Blind Slime – Sour Triangle EP

Reviewed by Nathan Ford

West Virginia native J Adams, has been releasing creepy instrumental music under the moniker of Blind Slime since at least 2009, with newest release “Sour Triangle” pushing more of my buttons than ever before.

It’s hard to describe what Adams does, as he doesn’t fit neatly into any particular niche. There’s no doubt that his music is deeply influenced by vintage horror scores, but it’s larger devoid of the obvious Carpenter-core influences, although his music would certainly fit very comfortably in the master’s movies. There’s also a psychedelic element at play which manifest itself through insidious, hypnotic repetition, rather than going for cheap thrills with phasers and reverb.

The title track is an evocative wee gem, conjuring images of Autumnal leaves being blown through lonely suburban neighbourhoods. Imagine that John Carpenter wasn’t the synth master that he is, and that “Halloween” had been scored by a full band instead, solely from Carpenter’s notes on the sort of mood he was wanting to create: this is that soundtrack. “A Place Elf-Haunted” does little to dispel this illusion, introducing a dark carnivale theme that heightens the listener’s sense of unease.

Adams makes good use of a varied palette of sounds on “Sour Triangle”, with plenty of vintage keyboards and synthesizers, sparing and effective use of percussion and arpeggiated guitars forming the basis for the majority of these pieces, with “Hill Prayer” adding a layer of backwards tapes and what sounds like a mellotron to create a woozy air of not-quite-right, which will stay with you long after this impressive EP has closed up shop.

Available to download directly from the Blind Slime Bandcamp page for a pittance:

The Radiation Flowers - S/T

Reviewed by Joseph Murphy

Formerly Powder Blue (previously covered here and here), The Radiation Flowers – hailing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – follow up two excellent releases with a new name and a self-titled record. From the near eight minute pedal gazing opener “Sunfire Drug Haus” through the sprawling and moody closer “Lead Me Tonight,” The Radiation Flowers aren’t looking to necessarily reinvent themselves but push their well established sound to its fullest potential – and, in my opinion, they’ve taken a big step here, playing to their more mind altering elements and grunge roots.

“17” has a hook (as well as a release) like every song that I have ever loved, every song that ever spoke to me as a teen: gritty, garagey– familiar. The guitars are dense as they establish the song, but the band’s layers – tight rhythm section, soaring leads, and wonderfully slow and deliberate airy vocals – send the riff off the rails, toward some wonderful melding of shoegaze, psych and 90s era lo-fi rock.

While there are plenty of hits seemingly left off from some decades old jangling garage record, there a few quick burning psych tunes that tie this outing together. “Psychic Attack” hits hard and fast. Yet somehow there’s room in its short two minutes for a raucous guitar lead and yet another powerful vocal delivery.

Admittedly, I have a weakness for self-proclaimed “grunge” bands; an internal angsty teen of long ago gets excited every time the tag appears on a Bandcamp page – and sometimes unexpectedly. The Radiation Flowers takes all the wonderful elements of the genre and add a few other favorite, mixing up a gauzy slice of rock ‘n roll that tips its hat to the old and new inspirations.

Highly recommended!

“The Radiation Flowers” is available in digital formats from their Bandcamp page below, as well as on CD here.

The Green Pajamas - Death by Misadventure

Reviewed by Nathan Ford

I've reposted this from it's original 2012 CD review and release, as Sugarbush Records have just released a very limited run (250 copies only) on green vinyl - get in here before it's sold out.

It's doubtful whether there are any other acts out there who have amassed as impressive a body of work, while reaching so few as Seattle's long running Green Pajamas.

One of my intentions when setting up the Active Listener  was to share music that I felt hadn't received the exposure it was due, and the Green Pajamas were one of the very first bands I had on my agenda. And this seems to be a common theme - you've either never heard of the Green Pajamas or you're an obsessive, devotional fan. They seem to be the type of band that brooks no middle ground.
"Death By Misadventure" is their thirtieth release, and predictably it's a marvel. It's taken me a little longer than normal to put together this review, as the Green Pajama's albums take a little time to digest properly. They have an initial appeal that is so immediate that you feel like you know the album almost straight away, but further plays reveal deeper levels and other hooks previously unsuspected, meaning their albums go from good to great with a little familiarity.

Following on from the country rock detour of their "Green Pajama Country" album, this finds them heading back to more familiar territory, with a few nice surprises along the way.

