Cosmic Smiles - Freedom Road

Gloucestershire based Cosmic Smiles have been creating a free festival blast since the late 90s with breathtaking tunes that range from the mellow to the surreal. A compendium of trippy sounds and genres, the band have released 7 privately pressed albums : Cosmic Smiles 1997, Freedom Road 1998, Love,Love,Love (double) 2000, Groovy 2001, What A World (double)2002, High Timers 2003, Psychedelic Shores 2005..... and their new double album "Wreckless Angels". Imagine the psych -funk of the Moonflowers and acoustic raga of Me weaving through Daevid Allen inspired soundscapes.
Cosmic Smiles - Freedom Road
Gimme Sunshine
Innersense
Love Salvation
Freedom Road
Santa Rosa
Unsuffered Consequence
Dread Jazz
She Kissed
Sun Still Shining

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The Deviants - On Your Knees Earthlings

Perhaps the most anarchistic band of the Ladbroke Grove Underground was the Deviants, founded and fronted by singer/writer Mick Farren, the Social Deviants, later just the Deviants, made three bizarre albums in two years. Mick Farren states that The Deviants were a community band which "did things every now and then''

On Your Knees Earthlings is an anthology of some of the band's most chaotic material from 1967-2001. Starts off with the psychedelic "You Got To Hold On" and a Mick Farren solo tune "Trouble Coming". Then continues with other Farren gems like "Carnivorous Circle", his Bob Dylan cover "It's Alright, Ma" and "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean". A couple of other well done covers are the Stone's "Play With Fire" and Hawkwind's "Lost Johnny" (co-written by Farren & Lemmy). Simply great psych-punk.

The Deviants - On Your Knees Earthlings

01. People's Suite from Deviants [1969]
02. You've Got to Hold On [1968]
03. Trouble Coming Every Day from "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money" [1978]
04. Observe the Ravens from "Mona the Carnivorous Circus" [1970]
05. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) [2001]
06. All in the Picture [1978]
07. God's Worst Nightmare from "Eating Jello With a Heated Fork" [1996]
08. Last Man from "Disposable" [1968]
09. Deviation Street-Speed from Ptoff! [1967]
10. Jamie's Song [1968]
11. Play With Fire [1976]
12. Arts of Darkness from "Eating Jello With a Heated Fork" [1996]
13. I'm Coming Home from "Ptoff! [1967]
14. Envy from "The Death Ray Tapes" [1995]
15. Lost Johnny [1976]
16. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean [2001]
17. When the World Was Young from "The Death Ray Tapes" [1995]
18. That's Where All the Trouble Started [Radio Fragment] [1967]

doc 40
tHE dEVIANTS at BOMP
Keep It Together! : Cosmic Boogie with the Deviants and Pink Fairies here
oz
international times
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Sounds From The Ground - Mosaic

Ambient dub duo Sounds From the Ground first came to prominence in 1994 with the epic 'Triangle' debut 12'' released on Zion Trains' UNIVERSAL EGG label, which was quickly followed by another landmark 12'' release 'Gather'. After releasing these two successful eps, duo members Elliot Jones and Nick Woolfson crafted their debut long-player 'Kin' (1996) released on universal egg and the West Coast ambient label Waveform released the album in the States to a warm reception. However, Sounds From the Ground didn't return with a second album until Upstream released Mosaic in 1999, which sees them moving into slightly darker psy-dub while maintaining their love of evocative soundscapes.
Sounds From The Ground - Mosaic

	Snow
	Treasure
	Bodega Bay
	Drugstore
	The Cut
	Marshmello
	Rye
	Circle & Star
	Planted

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interview

V/A - Sound Information Volume One

Originally released on cassette in 1993 & reissued on cd in 1995 by Universal Egg, compiled by Elliot Morgan Jones (later of Sounds From The Ground) this is a beautiful 72 minute collection of pure old school ambient dub mainly made in bedroom studios in and around London. It is the fore runner of many other compilations in this vein such as Beyond Records' ambient dub series, volumes 2 and 3 of Sound Information were released by German label Echo Beach.

