Spurious Transients - Something Strange Came Out of the Skies

 Self-released CD/LP

Spurious Transients is a Welsh psychedelic project formed by Gavin Lloyd Wilson. I have reviewed their debut album and single in 2015 but missed their second album somehow. They have also been actove on Fruits de Mer Records, like on the recent Head Music 2 compilation. Anyway, this CD had been travelling for months before it reached me in my new address, but I'm glad it finally arrived. The theme of the album is alien encounters and UFO's as reported by the eye-witnesses, so a sort of Welsh manifestation of our own project UFO-tutkimuksia. The music is rather different, though!

The album starts off with the eight-minute title track that has a chilled-out, spacey ambient vibe, similar to some of the Astralasia stuff. There is also some sitar sounds to add even more other-wordly vibrations. I of course love it! Then we get some short testimonies with spooky background sounds. "Freak Weather Woodpecker" is a mellow piece with spoken-word about one very interesting case in the 70s, then we get some more testimonies. "The Welsh Triangle" has a cool dub vibe, the weird "Bovine Bilocation" kicks off with some cows mowing and also has female vocals, nice. There are 14 tracks in total with lots of original testimonies, alien sound effects and psychedelic, experimental, mostly electronic backing with some more musical stuff thrown in for good balance. If you are interested in extraterrestrials and psychedelic, electronic music then this is exactly your cup of alien tee! The album is available on vinyl and CD, just go to the band's Bandcamp site to order.

spurioustransients.bandcamp.com

 

Pink Floyd - In the 1970s (book review)

Sonicbond Publishing

"What, yet another book on Pink Floyd?", you might think. Oh yes, we never get enough of the Floyd. This 144-page paper book is released in the Decades series and although it concentrates on their activities in the 70s it actually briefly tells the band's story all the way from the hazy mid 60s to the year 2020 also including the band members' solo careers. It's no small task to fit it all into so few pages but Georg Purvis does a great job on it. 

Everything concerning the band's landmark 70s albums gets most of the attention. Even though I'm a big Pink Floyd fan I have not read even a friction of all the books written about them so I learned many interesting, cool, funny and sometimes also depressive details about the recording sessions and the ever growing drift in between Waters and Gilmour. It never stops to amaze me how grown men can't put their difficulties aside and work together. Maybe it is the superstar egos, I don't know. Sort of sad, anyway. The main emphasis here luckily still is on the music so we get details of out-takes, abandoned projects etc. which was very interesting. The book is very well written and keeps the reader in its grip. I would recommend it to any fan of the band and also as an introduction to those who are only just dipping into the world of one of the greatest bands in history.

www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/

Astral Magic - Electronic Vol. 4 released!

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