Nick Drake - Clothes of Sand

A mesmerizing piece of perfectly executed psychedelic folk.

Nick Drake - Clothes of Sand

Blawan Mix

Check out this mix from the best new producer out there- Blawan. He is taking the whole dubstep/2 step/techno thing and turning it on its head, making really hard rhythmic- almost industrial- style tracks. If you listen to his tracks by themselves, unmixed, their abrasiveness almost pushes them in to experimental territory. He has only a few releases so far but each one is amazing, I recommend them all. This mix was broadcast on Mary Ann Hobbs’ XFM show in London July 23 2011. It’s mostly unreleased stuff by him with some old techno and what not. Tracklist here. It's only 22 minutes but full of the most inventive dance music I have heard in a long while. Mental stuff, play loud.

Blawan - XFM mix

Pink Rhythm - Trust Me

This is one of my favorite records: the India 12” by Pink Rhythm. It's a beautifully produced 4 track EP from 1985 by John Rocca and Andy Stennett, the same gentlemen that brought you the Pictures LP. This track is a bit of a blue-eyed soul number and one of my all time favorite Rocca tunes. Ripped from my vinyl collection. Stream below or click here for download.

Luger E-Go - Path to Anacrchy Pass

Here's a track by Kenji Takimi who owns Crue-L Records in Japan. This is one of his weirder projects under his Luger E-Go guise. This is a ten minute experimental dance record he released as a one sided 12" in 2004. If you think it sounds low-fi/distorted/compressed I assure you thats just how the record is, as I recorded a clean vinyl rip. It's just a crazy record. Enjoy.

Lugar E-Go Path to Anarchy Pass Dead Can Dance by Kenji Takimi

Nick Sand

Nick Sand is a clandestine chemist that worked making high grade psychedelic drugs throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. I think it's safe to say he was responsible for most the LSD, MDMA, DMT, 2CB and other ethnogenic pharmaceuticals made in North America during those times. An important man to say the least. He learnt his trade from the recently departed master Augustus Owsley Stanley in the 60s. After getting busted in the 70’s he went underground and lived on the lamb for many years. At least for part of that time he chilled in Mexico for half the year and then worked out of a high tech lab in Vancouver, Canada the other half. He was eventually busted and sent to jail. Here, on parole in 2001 he tells part of his fascinating story. This was taken from the Psychedelic Salon podcast.

Nick Sand - Reflections on Imprisionment and Liberation

The The - Giant

An incredibly epic track by The The from their debut LP in 1983.

Pictures LP

Here we have something a little bit special. John Rocca is one of my favorite artists- the prolific diversity of his work from roughly 81- 91 is nothing short of genius. This LP is an obscure album he made with Andy Stennett, his collaborator in the incredible bands Pink Rhythm and Freeez. It was recorded in 1983 for Editions EG and has never seen a CD or digital release... so I thought I'd rip the vinyl and share it here for prosperity's sake. The music itself is out there. For those familiar with Rocca- this is miles away from his dance classics, techno 12s, and early funk workouts. The music is experimental, ambient and dark with heavy electronics and Rocca's voice ruminating on weird childlike fantasies. The best way to hear this is at home with some spare time as this record definitely envelops and grows upon multiple listens. Rocca retired from music at 33 and I've heard he lives in southeast Asia somewhere- no one really knows... Stennett gave an interview about the record on the only other website i can find about the album. If John or Andy read his please get in touch I'd love to find out more about creating the Pink Rhythm records and everything else.

