Dead Flowers - Moontan

A swirling, trancey fusion of Hawkwind, Hendrix, Loop and Ash Ra Tempel comes somewhere close to describing the psychedelic sounds on 'Moontan', the second Dead Flowers album realeased in 1993 on Mystic Stones records. All tracks have a hypnotic quality to them, ranging from the monster spliff-riffs and snarling vocals of 'Chocolate Staircase' and 'Feed It' to the beautifully spaced-out guitar, flute and percussion of 'Gaia's Love Hole'. This is far-out psych at its finest.

Track listing:

Side A

1. Chocolate Staircase
2. Spiral Eye
3. Filling in Time
4. Thought World

Side B

1. Gaia's Love Hole
2. Hammer Rash
3. Slowburn
4. Feed It
5. Hidden Track

Get it here

Fun With Mushrooms

Hi! Lophophora Williamsii here! It's that time of year again and my mate Psilocybe Semilanceata has just popped up for a cup of tea. Mmmmmm....nice one Mr. P!

The above is taken from the blurb on the back of this second compilation of spaced-out lunacy from Delerium records. They even managed to get a photo of LW and PS sharing a psychedelic cup of tea. Put the kettle on, Mr. P!

This 1992 release picks up where 'Psychedelic Psauna' left off, featuring 13 tracks from bands that didn't appear on the first compilation, and there's plenty to satisfy psychedelic music fans and discerning fungus-heads. If you're both, then you can't go wrong! My pick of the crop? (err...pun intended) - Mooseheart Faith's 'Thought Dial' is simply a great song. The Watch Children and 14th Wray, much like Australia's Tyrnaround, seemed to have perfected the art of getting a genuine 60s sounding production on genuinely 60s sounding garage-psych songs. The Loop-esque Dead Flowers present us with a great slab of trancey guitar rock, a swirling bad-acid nightmare. Praise Space Electric do their best Hendrix impersonation with a very accomplished and funky variation on 'Crosstown Traffic', and Saddar Baazar do their always welcome 'Spacemen 3 with sitars' thing.

The great artwork for this LP was done by Pete Loveday, who could often be found behind his stall at the Glastonbury Festival selling his wonderful 'Russell - The Saga of a Peaceful Man' comics. I really should go into what Russell was all about, but I think I'll save that for a separate post.

Track listing:

Side 1

1. Boris & His Bolshie Balalaika - Toadstool Soup (Slight Send)
2. Saddar Bazaar - Night Descent
3. Praise Space Electric - Electric Sensation
4. 14th Wray - Yuppie Deadhead Party
5. Harrold Juana - Uncle Sam
6. Dead Flowers - Chocolate Staircase
7. Tangle Edge - Half-Moon Flower

Side 2

1. Watch Children - Did You Feed The Fish?
2. Dean Carter And The High Commission - Government Surplus Jam
3. Omnia Opera - The Awakened
4. The Inn - Who's My Name?
5. Wobble Jaggle Jiggle - Thoughts Of The Sky
6. Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band - Thought Dial
7. Boris & His Bolshie Balalaika - Toadstool Soup (Slight Return)

Have Fun With Mushrooms!