Atom Heart Mutha - Transmissions from the Psychedelic Basement 4 is now available to hear anytime.

Atom Heart Mutha's section from Transmissions from the Psychedelic Basement 4 is now available to hear on the AHM Mixcloud page.
Originally broadcast on May 28th this is part of a 3 hour Joint show with the Thee Psychedelicatessen DJs, if you'd like to hear the full 3 hour version of the show, click the link HERE
The Tracklist is included in the picture to the right, Enjoy!

Transmissions From the Psychedelic Basement 4 Goes out live this Saturday

Transmissions From the Psychedelic Basement 4 goes out live 8pm GMT on Saturday May 28th.  This radio show is part of an ongoing series of joint broadcasts with Atom Heart Mutha and the Thee Psychedelicatessen DJ's.

Tune in by clicking on the link below when the show goes live, you can expect a mix of cool Psych classics, brand new sounds and a weird blend of Spaced Out Trippy Jams.

If you're unfamiliar with the Thee Psychedelicatessen, you can check out their blog Here,  you can also follow them on Facebook Here.


8.00pm Thee Psychedelicatessen DJ's
9.30pm Atom Heart Mutha

Don't forget, Turn On, Tune In and Psych Out...8pm GMT !

wwwbigjafnet is on Mixlr

Album Review...Warhorses - Flap your Useless Wings

So, once again, I've had the opportunity to hear something that passed me by the first time around. This time its Warhorses; a heavy, hypnotic rock outfit from Detroit. This album's been around since 2009 and the band have a reputation for intense, engaging live shows.

After the short intro of 'Nothing Left to Burn' comes the alluring whisper of 'Terminal Station' a cool, slow burner that beats itself into a swaggering wall of guitars and drums. The sounds change to noisy and sonically charged on 'The Death Toll is Expected to Rise' a track that has all the hallmarks of something you know will take on a bigger life of its own played live.
Next, we get the excellent 'Dead Undone' a song that starts off reminiscent of Pavement's 'Motion Suggests' and then grows into a loud, wailing monster, complete with horns; its easily one of the albums best tracks. There are flourishes of psych on 'Bury Your Dead' the drum patterns beat with military style and precision over a country/psych guitar. '0' is a really heavy stoner number; it drones and pounds its way slowly over its weighty 12 minutes; a stark contrast to the punchy popping of the 2 minuter 'Neverland'. Therein lies the appeal of the LP; the styles are similar enough to maintain the albums tone, but not quite enough to pigeonhole a genre.  What you do get is sometimes dark and brooding, often hypnotic but always heavy.
'Flap your Useless' wings is another great example of an album that works better as a whole piece; it's a great late night kind of an album.  The atmosphere the band have managed to create lends itself well to being played loud.  Very loud.



Check out the Warhorses bandcamp page;  you can also stream the really cool EP  'Song of the Month', thats also worth checking out. There's a link for the track 'Crawl' at the end of this review.

Warhorses on Bandcamp

Warhorses on Facebook

Warhorses ReverbNation

Album Review...Psychic Ills - Inner Journey Out.

Psychic Ills are back!
The eagerly anticipated follow up to the New York duo's 2013 album 'One Track Mind' gets a release on Sacred Bones Records on June 3rd.
The albums conception, as always, started with Tres Warren's demos and Elizabeth Hart adding her parts within the studio sessions. What is different this time around, is rather than use overdubs, the album features touring keyboard player Brent Cordero and a series of guest artists.

What's also notably different from 'One Track Mind' is the tone of the songs.  There is far less fuzz, within the production, and a much more warmer sound; notable at first on 'Another change'.  Cordero's keyboard style proves to be a winner; especially with the gospel backing vocal.  This is easily one of my favorite songs of the year, so far.  It's here, where you begin to note, an often recurring comparison to Spiritualized, especially from around the 'Lazer Guided Melodies' and 'Ladies and Gentlemen We're floating in Space' period.

'I Dont Mind' is a duet with Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval; the two vocalists compliment each other beautifully over the country Psych sounds, once more benefitting from the underlying keyboards.  Elsewhere 'Coca-Cola Blues' evokes the spirit of early seventies Neil Young, as it opens with the sound of harmonica and the feel of a track from 'Harvest'.  The pedal steel guitar enhances the track and elevates it to a whole other level of hazy beauty. ''No Worry' has an eerie string arrangement over the echoing guitars,which gives the album a different dimension and 'Rah Wah Wah' is a shimmering blissed out trip played out over 9 minutes.