Side One:

A1 Lullabye
A2 Nursery Rap
A3 Dancing Mind To Mind
A4 Skrahs
A5 Battle Of The Leaves



Side Two:

B1 Black Tiger
B2 Loneliness
B3 Child In A Sweet Shop
B4 Adventure Lost
B5 Voodoo

Two from Thelonious Monster

Here we have two forgotten gems from the druggier side of the 1980's Los Angeles rock scene. Thelonious Monster were a live music staple back then along side bands such as Fishbone, Jane's Addiction, Chili Peppers, Pygmy Love Circus, Liquid Jesus, and so on. I never saw them live but i remember seeing their name in the Calender section of the LA times each weekend as a young teenager. Very cool band. Below are a couple songs ripped from the LP Baby, You're Bummin' My Life Out In A Supreme Fashion. (Click the "share" button to for access to download).

Try:



Union Street:



This is a cool little clip of Bob Forrest back in '93:

David Crosby - Tracks in the Dust

This song is a poignantly timeless track from David Crosby's 2nd LP from '89, Oh Yes I Can, his "recovery" album. He recorded this after falling hard once a 20+ year cocaine bender eventually landed him in jail and left him with nothing but his sailboat, his wife, his life, and his music. Some of the tunes on the LP are diluted by semi-cheesy 80's production but the quality of the material shines through. Check out his first autobiography, Long Time Gone- definitely the best rock bio I have read. And of course his first solo LP from '71- one of the best records ever made. This is the LP version version ripped from my vinyl collection.


David Crosby - Tracks in the Dust

Best Films of 2010

Here is our annual top ten list. I hope you find something you like.

Didnt see: Last Train Home, Dogtooth, Film Socilism, Another Year, Inside Job, Four Lions, Tales From the Golden Age, Uncle Boonmee, Daddy Longlegs, etc......

1
Enter the Void
Bold, visionary and entirely original filmmaking. Some of the most inventive and intoxicating camera work I’ve ever seen. The best visual effects in cinema history. A deep sense of melodrama. The most psychedelic film ever made. Gaspar Noe has the strongest track record in cinema right now, with three complete masterpieces under his belt, and they just get better and better.

2
Animal Kingdom
Dang, this was good. The rare film that has a totally unexpected ending that changes the way you view the entire second half. Incredible acting from everyone involved especially the J and Pope characters. This is an dark epic crime saga based on the Pettingill family in Melbourne. I loved everything about it. That’s all I’ll write, just watch it.

3
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Finally we have a proper telling of Basquiat’s story. Julian Schnabel’s movie from 1996 was good but didn’t do the man justice. As we know, Basquiat is a giant of contemporary art but with this film we get a very intimate look into his mind: his ideas, creative methods, profound intelligence, and personality. Tamera Davis unearths an insightful interview she did with him in his prolific LA phase and anchors her film with it. Jean-Michel was just a kid that hit it big- huge in his life time. This is the fascinating and moving story of someone whose work will be cherished and remembered for as long as earth is around. Amazing.

4
I’m Still Here
A bold and unusual career move from Phoenix that resulted in a movie, that is not only hysterical, but a poignant comment on the Idiocy of our Times.

5
Inception
As many have noted, there are flaws with Inception. Among them, who would actually break up their families’ empire after a dream on a plane? The film suffered from too many “handsome actor” types that, you can tell due to the over-editing, weren’t even on set the same days they were supposedly doing a scene together. Way too much expository dialogue too, they could have scaled back one dream level. Never the less, this is an incredibly accurate and trippy dive into lucid dreaming and a whole-heartedly original work on a grand scale. Nolan could have squandered the money on crowd pleasing fair- he didn’t. A minor masterpiece, and a step in the right direction for Hollywood Blockbusters.

6
Black Swan
In many ways a companion piece to Aronofsky’s the Wrestler: the emotional hardships of dedication to an art. I really liked this one but felt it lacked some of the visionary magic of his earlier work like The Fountain or Requiem. Portman’s performance was indeed incredible. The scene where she runs to the bathroom to call her mom was one of the best of the year. My only complaint would be that the story is a little too repetitive (she hurt herself, she didn’t, she hurt herself, she didn’t) but this still towers above most other films this year. Solid.