V/A - Sound Information Volume One

01 Verdi - Snorkelling In Heaven (5:50)
02 Path vs. Spacehead - Neptune (7:17)
03 Verdi - Blue Pastures (6:29)
04 Path - Pleasant (Tribal Mix) (7:20)
05 Space - Cromosphere 23 (10:27)
06 Spacehead - Lunik (14:35)
07 Zephyrus - Blue (8:26)
08 Extremadura - Fathoms Deep (12:31)

Alice Donut- Dry Humping the Cash Cow

Alice Donut formed in the punk underground of New York City's Lower East Side in 1987, eventually releasing six studio albums and one live LP (recorded at CBGB's) before breaking up eight years later. Jello Biafra initially encouraged the group and signed them to his Alternative Tentacles label, where Alice Donut released all of their albums. The band's punk style was occasionally leavened with elements of oddball country and funk, but by 1993's Pure Acid Park the sound was perfect psych-pop, much like fellow psychedelic punks the Butthole Surfers. Alice Donut couldn't cash in, however, and broke up in 1995.

Each member went their separate ways; drummer and trombonist Stephen Moses played for a short while with Rasputina while vocalist Tomas Antona and bassist Sissi Schulmeister started a family together. Schulmeister, Moses, and guitarist Michael Jung began playing together again for fun in the late '90s and after a couple of years of basement practices, the three convinced Antona to join in as well. An unpublicized reunion show took place in August of 2003, which served as a CD release party for the equally unpublicized reunion album, Three Sisters. The live DVD London, There's a Curious Lump in My Sack appeared in 2004, and another studio album, Fuzz, followed in 2006 & Ten Glorious Animals in 2009.
Alice Donut- Dry Humping the Cash Cow

1. Green Meat Stew

2. Hose

3. Tingler

4. Dorothy

5. Every Body Is on Sale

6. My Best Friend's Wife

7. Mrs. Hayes

8. Son of a Disgruntles X-Postal Worker Reflects on His Life While...

9. Dead River

10. Mother of Christ

11. Helter Skelter

12. American Lips

13. Egg

14. Demonologist

15. Buckets, Pock, Fork

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The Blue Aeroplanes - Beatsongs

The Blue Aeroplanes are an art rock group from Bristol, England, who have drawn comparisons to bands like the Velvet Underground because of their eclectic style and the songwriting sensibility of group leader Gerard Langley. This is an amazing album and in my opinion, has a slight edge over the highly acclaimed Swagger, which is the predecessor to this album. This is the second album released by Ensign/Chrysalis after the band signed to a major label, who recently released a deluxe 2-disc version of Swagger. Unfortunately Beatsongs has not been re-released , which is a shame, but there are quite a few second-hand copies to be found as this album was their highest charting reaching no.33 in the UK album charts.
Standout tracks are Huh!, Yr Own World, My Hurricane, Angelwords, Aeroplane Blues plus the tracks with Rodney Allen's lead vocals, Fun and Streamers and there is that excellent cover of Paul Simon's Boy In The Bubble. Okay so that is most of the CD but Beatsongs is one of those albums, it is that good!
Hunt it down, buy it, bid for it on eBay, download it, whatever way you can.
Matthew Semple
The Blue Aeroplanes - Beatsongs

1. Huh

2. Yr Own World

3. Angelwords

4. Fun

5. Cardboard Box

6. My Hurricane

7. Aeroplane Blues

8. Jack Leaves/Back Spring

9. Colour Me

10. Streamers

11. Boy in the Bubble

12. Sixth Condition

website
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Scorn - Logghi Barogghi

