Obuh
For the last five years, The Magic Carpathians Project have released ahandful of superlative but criminally ignored albums ofethno-psychedelia. The core of the group is vocalist Anna Nacher andinstrumentalist Marek Stycynski, who was the leader of the seminalPolish psychedelic-progressive rock band Atman for 25 years. TheCarpathians are augmented by a constantly revolving line-up of guestmusicians. Their sublime Ethnocoretrilogy impressed me with its haunting melodies and deep psychedelicdrones, based on cross-germinations of traditional folk of their nativePoland together with indigenous music and instruments from around theglobe. The Magic Carpathians utilize transcendental combinations ofharmonium, hurdy-gurdy, accordion, guitar, violin, sitar and Carpathianwoodwinds harmonized with more modern conceits such as vintagesynthesizers, tape loops and field recordings. Their unique hybridseems perfectly in line with the nomadic gypsy culture of Carpathia.The gypsies originated in India and traveled throughout the world,settling in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, Great Britain andSoutheast Asia, gathering disparate cultural influences along the way.The Carpathians' mindbending new album Euscorpius Carpathicusadds Outer Space to the list of regional influences, concentrating onsparse cosmic settings, atmospheric production and haunted vocals. It'sa conscious move away from the massive drones of previous releases.This is clear from the opening track "Fishyfish," a loosely improvisedassemblage of Chinese and Slovakian flutes set against the galacticripples of an EMS VCS311. The ghostly "Lavender, Satin &Gingerbread" features the fragile vocals of Anna Nacher, recallingBjork's intimate delivery on Vespertine. For "Pawpaw Girl" themulti-tracked vocals are at the fore, as a meandering bass and a forestof gentle chimes answer her plaintive intonations: "Straight to thegarden/until I find/a way below the surface/below the waterfall". "FatMoon" is the album's most evocative track, a 12-minute ambient lunarorbit featuring delicately reverberating guitars and eerie saxophonesqueals that leave vaporous trails of ectoplasm in their wake."Amp.ass" is an atonal clamor of chaotic free-jazz, assisted by thenoisy distortions of an overloaded guitar amp. The tense, forwardmomentum of "Water On the Hill" operates as an invocation to nature,cyclical layers of trancelike guitar ornamented by synthesizedbirdcalls. With Euscorpius Carpathicus, The Magic Carpathianshave expanded their already impressive musical scope even further,without losing that essential spark of creative intuition thatconsistently impregnates their music with its uniquely spectral beauty. 

samples:

• Pawpaw Girl
• Fat Moon
• Water On the Hill

Things have changed since 2001's Oh, Inverted World. The first full-length from this group took a while to sink into my bones, but after it did, it became one of my favorite albums. Their newest full-length just isn't different enough from their first album to evoke the kind of excitement that every song did on their debut.

Mitek
The aquatic quality of dub rhythms is something I always attribute tothe calming effect it has on me. There's nothing better than a soupymess of beats and semi-melodies to make a rainy day feel complete.Mitek (in the CD form) has put together a compilation of thirteentracks representing thirteen different arists from Scandinavia. Themusic is subtle, pulsing, and sometimes a bit tiresome. Each artist hassomething of a distinct style about them, but there is no doubt thatthere is a similar influence riding inbetween every musician on thisdisk. Songs like "P_Process" and "Skm3" are both over six minutes inlength and both echo through space like a wet rubber band. Both songsalso happen to sound a bit too much alike and after nearly thirteenminutes of nonstop reverberations and painfully similar productionqualities, the relaxing quality begins to fade into a bright annoyancethat has me reaching to change the song almost every time. Taken alone,the individual songs are good slices of minimal beats, bass heavymelody, and sizzling atmospheres. As a whole, this compilation doesn'treally work. The album runs over an hour in length and many of thetunes are simply too abstract to be dealt with one after another. Iunderstand this is supposed to be an introduction to a label full ofelectronic bass-heads, but it needs to be listened to in pieces to besuccessful. Not everything is outstanding and not everything isterrible: there are a few great songs and a few not-so-great songs.Just don't think this can be listened to from beginning to end. Doingso will only bring frustration to the surface and spoil what mightotherwise be enjoyable. 

samples:

• Johan Fotmeijer - There's No Purity In Silence
• Minimalistic Sweden - Skm3
• Vita - In the Loop

