Atom Heart Mutha Plays the very best in Heavy Psychedelic/Stoner/SpaceRock/Fuzz/
Krautrock/Psychedelic Rock/Acid Rock weekly. Each show contains a healthy batch of
brand-new music and great tracks from around the world.
Email bigjafir@hotmail.com if you'd like your music to be considered
for the RadioShow.
Click Play and Feed Your Head!
HeavyPsych (March 2016) is now available to hear anytime on Mixcloud. This show was originally broadcast as part of BigJaf.net's RockShow on March 12th and Grip of Delusion Radio on March 13th.
Click play on the link below to hear a great selection of PsychRock, Stoner, Space and Krautrock including brand new tracks from Psychic Lemon, Filthy Lucre and Jonathan Morgan. If you enjoy this show theres an archive of past shows HERE at my Mixcloud page
Tune in this Saturday from 9pm and listen to this months HeavyPsych on BigJaf.net's RockShow. This month we have brand new tracks from brand new albums by the brilliant Psychic Lemon and Australia's Filthy Lucre. There's also new cuts from fantastic new EP's by Jonathan Morgan and Day of the Jackalope as well as the usual blend of HeavyPsych riffs, Spacerock Jams and Krautrock beats. You can also catch a repeat play on Sunday on American station Grip of Delusion Radio 3pm UK/ 4pm CET/ 10am EST. You can access the show live as it happens on the player below, the player will go live at 8pm on Saturday when BigJaf's RockShow kicks off with Dylan the Wolf's AltRock Anthems show, and be sure to stick around for Heavy.As.Fuck with Zachsta at 10pm.
Do it !!
Evening Fires are described as "peddlers of old-time rural acid rock" that record their music in a "secret Appalachian den", it seems peculiar when you read the words and yet makes perfect sense when you listen to the music.
First up 'Roll away the Stones' burns slowly and builds over a wonderful guitar sound and beat that feels very much like it has taken its influences from Post Rock.
Second track 'We Cast Our Lots With the Waves' is an ethereal and beautiful instrumental led by synths and sax, soundtracking a movie that doesn't exist. The following track 'Staring Down the Gullet of the Great Beyond Part One changes things completely, an urgent driving piece of psychedelia relentlessly moving over five minutes of fantastic drum work and proving itself to be one of the albums many highlights. 'Space Mountain' is a weird trip, synth sounds and pulsating noises sound like an odd interlude while Tago Mago beats hide themselves in the background. 'Too Many Ravens, Not Enough Corpses' draws out eerie violin soundscapes over its magnificent 9 minutes and album closer 'Staring Down the Gullet of the Great Beyond follows on from 'Part One' and draws itself and the album to a satisfying conclusion.
Sometimes the best music reveals itself over time, growing and developing with every listen, 'Where i've been...' does exactly that and the journey there is an intriguing and beguiling experience. Theres still more to discover for me with this album and its accompanying sister album 'Incredible Adventures', music as mysterious as the people that make it.
Transmissions from the Psychedelic Basement February 2016 is now available to hear on Mixcloud anytime. This months show features a new track from Ulver as well as a classic from Traffic. Also featured are Tame Impala and dungen as well as one of my favourite songs by the late David Bowie.
"Dark, dirty. fuzz fuelled riff-rock with just enough of the blues to get you moving' and grooving"
Australia produces some really great and interesting music, I still love The Sleepy Jackson, I don't believe there's a person on this planet that will hear Ash Grunwalds 'walking' and not want to shake the cobwebs off their ass, and if you really need further proof, well, there's Mara by Filthy Lucre.