7
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The film works better thematically with its original title, Men Who Hate Woman. This is an unflinching look at the seedy side of rich sexual predators that get away with abuse. The film’s subject matter rings true, as a child porn ring was recently been discovered amongst government officials in Mexico . And, of course, Lisbeth Salander is the radest heroin we have seen in a very long time.

8
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
I have an entirely new respect for Joan Rivers. She is an old school workaholic that will take any job she can get. Watching her make fun of her red carpet gigs and the celebu-tards is really something. And she is funny as fuck. This is 24 hour access to the mind of a comedy legend.

9
Restrepo
Like a solider says in the movie, whoever has the best offense has the best defense. In Restrepo, an army platoon tries to take Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley , a strong hold of the Taliban that had never been-and still hasn’t been- taken by invading forces. This is an interesting look into the front lines of imperialism. Watching these kids suffer through such a worthless war is painful- you can’t help but feel sorry that they got suckered into the army propaganda or were so broke back home that they had to do this. The footage is incredible, up there with PBS’ Frontline (see: Behind Taliban Lines). But, unlike that piece, this is yet another story from the side of the offenders- the US military, which is getting really old. Yet the raw footage alone makes this one of the years best. The platoon leader at the end of the film gives a speech about charging the front line and dying for one’s cause that is eerily similar to many great Hollywood movie war speeches, especially Kirk Douglas’ in Paths of Glory. Except his isn’t satire.

10
Brooklyn’s Finest
This film might seem out of place here but I liked it because it didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t. It was just a well acted popcorn movie about a tired clique: corrupt cops. Maybe I was really stoned but I enjoyed it. There were a couple other procedural dramas that weren’t bad this year like The Town.


Special shout out to A Serbian Film for being extremely twisted. The Art of the Steal was a an excellent doc about powerful greedy scumbag is Philly. uTrue grit was pretty good, though I preferred the Coen’s previous effort, A Serious Man. Home with French Goddess Isabelle Huppert was worth seeing- about a family that has an actual freeway in their front yard. Police Adjective was an interesting peek into a depressed Romanian town. Mother was OK. Winter’s Bone was decent. Unthinkable was fun. Exit Through the Gift Shop was dope but spent way to much time on Mr. Brainwash, who has been ruining streets of LA with his “art” for way to long. The sheep movie, Sweetgrass, was mellow in a stony way- worth watching. Vahalla Rising had potential but got bogged down in heavy metal cliques’. Shutter Island sucked. Green Zone was a let down- crappy propaganda. Human Centipede was beyond terrible- just sub-par filmmaking all around. I watched about 3 minutes of Alice in Wonderland before I realized it wasn’t for adults… Tim Burton is a studio hack without ideas... I Think We’re Alone Now, the movie about Tiffany super fans, was awesome. This year’s season of Frontline on PBS was amazing, I’d recommend going to their website and watching those before seeing almost any of the movies on this list….

Worst movie- Monsters
I heard from reputable sources this was an interesting and intelligent movie about Aliens. Not so. Bogged down by an incredibly cheesy and contrived story, the decisions these characters make are so irrational it completely ruins the movie. This isn’t a fun horror movie where dumb decisions are expected- this is a self serious picture about aliens… and immigration. Instead of waiting 6 months in a Mexican paradise, a rich girl wants to risk her life and drive through the dreaded “Infected zone” to the North. They are accompanied by a team of locals skilled at surviving the zone- yet every one of them dies except the two White People. There are way too many “contemplative moments” along the way and not enough dialogue. The filmmaking is almost condescending- we get it, the story is a parable about immigration, no need to shove it down our throats to the point that it insults our intelligence. The score is awful- trying way too hard to make you “feel something.” The movie is basically a cheese ball love story with a few scenes of CGI aliens attacking. They don’t really focus on the aliens at all. It’s not clear if they can sniff out life forms to kill or if they just systematically destroy everything. We do know that they rest during the day but attack at night. But, our characters decide to travel by night instead of hiding…Incredibly unrealistic and cheap.