Intr_Version
Hot on the heels of Desormais' excellent second album, Iambrokenandremake,Intr_version has released a new label sampler, making clear the label'splace as one of the premiere purveyors of pop-infused, melancholicelectronica. While there's nothing stylistically spectacular here, alltracks are exclusive, and, as is rarely the case with all-exclusivecomps, nearly all tracks are excellent. In addition to its constancy ofquality, Saturday Morning Empires also possesses a consistencyof style; nothing feels out of place. All tracks nourish a similar vibein which richly melodic instrumentation provides foundation fordelicate electronic rhythms and rivulets of warbling static. A fragilebeauty makes even the more sparse or repetitive songs instantlyappealing. The heart of the disc, a pristine four-song section of newmusic from Polmo Polpo, AMute, Loscil, and Desormais' Joshua Treble,includes the most desolate and unchanging music here, though it iseasily the best. Joshua Treble's piece is simply stunning, composed ofreverb-drenched guitar loops, beautifully layered into a holdingpattern and spaced with glitch-laden, finger-snap percussion. Witnessthe new Vini Reilly. AMute's "Aux creux des vagues mon visage" featuresa ghostly looped guitar as well, though it rides the kind of tweeelectro beat and echoed wind-chime tones that groups like Piano Magicdo so well. In fact, Saturday Morning Empires' slant is similarto that of many Rocket Girl acts: a dusty, bucolic mood suffused withenough subtle electronics to keep things magical. This compilationdiffers somewhat in that certain tracks transcend their autumnal rootsand really soar. Obvious examples are the contributions of Polmo Polpoand Tim Hecker. The former's "Dreaming (Is Real)" evolves in his uniquestyle, tested on this year's excellent Like Hearts Swelling inwhich a Neu!-influenced driving beat accelerates through panes ofdistortion as gorgeous slide guitars push everything into free-fallingheaven. Hecker is also working in his tested signature style here,creating yet another fissured landscape of static and straining drones,while sounding as fresh and at home as ever. Even seasoned listenersshould find surprises and new discoveries in Saturday Morning Empires, as much a sampler for a great label as it is a great album. 

samples:

• Joshua Treble - Leave Me On the Snares
• Amute - Aux Creux des Vague Mon Visage
• Palomino Falls - Bruise Coloured Blue

One would think the novelty market would have fortuitously unearthed all of the world's great flute masterpieces by now. Perhaps, though, there is still room in the annals for two more. In fact, the reason I even hesitate from declaring these the best two is for lack of really hearing any others. Regardless, it happened that in the early 70s, French flutist/bassist Jean Cohen-Solal recorded two largely unheard, flute-dominated records in which his seasoned psychedelic and progressive sensibility met the potent influence of avant-garde and classical ideas.

Bar/None
The Swimming Pool Q's were part of the early-80's Athens scene thatspawned R.E.M. and The B-52's. Maybe it was because of their idioticband name or perhaps it was the witty sophistication of theiroff-kilter pop music, but The Swimming Pool Q's never achieved afraction of the notoriety and success experienced by their Athenscontemporaries, despite their tenure on a major label. They haven'treleased an album since 1989, and just when it seemed safe tocompletely write the band off, The Swimming Pool Q's have released Royal Academy of Reality,an ambitious and masterful concept album that makes anything from theirback catalog seem downright irrelevant. This mammoth 20-track,70-minute song cycle belongs to that rare category of rock albums thatare perfectly executed studio creations. As with The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Love's Forever Changes, or Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star,bandleader and producer Jeff Calder uses the studio as a canvas,elevating his compositions to the level of genius through a staggeringassortment of instruments, sound effects and overdubs. Apparently, thisalbum was 10 years in the making, which, on the surface seems absurd,until the level of detail in the richly layered musical tapestry ofeach meticulously considered track is heard. While the songwriting isoften little more than ordinary, and the lyrics are a bit overwroughtand ponderous, Jeff Calder's aspirations to the studio wizardry ofBrian Wilson, Phil Spector and Jack Nitzsche pays off brilliantly. Theconcept of Royal Academy of Reality is every bit as vague and tenuous as those of Forever Changes or Tales From Topographic Oceans—apparentlyit's got something to do with love, death, happiness and Egyptiancosmology. In the end, the concept is not what makes Royal Academya masterpiece. It's about the pure complexity of its own creation andthe seamless ebroideredy of its production: every potential millisecondof silence is filled with sound, not a moment left untouched. Calder'sinsistence on pure artifice and flawless, crisply reproducedinstruments recalls the slick perfection of Steely Dan's Katy Lied.True to form, the album opens with the sequenced synthesizer arpeggiosof "Introduction to Time," then segues into the dime-store mysticism of"Light Arriving Soon," a slightly saccharine power-pop song adrift inan oceanic symphony that includes Hammond organ, accordion, Appalachaindulcimer, Mellotron, Arp String Ensemble in addition to traditionalrock instruments and layers upon layers of harmonized, multi-trackedvocals. Perusing the liner notes, which painstakingly detail theoutrageous assortment of instruments and sound effects used in theoverdubs of each track, becomes entertaining in itself—Mini Moog, toypiano, tenor sax, congas, Waldorf Microwave, ape bone, fish, bottlecaps, Flexitone, shoe gong, etc. ad nauseum. I admire the sheeraudacity and ambition that led the Q's to record an album so out ofstep with its times. In this era of stripped-down garage rock andPowerbook pop, Jeff Calder and company have made an album whichgloriously resurrects the progressive chamber-pop of the 70's. A few ofthe tracks stand out from the others—the epic sound effects suite of"The Discovery of Dawn" or the sad refrain of "The Radio inMemphis"—but most of these songs just blend seamlessly into a byzantinewhole, like movements of a vast concerto. I am certain that most willfind Royal Academy of Reality to be hopelessly outmoded and convoluted, but I stand in awe of its multifaceted, meticulous brilliance. 

