GOAT

A strange band for strange times with a not so strange name. Yeah that's GOAT. A collective of musicians that the band claims emerged from the far northern Arctic wonderland of Sweden in a town called Korpilombolo which sits nestled against the Finnish border pondering the existential quandaries of the universe during the long cold and dark winters that grace the far norther regions of Scandinavia. A band that is more psychedelic in its tale telling than in its actual music, leader and head honcho Goatman claims that the band emerged as a result of voodoo being practiced in the hometown for centuries until Christians got wind and burned it to the ground. The survivors who fled cursed the town and all who descended from it.

Also GOAT claims its musical endeavors are a town tradition dating back several decades in which a rotating cast of members has come and gone and sworn not to reveal their identities therefore the band members are shrouded in ambiguity and secrecy donning masks and colorful garb and known for its outrageous live performances. While more steeped in mythology than actual reality the band is currently based out of Gothenburg, Sweden and features two singers, two guitars, an electric bass, a drum kit and African congas and the live shows are energetically infused with dance numbers and crazy mock rituals. The actual date of origin is unknown but one thing is for certain and that the band's debut album WORLD MUSIC hit the scene in 2012 and became an instant hit in its native Sweden.

If only the band's music was as wild as its publicity stunts. It's experimental approach mixes everything from hard rock and psychedelia to jazz, Krautrock and Afrobeat. It's an oddball approach and one that simulates an alternative timeline where Krautrock emerged in Haiti rather than the European continent but who knows. Maybe it did and GOAT used its magic to convince us that reality was really not real at all. Any way you slice it, GOAT is a very bizarre band that delivered a unique mix of psychedelia and an alternate mythos much in the way Christian Vander and Magma invented an entire new paradigm about the fictitious world of Kobaia. While a fairly modern band and the debut only unveiling its cloaked nature in 2012, WORLD MUSIC is a typical album's run of nine tracks and 37 minutes long.

It features a mix of psychedelic guitar fuzz, Afrorock conga playing, female singers delivering African vocal styles, freaky electronica and droning atmospheres. It's a groovy kinda dance music that evokes African ritualistic practices while unleashing hard rock guitar distortion, trippy bass lines and unrelenting rhythmic drive. The entire affair is made even more nuts by the fact that the members dress in distinct traditional garb from around the world including one member in a burka! Gimmicks aside the music is fairly straight forward and not as psychedelic as i had hoped judging from the cover. This is truly an eclectic blend of WORLD MUSIC from around the world but it's not as innovative as the mythologies surrounding the band have become.

This is an interesting album for sure but it boils down to fairly basic repetitive grooves, scattered vocal parts and a bit of guitar heft that occasional allows some fuzz soloing to occur. It's like King Gizzard & The Wizzard Lizard go Afro-rock on us and get all wild and woolly with their dressing habits. It's a fun piece of entertainment and all but it's not really engaging as a pure musical experience in a meaningful way other than serving as a louder than usual form of dance music that captures the essence of a greater ethnic stew. I would've loved to hear some Haitian voodoo chanting or other exotic trippy effects but the album is geared more toward an uninterrupted flow rather than offering any jarring surprises. It's OK but doesn't blow me away.

Year after their great third "Requem"-album Goat released already second live record. When "Live Ballroom Ritual" was recorded from one concert, this album songs are taken from Manchester, Gothenburg, Paris, London and Berlin on their 2016 tour. Their first live album was released right after "World Music", so material was only from it and some singles. In this LP songs from every album is included and two songs have released before as single. Together with "Double Date" these are only vinyl releases.

As their second album "Commune", "Fuzzed In Europe" starts with "Talk To God". It´s one of my favorites from them! This version is very same kind of as in "Commune" except doesn´t have that great reverb that is whole through the album. "Time For Fun" is originally only single piece. When studio version has drum machine, in this live version there are only natural rhythmic instruments and it makes this song much better! Very good groove in it! Also I like farfisa sounding organ in this. "I Sing In Silence" is a neat song, but not really best ones from "Requem", so I don´t quite understand why they chose it in this album. Version is very similar as the studio piece.

