#35: Hungary Freaks, Daddy
European Pastoral Psychedelia, New Japanese New Age, Mountain Ambient
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Still reeling from the good vibes that were made at Brothers Rockway this past Sunday at the Wet Tuna/Sunburned show. Besides getting to see old friends and meeting new ones, the weather was perfect, the food was great and the jams were stellar. Sadly, it being a school night, we had to leave before Sunburned played. But that Wet Tuna set….WOW. Hopefully Matt has the tapes mixed and mastered in Spectrasound quickly and we can share it with you because it was one for the ages.
The Trailhead is no stranger to long jams but this week’s show may contain the shortest amount of pieces we’ve ever played. No, I wasn’t hungover and needing to be close to the toilet between breaks, it’s just how things worked out.
We started with the lovely, autumnal title track from Brooklyn duo Quarterly’s new Ruination Record Co.album Adonis before shifting to a fresh piece from Canadian avant-folk project Family Ravine that made way for the hit 22-minute single from UK project Melos Kalpa. Set one finished with an incredible jam from Japan’s Yaryu (more on them below), who have a great new LP forthcoming on Ramble Records.
Set two opened with more Wet Tuna as I was just plain psyched to be seeing them a couple hours after the show ended. We went with a massive version of “Raw Food” taken from the 2023 set Lit Than You’ll Ever Be on Child of Microtones. We finished up with one of the best jams Phish ever whipped up in the 90s—the AC/DC Bag recorded in Boise, ID on 9/14/99. I’ve been following the 25th anniversary of the band’s Fall 1999 tour and re-discovering what a great stretch it was for the band. Check this one out. It’s everything you want improvised cosmic rock to be.
Have a listen to the show here and peep the tracklist below. And if you haven’t already, please make a free Mixcloud account and give us a follow over there and like and repost the shows. It really helps spread the word.
The Trailhead 146:
1. Quarterly - Adonis - Adonis (Ruination Record Co, 2024)
2. Family Ravine - Have Swim Blood - (I'll) Waltz In and Act Like I Own the Place (Death Is Not the End, 2024)
3. Melos Kalpa - Melos Rhythm - Melos Kalpa (Hands in the Dark, 2024)
4. Yaryu - Shirabe - For Damage (Ramble Records, 2024)
5. Wet Tuna - Raw Food - Lit Than You'll Ever Be (Child of Microtones, 2022)
6. Phish - AC/DC Bag - Boise State University Pavilion, Boise, ID, 9/14/99 (LivePhish, 2016)
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Hungary may not be the first place to come to mind when thinking about psychedelic rock collectives but clearly it’s a country conducive to it as the catalog of Psychedelic Source Records can attest. I discovered this crew a couple years ago and have not been able to keep up with all the output since then. Occasionally they’ll release really stoner-y, heavy stuff that doesn’t interest me as much as the looser, more hippy and folky outings they will drop. I’ve yet top pick up any physical media from this crew, every release is “pay what you want” on Bandcamp, so that is extremely cool for those of us with limited music budgets.
They’ve recently dropped a couple new sessions that are some of the finest I’ve heard from this stable of longhairs yet. Beautifully recorded and performed, the standout is Recorded at the Goatfarm. The release is long and jammy, evoking Pink Floyd, Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel and all the good old psychedelic shit we know and love.
Check it out below and read more about the session at The Obelisk.
Another deep collective making progressive music is Yaryu from Japan. Brought to my attention via their forthcoming LP on Australia’s Ramble Records, this group of artists make music that ranges from experimental folky drone to spiritual jazz to skygazing New Age. Formed in 2022, the group already has 7 releases on Bandcamp and seems to be very focused on community as their site notes:
“In addition to regular live performances, the group aims to build a bridge between musicians and the local community through a wide range of activities, including improvisation workshops, hosting session events with musicians, and installations.”
Very cool vibe and the music is right there. Dig on a couple jams from another forthcoming release, Estuary, below.
Not saying it’s the best strategy for getting music heard but I do often check out the sounds of new followers on Instagram, especially if the name hits my aesthetic sweet spot. Pure Waves did just that and my interest was piqued even more seeing they hail from Missoula, Montana. I’ve been traveling to the mountain west area as much as I can over the last 10 years and my only problem is I never really hear about any interesting underground music happening out there. It could be that I’m just not wired into the right hub and I hope that’s it. But anyway.
Pure Waves are Keith Dusoe and Jay Fiske and they are self-releasing their debut Be Yourself Out There on 9/24. The record was mastered by Chuck Johnson and, judging by the three currently streaming tracks, its going to be one of my most played of 2024. I’m a simple person; give me some strummed acoustic guitar, an electric or pedal steel lead here and there, and drench the whole thing in lovely, lilting electronics and I’m happy.
It’s so great to get a huge new solo outing from guitarist Alan Licht. Havens is out on 9/20 via the mighty fine VDSQ and it’s a gigantic release spread over two discs. Havens comes almost 10 years since Licht’s VDSQ debut, the masterful Currents, and features beautiful long acoustic pieces, some synth and vocals and Licht’s trademark expansive electric guitar work. A minimalist master, Licht hypnotizes and delights and beguiles over the course of Havens’ 70 minutes. The album ends with a phenomenal interpretation of the Stooges’ “1970” that is worth the price of admission alone.