The first half of the album is a concept song-cycle called "The Fall of the Queen Bee" - which ostensibly may sound like a fairly boffiny concept headed for failure and even tedium. Once run through the Green Pajama filter though even the most unlikely subjects act as a springboard for the quality songcraft of Jeff and Eric. From the McCartneyesque power ballad "Ring around the Sun" to the exotic gypsy waltz of "The Queen's Last Tango" this is fine stuff, and in the tradition of all the best concept albums, is best enjoyed without trying to follow the somewhat dubious storyline.

The second half, "Cruel Dreams, Cruel Things" is made up of unconnected songs that find the Pajamas continuing to do what they do best, namely tuneful acid-pop laced with inspired guitar work, harpsichords, a playful sense of English whimsy not heard since the late sixties, and naturally, choruses that sound like they've been plucked from some great undiscovered songbook in the sky.

Business as usual then for the Pajamas, and probably about time you discovered them for yourself, hmmm? There's no need to be embarrassed, it's never too late.

Also available on CD here ( U.S ) and here (U.K ).

Howling Larsons - Midnight Folk

Reviewed by Grey Malkin (The Hare & The Moon)

Howling Larsons, Alan Trench (Orchis, Temple Music, Twelve Thousand Days, Cunnan) and Rebecca Loftiss (The Gray Field Recordings), released their hypnotic and highly recommended début ‘Fool of Sound And Furry’ on the Reverb Worship label in 2013 to significant acclaim. Describing their sound perfectly as ‘nouveau occult psychedelia’, Howling Larsons ably merge and collage exquisite acid folk, dark psychedelia and experimental ambience, with both Trench and Loftiss having a close and masterful acquaintance with these genres in their other bands and guises (and if you haven’t come across the incredible and atmospheric Gray Field Recordings or the intricate psych folk of Orchis before do delve in without hesitation). The Larson’s stunning new release ‘Midnight Folk’, available previously as a CD issue distributed via the band and label Reverb Worship and containing a unique art print, is now out on cassette and digital release from Belgium’s Wool-E tapes and provides a perfect opportunity for both newcomers and the initiated to descend into the beautiful and mysterious shadows that are created within the Howling Larson’s singular universe.

'Ragged Ritual' opens the album in an alluring haze of organ, the buzz of treated voices and Loftiss's poetic incantations. Finger cymbals punctuate the growing clamour and intensity as the vocals become more ever more beautiful, choral and drenched in reverb. Effectively setting the mood of this unusual but transfixing recording this first track illustrates perfectly Howling Larsons' skill and ease with mixing the experimental with the melodic and memorable. 'The Butcher Boy' is a drifting slice of psych folk treasure, both Larsons harmonising with each other on vocals over a haunted and delicately fingerpicked acoustic lament. Next, 'Sound Of Light' combines tense and sombre guitar with cello, recorder and spectral vocals that recall some of the finest songs of acid folk masters Midwinter and Stone Angel (and indeed Orchis themselves); skeletal and wind torn this is folk music at its most spooked and bewitching. The track fades into the wail of solar storms, a perfectly atmospheric and fitting finale. 'Telescope' is a strident spoken word and sung piece by Loftiss, cello and electric guitar weaving and winding its way ever forwards into the enclosing darkness. Mention must be made of the intricate and at times baroque arrangements that add a sophisticated and timeless beauty to the album; indeed both Trench and Loftiss perform everything on this album themselves. 'Goat Song' is an eastern raga, wild recorder trills and the sound of esoteric stringed instruments providing a perfect frame for Trench's vocals whilst a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Matilda Mother' is a dreamily gorgeous psych wonder; again Howling Larsons stitch drones, experiments in ambience and truly psychedelic moments together with carefully crafted melodies and exquisite song writing. 'Beach Flute Song' is a perfect example of this; echoed vocals stretch over strings and woodwind in a pleasingly disorientating and utterly compelling fashion. There is something truly dreamlike about this album, almost hypnagogic. The songs feel like they exist at the liminal edge of wakefulness and dreaming; there is a familiarity in their harmonies but also a surreal quality to the sounds and atmosphere contained therein. This only enhances the albums enjoyment and accentuates its unique quality.

