By way of introduction the Nomadic Firs‘ bandcamp page informs us that, “Nomadic Firs is a swirling conceptual sound journey orchestrated by the diy-lonerisms of Ryan Boos. With a decade of fermentation, the concept continues to evolve into a colorful devolution.”

The “swirling” nature of this track, captivated my attention when Ryan first contacted me.

It’s not everyday you encounter a band like Menimals, either in terms of visual or cerebral stimulus. Their high-brow descriptor intones of a band, “Experimenting the psychotropic properties of sound and exploring the power of the Elements in relation to the Platonic solids influenced by the Monomyth.” No less.

Further, that they comprise the following elements, “Doctor Forge , the TETRAHEDRON, the Man – Fire – Ancestral Voice. Rat, the HEXAHEDRON – Earth – tribal fury. Chimera, the ICOSAHEDRON – Water – low frequencies generator. Vulture, the OCTAHEDRON – Air – noise painting.” Wrapped up in the bow of, “The four elements/solids together create the DODECAHEDRON – the universe, the music.”

photo by Moritz Jekat

It is a joy, to finally see the physical release of The Underground Youth‘s Mademoiselle.

As the Fuzz Club Records Blog attests, “The story of Mademoiselle is a testament to the power of great music being able to reach an audience, regardless of the fact the artist might be unsigned, underground and almost unheard of. Originally released in 2010 and only available online, Mademoiselle has piled up millions of views on YouTube, and has seen The Underground Youth acquire a cult following at a ferocious pace.”

All things come to those who wait…

photo by Steve Gullick

Mugstar are like a favourite armchair, a trusted confidante, a font of eternal comfort – one which can sprout wings, when flights fancy dictate, the one who always has your back.

For me, Mugstar are the latter day saints of a tradition conceived by Fairport Convention. Updating the electric folk ethic, reanimating it with their unique brand of “Psychedelic / Space / kraut Rock”. Not only do I sense the vibrations of this ubiquitous association, I am humbled by a connection to that hallowed ground, of the band who recorded the last ever Peel Session, in 2004.

Four sides of transportive vinyl, courtesy of Rock Action Records await…

“Sons of the Void is the latest project from David Max, former bassist/songwriter with Hoboken/NYC psych rockers Tadpoles. Following his tenure with Tadpoles, David emigrated to Switzerland and began a 5-year stint as guitarist/songwriter in Genesis P-Orridge’s psych-futurist collective Psychic TV. David has also worked alongside many pioneers of drone, dream and psych over the years, including Sonic Boom and Gibby Haynes. After meeting Nick Nobody, David struck out on his own with ‘Simple Psychedelic Pleasures.’ A band was assembled to tour ‘SSP,’ and shortly after a new crop of songs began to take shape. After establishing their own studio, Logical Magic Recordings in Basel, David and Nick took those songs to the next logical step: the debut album of Sons of the Void.” So says the comprehensivly succinct  press release, courtesy of Kevin McFadin, under the ever watchful, third eye of Sunrise Ocean Bender Records.