Filthy Lucre are a two piece from Adelaide and they've just released an album they travelled to Oregon to record, and for a duo they make quite the noise, groove driven stoner riffs an' all. Opener 'Dover Street' sets up perfectly whats in store over the 14 tracks, a solid riff with a hint of the blues reminiscent of a slowed down QOTSA, and follow on track 'World Corp' reminds you of a time way back when The Black Keys made more interesting records. Its a template for the album as a whole, Ed Noble's drum work and beats are solid and reliably heavy and intertwine perfectly on tracks like "Boundless Plains' and 'Feelin' Down', this is all wrapped together nicely by great vocals by guitarist Luke Marsh.
Theres plenty to enjoy, and whats laid down here has got to sound electric live, theres a sense of enjoyment by the band in these grooves and i think touring time outside of Australia can only be a good thing. You can hear Mara on the bandcamp page, you can also buy a digital download or CD, i recommend you do.
Join Me this weekend for a special broadcast. Saturday night at 8pm brings an All New Transmissions from the Psychedelic Basement, a joint show with the strange brains from Thee Psychedelicatessen.
Tune in here at the start of the broadcast and the player below will go live. You can expect to hear 3hrs of great psychedelia old and new mixed together for you listening pleasure. If you miss the show on Saturday,you can catch an encore broadcast on Ace American radio station Grip of Delusion HERE on Sunday.
I know I've said this more than once, but 2016 has already brought us some of the most interesting Psychedelic releases in a while. its been an intriguing year so far with the brilliant debut by Psychic Lemon and the fascinating Electronic Krautrock of Sula Bassana's Shipwrecked.
So, from Sunrise Ocean Bender and released on March 4th we have the debut album from Sons of the Void. The Sons in question are former Tadpoles bassist and more recently guitarist with Psychic TV, David Max, and Nick Nobody. The album was recorded in their own Logical Magic Recordings studio in Basel and is an 8 track trip through Psychedelic Pop n Roll with Byrdsesque country touches particularly noted on the opening melancholic yet dreamy 'Leichenblume'. The second track 'Don't Forget to Pray' follows in the same style but gives way to disjointed and wonky keyboard sounds towards the end. Up next is the trippy 'Kolliderscope'' which shifts a little from that Byrds sound and 'Absorption', both more reminiscent of post Revolver era Beatles but still maintaining the flow of the record.
The Second half of the album kicks off with 'I hope i don't miss' another taste of that West Coast feel up until halfway through the track whereupon the fuzzed up guitars and feedback make a cool appearance. Next track up and standout track for me is the wonderful 'The Things we wish', a perfect slice of sixties infused pop that wouldn't be out of place on a Love album. Things slow down with the mellow paced rock of 'A Kick Like That' before the beautiful 'Little Children' and its pop melody closes the album.
Sons of the Void is a great listen, Psychedelic in style yet influenced heavily by country pop and somehow emerging as a thing all of its own. This is worth tracking down and listening to, find out for yourself on the youtube link below or the tracks available on the bands own Bandcamp page.
Im really pleased to announce that on Saturday 27th of February I will be broadcasting a brand new Transmission show with the good people from Thee Psychedelicatessen. The show will comprise of a mix of Psychedelic sounds old and new with classic tracks and plenty of stuff you might not know yet.
The show starts at 8pm and i'll post more details here on the blog nearer the time.
Until then you can my section of the last TFTPB show on the link below and be sure to check out Thee Psychedelicatessen blog on the link Here.
Im always open to hearing something new, and one of the cool things about the blog and the radio show is that you get have contact with newer bands that haven't necessarily broken out of their own town and are looking for some wider exposure. Psychic Lemon come from Cambridge, they release their debut album on March 4th, and its a belter.
TiCkToC is the albums opener, its punchy and bouncy baseline dominates its brilliant 5 minute length over great Wah Wah guitars, this is how you open an album.
Death Cult Blues is up next and is 9 minutes of psychedelic magic filled with proggy flutes and great guitar work, its Krautrock for sure, but pretty damn funky too, which can also be said for follow on track Good Cop, Bad Cop. Things mellow out a little on Analogue Summer with its slide guitar sounds and birdsong intro before the driving beats of Dilator kick in.
