kraan

sarahs ritt durch den schwarzwald

Desde un principio quería dedicar la aldea al kraut y al canterbury pero como no me queda mucho tiempo me conformo con un regalo de estos de vez en cuando. Recuerdo cuando nos juntábamos en nuestra fiebre alemana a escuchar a los favoritos, 'psychedelic underground', 'opal', 'ash ra tempel' y el debut de Kraan, que en directo son todavía más infecciosos, son lo que siempre me llevaba. Por muchos que viniernan despúes este es un disco único, imaginativo y libre, con sus ritmos intuitivos y texturas árabes que despiertan en uno, un fuego y energía que te va consumiendo por dentro.

the skygreen leopards

the skygreen leopards - disciples of california (jagjaguwar, 2006)

Disciples of California, continues in the alchemical tradition of change and inward-revolt. On it, the Skygreen Leopards mix pop melodies, minimal country truisms, jingle-jangling Californianism and angular folk with something the band refers to as "our horse called Dire Arrow," which roughly translates into family friendly (sans the "American Censorship" connotations).Indeed Disciples of California is a "friends & family" record. The theme of fraternity is not only represented lyrically but was also part of the recording process. It's the first album recorded outside the band's own studio (note: they NEVER recorded outdoors as some have reported) and it's also the debut of the SGL's rhythm section, the Skyband (featuring Jasmyn Wong on drums and Shayde Sartin on bass). Working in a studio with additional musicians allowed the band to record the basic tracks live, giving the music a ragged, stumbling, and honest life in contrast to the cut-up and cleansing methods much employed in previous days. Recorded in just a few sessions at Jason Quever's (Papercuts) San Francisco studio, the Leopards took full advantage of his arsenal of soft machines to create a batch of spacious three minute pop tunes. Lyrically and conceptually, Glenn and Donovan continue down their twisted path. The ghosts of girl-beauties, whispering trees, swimming-hole cousins, crippled horses and human-faced animal-saints all join the dizzying parade.

El colectivo Jewelled Antler es con seguridad el mayor regalo de lo que llevamos de milenio, en todas sus vertientes y encarnaciones, recorren desde el folk y la tradición, parajes subterráneos, bosques primaverales, ciudades abandonadas, rincones entre tus sueños y pesadillas... con ellos cualquier cosa es susceptible de ser posible, y los leopardos del cielo verde son su reencarnación más accesible, campestre y bella. Con y sin permiso de Loren Chase y Steve R. Smith, Glenn Donaldson (Bithle Sons, Thuja, Franciscan Hobbies, Buried Civilizations, Ivytree, Birdtree, The Famous Boating Party, Horticultural Compass, The Knit Separates y Once & Future Herds) siempre ha sido mi favorito , en su sexto larga duración junto a Donovan Quinn (Verdure, Horticultural Compass, Once & Future Herds) continuan adornando los árboles, envolviendo preciosas melodías con la espontaneidad que los ha hecho especiales y con la sinceridad para la que no hace falta disfraz. Parece que el camino es de regreso y que ya no tienen interés alguno en sorpredente, sólo que te sientes en la hierba a disfrutar. Quizá ya hicieron su mejor disco pero sigue habiendo canciones memorables: 'Places West Of Shawnapee' , 'Jesus Was Californian' o Disciples of California

polytoxicomane philharmonie

polytoxicomane philharmonie - psycho erectus (nasoni, 2004)

Polytoxicomane Philharmonie is a bunch of weird guys from Germany, hidden somewhere in the woods around Frankfurt, enjoying every minute of life and also making music now and then. According to their (nick)names they are not that serious about what they are doing, anyway the line-up has changed a lot during the last years. Their music can not be described in one word: psychedelic, space-rock, jazz-rock, kraut-rock, ambient and even a bit folky. A track like Fuddle Pie & Puddle Fie can be easily compared with the works of Frank Zappa, both textually as musically.There are female and male vocals and very often it is all about the spoken word, like in Sulphur and La Chanson Verte. Lokus Pokus has an Eastern exotic flavour, while the horns make it evolve towards jazz-rock, not seldom the music of Soft Machine comes to my mind during this track. Besides, there is manual for the cd on their site, mentioning the different rhythm patterns (7/4, 11/4, 6/4, 15/8 and so on..), you have to be a keen musician to understand everything. And maybe this is the problem for this kind of music, so much is happening, perhaps too much, which makes it less recognizable and some tracks begin to resemble each other. Naturally, a lot is due to this particular music style, often the tracks are escalating in nervous playing saxophones (cfr. also Gong), like for example in ‘Chanson Verte’, in the second part of the song you can hear suddenly some spacey Porcupine Tree-like music. In fact I encounter a lot of nice fragments, interesting guitar solos, but without true highlights, luckily there are no real drawbacks neither. I am convinced that ‘Psycho Erectus’ will certainly appeal to certain progressive rock fans, especially those that are into the small world of RIO, Canterbury scène and other experimental rock.

Poco más se puede añadir de Polytoxicomane Philharmonie, en 'Sulphur' , 'Fuddle Pie & Puddle Fie' , 'Chanson Verte' son (a veces demasiado) Gong, Magma, Henry Cow, el 'In Search of Space' de Hawkwind o 'Hot Rats' de Frank Zappa, todos esenciales en aldea f. , pero no te engañes que debajo de las setas comienza un único y flotante free festival: jazz nocturno, folk danzarín, rio, space-rock, el underground alemán del que provienen... como eran las palabras mágicas, ¡ah sí! 'Lokus Pokus' y que empieze la función.