Time for some news. The latest single from the forthcoming Astral Magic with Paul Roland album is the title track ”Light of the World” released digitally on Summer Solstice to celebrate the longest day of the year in Northern hemisphere.
Jonathan Segel – electric guitar, violin, mandolin, mastering.
Jasmin Anglén - backing vocals.
Anton Sailo - broken kannel.
Juha Takalo – cover design.
The initial CD pressing is 100 copies and the album will also be available from elasticStage in the UK in lathe-cut vinyl version.
Other stuff coming out later this year is a new Strange Vibrations album Psychic States, a very limited Dr Space meets Astral Magic CD-R and the collaboration with Bridget Wishart and Steve Bemand…and of course also a new Astral Magic album Astral Architects! More on those later.
Dr Joe Paradiso has been building one of the largest modular synthesizer for over the past 50 years. In March 2025 Dr Space visited him and they recorded together improvised modular synth jams and this CD includes the "Movement 13 (Swampworld)". It's the first release of these sessions and lasts for 80 minutes. On CD it's just one massive slab of pulsating and bleeping synths, on Bandcamp it had to be divided in three sections due to size limit. It's a continuous mass of several drones and bleeps all run through numerous effect pedals. Inside the cover Dr Space explains a bit the creating and recording process which is quite interesting. It's hard to find any melody or even rhythm from this very experimental and droney piece but if you are okay with that and enjoy this kind of electronic ambience you might enjoy it. Definitely spacey and weird! Just 100 copies made so act fast if you want one.
I got this latest OSC CD from my good friend Scott Heller aka Dj Space when I visited him and his wife in Portugal a few weeks ago. As you can see, it's the third in their Espaço (= space) series, meaning it has long, peaceful improvised tracks that better work on CD than vinyl. What's new is that this is the first time to have also some banjo on an OSC album! Donald Lupo, a banjo player living in Tampere, Finland, was featured in these sessions along the main-stays Dr Space, Jonathan Segel (violin, lap steel, guitar), Jiri Hjorth (bass) and Mattias Olsson (drums, Mellotron).
The closer to 40-minute "Espaço 3 (Trials of Fears)" starts out the album in a relaxed, minimal and ambient way. Drums join in only later on. Very nice and floating! "Beauty in the Hairs of the Back" is a shorter, "only" seven-minute, soft jam with mainly violin and some child-like devices/sounds. Pretty and relaxing. The last piece "Warpled Cactus Roots" has some sound of rain at the beginning. Now you can really hear the banjo too. A darker, slow and creeping vibe here. Slowly the jam grows a bit and quiet drums join in. Some nice banjo in there. Later it gets into 5/4 going with some cool leads by Jonathan. Lot's of interesting stuff in almost 24 minutes and maybe my favourite of the three tracks.
This was released on the last Bandcamp Friday at the beginning of the month and there are not that many copies left so act fast if you want one! Great cover art by David Graham again and Jonathan has mixed the album really well.
Space Depris is a German jam rock band that I never really got into. You know, one of those bands that sound good enough and might work live at some hippie festival in Germany but that you do not necessary need to buy on vinyl even though some of your friends do like them. They have released many albums since the 90's and as far as I know all their music is instrumental and jam based in the early 70s vein with guitar, bass drums and organ/keyboards. Long jams that sometimes get psychedelic and spacey but usually stay more in the progressive hard/blues rock style.
Well, Keith from Fruits de Mer seems to like them so much that he has decided to release a 3LP/2CD compilation set of some of their jams! It's marketed on the promo sheet as maximum krautrock, maybe that's one way to put it but not what comes to my mind first while listening to the band's music. There is also one unreleased jam ("Villamountain") and three that are here released on vinyl for the first time. What's cool is that there is also a 20-page booklet designed by Dale Simpson so you know it will look great! The special edition also has posters and even a tiny meteor fragment! I'm sorry, but while listening to the promo version I still do not get the urge to buy the band's music. Having said that, there are some great moments that I enjoy. If you are into long, groovy instrumental jams with varying recording quality and occasional Latin and blues influences this might be for you.