The album closes with the 10 minute brilliance of Horizon, a krautrock classic that drives its way through the track and then builds itself to deliver its final release of fuzzed out space feedback at the tracks end.
This is an astounding debut album, one that deserves to be widely heard and i really hope it is. Like Sergeant Thunderhoof from Bath, Psychic Lemon have more than proven that there is great music out there not yet leaving its home town, both of these bands deliver something worthy. click the links below and listen to some great music, and support the band by buying this album.
Straight out of Croatia! According to Sulatron Records they've put out a straight forward 70's rock record in an ultra irrelevant and impossible to understand Language. Well some might argue that rock is a language all of its own!
Coming in at under 40 minutes, Otrovna Kristina deliver a straight out hard rocking lp, the 70s tag is appropriate and fitting, opening track Vrata Moći starts with a scream and pounding drums like the very best Mountain tracks. There are scorching guitar solos on offer on songs like Demon ( check out the video below ) and Pita. The music here definitely takes on an authentic life of its own, the production itself has the feel of the decade the riffs here belong to. Fans of Free will feel at home with the style on offer here such as on the brilliant Zmija, its not quite Psych, but its certainly heavy and hard rocking, you could spent all the time you want picking out influences but the great thing about this record is its clearest influence is the decade itself.
Sulatron are putting this out on a nice red vinyl, i doubt there'll be any left soon, you can pick up a copy of Otrovna Kristina on the links below.
Februarys HeavyPsych show will go out live on Saturday the 13th at 9pm as part of BigJaf.net's RockShow. You can listen to the show by clicking the link on the player below when the show goes live at 8pm.
Tune in this month for a cover version special kicking off with Dylan the Wolf at 8pm and ending with Zachsta at 10pm, HeavyPsych features brilliant tracks by Cult of Dom Keller, Elder, Teeth of the Sea and Dark Horses. As always HeavyPsych will be go out the next day on American radio station Grip of Delusion ( Link Here ) and will be available on my mix cloud page Here .
Sulatron Records reissued 2011's Flaming Lake by Electric moon last year on vinyl after the original cd release and Back to Basics vinyl release sold out incredibly fast. This 76 minute long opus was recorded July 2011 in Germany and unveils itself over 4 long and beautifully sprawling psychedelic Jams. All 4 tracks demonstrate the very best in tripped out Spacerock, opening track The Cosmic Creator builds wonderfully into a fuzzed up riff fuelled journey that continues apace throughout the rest of the album right up until final track Burning Battenberg. The set is fantastically Floydian in tone and there isn't a moment throughout that allows the listener to become distracted.
This particular release actually came out before i started The AHM Blog and truly is far too good not to share, It was given more life recently with a brilliant new visual to accompany it and the Link to the entire album with the Space Journey visuals in HD is below. See and hear it now, and once you've done so be sure to click the link to the Sulatron store and purchase this exceptional live recording.
2016 is already shaping up to be a decent year for Psychedelia and Psychedelic Rock, both Birth of Joy and Mugstar are about to release new albums and theres a couple of interesting releases coming from Germanys Sulatron records. Croation band Otrovna Kristina and their 70s influenced PsychRock (which will be reviewed here soon ) and Shipwrecked by Sula Bassana both get a mid February release.
Ive been lucky enough to live with Shipwrecked for a month or so now and I've played it multiple times, recorded on vintage synthesisers this almost entirely electronic lp takes its influences from the likes of Musik Von Harmonia, Kraftwerk and Neu! Particularly evident on the albums opening track Moonbase Alpha Alpha and follow on track Shushi Express. Elsewhere there are wonderfully pulsing and hypnotic sounds such as on Planeta Bur ( Which you can hear on the link below ) and the mellow ambient chimes on the title track itself.