Do Piano - Again

Here is a really, really nice French tune from 1985. The gentleman that sold it to me said it was a minor hit in his country back then. Imagine living in a world where this is popular music... The production is top quality and on the shorter side lengthwise- so the link is to a WAV file instead of the usual 320mp3.

Do Piano - Again

Pacific Horizons 12"

The second Potion Lord affiliated record has been released. Two new songs wrapped in a sleeve featuring a painting by Jay Nelson. The first piece is The Forest Electric and, according to Piccadilly Records, is "hinting at that mid - late 70s dreamy soft rock sound." The second is Jack Parsons' Laboratory. A tune that the Spanish website Counting 9 describes as "hypnotic inner movement from the triangular form that warns you about the flood of feelings of this more acoustic piece... MAGIC AND SPECIAL." The Japanese record shop JetSet sums up the release as "chivalrous spirit Balearic fore the sorrow" So there you go.

You can buy the vinyl here in the USA and at various shops in the rest of world...

Or the MP3 or WAV files are for sale dirt cheap here.

Thank you for your support.

Ethereal Beat - Underboard (Remix)

Here we have an absolutely beautiful Italian obscurity from 1985. This is the remix version, there is another version called Underboard (Samba Olec) which sounds almost identical. I think the only difference is this version is a little longer with a more pronounced kick drum. There is little to no information about Ethereal Beat online so I don't have much to write other than this song is friggin' awesome. Enjoy.

Ethereal Beat - Underboard (Remix)

Film Review : Enter The Void

Gaspar Noe’s groundbreaking visionary masterpiece takes us where no film has gone before. The film centers around the heavy psychotropic chemical Dimethyptamine, a drug used ritually for ages world wide by everyone from curious intellectuals to South American tribesmen. The fact that Gaspar is putting such an important yet underground practice on the world stage for the first time is a monumental achievement in itself. DMT can be extracted from naturally growing plants or made in a lab. When you smoke it, it is one of the most powerful encounters of any sort one can have- just ask anyone who has done it. It's indescribable but something like a serious dimensional trip to the inner realms of consciousness- all ecstatically displayed in fractal beings growing around you as you melt through them. The drug also is stored in the frontal lob of the human brain, and it released a little when you sleep and a lot when you die. That is why it has such mystical qualities. Many say the DMT is trip the death experience. And that is what Mr. Noe’s film is about, among other things, - the relationship between the psychedelic experience and death. Enter the Void. Is the Void life? Is the Void death?

The story contains two major DMT trips: In the first, already high on acid, the main character, Oscar, smokes some alone in his room and for a good five minutes the film drops into the most incredibly realistic hallucinogenic visuals I have ever seen- outside actually smoking DMT or dropping acid. An extremely deep song by Coil plays over this sequence. Note: This film demands to been seen in a theater for the full effect. The second trip is later when Oscar dies and DMT is released from his brain. That is a very disturbing scene as we hear Oscar thinking his last thoughts as he dies. Here, as he has the DMT death trip, Noe launches the cinema into blinding and blinking white lights slowly morphing into unrecognizable forms..... really, really, far out shit. From then on we follow Oscar around as he flashes back to what led up to his killing- up until he sees himself die again. He then becomes a spirit or god or ghost floating above the neon lights of his seedy Tokyo neighborhood where he looks down upon the aftermath of his death. The ghost/spirit POV technique allows for some seriously mental camera work- soaring over the city, swooping into and out of rooms full of psychedelic lighting that the characters inhabit. As we travel through the wormholes of his mind we also peer into defining moments of his past, which after a while creates a otherworldly yet somehow personal cinema. And because this may possibly be the DMT trip he is having before he dies, there are all sorts of subtle and not so subtle tripped out flourishes in every detail- that I, personally, found mind blowing. This is stuff we have never seen in cinema before. I won’t go into too many more details but there are stories within all this, and the end brings things full circle yet keeps the themes open to interpretation.