Pete Bingham of Welsh psych rockers Sendelica died on the 19th of May 2026 after a brief battle with aggressive cancer. He had long suffered from heart problems but this sort of came as a surprise although friends and fans knew that he had been in hospital for quite a long time. Pete was big part of Fruits de Mer Records history being the main organizer of the label's annual festival held in his home Cardigan in Wales. Sendelica was also one of the first bands to work with the label and released a large quantity of singles, compilation tracks and albums on Fruits de Mer during the years. He was also a good friend of mine and me met several times in real life too when I organized gigs for Sendelica in Finland and traveled to the UK. The last time we saw each other was in Cardigan during the last Fruits de Mer Festival there in Summer 2024. Even though he was tired and busy, he still wanted to show me some of his favourite places and best fish and ships restaurant in town also inviting me to his home for a cup of tee. That gives a little impression of how good a friend and human being he was. I'm happy and proud that he was my friend. I'm glad he also had time to take part in several of my Astral Magic albums as well as asked me to join in on many Sendelica albums. Such a great guy and musician.
This 4CD-R compilation was put together while Pete was on a sick bed. It is a perfect testament to Pete and the music of Sendelica and also a good way to get introduced to the band for the first time. Together with other very nice and cool guys Glenda (bass), Colin (synths, programming, beats etc.) Lee (sax) and Jack (drums) and some occasional quests and collaborators they made some of the best psych/kraut/space rock music in the modern times. The first disc is filled with covers they released on FdM, usually with guest singers. Great, great stuff. Discs two and three include tracks from their albums (even two from the first EP that I don't even have!), demos and unreleased remixes. Very interesting stuff. The third disc is dedicated to their live stuff recorded at various FdM related events (Crabstock and Sardonicus festivals) and is a great way to end this compilation. Although Sendelica made lots of amazing recordings it's their live shows that they are most known and remembered for.
I don't know if there are any plans to release more Sendelica stuff in the future, but if not, this massive compilation will be an excellent testament to their legacy. Long live Sendelica.
I went to Portugal and also visited the Gouveia Art Rock festival at the 300-seated theatre in the little city if Gouveia. The town is situated in the mountain area North of Lissabon. Very beautiful area! I went to the festival with my good old friend Scott Heller aka Dr Space. I really enjoyed the festival that was a mix of classical, folk and modern prog music! Highlights for me were Peter Hammil, Tangerine Dream and Soft Machine. You can check all my videos in this YouTube playlist below.
Flocking to the Nozone is the third CD by duo formed by synth wizard Scott "Dr Space" Heller and Matt (ex-Elder) on multiple instruments like guitar, drums, bass and here mostly synths. They also use field-recordings recorded by Luis Antero in their home country Portugal.
The closer to full 80-minute CD has seven tracks. The title track is very ambient in nature and has cool field-recordings like bird-song. "Vincy's Primero Viagem" is also ambient in nature but a bit more experimental even with some industrial vibes. The minimal "Curps" sounds to me like some psychedelic hospital room sounds... Weird stuff... The long "Stow It Away Here" continues in the experimental, ambient weird soundscapes way. Not much change in the next tracks either, not much melody at all, vibes get darker and more pressing at times. There's a slight relief on the last track "Vespas Aqui!". What a weird and experimental album. Only 100 copies pressed on CD.
I've been a fan of the American psych/space rock band 3rd Ear Experience since I first heard them in 2014 when Space Rock Productions released their third album Incredible Good Fortune. This is their latest album, released on 2LP and 2CD, and quite a massive production all in all. The word ballet made me a bit scared at first since I'm not a big fan of that art form, but no worries, this is still proper, progressive space rock music. I have the marvelous splatter double vinyl, and the album is split in four acts that all take one side. I think it's better if I'll let themselves explain the concept:
"Twilight Sutra: the concept.
Twilight, is where night, and day light, blend - a great metaphor for
the union of opposites. Twilight is also a deceptive time, shadows and
light play tricks on your eyes – mind sees things that are not there,
and sometimes not seeing things, that are there.
The word Sutra means; a thread of minimum words, with maximum meaning. Many ancient wisdom doctrines are delivered in Sutras.
