Alexis Le-Tan & Jess - Space Oddities: А Compilation Of Rare European Library Grooves From 1975-1984

Country: Germany
Genre: library music, cosmic, psychedelic, electronic
Year: 2008
Label: Permanent Vacation
Review: Continuing in their quest to deliver quality and obscure sought after music, Permanent Vacation go deeper than ever with their latest and new endeavour: “Space Oddities” A compilation of rare European library grooves from 1975-1984. Put together by Alexis Le-Tan and Jess, two obsessive French DJ’s, crate diggers and collectors; it is the fruit of many years of research, time, luck, passion and love. Searching the music library archives, the have dived into a world of spacey, cosmic, funky and freaky ... Read More »disco. Library music, mood music, source music or the French term musique d’illustration sonore, was produced from the early 50s by know and unknown composers and talented session musicians.

These records were never commercially available; you had to subscribe to the labels in order to get them. Used mainly in films, TV series or commercials they covered every genres, types of songs, atmospheres, and sound effects. Producers, beat dealers and discerning DJs have been hunting down these records for many years and using them as secret weapons. Alexis Le-Tan (music journalist and member of the Tigersushi Bass System) and Jess (formerly from the famed French house duo Jess & Crabbe and now drummer for punk band 10lec6) met in 2001 through a mutual love of no-wave and leftfield disco. In 2003 Jess came upon a big collection of Library music, which he bought for next to nothing. Whilst he was spending much time ciphering through it and finding the interesting bits, Alexis was digging in all things Cosmic, where along the way, he also started to pick up many bits and pieces from unheard of Library record labels. Inspired by Anti N.Y., Teutonik Disaster, NY noise, Disco not Disco compilations on labels like Gomma, Soul Jazz and Strut and with the current explosion of the nudisco-balearic-cosmic scene, the pair thought it would be appropriate to put together a collection of spacey, cosmic, funky and freaky disco focused tracks from their library discoveries, and reveal their best kept secrets to a wider audience.

Unlike many of these unlicensed/illegal bootlegs and edit records that have been sprouting out from everywhere in the last few years, they took the time and effort to hunt down all the composers or label owners who had the rights for the tracks, in order to license them properly and give credit where it is due. This was not an easy task as you can imagine but it was rewarding and worth the hunt as they hope to be doing more of this in the future. The artwork was done by close friends Check Morris and is a contemporary take on what an old Library record could have looked like today. They even went so far as to include a little description, as it was done back in the days, of each track. A booklet will be included in the CD, which contains original illustrations and extensive sleeve notes and for the vinyl lovers there will be a mini LP with the most dancefloor orientated cuts. (c)

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Astra - The Weirding (2009)

Country: USA
Genre: progressive rock, space rock, stoner rock, psychedelic rock
Year: 2009
Label: Rise Above Records
Myspace
Review: Astra are a band in love with the ‘70s, and they seem pretty unapologetic about it. They get right to it on The Weirding, their debut album. “The Rising of the Black Sun” is a five-minute, forty-five-second instrumental that sets the stage for the rest of this sprawling, 79-minute disc. Starting with tinkling bells, fluttering flutes, and spare guitar and keyboard notes, the song eventually blossoms into a driving proto-metal guitar duet that recalls Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. From there the band slides right into the title track, all 15 minutes of it. More flute and cymbal-heavy drumming accompany vocals that sing about well, a world’s end scenario, “the weirding of the wicked world”. This track, like most of the others on the album, is heavy on guitars and analog synthesizers. At some points in “The Weirding”, the guitars and synths combine to sound remarkably like The Mars Volta’s guitar-saxophone doubling technique, but that may be the only nod, intentional or not, to the present.

Astra end up with a middling first album. The engineering on The Weirding isn’t stellar, but that’s not the problem. The disc sounds like it was recorded in a garage, which it probably was, but that sort of adds to the whole ‘70s atmosphere of the music. Clearly the band is doing exactly what they want, but what they really need next time out is a producer who can step in and convince them that some songs might turn out better if they were 10 minutes long instead of 15. Some gentle editing might have done a lot to help The Weirding‘s overall quality level. By Chris Conaton.

