Vágtázó Halottkémek - 1988 - A Halál Móresre Tanítása

I find it somewhat difficult to classify what genre the Hungarian band Vágtázó Halottkémek (Galloping Coroners) sounds like. I suppose I would just use the catch-all "psych rock" to describe them, but that's not quite it either, for there also seems to be somewhat of a hardcore punk type rawness to it. Vágtázó Halottkémek manage to tap into this sort of frantic primeval energy that almost makes me think of Viking battle music. At the same time it also has more cohesion in composition than, say, Acid Mothers Temple; the tracks feel pretty distinct from eachother. Chaotic "freakout" jams are something I'm very fond of and this band happens to do it very, very well.

1. Ki Vele, Az Istenért!
2. Ráébredek
3. Tárulj, Világ!
4. Mi Történt?
5. Élö Világegyetem  

 A Halál Móresre Tanítása is a whirlwind of chaos that varies with each track. The first track is perhaps the most chaotic, but even that maintains a certain pulse of some kind. Tracks 2 and 3 remind me of some of Hawkwind's more energetic jams. The way these songs are organized make it hard to articulate whats going on, and have this almost subconscious effect where the mind can't quite remember what's happening. Even so, it somehow keeps changing. There's this amazing part at the end of track 3 with tribal percussion, flutes, and a-melodic dronings. Track 4 is unusual from the rest, probably the most accessible, with a sort of catchy Gothic guitar hook that's kind of like something from The Cure or The Chameleons except with screaming and dissonance. The album closes with a relatively more chill vibe with acoustic guitar, verbed out vocals, and more primeval chanting. 

If you want coherency and catchy hooks, this album probably isn't for you. If you like strange music with noisy atmospheric jams this should be right up your alley. An excellent debut from an instrumentally eclectic band. 8/10

Embryo - 1970 - Opal

A1. Opal
A2. You Don't Know What's Happening
A3. Revolution
A4. Glockenspiel
B1. Got No Time
B2. Call
B3. End of Soul
B4. People from Out the Space

Embryo is a band from Munich, Germany, exploring an eclectic range of styles, from jazz-rock to prog, to psychedelic jams with elements of blues to some middle eastern influences. All of which can be readily discerned just by the first two tracks. The two founding members are Christian Burchard (keyboard? possibly bass [by logic of reduction....the specific instruments don't seem to be formerly credited]) and Edgar Hofmann (sax). The other two members who are credited are John Kelly (guitar) and Ralph Fischer (vocals).

Along with their diversity, the four-piece blends perfectly together to create a diverse range of compositions that manage to be both concise and spontaneous, with the excellent and strange blaring of Edgar Hofmann's saxophone. This groundbreaking album was released on the ever-amazing Ohr, home to countless big names in German psychedelia right up there with the label Brain.

I'll avoid going into the specifics of each composition as I think the tracks will speak for themselves. Ralph Fischer's charming lament for the death of soul in 'End of Soul' is rather poignant considering his brief affiliations with Xhol Caravan. The LP is rather short but makes the best use of its time with seemingly no filler whatsoever, keeping the listeners attention from start to finish. Nothing more to say other than just fantastic jams, composition, and sax playing. 9/10

Et Cetera - 1971 - Et Cetera

Et Cetera's self-titled LP is the first album under this respective alias, and the second album by Wolfgang Dauner, whose project formerly went by Wolfgang Dauner Group. They are a talented group using many exotic instruments that blend together in a way that seems somehow chaotically organized.

A1 - Thursday Morning Sunrise
A2 - Lady Blue
A3 - Mellodrama 2a
B1 - Raga
B2 - Milkstreets

There's a variety of instruments used in this album, which are unfortunately uncredited. From the start you can hear the strange guitar-like instrument played by Dauner, whose existence I've been able to ascertain from the live footage. Thursday Morning Sunrise is challengingly atonal, going in and out of a coherent meter. The drum playing I think is  very remarkable, creating strange shapes with a sense of rhythm I can only compare to experimental jazz drumming. Lady Blue is a well written psychedelic spoken word accompanied by a haunting chorus.

