Pree Tone - Kiddy

Addicted Label (729)

"Kiddy contain's six stories, described in a way kindergarten folks see them. Nice chance to open your mind wide and become 5-year-olds for the next 45 minutes." That's how this Kiov, Ukraine based band describes their CD released last year. The band has been together since 2014 and must love their Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Television albums a lot. Their music might best be labeled as playful sort of hypnotic noise rock, so not exactly my kind of stuff. There are still enough psych/kraut elements to keep things pretty interesting.

Also, it's not just all loud, distorted feedback guitars and drone, there are also lots of cool melodies and hypnotic,  not so heavy parts with motorik beat to make you feel happy and heady. There's some shoegaze, post-rock and experimentalism in there as well. All the songs are pretty long (from 6:32 to 8:36) so be prepared for epic journeys. The last track "Bricks" probably comes closest to fuzzy psych rock in the vein of Loop which is great. Check them out!

www.facebook.com/preetone

The Ego Ritual - S/T EP

Kool Kat Music (PURR2102)

The Ego Ritual is a new three-piece (four-piece live) alternative / psych rock band from Lincoln, U.K. The reason I'm reviewing this debut EP of theirs is probably the fact they they have a (so for rather loose) connection to Fruits de Mer Records. They are going to play at the label's summer festival The 17th Dream of Doctor Sardonicus in Wales this year and there will also be an ultra-limited split lathe-cut with Three Dimensional Tanx (another band playing) on sale there.

On the basis of this five track CD/download EP I wouldn't describe the guitar-oriented music of The Ego Ritual as highly psychedelic or mind-blowing. It has some 60s/70s/80s/90s psych rock/pop sensibilities, for sure, but more on the indie/mainstream side of things I guess. "Chakra Maraca" opens up the EP with great melodies and quite a lot of energy. The bit nasal voice of singer James S. fits the bit Chemistry Set styled song very well and I also like the guitars and rhythm section. Nice and catchy! "Ten Points for the Red Star" is almost hard rock until there's a tranquil, soulful part in the middle. The mid-tempo "Serenade the Ley Line" brings to mind Chemistry Set as well, maybe some Magic Mushroom Band too. The longest track is the great "Days of Set" at 6:32. This sort of reminds me of Anton Barbeau: great pop melodies, indie rock guitars, all that. One of the highlights! "Outro" ends the EP in atmospheric soundscapes including percussion. The Ego Ritual is for sure a band to look out for, let's see what they come up with next.

www.facebook.com/theegoritual 

Astralasia - A Different Kettle of Fish

Strange Fish (strange fish fifteen)

Okay, something a bit different has once again been cooking at the Fruits de Mer fishing camp! Astralasia main man Marc Swordfish has been collaborating with Keith for a few years already for some special remixes for 7" bonus CD's and exclusive members only compilation CD's. There have also been two amazing Astralasia 2LP's Wind on Water (2014) and Oceania (2017) that Keith has released. This 2LP set includes some of the remixes and re-imagings of cover songs and originals that were originally recorded for Fruits de Mer by Sendelica, The Chemistry Set and Superfjord as well as some things especially reworked for this release. For a long-time Astralasia fan like me this really makes me drool!

The A side begins with "Johnny's Little Brainticket (lounge mix)" that is based on tracks from the Fruits de Mer 2014 Annual and Postcards from the Deep flexi disc box-set. The lysergic Brainticket vibe has been taken to the 21st century with a groovy electronic beat, I love it! This flows seamlessly into the beautiful ambient piece "Sargasso Sea" edited from the Astralasia live LP Tales From The People Who Are Astralasia (one of the very few Astralasia LP's I'm missing...). That one turns into an alternative mix of "Love or Confusion" that appeared on the special edition of The Chemistry Set's Endless More and More LP. Sitar, lots of acoustic guitar and other stuff on top of hypnotic beat, just wonderful... Also some vocals on this one. On side B, "Deep Magic, A Love Supreme" originally appeared on the Coltrane 7" (by Superfjord and Earthling Society) bonus disc but it's great to have this on vinyl as well! Super groovy and hallucinogenic, would do the trick at a trance party. This trip turns into "Fountains of Ambience" that has only appeared on The Chemistry Set Fountains of Neptune members club free CD. Trippy-trippy...

