Out of The Crates

Martin Nunez a.k.a Sir Psych has invited us for a virtual tour of his record collection for today's "Out of the Crates". His selections have been made based more upon how much he likes an album rather than how rare it is. They all happen to be pretty rare anyway. That Sagittarius LP almost made it into my "Out of the Crates", so nice to see it here.
Enjoy!

 

CONDELLO: PHASE 1

I love this lp so much. I won't go into his previous works, which I own, but will deliver the love I have for this lp. The first song I heard from this lp was "The Other side of you". As soon as the intro of the song switches to the amazing vocal work and lyrical delivery I was automatically mesmerized with his sound and style. I had to get the lp and as soon as possible. I was in Arizona at the time, and none of the record stores I went to had it. Being he was a Phoenix musician, I thought it would be easy to claim. I was wrong. I did end up finding it sometime in the late 90's, at Aron's Records in Hollywood,Ca.(RIP) for a measly $5 I believe. I know it was cheap, but as soon as the needle hit the groove, and the lovely ballad "Crystal Clear" filled the airwaves, my liking for the perfect love song switched to the loving of one. More pop oriented, but the 2nd side opens strong with the psych number of " Dr. Tarr Professor Feather". Full of phasing, it is one of my favorite pop psych numbers. It's is one of my go to albums when I feel a bit country, or in the mood for a great pop song. Mike Condello exited our universe in 1995 with a tragic death, but he left us with a memorable piece of words and music.

 

SAGITTARIUS: PRESENT TENSE

I found this LP years ago by digging through PDQ Records (RIP) in Tuscon, Az. I bought it on the cover alone. Now I found so many records on my own, and this is one that I always held up high. This one has perhaps one of my favorite songs EVER with "Song to the Magic Frog". With its gentle touches of harpsichord and acoustic guitar, and soft harmonies, the song builds with each stage of the song, to a full orchestrated bridge, and back then ending on an abrupt ending to the perfect song. But at least the lp continues to deliver more pop psych throughout every cut on the album. The album opener of "Another time' had me convinced that this album was special. A few years later I discovered more genius of the men behind this album, Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher. More discoveries came to life with the age of the internet with their other releases, but this LP holds my heart.

 

THE HOBBITS: DOWN TO MIDDLE EARTH

Another one I bought on a whim in the early 90's. Jimmy Curtiss released his best work ever on this one, and held nothing back with pure pop genius behind the boards. I can't pick one song on this album that I like more than the other. I do enjoy The Hobbits other releases, but this is the LP from theirs that I didn't want to end. Pop songs crafted on this lp start with the perfect back beat and everything else that is added to it just makes it better. Perfected orchestrations, grunt guitars, fantastic key work, but the hooks are what make this LP such a sing-a-long. An easy skippable approach to music that carved a small dent in the 60's and a life time effect to my ears, mind, and heart.

 

THE STAINED GLASS: CRAZY HORSE ROADS

I had bought a 45 of "Lady in Lace" in an ebay 45 lot, and went into research mode to find their discography. The 45's were much easier to come across , and with their A and B sides combined from their singles, that alone would make a fantastic lp. When I got my hands on the LP I was shocked to see them hanging from a tree and expected to hear some heavy rock riffs instead of their pop psych singles, but as soon as I heard the opening track "I sing, you sing" I knew it was a safe bet that this LP would be special. From start to finish it was a refreshing journey of riffs to harmonies to slow orchestrated moments and ending on a high note with the most poppy way to to talk about the end of the world. They had strong vocals and sound for a three piece. Possibly one of my favorite west coast LPs released in the 60's.

 

BLAIR SMITH: ECHOES/VISIONS OF MOLLY

A lot of mystery came over this 45 with me, and it was a welcome number in my 45 collection. Such a soft, delicate, approach to psychedelia it's not even funny. It is one of my favorite 45 releases ever and is praised upon when I share it with people for the first time. From pounding out of the speaker to quiet, dim lit, hazy headphone nights, this 7'' never loses it's  touch on me.

The Woodbine & Ivy Band

Reviewed By The Active Listener

Having enjoyed the "Weirdlore" compilation and Sproatly Smith's latest so much, I've been working my way back through the impressive items in the Folk Police back catalogue.
The Woodbine & Ivy Band's debut is an album that in many ways harks back to the early days of the Harvest and Island / Witchseason releases of the late sixties and early seventies.
They're a folk rock big band in the tradition of the Albion Band.
With a different guest vocalist on each track, and a number of unexpected instruments not normally associated with the genre - notably the aching steel guitar of Alan Cook, this is an album of exceptionally well chosen and arranged tunes - mostly familiar, which have rarely sounded better or been approached in as adventurous a manner.
"Alison Gross" is reborn as a jittery rocker.
"Gently Johnny" is given an "Out on the Weekend" treatment with an attractive loping delivery, evocative steel guitar, and towards the end a suitably unsettling group chorus.
'Poor Murdered Woman" is even more powerful and poignant than Shirley Collins version, which I'd previously assumed to be insurpassable.
"Derry Gaol" is the indisputable highlight for me however, with intricate harp work, haunting drones, and sombre trumpet work that evokes the atmosphere of John Martyn's "Bless The Weather" by way of Miles Davis "In a Silent Way" and Van Morrison's "Haunts of Ancient Peace".
Another winner for Folk Police which while not traversing the same wyrd folk path of Sproatly Smith or the Weirdlore collection, is no less innovative or adventurous in it's own way.

Buy it on CD here.

An Interview With Jacco Gardner

It's Jacco Gardner's turn in the chair for today's interview. Whether making sublime baroque pop gems under his own steam, or as part of garage-psych duo The Skywalkers, Jacco's star is rising exponentially.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : How did you first get into playing and writing music?

