Norwegian band that fuse improvised jazz with improvised psychedelic rock. Think John Coltrane meets Amon Duul in intense LSD jam.
Het Droste Effect – Het Droste Effect (2011)
“Het Droste Effect from Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Tracks ranging from repetitive robotrock to calm ambient to psychedelic kraut and space rock, infused with field recordings and special guests on bass, moog, vibraphonette, saxophone and monotron. Inspired by many great bands from the past and the present, Hermann (guitar/engineer) & Thompson (drums/percussion) set out to create a sound of their own. Het Droste Effect go on to have a jazz-inspired jam that fuses influences from the extended freestyle freeform funtimes of bands like the Grateful Dead.”
Koolaid (Global Tyranny) – Koolaid (Global Tyranny) (2011)
“The weirdest of the bunch, groovy, and almost funky, thick steel string strum, all wreathed in psychedelic guitar noise, laced with some weird samples, drug related of course. All wound into a sound noisy and weirdly tripped out. Totally drugged out hypnotic space rock . The band set up a groove, usually super simple and minimal, spaced out and krautrocky, and then over the top, they basically let loose, a barrage of samples, all twisted up and layered and doused in effects, some looped rhythmically, others slowed down and sped up, and on top of that sheets of strange drones and whirs, clouds of swooping echo and delay, all manner of backwards melodies. The musical part slipping easily from minimal hushed lope, to pounding wah wah guitar drenched Stooges-y psychedelic stomp, to buzzy raga, to dirgey almost Butthole Surfers sounding drug rock, but again, it’s what’s going on all around it, which is like a symphony of malfunctioning samplers gone haywire.”
Sadistic Candle – Live Improvisation (2011)
“Sadistic Candle (Barrett Avner) is some demonic sourcing, kick-out-the-fuzz-and-beam-into-the-internal/eternal-zone jams. Sadistic Candle is straight from the heart of a man, broadcast from an expanse of quilted bedroom somewhere deep in Los Angeles, fueled with the dust hanging motionless in window-light over a stack of Hawkwind LPs, made crooked by the pure-hearted trickster, sighing with troubadour spirit, revealed with a 4-track. A statement of purpose.”
Bardo Pond & Carlton Melton – Split (2011)
Split from 2 giants of underground improvised psychedelia.
Mitchell And Manley – Norcal Values (2011)
“Floating down the Yuba River, hang gliding off the cliffs at Fort Funston, a day at Ocean Beach with the dog, a leisurely stroll in Golden Gate Park, a fat bag of Trainwreck; these are among the many images that come to mind when listening to Mitchell and Manley’s Norcal Values. Inspired by his spiritual advisor, Bettina Richards, Phil Manley recruited the shredding stylings of Earthless’ Isaiah Mitchell to collaborate on a record comprised almost exclusively of a single continuous guitar solo. The recording was made live with no overdubs – completely improvised. This recording exhibits inspiration so pure that it could only come from within. Drawing from the classical Indian music tradition as well as from modern new age music, Norcal Values is the sonic equivalent of fine Californian cuisine. We invite you to dine upon its bountiful aural splendor. Bon appetite!”
Chicago Odense Ensemble – Chicago Odense Ensemble (2011)
“Chicago Odense Ensemble is a unique collaboration that came together in the winter of 2008 while danish musicians Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt stayed in Chicago. Through mutual friends a studio session was arranged for the two to improvise and lay down ideas with some of Chicagos finest improvisers, including members of Tortoise and Chicago Underground Collective. Improvisation is not unfamiliar to the two danes, however, as they are more than accustomed to working from spontaneity and freeform structures in psych/kraut/prog unit Causa Sui in their hometown of Odense… The result is something quite unique: a musical blend that exists somewhere in between the aesthetics of impro jazz, hypnotic rock and electronica. The closest reference for this kind of music is probably early 1970s proto-fusion jazz that strived for a similar synthesis of jazz improvisation, psychedelic rock, eastern and african sounds and the use of the studio as a musical tool instead of merely a recording facility.”
Electric Orange – Netto (2011)
“Electric Orange is a german psychedelic band from Aachen. They are influenced by bands like Amon Düül II, Can and Ash Ra Tempel. Krautrock from hell is one way to call it and to give it a true name. Soft, psychedelic stoner rock is another. Electric Orange share a band history of almost twenty years jamming and exploring songs together. Their main focus is long, instrumental songs that leave a lot of space for improvisations and ebb and flow with their own internal tide. Song defined as a structural piece of music that comprehensively contains a certain idea put into notes, then Electric Orange overflow that definition again and again with yet another wave of improvisation or solo. Because that seems to be their vision: a boundless, overflowing and transcending rock experience that makes the mind flow on the fundament of the rhythm section together with the foreground improvisation instrument. Or in other words: psychedelia.”
Papir – Stundum (2011)
“Papir is a krautrock band from Copenhagen, Denmark. Band correctly eschews the traditional pigeonholes of krautrock, prog rock, space rock and stoner rock, while admitting to retaining elements of all these nebulous and intersecting genres. Influences cited by the band include Can and electric Miles Davis (Stundum is semi-improvised, with a few extra layers of guitar and percussion overdubbed onto the frenzied three-piece jams), as well as German guitar legends Manuel Gottsching (specifically the two extended freakouts on the first Ash Ra Tempel album) and Michael Rother (as heard on the crushing and thoroughly atypical early Kraftwerk bootleg K2).”
Dark Sun – A Journey Through Space (2011)
Lo-fi studio jams by Finnish psychedelic space rock band Dark Sun. Recommended for astral travellers.