[2011] Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - Unreleased?

After two years of their first album, Fire! teams up with Jim O'Rourke to release the follow-up, 4 new tracks pushing forward the abrasive, repetitive style of the trio with his piercing guitar blasts and clever sound experiments. Intense collaboration, it adds up to another successful Gustafsson-related project in which O'Rourke collaborates, and already in constant rotation for me. Thoroughly recommended.

Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2011] Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church of The Leading Hand + Aluk Tolodo - A Collaboration

Tight, syncopated drumming, wonky bass and martial industrial madness. What's not to love? The new collaboration between these two dark beasts is out, and as expected, it shows the best of both bodies of work and much more. Considered a continuation of Der Blutharsch's first release in this vein, in which the noisy psyschedelic-rock band White Hills participated. Outstanding release.



Buy it directly from Amortout here.

[2011] Oikos - Ecotono

Second album of this Spanish duo, mostly comprising of oscillating drones and gently reverberated guitar, reminding at times of Andrew Moon's project RST (also signed to Utech Records), except more minimal and brooding, relying mostly in the blurred, overlapping layers of drone track after track.




Buy it directly from Utech Records here.

[2009] Fire! - You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago

Another Gustafsson-related project, and this time it's a mixture between psychedelic/noise rock and free jazz, full of piercing feedback and abrasive landscapes, adding up to the screaming sax. Heavily energetic, this album in particular shows a brand of jazz relying mostly in repetitive patterns, building up and collapsing with each passing minute.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC Part 1 Part 2] Updated!


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2011] The Skull Defekts - Peer Amid

Dark, psychedelic rock with some tribal elements, and a healthy dose of noise rock, it's what the new The Skull Defekts is all about. Less out there and more traditional than some of their previous material, this is the rockiest side of the band, still retaining some of the abrasive noise/drone experimentation the fans of the band are already familiar with. I'd say it's a really solid release, if anything is less "out there" than their previous releases but it doesn't take away the best of the band.
This is the vinyl edition, which includes an extra song called Hidden Hymn.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from Thrill Jockey Records here.

[2011] Circle - Infektio

The latest Circle album, which steps away from the intensity Rautatie had and went into full psychedelic rock with some drawn out, ambient parts. It feels shorter than its predecessor, but it compensates it with the strong tribal vibe and the kosmische synths. Definitely, great material.

Download it here: [V2][V0]


Buy it directly from Conspiracy Records here.

[2011] Blood Ceremony - Living With The Ancients

3 years after their amazing self-titled album, Blood Ceremoony's sound has definitely matured and dwelved into heavier territories. Their Jethro Tull-influenced style brought by Alia O'Brien's amazing flute now is toned down a bit to allow the heavy doom metal riffing to fully shine, while her vocals display more personality and range than they used to, specially in Night of Augury, in which the occult, 70's psychedelic vibe is accentuated at great extents. The real highlight of the album is, however, Daughter of The Sun, in which guitars, synths and flute go into a psychedelic wormhole, the perfect closure for this release, that could be considered well ahead their self-titled.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from All That Is Heavy here.

[2011] Boris with Merzbow - Klatter

Formerly known as Mellow Peak and due to be released years ago, it's the latest original collab between Boris and Merzbow since Sun Baked Snow Cave. Musically speaking it's closer to the original material in Rock Dream (the noisiest jams present on the first disc) and the best moments out of classic albums like Feedbacker, with the buzzed out solos and heavy, reverberated riffiing. Even though it has the least drone-oriented material they've released with Merzbow (which isn't a bad thing at all) it just shows they're capable of taking the best of their rock-oriented material and level it to heavier grounds.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Daymare Recordings here (recommend using Google Translate).

[2011] Faust - Something Dirty

One of my most expected releases for this year comes from the masterminds of the second official half of Faust, and their album Something Dirty. Radically different from last year's release (Faust Is Last), Péron's half leans more towards the psychedelic side of the original band (reminiscent of their s/t and Faust IV), making most of the songs included in this album more accessible (in the way Faust could allow itself) and less on the experimental side (yet unmistakenly focused on it, as usual), which was Joachim Irmler's half and their Faust Is Last's release. 13 tracks that remind ourselves of the krautrock gold era without any sort of revivalist complex that some bands are experiencing (talking about Amon Düül II), and definitely one of the most solid releases of this year, so far.

Download it here: [V0]

Buy it directly from Bureau B here.

[2008] Gunslingers - No More Invention

Formed by one of the members of the krautrock band Aluk Todolo, Antoine Hadjioannou (drums), Gunslingers is an insane mix of psychedelic madness with the careless attitude of post-punk, which resembles in some ways the krautrock movement but retaining a garage/DIY aesthetic. At a first listen it reminds a lot of Aluk Todolo's Obedience, the same fast drumming along with the wall of guitars strolling around, but in this case vocals play an important role in the upbeat tone of this album. All in all a noteworthy debut, full of catchy songs and trippy vocals.

