Urban Meadows reviews
Terrascope
URBAN MEADOWS - A BENEFIT CD FOR THE BROKEN FACE(CD from TBF, Hogbergsgatan 43B 1tr, 619 30 Trosa, Sweden)
Mats Gustafsson's magazine The Broken Face is the nearest thing going to a "sister publication" to the Terrascope; based in Sweden (though latterly written almost entirely in English) we share writers, style and to an extent worldview, TBF concentrating primarily on contemporary rock, folk and psychedelic pop from around the world, with the Americas, the Antipodes, Japan, Britain and Northern Europe forming the centre of its focus. Magazines like ours are purely a labour of love; there's no money to be made from publishing at this level so one is faced with either diversifying into mail-order in order to survive (at which point the quality and frequence of the magazine inevitably suffers or goes out of the window altogether) or, as the 'Scope pioneered a while back with 'Succour', putting together a benefit compilation with the help of a number of sympathetic bands and artists whose work has been featured or who are in some way associated with the "scene" the magazine purveys. No surprise then given our friendly co-existence that The Broken Face's compilation should feature bands who are in every case familiar names to Terrascope readers; the significant thing is however the consistent high quality of the contributions, a tribute perhaps to both the reverance The Broken Face is held in and the ability of the selected artists to churn out exceptional music at the drop of a coin into a hat. There are simply no throwaway left-overs here, nothing which suggests anyone simply glued together fragments from the cutting-room floor in order to be associated with a "hip" project. Genuine admiration and respect oozes from every performance, and not a few of them are beyond the exceptional. Of particular note are the Renderers' stunningly evocative 'Free', Charalambides' haunting and rivetting 'Rehearsal', the Alchemysts' 'Ghost Rider' (the only cover version on here), Tadpoles' 7-minute stunner 'Smile If You've Crossed Over', Dunlavy's aptly titled 'Mastodon', Green Pajamas' winning 'The Ravenna Witch', Hood's 'All My Friends Are Dead' and Brother JT's winsome 'Wish I Were in Sweden', all of which are easily on a par with the best work any of them have ever performed. Which is in no way intended to slight by unfavourable comparison the Dipsomaniacs' 'Read My Mind', Magic Carpathians' haunting 'The Mountains Over Clouds', The Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree's 'Shady Grove' (kudos also to Timothy Renner for donating such gorgeous and apposite artwork for the cover), Illyah Kuryahkin's 'Zero Generation Zero', Tinsel's 'Out of the Mirror', Ring's 'Quarrel No. 2', rhBand's fragmentary 'NGC3132', Continental Fruit's 'Yarra, Long Distance' and Rotten Piece's 'Institution Perception' (which does in fact sound like it's composed from fragments from the cutting room floor, but intentionally so I suspect, and it's none the less fascinating for all that).
By investing in this compilation, as I implore you to do, you're not
only treating your ears to some great music, but helping to ensure the
future of an essential, integral element of the modern psychedelic
underground - for without magazines like The Broken Face many of these
bands simply wouldn't be able to exist. What we need now is some
enterprising American label to pick it up and distribute it properly
worldwide - drop Mats a line at
Popopdrops, Norway
Høyt elska svensk fanzine får støtte at folk de fleste har eller bør ha et forhold til. Total
knock out-åpning fra Dipsomaniacs. 50-åringer som var innom for å forsikre seg om at ingen
tidlige Kinks-plater på vinyl var på salg, og som sverger på at ingenting har skjedd siden
midten på 60-tallet, brøt sammen i gråt. Sammenbruddet ble totalt da de fikk høre at denne
ikke var mulig å få på vinyl. Vet ikke hvordan Dipsos ser på at de har ansvaret for at disse
museale skapningene konverterer til CD. The Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil
Jamburee leverer en nydelig vokal, gitar og banjodrevet trad arr. vi tror Quicksilver har
gjort tidligere. Magic Carpathians kjører en fjern østlig sak hvor tittelen The Mountains Over
Clouds sier mye. Magisk. Green Pajamas leverer nok en strålende psych-pop-sak få kan gjøre dem
etter. Dramatisk med sug. Innrømmer at vi har vært alt for dårlige til å pushe disse folka.
