Astral Visions #73 now online!

Listen here:

www.mixcloud.com/AstralVisions/astral-visions-73

Tracklist
1 The Alpha Particle (from Accidental Sountracks: Vol. 1. The Alpha Particle) by John McBain
2 You Got It Or You Don't (from Raw Rock Fury) by Ecstatic Vision
3 Elysium (from Magnetic Anomaly) by Cobra Family Picnic
4 Peaches En Regalia (from Zappa split 7") by Superfjord
5 Carpe Noctem (from S/T) by Grombira
6 Behind All Evil Is A Black Hole (live, from Paradiso Is on Fire) by The Cult of Dom Keller
7 Just You (from 12" split) by ST 37
8 Biblical Prophecy (from Helios Rising) by Moths & Locusts
9 Tunnels of Qliphoth (from Tunnels of Qliphoth 7") by Capra Informis
10 Lost In Light (from Occult Architecture Vol. 2) by Moon Duo
11 People (from Just Say No to the Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fasist Industial Death Machine) by Gnod
12 Stranger Things (from Sacred) by The Obsessed
13 Organ Mantra (from Hasta la Victoria) by The Myrrors
14 Sycamore Trees (from 12" split) by Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
15 Love (from Await The Queen) by Crystal Jacqueline
16 North Star (from Oceania) by Astralasia

Hot stuff in May!

I've been too busy to even put out a hotlist after January, so I'm doing a double list now with 20 entries. This is what I've been especially enjoying these few months:

Ecstatic Vision ‎– Raw Rock Fury
Chrome – Techromancy
Cobra Family Picnic ‎– Magnetic Anomaly 
The Obsessed ‎– Sacred
Flowers Must Die ‎– Kompost
Föllakzoid feat. J. Spaceman ‎– London Sessions 12"
The Cosmic Dead ‎– Psych Is Dead
The Janitors ‎– Horn Ur Marken
3rd Ear Experience ‎– Stones Of A Feather 
Zone Six ‎– Forever Hugo
Hills – Alive At Roadburn
Deep Space Destructors ‎– Psychedelogy
Moon Duo ‎– Occult Architecture Vol. 2
Grombira - S/T
Hawkwind ‎– Into The Woods
Crystal Jacqueline - Await the Queen
Giöbia ‎– What Have You Done / Silver Machine 7"
White Hills ‎– Stop Mute Defeat 
Sendelica - Lilacs Out of the Deadlands 
Jesters Of Destiny ‎– The Sorrows That Refuse To Drown 

 

Playlist @ Elmun Baari, Helsinki, 25.5.2017 (Boar, Kaleidobolt & Jupiter)

Wow, what a night, even though I was quite tired. Not that much time to spin records with three great bands on the bill, but here's what I managed to play:

Iron Butterfly -  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Vert:x - Drill
Spirit - Space Child
Black Sabbath - Wheels of Confusion
Giöbia - This World Was Being Watched Closely
Judas Priest - Breaking the Law
Pentagram - Day of Reckoning
Monster Magnet - Spine of God
Earthless - Acid Crusher
Vibravoid - Raga Baya
La Otracina - Mass Meteoric Mind
Ecstatic Vision - You Got It (Or You Don't)
Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
Chrome - Adminster The Treatment
Wooden Shjips - Contact
Gong - Flying Teapot (A Sacred Extension And Cosmic Overdub)
Loop - Mother Sky
Hawkwind - Lord of Light
Dead Skeletons - Dead Mantra
Brainticket - Black Sand

Thanks for everyone!

Vert:x - From Now to Now

The Weird Beard

 Vert:x is a psychedelic, noisy, punky & hard-rocking space/krautrock band from Chester, U.K. I've had them on my radar for about ten years now since their space captain Neil has been sending me their great, privately pressed CD-R's for review ever since they started. The band's influences include for example NEU!, Hawkwind, Can, The Seeds, Chrome, Earthling Society and Spiral Navigators. They have lately also worked with Fruits de Mer Records on several compilations that are definitely worth checking out but From Now to Now that will be released in a couple of weeks on The Weird Beard label (limited to 250 copies only) is their first full-length vinyl album. About time, I'd say! Also worth getting is the superb four-way-split album Magnetic North released last year on Drone Rock Records.