JACCO GARDNER : My two brothers and sister were always into making music, I'm the youngest so it kinda seemed logical to do the same. My parents stimulated this a lot and put me on lessons in basic music skills when I was about 8. Started playing the clarinet in an orchestra a few years later. After that, when I was about 12 I started singing in a band and learned to play the bass. This is where I started writing too. Learned the guitar to be able to write songs more easily and all other instruments came after that. Hugo van de Poel, who has always been my best friend went through the same process, but with other instruments. We really stimulated each other in getting better at playing and writing music. Without him I would probably just have left making music at the clarinette when I was 12 and gone into something else like watching TV.

ACTIVE LISTENER : What did your first songs sound like and who were your main influences?

JACCO GARDNER : My first songs were bad Syd Barrett ripoffs. I also started out doing cover versions of his songs and recording them. This is where I got my first taste of the recording process.

ACTIVE LISTENER : Tell us a little about the Skywalkers.

JACCO GARDNER : The Skywalkers is a project that Hugo and I started in November 2009. We were actually discussing the idea of supporting each other's solo projects. After screwing around with the Philicorda organ and Drums we decided that it's cooler to just start a new project and combine our songwriting skills to write songs together. We both had trouble in the solo projects to get people to be quiet and listen as it was quite acoustic/singer-songwriter ish stuff. With the organ and drums we would just be so loud that people would have to listen. Seemed like a good solution. We recorded some demo's and then released a 12" with those demo's on Grey Past Records later in 2010.

ACTIVE LISTENER : Your first solo single "Clear The Air / House on the Moon" is one of my favorite releases of the year, and is pretty different to the Skywalkers material. Did you write these songs intending to take them in this more psych/pop direction or did they just work out that way?

JACCO GARDNER : Well like I said the solo project I had was already kinda acoustic which is very diffirent from the Skywalkers sound. I didn't take it to a professional level because I wasn't convinced of my own skills as a producer yet. Most songs I already wrote before I was in The Skywalkers and they didn't work in a Skywalkers format with only organ and drums. I started to get back more to the sound I initially wanted by using more guitar and strings and such.

ACTIVE LISTENER : When you're writing material now how do you decide whether it''s destined to be a Skywalker's song or a solo song?

JACCO GARDNER : Well the sound we have with The Skywalkers came from the usage of organ and drums which became more a garage/freakbeat kind of thing. Because of the loud instruments we also had to sing louder which also changed my voice. When I got back to my solo stuff it felt more natural to sing in a way that suits the baroque pop sort of genre better. So I have these formats in mind when I'm working on something. Most Skywalkers songs are written while playing on the organ to a drum machine which makes them sound more rhythmic. My solo stuff I mostly write on guitar and feels more personal in a way.

ACTIVE LISTENER : You've got another solo 7" "Where Will You Go / Summer's Game" due out on Trouble In Mind Records soon. What can you tell us about these two tracks?

JACCO GARDNER : "Where Will You Go" is a track I wrote when I was about 17 or 18 I think. Have recorded many versions of it ever since. Only recently I recorded another version while working on an album and it was the best version so far so I decided it would be a good second single. Quite psychedelic and uptempo. "Summer's Game" is a ballad I once wrote about the feeling of melancholy you get when the first signs of summer ar noticable in spring which makes you think back to all past summers and how the next summer could be completely diffirent.

ACTIVE LISTENER : What's likely to be next after that - more solo material or another Skywalkers album? Any thoughts on a full length solo album?

JACCO GARDNER : I'm currently in the final mixing procuess of a full length solo album. This will probably be out later this year, maybe next year. I'd also like to release another single later this year. There are also some new singles by The Skywalkers which are finished and ready to be released. These are a little more dreamy than the sound we have on the demo album. It will still sound compact and simple, mostly based around keyboards, so no guitar. We will probably keep this format in all new songs we release. But yes I'd like to get the sound to be a little more sophisticated, more warm, and less garage, more pop-sike.

ACTIVE LISTENER : You've also produced two songs by Miri May - how did that come about?

JACCO GARDNER : She needed a keyboard player for a song she was working on so she asked me, without knowing I'm also a producer. The track she sent sounded so terrible that I felt it as my duty to take over the production part.

ACTIVE LISTENER : Any other production work in the pipeline?

JACCO GARDNER : I've been mixing albums and singles by other artists like Lola Kite, The Secret Love Parade and Bird On The Wire which are all indie bands. I'm currently mixing the new Monokino album. This is also very diffirent from my solo stuff, much more electronic.

ACTIVE LISTENER : If you could collaborate with absolutely anyone who would you choose, and why?

JACCO GARDNER : Curt Boettcher. I think I could learn a lot from him and mostly anything he did turns to gold for my ears.

ACTIVE LISTENER : I notice you've done some DJing at a gig at the Van Gogh Museum. Drop us a spontaneous ten song set - what are the first ten songs that come to mind that you'd play?

JACCO GARDNER : Bo Grumpus - Yesterday's Street
Le Système Crapoutchik - All What I Have
Billy Nicholls - It Brings Me Down
The Rising Storm - Frozen Laughter
Duncan Browne - Gabilan
Truck - Earth Song
Pearls Before Swine - Epitaph
The Ballroom - It's A Sad World
Sunforest - Where Are You
The Folklords - Jennifer Lee 

ACTIVE LISTENER : It looks like you're a bit of a vinyl fan. If so what are the most treasured records in your collection, and why?

JACCO GARDNER : Well I'm not as much a collector as I'd like. I don't mind reissues or compilation records and most of my records are easily replaceable. Some of my favorites would be "The Best Of The Four Freshmen" by The Four Freshmen and "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan.