There are definitely moments on the record that compare to that of Jason Pierces earlier Spiritualized albums; whether that is through direct influence or the way the songs here have been crafted and pieced together, by using similar themes with gospel vocals, horns and strings.  Either way, it doesn't matter; they both make brilliant music that will continue be enjoyed beyond the decades to come.

The band now, more than ever, deserve wider recognition and attention. Inner Journey Out is a career best in a run of already excellent LPs. There are plenty of standalone tracks here, but this record is something that plays best as a whole; loudly and, with or without, the influence of your favourite poison.  The more you listen, the more the you discover what is going on.  As a progression, from 'One Track Mind', the band music has reaped obvious benefits from taking a different approach to recording this time around.

Psychic Ills have delivered something special.

Psychic Ills Official Site

Psychic Ills Facebook

Buy Inner Journey Out from Sacred Bones Records,

Album Review...Knall - Alien Funk

More cool stuff from Tonzonen Records.  Knall release their third album 'Alien Funk' this month, on limited clear or  black vinyl. Amazingly, this is a live album recorded at the 'Monsters of Krautrock' festival in Würzburg Germany.  I say amazingly because you wouldn't know it was live unless you were told!
From the very start, the album bursts with energy; opening track 'Prologue' is a fast paced, motoric, drum driven rocker.  The cosmic guitar solo that accompanies it takes the whole thing to another level.
The aptly named title track 'Alien Funk' has a clever little groove of its own and keeps the pace going. 'Gravity' slows things down temporarily; it's a spaced out trip that slowly builds things back up to a weighty conclusion.
'Eightballs'' is a little more experimental and feels improvisational; it's probably the only moment on the record where you feel the band are riffing off ideas, not that it matters, it's still a cool jam coming in at just over 17 minutes long.
'Epilogue' closes the album in the same vein as it opened, great drum patterns and otherworldly guitar sounds; a great blending of Spacerock and krautrock.
Its hard not be impressed by this record, the production and quality of the recording itself is nothing short of astounding; there's almost no audible crowd sounds as the songs move from one to the next. The set itself is brilliant too, but when you also factor in that the set itself was a jam; a free flow of ideas, from before the band took to the stage, played as one whole piece. It's nothing short of amazing. That's what Knall do better than many of their contemporaries; even on the bands previous two studio albums, all tracks are recorded in a single take; everything is completely improvised and unique and therefore totally unrepeatable. How's that for awesome?


Knall on Facebook

Knall on Bandcamp

Buy Alien Funk on 180g Vinyl from Tonzonen Records

Listen to Atom Heart Mutha - May 2016 Anytime

The Atom Heart Mutha RadioShow May 2016 is now available to hear anytime. This months show was originally broadcast as part of the BigJaf.net RockShow and again on American Radio Station Grip of Delusion.

Click on the player and hear great tracks by Knall, Jakob Skøtt, May Blitz, The Spacelords as well as Sweet Crystal track of the latest RidingEasy Records Compilation 'Brown Acid - The Second Trip.'

Atom Heart Mutha also has a Facebook page now, follow us Here

Don't Forget to tune in on the 28th of this month for another Transmissions from the Psychedelic Basement with the fantastic TheePsychedelicatessen DJs, and if you need a fix of past shows, there's plenty to listen to on the Mixcloud page Here

Album Review...Mythic Sunship - Ouroboros

Once again, there's more cool stuff  coming from El Paraiso Records. This time around, it's a four piece from Copenhagen.
Mythic Sunship take their name from a mingling of album names by John Coltrane and Sun Ra; what they offer is that same sense of cosmic exploration.