There are some great dance party scenes when the characters are on MDMA that really evoke what it can be like to be high as fuck in an intense club. If you’re thinking this sounds like a trippy hippie movie, think again- there are some seriously dark hellish moments in this film. We get abortion, exploitation, grief, agony, car accidents, senseless killing, and one seriously bad trip. While all this is obviously not for everyone, this film really spoke to me at a deep level.

Noe has created an entirely original film, a near impossible task these days. I think those of us that have had similar experiences to what Gaspar is communicating in the film will have their brain blown open and any one else with artistic sensibilities and a stomach for experiential experiments will love this too. Oh yeah, the credit sequence is the most bad ass you will ever see. And the soundtrack is one long experiment ambient masterwork with music by the aforementioned Coil, as well as Zbigneiw Karkowski, Alvin Lucier, and Throbbing Gristle. Not only is Enter the Void the first film to deal with psychedelia in a serious manner but it is also a beautiful and relevant meditation on the greatest of all mysteries, death.

Jr Reid- Bank Clerk

My brother is a collector of reggae tapes and records, especially 7" dubs. He's been dropping this tune at parties forever and I finally borrowed it and ripped this rarity. This is a tune from 1985 by Junior Reid, produced by Errol John Marshall and Errol Myris Lewis for Feel the Beat. At first I was only going to post the masterful dub version, but the original is just too good to pass up, so here we have both side A and side B. Enjoy.

Steam below or click the title to download:

Jr Reid - Bank Clerk



Jr Reid - Bank Clerk (Version)

Album Review: Hard Boiled Wonderland

Vijay Anderson is an Oakland based drummer that has been a staple of the Bay Area new music and jazz scenes for the better part of 15 years. He continuously gigs, performing multiple shows a week for years on end. He often performs with legends like John Tchicai and Vinnie Golia, as well as his well worn posse of jazz cats that includes John Finkbinder and Darren Johnston. I have had the privilege of hearing him play numerous times- sounds ranging from all out improvised noise chaos (with the short-lived project Musical Genius with Lynn Johnston) to a set of tender and faithfully rendered jazz standards. After performing on countless albums as a side man, Anderson has just released his first album under his own name. The album is improvised; the instrumentation: drums, clarinet, sax, guitar, and vibraphone. The music is straight from the heart and is pretty damn far out. These guys aren’t afraid of any sound, any direction, any feeling: Drums rumble as horns squeak. Feedback reverberates through amped up souls. Spiraling lines march in circles of mania. Melodies form shapelessly and wander in to the realms of pure thought as sound. The record is Hard Boiled Wonderland. Buy it here.

A selection from the album:

March at the End of the World

Surf Your Own Chaos

MIke Francis - Survivor

Here is a bit of Italian Balearic music courtesy of Mike Francis aka Francesco Puccioni.
It was a big hit over there in 1984. Enjoy.

Mike Francis - Survivor

War in Peacetime

Please enjoy this tune at loud volumes. It's a track by South African political singer Johnny Clegg with his band at the time Juluka. The song has been slowed and edited by some fools in the UK- Leo Zero and Roof Rack. I haven't heard the OG so I'm not sure what they did but this is an ANTHEM. Ripped from my vinyl collection.


Johnny Clegg & Juluka - Two Humans on the Run (Rat Salad 33 Edit)

Spirit Resisiter: A Mix

Recorded a mix for Filter Magazine, all old industrial jams...

Spirit Resister

Batwings (A Liminal Hymn)

Here we have one of the deeper, heavier tunes that I'm aware of- Batwings (A Liminal Hymn) by Coil from 2000. The first half of the song is about Sir Thomas Browns 16th Century tract Musaeum Clausum, which is, from what I understand, a catalog of different books and objects that never existed. Appropriately, the second half finds John Balance in his world, singing in a language all his own. A song so serious it was played in part near the end of Balance's funeral, a man whose artistic life was essentially a mediation on death and otherness. Ripped from the LP by Musick to Play in the Dark 2.

