Lumerians

January 17, 2008

A great debut from San Franciscan quartet, Lumerians. The self-titled ep walks freely between pounding krautian rhythms, etherial harmonies and even touches of dub. The band take nods from just about every arena feeding into modern psychedelics; keyboards buzz, drums pound and atmospherics rise into murky clouds of dust. Vocals, when they appear, trade back and forth between male and female voice. The tone is largely dark, breaking stride for a short foray into hope on the female led "Orgon Grinder," but for the most part dystopian synths quaver over an ominous undercurrent of off kilter tension. On the surface the temper remains calm but a sense of unease pervades the entire EP as if the moment you let yourself ease into unawareness some horrible fate will befall you. Really digging this vibe the whole way throughout. Download: [MP3] Lumerians - Corkskrew Trepanation [MP3] Lumerians - Orgon Grinder Support the artist. Buy it HERE

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January 16, 2008

	Lucifer - Big Gun The strange ramblings of Peter Walker, ex-member of garage one-shots the Purple Gang, give Skip Spence a run for his money in the crazy loner category. According to the liner notes the members of Lucifer gathered together in caves
to record this album somewhere in Arizona. Only problem is there was no "band", the album was recorded by Pete by himself in the UK. So perhaps Pete was just lonely and made up a few friends to ease the time. Played in a rambling, psych-blues that definitely owe a debt to Zappa and Co., though given the nature of Pete's mental state the rambling probably doesn't owe a debt to anyone but himself. This is definitely a classic of the outsider variety and contains quite a few wonderful tunes to its credit.Download: [MP3] Lucifer - Dance With the Devil [MP3] Lucifer - Gonna Leave Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	St. John Green - St. John Green Well this is downright normal by comparison to Lucifer but an interesting specimen aided by one of the era's more prolific personalities. St. John Green was produced and pushed by Kim Fowley, who's mark lays all over the L.A. psychedelic
scene, from contributions to Zappa's Freak Out to composing songs for The Byrds and Soft Machine. Fowley's role often lay behind the scenes and he had a knack for bringing out greatness. He predicted a meteoric rise for St. John Green but unfortunately though this is a solid and creative album it fell by the wayside. Fowley of course soldiered on but this remains the only bit of St. John Green that remains.Download: [MP3] St. John Green - Canyon Women [MP3] St. John Green - Messages From The Dead Support the artist. Buy it HERE

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Fire on Fire

January 15, 2008

As the life of Cerberus Shoal began to wane, the members birthed a new incarnation; Fire on Fire amounts to the accoustic/homespun/downtempo version of CS give or take a member or two. This 5 song EP, the first offering from the band is being sold exclusively through their new home at Young God, which seems a perfect fit for their sound. A shock to the system if you're familiar with the Cerberus Shoal of old but not so much if you've been listening to some of the members' solo ventures of late. Gira is touting them as a "backwoods, fierce, psychedelic Mamas and Papas", which honestly isn't too incredibly far off. They may not hit the harmonies as deep as the Mamas but its a nice backporch update on the idea. Rustic overtones weave so effortlessly around each of the five songs that it seems almost unbelievable that this band ever played a dissimilar style. I'm excited to hear more from the collective and as luck has it, it looks like we may soon be able to. Young God's site boasts an upcoming album that will include none of this material. So grab this while the grabbin' is good and keep an ear to the wind for more from the band. Download: [MP3] Fire on Fire - My Lady Coffin Support the artist. Buy it HERE

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January 12, 2008

	Wooden Shjips - Summer of Love 7" A massive track that spanned both sides of this 7", "Summer of Love" was pure a groove induced repeat-o psychsplosion in true Shjips form. The single saw two pressings, the first
in transparent red and the second in blue and the proceeds from the sale of the disc went to Food Not Bombs. Unfortunately the single may already be out of print but why not head over to Aquarius and check it out.Download: [MP3] Wooden Shjips -SOL pt. 1 Support the artist. Buy it HERE

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