Some reason "Gathering Of Ancient Tribes" hasn´t got the power as it should have! Maybe it has taken from the very end of the tour and they were tired? Last two pieces were already in "Live Ball Room Ritual". "The Sun The Moon" is again only in single released piece. This live version is clearly recorded than in previous album, but also lacks little bit strength the original version has. "Run To Your Mama" is ten minutes long version. Intensity starts to rise in the middle of song, but it ends into only vocals as always. Maybe little bit too long version without enough interesting jamming.

Goat hasn´t succeeded to capture their gig magic and intensity neither of these live recordings. This album is better recorded than previous one, but to me it sounds like there are only direct microphones from the instruments and vocals and no mics taking the sound of the concert hall. All the way sound is very tame. To me it seems these songs have recorded straight from the board and not mixed much after that. Also I am wondering did they really choose the best versions from their tour. Hope we will have some day better Goat live album, but of course the best experience is to go to see them alive!

Goat is back! After two years hiatus, partly because Covid19 I think, they're now touring again in Europe. But their latest album came six years ago! In my last review I was wondering would it be their last because the album name 'Requiem', but I am glad I was wrong. Their strategy 'not to promote much' seems to work at least to me! I was just interested what was coming into Helsinki Festival and to my big surprise saw Goat-gig there! I am not in the facebook and that seems to be only place where they inform what is happening. Anyway really big surprise to me was there were lots of audience waiting that gig! I talked with one guy there and he told me their latest gig in Finland in 2018 was also same kind of success as this. It was so great, after sitting two pieces in the chair with my strongly moving legs I just have to go and dance with others there! I recognized many odd songs to me, so I wondered were there also coming new album. I was right, after few weeks I noticed this album from levykauppa 'x -sites. But I believe there are Goat-fans from 'World Music'-times with no idea bands still going.

'Soon You Die' opens album very strongly with really sixties sounding wahwah/fuzz -guitars! Female sounding singers sing 'soon you die, don't you cry, cause you have time to go party', so Goat invites us into their party! Direction changes great acoustic sounding in 'Chukua Pesa'. Very sad but beautiful song! Got no idea what language they are singing. But electric vibe comes back in very funky 'Under No Nation'. In gig other of female sounding singers had some strange percussion in this song that she hit in chorus part, that gave nice trash sound but also looked great! It's also in album version. There is very free jazzy sax too. Next 'Do the Dance' is very typical Goat-song from 'World Music' days so I guess that's the reason it has listened already over 70 000 times in Spotify! Anyway it has awesome piano and sixties sounding organ in chorus. Vinyl A-side ends to 'Apegoat' that is short, funny acoustic free jazz-piece.

'Goatmilk' starts B-side with speech that could be from Gandhi. Then comes very relaxing groove. Soon begins so sad and beautiful vocals, that really moves me! This milk heals your soul! 'Blow the Horns' continues straight after 'Goatmilk'. Rhythm changes really African kind. This piece could have been for example 'Amadou & Mariam' -piece from Mali. In the begin of 'Remind Yourself' there are lyrics from some sixties songs. Soon starts very electro sounding rhythm that fits perfectly into other acoustic instruments. Really gentle piece! In the end there is very bright piano playing. 'Blessings' is short instrumental overture to 'Passes Like Clouds' that ends album in a very mystic way!

I am so excited of Goat's return and this album that I liked to give this full five stars! But truth is they went the farthest possible in their great 'Requim' album in their basic style, so now they're just repeating themselves. But what a great way! To make masterpiece again they have to change their songs more complicated, but I think they just want to go this way and that's totally ok to me. 'Helsingin Sanomat' reviewer of their gig criticize their performing under unidentified persons. I understand them fully, in this world where internet knows even every place of hair of some idol it's awesome there is band that just want to make music! I really hope long age for this great band!! I am so glad there are still at least few bands that make this kind of music I just love!