Twilight Sutra: the music:
The music is constructed for a modern dance ballet, in the way that Lou
Harrison the great American composer would supply choreographers with
“musical kits” - Twilight Sutra is composed of; clusters of musical
ideas that can be re-combined in countless different ways depending on
what the choreographer requires. This process of creating music to a
dancer is different than creating music that a dancer interprets."
The album tells an adventurous story about a Viking boy but is too long to tell here. The music is very interesting, sort or "artsy" and mostly pretty slow and atmospheric. Most of the tracks have vocals that carry the story very well. I'm sometimes reminded of 70s Pink Floyd or Eloy. The instrumentation is pretty varied: guitars, bass, drums and percussion, keyboards, flute, saxophone & pedal steel. This is (luckily) definitely rock music and not classical music, apart form maybe some passages. Maybe more progressive/symphonic rock than psych/space rock, though. Anyway, I really like the album and there's a lot to get into here. The lyrics are not printed anywhere, but the main story is, so it's pretty easy to follow what's happening where. A cool idea and excellent execution as well!
This is a new Bandcamp-only digital compilation of tracks by our dear friend Dave Schmidt aka Sula Bassana. The oldest tracks are about 30 years old and the latest from 2024. That's where we start off on our Time Travel: a live version of "Ridin'" recorded with the Sula Bassana Band in Hamburg in April 2024. This was the gig that also gave us the Sula Bassana side on their split LP with the Finnish band Skyjoggers. I wonder if there is some other stuff from that concert recorded? I'd like to hear!
Then comes a 2012 out-take "Krachgarten" that was only released on 2020 Bandcamp sampler Here Comes The Sun. Great track, I think! Then a couple of shorter pieces: "Arkelanfall" from 2009 has never been released and also features Modulfix on some electronics. Short but sweet! Also previously unreleased, "Animal Farm" was recorded in 2008 as a joke, using some animal sounds from a library CD. A sort of funny sounding track! "Was Du Denkst" is another unreleased track, probably from 2006. Nice bass playing and cool psychy vibe. "Soulcake" was recorded during many years, in between late 90's and 2005. It has only been released on a CD sampler of Peace Frog Magazine in Greece, in 2011. A bit Ash Ra Temple vibe in the first part, nice. Those of you who have the rare Sulatronics CD-R ( I do, of course!) have already heard "Fiebertraum" and "Paranoid?" originating from the second half of the 90s. Cool to have a more synth/electronic based tracks in here as well! "Suomenlinna", recorded in mid-90s was inspired by Dave's childhood wintery, foggy walk in a fortress island by the same name in Helsinki (one of my favourite spots in town!). Very ambient and atmospheric in nature. Previously unreleased. The album is finished with the over 30-minute "Pilzwald" that was recorded in the late 90s with Liquid Visions singer Alexander Bulgrin with lots of different instruments and effects. This is a real trip for sure and cool way to end this album. It's a real achievement to use tracks from different ages and recording techniques and still make the album sound as a coherent whole! Also proves that Sula Bassana has been on the right, psychedelic path all along.
Phew... This is a massive four-disc compilation of stuff by Astralasia. A big part of it has been released on Fruits de Mer on their albums, singles, cover releases, remixes, but we also get some previously unreleased tracks and mixes. I've been a fan since the early 90s so I absolutely love this treasure trove. It has something for everyone. Hawkwind fans will be interested to know that there is also an unreleased alternative mix of "Flesh to Fantasy" from the Hawkwind's Solstice Remixes maxi single. Some of the tracks were also released under various other names (The Fishheads, The Mushroom Project, Magic Mushroom Band) that Mark Swordfish has been/is part of. The oldest bits were recorded in 1982! (Too bad that my promo package has disc one two times and no disc three, so I will miss that...). So we really have over 40 years of psychedelic music history stored on this compilation. The band's most electronic, ambient/dub/house/trance album tracks from the 90's are not included, and maybe that's a good thing. But I do enjoy them too! One of the highlights is the Brainticket cover "Cotton Wood Hill/Places of Light" from Postcards from the Deep, I think I have played my copy of the box of flexi singles only once... Anyway, over four hours of excellent music, so just go and order it!