Coil - Batwings (A Liminal Hymn)

"There is no guilt, there is no shame."

The Flat Earth

Here is a weepingly beautiful electronic masterpiece by Thomas Dolby, from his 2nd LP- The Flat Earth. 1984. Vinyl recorded from my collection.

Thomas Dolby- The Flat Earth

Balearic Vol. 1

A mix inspired by the musics of The White Island, Ibiza, in the 1980's. Mixed by James, February 2010.

Balearic Mix

Thoughts on Salo

When I was a teenager in the early 90's this film was difficult to see. It was banned most everywhere or simply not available. Somehow my friends and I got a hold of some clips or maybe the whole film, I don't remember. What I do remember is that they were of the torture scenes and they disturbed me to the point that I stayed away from this movie... Until now. Now, not only do I not find it disturbing, I find it beautiful: An absolutely insightful and unaffected observation of depravity, perversion and the limits of power (there are none). There seems to be an intentional lack of close-ups and the exquisite framed wide angle takes are nothing short of astonishing.

The scene depicted on the cover of the DVD above is one of the most demented I have ever come across- it is truly outstanding in its emotional repugnance. It concerns a young girl grieving for her dead mother forced to eat the shit of the man responsible for her death.

For those not familiar, the story is about Fascists in 1940's Italy abducting, humiliating, abusing, and probably killing eighteen young men and women. It was the last film by Italian master Pier Pasolini- made in 1976, the year he was murdered by a young prostitute. There is some proof that the rent boy that killed him was paid by right wing groups wanting to silence his long standing leftist views. Nevertheless, Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom is a pinnacle in cinematic achievement and is widely considered one of the most important films ever created. As difficult as the subject matter may be for some, I think any intellectually sane adult will enjoy this film.

"Mange, Mange!!!"

Thoughts on a Phenomenon, A Negative Perspective: Avatar

I saw it. I bowed down to the hype and went and saw the almighty Avatar in 3D IMAX. I know I am supposed to like this movie. Well, the first hour was great, the 3D effects were super trippy and the film contained the only convincing CGI I have ever seen. Up until now I have found CGI, for the most part, laughable. Once I got used to it and then the hardcore corniness kicked in- I found the experience almost unbearable. I know Cameron is making a film to appeal to the lowest common denominator- but some of that dialogue was inexcusably bad. Sure, dumb it down for the masses- but not that far down! The repeated love affirmation “I see you” being an example. I’m guessing he had to use terms a simpleton would use because he was already counting his dollars, as knew he would eventually have to dub the movie in every real language out there.

Another complaint: Even though the supposed bad guys in the movie were American military and mercenaries- I still thought they managed to glorify imperialist violence with all the “kick-ass” bravado and the subtle inspirational music during the attack on the big tree. I’m imagine most dumb kids and meatheads in the audience were thinking “yeah, burn that hippie tree down and kill those Blue Man Group cat kooks.”

Also, I can’t help but wonder if people truly enjoyed the barrage of quantum psycho-babble that infected the movie like a Pandora spirit-virus. I admit that Sigourney Weavers little speech to Giovanni Ribisi about the network of energy being alive was mildly interesting- especially when found in a blockbuster. But were people really feeling the Na’vi’s cross-legged arm to arm spiritual rejuvenation dance? I found it silly. Did you not?

To a certain degree, I did enjoy exploring the Na’vi world and, of course, the psychedelic colors of the forest and dragons were amazing to look at. But as the minutes wore on and the film became yet another hour long good vs. evil battle sequence… I had had enough. Been there, done that, don’t need to see it again. The nail in the coffin of me basically disliking the film was the god-awful emo forest spirit song playing as the credits rolled. Did they still have to try and shove the quasi new age ideology down our throats even after the movie was over??????? I think not. I found it offensive.