YOU ARE HERE

Hi Progers For you who don´t know this is the band of Andy Thompson which is the mentor of planetmellotron.com, the excellent and definitive website dedicated to the progressive rock´s beloved ancient sampler: the Mellotron. He is the keyboard player, using mostly vintage keyboard instruments like the Hammond organ, the Moog syntheziser and obviously the Melllotron. This is the debut album of the band, featuring a definitive Hawkwind inspired sound, so we´re talking here about more a psychedelic sound than a progressive one or symphonic if you like. Anyway this band rocks! Talke a look at it.

Litmus are Space Ritual wannabees, their heads firmly focussed on those heady days when Hawkwind toured their masterpiece, introducing Calvert, Stacia and Spacerock to an appreciative audience eager to expand their horizons. With this as their muse, Litmus have brought a modern slant with a very heavy sound based on synchronised guitar & bass riffs producing a massive wall-of-sound. Lovers of early heavy metal should appreciate the effect, but it comes at the expense of clarity in detail, particularly of the keyboards which often get swamped - Hammond and Mellotron are both present but you sometimes have to really concentrate to hear them properly.

Theta Wave (Inductor) stands out because it doesn't become swamped by the big riff. It also features a multi-rhythmic base with perhaps three different time signatures in simultaneous use. And it works surprisingly well, building with a hypnotic repeated vocal phrase to a very satisfying conclusion. The 'feature' song - Stone Oscillator (Static Ritual) - is a slow ponderous song that for me is a little over-extended at 21 minutes as it takes far too long to achieve anything worthwhile. This monster track has a superb central section featuring another repeated vocal motif ["this could become the centre of our world"], and it ends in fine Eloy-style with repeated guitar arpeggiuos and spacey effects. Great stuff!

Overall, You Are Here is an excellent example of classic Spacerock and an essential purchase for all lovers of the genre. All tracks are song-based, the unexceptional lyrics are of the 'cosmic explorer' variety which clearly is a necessity! My main gripe is with the mushy production, and an overblown mastering which causes the sound to blow-out as soon as the wick is turned up. I must just mention Andy Thompson's excellent use of the Mellotron, especially accompanying acoustic guitars in the wonderful interlude that is the title song. These guys have the right stuff alright, and I can't wait for the next instalment.

British space rock in the vein of HAWKWIND - this is not meant literally, only for a similar orientation. 'You are here' is a production provided with diversified impressions - made with much dynamic, very powerful and drifting into heavy rock sometimes.

Significant bubbling synths are accompanying you through the whole album though. And the band also endeavours to give some variety with folksy acoustic guitar parts and lots of hammond, mellotron and moog additions. Every member (except drummer Marek) is contributing some electronical elements.

The title song You Are Here marks a little change to another mood leaving the heavy rocking path with acoustic guitars and birds twittering. And some songs with a spacey ambient touch are following like There and Chime for example. The long and dramatic Stone Oscillator is mellotron and hammond infected but also full of stoner riffs near to BLACK SABBATH. A very gripping hypnotic song, not exactly a standard of the genre but definitely my highlight.

This album reflects a Hawkwind adapted sound - not one of my favourite albums of the genre but a good solid production anyhow. For space rock fans with comfortable feeling in the heavy territory this is a good find - 3.5 stars

The first litmus album is good first album its a heavier hawkwind sound and the first song infinity drive is a good starter to get you into listening to the whole album,every track on this is good,this is a album which hawkwind would be proud of,ive listened to this quite alot its that good and same goes for planetfall [litmus 2nd album],the only track on this that i dislike the most is i cant be sane but its still not a bad track,this whole litmus album is a good buy as its new space rock band for this century and a promiseing band to they deserve more people to know about them as there that good its got everything that hawkwind have got or did have[hawkwind are still good but lacking something i think],litmus are like hawkwinds space ritual album and they sound good to so give this a try as its new 2000 s band that are keeping the space rock sound going how it should be heard although it is heavier but thats not a bad thing,get inbto litmus and you,ll love them and they,ll get your old hawkwind albums out to which is a good thing i think as litmus are that good and addictive to,you,ll like this after the first listen i did and ive got 40 hawkwind albums,i give this 4 stars

This is the official debut of British space rockers LITMUS, and I feel it's their best one too. Very much in the vein of HAWKWIND almost to a fault. And for whatever reason I'm not usually into bands that sound like HAWKWIND. I just don't think you can improve on their style but LITMUS do a very good job at creating really good songs and they all are excellent musicians and the vocalist can really sing.

There's two brothers on here namely Andy and Matt Thompson who many will know. Matt from GUAPO, ZOLTAN and other bands while Andy is the man behind the Planetmellotron web-site. And yes Andy plays mellotron on here along with hammond, mini-moog, moog taurus and more. Matt is responsible for the gong which sounds amazing to start "(Theta Wave) Inductor" as well as using an audio generator. The guitarist and multi-instrumentalist on here also use that device. A six piece with a drummer and bass player who adds other instruments as well.

Released in 2004 this one rocks pretty hard but my favourite song is that ballad-like title track in the HAWKWIND style of course. Acoustic guitar, vocals and mellotron stand out and hey birds chirping to end it, so Prog. Some experimental stuff and soundscape music on this album as well but man these guys let it explode in a big way with the guitar ripping it up, upfront bass and really good drum work. Then of course all the synths, audio generators, mellotron and the like adding a ton of atmosphere.

So impressed with this one and maybe it's in part because it took me so long to track down a copy as it has only had the original pressing with no re-issues. My appreciation for Andy just went higher after actually hearing him as a musician. I'm also very thankful for all the great information on mellotron albums I've had the pleasure to read on his site over the years. A very solid 4 stars.