The Music Emporium (Obscure Classics) Review and Interview

Reviewed By The Active Listener.

Recorded in 1968 and intended as a demo, it's amazing how confident and ambitious the Music Emporium's sole album now sounds.
Indeed Sentinel Records who released the original run of 300 in 1968 thought the material was strong enough as is to be released and pressed it up accordingly.
Unusual at the time for featuring a female drummer, three of the four band members were classically trained, resulting in a fairly unique approach. The most obvious, and unusual element to their sound is the extensive use of choral vocals, which will appeal to those who enjoy the David Axelrod produced Electric Prunes albums. This gives the album a moody countenance that's aided by the intricate keyboard work of Bill (Casey) Cosby.
There's also plenty of tasteful acid guitar from Dave Padmore, and strong dual male / female lead vocals, which invariably invite comparison to Jefferson Airplane, but remind this listener more of H.P Lovecraft.
The album flows particularly well, fairly evenly balanced between heavier rock numbers and moodier ballads - both styles captured well with very strong and well written songs.
The band's short lifespan came to an end very quickly when the draft was instated - I certainly wonder what this lot would have come up with next, if given the opportunity.
As one is unlikely to ever come across one of the original Sentinel copies, I can highly recommend the reissue from Sundazed - the LP version of which comes with a reproduction of the original gimmick cover, while the CD features a number of instrumental bonus tracks, giving us the most complete picture we're ever likely to get of a band that was never really given the chance to take off.

You can buy it here.



The band's guitarist, Dave Padmore had a chat with us here:

The Active Listener : Before forming the Music Emporium you were in several other bands - what can you tell us about them?

Dave Padwin : I had played in cover bands around the midwest, wandered out to Los Angeles and fell into this band, then called the Cage, which turned into the Music Emporium.


The Active Listener : It seems that the Music Emporium's influences were a lot more diverse than their contemporaries. The use of choral vocals is especially interesting. How did you arrive at the sound you created?

Dave Padwin : Dora, Carolyn and Bill, aka Casey, all had degrees in music. I remember Bill gave me an album with stuff like Flight of the Bumblebee, and he was on the cover playing the accordion. I think his accordion maker gave him the Gem organ. At some point he turned to rock, but his classical roots were still evident.
Bill wrote the songs. Iron Butterfly, the Doors, were among influences. We really didn't perform much, no bars, etc. We played a lot of high school assemblies which Bill got us thru his classical music reputation. I don't know what the schools were thinking: the educational experience of having us blast their ears out with our 200 watts each.

The Active Listener : The album has developed quite a cult following over the years, and now is acknowledged as a classic amongst psychedelic collectors - it's a personal favorite of mine. Have you listened to it recently, and how do you feel about it now and about it's following?

The Music Emporium album was first released legitimately in 2001 when Sundazed bought the original tapes. It was 1968 when we recorded what was intended to be a demo. The recording had flaws. When the tapes were sold, the buyer decided to save what we had rather than rerecord. Some college students designed the cover. 300 records were made. I have one. Another sold on ebay a couple years ago for $2147.00 from Spain.
At some point the 300 originals escaped their box. It was a pirates dream. Over the years I'd gotten phone calls, some from other countries, asking about the Music Emporium, if I had other tapes, etc. But the callers never told me much. I didn't want this out there, it had flaws, it was meant as a demo.
When Sundazed talked to me about re releasing the album I reluctantly agreed to be helpful only if they could find Bill and he was agreeable. I never thought they'd find him. They did, retired from a career in the military. It was the first time I talked to him in 30 years. I do think Sundazed did a good job of polishing up the flaws. I've accepted the record more now and occasionally listen to it on YouTube.

The Active Listener : I've read that the band broke up when Bill ( Casey ) Cosby was drafted. Is that right?

Dave Padwin : Bill had a choice, get drafted and risk going to Vietnam or join the Army and be in charge of the music at West Point. So that's the end of the band.

The Active Listener : You're obviously still playing guitar. What have you been doing since the late sixties, musically or otherwise that you'd like to share?

Dave Padwin : When I retired from my day job in 2001 I got back on guitar. The technology has made it interesting. Today I play mostly blues and perform solo regularly at bars and events in northern Wisconsin.

An Interview With Sir Psych.

Martin Nunez ( a.k.a Sir Psych ) is a dedicated and driven musician / producer as well as a scholar of psychedelia.
As well as his recently released solo album, "The Popsike world of Sir Psych", he's been recording with his compadre L.A AL as the Smoking Trees, and has recently set up his own label, "Colour Tree Records".
We had a chat via e-mail about these things and more.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER :  Take us back to the start. When did you start writing and playing music? What were your influences / motivations at the time?

SIR PSYCH : You want to go that far huh? At age 4, I started playing violin for Suzuki, which is a well respected method of teaching music started by Shin'chi Suzuki. But even before that I was raised in a musical household. My father who is from Paraguay, South American, started his band, Trio Parana in 1959. They were a huge act that traveled all over to international fame which landed them to the States. That's where I come into the story. I studied the violin, cello, viola, and bass at an early age, and eventually picked up the guitar and mimicked my father. Problem was I was a lefty, and the miniature guitar I played was right handed. To this day, I play guitar left handed with a right handed guitar. That would be my first experience with actual instruments. All before age 5. I knew at a young age that music was in my blood. Maybe not today with those particular instruments, but I was destined to play music.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  When did you first become aware of psychedelia, and who caught your attention at the start?

