Any band able to describe their sound as “like wandering alone in a desolate circus at night with the impending doom of being hunted by psychopathic clowns“, gets our ears.
This then is Melt Dunes, almost eight minutes of malevolent, eerie, tortured psychedelia shot through with a garage savagery that makes Epicaricacy a compelling listen. New Southampton based outfit Melt Dunes are a journey into the darkest netherworld of the psychedelic realm. Brooding guitars and synths, distorted fuzz, and tortured wailing vocals, the quartet are the soundtrack to your worst nightmares. The sonic journey of Melt Dunes is like wandering alone in a desolate circus at night with the impending doom of being hunted by psychopathic clowns, it’s eerily marvellous.
With their debut single ‘Epicaricacy’ released digitally on the 25th May on Strong Island Recordings the home to releases from the likes of Arrows of Love, Boneyards and Gang; Melt Dunes are the latest doom ridden psych meets garage rock act to grace the south-coast label.
Cardinal Fuzz / Sound Effect Records are proud to present to you ‘A Magic Lane of Light and Rain’ the new long player from Pretty Lightning. Pretty Lightning is a psychedelic blues duo and the spiritual home of Christian Berghoff and Sebastian Haas – brothers in mind and sons of the Datashock family collective. Formed in 2007 their debut LP ‘There Are Witches In The Woods’ was released via Fonal in 2012 and showcased their rolling and tumblin’ Spacemen 3 in the Mississippi chug.
Now in 2015 Pretty Lightning present ‘A Magic Lane of Light and Rain’ a throbbing delta blues psychedelic gloop that collides with the communal vibe of some of their Krautrock forefathers. Recorded in a way that holds no regards for studio polish or any hi-tech sheen – Pretty Lightning favour sounds that bleed together and push their music into a fuzzy sun-baked back porch haze. ‘A Magic Lane Of Light and Rain’ provides you with pounding stomping drums, reverb drenched dirty riffs, ghostly vocals, analog keys/loops and songs that sound as though there coming filtered from a long faded dream.
New album was released May 4th on CD / LP / DL, Jacco Gardner creates a sound by combining the sounds of Harpsichord, Strings, Flutes and other classical instruments with raw psychedelic effects. It’s tempting to categorize Jacco Gardner by the scope of his musical instruments. “Hypnophobia“ features a Wurlitzer electric piano, mellotrons, harpsichords, an obscure, ancient instrument called an Optigan, plus an antique Steinway upright — these are relics of a particular nature, hand-selected and played to achieve a baroque pop period piece. Initial single “Find Yourself,” its trippy video clip, and the title track confirmed the record’s exploration of a retro-psych wonderland. But it’s not all acid trips, and moments of real introspection appear.
Listening to the full album expands Gardner’s scope considerably; there’s “Make Me See,” a quiet, unexpected songwriter number that barely lasts a minute and a half. Or “Grey Lanes,” an almost pastoral, instrumental lullaby that only gets electronic toward the tail-end. On Hypnophobia, Gardner takes psychedelica and twists it to suit his idea of what blissed-out baroque should be. If late-’70s residents of Laurel Canyon re-imagined themselves 40+ years later with an expanse of antique instruments, they probably couldn’t have done a better job than Gardner has of creating their own modern, alternate reality. It’s a heady, hypnotizing look at the past through the always rose-coloured glasses of the present.
From the album “Hypnophobia”, to be released first week of May 2015 on Polyvinyl (N-A), Excelsior Recordings (Benelux) and Full Time Hobby (ROTW)
It’s a pretty good time to get to know Jacco Gardner. The Dutch multi-instrumentalist blends Ariel Pink-style melodies with a little Pink Floyd psychedelia, resulting in impeccably lush tunes. Judge for yourself with the album’s title track, “Hypnophobia,” to listen too here,
Gardner is also heading out on the road next week, touring in both Europe and North America. The full slate of tour dates is below. he will be at the Bodega social in Nottingham.
There is a glut of new quality psychedelia bands oozing out of every corner of the UK.
In a way, there’s almost too much: the sound of bowl cuts nodding along to the blur of an effects pedal can lose its charm after a while. The Watchmakers, though, seem to cut through the noise with a release of some fine tunes to date. The Manchester outfit’s live shows are a blur of vintage psychedelia and a very modern belief, the unhinged charm of the Brian Jonestown Massacre matched against the songcraft of Temples.
Debut digital single ‘Kiss The Sun’ is out this week via Loaded Soul Records, and it’s a blissed out introduction.