Lovers of ambient electronic sounds, Krautrock and cinematic Psychedelia are going to find more than enough here to enjoy, i can't recommend this record enough and I'm sure already that this will one 2016's albums of the year. Currently available on CD with a limited amounts of vinyl pressed you can purchase Shipwrecked direct from the link below.
February's show goes live at 9pm on the 13th as part of the BigJaf.net RockShow, BigJaf will make an announcement Shortly but i can say theres a theme this month! Check back for details.
HeavyPsych will as always go out the following day on American Radio Station Grip of Delusion.
This month will have a second show going out on February 27th with the rather splendid Freaks from Thee Psychedelicatessen, more details of that as well as brand new album reviews coming soon.
Januarys HeavyPsych Show originally broadcast on bigjaf.net and Grip of Delusion Radio can now be heard anytime, click the player and enjoy.
Previous shows are available on my Mixcloud page HERE.
BigJaf.nets RockShow goes live at 8, you can hear my show from 9pm UK time on the player below, it will go live as soon as the show starts. Tonight i'll be playing brilliant music from Föllakzoid, Wooden Ships, Nik Turner, Seven That Spells and more besides.
Tune in, and if you've got 'em, smoke 'em.
If you miss the live broadcast you can catch it again tomorrow on Grip of Delusion Radio 10am EST/ 4pm CET/ 3pm UK.
The Rock also features Dylan the Wolf playing 90's Alternative and Grunge at 8pm and Zachsta's Heavy.As.Fuck Show, at 10pm it'll be 3 hrs of awesome music, Join Us.
This might be one you missed last year but was one of my favourite records of 2015. Ecstatic Vision formed a couple of years ago in Philadelphia and are already making a name for themselves as a live behemoth touring with the likes of Uncle Acid Acid and the Deadbeats and Enslaved.
Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, Sonic Praise is special, a reminder of all of the best parts of Sabbaths Vol 4, of the greatest of Hawkwinds spaced-out heaviest Jams and the influences of bands like Aphrodites Child. Journey kicks off the album and stomps its way forward over a massive gravelly riff and vocal combination that sets the tone perfectly for whats left to come. Which brings us to Astral plane, 12 magnificent minutes of the finest Heavy Psychedelic Rock to barrage through my speakers in 2015. The 4 minute build up of clapping drum sounds and huge bass build that lead to the fantastic guitars and groove that drive the track right the way through to the screaming ( yes, screaming ! ) saxophone. Its a thrilling ride getting through to the end and final line of the track " take what you want lord just don't kill my vibe ", fair enough, right?! because thats exactly what they ask of you next.
Don't kill the vibe carries on the groove as the heaviest of the 5 songs and leads in nicely to the title track of the album, Sonic Praise is like a dopefuelled trek through a fuzzed out planet of forests and smoke. Album closer Cross the Divide comes in at just under 10 minutes and is great blend of tribal drumming and hazey grooves, a sonic sound worthy indeed of praise.
This record ( on beautiful orange and blue swirl vinyl ) has had repeated plays since its release in the summer of 2015, its blend of great Heavy Psychedelia and Krautrock influenced Stoner sounds is the perfect trip, one ( Judging by clips on YouTube ) thats expertly replicated live, so the sooner they hit the UK the better.
In February there will another Geoff Leppard/Thee Psychedelicatessen Psychedelic Basement Special, check back later this month for full details. Plans are also afoot to take the Psychedelic Basement to clubs in the Midlands later this year, we hope to be able to give you more details soon.
For Now, Enjoy Augusts show and I'm looking forward to seeing where 2016 takes us !
So as 2015 draws to a close, I'm pleased to announce that HeavyPsych will be back on Saturday January the 9th at 9pm as part of Bigjaf.net's RockShow. Tune in and listen to 60 minutes of the finest Heavy Psychedelic rock, as always there'll be a touch of Stoner, Space and Krautrock in the mix. Listen live as it happens on www.mixlr.com/wwwbigjafnet or catch it on Sunday 10th on www.gripofdelusion.com Radio 10am EST/ 4pm CET/ 3pm UK time.
