Let's move forward with these Northern European experiments, this time venturing into German territory with a new proposal from the #buzz showcase concerning a group that - clearly - I wasn't familiar with, suggested to me as always by @[ALFAMA].

Dzyan - Electric Silence (Bacillus Records, 1974)

Another 1970s album from a German band, a trio (Reinhard Karwatky, Peter Giger, Eddy Marron) that doesn’t quite fit what we call kraut-rock, but in this album, titled 'Electric Silence' and released in 1974, while evoking some sonorities of Popol Vuh, wanders down different paths and predominantly explores conceptual ambient and meditative experimentation. This album is their last and can be described as a kind of improvisation on the edge of the most extreme experimentalism, where genres like jazz fusion and references to Eastern folk music intersect. The album opens immediately with one of the most unique tracks, 'Back To Where We Come From', a long nine-minute experimental session essentially based on the experimental sound of the bass and the use of minimal percussion and underwater synthetic suggestions, culminating in a final noise explosion in a series of overdubs. The sound of the marimba is a characteristic element used on several occasions. 'A Day In My Life' can be considered practically as a beta instrumental version of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' by the Beatles. 'The Road Not Taken' conceptually reprises the opening track: it seems the exercise practiced consists of resonating the empty spaces, alternating forcefully with a solitary ghostly acid blues guitar in a style halfway between 70s psychedelia and Ry Cooder. 'Khali' is perhaps the most interesting track, virtually a session of spatial ambient music blended with traditional Indian music featuring tabla and sitar, reaching a symphonic ecstasy that anticipates Spacemen 3 by a few decades. 'For Early Thinking' (in a more experimental manner) and 'Electric Silence' are more typically jazz fusion episodes that perhaps add little to the overall work, except for confirming the trio's great technical abilities and their eccentricity in compositions of every kind. It’s certainly a distinctive album, and it's worth mentioning the creator of the beautiful and unique cover: the German artist Helmut Wenske, whom I wasn't familiar with but definitely deserves further exploration, especially considering my interest in sci-fi culture.

Dzyan - Khali [Electric Silence] 1974
Second proposal for the #zot2017 review, and as often happens, we stumble upon an episode of space music and drone psychedelia. This time with an episode that may not be unforgettable but could still be appreciated by fans of the genre.

The Space Spectrum ‎– The Dark Side Of The Red Eyed Queen (Self-Released, April 26, 2017)

'The Red Eyed Queen' is an album released by Space Spectrum, a space/kraut collective from Rendsburg, Germany. The album was originally released in 2013 and then a year later by Cosmic Eye Records. 'The Dark Side of the Red Eyed Queen,' which the group wanted to release last April 26, is nothing more than the original version of the album as Nico Seel (the frontman and mind behind the project) presented it to the label, before re-recording the album with the full band and the addition of Nils Seel on bass, Kevin Klein on drums, and Jan Davis Schulz on synth. We certainly aren't dealing with high-quality recordings, but the two long tracks, in their drone darkness, are nonetheless two interesting moments of space music characterized by the powerful sound of the bass, a very elementary drum (evidently the main limitation of the recording), and reverbs and distortions overlapping one another, amplifying a certain heaviness and nihilism. Nothing unforgettable, but it may perhaps be liked even more than the original precisely for its nature as an unfinished and embryonic work, born from instinct rather than careful and elaborate craft.

The Dark Side Of The Red Eyed Queen | The Space Spectrum
Review #buzz: check out these flying Dutchmen. Obviously always suggested by @[ALFAMA].