SIR PSYCH : Again at an early age. My mother, who was the direct opposite from my father, being an American girl from South Bronx, New York had a total opposite effect on me musically. If it wasn't for her record collection, who knows what I would be listening to today. One particular record started me off into psychedelia which was the Original Broadway recording of Hair. This record was embedded in my head as a youth. Imagine being 7 years old and singing "Sodomy", "Walking in Space", and "Hashish". The cover alone takes me back to being a child. When your mother's record collection contains everything from Bob Dylan to Strawberry Alarm Clock and Left Banke, it's going to have an effect on you. From an early age all I listened to was 60's music. To the point, where when I listened to an oldies radio station as a kid, I could tell you the artist, the song title, and even the year sometimes. Adults would trip out on me.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  When did you start to feel like music could be a career for you rather than a hobby?

SIR PSYCH : Throughout my early years I would always imagine myself on stage like my father. Even after we lost touch with each other, at my father's choice after my parents divorce, I still had a love to make music. From using pots and pans as drums and tennis rackets as guitars, I always envisioned myself playing music. Through the 80's, I found a new love of music with hip hop. I grew up with it, watched it develop, watched it change, and get to where it is today. All though Hip Hop is different today then it was 20 years ago, there is still love for certain aspects of the true form of the music. In the early 90's, I went from my mother's turntable to a pair of Gemini turntables, a 5 second sampler, and a stack of my mother's psychedelic lp's. I found my way making beats from these records and recording tracks in high school with friends. I had my style on lock and when people wanted a beat, they came to me. That was when I first started production and producing songs from scratch.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  What musical projects led up to The Smoking Trees and Sir Psych?

SIR PSYCH : Psychedelic music has always been around me, but I recorded Hip Hop music through the 90's. I released a few limited cassette recording in the 90's with a few bands and two solo cassettes. My first solo was called "Psychedelia" which was recorded on my first 4 track back in 1996. All songs were sampled from  psychedelic records in my collection. I since started collecting vinyl in the early 90's, starting with the base collection from my mother collection. I was sampling West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Hollies, and The Deep back then and everybody used to geek out from it cause it was so different at the time from the heavy sampled jazz tracks that were being used at the time. My second release was called "Evolution" which was released again in limited cassettes with the same psychedelic backdrop in sound. It wasn't till 2001, when I met Al Rivera, aka L.A.AL, who was a punk rock musician who was a force in the East Los Angeles underground punk rock scene. I believe I probably softened him up when I exposed him to my record collection. He feel in love with all the psychedelic music I was showing him Remember the first time you got into psych. Everything you heard was new and you just wanted to hear more. At that point, he'd bring his guitar to my house and we'd try to write pop psych songs in that nature. I would play a pieced up drum set I got from parts that I picked up along the way. From there we jammed out with about 5 guys after work a few times a week in East L.A. From there we used my 4 track units to record songs for fun. Besides Al and myself, the other guys were not getting into the music AL and I were coming up with. We were trying to play songs like The Zombies and The Monkees. So after about a year, it was only Al and myself writing and playing these songs. And it's been that way since. Al was still in the punk scene playing with his bands, but in the end, it always came down to us playing these pop songs.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  You've got a massive record collection. How has this enormous exposure to music affected the material you write?

SIR PSYCH : It influences me a lot. I find inspiration not through just these albums, but from sounds in general. I can write a song from one note or a simple drum pattern. I can say most of the song I written and the songs that Al and I have written together were all very spontaneous. I keep the same format in a way when it comes to song structure. Keep it about 2 to 3 minutes, with a simple melody, and a strong hook. I don't pick a particular song or album and copy anything, but I try to concentrate my music on crafting a song in the vein of a traditional 60's pop song. Basically started out with drums and guitar played live. Everything else that is added over the basic track is created to make that psychedelic effect come to life.
 

ACTIVE LISTENER :  Can you guide us through your discography and tell us a little about each release?

SIR PSYCH: As I stated earlier, my first work recorded was my form of hip hop. I have always incorporated psychedelic music to what I want as a finished product. With The Smoking Trees first recordings we wanted our sound to be a cross between The Kinks, The Monkees, and The Association. The simple guitar chords the kinks used, the pop sounds of The Monkees, and the harmonies of The Association. All of the songs that we recorded as The Smoking Trees, there is maybe 3 or 4 songs where either AL or I sing lead. Most of the song we recorded are both of us singing lead together. It a gives a new voice to the music with our voices combined. I have always loved that about our voices matched together. Al has a higher register than me and the notes that I can't hit to a certain degree Al makes up for it. For my solo record I put out in April, I recorded that in 2 weeks from scratch in between a break we had from recording. When Al came back to the studio, I played him what I recorded and he tripped out and said you need to put that out. It was a tad different because I incorporated little to no guitar. That's what Al adds to The Smoking Trees, guitar, bass, and vocals. I was experimenting with a Baldwin Organ we had. I mic'ed up pedals and different sequencers to come up with different sounds just with that organ. Everyday for two weeks I woke up recorded what came to my head and by the end of the day I had 5 or 6 songs started. Each night I went to sleep and woke up a with another idea to add to it. It was the easiest thing I have ever done, and since then I do the same routine everyday.
 

ACTIVE LISTENER :  What can you tell us about the upcoming Smoking Trees compilation?

SIR PSYCH : The Smoking Trees music has been recorded since 2002 and in those 10 years little was let out of our circle. Since we were a two piece, going out and doing live gigs was a problem for us, so we concentrated on recording instead. We have so many 4 track recordings it's not even funny. We thought we'd put a few of these recordings out so people can see how we developed our sound from then to now, as a free release with the release of our album "ACETATES". The only thing that really changed was the production. Going from various 4 track units to digital 8 tracks to full on studio recordings. Our first "song" we recorded was recorded live in a bathroom in El Monte, California in 2003 on a Tascam portastudio 4 track. Probably the most basic 4 track units out. It was called "Morning Music from Yesterday". With that song we felt we recorded the perfect pop song for our standards, and from there we have tried to develop our sound with each release. With this compilation, our aim is to have the listener hear the birth of something from a demo recording to going into a studio a creating what we create today. As each song is heard you can hear the growth of two musicians finding themselves musically. This release isn't to change the world, we even hesitated on putting it out. But we thought that this is where we started from and it is a part of our musical history.
 