The wonderful sound of guitars from Australian band FLYYING COLOURS and their first EP, please check them out on bandcamp and http://www.flyyingcolours.com, the band’s guitarist Brodie J Brümmer has said before they slay the UK.
Their music inspired by so much, everything really. It’s pretty obviously 90s shoegaze, psych and grunge stuff, pop music…we listen to everything. For me Nirvana, Sonic Youth and MBV really taught me how I wanted to play guitar.”
We were ready to tour UK/Europe with our new release so it was perfect timing. Our tour schedule is pretty full on, we have 10 UK shows in 12 days once we arrive – so [all they have planned] probably playing a lot of music.”
We are playing a heap of shows with our club ac30 label mates Pinkshinyultrablast who I’m super excited to see. Also No Joy and Cheatahs are playing a show together at the same venue the night after we play in London so we will definitely see that. Oh and the Primavera Festival lineup is pretty excellent. And of co
urse we get to see RIDE!”
check out other Australan bands like the obviously Hollow Everdaze, Hideous Towns and VHS Dream who we are playing our last Australian show with. The Melbourne psych/shoegaze scene is killer.”
Austin’s Levitation Festival—formerly the Austin Psych Fest—is one of the gems in the Austin festival calendar. It brings big-name headliners in a low-pressure environment, and this year, with the fiftieth-anniversary reunion performance of the legendary psych-rock band the 13th Floor Elevators, it will be an international attraction.
But if you needed another reason to get excited about the festival, they’ve got an exclusive mixtape that blends the big names at the top of the bill—the Flaming Lips, Austin’s Black Angels, Mac Demarco—with some of the down-ticket acts fans may not know. “Since 2012, we’ve been commissioning San Francisco producer Al Lover to create mix tapes for our festival lineups, and they’re a great way to discover new music and bands on the lineup that you might not be familiar with,” said Rob Fitzpatrick of the Reverberation Appreciation Society, the record label behind the festival.
Levitation takes place at the Carson Creek Ranch May 8-10. The full lineup and schedule info can be found here. Take a listen to the mixtape above, and check out the full track listing:
The Black Angels – Diamond Eyes
The Goastt – Too Deep
Fuzz – Fuzz’s Fourth Dream
Fat White Family – I Am Mark E Smith
Dallas Acid – The Battle of Zama
The Flaming Lips – Look… The Sun Is Rising
The 13th Floor Elevators – Levitation
A Place to Bury Strangers – We’ve Come So Far
Nothing – Bent Nail
Mac DeMarco – Chamber of Reflection
Baby Robots – Hallowedwiener
The Myrrors – Dome House Music
Eternal Tapestry – Echo Sounder
Tele Novella – Trouble in Paradise
Melody’s Echo Chamber – You Won’t Be Missing That Part of Me
The Paperhead – Eye for Eye
Follakzoid – Feuerzeug
Samsara Blues Experiment – Army of Ignorance
ZZZ’s – Drippin’
Mugstar – Technical Knowledge as a Weapon
Los Mundos – Como Si Importara
Ryan Sambol – A Human Being
LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA 2015
Our full line-up for this year’s festival is here – feast your eyes on all that #PZYK.
Factory Floor + The Heads + Hookworms + Blanck Mass + The Holydrug Couple + Jacco Gardner + DESTRUCTION UNIT + Jane Weaver + Dengue Fever + Karen Gwyer + Carlton Melton (band page) + Lumerians + Black Devil Disco Club + Indian Jewelry join +++ Spiritualized +++ on the bill, along with over 60 more mind-melting artists.
Head to http://www.liverpoolpsychfest.co.uk for more news, ticket details and PZYKiness.
+ — with Fumaça Preta, K-X-P, THE CULT OF DOM KELLER, Pinkshinyultrablast, The Feeling Of Love, Hey Colossus, Etienne Jaumet, Forever Pavot, Death And Vanilla and MENACE BEACH.
Jacco Gardner is a neo-psych/baroque pop artist from the Netherlands. Like his debut album. 2013’s underground favourite “Cabinet of Curiosities”, Jacco Gardner’s new full-length was recorded at his home studio in a quiet village 40 minutes north of Amsterdam. Handling nearly all of the instruments (including vintage Wurlitzer and mellotron) himself, Gardner creates a collection of “catchy, baroque-psych concoctions” that “plays like a daydream twisted through Joe Meek-esque production”
Jacco Gardner will be playing the Bodega social later this year
The Warlocks started because of the their mutual love of all things Rock and Roll. We love a lot of the 60s, 70s and some 80s inspired music. We are not a retro band though. We all always try new stuff and from time to time hit something great.
