PSYCHEDELIC WORLD MUSIC: DISCOVERY

'Psychedelic World Music: Discovery' consists of unreleased stuff predominantly - regarding the release date at least to be exact. Furthermore the songs are recorded by bands hailing from different parts all over the world. As for that the album title certainly fits. Hence Vlad and Alex remain true to the label's (and certainly their own) principles again - all the songs, more or less, have a psychedelic and world music touch at once. Many a time they simply have culled the most psychedelic exemplar from the particular band repertoire. Concerning some tracks you may argue about the prog character, however this is clearly dominant overall, what counts in the end.

The groovy Aurora marks a very promising startup, coming from a German psychedelic trance band called Cosmic Vibration. Can't really say why this thrills me so much, well I like the soaring guitar - probably it's the happy mood too, combined with a somewhat oriental/Iindian influence and nice synths. You'll detect the Russian crew Grey Mouse on a Spiral Walk featuring ethereal femal vocals and a lot of guitar respectively sitar attendance. Freshly imported from Belgium even Narcotic Duffodils arrive at the place here with their Crazy Dwarf - a hallucinating affair predominantly, which starts to rock towards the end.

US based The Misteriosos are trying to reach for The Sun with tribal drums plus some westcoast feeling which reminds me of the Byrds (Eight Miles High) somehow. Newcomer Mouches A L'Orange from Soligorsk/Belarus convince me with a short but really intensive live version of Sixty Nine which offers wonderful variant guitar work. Deti Picasso from Armenia/Hungary are another folk/psychedelic/world music collaboration which can surprise with the groovy, powerful, guitar laden song Kele Lao here.

And finally Zhaoze from China(!) are on board while Fishing For The Stars - they are blending their traditional folk with psychedelic ambience which brings something new to to the table in my humble opinion. More than one hour of new atmospheric but also blistering stuff - this is another enjoyable compilation by US label Trail Records by all means. When you're searching for new inspirations coming from some (nearly) unknown bands (currently) ... then you're on the right track here.

US label TRAIL RECORDS has been a fine addition to the roster of US based indie labels for the last few years, specializing in psychedelic music in general and remastered reissues of overlooked bands and releases in particular. For their thirteenth full length production the label has opted to cover somewhat new ground: a collection of (mostly) unsigned and relatively unknown artists based in various parts of the planet. A journey of discovery if you like.

If you'd like to sample some of the contemporary but still mostly unknown artists exploring the psychedelic parts of the rock universe and frequently entering the realm of progressive rock while at it, this compilation by Trail Records caters to that task quite nicely. An hour of music by bands that look back in history just as much as trying to enter paths not too explored by others. A fine production that merits a check by those with a fascination for sophisticated psychedelic rock.