ACTIVE LISTENER :  You've made allusions recently to having another album completed that the world's not ready for. What can you tell us about this material?

SIR PSYCH : I recorded a hip hop album in 2011 called "LOFI CIRCA 67'" that incorporated hip hop and psychedelic music to the full extreme. Echo, reverb, harpsichords, full on psychedelia. 30 tracks in all, and 90 minutes worth of stories that haven't been told in the area of hip hop. More told from the aspect of the psychedelic culture side, but combined well with boom bap sound of early 90's hip hop. A great combination, yet I shelved the project after it was complete to release on a later date. Concentrating on The Smoking Trees music at the moment and later will shock and ah the masses.

ACTIVE LISTENER : You seem very self contained with your recording setup. Do you record everything in your home studio? Tell us a little about your studio setup. 

SIR PSYCH : I have used 4 track, 8 track, and have used everything to Reason, Ableton, FLStudio to name a few. I never messed with Garage band before, which I have on my Apple units. We have recorded in a few studios in Los Angeles, but engineers and producers I worked with have their own idea of what they want us to sound like. I haven't worked with the right producers yet that know the sound we are trying to capture. When we are in the studio the music sounds too clean, and I am heavy into LOFI recording. It's not the sound I want to give off. I'll take a LOFi kitchen sink approach over a clean computer edited studio sound any day. It's just not mine or The Smoking Trees sound. Until we find a producer that we can match up with, I will be producing, mixing, and editing our songs.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  One of your most recent endeavors has been setting up your own label, Colour Tree Records. What are your hopes for the label, and what can you tell us about the first batch of upcoming releases?

SIR PSYCH : That is fairly new. I put up a page on my website just a few weeks ago that I am getting ready to launch Colour Tree into reality. It has been in the works for a while in the means to get psychedelic music and art together for vinyl only releases. Most psychedelic bands want their music pressed on vinyl only, and artists have a bigger platform of exposure for their art on a 12'' than on a cd or tape cover. In the weeks since I have launched this I have had several demo submissions and some great art sent to me. We are working with a few artists right now and I have a few bands that I am currently producing. I am mostly working with unheard of bands because that is what I prefer. I like to take and start with nothing and make and turn it into something as opposed to working with something established already. I am very hands on with everything that I do. I am also looking into reissuing some 60's LP's that have been slept on too long. There are so many records that are next to impossible to find, I know cause I have a few of them. I'd like for them to be heard and available on a greater scale.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  Pretend that every artist in the world is looking for a new record deal and wants to sign with Colour Tree. Who do you sign?

SIR PSYCH : Tough one. Most indie labels cater to a certain sound. I would like to sign bands that are all different in various ways. The bands I am working with currently are each different. Some are more beat than psych. I like artists that can create an album that is well rounded and not grounded.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  You've been doing production work for others too. Tell us a little bit about the people you've worked with so far.

SIR PSYCH : I have been working with a trio called The Everlasting Bubble. I put out a snippet single about a week ago and the reception has been great thus far. Heavy on the bass and beat side with psychedelic overtones. Paz Diego has an elastic voice that sounds good over everything that I have been creating with him. He knows how to work over my tracks. 

Pillow is another 4 piece I have had a few sessions with. Very soft sounds that can be played to set the mood for a mellow in the baed all day kind of mood. The Electric Candlelight is the heaviest band I am working with. Deep psych that is very pulsating and easy to get into. They are still trying to find their sound, but for some East L.A musicians they know how to trip me out with their music.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  As well as recording your own music, you've curated the 49 volume "Sir Psych Presents" series (they can be downloaded here). When you put Volume One together did you foresee the series becoming as huge as it has?

SIR PSYCH : Having a huge record collection, I have been making mixes for years. They were put out into the open in 2004 when I met up with Los Angeles's own DJ Nobody and Jeff Moore, who went by their alias's of Dr. Frederick Phases and The Minister Alvin X on KXLU's radio show "She Comes in Colours" It was the most popular show on the station and even won best Los Angeles's  radio show. Well DJ Nobody was and is a well known DJ and musician who would be on tour more than a few times a year. I turned them on to new music and was asked to guest DJ for DJ Nobody when he went on tour starting back in 2004. Since then till the last show in 2008 I was there with songs from my record collection and every time I would guest DJ, since I couldn't give them my records I would give them a mix. In the age of blogging, I started one of my own and up loaded these mixes on my blog and the word got out to the psychedelic listening community. I would literally receive 100's of downloads daily everyday since. I tripped out thinking "Where are all these people coming from?" Point is they listened and wanted more. So since 2004 I have uploaded 49 volumes of Sir Psych Presents, and a couple other series that I posted such as Gentle Paisley Pastries, which is for the soft psych sounds. And I put together The Toytown Sound, which is my answer to the European compilation A Trip to Toytown, but with all US bands that cater to the Toytown psych sound.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  What do you think is the best song you've written and why?

SIR PSYCH : I don't think I recorded that song yet, but the lyrics I write are very personal, and if you read them you can decipher the topic I am stated upon fairly easily. I write a lot about love mostly because love is the one thing that you live for the most. "Slender Penny" is one of my deepest songs about being able to see your future and not liking what you see. But knowing you will live your life and knowing how you end up. "A View from a Wave" is another song in the form of a metaphor about reaching and taking a chance in life rather than just sitting in the shade watching everyone do what you should be doing. I am a poet in ways and I hope people can enjoy the words just as much as the music.

