Concours Quilt & Boogarins à l'Espace B

C'est une grande première pour Requiem Pour Un Twister, nous nous associons à l'Espace B pour vous proposer 2 x 1 place pour l'un des plus beau line-up de l'année : Quilt et Boogarins (dixième de notre top album 2013), deux groupes que nous portons dans nos coeurs.

BOOGARINS

Invoquant le tropicalisme brésilien d'Os Mutantes ou de Sergio Mendes tout autant que le revival psych contemporain, le duo brésilien Boogarins fût l'une des plus belles découvertes surprises de l'année. Ah ce que la musique peut-être excitante lorsque le métissage, qui fait si peur à certaines franges extrême de notre beau pays, est intelligent ! Boogarins en sont la preuve : un groupe brésilien sorti sur un label new yorkais et adoubé par un blog français, la mondialisation a parfois du bon non ?

QUILT

Issu d'une tradition folk-rock américaine (The Mamas & Papas, Jefferson Airplane), Quilt évoque autant les paysages bucoliques de l'Amérique rurale et verdoyante du Midwest, que la lumière irradiante des plages californiennes dans des mélodies de guitares carillonnantes aux relents psychédéliques.

CONCOURS TERMINE. les gagnants ont du recevoir un email.
Merci de votre participation.

Bilan 2013 : Top labels

Il aurait été tentant de citer à nouveaux des labels des années précédentes tant certains se sont révélés en forme en 2013. Ainsi Trouble In Mind (top label 2011), Woodsist (top label 2012) ou Great Pop Supplement (2012) ont réalisé des disques somptueux cette année (Maston, Lucid Dream, Kevin Morby etc.) et on ne saurait que vous recommander de vous précipiter sur le catalogue il était cependant important pour nous de continuer à défricher en évoquant des nouveaux venus ou des labels historiques en renouveau. Voici notre top subjectif des labels de 2013.  

Chapter Music

Chapter Music a fêté ses 20 ans en 2012. Changer de décennie ne semble pas l'avoir freiner dans ses intentions, bien au contraire, le label australien a signé une année fabuleuse avec notamment de merveilleux disques des Stevens ou de Dick Diver. 2013 était placé sous le signe de la scène australienne et qui mieux que Chapter Music représente ce vent de fraîcheur qui souffle sur l'indie-pop depuis les antipodes ?

Reverberation Appreciation Society
Le revival psych rock doit beaucoup à ce label et à son proprio Christian Bland, il a nous dégôté une belle brochette de chevelus en goguette prêts à nous vriller l'esprit avec leur kaléidoscope. D'autant qu'en plus de Night Beats qu'on connaissait déjà, le label a sorti coup sur coup deux nouveaux groupes qui nous en mis plein la vue : Holy Wave et Elephant Stone, et si nous n'en avons par encore parlé, nous les avons pourtant largement rincé en 2013.

Lolipop Record
A l'instar de Captured Tracks, Burger est en train de devenir une super machine, des centaines de références, un travail (trop -à mon goût-) largement constitué d'édition cassettes de disques sortis par d'autres et un catalogue d'artistes piqués aux autres (Burnt Ones, Dead Ghosts,...). Si vous cherchez UN label dans le même esprit mais qui a gardé son travail de défrichage, c'est chez Lolipop Records qu'il faut aller voir maintenant, les sorties s’enchaînent, quasiment que des nouveaux venus et presque rien à jeter. Le label cassette de l'année sans hésitation.

Fire / Critical Heights

Fire Records est un de nos labels indie-pop historiques fétiches, ils avaient notamment les géniaux Close Lobsters au catalogue. Ils ont des goûts impeccables en matière de rééditions (Teenage Fanclub, The Boys, Television Personalities) mais surtout le label renoue avec ses premières amours via de nouvelles signatures excitantes comme Scott and Charlene's Wedding, Virginia Wing, Las Kellies, Surf City.

