Us and Them - If the Summer Lingers

 Withdrawn Records (008)

After working on other project for a while our favourite Swedish folk duo Us and Them is back with a new single! I think the final product will included three tracks, since the promo copy I received has two and there are two on their Bandcamp site now but the second being entitled differently to the promo edition. But is says it's a "Limited edition  3-track CD" there. Mysterious, right? Anyway, let's see what we've got here.

The opening title track is a nice, shortish, summery folk rock piece. You immediately recognize the duo's wonderful style and vibe, marvellous! Just too short, if you as me. "Tear Apart" is a longer, slower, hypnotic and darker piece that also has some instrumental passages. Acoustic guitar and brilliant female vocals, yes, but also synths and mellotron etc. The chorus is a bit more melodic and lighter. I really enjoy this extended, magical piece! "In the Waiting Room" on the Bandcamp site seems to be the same track, so not sure which one is the right title of if the track is devided into two parts on the actual CD single or what. You will ove this one, anyway!

www.usandthem.se/

 

Doctors of Space - Astral Sessions Vol 6- Summer 2021

 Doctors of Space Music (DOSASCD 006)

Doctors of Space (Scott Heller and Martin Weaver) released a new limited edition CD (just 100 copies) last month. This is volume 6 in their Astral Sessions jam series and a pretty heavy one. I don't have all the albums in this series, but have enjoyed all I've heard. The four LOOOONG jams were recorded in two different sessions in June and July 2021. I love Martin's guitars on these, sad thing if he really does not plan to play any more guitar in the duo's recordings? I hope I just made this up, but that's what I remember hearing. Here he also plays bass guitar and does the drum programming, so there must be some overdubs on there I guess, or he just switches instruments ultra fast and uses loops. Scott's (Dr Space) synths are as spacey as ever, wonderful. He also plays some (digital) Mellotron and Hammond organ. There is 74 minutes worth of trippy instrumental space music so definitely worth the 10€ the CD costs! You can just buy the digital download, of course. For some reason not all tracks are available for listening on their Bandcamp site at the moment.

doctorsofspace.bandcamp.com/music

 

The Honey Pot with Crystal Jacqueline - An Introduction to The Honey Pot with Crystal Jacqueline

 Fruits de Mer Records (intro 4)

The Honey Pot as well as Crystal Jacqueline are some of the Fruits de Mer Records dearest sweethearts and most released artists by them, so no wonder they are also featured in this CD-R introduction series. This collection features 10 tracks that have been previously released on FdM singles, LP's and CD's as well as three bonus tracks. 

Most pieces are cover songs (Mighty Baby, The Fleur the Lys, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Kinks, Jefferson Airplane etc.) but the album also includes five originals for good measure. The music has a very late 60s/early 70s vibe. The last two tracks were recorded live and at least "Shangri-La" by The Kinks is exclusive to this compilation. These guys are great musicians and singers, so you just can't help liking their music! There is nothing thag trippy or spaced-out, so you could even play this on mainstream radio, I guess. Pleasant, rather peaceful and melodic stuff with some folk elements. Check them out!

www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/honeyintro.html

 

Jet Jaguar - Brain Stun: The Collection, Part 1

 Magritte Records (MR 245)

Jet Jaguar was a cool space rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they first were active from 2001 to 2011. I used to get review copies of their CD releases back then and loved their stuff that was a hybrid of spacey Hawkwind and cybernetic industrial post punk of Chrome. There was also a double LP/CD Space Anthem on Black Widow Records in 2007 that I really love. This one was mostly recorded live on the group's 2005 Solar Anthem tour but also included some covers recorded in studio. The band later resurfaced with a different crew apart from the commander Charles Van De Kree (guitars, vocals, synths, electronics) and released one more CD, Mysteries of Antimatter in 2015.

This compilation puts together some of the band's best tracks along with a couple of great cover songs. The straight-forward rocker "Dogfight" is maybe more or less a copy of Robert Calvert's "Ejection" but so what? Space rockers get what they need! A super-charged opener. "Autopilot" starts off with a spacey sequencer/vocoder intro and then rocks out in Chrome style. Loving it! In similar vein, "She's an Alien" was always one of the band's stand-out tracks and still sounds cool and exciting. More 90's Hawkwind-styled "I.C.U." is wonderful too like the A side's final, slower piece "Shades of Noir Descending". All tracks on side A were first released in 2002.

