Posts Tagged ‘Asteroid No 4’

ASTEROID No.4 – ” Back Of your Mind “

Posted: March 1, 2015 in MUSIC
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Formed as a quartet in Philadelphia, Asteroid no.4 has since become a permanent five piece and now calls Northern California their home. Named after Vesta, the brightest asteroid in our solar system, the moniker is an obvious nod to Spacemen 3, the classic UK band which Asteroid no.4 repeatedly drops as an influence. Over the last decade and a half, they’ve built a trove of eight full-length albums, well over a dozen compilation appearances, digital-only rarity releases, and multiple single releases.

The Asteroid no.4 sound is a hypnotic hybrid of several different genres filtered through the kaleidoscope of all things psychedelic: krautrock, ‘shoegaze, folk, and even ’70s cosmic country rock. Despite never shying away from wearing their influences squarely on their sleeves, it’s their longevity that has matured them to the point of originality rather than simply homage. It is that same longevity that has enabled them to do whatever they want, when they want, allowing them the freedom to experiment, which certainly makes up the foundation for anything truly ‘psychedelic.’

The group’s debut record, Introducing, was released to critical acclaim and branded as an, “uncommonly original and innovative space-rock album for the latter 1990s.” Considered a pylon of the “Psychedelphia” scene that also included luminaries Bardo Pond and Azusa Plane, reviews consistently cited Syd-era Floyd, The 13th Floor Elevators, Hawkwind and early-Verve as the inspirations heard on the album and, The Asteroid no.4 wholeheartedly agreed. Following the debut’s release on the band’s in-house label Lounge Records, they quickly began touring with the likes of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Philly brethren The Lilys, the latter having a profound impact on where the band’s sound was headed next.

Now, a decade and a half later, the band is gearing up for the release of their eighth record, aptly named Asteroid no.4. Employing sitars, eastern-tinged sparsity, space-rock fueled anthems, and pastoral folk instrumentals, Asteroid no.4 seems to have hit upon the magic first heard on their debut, but with the mature songwriting that could have only been learned over a journey of this many years.

After returning from another tour of Europe at the end of 2013, the band has joined forces with Bad Vibrations Recordings. They are ecstatic to have a new label partner, record, and surroundings that will surely inspire them to continue to write and record for the foreseeable future as Asteroid no.4’s story continues ….

ASTEROID No 4 – ” Asteroid No 4 ” Best Albums Of 2014

Posted: February 19, 2015 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Five piece The Asteroid No 4 – once of Philly and now relocated to San Francisco have been conjuring this kind of cosmicness since the mid-Nineties. Over a period of eight albums, including a 2013 collaboration with psych royalty Peter Daltrey of 60’s acid prog act Kaleidoscope (who’s ’67 classic Tangerine Dream named that band), they’ve peddled a krautrocky, proggy, psych sound throughout. Unfashionable for many of those years, and always slightly overshadowed by Anton Newcombe’s Brian Jonestown Massacre, the timing is perfect this time. Krautrock’s re-emergence as a favoured sound is in turn leading to a slow re-acceptance of kraut’s much unloved cousin, prog rock, and this self-titled release has them excelling in such sounds.

Ranging from grimy Spaceman 3 influences (note their influence on their name) and stoner rock to Asian vibes and metronomic rhythms, “The River” even takes in Deep South country rock and The Beta Band’s baggy shuffle, with backwards guitar and sitar sounds. This ain’t Kasabian we’re talking about – a far more hippyish air pervades the whole affair. The grungy “Rukma Vimana” is driving psychedelic rock with quasi-mystical lyrics referencing a Sanskrit text about flying machines which will “Take you to places that you’ve never seen”, and “The Windmill of the Autumn Sky” is lovely, lilting country-tinged Americana, taking references from Gram Parsons and Fleet Foxes and encasing them in a smoky fragrant fog. It’s the least ‘out there’ track, but it nonetheless proves to be a highlight.

Their Americana and Asian influences are most apparent on the Rickenbacker and sitar-led “Ropeless Free Climber” – which manages to contemporise the raga rock of a late 60’s Byrds – and “Mount Maru”, a lysergic piece of 5am desert rock and wordless chants augmented by tabla, sitar and a spooked-out spoken word passage which indulges their passions of both Syd Barrett and a 1968 George Harrison to eerie, bummed out effect. It’s not all looking at the castles in your cortex or whatever – they operate just as effectively when they come across as snotty. The grinding riffs on “Back Of Uour Mind” (yes, really), give the album a much welcome kick of The Stooges‘ rock swagger, and “Revolution Prevail” is a welcome break from all things double denim led, sharp, oppressive and druggy.

Through dogged determination, The Asteroid No. 4 have continued down their particular path, managing to avoid being written off as revisionist. It’s encouraging that the success of the likes of Tame Impala and Ty Segall has led to precursors such as these also getting a look in  guys have been doing it for so long now that they could, certainly on the evidence of this album, be cast as one of the originators of the new psych scene.

TRACKLIST

The River – 0:00
Rukma Vimana – 5:45
Ghost of Dos Erres – 12:33
The Windmill of the Autumn Sky – 16:49
Mount Meru – 22:54
Back of Your Mind – 26:37
Ropeless Free Climber – 31:09
Ode to Cosmo – 36:08
Revolution Prevail – 38:05
Yuba – 41:37

ASTEROID No 4 – ” I Want To Touch You “

Posted: January 3, 2015 in MUSIC
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSHttfibpA#t=155

The Asteroid #4 – I Want To Touch You, Ignition Slated For Eight – EP, a cover of the Catherine Wheel song. Mixing influences like Mazzy Star, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Medicine with their own space pop, the Psychedelphia combo Asteroid No. 4 debuted in 1995 with the CIA Took My Dog Away EP. After three years’ worth of extensive touring across the U.S. as well as contributing to several compilations, their first full-length, Introducing…The Asteroid #4, came out in 1998 with the accompaniment of the single “What a Sorry Way to Go.” After a tour with the Lilys later on that year, their EP The Apple Street came out in 1999 with a little help from the local Philadelphia label Lounge Records. the Lilys’ psych pop kingpin Kurt Heasley produced their 2001 album King Richard’s Collectibles, which drew on British psych, folk, and pop influences ranging from Syd Barrett to the Stone Roses.