Castle Face Records
Castle Face contribue largement à la bonne santé de la scène de San Francisco, le catalogue du label est un véritable who's who avec des contributions de Ty Segall, Fuzz, White Fence, Warm Soda, Oh Sees, Total Control (oui, ils sont australiens), Fresh and Onlys etc. Qui plus est avec le premier Group Flex (sorti en 2012) ils ont marqué les esprits en proposant un des plus beaux objets musicaux de ces dernières années. Il était temps de les mettre à l'honneur sur le blog !

The Karovas Milkshake - Freak Out 7' (2013)

Les Karovas Milkshake sont une formation russe, ils viennent de sortir leur premier 45 sur le label américain Chickpea Records (la mondialisation a aussi parfois du bon non ?). 

Freak out en face A est un excellent morceau pop psychédélique offrant une place de choix à un orgue au son acide digne des meilleurs morceaux de garage rock US. Le gimmick au clavier est très cool , la production ne semble pas totalement justice à la voix mais ce défaut s'oublie bien vite. La compo respecte les codes du genre mais en conserve aussi la fraîcheur. Le titre est cool et a de la gueule. On est happé par les chœurs et cette voix nasillarde et orgueilleuse. Le solo de guitare est psychédélique à souhait, on en redemande ! En retournant le disque on tombe sur un factory de bonne facture, un titre solide plus garage-rock mais peut être pas aussi inspiré et inspirant que freak out .

Les Karovas Milkshake signent un premier 45 enthousiasmant qui espérons le trouvera le chemin vers les oreilles des esthètes du son 60s renouvelé et revigoré par les groupes d'aujourd'hui. Une pièce de choix à ajouter à votre collec' dans les plus bref délais en somme.

The People's Temple - Brand New Thing (2013)

Le Guide Suprême du People's Temple a pris son ton le plus solennel et grandiloquent pour nous annoncer la nouvelle : It's A Brand New Thing. En effet, les fans des deux premiers albums (que nous sommes) devront être surpris par ce single. Le son est vaporeux, l'instrumentation a pris du recul, et le chant se détache tel une voix divinatoire porté la reverb et des chœurs hantés. Le groupe prend un peu de distance avec leur son garage rugueux et frontal pour l'iriser dans un psychédélisme flottant.

Pour être honnête, la première écoute m'avait pas trop emballée, cette production était si déconcertante ! Pourtant, plus je l'écoute, plus elle me semble essentielle, elle est d'une rare modernité. Prennant la tangente des courants majeurs actuels, elle impose son esthétique avec force et un vrai choix artistique. The People's Temple prend assurément des risques, félicitons les, d'autant que les deux morceaux sont superbes.

Voici la face B.
Retrouvez la face A sur le site des toujours formidables TiM.


The People's Temple - Twice Burned

ACHAT :
Trouble In Mind / Pop Culture (Paris)

Jacco Gardner - Cabinet Of Curiosities (2013)

L'érudition en musique peut à la fois être une mine d'or comme un fardeau dont il est difficile de se défaire. A force de convoquer les esprits lointains de brillants fantômes, à force de leur vouer une déférence indéfectible proche de la vénération, on finit par avoir à du mal à se singulariser, du mal à les transfigurer, du mal à les gérer. Aussi séduisant et gracieux, puisse-t-il être, le petit prodige Jacco Gardner fléchit sous le poids de ses références (s'il est encore nécessaire de les citer : Syd Barret, The Zombies, Sagittarius...) et sonne bien trop souvent comme un très joli et très talentueux pastiche de ses ainés. Il y a quelques choses de frustrant de voir un tel potentiel sauter la tête la première dans une telle collection de clichés, à ce titre le nom de l'album : Cabinet Of Curiosities frise le ridicule d'ailleurs.

Alors oui tout ça n'enlève rien au son incroyable de ce disque, au talent insolent du jardinier néerlandais, ni à ses formidables compositions, mais il y a quelque chose de frustrant dans cette attitude revivaliste, quelque chose qui tendrait à confirmer les thèses faisandées du retromania de Simon Reynolds, or nous les combattons avec férocité ici. J'ai désormais bien du mal à être aussi enthousiaste que je n'avais pu l'être après les singles. Il y avait pourtant un petit truc en plus sur A House On The Moon, la B-side de Clear The Air, un truc un peu bricolo, qu'on ne retrouve malheureusement jamais sur l'album.