Groep 1850 ‎– Agemo's Trip To Mother Earth (Philips, 1968)

I might sound repetitive, but this Dutch group from the city of Den Haag played in a way that was ahead of its time by practically twenty years. The group (Peter Sjardin, Daniel Van Bergen, Ruud Van Buren, Beer Klaaasse) is called Groep 1850 (or Group 1850), and 'Agemo's Trip To Mother Earth', released in 1968 (Philips), is their first LP. The album is objectively very beautiful and something surprising in the field of sixties psychedelia. Let's just say the band was definitely on point: 'Reborn' is a typical psychedelic ballad infused with Eastern sounds; 'Refound' echoes the lysergic inspirations of the Beatles; 'Ever Ever Green' has the marks of old classics combined with a psychedelic pop flavor still typical of the four lads from Liverpool; 'I Know (La Pensèe)' as well as 'A Point In This Life' have passages reminiscent of Stones sounds like 'Paint It Black' but combined with a certain hypnotism and a use of choruses that is typical of these crazy flying Dutchmen. Like in the dramatic psychedelic-pop of 'Zero' or in 'Mother No-Head', a psychedelic garage litany where the choruses overlap and at one point in a self-ironic symphonic experimentation, we hear the notes of 'San Martino Campanaro.' 'I Put My Hand On Your Shoulder' is definitely the most experimental track on the album. It opens with clear references to a typical psychedelia of the time, reminiscent of the Floyd of Syd Barrett; the introduction is ecstatic, a downpour of sounds and psychedelic allegories that converge into 'Sgt Pepper'-like visions, leading to a closure with the classic Motorik 4/4 of kraut-rock and an acidity reminiscent of Amon Duul II. If 'Misty Night' is a typical blues-rock episode of those years, tracks like 'Frozen Mind' and 'Dream Of The Future' are absolutely ahead of their time in their use of distortions and a certain underlying nihilism. But if that weren't enough, here comes the fury of 'Fire', which may remind one of Blue Cheer but at a certain point seems already hardcore, and then you end up wondering if these Dutchmen had some kind of spacecraft to travel through time.

GROUP 1850 - I put my hand on your shoulder
I inaugurate today the #zot217 review and I do it in the best possible way with an astonishingly beautiful album. While it's a tribute album, this is an unmissable opportunity to relisten to the reinterpretation of a fundamental work in a perfectly executed live dimension. Enjoy listening.

Brooklyn Raga Massive - Terry Riley In C (Northern Spy Records, October 06, 2017)

Terry Mitchell Riley, born in Colfax on June 24, 1935. How many composers and musicians have been as influential as him over the last sixty years? Inspired by zen philosophy and Indian ragas, and the consequent use of instruments like the sitar and tabla (in addition to those more common in Western music), his minimalist music is built around regular, obsessive, repetitive rhythms to which layers of sounds with melodic and harmonic turns are superimposed. The creation of this kind of meditative and hallucinatory mantra has anticipated many of the typical themes of psychedelia and cosmic music, and it can still be said to have reached heights in experimentalism never before attained. 'In C' (1964) is perhaps his most famous work and is considered the most popular minimalist composition of all time. Conceived for an ideal number of 35 musicians, it is divided into 53 phrases and is here presented in its entirety by the Brooklyn Raga Massive (BRM), a collective of musicians well-versed in Indian music and led by Neel Murgai (voice and sitar). The collective, composed of 18 musicians, has performed the entire work in over 70 concerts. This one was recorded at Joe's Pub in New York on January 11, 2017. I think the most significant judgment on this work is indeed that of Terry Riley, who stated that he has never heard an ensemble like this perform 'In C'. A masterpiece.

BRM All Stars Perform Terry Riley's "In C" at Art Cafe, Brooklyn

P.S. The video is a short excerpt from a performance a few years ago at the Art Cafe in Brooklyn.
Perhaps the most 'pop' proposal (so far) of the #buzz showcase, but maybe the best way to kick off this new year, 2018.

