Guitar god and by far my most favorite guitar player in about an hour LSD-influenced jam session with Johnny Winter and Jim Morrison.
German Oak – German Oak (1990)
“In the strange Olympic summer of 1972, the Düsseldorf instrumental group (community of 5 hippies / open mind artists) German Oak entered the Luftschutzbunker (or Air Raid Shelter), in order to record their eponymous first self-titled LP. The purpose of recording in a bunker was to recreate the feelings experienced by German soldiers during the Allied invasion of 1944. The strange acoustic conditions in the bunker made the music, which was a series of long, spacious guitar jams, sound distant and filled with echo… By consequence German Oak’s music is very tortured, dark and weird, dominated by heavy, “distorted” guitar solos & rhythms. The background creates “painful” & “ambient” sequences thanks to delay echoes, electronic “fuzzy” noises & repetitive bass lines.”
Baby Grandmothers – Baby Grandmothers (2007)
“The band can be treated as ahead of time with a progressive experimental orientation playing long, mainly improvised songs oriented at Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Some of them were placed on a compilation which was released in 2007 by the swedish Subliminal label. They were recorded at the legendary ‘Filips’ club, a breeding ground for new experimental bands at that time. BABY GRANDMOTHERS also jammed with Mothers Of Invention and supported The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their Scandinavian tour at the turn of the year 1967/68.”
JPT Scare Band – Sleeping Sickness (2000)
“JPT Scare Band has been blazing psychedelic trails for quite some time now. Over the years and decades they have managed to progress from totally unknown to painfully obscure. In spite of all that… they are still together, with the original lineup intact. Still making meaningful music in the 21st century, this veteran group of jammers is also proud of their vast legacy of classic twisted insanity recorded back in olden analogue times.”
Seven That Spells – The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock: AUM (2011)
“Seven That Spells was formed by Niko Potočnjak in 2003. The beginnings of the band were rooted in the power trio format but have since then – and after more than 50 musicians passing through the band – evolved to a more modern and aggressive psychedelic sound incorporating polymetrics and occasional viking funeral rites… STS will continue to blow minds and play live shows as frequently as possible. All of the current members reside in Zagreb, Croatia.”
Mugstar – ...Sun, Broken... (2010)
“Mugstar are the sound of 10,000 suns exploding, pulsing with repetitive beauty, pounding like a supersonic mantra with shades of Sonic Youth, Neu!, Oneida and Pink Floyd.”
Melting Euphoria – Upon The Solar Winds (1995)
“It’s less known about this band although MELTING EUPHORIA is often considered as one of the space rock flagships. Formed in San Francisco by keyboardist Don Falcone, England-native Anthony ‘Forti’ Budziszewski (bass) and Mychael Merrill (drums) they started with the album ‘Through The Strands Of Time’ (1994) – avant-garde oriented, forced by spacey synthesizer and tribal drumming… MELTING EUPHORIA moved on with guitarist DeFM and new keyboard/synthesizer collaborators evolving the psych/space fundament. At an interval of one year they released album for album and improved their significant style based on a melodic cosmic trippy sound enriched with a lot of synthesizer goodies.”
Ahkmed – Distance (2009)
“As a three-piece outfit by John-Paul ‘Popey’ Caligiuri (drums, voices), Carlo Iacovino (guitars), and Dan McNamara (bass), AHKMED were born in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. With the special mission to spread their fuzzy and swirling space rock over the world, they got influenced by diverse heavy-psych styles and bands – Space Rock (Hawkwind), Heavy/Stoner Metal (Kyuss, Black Sabbath), Post Rock (Mogwai), Garage Punk (The Stooges, Hellacopters), Alternative Rock (Fu Manchu), etc. – and tried to push their original mellow and ambient soundscapes in front of the foundation. Exploring their capabilities through releasing 3 EPs and a compilation, they at last came into bloom with the debut album ‘Distance’ in 2009.”
35007 – Liquid (2002)
“Going by the enigmatic code name 35007 (“loose” spelled upside down), Dutch musicians Mark Sponselee (guitar, bass, drums, synths, effects), Bertus Fridael (guitar), Michel Boekhoudt (bass), and Sander Evers (drums) perform ambient trance-groove music of a predominantly instrumental design. Secretive by nature, the group rarely performs live, and when it does, it’s usually with the help of a visual specialist to provide a truly multimedia and multi-sensory experience.”
Secret Saucer – Element 115 (2005)
“SECRET SAUCER is an idea to bring like minded musicians together to play improvised space rock in a studio setting. The band is build up by members of several US psych/space groups like QUARKSPACE, STAR NATION and SUN MACHINE. Steve Taylor and Steve Hayes had already toured with Nik Turner and Daevid Allen… Even though it sounds like well thought-out song compositions the music is purely improvised coupled with some slight krautrock leanings. SECRET SAUCER surely appeals to fans who prefer the psychedelic phase of Porcupine Tree or like to listen to bands with hypnotic moves like Hawkwind, Gong, Man, Oresund Space Collective and Ozric Tentacles.”