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The Chocolate Watchband - No Way Out (1967)

Country: USA
Genre: psychedelic rock, garage rock
Year: 1967
Label: Sundazed
Review: 1967 was supposed to be the year the Chocolate Watchband finally made it big. They had spent the last couple of years gradually climbing their way to the top of San Francisco's R&B scene. They had paid their dues and put in their work; now it was time for things to pay off. By the end of 1966, their raw, raucous, Rolling Stones-y sound had landed them gigs alongside Jefferson Airplane and Captain Beefheart. They had released their first two singles—and they were both hits. The Chocolate Watchband was on the radio. They were in the movies. They had a wealth of talent. And they had a catalog of proven material. All that was left to do was lay it down on their first full-length record. And so, in the new year, that's exactly what they set out to do.

But things didn't exactly go as planned. In fact, it was a complete disaster from start to finish. The thing is though, listening to No Way Out you'd never guess it. The LP is one of the finest examples of British Invasion-influenced garage rock, one of the few American releases that can stand up to the early Kinks or Rolling Stones. The standout tracks, "Let's Talk About Girls" and "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-in)", are exceptional—and both would later earn their way onto the famed Nuggets box-set. The cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" (complete with a guest appearance by Wolfman Jack) nearly rivals the original. A couple of psychedelic instrumentals give the album more depth and variety than you'd expect from a straight-up R&B group. Even in 1967, maybe the greatest year in music history, No Way Out stands out as one of the better records released. It's everything the band could have hoped for, just the kind of record that could take them from being local heroes to international stars. By Adam Bunch.

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The Black Angels - Passover (2006)

From: USA
Genre: psychedelic rock
Year: 2006
Label: Light in the Attic
Myspace
Review: Walking in the shadows cast by Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce is a dangerous pastime. Narcotic space rockers who admire that cantankerous icon often risk sounding like they're wandering aimlessly in the celestial realm or hiding behind walls of droning guitars and forsaking structure and melody. However, along with their peers in the Warlocks and Black Mountain, Austin's Black Angels have avoided those pitfalls and made a stunning record that will undoubtedly top a zillion "best of" lists at the end of 2006. Their self-titled debut EP (also on LITA) was acclaimed upon its release last year, and though this proper full-length features three of the four songs appearing on The Black Angels, hearing them stretch out fully and utilize thoughtful sequencing makes for an even more satisfying listen.

Working with a solid flooring of Stephanie Bailey's creative, purposeful percussion, and elevating majestically via Nate Ryan's crystalline, acrobatic guitar playing, the quintet breaks new ground for sensual, neopsychedelia, alternating adroitly between Velvet Underground–like dirges ("Bloodhounds on My Trail"), acid-soaked spirals of colorful pop ("Manipulation"), and menacing dirges that recall 13th Floor Elevators' most lucid moments ("The First Vietnamese War"). Vocalist Alex Maas sounds like a clearer-throated version of Clinic frontman Ade Blackburn, and drone dame Jennifer Raines unfurls enough blood-curdling organ to disturb a mortician. Black Angels close things on a simple, somber note with a hidden track featuring Maas singing alone with only a tautly strummed guitar, offering solace to a dead Iraqi soldier's mother. By Hannah Levin.

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Aqua Nebula Oscillator - s/t (2008)

Country: France
Genre: psychedelic rock, space rock
Year: 2008
Label: Pan European Records
Myspace
Review: Aqua Nebula Oscillator redefines 69 Punk Psychedelic music. They play powerful music with voodoo rythms, space oscillations, wild fuzz echo guitar, indian sitar, organ, fuzz bass, 3 vocals with savage female vocals. They can play five minutes wild shock'n'roll song and also go into 25 minutes of "blow your mind" improvisation. On stage, they play with a psych Hypnotic light show behind them, and off stage they travel Europe in an old black and gold gravedigger van. They play only on really old valve echo equipment (as Pink Floyd). Their music is a space trip with no limit,they can play baroque melody mixed with Tribal Transe Rythm and ufo space sound with medieval voices. Its not a kind of music,Its a way of living!
David Os is the guru of Aqua Nebula Oscillator and since his invention of the psychedelic Experience, the band has changed members 3 times members. Now, Vince,Simon and Shazzula joined the band definitively! (c)

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