This album really surprised me. GOAT are a seven piece on this their debut from 2012 with two female singers, two percussionists, guitar, bass and keyboards. Very tribal sounding with the two percussionists and the big surprise for me were the female vocals that sort of yell the lyrics. I thought it was one singer double tracked until I looked it up. Surprised because I'm just not into bands that use gimmicks like this band keeping their identity secret and wearing homemade masks and costumes on stage. Thankfully the music here should be the focus because it's so good, very rhythmic and catchy, danceable stuff for sure. In my liner notes for the KING GIZZARD live album from 2016 in SF there's a picture of one of their drummers wearing a GOAT band shirt. Three of the song titles have "goat" in them and I was getting my goat-on all this past week I'll tell you that. Goats are hilarious right? Freezing and falling down and the way they yell.

Some humour there as well as on my favourite track "Run To Your Mama" which is less than 2 1/2 minutes long but it's just bliss for me and funny with that repeated line "Boy you better run to your mama now". There's more depth on this one and I love the guitar tone, really into the guitar on this one. Second favourite is "Let It Bleed" which was love at first listen. Mid-paced and so catchy. Head bobbing time. Is that sax before 2 1/2 minutes?

Third pick wasn't so easy as those two stand above the crowd but I went with "Goathead" with that nasty, nasty bass to open with. Beats and inventive guitar join in then vocals before a minute. That guitar can get experimental but also jazzy on other tracks then psychedelic, acid and distorted. The vocals are their most passionate on this one hitting those highs almost straining to do so. So good! The opening instrumental "Diarabi" needs to be mentioned and it's part of the final lazy track as well as they end it like they began. A real 60's vibe to "Goatlord" including the vocals. A couple of the songs open with a sample of someone speaking which is cool.

This is closer to 4.5 stars, I'm just so darned impressed with this album I really look forward to putting it on.

There are myths created round this band. The band members claim they´re coming from small Swedish village Korpilombolo, where people used to practise voodoo. After Christian crusaders destroyed the village original people sent a curse of it. Nobody knows exatcly who are playing in this band, because they´re wearing masks and primitive looking costums in publicity and when playing live gigs. In reality band seems to work in Gothenburg and maybe only three members are really originally from Korpilombolo. Also round these three core members other players have changed during the years. The band has recorded three studio albums, two live albums and one short soundtrack album. It has toured in US and Europe and has started recently playing gigs again. From the beginning UK Rocket Records has been their record company. Have to say I think this is the most interesting 2010`s psychedelic band.

At least later pressings starts with "Djorolen" that is short only vocals including piece with birds sounds. Soon starts marching rhythm "Union Of Sun and Moon" that has very gentle flutes and some spoken words. Soft direction continues in "I Sing In Silence" that goes into 6/8 rhythm. Female vocals are very beautiful and there are flutes again in this very acoustic sounding piece. Next "Temple Rhythms" starts with sambalike percussions and soon comes flutes in it. In this instrumental piece your body just start to move. Direction goes sadder in "Alarms" which has really great male and female melodic vocals. "Trouble In the Street" is again very cheerful piece and it could have made by some South-African band. "Psychedelic Lover" starts with very muslim sounding chant. But soon comes melodic guitars and soft percussions and after sometime very sad, but melodic vocals. In their every album there are songs that has "Goat" in the begin of the song name. So there are two in this album and finally also song that name is "Goatband". This is the most rocksong in this album so far. It´s growing whole time adding elements in it´s almost 8 minutes lenght. Very hypnotic piece!

"Try My Robe" starts second album in vinyl version. It has 6/8 soft rhythm and very vivid mandolin sound string instruments, but later come awesome fuzzy guitars and female vocals. "It´s Not Me" has acoustic guitar and some really bright sounding african percussive instrument. Female vocals come through some "tube" sound effect. "All-Seeing Eye" is very rhythmic piece and there is even slight distortion in guitar. "Goatfuzz" makes you move in it´s great rotation of acoustic and fuzz guitars! In the end very sitar sounding guitar starts to play psychedelic melody. "Goodbye" is again very afrosounding instrumental piece. "Ubuntu" has only gentle music and some spoken words. Ubuntu means South-African philosophy of human connections, so I believe there are put South-African people´s speeches. At least in some CD:s there is in the end "Union Of Mind and Soul" that is sung version of "Union Of Sun and Moon".