'Mask Of Winter' adds synth, backwards percussion, chimes and slide guitar to a gentle, otherworldly ballad with Loftiss's voice curling around the music like a soft flame. 'Landfall' utilises backwards voices and sounds that unsettle in just the right way as a descending guitar and cello line create a wintry and crystalline loveliness that reminds this listener of Backworld and In Gowan Ring, both fellow travellers in the world of wyrd folk. Indeed fans of IGR's work (as well as aficionados of Stone Breath) are well advised to acquaint themselves with The Howling Larsons. A splendidly twisted cover of 'Time Of The Season' follows before 'Stone' enchants with its reverberated acoustic warmth and melancholy. Closing track 'Midnight Folk' employs an orchestral passage that plays over a droning hum, drum crashes and a nursery rhyme style vocal melody. It is at once beguiling and also apocalyptic, beautiful and eerie, not unlike the album itself taken as a whole.

‘Midnight Folk’ needs to be heard. It is rare to find music infused with such creativity, ambition, emotion and vision, yet those qualities are here in riverfuls on this wonderful album. A plea from this listener; do not let this fine release slip by, your life and music collection will be the poorer for its absence. Stay up late, spend some time with The Midnight Folk.

French Exit - Jerk Store

Reviewed by Nathan Ford

French Exit's chief creative force, AJ Griffin, has served time in a number of highly regarded Elephant Six affiliated bands (Laminated Cat, Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System), so it should come as no surprise to discover that French Exit's debut "Jerk Store" is a warped, melodic indie-pop gem.

There's a distinctly Beatlesque flavour to a number of these tunes, particularly noticeable in the vocal melodies, which have that Lennonesque gift of bypassing the obvious, yet still ending up with a cracking melody which will stay in your head for weeks. The other obvious touchstone is Elliott Smith, although that largely seems to be down to Griffin and Smith having absorbed and filtered the Beatle bible in a similar fashion. Check out the way that the piano and vocal combine on tracks like "Glass Doors", which sound as if they could have been lifted straight off of a slightly more psychedelic "Figure 8".

And just to proove that they can do more than just achingly melodic pop given a kooky twist, there's the brief interlude "Piano Jazz", which boasts a lovely melody that carries something of the haunting, and haunted quality which you'd expect to emanate from a distant room in the empty Overlook hotel - fans of the Caretaker will be particularly at home here.

But diversions like this aside, the album's main strength - apart from woozy, left of centre arrangements - are those gorgeous vocal melodies, which strike an immediate chord with the listener, without revealing all of their secrets in one go, almost as if the songs are evolving to meet the listener's needs for repeated listening. I can tell that I'll be listening to this a whole lot more.

CD and digital available here:

Daniel Wylie’s Cosmic Rough Riders - Chrome Cassettes

Reviewed by Elizabeth Klisiewicz

Many people (although not me, sadly) are familiar with Daniel Wylie’s early foray with the Cosmic Rough Riders, the celebrated album "Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine". That vaunted album was released on Alan McGee’s short lived Poptones label, and was followed by two top 40 UK singles, an appearance on Top of the Pops, and sold out tours of the UK, Europe, Japan, and the US. Daniel Wylie has reactivated his original band name for this fabulous new release, "Chrome Cassettes". Not only that, but "Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine" has been reissued digitally on November 6th with 25 extra tracks which include the "Deliverance", "Panorama" and "Pure Escapism" albums plus B sides. But let’s focus on this brand new release, which was co-produced by Johnny Smillie and recorded on a shoestring budget.

The album is chock full of power pop, psych, and folk goodness, replete with chiming guitars, stunning harmonies, and all the best elements of these genres that a fan would expect. The opening salvo, “Yesterday’s a Waste of Time” is six and a half minutes of blistering power pop and a searing guitar solo from Johnny Smillie. The beautiful “A Beautiful Sunrise” starts out like a long lost Love song, before meandering into Jose Gonzalez territory, with gorgeously plucked guitar and a sterling vocal. “I’m Out of My Mind” is upbeat, sunshine pop (can anyone say hit?), while “Misty Dreamer” is more downtempo and contemplative. “Dark Forest” slides into your senses, entrancing you with its inviting main melody in waltz tempo. Fuzzed out guitar joins the acoustic guitar and leads you out on a high note. “You’re Predictable” has an in your face melodic punch with a psych backdrop, leading into the Byrdsian pleasure of “Another Wasted Day”. If this is your cup of tea, then you’ll be delighted not only with this song but the entire record. There are hints of many 60s and 70s artists, but Wylie puts an original spin on what could be a tired genre with extremely well-written and played songs, coupled with a really great voice. “Some Great Messages” slips into autumnal folk territory, a realm which Wylie should visit more often as he does this so well. “I Follow You Home” sews together exquisitely crafted melodies with great harmony vocals. “I Should Disappear” closes the album and marries psych folk elements seamlessly together.

