Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
Electric Heavyland
http://www.sendspace.com/file/pvjmt0
This particular studio release came described as one of the band's heaviest efforts yet, recorded by the compact five-person lineup of 2002 in May of that year. Lead guitar maniacs Makoto Kawabata and Hiroshi Higashi, bassist Atsushi Tsuyama, drummer Hajime Koizumi, and singer/keyboardist Cotton Casino incarnate Acid Mothers Temple on this one, and the result is, unsurprisingly, mayhem. Given all of the various releases and spin-off efforts in existence, to be sure, selecting this one as a particular winner may be a bit bold, but from when the opening track (of three total), "Atomic Rotary Grinding God/Quicksilver Machine Head," fully launches, it's hard to hold back the love. Kawabata and Higashi, in particular, come up with the monster riffs of God (or rather, more of the same not used previously), more often than not overpowering even the frenetic rhythm section, while Casino's brand of weird chaos, especially toward the end, can barely be described. "Loved and Confused," besides continuing the wink toward the birth of classic rock via song titles, completely cuts loose into moments of Kawabata/Higashi solo madness, with the band almost audibly trying to find a rhythm as it goes. There are even more random vocal squeals from Casino on this song as well, making the final result sound like a scared ghost wandering through a collapsing factory. "Phantom of Galactic Magnum" concludes things on the same note, but the slow-build start makes the inevitable explosive chaos all that much more of a trip. About the only thing that sounds like it's missing by the end is Mephistopheles' kitchen sink, with Casino in particular creating some head-melting keyboard lines. The side credits for each member are a kick: Among them, Casino is credited with beer and cigarettes, while Higashi is the "dancin' king" and Kawabata the "speed guru."(AMG)
Vibracathedral Orchestra
Pontiac Lady
http://www.sendspace.com/file/6fowhj
"Vibracathedral Orchestra toured the Northeast U.S. in late 2003. For those of us who weren't lucky enough to catch one of the shows, the fine folks at vhf have released this lengthy documentation of some of the best moments.
Disc One collects two performances in Massachusetts. The first, on WMBR in Cambridge, kicked off the tour. The band plays it fairly safe, resorting to their old trick of propulsive, but dense droning noise. After about 10 minutes, they loosen up, and the rhythmic undercurrent begins to bubble and boil. For the second track, the band travelled to Florence, MA, which is in the heart of the Western Mass scene. Run by Byron Coley, the record store has welcomed many great bands inside its cramped, vinyl choked walls. VCO's trip to the store was certainly a fruitful one, providing a stellar 30+ minute tryyp.
Disc Two finds the band heading south. THe first track is actually the last date of the tour, Brooklyn's Free103point9 space. The band had developed a fine vibe throughout the tour, and this last hurrah shows them arching tones across the sky ranging from free guitar noodling to vibrating propulsion peppered with horn bleats in an all too short 18 minutes. Fredericksburg, VA was treated to a spectacular show (track 2), where the band used wah guitar textures, synthesizer drones and pulses and violin (or something similar) to burrow into a warm hole in the ground. Ending with a fairly short (9 minute) track of fuzzy, warbling guitar drones from Belchertown, MA (very close to the Florence show), disc two is a wide-lens view of the tour.
The third disc is devoted to an hour-long, mind bending performance at the Khyber Pass in Philadelphia, which was the halfway point of the tour. Organ drones, occasionally-rhythmic-but-otherwise-droning strings, a simple percussion groove, some tryypy guitar work, some horn skronk and a lot of haze make this track worthy of it's own disc.
This massive 3xCDR set is a fine document of what seems to have been a staggeringly good jaunt across the pond for Vibracathedral Orchestra. And, considering the full bills at most of these shows (they were touring with Sunroof!, and enjoyed the company of Son of Earth, Pelt, Jack Rose and Double Leopards, to name a few), this tour could have probably justified a 10xCD (or more) set." (Fakejazz)
Saccharine Trust
Past Lives (1989)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ez8sbm
joe baiza (guitar)
jack brewer (vocals)
earl liberty, mark hodsen, mike watt, bob fitzer (bass)
rob holzman, tony cicero (drums)
steve moss (saxaphone)
Double live album composed of tracks recorded between 1981-1986 by various sources.