Vu son succès, on trouve le disque partout et c'est sorti chez Trouble In Mind (US) / Excelsior (NL).


Jacco Gardner - Lullaby

The Young Sinclairs - Interview

Comme vous le savez, nous venons de sortir deux 45 tours des Young Sinclairs, qui étaient depuis plusieurs années, un de nos groupes préférés. Plutôt calmes depuis 2 ans, ils nous paraissaient incroyable que ce groupe n'ait pas plus d'impact, d'autant que le succès de groupes comme The See See, Foxygen, Beachwood Sparks ou Allah-Las laisse entendre qu'il y a vraiment une place pour le son jangly sixties à la cool. Nous sommes donc particulièrement fier d'inaugurer notre label avec cette formidable formation américaine.

Au lieu de vous faire du langage promotionnel à la con, nous avons préféré interviewer l'homme à l'origine de tout ça : Sam Lunsford.

Can you introduce The Young Sinclairs project ?

The Young Sinclairs project started in 2005 when me and two of my best friends, John Thompson and Daniel Cundiff, all started renting a warehouse space together.  We moved all of the musical instruments and rudimentary recording gear we owned at the time into the space and began making some kind of noise every day.  Eventually I started writing and recording all these songs inspired by The Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, The Stooges, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Byrds, Rolling Stones, etc. and that's what ended up becoming The Young Sinclairs project.

Who are exactly The Young Sinclairs ? You and some friends ?

The Young Sinclairs started out as me, John Thompson and Daniel Cundiff.  They are two of my best friends.  I met John around 2003 and through him I met Daniel around 2004.  They both grew up together in Franklin County, Virginia and are really tight bros.  We later added Sean Poff on guitar - I went to school with him and John worked with him at the time.  We also added Jay Wilson on tambourine and percussion - I had worked with him at a record store and he also played music in another part of the same warehouse we were in.  Later we briefly added a keyboard player, John Lindsay - his family and my family have known each other for years and a few of us worked with him at a movie theatre around the time he joined.  He was replaced by Jonathan Coward, a dear friend who I was rooming with at the time.  After a while he moved to Richmond and he was replaced by Jonathan Woods, a mutual friend of all ours who played in another band, Sad Cobras, with Daniel. At present, we don't have a keyboard player any more. Currently my older brother Joe Lunsford plays drums now and Kyle Harris plays bass. 

You also have tons of other musical project (solo, other bands...) maybe you could introduce us to some of them ?

Being that I am fortunate enough to be proficient on many different instruments, I have always played in a plethora of bands.  Right now besides The Young Sinclairs I play fiddle, banjo, guitar and harmonica in a group called Rootstone Jug Band - we play early American roots music: old-time music, jug band music, and Piedmont blues.  We play some original compositions, and obscure tunes we learned off of old 78 R.P.M. records and field recordings.  I also play guitar and sing in a band called The Funk Cousins (No Relation), we play funky R&B and jazz, we've got a monster keyboardist and some amazing horn players.  I also currently play drums in a group called Cinematheque - we play instrumental music with live video projections, mostly inspired by surf and exotica records, Western movies and horror flicks.  I also do have a solo album that I just released - singer-songwriter stuff I guess - and I play the occasional solo gig here and there.  I am hoping to do more of that, actually.  It's a lot of fun.  I'm also an avid DJ, MC, and beatmaker that performs and records under the moniker of Joneski.  I have been DJ'ing and making Hip-Hop music since 1998, around the time I was in 8th grade.  Being a multi-instrumentalist and a record collector, I have always had a deep love for any kind of good music - whatever the genre. 

 Can you tell us more about the magic twig community and all your Roanoke friends ?

 The Magic Twig Community was comprised of about 10 people that, in different combinations, made up the personnel for bands such as The Young Sinclairs, Sad Cobras, Boys Lie, SuNKING!, Power Animals, The Missionaries, Yeah Propeller and many others.  It was basically just a bunch of friends that all shared the same practice space and all performed and recorded music together.  It was kind of like a gang.  We all came together in about 2006.  Since then we kind of scattered to a degree - we're all still making music but not as incestuously and intimately as we once did in our "salad days".  Some people have drifted.  Some people are in their own world, a world seperate from Magic Twig.  It's hard to sustain a "commune" of any kind over a prolonged period of time.  Ask anyone who lived in the 60's and 70's.