ACTIVE LISTENER :  Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers? The floor is yours.

SIR PSYCH : If I was to say one last thing. I would like to be able to touch people's lives the way other musicians have touched mine through song. If I can do that, it makes everything worth the while. If it's just a good beat or a catchy chorus to someone, I haven't done my job correctly as a musician.

Visit Sir Psych's website here.

The Popsike World of Sir Psych is available here.

Click here to listen to the Smoking Trees.

Tune in here next week when Sir Psych will be pulling a few juicy items out of his extensive record collection for one of our "Out of the Crates" features.

Out Of The Crates

Out Of The Crates is a new feature here, which gives readers the opportunity to show off the most treasured items in their record collection.
Cal from the "Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy" psychedelic radio show ( see here ) holds the reins this time.

White Hills
First off is my copy of the first White Hills LP, Heads on Fire. I initially discovered this album on Amazon.com. It was listed for a reasonable $15 or something, so I bookmarked it and decided to give it some thought. I kind of forgot about it until the band released some more critically acclaimed albums (around 2010) that caught my attention. I returned to the bookmark only to find a single copy for about $60. Sheesh. I scoured the web for a while and discovered it was "Out of Stock" virtually everywhere. At this time, I was about to travel cross-country to All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in New York, where White Hills were slated to perform. I decided I'd just wait til then and see if they had any at their merch table. While there, I was actually able to meet Ego Sensation (bassist) and chat for a bit. I told her that the only copies of the record I could find were going for $60-100, and she thought that was crazy. "It's a good record, but wow..." she said. Unfortunately, they sold out a long time ago, leaving me right back where I started.
After a while, I almost gave up on the search, until one day I was killing some time at a local Denver shop called Wax Trax, not really even looking for anything. Skimming through the 'W's, I discovered this brand-new copy for like $13.50. Overjoyed was I.

Thee Oh Sees
Next up is a couple signed records from the outstanding freak-out garage tremor merchants, Thee Oh Sees. Not much to say about these, except for that I will probably not be parting with them any time soon. And John Dwyer is one rad dude.

The American Analog Set

The American Analog set is an absolute nostalgia-trip for me, doing their little slow-core/shoegaze/alternative thing better than anyone else I've heard. Their first two albums are pure bliss, and more psychedelic-ly inclined than their new-millinium material - which are still very collectible. This, their 1996 debut LP on the tiny Emperor Jones label, has no pressing number-hype attached to it, ("limited to 500 copies!" etc.) but is next to impossible to find. A prized possession for sure.

The Black Angels

I recently found a SEALED copy of the limited and very hard-to-find Black Angels' debut, (first-pressing, with the oh-so-cool embossed gatefold) for a criminally low cost. I know how much this thing goes for at auction, so I almost felt bad about buying it. It's the only 'sealed' item in my collection - which I also feel kind of weird about. I should probably just open the damn thing, huh?

Steve Tibbetts

Lastly is Steve Tibbetts self-released debut. I seem to have a treasure trove of incredible music that very few people can care about, and this album embodies that notion perfectly. My dad has a lot of these old solo-acoustic guitar albums - most of which are of the thrift-store variety rather than the collector's wet-dream Fahey/Graham/Basho variety - so I just thought this was another one of those. I remember listening to this expecting some mellow new-age folk, or maybe some jazz, only to have my mind turned inside-out by time the needle hit the runout groove of side A. Side B is even more explosive, and makes this one of the few albums that I will actually classify under pure genius. The music really cannot be compared to anything. The story is great too; Steve originally recorded it in a late-night, clandestine manner after he graduated from Macalaster College (and was no longer allowed to use their studio) and released it by himself (almost unheard of in the '70s). It made no sense to almost any of the radio stations or record companies he sent it to, leaving him with about 200 hand-numbered copies that he didn't know how to get rid of. He recorded more commercially successful releases through the '80s, but this one remains a gem of obscurity, and a high point for his career.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you'd like to hear a radio show I did with some more of the rarest records in my collection, go here: http://archive.org/details/CosmicTonesAncientProteinStringsOfTheGeneticCode
None of the show's featured albums are mentioned above, but below is a picture of some of them. (included are the second Tibbetts record, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull, Six Organs of Admittance, and more).

Send your photos and descriptions to nford150@gmail.com if you want to be published next.

The Sufis

Reviewed By The Active Listener

Simply put, The Sufi's self titled debut is so brilliant that I'm fairly certain that I can't formulate the words to do it justice. I will however give it a go.
Much like fellow Tennessee natives The Paperhead, the Sufis have an obvious fascination with the English music scene of the mid to late sixties.
Where the Paperhead evoke the sounds of more cult figures like July and the Idle Race, the Sufis seem to have set their sights much higher, and come across like a cross between the Beatles at their most mustachioed and Pink Floyd circa Arnold Layne.
Evocative, but never derivative, they channel their influences into concise and adventurous psychedelic pop tunes, the majority of which could have been hits in 1967 and with a little luck might be now.
Tjinder Singh from Cornershop spotted their promise right away and signed them to his Ample Play label, who are responsible for this attractive vinyl release.
"Sri Sai Flora"  is the track which has been serviced to media first, and is a good indicator of what to expect from their full length ; supple McCartneyesque basswork, drums which sound like they're struggling to catch up ala Ringo and dreamy harmonized vocals with a melody to kill for.
Elsewhere there's plenty of trippy Rick Wright style organ work, vocals run through oscilators and all manner of vintage sounding studio trickery - all married to perfect lysergic pop tunes, with the odd instrumental freakout thrown in for good measure.
Splendid stuff, and essential for those with a love of that innocent U.K sound that the Americans only now seem to be coming to grips with. 