I should note that the album was already timely reviewed by @[ALFAMA] here: SPIRIT FEST - SPIRIT FEST - Recensione di ALFAMA

Spirit Fest - Spirit Fest (Morr Music, November 10, 2017)

'Spirit Fest' can practically be defined as a supergroup. It all starts from Markus Archer's (Notwist) interest in the music of the Japanese duo Tenniscoats, composed of Saya and Takashi. His work has always stood out not only for its typical pop taste but also for a certain experimentalism even in live performance styles, which resemble a sort of happening where the Tokyo duo provides visual imagery and seeks to engage the audience in their performances that take place in every possible location. After seeing them in Munich, Markus Archer combines the meeting of the two with Mat Fowler (Jam Money) and CIco Beck (Joasinho, Alla Input): the result, in just 14 days of work, is this eponymous album released on Morr Music (of course), which I believe is the best thing to come out of this label in years. The taste for the minimal pop electronics of the Tenniscoats fits perfectly with the spirit of the label, and each song is a small gem of serene and radiant avant-pop compositions accompanied by sounds that blend Japanese tradition with a certain aftertaste typical of chansonniers and French 'orchestrines'. A colorful album, where moments of gloomy melancholy reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian abound, and that, for its spontaneity, made me think (with due differences) of the eponymous debut album by Avi Buffalo. A little gem. A brief moment of light and serenity to be seized before the rain returns.

Spirit Fest: Rain Rain
For the last day of the year 2017, I have a proposal for the #buzz review that constitutes a work you are all called to rediscover because we are faced with something for which we should, how can I put it, all take off our hats and perhaps kneel on chickpeas if we have never heard of this artist (which is something I actually had to do).

Mikael Tariverdiev - Film Music (Antique Beat/Earth, November 20, 2015)

Mikael Tariverdiev (1931-1996) was a Soviet composer, born in Tbilisi, Georgia. A historic collaborator of director Mikhail Khalik, Tariverdiev worked on over 130 films during his lifetime, wrote classical music for over a hundred romances, ballets, and plays. He won 18 international awards, including the USSR State Prize (1977), the American Music Academy (1975), and was named Artist of the Year in Russia in 1986. We are practically talking about one of the greatest Soviet artists of all time and a composer who shaped not only the history of music but also that of cinema. The story of this record is quite particular. In fact, its release is due to Stephen Coates of Real Tuesday Weld. He was in a pub in Moscow when he heard some music on the radio that he immediately fell in love with. He asked the waitress what it was. She replied, "Something from the old days." After some research, he discovered it was the soundtrack to a film by Mikhail Kalik titled "Goodbye Boys" (1964). The next step was to contact Tariverdiev’s widow, the late Vera Tariverdieva, with whom he selected tracks from the composer, including some unreleased versions. The result is a triple LP released by Antique Beat (Coates' label) and Earth in November 2015. Do I really need to tell you that this is a must-have release? Happy New Year to everyone.

Mikael Tariverdiev - Expectation of the New Year

@[ALFAMA] you've really played your trump card here. It was a true revelation to discover this amazing artist.
Unfortunately, the #zot2016 review ends without fireworks and with an album that was suggested to me but frankly disappointed me, to the point that I found it almost difficult to listen to. Life goes on.

Wolf People - Ruins (Jagjaguwar Records/Goodfellas, November 11, 2016)

The latest album by Wolf People (Jack Sharp, Joe Hollick, Dan Davies, Tom Watt), released on November 11, 2016, on Jagjaguwar/Goodfellas, also draws inspiration, like other albums released in the past two years in the UK alternative scene, from political and social issues. In 'Ruins', the dominant conceptual theme is set in an England defined as a bastardized nation, where spaces have been sold and paved, lit by neon; it revolves around a nature reclaiming its space despite humanity, thereby returning the world to its ancient splendor. In truth, the theme seems to also connect to the musical world because this album, recorded between Devon, the Isle of Wight, and London, serves as a manifesto against contemporary pop music (particularly brit-pop and hip-hop, which would have replaced plundering, chains, and scrofula) to be fought against at all costs, with a certain passion and references to the music of the seventies, particularly the acid rock of classic bands from the Anglo-Saxon rock tradition like Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, and Black Sabbath. The album indeed manages to fulfill its intent by blending the sound here and there with hints of stoner psych that may remind one of the more 'institutional' Arbouretum and some influences from Nordic psychedelia. However, the overall content feels completely out of time, and I am used to looking at the present or forward to solve the 'problems' surrounding me, certainly not to participate in these revivals where the original models have never interested me. It comes to mind that generally, the various offerings from Jagjaguwar tend to disappoint me more or less consistently. Just forget this album for now and enter the new year 2018 with renewed vigor. It’s a shame because it has a really beautiful cover.