What is the Mystic Fortress ?

It's our personal analogue recording studio that we have been operating since 2005.  From the moment John, Daniel, and I got a warehouse space together we immediately started making recordings with Radio Shack mics and Tascam Portastudios.  From that seed has grown a full-fledged professional quality hit factory.  In late 2005 my older brother Joe Lunsford, who has been recording music since the 90's, brought in his reel-to-reel tape machine, some decent microphones and a tube preamp that he built himself.  From there we just kept acquiring more gear and upgrading our facilites with Joe's help.  All of The Young Sinclairs' recordings have been made there.  Artists such as Reading Rainbow (note: now called Bleeding Rainbow), Inter Arma, Eternal Summers, Super Vacations, The Bastards Of Fate, and Joe Jack Talcum have all recorded there as well.  The studio has moved a couple of times since its inception, but we have maintained basically the same kind of set-up and approach to recording over the span of 8 years.

How did you get in contact with the Brian Jonestown Massacre ?

Around 2006 or 2007 we sent some of our music to a band called Sunsplit in Philadelphia, members of whom also play in a band called The Asteroid #4.  They loved it.  We were in contact with them for a while and in 2009 they asked if we could take their place on the bill opening for Australian band The Lovetones who were touring the States.  Rob Campanella, long-time BJM member, was playing guitar with The Lovetones for the tour so we got in touch with him and ended up opening the shows.  Then in 2010 Rob called me kind of out of the blue and left me a message saying to get in touch with him.  I spoke with him and he asked if The Young Sinclairs would be able to open for The Brian Jonestown Massacre for a portion of their 2010 summer tour.  We played 4 shows with them to sold-out crowds and it was amazing.

Can you tell us a bit the story of this tour with them ? it must be something right ?

No crazy stories of brawls and hard drugs, fortunately.  They're all super nice guys - everyone got along and the music was a great fit.  No antics to speak of, really.  At the first show we played with them in Boston, Anton became very fascinated with our keyboardist's Korg synth and came up during our soundcheck and was fiddling with it.  He said he used to have one like it but it had been stolen, and he was showing us all these weird sounds on it.  They played great every night and vibes were good.  Anton had a couple temper tantrums onstage.  Whatever it was that pissed him off, they always ended up forgetting it and carrying on with the set.

Tell us more about the songs on the singles we released ?

"Hurt My Pride" is actually a pretty old Sinclairs song.  I wrote it and recorded a very raw version of it in 2005.  Though it was never on a proper album and we actuallynever played it live in those days.  "Someone Like The Hawk" is a tune that John Thompson recorded on cassette 4-track.  It was just an instrumental, but I really liked it so I added vocals and 12-String Rickenbacker to it.  "The Hawk" was the nickname of this guy David Wolinski who played in the band Shadows Of Knight - he was apparently a gifted multi-instrumentalist.  "Nothin' To Say" is about people that are closed up, people that don't dance and don't know how to have fun - specifically at concerts.  The recording on the 7-inch version is pretty raw, it'll probably be re-recorded for an upcoming album.  "New Day" is obviously inspired by one of Australia's greatest bands of all time: The Church.  Lyrically it is about touring and traveling with my buddies.

How do you decide a song you wrote is for The Young Sinclairs or your solo project or anything other ?

Well it used to be that pretty much any song I wrote on guitar was for The Young Sinclairs - but now I sometimes do save things for my solo project, and I can't really explain the process behind that.  Songs just come from thin air sometimes and I just try and get them down, then figure out where they should go after the fact. 

I know you got some quite good supports since the released of the singles, did you have some new propositions since then ?

Yes, we are currently talking to the people from Ample Play records [ndr : Beat Mark, Paperhead, The Sufis, Sudden Death Of Stars...] in the U.K. - it's the guys from the band Cornershop's label.  We may be releasing an LP with them - keep your fingers crossed, kiddies.

