STARDUST RITUALS

Wow! Just another ELECTRIC MOON facet! This is effectively meeting my taste while being more smoothed and relaxed than heavy acid stoner as usual. Except Stardust (The Picture) maybe, the trio is on a very trippiesque excursion here. This one was recorded earlier already in 2014 and played live in the aftermath, though here appearing somewhat refined with vocals and overdubs. As for the dominant atmosphere just follow the extended You Will Live Forever Now and you'll know what I mean.

Sula acts like a magician, while weaving a wonderful cosmic piano, melancholic mellotron, indo/raga flavoured sitar ... and finally those multiple wah-wah drenched and soaring guitar decorations, the latter partially reminiscent of the Hypnotizer release. The looping flow will be consolidated due to nice repetitive bass lines contributed by Komet Lulu and Marcus Schnitzler's accentuated drum playing, careful, subtle. The real award anyhow goes the shortest offer, the lovely Astral Hitch Hike, not an accidental product, I'm quite sure.

The result of varying experiences over decades, more likely conceived with a clear preference on song writing, rather than jamming with intuition solely. I did not follow every band album, hence don't know exactly, if this is their first attempt to test some vocals. Bassist Lulu provides this in a mysterious, mournful, ethereal manner. Mastered by Eroc as usual 'Stardust Rituals' is a spellbinding journey crossing the band's inner cosmos, overall a very good statement featuring a proper amount of oriental flair.

This was my first taste of ELECTRIC MOON and it was spellbinding to say the least. I understand this isn't as heavy as their previous albums and I'm looking forward to hearing some of those. As Rivertree mentions in his review this is a very trippy album and I really dig the sound. Not that this isn't without it's heaviness, it just trips along quite often to great affect. Really cool to see Dave Schmidt on here, otherwise known as Sula Bassana. He recorded it, mixed it and produced it. He also plays electric piano, electric sitar, guitar, effects, organ and mellotron. Go Dave!

"The Loop" is one of those trippy tunes. Organ and lots of depth to the sound here as guitar and drums help out. Vocals just after a minute and they sound processed and distant. Vocals step aside around 3 minutes as the guitar starts to solo over top and then it turns more powerful after 4 minutes as the tempo picks up. Here we go!

"Stardust(The Picture)" is a top two with the closing number. Man this has that slowish, heavy sound. It's like the fuzzed out guitar is percolating as distant sounding vocals join in. That guitar is so fuzzed out I'm calling the cops. This has to be illegal. It's like a jet taking off 4 minutes in. Oh my!

"Astral Hitch Hike" is a short under 5 minute tune as we get keyboards that slowly pulse with a beat, bass and sitar. We get this repetitive melody with sitar over top throughout.

"(You Will)Live Forever" is the 22 1/2 minute closer. Faint sounds come and go and this is interesting to really listen to. I love the atmosphere. This sounds so exotic when the sitar joins in as it trips along. Distant vocals after 4 minutes. Love that fuzzed out guitar before 11 minutes. It starts to settle right down before 15 minutes. Some brief vocals after 18 minutes then it starts to turn powerful again, especially that atmosphere. Intense is the word 21 minutes in!

Without question one of the best albums from 2017 in my opinion. I'm really intrigued about their earlier albums now that I've heard this one. A must for fans of Psychedelic music.

Solid four stars of modern Kosmische Musick--containing one of the musical highpoints of the year in the nearly-23- minute epic, "(You Will) Live Forever Now." I hope to discover more of Sula Bassana's future compositions measuring up to that one!

1. "The Loop" (8:06) a simply constructed two chord exodus set up with organ, bass, drums, and guitar strums which are intended to provide the foundation for the heavily distorted vocal. The singer's pleasant voice sounds as if he's singing to you through bong water. At the end of the fourth minute the volume rises and there is a major shift in the music to a more hard-driving trip into hyperspace with heavily effected organ and keys representing our mode of transportation. Even with the shift, this song never really sucks me in like the fourth song. It's okay if you like RAY MANZAREK/THE DOORS jams. (8/10)

2. "Stardust (The Picture)" (10:13) opens as a straight-time, two-note plodding monster. Higher pitched vocals-- heavily treated, as usual--enter in the second minute. Then pitch-modulated "white noise" guitar play. The song really congeals at the end of the third minute. Multiple tracks of the "white noise" guitar begin to weave around and within each other. Pretty cool! (9/10)

3. "Astral Hitch Hike" (4:40) simple drums (lite cymbols and rim shots), bass, and sitar tracks open this one. Bass, drums and sitar slowly ramp up with the bass and sitar repeating their singular riffs over and over. Sitar drops off as intermittent echo-effected percussive hits to an electric guitar appear. The sitar melody riff returns for the final 40 seconds. Okay. Never really hooks one nor goes anywhere. (8/10)

4. "(You Will) Live Forever Now" (22:40) an amazing prog epic that starts slowly, like an ELECTRIC ORANGE or MY BROTHER THE WIND song, with a very New Age/Indian sound coming from hand percussives, electric bass, sitar, and gentle drumming, before settling into a steady and very engaging groove with a foundation that sounds amazingly like the musical base for ROBIN TROWER's jam at the end of his timeless song "Bridge of Sighs" at around the 4:10 mark. This moment coincides with the entrance of some dreamy, trippy vocals and keyboards and just before the advent of the electric guitarist's arrival. For the next minutes, it's just a slowly building, smooth ride on the cosmic sea of a great groove. At the end of the ninth minute the guitar chooses to go raunchy/heavy distortion just before the return of multiple ethereal voices. These haunting, lilting voices continue into the twelfth minute as the guitar slowly amps up his attack. By the time the thirteenth minute rolls around you know that all band members--bass, drums, vocalist and electric guitarist--are fully locked in and charging ahead with all cylinders firing. At 13:30 the guitar switches effects to more of a screaming feedback-responding screech, scratch, and squeal. Adrian Belew would be so proud! As we cross into the sixteenth minute a descending bend in the guitarists sustained note brings us into a quiet section. Everybody is tiptoeing now. Soft, peaceful, yet the groove is still there. At the 17-minute mark begin some signs that we'll be returning to high volume: guitar strums, the return of vocals, and, eventually, cymbol crashes and MELLOTRON! The glorious, timeless, essential Mellotron. The bass pulses, vocals haunt, drums pound, and 'tron shows us the light--until the guitar begins to seer us with its fire over the final minute and a half. Amazing! Beautiful! You know you've got a great song when all you want to do is get up and move and pretend that you're one of the trance players in the song! (10/10)

Thanks to Mellotron Storm for the heads up on this one. I had a great time playing the awesome 23-minute epic on my radio show last night--a real emotional highpoint. I've really enjoyed getting to know Sula Bassana's repertoire over the past year. Keep it up!