Wolf People - Ninth Night (Official Video)
The #buzz review presents an album by a pair of songwriters so talented that it seems impossible I had never heard of them before today. Thank you @[ALFAMA].

Chad & Jeremy - Of Cabbages and Kings (Columbia Records, 1967)

Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde met at the drama school in London in 1962. It was Chad himself who taught Jeremy how to play guitar. Mostly, regarding the sung parts, it was Jeremy who sang the melody, while Chad handled the higher parts and harmonies. The album 'Of Cabbages and Kings' was released in the fall of 1967 on Columbia Records under the title 'Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde'. I feel guilty for never having heard of these two because this album is simply beautiful. The record mixes 60s pop and folk sounds that from 'I'll Get Around To It' to 'Can I See You', from 'Family Way' to 'Rest In Peace' evoke the Byrds and the sensitivity and lightness of Simon & Garfunkel's compositions. In particular, I believe I’m not mistaken in mentioning references to Gene Clark's writing. 'BUsman's Holiday' partly recalls the Doors' 'Love Street' but is still infused with Byrds and Beatles sounds. Here and there, there are hints of Syd Barrett's psychedelia. However, the heart of the album is the long psychedelic session of twenty-five minutes of 'The Progress Suite'. Frankly, it’s something sumptuous where the duo condenses the Beatles' 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', the more hallucinatory visions of the United States of America, and the compositional style of Burt Bacharach. A pure manifestation of genius.

Chad & Jeremy - Family Way
Penultimate page of the #zot2016 review that I already know you will miss greatly...

CHOCOLAT - Rencontrer Looloo (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records, November 11, 2016)

As far as we know, Looloo is some sort of gigantic demigod from the mountains of Mars, created from interstellar dust; he likes pretzels and Cherry Coke, but above all, hard rock. And indeed, there is plenty of hard rock in this album by the Canadians (from Montreal, Québec) CHOCOLAT (Jimmy Hunt, Ysaek Pépin, Emmanuel Ethier, Brian Hildebrand, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux) titled 'Rencontrer Looloo' (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records). From the cover alone, you can catch certain vintage references to a genre that are not characteristic of this particular phase in the world of alternative music ('Ah Ouin', 'Golden Age', 'Retrouver Looloo', 'Looloo', 'Les Géants', 'Le Faucon, Le Chacal Et Le Vaisse'), even though there might be some resemblance in the blistering guitar riffs to some creation by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Other tracks feature a more distinct songwriting and softer, more refined arrangements, as in the cases of 'On Est Meilleurs Qu'R.E.M.' or 'Les Pyramides', the instrumental 'Koyaanisqatsi (Apparition)', and 'Mars', which recalls a certain David Bowie from 'Space Oddity' and the piano ballad 'Les Mésanges'. Beautiful songs that give this album a dual face, but this is frankly an irrelevant issue because each song has such a short duration that the transition from one piece to another is hardly noticeable, and the adrenaline charge it conveys remains high from beginning to end.

Chocolat - Mars
Always at the forefront of Swedish sound for the 'buzzin' sound' review aka #buzz, and this time with an album, dear @[ALFAMA], that can hardly be called simple. Starting from the very title of the album. Enjoy listening.