After forming in America during 1999, the ever-changing personnel of The Warlocks meant that the band had already featured nineteen different members before it was slimmed to the seven-piece outfit that they are today. Consisting of Bobby Hecksher (Vocals/Guitar), JC Rees (Guitar), Corey Lee Granet (Guitar), Bobby Martinez (Bass), Laura Grigsby (Tambourine/Keys), Danny Hole (Drums) and Jason Anchondo (Drums) – their two drummers with four guitarists formation produces a relentless, hypnotic wall of sound that suggests a collision between classic psychedelia, Krautrock and Velvet Underground style rock and roll. It’s just what the head doctor orders if you wish to be an underground stateside phenomenon and that’s exactly what The Warlocks became.
Front man Bobby Hecksher grew up in the swamps of Tampa Bay, Florida where he was practically raised at a radio station owned his Grandfather and where his mum also worked as a secretary. As a result Bobby was soon eating and breathing rock’n’roll on a daily basis.
Bobby recalls, “My granddad was an inspiration. He created the radio station out of thin air. And from it all these nuggets of rock’n’roll came toward me”.
At sixteen his family left the swamps and moved to LA where Bobby soon found kindred spirits. He jammed with Beck playing bass on “Stereopathetic Soul Manure”; he hung out in the in the decadent atmosphere of the ‘Mad Hatter’ club and moonlighted in the Brian Jonestown Massacre whilst also attending parties with legendary acid guru Timothy Leary, a potent cultural and creative mix that led to the formation of The Warlocks.
Their debut album ”Rise & Fall’ (Bomp 2000) set out their template allowing The Warlocks to build upon their reputation as a forceful live act but it was the band’s signing of a worldwide deal with Mute (in conjunction with City Rockers in the UK and with Birdman in America) that led to the release of “Phoenix” (2003) a record that raised their profile significantly. The album’s varying moods and atmospheres range from the driving power of “Shake the Dope Out” to the 14-minute, hallucinogenic opus “Oh Shadie”. “Baby Blue”, the pretty and deliciously retro 7″ and CD single taken from the LP arrived awash with sitars, a touch of feedback and a melody that sounded like it had blown in from the West Coast of pop. The single’s extra tracks featured two songs from the album recorded on their British tour, “Hurricane Heart Attack” boasting a guest appearance from ex-Spaceman 3 front man Sonic Boom that together with “Inside Outside” successfully conveyed a sense of the band’s gigantic live sound.
Having left those who have experienced the sheer power of The Warlocks hungry for more, “Phoenix” is sure to be the first step on a ladder that could escalate the band to some lofty heights, a fact that Bobby Hecksher seems highly aware of.
“All that concerns me is making The Warlocks the best I can possibly make it. I want to move people. If they walk away from a show feeling something, or just experience a feeling that they didn’t feel before then we’ve achieved something. We’ve been through chaos and now, finally our destiny is whatever we want it to be…”
Genre Psychedelic
Members Bobby Hecksher
JC Rees
George Serrano
Earl Miller
Chris DiPino
Here is a partial List of the Musicians that have played in The Warlocks over the years. We will update this thing as we go along.
Ryan McBride: Guitar
Bob Mustachio: Drums
Jana Risher: Bass
Mimi Sato: Bass
Corey Lee Granet: Guitar, Piano
Jeff Levitz: Guitar
Jen Chiba: Bass
Caleb Sweazy: Bass, Acoustic Guitar
Laura Grigsby: Tambourine
Hunter Crowley: Drums
Bobby Tamkin : Drums
Anton Newcombe: Drums
Theresa Saso: Drums
Danny Hole: Drums
Tanya Hayden plays cello on Whips of Mercy
Rachel Hayden sings backing vocals on Cocaine Blues
Julie Hermelin plays violin on Dilauded
Ileen Goldsmith sings on Dope Feels Good
The sound of elevation throbbed into a vertical sky, The Radiation Flowers navigate the same sonic playground as influences Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Cure, among many others. Guitar rock for northern lights and dark side mantras muttered in the drowsy light, these folks know how to get you off with minimal chords played to maximal effect. Like they say, “it’s a sci-fi-hurricane kinda groove”. Their debut EP was named one of the ‘Best Psychedelic Albums of 2013’ by The Active Listener – “Dream In Black”, a haunting score of dark keys, lush reverbed guitars and warm harmonies that fashion a soundtrack to both your dreams and nightmares.
urse we get to see RIDE!”
The Fat Angel Sings 