Active Listener Radio - The Further Adventures of The Now ( And Not So Now ) Sounds of Psychedelia

Another psych mix for this week's show.

Tunes from Calibro 35, Broadcast, Opossum, The Sufis, Satya Sai Maitreya Kali, The Resonars, Mick Stevens, Sproatly Smith, Can, The Moles, Slings & Arrows, The End, The Wicked Whispers, Baby Woodrose and Yankee Dollar.

Active Listener - The Further Adventures of The Now ( And Not So Now ) Sounds of Psychedelia by The Active Listener on Mixcloud

Mordecai Smyth Interviewed

The enigmatic Mordecai Smyth and I had a chat about his music, Syd Barrett and time travel among other things.

Settle into your favorite armchair and have a read then:

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Introduce us to Mordecai Smyth, the person and the band.

MORDECAI SMYTH : Mordecai Smyth the person, is yours truly, simple as that! Mordecai Smyth the band consists of myself and some old and trusted friends.
They are very talented and I am very lucky to have them. The "amazing" Mr. Heath (or "secret weapon" as I call him) is my main collaborator. He plays bass, and guitar and sings some of the harmony parts. He is the great "elaborator" in the band. I write the words and the "bones" of the songs and he adds all these wonderful overdubs. Hence the "amazing" - I am always amazed at how good he makes my songs sound. He also produces the overall sound.
Thaddeus Jones is the drummer. I never have to advise what sort of groove / fills I want for a song:
he seems to know instinctively, which is fantastic.
Tabitha plays clarinet and sax. She came up with the wonderful riff for "Almost Muder Ballad": she was just messing around, playing and came up with that. I picked up on the idea and we made it into the song.
I play keyboards (I tend to stick to keyboard sounds used widely in the '60's, purely because I love them: mellotron, piano, organ) guitar, percussion and sing. I also borrowed a sitar for "I've been So Tired" which was amazing trying to get to grips with! Loving Psychedelic music as I do, this was quite a moment for me: I felt like I was recording a track for one of those "Psychedelic Headswirlers" compilations!

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : What was the record that made you think "I can do that", and got you started as a songwriter?

MORDECAI SMYTH : This is a tough question...! If I am allowed, I shall give more than one example as an answer. Firstly, I remember buying a vinyl copy of Syd Barrett's "The Madcap Laughs" when I was 15. I didn't know he had been in Pink Floyd or anything. I just loved the album cover and bought the record on the strength of that! I remember very clearly thinking "wow!" It didn't sound like "modern" productions. It sounded very close and intimate to me, as if the band was there in the room with me. It didn't matter that he sings out of tune in places either - it sounded so magical. It gave me hope and I remember thinking I'd love to make music that sounded intimate and told little stories, like the song; "Here I Go".
Alongside Syd, I remember hearing Jimi Hendrix and wanting to play guitar like that! After playing my first guitar, I realised very quickly, that was never going to happen: more like "I definitely can't do that!
The other factor was Punk Rock! In Punk, there is this attitude that anyone can have a go and that everyone has something to offer: I like that. I think Punk was the thing that gave me the confidence to "have a go".

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Given the option, would you rather be plying your musical trade in the mid sixties or now?

MORDECAI SMYTH : Interesting question. As there are pro's and con's to both, I am torn. This is difficult to answer without sounding like a history lesson, so I hope my answer isn't too boring.....

Hmmm. I'd loved to have been around in the '60's in a successful band! Watching documentaries about this period, you get the sense that the people involved felt that something special was happening, appreciated it and had a lot of fun. It seemed to be a much more innocent age in many respects. The bad thing was, many artists were exploited /ripped off. Some artists were merely "puppets" during this time for songwriting teams employed by record companies purely to make money. I'd have hated to have been in that position. This still happens today but you don't have to go down this route in order to be heard......?

During the Sixties, people started to think of Pop music as an artform and started to experiment with sound more: I use The Beatles "Revolver" as an example. Also, the technology was advancing, giving musicians and producers the tools to do just that. There is a funny film clip of Ringo, in the studio, messing around in the control room saying, "well, you put the guitar through here and it comes out there, sounding like a piano". Here, I think things became very interesting and artists were "allowed" to push the boundaries in "Pop" music. If I was in that position, then yes, to ply my trade during that period would have been great!

However, with the technology available today, the sky's the limit. One thing I love about making music today, is that I have the equipment I need to record the music I want to make. I don't have to go cap in hand to a record company and pray they will give me a record deal, so I can go into a studio to record my music.
I think in the mid Sixties, many bands weren't even allowed in the control room of the studio! Maybe only to hear the playback of the finished mix! I am not restricted to booking into a studio and being pushed for time: I can record music as and when I want to. Going back to the Punk ethos - I like being able to "do it myself" and
make music for myself. I am not at anyone's beck and call and have no pressure or stress or no-one telling me I should sound like so and so.

Music for me is a creative and fun outlet; one that keeps me sane, not makes me mad!

I also like the fact that we have the internet and I can contact like minded people all around the world and ply my trade that way. All in all, we are creatures of our time, so I'm happy being around now: it is all I will ever know, (unless Dr. Who takes me back to the 1960's in the T.A.R.D.I.S.) Now that I would like! It
is interesting to speculate what sort of music I would have made had I been around in the Sixties - would it be similar to what I do now? I wonder if people back then would have liked what I do now.....?? Oh dear, I think your question has broken my mind! Let's move on quick!