So far this is the last full lenght album from Goat. I really hope the album name didn´t mean they decided in 2016 this would be their last one. Anyway it´s great the band will make gigs again and they´re also coming into Finland next August in Helsinki Festival. Naturally I have bought tickets into that concert! If this review wakes your interest, it´s highly recommended listen this or their second "Commune"-album. In their first "World Music" they were little bit inmature. This album really was one the greatest in 2016! I have to give this full 5 stars, because this is psychedelic masterpiece that is very rare after sixties! All the way this one takes you into very relaxing, meditative state of mind!

Spinning lessons one-on-one, Sweden style

There are some quite original facets to this sophomore release by Goat that literally leap into your ears. The humble traveller will right from the get-go be facing female vocals of the different kind. Shouting like a deranged teenager or a very young Renate Knaup, this girl spits out words - deliberately taunting you with every cute syllable. That same mischievous and playful feel seeps right through to everyone else involved - conjuring up an unbridled and youthful energy to Goat's sound that fits oh so beautifully well.

......and then you hear the guitar and it's unusual expression. It's a style of playing most commonly known as Tuareg blues (or Tishoumaren), the Moroccan flair. You sense it in the way the fingers rrrrrroll spiralling across the strings, like a genuine rock harp, much in the same way that John Weizierl used to riff during the early years of Amon Düül ll. Think Wolf City for reference. What this 'spiralling' effect has on the surrounding music is that it makes it twirl - like a meditating Sufi preacher making his way into the back of his mind by spinning his body at ferocious speeds.

Accompanying all of this is a rhythm section that is as comfortable playing in the style of old school rock n roll bands as they are doing funk and something akin to space disco coming from the insides of a tee-pee. Aside from the bass and drums you additionally get a furious percussion element to the mix. They rustle up the all important jungle vibe of this group. Instead of hiding in the back like normal congas and bongos tend to do, these guys have opted for the more in-your-face-approach ultimately planting a deep earthy note within the music. It feels raw and untamed because of this. Coupled together with the mosaic see-sawing guitars you wind up with a music that is tribal and wild at heart.

These cats never show their faces. They wear big ornamented masks at their concerts, which in turn are like these raging hypnotic Navajo parties with psychedelic light shows and strange colourful voodoo rituals. In fact, the band claims to hail from Korpilombolo, situated in the northern part of Sweden - up where the lingo starts sounding remarkably Finnish. According to the band, the city has had a history with black magic and voodoo ever since a presumably unknown witch doctor lived there.

This is most likely just old wives' tales, but it all ends up adding to the strange and altogether enigmatic reputation Goat has garnered. Now I know I've already succeeded in painting a picture of a drugged out psychedelic band that attaches exotic and abnormal fittings to their sound, yet the final product is about as easy to get into as a pair of old slippers. I kid you not. That is if you can handle the female shoutsinging.......yep I shouldn't have said that. No one wants shoutsinging on an otherwise exciting and infectiously funky record. It works though. It isn't avantguarde or purposely "difficult". It's zany, energetic and perfectly in tune with the spinning guitar patterns that constantly remind me of the Sufi preacher twirling around in the desert to the gentle tunes of the Arabian Funkadelic. Oh yes there's a real boom to this baby!

With a bellowing reverb adorning the production Commune removes itself ever so slightly from it's predecessor, though only a tiny bit. It still feels as if the whole thing was recorded live in the studio during an inspired séance.

It's an album you can dance to - especially during those funky boogie sections of 'Words' and the Krautrock tinged 'Bondye' that entices you deep into it's celestial groove.You can even sing along to it. The words and melodies all seem to slip so easily off the tongue, that you, at times, wonder if you're listening to revamped and entirely beefed-up nursery rhymes.

The colorful voodoo cult mystery band from the Scandinavian hinterlands has emerged from their woodland sanctum with another lively sampling of psychedelic / funkadelic / enigmatic dance music, after making a prismatic splash with their 2012 debut album "World Music". The names and faces of the individual players are still disguised behind an excess of eye-catching bal-masqué camouflage, but they can't hide the vitality of the music itself, no less invigorating the second time around.