samples:

• Light Arriving Soon
• The Discovery of Dawn
• Nocturnal Transmission

Warp
As music these days seems to perpetually mine the past for ideas ratherthan develop new ones, the notion of an Acid Revival or Renaissance hasstarted to emerge. As someone with a real background in the glory daysof rave culture and acid house, you'd expect new material from LukeVibert touted as Acid to be innovative yet deeply rooted in the historyof the music. Instead, YosepH,oddly enough his first album ever for Warp, is a journey far away fromthe dancefloor to a rather deep place somewhere inside Vibert's rectum.While many producers are rediscovering the power of the TB-303 in theirclub-oriented tracks, the thirteen songs presented here are largelynoodly, downtempo, and less than impressive. For roughly half thealbum, we are treated to forgetable throwaway cuts like "StanD'Infamy", "Harmonic" and "Slowfast." The other half are listenable,but equally unremarkable. "Synthax" would have some potential if thebeat were chunkier and the tempo doubled a la his recent work as AmenAndrews on Rephlex. The somewhat dubby "Freak Time Baby" consists of asteady groove with echoed synth stabs and a pointless vocal. There area few places on the CD where Vibert's formula seems to work enough towarrant a second listen. The first single "I Love Acid" stands outamong the bunch with a super catchy vocoded hook and bubbling bassline."Countdown" throws together two-step garage with 303 trickery for afunky result that deserved to be fleshed on more on this album. YosepHhad some real potential here, and Warp had a good chance to come out ontop with the first high-profile, high quality Acid album in years.Instead, we're left with an overhyped release of less than stellarsounds from a label perhaps past its prime in terms of relevance. Let'shope someone else gets this Acid Renaissance right so that YosepH is not the last word on the matter. 

samples:

• Synthax
• Freak Time Baby
• I Love Acid

Sub Pop
Kinski's Sub Pop debut Airs Above Your Stationis perhaps one of the most exciting records released this year. Therawkus sound and melodic variety, while not uncommon, is amazing tohear when done right. The group is firm in their powerful rock positionbut they have not lost sight of their modern psych and space rockconnections, basically the crowd which embraced them before anybodyelse. What's presented here is four songs: one each by Kinski and AcidMothers and two featuring both entities together. It's presented as asingle CD or a double vinyl set, with the attempts to weigh eachmember's contributions equally. The result, timewise, is unfortunatelyweighed heavily in AMT's favor. Kinski's tribute to Anne Heche, "FellAsleep On Your Lawn" gets things going and is an excellent tune forfans of their album. It's a 10+ minute demonstration of some boldguitar riffage and thunderous drumwork, both opening and closing onappropriate delicate moods. The two centerpieces of the release aredrum free excursions into the otherworldly. "It's Nice to Hear YourVoice" begins the collaborative work and its foundations are clearlymore Kinski than Acid Mothers: it's got a forward motion andprogressively builds momentum over the course of another 10+ minutes,accented with tablas and hypnotic, dreamlike effects which are notforeign to the Acid Mothers sound. After this point, however, theMothers take over with their initiated tracks, which, very similar to alot of Mothers material is meandering, wistful, and colored by drones,theremin-imitating synths, and bit of aimless noodling. While I realizethere may be a good number of hardcore AMT fans probably reading this,I have to step in and say that their music is becoming a bit too samey.(Even the title, "Planet Crazy Gold," seems all too predictable.) Atleast this number has a bit of Kinski left, probably providing theunderscoring bass pulses while the vocables twitter in the ether. At13+ minutes, it goes on way too long. Thankfully somebody got up fromtheir seat at some point to fade it out! (God I thought that wouldnever end! But much to my dismay, things got worse.) Thevertigo-influecing "Virginal Plane 5:23" closes the album with anotherbeast of absent harmonic motion, now provided by a psych rock guitarriff repeated ad nauseam. Once again, it's got echoing synth twitterswhich fade into a distorted mess, and sounds of wordless vocals. It'salso painfully accompanied by an overdose of blistering wanky guitarand cheap left-to-right panning effects which border on the completelyunlistenable. It continues on and on and on, progressively gettingworse. The five-minute mark comes and goes with absolutely no sensethat I'm anywhere different from where this song started. I'm remindedhow a "crescendo in volume" shouldn't take precedent over a thoughtfuldevelopment of melody and structure over time (anybody in a rock bandthat like to make similar music should take note). By about the eighthminute I'm sitting here wondering if anybody playing is actuallylistening to each other or just playing as loud as they can. Listeningbecomes laborious. 12 minutes go by, please make them stop! Am I theonly one thinking AMT just record all practice jam-sessions and decideto release them? 14 minutes pass and this album now becomes a test ofstamina. Had this been a concert, I would have been in the car and longgone by now. 15 minutes pass and it doesn't even sound like theoriginal guitarist and drummer who opened up the track care any more.18 minutes have elapsed, now this is just becoming sad. I need to takea break but I just can't. Something must happen right? The 20 minutemark comes and goes, as my stomach is now feeling the funk. Speaking ofFunk, Funkadelic did this over 30 years ago with "Free Your Mind AndYour Ass Will Follow," however they had the assistance of vocals andthe decency to end it before 10 minutes. After 22 minutes, theprominent opening two-bar guitar riff becomes prominent again.Hopefully this is a sign of things coming to a close. It doesn't happenuntil 26 minutes and proverbial mishmosh of complete noise and I'm leftfeeling the same as coming from a disappointing movie: more concernedabout the time in my life that I'll never get back than the moneyspent. It is such a disappointing end to a release which began with somuch hope. 

samples:

• Fell Asleep On Your Lawn
• It's Nice to Hear Your Voice
• Planet Crazy Love

Remixing a classic is no enviable task.

Wienerworld
I can remember a time only a few years ago when professing an interest in The Incredible String Band or any of their 1960's British psych-folk contemporaries would immediately get one branded a clueless hippie burnout. Now, following the band's recent reunion and some well-timed reissues of their back catalog, The Incredible String Band are once again being accepted back into the fold as the creators of an impressive musical zeitgeist, idiosyncratic and highly influential. Matmos have acknowledged the Incredibles as a big influence on their newest album, and Current 93 have virtually mimicked them (down to a replica of ISB's album cover) on Earth Covers Earth. On the eve of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson's reunion concert in London, playing alongside the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Gong and Damo Suzuki of Can, Wienerworld Video unveils a lost artifact from their zenith creative period, the 50-minute film Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending. This DVD contains the entire original film, which was produced for the BBC but never aired, deemed far too odd and abstract for a television audience. The DVD also contains a brief interview with director Peter Neil, who takes pains to give the Incredibles full credit for the shape and tone of the film. Be Glad is nothing like a typical rockumentary. There are very few interviews with Heron and Williamson, and when they do talk it's usually in philosophical aphorisms and poetic reverie. Robin Williamson's glassy-eyed, beatific revelations that "we are involved in the act of creation" really drives home the peculiar mix of pagan and Gnostic ideas that inform his lyrics. Be Glad tries to accomplish on film what the Incredibles do on record - a whimsical, psychedelic journey through their eclectic music, their communal lifestyle and their pastoral "Wicker Man" mysticism. The film contains concert footage, including Williamson's hushed recitation of his poem-manifesto "Head." There are terrific live-in-studio renditions of classics such as "The Iron Stone" and "All Writ Down." At one point, a road manager reads a list of all of the instruments used by the Incredibles in a typical performance, and the sheer number of stringed and percussive instruments needed to achieve their sublime ethno-folk sound is absurdly comical. The last twenty minutes of the film is taken up with a mystical passion play called "The Pirate and the Crystal Ball," an allegorical tale set to an original ISB soundtrack, every bit as surreal and outlandish as Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle films. It's clear that a lot of thought went into this film, and the original music on the soundtrack is some of the Incredibles' finest and most adventurous. Be Glad For the Song Has No Ending is an indispensable document, capturing on film that strange spell that The Incredible String Band were capable of weaving at the height of their power.