The albums opener 'Ophidian Rising' is straight up HeavyPsych; no build ups or mystical sounds, just heavy bass and drums and a cool weighty riff.  'Year of the Serpent' is another heavy piece, but this time evolves slowly over a rolling pattern of guitar and minimal bass brushes; it's a steady pounder; beat driven and a great use of feedback and crashing symbols as it evolves over the sonic sounds of the guitars.
Side 2 is the massive 21 minute long track 'Leviathan', a demonstration of skill and flair. From the wall of feedback comes urgent tapping beats launching the song and then driving it towards the halfway point and then a brief pause; what follows is a massive heavy slice of PsychRock, and just when it feels like the tracks wrapping up, comes another brilliant brain melting freakout. So whilst we are led to believe that the band are cosmic explorers and follow freeform ways of delivering their sounds; there's no denying the band are at their core tight and focused, 'Ouroboros' will keep your attention throughout.

El Paraiso are having a great year so far, 'Ouroboros' is another essential  release from a label that's already put out killer records from Causa Sui, Jakob Skøtt and Nicklas Sorensen. Mythic Sunship have just released a heavy duty record that holds its own in a year that seems to be delivering brilliant music every week.  Seek this out; it's worth it.



Mythic Sunship Facebook

El Paraiso Records

New Atom Heart Mutha Show this Weekend

There's a brand new Atom Heart Mutha RadioShow going out live online on Saturday night at 9pm Uk time.  The player below will activate at 8pm at the start of the BigJaf.net RockShow, I'm on after Dylan the Wolf's Altrock Anthems Show. You'll also be able to catch the encore play on American Radio Station Grip of Delusion on Sunday 10am EST 4pm CET 3pm UK.  You can expect to hear great tracks by Zone Six, Mondo Drag and Plant Tribe. Theres also music off New Releases by Knall, Jakob Skøtt as well as something from the latest Brown acid Compilation. Tune in, its gonna be worth it.


Check back soon, New reviews are coming up this weekend for the latest Psychic Ills, Knall and Mythic Sunship albums.
wwwbigjafnet is on Mixlr

Album Review... Kikagaku Moyo - House in the Tall Grass

2016 sees new Music from Japan's 幾何学模様 Kikagaku Moyo; a band with an excellent live reputation. They tour the UK this month, in support of their brand new LP, 'House in the Tall Grass'.

'Mammatus Clouds' and the 'Forest of the Lost Children' EP were both extremely well received, back in 2014, and expectations for the new LP are high. I can say with confidence, that I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with this record.

'Green Sugar' shimmers, as it opens for nearly a minute,  suddenly becoming a beautiful sixties infused piece of psychedelic pop. Moving along, at a casual pace, the music is dreamy and warm. 'Kogarashi' follows theme, lush vocals and vibrant rhythms elevate this track to a beguiling level.  'Old Snow,White Sun' sounds distant and yearning, as does the slow tribal beat of 'Melted Crystal'.  The songs feel more insular than previous tracks and yet retain an engaging tone. 'Silver Owl' is a killer 10 minute long psychedelic slow jam that builds up to an irresistible dynamic guitar solo of monumental proportions.

Standout track 'Trad' plays like early 70s Pink Floyd, elevated by it beautiful harmonies before evolving into a krautrock jam and electric guitar freak out; mind blowing stuff! 'Cardigan Song' closes the album in charming style, incredibly simple in approach the song has an alluring vocal over gorgeous guitar picking, not unlike Nick Drake; it's a perfect way to close the record.


HITTG is a more focused piece of work than previous releases, yet just as innovative, the melodies and harmonies are infectious and appealing, the vocals add depth to an album made with care.
Highly recommended.

Kikagaku Moyo Bandcamp

Kikagaku Moyo on Facebook

Guruguru Brain Bandcamp

Album Review...Chef Menteur - III

Sunrise Ocean Bender have had an incredible run of late. If you haven't already heard the New JuJu LP or Sons of the Void album; you need to rectify that now: seriously, do it! If you follow the blog you'll know I've happily been mining (thanks Kevin, its the right word) the labels back catalogue. Evening Fires and The Movements provided me with some of the best music I've heard this year;  as I'd missed them the first time around.

