psych Archive
04 Dec 2018
Hundred-word Reviews, December 2018
This will almost certainly be my last roundup of new releases – capsule review style – for 2018. Lots of great music came out this year; don’t let anyone tell you differently. As always, each of these albums deserves more coverage than I’m able to give here, and each warrants a spin (at least) by
03 Sep 2018
Album Review: All India Radio — Space
From the outset, All India Radio is all over the map. The name suggests a group from the Indian subcontinent, and the music draws clear inspiration from British late-period psychedelic/space rock (most notably Pink Floyd) and late-late-period American psych revival (specifically Flaming Lips). After all that, All India Radio is actually an ambient/chillwave group from
30 Aug 2018
Utopia’s Adventures Continue (Part Four)
Continued from Part Three… Redux ’92: Live in Japan (1993) Six years after disbanding, Utopia surprised most onlookers by regrouping for a run of concerts in Japan. The shows were well-received, and a live recording was released on compact disc and video the following year. “I look at that video,” Sulton says, “and I think,
29 Aug 2018
Utopia’s Adventures Continue (Part Three)
Continued from Part Two… Utopia (1982) Meanwhile, Rundgren, Wilcox and Powell had continued without Sulton, adding bassist Doug Howard as they began work on a new album for Network Records. The new-wave flavored Utopia featured some of the band’s strongest songwriting to date. “It was a very collaborative period,” says Wilcox. Once Sulton came back
28 Aug 2018
Utopia’s Adventures Continue (Part Two)
Continued from Part One… Ra (1977) The most durable Utopia lineup now in place, the band made a concerted effort toward internal democracy. Or at least as much of a democracy as possible when the group included Rundgren, a star with his own separate record contract. “It was as democratic as any marriage is democratic,”
27 Aug 2018
Utopia’s Adventures Continue (Part One)
In 2018, one of the unlikeliest reunions in rock history became a reality. Todd Rundgren’s Utopia – or at least three-fourths of its 1980s lineup – came back together for a two-month tour, one that would survey the band’s musical journey from a groundbreaking progressive ensemble to a more conventional (yet distinctive) melodic rock band.
24 Aug 2018
EP Review: Poet Radio – Horseflesh
On the band’s website, Asheville-based Poet Radio describes itself as “a dark psych rock band with occultist undertones.” New listeners shouldn’t be warned off by that description; the trio’s new Horseflesh EP starts off accessibly enough and gets more even listenable as it goes along. “I’m Clean” begins abruptly, almost as if the band had
02 Aug 2018
Through the Glass: Doc Aquatic
The hypnotic grooves and commitment to melody on Shadowless Man, the latest release from Doc Aquatic’s latest album, display the group’s skill at both drawing from classic influences and filtering those through the band’s own modern-day vision. “Always the hardest question to answer is, ‘What does your band sound like?’” says keyboardist and bassist Charles
07 Apr 2018
Album Review: Stax Singles Vol. 4: Rarities & the Best of the Rest
Beginning in the early 1990s, the labels owning the Stax/Volt catalog set about releasing impressive box sets of classic material from the venerated yet ultimately troubled Memphis record label. 1991 saw the release of the large format nine-volume box set The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968. Two years later, another nine-disc set was released; subtitled Volume
31 Mar 2018
Hundred-word Reviews: Reissues, Archival Releases, Compilations
My shelf full of albums to be reviewed has run out of space. So once again it’s time for a raft of hundred-word reviews. All sixteen titles in this roundup are reissues, compilations and/or archival releases. 6-String Drag – High Hat (Schoolkids Records) Before Americana was coined as a genre, there was alt-country. Combining rock