After that theres a relatively brief interlude of the more conventional jam 'Mellodrama 2a' before jumping into the second epic 'Raga.' Less chaotic and more spacious than Thursday Morning Sunrise, it features even more wide an array of exotic instruments and percussion with a sitar that ties everything together. The album closes with the altogether meter-less Milkstreets, showcasing more of the drummer's dynamic rhythmic abilities.

Although the music doesn't go far beyond the realm of what appears to be mostly pure spontaneity, Et Cetera's self-titled release is wonderfully strange.They are talented musicians whose dynamic abilities with straddling the line between order and chaos are sufficiently interesting for the duration of this LP. 8/10

Circle - 2004 - Golem / Vesiliirto

Circle is a newer psych jam band from Finland, whom I've always found to be consistently interesting and adventurous throughout their career. From what I've heard so far, Golem / Vesiliirto still remains my favorite.

Disc 1
1. Salamander Sword
2. Matka
3. Destination Thunder
4. True Incubus from Beyond
5. At War with Mercy
6. Forbidden Steel Patriot

Disc 2
1. Korahteleva Haapa
2. Tuliset Miekat Käsissä
3. Kavaljeeri
4. Neljä Kolkkaa
5. Haulikko Ja Kivääri
6. Skanner / Lähetys

I like it when music can confound my brain and make me wonder "how did they make that?" The opening track Salamander Sword sounds that way to me. It's got a mysterious vibe that changes slightly each time I hear it as if gazing into a crystal ball. The vocals are hypnotic and shout on into space, with the clanking of strange machinery boiling under the surface backed by a vague hint of strings. This whole album has such an interesting vibe that is dreamlike or a depiction of the subconscious, with really good use of electronic/sound layering. As can often be the case with Circle, it's questionable what distinguishes the tracks from each other, so I would mostly recommend this to people who like jam bands, but want some really far out. Track 5 on Disc 1 goes into some almost industrial territory, with its cacophonous sound effects. The end of Disc 1 clears up into more quiet folky minimal territory with Forbidden Steel Patriot.

The interplay between the guitar, synth, and drums on the second track of Disc 2 is rhythmically interesting, in a way that sort of reminds me of Can. The album evolves into a complex rhythmic syncopation in track 3, having a sort of serialized Morse Code quality to it. Not sure what time signature its in. After that the album seems to dissolve back into the strange audio soup we heard in disc 1. It leads in with track 4, but by track 5 its somewhat stranger and more intense this time, verging into an almost Caroliner Rainbow level of insanity: gremlins whispering nonsense into your ear, synthesizers going in and out of coherence and incoherence. The second half of the song levels out into a jam that's pretty nice but I also wish they would have stayed with the chaos in the first half. The final track is the longest. It keeps the overall vibe of the album going with nothing particularly memorable about it other than just being a really awesome jam, as is per usual with Circle.

Its interesting how the first disc (Golem) is live while the second (Vesiliirto) is studio, which does make sense, especially considering the complexity of tracks 2 and 3 on Vsiliirto. They created a most unique vibe that underlies the whole thing while peppering in a variety of other experiments along the way. Its long and meandering, but makes for one hell of a unique trip. Its not the most meticulously crafted project, but there's simply nothing quite like it. 8/10

Ardo Dombec - 1971 - Ardo Dombec

A1. Spectaculum
A2. Supper Time
A3. A Bit Near the Knuckle
A4. Clean Up Sunday
B1. Downtown-Paradise-Lost
B2. Oh, Sorry
B3. 108
B4. Unchangeable Things?!

Ardo Dombec are an obscure 4-piece progressive jazz/blues rock group that only made one release off the Pilz record label. Less on the spectrum of fast or freeform jams, the songs are a lot more tightly written. Helmut Hachmann's sax and Harald Gleu's vocals are the two main spotlights for this album; each are excellent at what they do.