From Now to Now includes just three instrumental tracks, but they are very long... The suitably named opener "Space Junk" really rocks out in a noisy Hawkwind/NEU!/AMT style. I love the motorik beat, harsh guitar, spacey electronics and wild sax, excellent! This is the shortest track on the LP at "mere" 7:47. On the 16-minute "Suns of Ra" things get more cosmic and you can hear the heady, out-of-this-world Earthling Society influences. No wonder, since Fred from E. S. also has been playing in Vert:x. This one will leave your mind totally spaced-out and levitating... Trippy! On the B-side we've got the 26-minute (!) "Planet Of The Mindstealers" And if you still had a mind after the A side it's totally gone now. I can hear some Chrome and Hawkwind influences again on this one. This is cosmic, hazy and acid punky space rock bliss! All the tracks have been previously released on the band's CD-R releases but it feels so good to have them now out on vinyl. I hope the band will do some more fresh recordings for a second LP release soon since this is just great, mind-blowing stuff!

www.facebook.com/vertx-188158031261704

Hear ambient space music compiled by Dj Astro on Big Bang Legends cosmic tram ride!

Something special for Saturday... If you are in Helsinki, you can hop in to the Big Bang Legends tram, play the game and enjoy ambient space music compiled by Dj Astro!

You can also eat cosmic muffins and hear some live theremin...

Moonwagon - Devil's Labyrinth EP

Running Moose Productions / Presence Records (precd060)

Moonwagon is a progressive hard/psych/space rock band from Kokkola, Finland. The band has carried on as a trio after their synth player left before the third, a bit more jazz-rock-fusion styled album The Rule of Three (2015). All three members are multi-instrumentalists, so no problem in the studio. As influence they give out band names like Rush, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. To my ears they are never too progressive, totally out-there psychedelic or really that heavy, but a good, pleasant and listenable, melodic mix of all those elements.

On this brand-new, professionally made CD-R EP they offer five interesting, mostly instrumental tracks. "Devil's Labyrinth" starts off the disc combining Rush-like hard rocking with some folk rock elements. I like for example the bass solo stuff as well as the cool keyboards and sort of airy, fresh vibe the track has. Definitely for Rush fans out there. "Haunted Hallways" is another great mid-tempo prog/hard rocker with also some more adventurous parts and again excellent playing by the band. Some of the synths towards the end bring to mind Eloy. Excellent! "Alchemy" is a nice, semi-acoustic folk rock piece with percussion and "Dus Aster" a shorter syntheziser piece a bit in the Tangerine Dream vein. My favourite by far is the groovy and hard rocking space rock number "South of Bermuda" that I have also used in my Astral Visions podcast. This one has some similarities with Hidria Spacefolk and Hawkwind so you bet I like it a lot! The track also has some vocals which is cool. I also love the guitar work especially on this track, a total winner! I look forward to see how the trio handles all the instrumentation live and tomorrow will be a perfect opportunity to find out since Moonwagon plays together with the superb prog rock band Malady at Semifinal in Helsinki.

www.facebook.com/Moonwagonband

Grombira - S/T

Tonzonen Records (TON026)

Okay Oriental space rock cadets: take out your flying carpets! Grombira is a new band playing a mix of Oriental ethnic/world music and psychedelic space rock and they sound just awesome! Although the three guys are actually from Bavaria, they do sound like they are from ancient Persia, India, Turkey or Northern Africa or someplace like that. With bass, drums, sitar, saz, oud, flute, percussion, synths and some vocals they deliver you the feel of walking through dry, sun-burned deserts to the oasis and exotic ancient marketplaces full of heady and mesmerising smells, snake-charmers and wonderous artefacts. Welcome to One Thousand and One Nights!

The album includes just six tracks, but most of them are quite long. The mysterious journey starts off with "Pürreé" that offers marvellous Arabian moods, melodies and rhythms. Right after the five-minute marker a faster, hypnotic rocking starts and things get pretty groovy before we also get some jazzy jamming. "Carpe Noctem" has a very cool ambient beginning taking you deep inside the Oriental night with all the stars shining in the night sky. This is a very hypnotic piece and even makes you want to dance in trance. Somehow brings to mind Psychomuzak. There are also some vocals in a weird language later on. One of the highlights! The shorter "Caravan" is a bit more minimal and pictures the wandering of the camels also including some field-recordings.

The B-side of this limited vinyl release begins with the melancholic and mesmerising "Goats in Space" that sounds a bit like Blaak Heat being the most Western sounding psych/stoner rock track on the album.  It also has vocals in English. Excellent! "Priest of the Horny Kong" is a cool mix of spacey trance rock and groovy Anatolian psych rock vibes and I really enjoy this one. The album is finished with the wonderful "Selma" that after it's dreamy beginning takes you into some strange, intoxicated party in a very exotic setting. This track has a somehow happy, uplifting vibe and leaves you feeling good and refreshed after all the travels across the deserts and mountains. This album is a must-have for all friends of Oriental psych rock!

grombira.de