On side C we first have "Johnny's Little Brainticket in Dub", again based on the tracks from the Postcards from the Deep box-set. "Shamanic Waterfall" appeared on the Coltrane bonus CD and it's a highly enjoyable, psychedelic and relaxing journey to inner space. On side D "The Sorcerer's Apprentice's ambience mix" has been previously heard on the bonus CD of The Fruits de Mer Records Guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 7" and it's a magical ambient piece. Then follows an instrumental mix of "The Desert", a vocal mix of which can be heard on Astralasia's "Wind on Water" 2LP. Very nice chilled-out soundscapes! The album is finished with the amazing "Timothy Leary Forever (Legend of  Mind remix)" from the bonus CD of The Chemistry Set's Firefly 7". Leary's message is clear and powerful here! The original track is one of the best songs The Moody Blues ever made, The Chemistry Set's cover is one of the highlights of the whole FdM catalogue and I just love Astralasia so it's easy to figure out how I feel about it. All in all, A Different Kettle of Fish is an amazing double LP of some of the best Astralasia works I've ever heard and a perfect opportunity to hear some of the stuff for the very first time and at least for the first time on mighty vinyl. This is a must-have for a FdM fan who also likes modern but still totally mind-expanding production. Mind-blowing!

http://www.astralasia.co.uk/

Various Artists - The 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus - Live

Regal Crabomophone (winkle 36)

This is a cool various artists double LP set recorded live last year at the annual Fruits de Mer Records gathering at Cellar Bar in Cardigan, Wales. Having been a FdM fan since the very beginning, I have always wanted to go there, but the distance and timing has so far made it impossible. It's wonderful to get to taste the atmosphere there at least a bit through this sonic kaleidoscope.

First we get a couple of tracks of great minimal folk music by Eflin Bow. I Am Voyager performs the melancholic "Songbird" and things are still kept pretty simple and plain. Stay from Barcelona usually rocks out, but the first track by them "Old Man" is rather laid-back and "Rock'n'Roll Woman" a more pop oriented affair, but at least we now hear a full band with drums and all. On side two Consterdine offers a spacier instrumental electronic piece with "A Spell for Leonard", nice. Another Sendelica related act The Fellowship Of Hallucinatory Voyagers take us on a beutiful ambient mind journey with "Moonlight Moorings". I am not familiar with The Alain Pire Experience apart from a couple of previous FdM compilation appearances, but their indie psych/pop/rock song "Drifting South" with a long solo section sounds pretty excellent.

Sendelica, the main organizers of the festival, have the side three for themselves. "BS", originally from last year's "Cromlech Chronicles III" is a superb heavy rocker and on the 14-minute "Maggot Brain" the band takes the Funkadelic classic to new hights once again. This track was also the band's debut on Fruits de Mer in 2010 and the 7" is now very collectable! One of my favourite bands. Then it's time for Finnish psychonauts The Fërtility Cült who I've also followed since the beginning. It's good that also they are now part of the FdM family. Their heavier sound is a welcome addition and "Cosmic Kaishakunin" from their debut album is a cool, slow, doomy and heavy rocker while the keyboards and sax add more jazzy, progressive vibes. The festival's special guest Nik Turner finishes off the 2LP with his New Space Ritual band. First we've got the closer to 10-minute Hawkwind classic "Steppenwolf". I love this song! "Walking Backwards" is a cool space rocker from Space Ritual's excellent Otherworld album and it works really well here as well.

All in all, this is a great historical document of a very special festival and I'm so glad that I got to get a little glimpse of what it might have been like to be there. The sound quality is excellent and the 2LP is a cool item to have for all Fruits de Mer followers with so much different but great music on it.

www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/16thdreamlp.html

Pressor - Weird Things

Addicted Label/Bad Road Records/Voron Nest (723/BR#24/VNCD0009)

Pressor is a Russian stoner/sludge/doom metal band that have been around for at least seven years. They have been compared to bands like Conan (who they have also supported live) and I can understand why. This CD EP (28-min.) from 2018 is their latest release and here the band have charged their ultra heavy and groovy sonic world with spacey and psychedelic synthesizers to a great, mind-expanding effect.

