THE GIANT HOGWEED ORCHESTRA

I know it's kind of an odd coincedence but this is the third Psychedelic / Spacerock band i've reviewed this past week or so that utilize a lot of flute. THE GIANT HOGWEED ORCHESTRA are on the mellow side of the ledger creating spacey soundscapes with mostly guitars and flute. Although percussion, drums, trumpet, bass, piano, moog and even didgeridoo make an appearance on this their only album so far.

"Arabia" is a short intro track consisting of gently played acoustic guitar. Now that we are warmed up we are ready for "Spirals". It starts slowly with spacey sounds with no real melody until 3 minutes in when a very pleasant, laid back melody of light drums and flute arrive. The sound becomes more aggressive and fuller later in the song.

"Terastulli" is a heavier song with some nice piano early and some enjoyable drumming 4 minutes in. Great raw guitar solo 5 minutes in followed by some trumpet as the song slows right down. It kicks back in before 8 minutes and pounding drums end the ride. "Pelham" has a Post-Rock feel to the guitar as flute and light drums come in. "Halogen" is the longest track. The first section is mellow with light drums, flute and guitar melodies. It changes with more of a beat after 11 minutes. A prolonged moog solo is for me annoying. The latter part of the song is so relaxed until it gets a jump start after 18 minutes. "Exit" is an appropriate concluding song title and it features a lot of gentle flute melodies.

3.5 stars. A good record that didn't click with me like a lot of other Psychedelic bands have been lately. A good record anyway.