“Bardo Pond’s extensive archive recordings series opens up once again with ‘Volume 9’, an incisive journey into their hypnotic sound. Recorded in the early 2000’s it’s a heady mix of acoustic ambience and menacing distortion. Infamous purveyors of longform stoner rock, Bardo Pond embrace their sludgestorms with graceful nods to Hawkwind, Earth and my bloody valentine. For anyone uninitiated with the band’s tranquilizing sound, Volume 9 leans into their mesmeric practise with reckless abandon.”
“SPOOK – Dutch for GHOST – is a brand new trio by Simon Segers (De Beren Gieren, Black Flower) on drums, Nicolas Rombouts (Ottla, Dez Mona) on double bass and Filip Wauters (The Wodads, BackBack) on pedal steel and guitar. What started in the summer of 2019 as a one-off meeting has now grown into a fully-fledged collective that breaks the boundaries between improv and composition with intense interplay and sparse themes. The prominent presence of the pedal steel gives SPOOK an allure of “free country” or “post western”. Add some pulsating progrock rhythms and the free spirit and virtuosity of jazz and you capture the unique sound of SPOOK.”
“Oresund Space Collective (OSC), formed in 2004, is a totally improvising Scandinavian space rock band and has been releasing albums since 2006. The band has played concerts & festivals all over Europe. Their music is quite diverse and influenced by the ever-changing line up in the collective. The music on this release has more of a world music vibe from the funky ‘Funkafide’ to the Santana inspired ‘Ognijj’ to the reggae of ‘Ganja Anja’, intense jazz ‘Snake Fucker’ and chilled out ‘Floating Rings Around Time’. An extremely varied but rewarding musical journey, featuring extraordinary playing from top musicians in the prog world.”
“Members of Papir & Causa Sui finalise Edena Gardens trilogy. True to El Paraiso fashion, Dens concludes a trilogy of albums, aptly spelling out the last third of the group’s name. And true to form, the band turns inwards rather than outwards, drawing on deep shades of ambient, slowcore, and the ghost of Mark Hollis. While maintaining their psychedelic edge, the trio weaves the lines between genres in a way that’s becoming a signature of its own. Never in a hurry, but always moving somewhere.”
“Diversions Vol. 2: Enter the Astral Plane is a collection of improvised compositions recorded in 2021. The record shows a different side of Kanaan, where the aim is to explore different states of mind and musical spaces where collective improvisation is at the forefront. Improvisation has been an important part of the band’s live shows from day one, but it hasn’t been as prominently documented on record – until now.”
“Bob Balch here. In November of 2022 I went out to Joshua Tree for a day of jamming with the guys in Yawning Man with the intention of calling it “Yawning Balch.” No riffs were planned. We just plugged in and played. The only discussion beforehand was that Gary Arce and I wanted to mess with tons of guitar pedals. I knew that while we were jamming it sounded great, but it wasn’t until I got home and listened to it all that I realized we had something special. It’s hard to believe that we jammed for five hours and got two full length LPs and then some out of it. Every player killed it on these recordings and I’m beyond grateful to have my name involved with this legendary band. Fingers crossed they invite me back out annually for more jam sessions. I hope you enjoy these jams and please use responsibly.”
“This half hour improvisation was recorded live at Exploded View Microcinema on occupied Tohono O’odham land on April 1st, 2015 around the time that our album Arena Negra was released. This was a short lived lineup of the band that nonetheless was incredibly active during that year, and was that which also performed at the band’s one (technically frustrated) appearance at Austin’s Levitation Festival.”
“In a unique interplay, SPECK combines the repetitive, driving character of Krautrock and the boundless, psychedelic sound spectacles of space rock – and goes one step further: with a lot of energy, dynamics and unexpected twists. The band’s sound is now more mature, more sophisticated, richer. This time it was deliberately recorded in complete home direction. Sounds have been created that may sound familiar at first glance, but now also make clear many things that were previously hidden. You can hear the swinging of the skins, feel the motor skills of the bass, anticipate the step on the wah pedal and the energy that is bundled and released. The many layers of the guitar open like a pompous fan. While the bass envelops the room in unobtrusive analogue warmth as before, it is above all the drums that make the quantum leap in sound clear. On their latest record, SPECK create a cosmic soundscape with their glorious repetitions and a 3D backdrop, on which it is wonderful to cavort.”
“With “Nectar Of The Gods” The Spacelords take their unmistakable sound to new, astral heights. The Spacelords – the galactic grooving space rockers in the stoner space-time continuum – grace our solar sound system with their latest album… The constantly reinventing, deeply interwoven interplay of the trio captivates the stoner, space and kraut rock community with its devoted joy of playing, as only true friends can muster.”
“Denver’s newest lords of lysergic, instrumental wizardry NIGHT FISHING have released their second EP, Yuppie Cortado. Guaranteed to bring Ego Death to All (even Yuppie Scum), the EP contains two new third eye-opening jamz of Rocky Mountain psych rock bliss.”