Tadpoles leverer nesten 8 minutter med totalt gitarfreakout. Igjen folk som er for dårlig
utforska. Brother J.T. stiller med en av sine virkelig store. Det er også gjennomgangstonen på
denne samleren. Det virker ikke som noen av de involverte bare har levert en eller annen
likegyldighet som ikke fikk plass på siste album. Svært mange stiller med saker som i eget
repertoar er øverste hylle. Det gjelder også Hood. Engelsk landsbygd for gitar, fele,
perkusjon og vokal. Slik vi elsker dem. Rotten Piece høres ut som klipp og lim for udefinerte
instrumenter og stemmer. Stilig. Dunlavy's Mastadont er i progresiveste laget, men typeriktig.
rhBand får strekke seg ut i nesten 8 minutter. Folk som ikke kjenner disse folka trenger
såpass for å skjønne poenget. Stønner. Renderers stiller også med en perle av en låt, her er
det snakk om gavmildhet på aller høyeste plan. Denne ville ha strålt som en diamant på enhver
Renderers-album. Illyah Kuryahkin's låt kommer nok ikke opp mot det beste fra deres siste, men
er likevel meget bra. Tinsel har vi latt passere. Ser ut til å ha vært et feilgrep. Vagt
drøgga, bøyd folk-pop. Continetal Fruit er endelig tilbake med nok en eventyrlig sak. Det er
musikk som dette som gjør at Norge er stor i New Zealand. Vagt kompatibel med den behagelige
delen av Omit. Ring har etterhvert svært mange utgivelser bak seg, men ser aldri ut til å gå
tom for gode låter. Dette er krangel # 2. Alchemysts er de eneste som stiller med en coverlåt,
Suicide's Ghost Rider. Stønner! Når Charalambides avslutte med sin nesten 7 minutter lange
Rehearsal er nytelsen total. Alt materiale er eksklusivt, og selv om det er forskjellige
stilarter framstår den som meget enhetlig og gjennomtenkt satt sammen. Anbefales selvsagt.
Dream Magazine, California USA
Cover very homemade, cut and paste with art by Timothy Renner. The music is like a great radio program, in fact not unlike one of my old radio programs, with an accent on the timeless end of the modern psychedelic (or just high) musical universe. Yes, the 60's sounds abound but there's plenty of other frames of reference presented, be it the stunned numb mesmerism of Hood or the ancient folkishness of Tim Renner's Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree. The garagily enthused and adenoidal Dipsomaniacs, the eerily atmospheric Polish band Magic Carpathians, the
good old Green Pajamas making that perfect time- warp pop magic or the glowing mind-melt of Tadpoles' electric guitar heaven. Brother JT's shivery lo-fi thump and tunkle, Rotten Piece's ominous drone pulse stew with odd samples and a feeling of elevated disconnection, Dunleavy's
Mastadon almost sounds as HEAVY as the name while rhBand offer a minimal but spacious soundscape. The Renderers' Free, is one of their finest moments, meditating on a lost moment in the endless washing waves of time while the skinny silvery momentum of Illyah Kuryahkin recalls the days of Sonic Youth riding shotgun with the Devil, though this isn't evil at all, which is
more than I can say of The Alchemysts excellent version of Suicide's classic Ghost Rider. Tinsel sound like frail sentient wind sculptures, Ring are spooky like Furtips channeling old Stones at their most junk-shattered, Continental Fruit are all endless fogspaced Eno ambience while the amazing, near 7-minute instrumental Rehearsal, with wordless female vocals, by Charlambides that ends this journey, hangs in the air like a perfumed dreamy mist. All cool glimpses into wider wilder worlds
of possibilities. A benefit for Mats' essential publication the Broken Face, and quite indicative of the mindset.