In 2015, S.O.B. put out 'III'; a limited edition 3 CD set by New Orleans Chef Mentor, featuring the  re release of 'East of the Sun & West of the Moon', It's companion album, 'North of Tomorrow & South of Yesterday' and a new disc 'Force Majeure'. This new disc has been lovingly remastered from a very rare, limited edition cassette, which has long since sold out.
'Narconaught' kicks things off;  it's a fantastic welding together of heavy pounding and sonic weirdness.  The band describe themselves as playing an intoxicating brew of Space and Psych Rock, Drone, Komische and Ambient; I'd argue they offer far more than that. There are moments such as halfway through 'Farfisa Duo Raga' where through the organ drones and an acoustic guitar strums in, elevating the track into something much more captivating.  Another treat is the unexpected noise blast 7 minutes in on 'Oxen of the Sun'. These moments show you how well the songs have been tightly crafted.
There's a wonderful 20 minute long track 'Ganymede' that serves an ambient interlude, without outstying its welcome, leading into one of my favorites  'The Long Strand (Part2)'.  This psychedelic jam is complemented by its driving beat. As companion pieces go, the second disc more than proves that the band continued to be rich with ideas.  The bass work on 'Surface Tension' at the forefront of the track is dark and groovy; as soon as the drums smash in, you find your brain fully immerses in a cosmic meltdown; you know you're in for another good trip.
The Third Disc offers more Psychedelic Fayre such as 'Ribbons from Lake Kwashiorkor' and 'Terpsichore' as well peculiar interludes, such as plinky glitches of 'Where Wings take Dream' and the brilliantly named 'Don't invite a Centaur to Your Wedding'.

What I like most about III, is the fact that it's all packaged together so nicely; there's so much variety within.  It's heavy; it's Psychedelic; it drones and it's trippy.  III also sounds like one whole piece and not a set of separately released works. There's so many fascinating strands to catch, you'll finding yourselves wanting to hear it over and over again; it really is fantastic stuff.


Chef Menteur Official Site

Chef Menteur Bandcamp

Sunrise Ocean Bender

Album Review...Various - Another Splash of Colour, New Psychedelia in Britain 1980 -1985

Cherry Red Records have released 'Another Splash of Colour' an expansion of the original EMI  release from 1982. This 3 CD set captures the Nu Psych Scene, largely centred around London club nights, like 'The Groovy Cellar' over its 64 tracks.
The first disc is largely made up of the original '82 compilation and there's some great tracks. 'Dancing in my Mind' by The High Tide is a groovy pop song that has the elements of psych from days gone by, but a sound that's definetly identifiable as an Indie pop track from the early eighties.
The same can be said for Miles Over Matters 'Something's Happening Here' and Kimberley Rew's 'Stomping all over the world'. Whilst the further 2 discs have plenty of recognisable psychedelic pop contained within; there are also some interesting tracks from Mod revival bands (The Onlookers, The Vandells, The Jetset), of which eventually evolved their sounds into something far more psychedelic.  Amazingly, many of the songs have heavy nods to The Jam (the unreleased track 'The Haze by The Dream Factory and 'Pass Myself'  by The Third Eye).
Elsewhere, we have great songs by more well known and established artists, Julian Cope ('Sunspots') and the excellent Nirvana' by The Icicle Works, as well as a previously unissued demo by Doctor and the Medics (Barbara Can't Dance).
Other unreleased tracks of note include gems from Direct Hits, Future Daze and the Magic Mushroom Band; as well as the fantastic 'only the Stones Remain' by The Soft Boys.

The Eighties seem to be an easy target, probably because of the flamboyance that came with the rise of the New Romantics, which seem to have stuck in the minds of general public.  It wasn't helped that the same fashion crimes were being repeated towards the end of the decade by the L.A . Hair Metal bands.  What we were left with in between, (in some opinions) the only decent band around in the Eighties was The Smiths, this compilation certainly goes some way to disproving that idea!

There's a broader appeal for this release; you can pinpoint the distinct sets of influences over the 3 discs to the indie rock sounds that were to follow in the years to come; in particular the dawn of Creation Records (The Revolving Paint Dream, The Jasmine Minks, Biff Bang Pow!), Shoegaze and the rise in popularity of psychedelic music in more recent times. ASOC does an exceptional job of introducing another perspective to the history of Psych and serves as a reminder for those that knew about the underground scene, that rarely gets spoken of, with the same sense of nostalgia that the original days of psychedelia does. It's a history lesson anyone keen to expand their mind musically should take seriously, especially in the wonderful deluxe clamshell packaging, which features a hefty booklet, with a 9000 word sleeve note by ex NME journalist Neil Taylor.  Essential stuff.

Buy Another Splash of Colour x3 cd from Cherry Red Records HERE