There are four tracks on the EP. "Heavy States" starts off with bubbling, experimental synths until the crushingly heavy, slow riff arrives. This 5-minute instrumental works great as an introduction to the EP. "Weird Things" is a faster, bit hardcore oriented but also very heavy song with aggressive vocals. There are also slower doom passages in the middle for a good balance. "Tripping Deep" is the longest track at 9:45 and also maybe my favourite. Some ultra-cool riffs and windy synths on this one and no mercy is given for the weak! I like the fact that there is also some lead guitar work in there. Also the last piece "Hexadecimal Unified Insanity" is a real killer and on-your-face with lots of brutality and doom and more synth madness. I bet this band also slays live and according to their Facebook page they will be on European tour in April/May also including shows in Helsinki and Tampere so be sure to check them out!

www.facebook.com/Pressor

Transnadežnost' - Monomyth

Addicted Label (728)

Transnadežnost' is a cool, (almost) instrumental stoner/psych rock band from St. Petersburg, Russia. Somehow they have stayed outside my radar until I received this CD a couple of weeks ago and immediately fell in love with the band. The band is formed by Aleksandr Yershov – guitar, Alesya Izlesa – guitar, glockenspiel, Nikolay Vladimirovich – bass and David Aaronson – drums, percussion. There are also a couple of guests on Monomyth: vocals, lyrics on "Huldra" – Egor Svysokihgor and trumpets on "Star Child" & "Day/Night" – Aleksey Gorshkov. I really like the band's dreamy, progressive and spacey style that has some resemblance to bands like Monkey 3, Papir or Causa Sui, but they don't actually sound exactly like anyone else. The band has some previous digital only releases but, as far as I know, this is their first physical output.

There are seven tracks on the CD. The bluesy and dreamy "Pacha Mama" starts off the journey at first in a rather tranquil manner. There are also some more intense, progressive stuff in there to make things more interesting. Very cool! Also "Ladoga" has a peaceful beginning but after some hypnotic stuff it starts to rock out in a sort of trancey way. Things cool down again towards the end. The pretty long (9:30) "Kailash" has lots of different stuff in it from fast kraut/stoner rocking and groovy mystical heavy psych to weird, experimental and almost ambient jamming with percussion. Amazing! The bit shorter "Star Child" is an atmospheric track with trumpet to give it a sort of post rock vibe. The spacey and dreamy  "Huldra" is one of my favorites and it's nice to have some vocals for a change. "Chewbacca" is the album's shortest track at 2:41 and very good and psychedelic as well. The album is finished with the beautiful and hypnotic "Day/Night" that is one of the highlights and also the longest track (12:15). The trumpet again gives some jazzy extra flavor to the trance-inducing vibes. Fans of bands like Maserati will enjoy this ride! In summary, Monomyth is an excellent, highly enjoyable album full of trippy, atmospheric and adventurous greatness and my only complaint is that this is not out on vinyl. You can buy the digipak CD from the band's Bandcamp site with free postage! Also check out the label's Bandcamp site.

www.facebook.com/transnadeznost

Hotlist March 2019

Okay, these are the top ten slices of vinyl I've been spinning at the Zone in March:

Moths & Locusts ‎– Come Together Right Now (Remixes)
Sex Blender ‎– Hormonizer
The Spacious Mind ‎– The No. 4 or 5 Gravy Band
Minami Deutsch and Damo Suzuki ‎– Live At Roadburn Festival 10"
Kungens Män ‎– Chef
Sounds Of New Soma ‎– Zwischen / Durch
Jupiter – Iosomnia
Omnia Opera ‎– Nothing Is Ordinary
El Hombre Al Agua – Oumuamua Parts 1 & 2 
Dream Machine – Temple Of Dreams