LP kicks up one of the finest blends of UK folk and West Coast psych since the glory days of Fairport. Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas (also of Left Outsides) comprise half the band, alongside guitarist Ben Phillipson and drummer Karl Sabino. And their vibe is akin to a classic Witchseason production. Ringing layers of psychedelic guitars, backed by throbbing rhythms, and stacks of small sonic events, topped with gorgeously folk-flecked vocals. There are flashes of everything from the Velvets to the Byrds woven amongst the sounds, but the bulk of it will make you feel like you're playing an album that might have been ZigZag's Record of the Year back in 1971. The band's name refers to a coal mining disaster in a town up near Newcastle in the 1880s. Martin Carthy and the Mekons both did good covers of the tune Tommy Armstrong wrote about it. But none of them did anything approaching the grandeur of this band's album (originally issued as a CDR last year by Borley Rectory). Take up the nearest stethoscope and walk. Now!" --Byron Coley, 2018
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LP
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FTR 424LP
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"Vinylization of the second cassette released by UK string player Alison Cotton. We first ran into Alison's work in its more overtly folky guise, as a member of Left Outsides. Then we caught the scent of an amazing tape she did with Michael Tanner (aka Plinth) that displayed her more avant garde leanings. All Is Quiet followed the same lines, albeit in solo fashion, blending long dark viola and harmonium lines with vocals drawn straight from the clouds. The effect resembles Tony Conrad in places and John Cale's work with Nico in others, while remaining trademark Alison Cotton throughout. And as nice as the tape was, it's even nicer to has this music on an LP, since it's an archival format and will outlive all of us if properly cared for. Just as the music of Alison Cotton feels as though it was designed to last through the ages. Beautiful stuff." --Byron Coley, 2018
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