For their sophomore trip the group dialed back the contagious Afro-Beat party vibe of "World Music", relying instead more on their trademark, throwback Psych-Rock grooves and riffing, cued by the transcendental call of a Tibetan gong at the top and bottom of the album. Ringing guitars and a driving rhythm inaugurate the opening ritual "Talk to God", but we're not invoking Yahweh here: the music of Goat celebrates the elemental cosmology of older, more profane deities, the ones who enjoyed coming down from the clouds to boogie with the congregation, begetting a few half-human demi-gods along the way.

The song gives the album an irresistible kickoff, matched by the equally hypnotic (and even louder) "Gathering of Ancient Tribes", the two tracks positioned like dynamic bookends in a secret library of forbidden knowledge. In between are several shorter, less essential cuts, including two additions in the ongoing cycle (I almost wrote 'psychle..!) of self-titled melodies: "Goatchild" and "Goatslaves", like the earlier entries ("Goathead", "Goatlord" et al) almost minimalist in their unpolished pursuit of the almighty groove.

The album isn't beyond criticism. Several cuts (the totemic plod of "Words", for example) are little more than filler. And the self-conscious (male) backing vocals in "Goatchild" undermine the orgiastic intensity of the band's usual distaff singers: a pair of brightly painted dryads in ceremonial headdress. The album also sounds like it was rushed into production in order to maintain a steady career momentum, employing little studio wizardry beyond a cosmic surplus of studio reverb.

If true, the silver lining was an undiminished plateau of musical energy, and a thrilling spontaneity to the performances, best heard in the boilerplate Middle Eastern chords of "Hide From the Sun", and in the raw Krautrock trance of "Bondye" (aka Bon Dieu: the benevolent creator god of Haitian Voudo). By then the adrenalin rush is well-advanced, and when the twin priestesses begin shouting the mantra "into the fire!" at the ecstatic climax of "Ancient Tribes" you too might be tempted to shed your inhibitions, your clothing, and what's left of your earthly sanity to be reborn in the communal flames.

As exciting as the debut Goat album was ("World Music", 2012), it gave little indication of the spectacle the band presents on stage. Music aside, the sartorial splendor of their concert attire alone is something to behold, resembling an explosion in a counterculture fabric and costume factory. The colorful masks and robes might only be a canny (I almost wrote 'corny') promotional gimmick. But they work to focus attention on the ensemble playing and foster a symbiotic alliance with the audience.

The real enigma behind the masquerade is the actual size of the tribe itself. The flimsy cardboard CD case (perhaps designed in homage to the cut-and-paste artwork of Klaus Dinger) shows two guitarists; a bass player; one drummer plus a separate conga player; and a pair of sultry odalisques from the perfumed harem of a Middle Eastern sultan. So who's playing the saxophone, in the song "Let It Bleed"? The instrument appears out of nowhere, interrupting another monster funkadelic jam with a sudden frenzy of Free Jazz noise, while the twin nymphs shout the song's title like a life-or-death incantation, until their voices are hoarse. A quintessential Goat moment, in other words...

This is a group with something for (almost) everyone. Krautrockers will feel at home with the power chords of the concert opener "Diarabi" (originally a sub-Saharan folk melody), and the imposing one-chord monolith named "Det Som Aldrig Forandas...etc." Party animals will appreciate the uninhibited revelry of "Golden Door" and "Disco Fever". Connoisseurs of heavy-duty Funk Rock will thrill to the elemental grooves of "Let It Bleed" and "Run to Your Mama". And rebellious star-children born under the sign of Capricorn will embrace the songs "Goathead", Goatman", "Goatlord", and "Stonegoat".

More than just a live album, the disc is also an omnibus collection of everything the band had recorded to date: the entire "World Music" album; plus non-album singles and B-sides, including the mini-epic Space Rock mantra "The Sun The Moon", their first recorded song and a killer encore to an already lethally attractive show. And the performances don't simply regurgitate the studio material: most of the songs have been extended for maximum visceral impact, an important consideration with two barefoot pagan goddesses gyrating and jumping all over the stage.