Algarnas Tradgard - Framtiden ar ett Svavande Skepp, Forankrat I Forntiden (1972)

Once again from Sweden, one of the most interesting and 'advanced' experimental realities of the early seventies. Algarnas Tradgard is a sextet formed in 1969, looking towards kraut-rock and space music, particularly influenced by the usual Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Temple. They released their first and only LP, a classic, entitled 'Framtiden ar ett Svavande Skepp, Forankrat I Forntiden' in 1972. This is a complex work where kraut-rock obsessiveness and space music blend with Scandinavian folk tradition and open the door to rituals of Northern Europe. 'Tva timmar over tva bla berg med en gog pa varder sidan, om timmarna alltsa', the track that opens the album, is certainly the most unique, showcasing the band's entire repertoire in thirteen minutes that serve as a journey into the Northern European counterculture of the time. The other tracks have a more homogeneous composition. 'Det finns en tid for allt, det finns en tid da aven tiden mots' introduces themes of Northern European psychedelic folk music that reappear in the folk ballad 'Mojiligheternas', which combines Nordic atmospheres with Eastern vibes typical of psychedelia, 'Tristans Klagan'. 'Viritidas' is an instrumental noise track, jazzy and submerged in a complex of vocal and instrumental distortions. 'Saturnus Ringer' is a more conventional psychedelic rock episode and solely instrumental. '5/4' is the most typically kraut-rock piece on the album. 'Framtiden ar ett svavande skepp, forankat i forntiden', the title track, and 'The Mirrors of Gabrie' constitute the more ambient moments in an album whose variety of content lies in its experimental nature, making this work a unique product.

Algarnas Tradgard - Saturnus Ringar
The journey continues towards infinity and beyond with the #buzz roundup, which mainly features experimental records suggested by my console partner @[ALFAMA]. Today we present you a made-in-Germany offering from the early seventies, which is exactly kraut, so pay attention.

Et Cetera - Et Cetera (1971)

In this case, we literally dive in with both feet into an altered dimension and a piece of history of German experimental music that is probably less known compared to typical kraut-rock releases. Wolfgang Dauner (1935), avant-garde pianist and composer, established this collective in 1970 called Et Cetera, featuring guitarist Sigi Schwab and drummer Fred Braceful, and released this self-titled LP in 1971, which is a kind of small masterpiece (followed in 1973 by the release of 'Knirsch' with guitarist Larry Coryell and drummer Jon Hiseman). Recorded in London at Orange Studios with percussionist Roland Wittich and bassist Eberhard Weber, the album consists of episodes of experimental jazz noise ('Thursday Morning Sunrise,' 'Milkstreets'), the evocative 'Lady Blue,' the references to Indian music in 'Mellodrama,' and the fifteen minutes of 'Raga,' where Dauner's experimental vein merges with the instrumental capabilities of Schwab and Braceful. Very particular and futuristic.

Wolfgang Dauners Et Cetera- Milkstreets.wmv
I think this is like the penultimate episode of the #zot2016 review, in which we suggest an album with great potential, in my opinion unexpressed, and that makes this group a band to follow in their evolution and to root for because of their obsession with boobs. Which, of course, I share.

Boobs Of Doom - (((WHITE NOISE))) (Self-Released, June 06, 2016)

The choice of the name that this self-defined electrodoom Scottish duo has given to their project is definitely amusing and perhaps indicative of how eccentric and self-ironic our heroes can be. Let's start by clarifying that there isn't much doom in this album. Apart from the third track, titled 'Liquid Dinosaurs,' whose sonorities are indeed typically doom only to then deviate towards stoner psych variants, which serves as an exception in the overall album. For the rest, '(((WHITE NOISE)))' is a particular album in the genre of neo-psychedelic music, and the duo repeats more or less all the compositions following the same formula, starting from long sessions of ambient and trip-hop music, almost in line with some compositions by Massive Attack that are gradually contaminated by drone and post-industrial sounds. An entirely instrumental album that shows great potential, which, if channeled with greater attention, could eventually lead to something more accomplished. Anyway, not bad for a pair of boobs. I mean, let's say that with boobs involved, the result had to be positive.

