All roads lead to… Milano – certainly in the case of The Gluts!

Since I had the unadulterated pleasure of witnessing The Gluts support White Hills, at the near mythical Bloom home venue back in April, the band have been busy, beavering away in their new rehearsal space.

I have been a fan of Purple Heart Parade since their Manager, 5th wheel and sound-man extraordinaire, Stephen De Sarasola, pointed me in their direction around the happening of Eindhoven Psych Lab 2014.

Stephen led me to Purple Heart Parade, who in turn led me to fellow noise-cohorts Helicon, Helicon then led me to François Sky, François Sky and Guests played at Reverence Valada in 2104, through François I made contact with Jason Fletcher, one half of the dynamic duo, along with Nick Allport, responsible for bringing us the “celebration of the best in heavy psych, stoner and space-rock”, extravaganza, that is Reverence Valada. Reverence Valada brought me and Purple Heart Parade to Portugal on this balmy, 2015 festival opening Thursday evening – everything is connected, what goes around comes around…

Photograph by Eugenio Crippa

I love bands who have the self-assurance and presence of mind to produce a clear, concise and informative website, Giöbia are one such band…

“Giöbia has been one of the most influential psychedelic bands in Italy over the last years. Seduced by the lysergic side of the ‘60s, by exotic mantras and the evocative power of space-rock, Giöbia is a band from Milano, Italy with many facets and one only faith, that is to turn every encounter with sound into a psychedelic experience”.

‘Early Broadcasts’ is the latest vinyl release from Polska Radio One. Their 2014 vinyl release of ‘Cosmos Inside’, was easily one of my standout records of last year – which in a year of standout releases, gives you some idea of their collective and unique aural quality.

Polska Radio One, from Yekaterinburg, in the Ural’s of Russia, describe themselves as, “Somewhere between sixties-style british rock, modern fuzz-guitar psychedelia and traditional german kraut, you can find a frequency of this radio station”.

On experiencing ‘It’s time to hear’ for the first time, the warm embrace of it’s sweeping grandeur and haunting imagery had me gladly and willingly sealing my “Faustian Pact” with Sonic Jesus.