It would be wrong to say the album is the next best thing to being there. In concert Goat is more alive than most live bands, and without the visual cues this companion album is only a two- dimensional facsimile of a typically eye-catching, toe-tapping, mind-frying Goat gig. But it still manages to capture the psychedelic Mardi Gras spirit of the event: not a concert but "a harvesting of souls", in the band's own mock-portentous vernacular. So until the herd arrives in your hometown the old cliché will have to stand: the album is the next best thing to being there.

I am a Goathead.

I admit that (if you'll pardon the choice of words) a little sheepishly, as an introverted ex-garage band drummer with two left feet who recently fell, after only a slight nudge from a Fellow Traveler in these Archives, under the spell of this young Scandinavian ensemble. Hardly surprising, given the colorful mystique the band has created for themselves, extending beyond the music itself toward some sort of arcane ethno-spiritual connection with the inner experience of communal song and syncopation.

Like THE RESIDENTS, the Goat collective understands the attraction of myth and mystery. You'll notice a lack of individual credits here, because the band insists on masking its shared identity...literally, using homemade masks and gaudy costumes. Even the total number of musicians is a dark secret, with (maybe) four employed in the studio but seven (or more) on stage. "All the members of Goat will never be seen together", says a spokesperson for the herd, adding a lot of portentous mumbo-jumbo about the past lives of the band in earlier generations.

So where does that leave the music? Their debut album is eclectic in design but totally uniform in quality, despite being released on vinyl in a rainbow of editions matching the kaleidoscope of influences behind it: Krautrock psychedelia; "Maggot Brain" Funkadelic grooves; Talking Heads intelligent dance circa "Remain in Light"; Scandinavian Black Metal; and the Beach Boys (the last two in their own words: personally I don't hear it). The female vocalist(s) tend to shout in exuberance instead of actually sing, but it's all part of the ongoing Dionysian frenzy of funked-out rhythms and freaked-out guitars.

The band may hail from Sweden, but are travelers on every continent: northern Europe, central Africa, creole America. Their backwoods hometown, supposedly a nexus of ancient voodoo sacrament and early Christian witch-hunts, is located above the Arctic Circle less than 30-kilometers from the border of Finland, which may explain the slight edge of insanity. Don't be surprised to hear a wild, Hendrix-inspired guitar solo give way to a gently unplugged acoustic coda. Or a heavy Space Rock adaptation of a Boubacar Traoré folk song. Or the sort of one-chord power raga not heard since the heyday of AMON DÜÜL II and AGITATION FREE, forty years earlier.

More than simply energetic, the album is celebratory. This is music ideally suited to forbidden rituals in dark forest glens: the perfect diversion for extroverted pagans. Which, of course, makes it very appealing to a flat-footed, freethinking wallflower like yours truly.

Look for the ceremony to continue with a new studio album, due next month as of this posting.

Goat is a band you should make sure to see live. The combination of their psychedelic multi-influence music and their costumed and masked personas (such as an executioner, wizard, Voodoo preistess, etc.) is a wonderful and crazy thing to behold on stage. The dual front women / singers are a force to be reckoned with. An intense show, they caused a lot of stir at the 2013 Psych Fest and were a must see act that weekend.

On record, it doesn't quite match that experience. It is good mind you, and this review is really 3.5 stars rather than just three. But, with all of the songs being from their releases (all but one from their LP "World Music" and their new single) there's not much new here to experience. However, the performances are great and the sound is very good.

Recorded in the summer of 2013, this double-LP in a gatefold sleeve comes from Rocket Recordings, with early pressings in white / green vinyl. No download codes comes with the LP, which is always a bit disappointing. Several songs get to stretch out a bit, and this is a good thing, things aren't rushed and the intensity can build. Many songs are very similar to the releases though. Where things get the most interesting is in the couple of tunes where they really extend it in a sort of "Jam Band" fashion. "Det Som Aldrig Förändras" and "Run to Your Mama" are each much longer. I also don't recall hearing quite as amazing of a sax solo on the studio version of "Let It Bleed" as is on here, very nice. The segue from "Dreambuilding" into "Run to Your Mama" is also cool.

The females' voices aren't quite as nice to hear in the live versions, probably a bit rough from so much touring, but they are still very effective. For fans of Goat this is a must hear, but for those who don't know them yet, you should start with their LP "World Music" first.