There's nothing particularly unique about this album. They just REALLY know how to get down, and it has memorable song writing. My favorite track by far is 'A Bit Near the Knuckle' which is perfect in every way, easily switching between normal and half time. The sax riding beautifully over everything, and Wolfgang Spillner's simple but excellently backing drums, and some of my favorite German psych rock vocals.

I try to avoid using this adjective, but 'Clean Up Sunday' has the most undoubtedly Jethro Tull-esque flute soloing. It's very well done though. The song is more spacious than the previous tracks, with a sweet backing bassline. Halfway through is a nice little guitar solo followed by some verbed out acapella that seems kind of abrupt? The song continues with this whole other kind of jam that at first doesn't seem to fit but manages to seamlessly go right back to the previous section.

'Downtown Paradise Lost' showcases Harald Gleu's harmonica blues playing which is pretty ok. 'Oh 
Sorry' is another goofy little oh-no-your-record-got-scratched prank. Eh, woulda been better without it. '108' is some pretty laid back acoustic guitar accompanied by flute. I guess by this point I redact my statement about their consistently tight song writing. The last track is solid but still not as memorable as some of the earlier tracks.

This LP is alright, but doesn't manage to capture quite as amazing a momentum as 'A Bit Near the Knuckle' which is what I will always remember it for. The b-side tracks just seem more like padding compared to the a-side. Its far from perfection but there's some good jams in here. 7/10

Emeralds - 2009 - Serpent Bodies

1. Hanged Man
2. Keep Watching the Skies
3. March of the Mule
4. Strange Love

I now draw attention to a psychedelic project with the involvement of a local friend, Seattle band Emeralds (NOT to be confused with the drone artist of the same name) who released this EP in 2009 through the funky alcohol and multimedia-infused label "ggnzla RECORDS". This short release manages to carve its own niche into the musical pantheon somewhere between Hawkwind and Uriah Heep, picking up from where the fantastical realm of 70s Heavy Metal and Hard Rock left off. From this vintage sound they expand upon new possibilities through more contemporary eyes, with heavier distortion, a more sinister energy, and an effortless shuffle thorough different flavors of fast and slow, good and evil, harmony and dissonance.
In The Hanged Man, the vocalist washes over the chaos, integrating as another instrument instead of taking spotlight; a hallmark of doom metal's extension from Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. Yet it doesn't remain content with just being any one of these things, which becomes even more apparent with the second track 'Keep Watching the Skies': a short but energetic and melodically complex tune in which the keyboard plays off the backing guitar really well, and the lead guitar soars but for a couple of measures in regal ecstasy.

'March of the Mule' goes even heavier with the melodic distortion, charging onward to the steady but powerful marching cadence of the drummer, giving way into a psychedelic explosion of high energy that breaks down into a more spacious prog rock realm of "epic-epicness". The way in which the guitar, synth and bass integrate so perfectly with the ferocious beast of a drummer make this perhaps my favorite track on the EP.

The EP ends with the massive and atmospheric 'Strange Love'; a more psych rock oriented tune with verbed-out vocals that seem to channel a strange and mysterious fairy tale vibe. A suitable closer with a sense of both finality and the onward journey for cosmic truth. This EP manages to pack a lot of content for its short duration, and with a ferocious intensity that demonstrates a wide and proficient knowledge of psychedelic rock and roll.

Zweistein - 1970 - Trip / Flip Οut / Meditation

Well, this one's quite the oddity. It took me a couple tries of listening to find the right headspace for this sort of thing. The majority of it appears to be various acapella experiments from vocalist Suzanne Doucet with occasional guitar accompaniment. It was a 3xLP release that apparently came with a mirror in the center part of the cover (seems to have fallen off from most surviving copies). Presumably, each of the three records are sectioned as "Trip (In / Out) / Flip Out (Wrong/Right) / Meditation (Point / Circle)", with every track being full-sided containing various movements.