On the flip side we have two tracks from the 2004's album Billion Year Spree: the mercilessly rocking "Future Martyr on Supersonic Waves" and the classic "The Last Kings of Space". Next comes an excellent cover of Hawkwind's single track "Lord of Light" and I'm in ecstasy! This was originaly released on Black Widow Record's Daze öf the Undergröund, Tribute to Hawkwind. Also my old band Dark Sun was featured on the Chrome tribute You've Been Duplicated, Burning Chrome To Disc In The Cyberage and that's where the Jet Jaguar's ultra-fast version of "The Need" originates from. This whole tribute was put together by Charles, if I remember correctly (it was twenty years ago...). One more original to finish the album: "Count Geiger's Blues" from "Future Tense". This was strangely the only track I did not remember but it's a really good mid-tempo rocker bringing to mind Farflung and Pressurehed. Phew! What an amazing collection of spacey and cyper punky hits, I just have to start dreaming about the Part 2 right now!

jetjaguarmissioncontrol.bandcamp.com/album/brain-stun-the-collection-part-1 

J. Vdek - Earthwake

Magritte Records (MR230)

According to online sources, J. Vdek is a Danish guitarist/analog synthesist born in Copenhagen in 1981, studied at Copenhagen University where in late 1990s he was involved with groups Kloroform and Free Mechanist Orchestra. He emigrated to U.S. in 2010, now living in NYC. This limited edition lathe-cut 12" and tape (100 copies each) seems to be his first solo album, though.

James De Leigh helps out on drums and gong on the more rocking opener "Drone Strike by Inferno's Light" that could be easily passed as psychedelic post rock. The rest of the stuff is more eexperimental for sure... The closer to 13-minute "Deadlands" is just dark, ambient soundscapes made with ARP, MiniMoog and Signal Generator. On side B, "Radioactive Sewage" is a bit noisy, electronic, banging and experimental, short thing that ends suddenly. The last track is the 15:42 long "Thermonuclear Mass for 10,000 Cities (Parts I-II) that has a ominous, post-apocalyptic vibe. This one was composed together with D. A. Gardner, who also plays alto & baritone saxophones, ARP Odyssey, tape and effects on the track. The sax adds some jazzy modes for the very experimental and hypnotic web of sound. Later we also get some tribal synthesized beats and the track gets going in a spacey way with also lots of distorted guitar. Again, not exactly my kind of music, but I still got to appreciate this stuff. Check it out!

jvdek.bandcamp.com/album/earthwake

Sines Of Exquisite Pleasure - Music For Hospitals

 Magritte Records (MR 231)

Sines Of Exquisite Pleasure is a solo project of multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Douglas Em. This minimalistic ambient album was recorded in 1983-84 using MiniMoog, guitar, tapes, electronics, Alpine cow bells and analog & digital delays. It was originally released on tape in 1984 in edition of 100 copies, reissued on tape again in 2022 on Fantasy Audio Magazine and finally on limited edition vinyl LP on Magritte Records last year.

Douglas has been inspired by the tape expreriments of John Gage and  modal minimalism of John Adams as well as modular sound esthetic of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. This can be heard on this album as well. There are seven very peaceful and relaxing compositions that give you a sort of healing vibe. Maybe that's where the title comes form. This is  not exactly my kind of music (I'm not patient enough...) but I still enjoy the album and music like this aboslutely has it's place in human experience and life. Only 250 copies pressed but still available!

sinesofexquisitepleasure.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hospitals 

 

Å - Åtråvärld

 Self-released (ÅLP003)

 

Åtråvärld is the third album by Swedish prog/psych rock band Å (meaning stream in English). I have previously reviewed also their eponymous debut album and second album Ånyo.  After those there was quite a long pause, but this one was released in December 2023, maybe this vinyl version limited to 300 copies came a bit later. The main band is still Joel Öhlund (vocals, guitar), Milovan Fredriksson (bass, guitar) and Erik Wallin (drums) with some quests on sax, flute, synth etc. The album was recorded in their home town Uppsala and the band still sings in their native language.

The strong folk roots are very clearly audile on the first song "Fredmans epistel 9" that is actually written by traditional Swedish poet & musician Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795). A very nice interpretion with also some World Music vibes! The almost eight-minute "G​å​ngl​å​t i femtakt" starts off with some farm animal sounds and then goes pretty mystical and progressive. The sax is a nice addition, and there's a cool early 70s jazzy prog vibe.  "Transversale varelser" has a nice acoustic guitar and brings to mind some of the more atmospheric songs by Dungen (especially when the flute is added) still sounding pretty original. It also goes rather psychedelic which is cool.

Side B starts off with "Elden" that goes in 7/8 and has some heavier guitar as well. Maybe some King Crimson feel in here and I like it. "Intryck och uttryckt" are two different tracks on the digital version but marked as one track on the LP. The first part is nice, acoustic stuff, but then things start to rock out more in a groovy, psychedelic folk rock way. Some cool jamming and hippie vibes. I really enjoy this album and it is definitely worth checking out if you like well produced, 70s styled Swedish folk/psych/prog rock with great vocals and skillful instrumentation.

swedishstream.com