This Months HeavyPsych Show is now available to hear anytime on Mixcloud, listen back to 2hrs of Psychedelic brilliance chosen by Me with tracks chosen by friends of the show
Enjoy !!
There will more shows Next year as well as a return to the Psychedelic Basement both Online and live in the real world too !!
Keep checking back for more music and album reviews, and if you want to be considered for the show please contact me here.
Tune in this Sunday 3pm EST/ 9pm CET /8pm Uk for a 2 hour HeavyPsych Special. This time around the show will be going Live from the BigJaf.net Mixlr page as well as from American Radio Station Grip of Delusion. The show features the Usual PsychRock Sounds, but this time around also has songs chosen by friends of the show giving it a different kind of feel. As always there will be a mix of brand new tracks from signed and unsigned bands as well as older classics. There are links to some of the contributors below. Join me on Sunday, and play it loud !
A special thank you to Stephen Gardner for letting me use his photo of a cow in Somerset which has appeared in a lot of the shows artwork this year, and to Julian Melling for graciously letting me steal photos from his Instagram to use in some of the Tracklist Artwork.
Decembers show will be here on Sunday 13th, until then Listen back to Junes Show. Originally broadcast by BigJaf.net this show features fantastic tracks by Mugstar, Pond and Föllakzoid as well one of my favourite songs, "Druganaut" by the brilliant Black Mountain.
There are lots of Previous broadcasts to discover and listen to on my Mixcloud page HERE
Decembers HeavyPsych Show/End of Year Special will be going live on the 13th. It will be broadcast simultaneously on BigJaf.nets Mixlr Station and American station Grip of Delusion, for the first time ever it will also be available on my Mixcloud page at the start of transmission.
The show will feature a mix of the HeavyPsych Show and the more traditional Psychedelic flavours that can be heard in the Psychedelic Basement series . The music has been especially chosen by Bands/Artists and Labels that have featured this year as well as contributions from good friends of the show.
Join me for a brilliant mix of Psych old and New, Heavy and weird, from signed and unsigned bands, its gonna be fantastic.
There will be another update nearer the time to announce some of the guests and contributors.
Join me, its going to be brilliant.
"Yesterday's Sounds Today", as band motto's go its not a bad one to have, for Bay Area Psychheads The Liquid Scene its remarkably accurate.
Released in December 2014, Revolutions is a 9 (Number 9!) track album of wonderfully catchy hooks, psychedelic melodies and songs that effortlessly capture a sound not unlike the treasures from the original summer of love.
Theres more than a hint of Jefferson Airplane here, as well nods to ( and happily, for me anyway) the underrated songwriting of The Monkees, as is evident on the opening track The Other side of the Sun.
Further on in the album the wonderful "Hey Moondog" plays out on a riff reminiscent of Dear Prudence whilst still managing to maintain the bands individual dreamlike sound. This is largely due to the fantastic Vocals of singer Becki ( Bodhi ) diGregorio, her voice swirls in perfect harmony with the accompanying sounds and it makes for a brilliant listen. The same can be said for the track "letterbox" and its soothing relaxing vibe.
There aren't many Psychedelic pop albums of the last few years that have managed to achieve what's on offer here, the wonderful sitar on "In My Water Room" enhances the sound and Trey Sabatelli makes the beat of his drum fit like a glove. Elsewhere there is the mellow "Leave me here" and slow building "The Mystery Machine" demonstrating once again a love of the music of an era gone by lovingly brought forward to recent times. Plugging in the headphones and sitting back to relax is the perfect way to listen to and enjoy Revolutions, and I've done that many times now before reviewing this wonderful lp. Whilst this LP is not as heavy as the kinds of things i usually review here, the bands love of the psychedelic sound and Bodhi's superb vocals shine through and makes it impossible to not get drawn in, im looking forward to hearing where the band goes next.