LP A/B: Trip (In / Out)
A1. Beginning
A2. Analysis of Tune
A3. To Hear Inside
A4. A Very Simple Song

B1. Misty Tour
B2. Water Sound
B3. Television
B4. Organ Dreams (A Very Simple Song)

LP C/D: Flip Out (Wrong / Right)
C1. Childrens' Golden Garden
C2. To Become a Child
C3. Children's Golden Garden

D1. Everything Returns
D2. Indian Child
D3. The Theory of Relativity

LP E/F: Meditation (Point / Circle)
E1. Atomical Fantasy (Electronic)
E2. Incarnation
E3. Childhood's Church
E4. Life Train
E5. Dream of Love and Death
E6. Atomical Fantasy

F1. A Verdi's Soul Born Again
F2. Mind Beat
F3. Himalaya's Way
F4. Heaven Bridge
F5. Out of Time
F6. Atomical Fade Out


In Depth

I would say the first 10 or so minutes (A1 and A2?) of this album seem deceptively insubstantial compared to everything else, picking up almost immediately by the second half of side A (In) with some interesting guitar experiments. Side B (Out) has all these strange watery vocal effects and psychedelic synth organ drones.

The second LP "Flip Out" goes right into more crazy vocal experimentation, including lots of pitched up chattering reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma." The second side (Right) has more intense experiments with field recordings of various kinds of voices, starting off with what sounds like a rollercoaster filled with people speeding through an enormous cold and empty metal chamber. There are a couple parts to Right that are even straight-up noise. The second half of Right, into more high pitched voices reminiscent of the previous side (Wrong), with strange hypnotic singing.

I really like the start of Meditation: Point, which I presume to be Atomical Fantasy (Electronic). More of those bird like synth noises reminiscent of Morton Subotnik. I felt pretty bored from the sections after that one, which sounds like random percussion banging and someone who doesn't know how to play recorder and accordion. I acknowledge examples of non-musicians such as Cosi Fanni Tutti's trumpet playing in TG. I guess it's all subjective as to when such things are enjoyable, and I'm not sure if I can give a consistent answer as to why and when I'm into something like that. The second half of Point has some pretty cool atmospheric musique concrète, followed by more silly recorder noodling, random baroque organ, and more accordion drones which are kind of cool at times. This LP side started out promising but mostly lost my interest by the second half, with occasional redeeming elements here and there.

By the final LP side (Circle) I feel pretty uninterested. More percussion banging without variation, just a straight beat and not a particularly interesting texture that doesn't stop for the first 7 minutes, over more random accordion and organ noodling. At around 7:30 there's some guitar plucking. It's slow, and seems like it would be cool if I was anticipating some epic buildup, but knowing there will be no payoff, no lead up to any sort of coherent progression I find that I just don't care. The strumming remains pretty much the same with little variation before going into some other random section of field recording and recorder. Now I mostly just feel relieved that the album is almost over. I do like the section at around 13 minutes, that has shingles and more of those bird synths noises. It really seemed like there was potential here for a really far out LP, but this just isn't it. Most of the time it seems there's little thought put into how these sounds are presented, given little to no melodic or rhythmic variation, any interesting elements being almost incidental. Perhaps I just don't see what she sees in these experiments.



Overall

Whether you find this album enjoyable all depends on your threshold for prolonged minimal sound experiments, primarily vocals, accordion, recorder, and organ. If you have the patience for modern classical artists like John Cage, or liked Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma", Mike Patton's "Adult Sounds for Voice", the original Amon Düül, or maybe John and Yoko's "Unfinished Music No. 1-2" this is right up your alley. It was a challenge to get through with occasional payoff. It seems like it tries to come off as a highly conceptualized experiment but instead falls flat, sounding random, amateur, and limited in its scope and understanding of avant-garde musical possibilities. It is kind of neat that a mostly conventional pop singer would want to go far out and do something like this, but perhaps if she'd applied herself a little more or learned some instruments instead of what sounds to be like a collage of noises quickly thrown together it could have been more interesting. But on the other hand, maybe there's also a place for amateur stream of consciousness experiments like this too. You decide. 4/10