This is the album where Scorn went from heavy organic dub soundscapes to a more skeletal, sparse sound that builds from the kind of uneven drum pattern that dubstep producers can only dream of ten years later to a slithering ambient fever dream and sets the tone of the album wonderfully. What sounds like a sample of a rhys chatham's trumpet with a seagull stuck in it is looped over a down pitched layer of the same sample that slowly shifts in and out of sync while a sub rattling bass riff wobbles around clumsily, next, sounds like the groove is skipping, then you remember it's a cd and not vinyl. The album comes shuddering to an end on a beat that sounds like a drum kit the size of mt. everest takes center stage and is then augmented by a fuzzy and insanely thick bass, how he manages to slip a few other ambient sounds in with this wall of thump is beyond my tiny brain.
Scorn - Logghi Barogghi

1. Look At That

2. Do The Geek

3. Next Days

4. Spongie

5. Out Of

6. It's On

7. Logghi Barogghi

8. Black Box 2

9. Nut

10. Mission

11. Pithering Twat

12. Fumble

13. Weakener

14. Go

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Zen Baseballbat - I Am the Champion Concrete Mixer

Hailing from Widnes in the North West of England, Zen Baseballbat are anything but run of the mill. Their strange style is mixed with gritty northern humour and a unique blend of Trad Ska, Two Tone and Punk with hints of The Fall, The Cardiacs, Devo and The B52's thrown in for good measure. Think about those classic gritty black and white Northern films like "Saturday Night And Sunday Morning" and "Loneliness Of The Long Distant Runner" add some colour and a modern day spin and you've got the picture.
Second album ''For Refund Insert Baby'' is heavily influenced musically by Two Tone, Motown, Sixties pop, authentic Jamaican Ska and even bands like the Fall... available here. This album is still pure Zen Baseballbat, driving rhythms backed by a brilliant brass section, very unique vocals and style. British Working Class-ic!

Zen Baseballbat - I Am the Champion Concrete Mixer
Whiplash
I Am The Champion Concrete Mixer
The Returner Prize
Brown Cows Of Elocution
Matching Houses
Tidemarks & Dispensers
Captain Midnight
100 Years Of Seaside Entertainment
The Year Of The Dog
An Ode To Purple Ackey
Signed Off R.Mutt
Robbed

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:zoviet*france: - In.Version

Newcastle based :ZF: have been exploring sound phenomena for the past 3 decades, although affiliated with other UK contemporaries, such as The Hafler Trio, This Heat and Cabaret Voltaire, they sound little like any of them. Just like Residents before them, the band intentionally refused to reveal their collective identities and while they were available for interviews, they decided not to focus on a specific image. In.Version was released on cd by Charrm in 1996 and is one long 63 minute recording from a live performance at the Urban Aboriginals XI Ballhaus, Berlin - 26/3/1996. Far Out.
:Zoviet*France: - In.Version
1. in.version

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The Sidewinder - Colonized

Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Final, Techno Animal) and Kevin Martin (God, Ice, Techno Animal, The Bug) got together as The Sidewinder, essentially a side project of Techno Animal to mix up some heavy modern lo-fi electronica. They released ‘Colonized’ on both the Mille Plateaux and Virgin labels in 1996.. This was followed up by a 12”entitled “Implant” on
Lo Fibre. Along with a handful of compilation tracks.

The Sidewinder - Colonized

	The Vodun Conspiracy
	Scarification Dub
	Total Destruction Of Mind And Body
	Return To B.C.
	Homosapien Meets The Microbe
	Ballistic Loop
	Zero-Gravity
	Ten Ton Ghettoblaster
	The Big Bang Theory
	Photic Driver
	Infrasonic Version
	Psycho-Accoustic Dub
	Cryonic Suspension
	Silicon Based Predator
	The Forbidden Zone
	Destination DNA
	The Drummer As Mechanism
	Concrete Jungle Probe
	Enter The Beast
	White Viper Sound System
	Termite Colony
	The Omega Bug

Justin K Broadrick

the bug

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