BOOBS of DOOM - (((WHITE NOISE))) full album
Last cartridges for the #zot2016 review. Here’s an EP produced by Anton Newcombe.

The Cobra Lamps - The Cobra Lamps EP (A Recordings, July 29, 2016)

A project by Barrie Cadogan (occasional collaborator of Primal Scream), a guitarist and songwriter from Nottingham who has settled in the London City, inspired by the psychedelic sounds of Brian Jonestown Massacre and the harder rock of Dinosaur Jr, has so far released this self-titled EP published by Anton Newcombe's own label, A Recordings. The record features four tracks. The EP indeed echoes some more typically British sounds starting from Primal Scream themselves, along with infusions of Dandy Warhols and hints of Chemical Brothers grooves. The typically garage sound is here and there influenced by psychedelic variations from Spiritualized or Brian Jonestown Massacre in a work that we can ultimately define as barely sufficient due to a lack of evidence.

Known To All
We're firing off the last shots of the #zot2016 review before we resign ourselves to the end of 2017. Today we have an Italian record.

Alessandro Adriani - Montagne trasparenti (Mannequin Records, April 05, 2016)

Alessandro Adriani is the founder of Mannequin Records, an Italian label born in Rome in 2008 but that 'relocated' for reasons of opportunity to Berlin, specializing in minimal synth and cold wave offerings. The label is distinguished by its well-defined choices in its productions, which can also involve reissues of 'occult' works created in the past. However, in this case, we are faced with a completely new LP created by Adriani himself in collaboration with Willie Burns. Recorded between Rome and Berlin 'over various years of travel, compositions, and battles with wires and machines', 'Montagne trasparenti' is an album of minimal electronics that conceptually - curiously - draws inspiration not far from that of 'Planetarium' recently produced by Stevens, Muhly, Dessner, McAlister, although the sound of the compositions is different from the neo-classicism proposed by Stevens and companions, configuring instead into a certain obsessive kraut in slow motion ('L'acqua di Nettuno', 'Fuoco', 'Rotazione Sincrona'), dark ambient and cold wave ('Fase Lunare I', 'Verso lo Zenith', 'Attraverso le asperità', 'Fase Lunare II'), and electro-trance compulsions ('Pianeta rosso', 'Montagne trasparenti'). Overall, a definitely interesting work that could become a cult object and draw attention from genre enthusiasts. Anyway, a label to keep an eye on, especially if you enjoy minimal electronic compositions, cold wave, and goth sounds.

ALESSANDRO ADRIANI l'acqua di nettuno
We wish you a Merry Christmas with an unmissable new chapter from the #buzz section.

Best wishes @ALFAMA.

Canaxis 5 - Technical Space Composer's Crew (1969)

In the past year, projects like Tau and JuJu have sought to look beyond the boundaries of the Western world and blend their psychedelic sound with distinctive sonorities, attempting to give their compositions that aspect we perhaps limitedly define as world music. Almost fifty years ago, Holger Czukay, even before releasing his first works with Can, recorded this album under the name Canaxis 5, which was conceptually and musically light-years ahead of its time. A student of Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, with this work titled 'Technical Space Composer's Crew' (1969) and created with the contribution of technician Rolf Dammers, Czukay produced two long sessions of experimental and psychedelic electronic music ('Boat Woman Son' and 'Canaxis') in which he literally reworked two tapes containing traditional Vietnamese chants. The first is a kind of obsessive litany, a track filled with mystical and hallucinatory visions, while the second opens with sounds that can be considered precursors of drone music, gradually expanding into a session of space ambient. The album then concludes with a brief original piece by Czukay, which I would place within the realm of experimental electronic music and directly linked to the lessons imparted by his teacher Stockhausen. An innovative work with a tremendous impact, whose greatness remains unchanged over time.

Technical Space Composer's Crew - Canaxis 5 (Full Album)
@[G] the second upgrade is great. I was wondering, though, if you could possibly do something even more basic in a style that the Teletubbies could understand, like:

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Ingrandisci questa immagine