Are you thinking about going on tour again with The Young Sinclairs ?

Most definitely.  It's hard when people in your band have jobs, girlfriends, etc. but we're going to make it work - even if we have to hire some mercenary musician friends to pull it off.  It'll definitely happen, no matter what - and we'll try our hardest to get everyone from our current lineup on board.

How did you went into the sixties kind of sound ?

Me and my brother Joe got into it pretty heavy around 2001 or so.  We found this website called "60's Alternative Jukebox" that had streaming audio of all these more obscure 60's singles and stuff.  That was the first place we heard The Brogues, The Seeds, The Standells, The Sonics, etc. and it totally blew our minds.  Since then we have been crazy about that era of music and drawn so much inspiration from it.  It truly was a special time in the history of recorded sound that will never quite be the same.  Being a fan of punk music, and just real raw rock & roll music in general since a very young age - it was a total revelation to hear all these records from '65 - '67 and find that some of them were much cruder, raunchier and more powerful than any so-called "punk", "metal", or "hardcore" music I'd ever heard.

What are your main influences for the Young Sinclairs project ? and more generally ?

Neil Young, Nickelodeon in the 90's, bossa nova music, jazz music, The Ramones, ninja movies, comic books, American Indians, India Indians, The Byrds, 12-string guitars, tube amps, reverb, fuzz, Echo & The Bunnymen, total darkness, blinding light, The Seeds, Adam West-era Batman soundtrack music, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Nintendo games, Phil Spector, The Church, the occult, the supernatural, women, men, animals, nature, the elements, fruits, vegetables, herbs, Star Wars, The Who, a billion random 60's bands from billions of 60's comps, Hip Hop music & culture, sampling, graffiti, DJ'ing, Television Personalities, 80's horror flicks, The Jam, The Band, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, blah blah blah  

How do you produce your songs ? Do you use vintage hardware ?

We use tube preamps and vintage gear.  We've been collecting instruments and gear for years and we all have amassed a pretty decent assortment of equipment.  We like the old stuff, the funkier the better.  My brother built a lot of our equipment actually.  He built our bass amp, a couple of guitar amps, our tube preamps, our reverb unit, our mixing desk, the list goes on!  We do all kinds of things to make the music sound interesting.   We run microphones through amps or pedals, place mic's in corridors and halls, and generally just do all kinds of weird things.  Happy accidents a lot of the time!

• Hurt  My Pride EP (7") is available in two version.
  The mailorder only version on solid purple wax with an alternative cover, limited to 120 copies worldwide
  The classic black version limited to 200 copies worldwide
• New Day / Turned Around (7") is limited to 200 copies worldwide on black wax. 

Find the records here / Vous pouvez acheter les disques des Young Sinclairs sur :

http://requiempouruntwister.bandcamp.com/
http://croquemacadam.bandcamp.com/
http://theyoungsinclairs.bandcamp.com/ (probably cheaper if you are in the US)

but also Pop Culture (Paris), Born Bad (Paris), Radio City Discos (Madrid) and more to come.

The records has been supported so far by : Little Steven Underground Garage Radioshow, Styrofoam Drone, Finest Kiss, Rock & Folk Magazine, Action Time & Vision, Record Turnover...

Vous êtes une boutique de disque / you own a record shop / Tienes una tienda de disco :

For wholesale prices send us a message at requiempouruntwister at gmail dot com

Interview : Jacco Gardner

Tout simplement notre coup de coeur de cette fin d'année, si nous avions raté la sortie de son premier single, le second sorti chez Trouble In Mind nous a vite mis sur la piste de ce petit prodige de la Pop Baroque et Psych. Jacco Gardner a des doigts d'or, ses deux singles sont absolument sublimes. Ici, nous croyons énormément à son avenir et c'est pour ça que nous voulions absolument l'interviewer !

Easily, one of our crush of the year, we missed his first spanish-released single but since the release of his TiM second SP, we went crazy about Jacco Gardner. This is exactly the kind of music we love, Baroque & Psych Pop with a golden touch. A incredibly sensitive and smart music that go straight to heart and makes you want to listen to it during hours just laying down on your bed, the stereo going loud shrouding you in the sound.