I've been a big fan of the Soft Hearted Scientists since I first got introduced to them by Fruits de Mer way over ten years ago. Their psychedelic pop/rock/folk music has a weird appeal that I can't really put into words. There's something whimsical but at the same time deep in their vibe. This is an expanded 3LP set of their latest album originally released on CD last year on their own The Hip Replacement label. I don't own the CD and always prefer vinyl so I am really happy about this release that also has an extra LP with sort of reconstruction of the song themes on side E and three instrumental mixes on the side F as bonus tracks!
The actual album (sides A to D) has 13 new tracks, some shorter interludes and reprises, some in the "normal" pop song range of 3 to 5 minutes, some longer, around 10-minute trips all leading to the 18-minute bonus track (side E). Nathan Hall really still have his talent to write great, catchy songs and all the musicians play really well. It's hard to think of what other bands this might sound like, but I can hear some echoes of The Byrds and The Beatles, for example. But there's plenty of more influences in the mix, for sure. Anyway, this is one of the band's strongest albums without a doubt and no fan will be disappointed. Melodic, trippy and haunting, wonderful stuff.
This is a cool prog rock album collaboration by Fruits de Mer stalwarts Icarus Peel, Steve Palmer, Jay Tausig and Rob Gould. There are four, long instrumental pieces that feel like they were recorded in the early 70s! Even the titles are pretty convincing: "Coral Correlation", "Superpurplesunshine", "The Ochre Cobra", "The Turguoise Shards of Atlantis"... If you love the early 69-73 prog/Centerbury music originally released on Vertigo, Harvest etc. and want to know how the same vibe is achieved today this is a must-have for you. Great playing by all the masters who really know what they are doing here. LP on splatter vinyl out in mid March, get your copy from your favorite FdM dealer, I know I will.
I have started making some of my releases available in physical form from Kunaki Products (US)! They produce the goods very fast and I'd recommend all American fans to use it while I am not able to mail anything to the USA right now from Finland.
So far I have added all the six Strange Vibrations albums and In Space We Trust by Astral Magic since all the artwork on those was put together by me so I could transform it to jewel case format. Expect more stuff soon, also an exclusive tape compilation in the works!
You can already access and play the virtual cassette version of the compilation Wormhole Full Of Wonders here:
Quite a lot has happened in the Astral World since the latest blog release in October. Since the first actual CD release on Astral Magic Music, Astral Magic - The Chosen Ones has been sold-out for a long time I decided to do something about it. Rather than just to re-release it, I got an idea to make new versions of the best tracks and release it under a bit different name: The Ultra Chosen Ones. I recorded some new stuff to ten of the tracks and remixed them. My old friend Juha Takalo, who designed The Chosen Ones CD art also made new artwork for this release. Both lathe-cut LP and CD-R (with two bonus tracks) are ONLY available from elasticStage.
There were two new releases on 5.12.2025, the last Bandcamp Friday of the year. Astral Magic - Weird Encounters and Alternative Realities (ASTRAL058) was the end result of a long process started already at the beginning of 2024. I wanted to continue the Astral Magic magazine that was put out with the compilation tape Meetings with the Universal Mind in 2022. In the end I had to make it happen myself, of course with the help of Andy Wainwright doing the design. Weird Encounters is partly a compilation as well, but also includes some brand-new stuff. All the 13 tracks on the limited-edition CD have never been released in physical format before. The Bandcamp download also includes the booklet Visions from the Future in PDF form. To have the booklet also in printed form, it was added to the lathe-cut LP version that has partly different tracks... Only available from elasticStage.
What comes to our new project Strange Vibrations, things have progressed as well. After Higher Dimentional Beings there have been TWO more albums! V was released as a limited edition (50 copies) real CD in cardboard cover and lathe-cut LP only available from elasticStage again. The latest addition to the S. V. album family is Out of My Mind, that in physical form is only available from elasticStage, both as a lathe-cut LP and a CD-R.
I have been busy making new music with Paul Roland and another album with Bridget Wishart is also taking form. Other stuff has also been made with other musicians, of course. Check out for example Tomplex. I will also be on the next release by Dreaming Apparition, together with Shane Beck and Kevin Erhardt-Hansen.
