a Schallplatten & CDs

Review: This third release thus far this year to issue forth from Anton Newcombe's Berlin base will be as manna from thrift-shop heaven for anyone who's hooked on the heavy-lidded, hallucinogenic and cheekily retro-aligned stylings by which they've accidentally defined a sizeable proportion of the current 'psych' scene. Drifting from a Thirteenth Floor Elevators cover that features The Black Angels' Alex Maas on jug to the Slovakian 'Prsi Prsi', this collection of excursions and altered states is a good deal more compelling that its title would suggest, rater testimony to the BJM's continued prominence over all the classicist realms they survey.

Review: FXHE return with the master of the mysterious OB Ignitt! Arriving roughly a year on from the last slab of Ignitt goodness, Mysterious finds OB on imperious form, once more showing off his penchant for excellent track titles and singular slant on bumping Detroit business. The title track is a veritable epic of unquantifiable emotive stakes, emerging from a heat treated fog and easing into a subtle yet beguiling rhythmic framework which coaxes you into a spell that grows stronger as the track charges electrically forth. Face down, "Celestial Salacious" has that same rough edged bass line growl to it, but the skipping percussion and building layers of instrumentation give the track real energy, whilst you can almost feel the funk dripping off final track "Chocolate City" which sounds like DJ Nature hocked up on MDMA.

Review: It comes as little surprise that Anton Newcombe - an iconic figure to a new generation of psychedelic wayfarers if ever there was one - has already taken Magic Castles under his wing, and on tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre - 'Starflower' is replete with exactly the kind of '60s-derived, garage-birthed sonics that Newcombe used to create something akin to a modern-day cult for thrift-store drop-outs. Yet amidst the two-chord guitar drones, Farfisa Organ textures, stoned harmonies and folk-rock tinges, 'Starflower' is possessed of a sharp finesse and kaleidoscopic dynamic that renders it a cut above the average cowboy-shirted and lank-haired fare the modern freak has become accustomed to.

Review: Nothing if not reliable in terms of both the prolific nature of his output and its quality, maverick Berlin-based satyr Anton Newcombe has mapped out a back catalogue of gloriously lackadaisical '60s-fixated psychedelic pop that transcends his original genius-or-madman mythos. Yet this new collaboration with London-dwelling Canadian songwriter Tess Parks marries his trademark heavy-lidded atmosphere and outlaw cool with fresh inspiration and potent delivery from his new foil. Parks' acidic drawl elevates these late-night serenades to new heights of decadence and intrigue, arriving at a sound somewhat akin to a vision of Mazzy Star in Hell. A welcome curveball from a master of the psych-rock art and a compelling new talent.