Hi Jacco, can you introduce your solo project ?

Well it started out as a 60's influenced psychedelic baroque pop studio project but now I'm also doing live shows with a 4-piece band. I'm currently finishing an album with songs written and performed by me, with exception of the drums which are played by good friend Josh van Tol

Can you tell us how did you come into making Music and writing songs ?

My family influenced me in this. I'm the youngest of two brothers and a sister, they had been playing instruments before me, so it seemed natural to start playing instruments as well.

I started writing songs when I joined my first band when I was about 13 years old.

What inspires you while writing songs ?

While writing songs I get inspired by interesting chord structures that I'm trying out while playing an instrument. Sometimes playing some chords and trying out a melody can really set a mood which I will then try to work out more clearly.

You are also part of a freakbeat duo called The Skywalkers, what made you want to go solo ?

I was actually already doing things as a solo act before The Skywalkers but I had never released anything solo. The Skywalkers were the first project I started taking more seriously. After a while of playing with The Skywalkers I felt the urge to finish the songs I had written for my solo project and make an album, that's when I picked that up again.

- Are you still making music with The Skywalkers or are you going to focus on Jacco Gardner at the moment ?

For the moment I am more focused on my Solo Project and it feels like it will remain that way. The Skywalkers was a short lived project, a lot of fun, but there are not enough ambitions there.

What is your creative process, how do you write songs ?

Well like I said before, chord structures inspire me and I start trying out melodies and then write lyrics to them. Sometimes it starts just with lyrics though. Or I hear a chord structure in a song with a completely different context and I think it would work great with another feel and instrumentation. Then I might "steal" some chords here and there and turn it into something new.

What's your secret to create this warm sixties sound ?

Tape machines and tube preamps. I mix my music digitally, on my laptop, but surrounding that I am using a lot of analog gear to process the sound. Tape echo machines, tape machines, tube preamps, spring reverbs, things like that.

Also it's a matter of what you want. I think I would be able to achieve a pretty warm sound by just using plugins in my computer as long as I hear the right sound in my head.

What instruments do you use ?

I mostly work on a basic instrumentation like acoustic or electric guitar with drums and bass. Then I add layers of more unusual instruments like harpsichord, mellotron, optigan, organs, sometimes synths even.

What's your live set ? are you by yourself ?

I'm doing live shows now with a 4-piece band. Jos van Tol on drums, Keez Groenteman on guitars and Jasper Verhulst or Hugo van de Poel on bass.

What are your biggest influences ?

Curt Boettcher, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, The Zombies

Here at Requiem Pour Un Twister are big fan of the nederbiet / psych scene in your country, acts like Q65, Boudewijn de Groot, Shocking Blue, Dragonfly... do these people had an influence on your music ? Anything to advice we should know ?

Actually the guy who recorded Q65, Golden Earrings, Dragonfly etc is a great friend of mine called Jan Audier. He also did part of the mastering process on all my recordings. I wrote my graduation paper on the recording techniques used on those bands in the Nederbiet scene where I met him. There are some great compilations out there with Nederbiet bands on it like "Waterpipes & Dykes" and a lot more, really worth checking out to discover some of the more unknown bands of that scene. One band I really enjoy that you might not know is "The Mega's" from Rotterdam.

Tell me about about Dutch garage / psych / beat music scene  nowadays ? Again, tell us if we had to listen some things we may don't know !

Nowadays there is nothing interesting happening in the dutch garage/psych scene. Not that I know of anyway, maybe I've missed something of course.

Have you ever think about singing in Dutch ?

This was never an option. English has always felt so natural to me that I've never really considered singing in Dutch. I also really prefer the sound of English so I don't think singing in Dutch will ever happen for me.

How did you get in contact with the amazing label Trouble In Mind ?

They found me after I released my first 45 on the Spanish Action Weekend Records called "Clear The Air". I did some promotion for that single and it got shared by many people including The Horrors which helped a lot. I think that little bit of promotion made it more easy for Trouble In Mind to find my music.

You released two singles this year, what's next for you ? any album in the making ?