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : I've read in a previous interview, that you mentioned touring and live performance not being likely.
If there were no practical constraints ( e.g money / reality / time etc.) where would you be performing and who would you be sharing the bill with?

MORDECAI SMYTH : Probably in some toilet in London, with some other artists at the same level as me!

Ideally, I'd like to be playing some of the nicer venues in London. Who with? Hmmm, support to Ray Davies?! A slot on the bill with Paul Weller? That would be nice!

Actually, I have just been approached by some friends who have a band and they have very kindly asked me if I would like them to perform my songs live. Naturally, I have agreed - I am looking forward to hearing them perform my songs! I have heard them play covers of "I Fought the Law" (Bobby Fuller 4) and The Witch (Sonics) as well as songs by The Move and they do them really well.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Who in the current music scene do you feel a kinship with, and why?

I feel a kinship with Icarus Peel. He is a remarkable man who has made two albums under his own steam. He has his own studio and writes and records his own very original and wonderful music. We sound quite different, but we have a lot in common.

I also feel a kinship with "The Shadow Kabinet". This is a chap, Steve Somerset, who writes and records his own music, which again I love. I keep in regular contact with both these artists and I think we all share a love and respect of each other's music, without it being the "mutual appreciation society". I trust their judgement and know that I can depend on them for honest, no-nonsense criticism. It is good to have such friends. I hope your readers will check both of these artists out. My favourite album by Icarus Peel is "Tea at my Gaffe" and by The Shadow Kabinet, "Sliding World's Apart". I know that the Shadow Kabinet have recorded a new album , which should be out soon. Icarus, is working on a very Sixties sounding project called "The Honey Pot". I have heard bits of both and I am very excited about them.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Do you have any idea why you feel such an affinity for the music and pop culture of an era that you (presumably) weren't around to experience firsthand?

MORDECAI SMYTH : I love songs that tell stories. Many songs from the 1960's do exactly that: Arnold Layne by Pink Floyd, Jenny Artichoke by Kaleidoscope, The Magic Shoemaker by The Fire, many Beatles and Kinks songs, songs by The Move, The Who etc..... I love the tongue-in-cheek aspect of some of those songs too.

I like the way 1960's music had the ability to poke fun at society.
A lot of modern "Pop" music seems to be too serious or on the other hand, total dross!

I love a lot of the sounds used in the Sixties. I have already mentioned the keyboards, but guitar and bass sounds too.
I love the 3 minute single format. I think it is a great discipline to write in. It makes you focus on what you want to say. It distills and condenses your ideas and gives a purity through that.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Write your own (brief) review of Sticky Tape & Rust.

MORDECAI SMYTH : As Jeremy, the "Nowhere Man" said in "Yellow Submarine" - "I never read my own reviews" - unlike him, I couldn't possibly write one! That's your job!!!

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : How did Mark Wirtz come to hear the record?

MORDECAI SMYTH : The chap at the helm of Mega Dodo Records, John Blaney is also a writer. He interviewed Mark Wirtz for an article on Kippington Lodge. He told Mark he was setting up a record company and told him about my album. He sent him a copy and Mark Wirtz was very impressed. This made me very happy, as he was an in-house producer at Abbey Road in the 1960's - someone who's work I admire. Also, two other people who were plying their trade in the Sixties; Peter Daltrey from Kaleidoscope (the UK one) and Dave Lambert from The Fire have heard the album and have been very complimentary.

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Nice! What can you tell us about the 4 track E.P that you're working on at the moment?

MORDECAI SMYTH : Well, we seem to have a thing for guitar riffs and backwards guitars at the moment, with a dash of mellotron! We have two songs finished, a third almost finished and a backing track down for the fourth. I always liked The Beatles 4 track EP's and thought it would be nice to follow in that tradition. We have tried to come up with 4 songs, each worthy of being the lead track on a single for this one, which is a tall order. However, we are very pleased with how it is sounding so far.
Let us hope the critics agree, when they hear it!

THE ACTIVE LISTENER : Well, this is one critic who can't wait!

Read my review of Mordecai Smyth's Rust & Sticky Tape here.

You can buy it on vinyl here. And on CD here. 

Mordecai Smyth - Sticky Tape & Rust

Reviewed By The Active Listener.

Do you pine for the days of the mid sixties where it wasn't necessary to make a major statement with every song and one could quite happily write a mischievous song about a witch on a bicycle? Then read on.
Mordecai Smyth capture the atmosphere of swinging, pre-flower power England with such uncanny accuracy that it's hard not to imagine them sitting in front of the fire, crumpet in hand, watching the latest episode of the Avengers between takes.
If one can imagine an alternate universe where Pink Floyd continued along in the mod vein of their Lucy Leave / King Bee demos instead of turning to psychedelic nursery rhymes and freakouts, then you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. Concise, whimsical mod pop, with swinging organ and beat guitars.
It's all a great deal of fun and shows Smyth to be a natural successor to the clever, observational character studies perfected by the likes of Ray Davies and Syd Barrett.
While the sound is generally rooted firmly in 1965 mod / beat territory, there are a few surprises to be had. "I've Been So Tired" cranks up the psych factor with a gently shimmering sitar accompaniment and a trippy guitar outro, while "With One Arm Tied" finishes with a completely unexpected and rather lovely bit of wobbly mellotron.
It's all impeccably crafted, and if you're a fan of early Floyd, the Kinks, the Who at their poppiest, the Artwoods or English sixties pop culture in general, you really do need a copy of this in your collection.
There's even an endorsement from legendary psych pop producer Mark Wirtz on their website, and if it's good enough for him, it's certainly good enough for me.

You can buy it on vinyl here. And on CD here. 

You'll be able to read an interview with Mordecai Smyth here in the next few days.