The long-awaited Astral Hawk Machine album (a collaboration with Jay Tausig, Bridget Wishart and Santtu Laakso) should finally be available next week! There will only be a CD (300 copies) release at the moment, out on Italian Black Widow Records.
Good news is that the next Astral Magic release Into the Cosmos will be out on the 6th of February on LP (200 copies) and digipack CD (100 copies) on Astral Magic Music! Both formats have already been manufactured so no more delays with this heavy, psychedelic space rock masterpiece! Check out the opener on YouTube:
Songs from the Underground is the first solo album by Gregg McKella, the singer/guitarist of UK space rock band Paradise 9. I've been in contact with the man for many years and was also lucky to see the band perform live at Kozfests in 2023 and 2024. At least Gregg also was involved in jamming with several other musicians at those festivals, if my memory serves me right...
Anyway, on this CD he concentrates on acoustic based "space folk" style. Gregg has a long history of also playing acoustic stuff while busking in the 90s and that's where most of these songs are coming from. The album was recorded and produced by another UK space rocker Martin Litmus from Litmus, who also plays bass, keyboards, synths, Mellotron, guitars, drums and percussion, with Gregg on vocals, guitars, glissando guitar, clarinet and synths. The album also features guest musicians Nick Pynn on violins, Jeanette Murphy on BVs along with Paradise 9s
Tyrone Thomas on lead and slide guitars and Mr Eugene also on violins. So it's not just acoustic guitar and voice we have here, some tracks even rock a bit. Most of it is still pretty folky stuff.
The album starts off with the beautiful and melancholic folk song "All Said and Done" and I really like this one. I must have heard this somewhere before. The violin is a nice addition. "Gone so Silent" has drums and rocks a bit more. "New Horizons" is the longest track on the album at 8:25 and the spacey synthesizers add some Hawkwind vibes especially in the first part which is never a bad thing in my books! Also "Face in the Crowd" has some synth noises etc. Nice vocals on this one. "It's Come to This" has more electric guitar, bass and drums and a sort of jazz/funk rock vibe. The instrumental "Sacred Space" is a dreamy number bringing to mind some of the more peaceful Daevid Allen pieces. Wonderful! Then we have "Charlie Don't Mind" that reminds me of something but I just can't name what. The deep "One More Touch" brings to mind Daevid again, maybe mostly for its slide/glissando guitar work. Also "We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago" by Hawkwind, a bit. Great tune. "New Dawn" is a shorter, instrumental acoustic folk piece. "Time to Go" has a sort of ska rhythm. "Motherless Children" is a traditional folk tune that for example also Dave Brock has recorded. This is a rather different version, though. The very nice album is finished with the seven-minute "Woman Like You", a very beautiful love song, I would say. All in all Songs from the Underground is a highly enjoyable album for all those who enjoy the more folky side of space and psych rock. Available on CD and digital download.
The Chemistry Set - The Tragic Fridge Magnet / STP (winkle 61)
Okay, FdM ends the year with a triple bang! Three 7" singles, and that's the way the label started all those years ago. First we have a new single by the label stalwarts The Chemistry Set who have been involved since 2011, but they started already in the 80s. This UK band is one of my favourites among the modern torch-bearers of the 60s psych vibe, and they never disappoint me. "The Tragic Fridge Magnet" is an uptempo garage rocker that gets your ass shaking immediately! I can easily indentify with the vocals since we have a (un)healthy number of fridge magnets in out kitchen as well... This rocks! The B side is bit more psychedelic, slower "STP" (stands for Space Time Perception...). Could almost be a long-lost classic of Syd's Pink Floyd, it's that good! A must-have, naturally.
The Owl Service - A Tribute to Sandy Denny (Crustacean 103)
The Owl Service is a new act on Fruits de Mer, but backing vocalist Alison O'Donnell is probably more familiar. The single is a tribute to the music of folk rock singer Sandy Denny and has two beautiful interpretations of songs originally sung by Sandy: "The Sea" (Fotheringay) and "Genesis Hall" (Fairport Convention). Just amazing stuff and exquisite vocals by the lead singer Dorothy Chappel. Very well done! This single suits the Fruits de Mer Records catalogue perfectly. This will be sold-out very soon, so try to locate a copy if peaceful folk-rock is your thing.