All in all, this is a great release that should not be missed by fans of 60s psychedelic and folk music.

Available directly from Daniel via the Cosmic Rough Riders Facebook page, or digitally here.

Matricarians - Rainthinking

Following on from last week's release of the new Kitchen Cynics album "Common Blue" comes its sister album, "Rainthinking" by Alan Davidson's group project Matricarians. They're a slightly more experimental outfit than the Kitchen Cynics, but all of Davidson's hallmarks are very much in evidence.

We're very proud to be able to release these two albums on the Active Listener Records imprint, and recommend them both to any forward thinking fans of psychedelia, folk, and experimental music.

You can stream or download "Rainthinking" here:

BEAK> / KAEB - Split

Reviewed by Dedric Moore (KC Psych Fest)

For those who haven't been paying attention, BEAK> is Geoff Barrow from Portishead's Krautrock three-piece. And so are <KAEB, although the material on side two here, credited to <KAEB is a little different to BEAK>'s normal fare.

From the very first beat of "The Meader" things are more expansive, and yet essential BEAK> elements remain as the groove gets funky, the vocals more melodic, but the frequency-stripped production and Krautrock vibe is still intact. "The Meader" pushes straight ahead, albeit with a swagger. The minimal guitar work adds a rhythmic loop that locks in with the drums and signifies a new confidence in what BEAK> can accomplish within the construct of their signature sound. "The Broken Window" starts off as if it is something from Barrows' soundtrack work of late and then drops out to reveal a simple bass melody that sounds like it comes straight from a post-punk b-side circa 1982. We're talking a groove that would be played on repeat as you stared at the posters on your wall and wished you could be cool. The bass line transitions into a full groove and the synth melody creeps in with a steady focus that leads the song into bliss, a bliss that unfortunately ends too soon as this one could have filled up an album side on its own.

Flip the record and things change. "When We Fall" is a psych-folk tune with pitch-bent guitar and synth that is guided by dual vocals. It's a pleasant tune that makes it exciting to see what else may come to fruition under the <KAEB moniker.  The EP ends with a dark strange one, "There's No One", which comes across as if it was sampled from Portishead's second album - not unusual considering Barrows' association with both bands. Jonwayne features as a guest rapper/spoken word beat poet with the song growing into the sort of avant-weird that Can would drop into their albums.

It's a fitting end to an EP that fits neatly into, and expands upon the aural world which BEAK> has created over their past few releases.

Vinyl available here, with digital available through this streaming link:

Moonwood – Desert Ghosts

Reviewed by Nathan Ford

Moonwood have come a long way since Jakob Rehlinger’s first solo Moonwood release in 2007, with latest opus “Desert Ghosts” being the most fully realised release in an impressive catalogue.

Adding vocalist / synth wizard Jacqueline Noire in 2009 was just the beginning, with the band now sporting the impressive rhythm section of Matthew Fava (bass) and Luca Capone (drums). There’s always been a sort of Krauty space-rock element to Rehlinger’s music, but now that he can ditch the loopers and rely on a real, live rhythm section this is taken to new levels.

Split into two side long suites (with five distinct tracks per suite), “Desert Ghosts” is a concept album that explores the vast, open spaces of the American desert on side one, and parallels that with the desert world Arrakis from Frank Herbert’s popular “Dune” novels on side two. It’s a suitably grand setting for music this expansive with plenty of exotic, Eastern themes winding their way in among the driving guitars and cosmic synth washes.

Capone’s solid, metronomic beats (Neu! Fans, prick up your ears), provide the perfect backdrop for the band’s explorative expeditions, offering a precise framework that helps even the most improvised elements of the band’s music retain a structure that the listener can keep up with. And then there are the moments where the rhythm section drops out completely, leaving Noire’s wordless vocals and Fava’s serpentine violin parts to take centre stage, with spine-tingling results.

There’s a perfect balance struck here between the explorative, the hypnotically repetitious, and a more structured play on conventional songcraft, which makes this a thoroughly unpredictable ride which challenges and rewards the listener in equal measure, while evoking the desolate, open stretches of its source material with apparent ease.