Download it here: [V0]

Buy it directly from World In Sound here (check the Catalog >> CD/Vinyl).

[REQUEST] [2000] Circle - Prospekt

One of the most acclaimed Circle albums, its hypnotic heavy motorik (already a trademark of their style) truly shines in a prominent way. 6 somewhat long songs that will carry the listener for a mind trip that will seem endless.

Download it here: [V0]

Currently sold out in Ektro Records.

[2009] Naam - Naam

Selft-titled debut of this doom metal/psych rock band from New York, following a similar trend bands like Serpent Throne and Glowsun have done recently, which is instrumental trippy jams drenched in stoner/psych riffs. Admittedly I'm not much of a fan of this genre (stoner rock can get boring after a while) but this band in particular managed to keep me interested during the whole album so I believe it deserves props for that. Give it a try, surely it won't disappoint. Same label as bands like Karma to Burn, Ancestors and Earthless.

Download it here: [320][V0]

Buy it directly from Tee Pee Records here.

[2010] U.S. Christmas - Run Thick in the Night

Psychedelic rock with a melancholic tone, this american band signed to the prestigious label Neurot Recordings delivers one of the nicest offerings in the genre. Run Thick In The Night is easily as good as their previous release (Eat The Low Dogs), if not better. From members of Hour of 13 and Demoncy, this album promises to be favorite of the year for many of you who are already familiar with the unique style of this band.

Buy it directly from Neurot Recordings here.

[2008] Tetragrammaton - Elegy For Native Tongues

Debut of this japanese drone/psych folk trio (their second album was released by Utech Records this year), which mixes the slow building structure of drone music with a dense layer of free jazz and traditional instruments manipulated via electronic equipment. There's few groups going for a similar approach (as far as I know), so this is one of these albums worthy of praise. For fans of free improvisation and drone music unlike most minimalist releases out there.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Subvalent here.

[2006] Circle - Tyrant

Starting with a psychedelic, repeated section typical of their take on krautrock, it devolves into weirdness, with the punkish vocals, frantic drumming and crazy synths which quickly picks up pace before fading and getting their engines ready for the next song(s). Almost 45min of the best introduction to Circle that I'd recommend for beginners and fans of the genre alike, brought as usual by Latitudes.

Download it here [320][V0]

Buy it directly from Latitudes here.

[2009] The Inner Space - Agilok & Blubbo

A document of how early Can used to be, more focused on psychedelic proto-krautrock (not too different from Amon Düül II) with an emphasis on flutes. Released in 2009 (but recorded during the 70's), the "Can sound" isn't quite there yet, this one sounds more alike to british psychedelic rock being composed around the same time, but it's still one of the best to date. The Inner Space supposedly did a soundtrack for a softcore porn movie called Kamasutra, again working on the same grounds as this album (though there's an obvious eastern music approach).

Download it here: [V2]

[2010] Acid Eater - Black Fuzz on Wheels

Masonna's noise rock band, Acid Eater only calls for badassery. Awesome rock tunes, showing a side of Masonna that's closer to regular music than his other works. Certainly one of this year's highlights of the genre.

Download it here: [320]

[2002] M.A.L. - The Song of The Stars

I stumbled upon this album on Soulseek a few weeks ago, while looking for songs related precisely to stars. I was baffled when I discovered that the band behind the music, a belgian collective whose recordings go back to the 70's, was signed to EE Tapes, in which Bene Gesserit (a favorite of mine) is signed as well. This little fact caught my attention, and I'm glad I explored it further: the music in this album is amazing. Inspired in the 70's german krautrock, the psychedelic rock present in this album makes you drift away with every song, with the most blissful tunes I've heard for an album of this nature. It reminds me at times of Hash Jar Tempo, except that in The Song of The Stars is less layered, focusing more in dynamics than anything else. There's indeed a spacey feeling, typical of krautrock, but used in a different way.
While this was released on 2002, it actually forms part of a series of recordings made between 1971 and 1974.

Download it here: [192][V0]

Buy it directly from EE Tapes. Contact them here for more info.
Buy or ask directly to the band here.

[2010] Arcn Templ - Emanations of A New World

Formed by members of The Observatory (a singaporean  pop/downtempo band), Arcn Templ is an ambient, psychedelic album which doesn't resemble in almost anything to what The Observatory usually performs. It's completely instrumental, guitar-driven, closer to minor melodies than anything else, and perfect for a quiet listen.


Download it here: [V2][V0]


Buy it directly from Utech Records here.