Behind the Sun Collective - Children of the Revolution / Maggot Brain (Crustacean 102)
Behind the Sun Collective is another new band for the Fruits de Mer. Some of us have witnessed their set at the label's summer festival in 2024. So, we have two pretty common covers songs here, but presented in a relatively original way and I like them. Marc Bolan's hit song "Children of a Revolution" is hard-rocking and pretty dirty, it really works. "Maggot Brain" is of course shortened quite a lot from it's original 10-minute-plus length but sounds really cool and enjoyable as it is here. This act is obviously something to keep on eye on!
More info on all the singles and where to get them from:
Like I said in the previous news post, a new album by our side-project Strange Vibrations was released today to celebrate yet another Bandcamp Friday! Only 50 copies on factory-made CD-R and of course digital.
I also did a very different "Single Mix" of the album's last track "Children of the Perpetual Echo" that was released into the wild digitally last week. This version has sort of a 60s psych pop feel, I think? The original version on the album is more ambient in nature.
Check out the song at YouTube (for example):
There is nothing new out from the mothership Astral Magic, but as you might have noticed, I have put A LOT of old, sold-out stuff and vinyl debuts available to elasticStage with the help of Andy Wainwright (cover art on most) and Jonathan Segel (vinyl mastering for the lathe-cut versions).
I have ordered copies of each one to myself, but have not received all yet. But what I do have have been of high quality although being an on-demand thing and all products being done one-by-one there might sometimes be some mistakes. No worries though, elasticStage has a very fast and friendly customer support and if you receive something faulty they will send replacement a.s.a.p.
Almost all the sold-out CD-R's are now available in new packaging and the vinyl LPs available are:
As soon as we get the album artwork done, you will also be able to order LP copies of Cosmic Energy Flow, End of Time, Strange Sensation, Sacred Mysteries and Floating in Space! Happy daze are here!
If you have been wondering, then yes, there will also be an Astral Magic album out later this year.
Weird Encounters and Alternative Realitieswill be out on the 5th of December, the last Bandcamp Friday of the year. It is a weird hybrid of a new studio album and a compilation. The CD (100 copies in digipack) will include 13 tracks that have never been available in physical format before.
The CD tracks:
1. The Worm (Astral Magic Wormhole Remix) 6:04 2. Programmed Reality (New Song) 13:08 3. Colors Behind My Soul (Remix) 6:15 4. A Lucid Trip (Remix) 4:48 5. Lurking in the Dark (Home Studio Version) 5:38 6. Taste of Sunlight (Home Studio Version) 5:08 7. Psychic Resistance (Home Studio Version) 4:57 8. Mind Eater (Home Studio Version) 6:50 9. Remember Your Roots (Home Studio Version) 4:38 10. Emerald Tablet (Home Studio Version) 4:13 11. Longing for the Stars (Astral Magic Remix) 4:12 12. Solarwind (Astral Magic Remix) 4:29 13. Kingdoms in the Sky (New Song) 7:02
A lathe-cut LP with a 12-page booklet where the Astral Magic saga continues from the Astral Magic magazine released on 2022 will be made available through elasticStage. The LP version will have partly different track list, none of the tracks have been available on vinyl before:
The LP tracks:
1. The Worm (Astral Magic Wormhole Remix) 6:04 2. Programmed Reality (New Song) 13:08 3. Mind Melt Machine (L’Autre Monde Mix) 3:24 4. Heady Daze 4:20 5. Colors Behind My Soul (Remix) 6:15 6. A Lucid Trip (Remix) 4:48 7. Kingdoms in the Sky (7:08)
After years of waiting and fishing for labels, I have also decided to finally release the heavy space rock album Into the Cosmos by my own on Astral Magic Music. So LP and CD with bonus tracks coming out in early 2026! Other thing worth mentioning is that I have started album projects with two of my old collaborators, some exciting details will be given out at a later date...