Kudos to the cover artist too – not too sure who’s responsible for this, but it’s not often that you find a sleeve that so perfectly encapsulates its contents.

Vinyl and digital available here:

dbh - Mood

Reviewed by Shaun C. Rogan

Its always nice to mooch around the internet and find yourself signposted to a great new find. Such is the situation that arose when six-string explorer, Nick Jonah Davis tipped his FB friends off about this new release. "Mood" by dbh is the first physical issue on Manchester indie label, Thread Recordings and the second release by the artist known as dbh. You will be pleased to hear that it's a cracker.

"Mood" may give some of the game away with it's informative title but there is much that lurks beneath the many changing moods on display in this collection of 11 tracks recorded by guitarist/ multi-instrumentalist from Manchester in England, Dan Bridgwood-Hill. What unites them is the mastery displayed of the wordless narrative (it's entirely instrumental) and perceptive use of musical contrasts. "Mood" absorbs UK folk, American 'field recordings' and ambient/drone sound scapes to deliver a tapestry of sonic delights that is very much the domain of its author and executor.

Opening with a left-right combination of eerie synth soundscape "Kard Loop" and serpentine guitar exploration "Shed Light", (the latter with its outro managing to be reminiscent of both 'Hallway of Mirrors" by Alexander Turnquist and bizarrely "Blue Jay Way" by 'you-know who you'), the initial exchanges of 'Mood' lead you down a pathway of shady glades, half-seen vistas and misty hollows.

And then - sunlight! "New Anthem" is one of those beautiful sun-dappled acoustic guitar turns that always has you checking to see whether there are any birds at the bottom of the garden and has you wishing you lived in a cottage on the North Yorkshire Moors rather than suburban London. Deftly executed, like pretty much everything on this outing, its a real heart-warmer. "Untangle the Jig" follows bringing evening in its wake with its lovely revolving guitar motif and 'Take 5' brushed drums. It gives the listener the opportunity to get some of that great dbh guitar playing - intuitive and conversational; the many refrains and motifs presenting the listener with an engaging wordless dialogue before vamping out under a pink moon (and a metronome). Absolutely bang on.

'Blues for the Read Sun' is Ry Cooder duking it out with William Basinski as delta swamp riffs are enveloped in decaying layers of fidelity in a striking fashion. Without the sonic treatment it could be 'Paris, Texas' ; with it you have a menacing, distorted bayou of sound that fades into the impenetrable distance. I believe it's dedicated to the memory of genius Pentangle guitarist John Renbourn (RIP).

Side 2 (track 6 digi-fans) brings us up for air with the lovely 'Defy/Win' which manages to stride both sides of the Atlantic, invoking as it does both sweeping American plains and quiet English backroads. Its sweet guitar picking and tasteful harmonium accompaniment breezing along, charming the listener with its playfulness. "Bog Dance" follows and is another lovely 'porch moment' expertly delivered on unaccompanied guitar with the occasional twang for good measure - a close as dbh gets to delivering a hoe-down. Though I suspect dbh may frown at me for saying so.

"Low C" is my personal highlight on the record with its endlessly tumbling guitar notes pealing downwards, saved from certain doom by a blanket of beautiful pedal steel and a feather bed of understated drumming. The way the song with its drowsy atmosphere and closing flutters of distortion and decay segues into the brief and genuinely surprising piano splashes of 'Think' reminds this reviewer nothing less than the cine-music of Barry Adamson's ground breaking 'Moss Side Story' (consider this praise indeed) another son of Manchester. That good.

"New Angles" mines the kosmiche/hauntology seam to perfection with its gently perambulating melody tracking an elliptical orbit around a sympathetic drum pattern whilst violins hover beneath clouds of harmonium ( I believe). Not a million miles away from the kind of organic and progressive dreamscapes purveyed by the Boards of Canada ; or even the more reflective moods of the Brian Jonestown Massacre come to think of it. Very nice indeed.

Matters are brought to a close by the gently swaying "Revelation Drift"; which may feature banjo, definitely features electric guitar and tape hiss, and undulates indolently on a sparkly sea for its four minute stay. A compelling sound picture. In fact, I half expected a seagull to appear at my window to offer its help in completing this review for you all.

So there we have it - an excellent sophomore effort. On a new label that has set the bar high for itself. Set your watch and remember the day you heard it first. dbh is looming on the horizon. Catch the mood.

Available on limited vinyl (250) and unlimited digital through Thread Recording via bandcamp and select stockists.