Yes, I'm currently adding the finishing touches to a full-lenght. This will be released on two labels including Trouble In Mind around January/February 2013, more information on this very soon! Also the live shows are getting more and more and we're planning a tour in the US next spring..

Thanks you so much for your time !

No problem !

Le fabuleux premier single de Jacco Gardner est de nouveau disponible chez Sunny Day Records / Action Weekend Records (avec un nouvel artwork). On en a trouvé aussi quelques copies chez notre vendeur préféré Pop Culture à Paris. Allez-y c'est vraiment grand. Quant au second, c'est sorti chez Trouble In Mind et c'est donc "disponible" (s'il en reste) chez tous les gens qui reçoivent le label. 

Jacco Gardner - Where Will You Go (2012)

Allongé sur votre lit, le vinyle crépite, les yeux rougis et mi-clos, le palpitant ralentissant vous plonge progressivement vers un état de quasi-sommeil paradoxal éveillé et béat, c'est l'ambiance dans laquelle vous met ce sublime second single de Jacco Gardner. Si le psychédélisme noir rincé au whisky et aux Spacemen 3 à la Cosmonauts, Night Beats, Black Angels est plutôt monnaie courante depuis quelques années, une  intarissable nouvelle génération de chevelus est en train de faire son nid dans un psyché plus ouvertement kaléidoscopique, ensoleillé, pop et baroque à l'instar de The Sufis, Allah-Las, Paperhead, The Spyrals ou autres Resonars. C'est également cas de ce petit hollandais, digne héritier d'une grande tradition psychédélique néerlandaise (Boudewijn De Groot, Dragonfly, Q65...) et internationale, on pense à The Zombies (particulièrement sur la b-side Summer's Game), Love, Donovan et Syd Barrett bien sûr. Chez RPUT, on lui prédit un avenir radieux, car dépassant l'imitation, il adapte le patrimoine de ses ainés avec singularité, aisance et évidence. Sa signature sur le formidable label étasunien Trouble In Mind devrait lui ouvrir des portes. Nous, nous sommes déjà prêt à lui ouvrir nos oreilles et nos cœurs.

Le 45 tours se trouve sur Trouble In Mind et vérifiez également à Born Bad et Pop Culture qui reçoivent régulièrement du Trouble In Mind.

The Paperhead - Pictures of Her Demise 7 (2012)

Troube In Mind est décidément très actif ces temps via une fournée de singles (Resonars, Wrong Words etc.) ou encore le nouvel album des Hollows. Le nouveau simple de Paperhead m'a particulièrement plu.

Le groupe a déjà sorti deux albums, un premier disque autoproduit suivi d'un premier "vrai" album chez Trouble In Mind produit par le mec de Cheap Time. J'avais trouvé cet album plutôt pas mal mais définitivement un peu trop "patchouli" pour moi, j'étais forcément un peu curieux de l'orientation qu'allait prendre le groupe via un single.

Je ne suis pas déçu, au contraire, ce 45 est une excellente surprise, The Paperhead concentre son savoir faire et nous sort deux très belles chansons pop psychédélique dans un registre très anglais qui évoque le Pink Floyd des débuts mais aussi The Move ou les excellent Tomorrow, on est vraiment "dans l'esprit" (jusqu'au dos de la pochette dans le pure esprit des eps 60s), mais ça sonne très bien et les chansons sont super cool alors je vais pas m'en priver en ce qui me concerne. Deux morceaux qui aurait pu figurer sur le classique 25 o clock des Dukes of Stratosphear!


The Paperhead - She Is Above Me

Rain Parade - this can't be today (1983)

Je suppose que vous êtes d'accord avec moi quand je dis que les années 80 trainent une sale réputation... Par certains aspects difficile de nier que la musique mainstream de cette époque est particulièrement catastrophique, en revanche au niveau du sous-sol c'est une autre affaire, c'est à cette époque que la musique indie se met en place et fait ses premiers pas. Pas rien non?
Parmi les premières scènes indie identifées une place de choix (et un peu à part) doit être faite à la Paisley Pop. Ce courant est pourtant l'affaire de peut-être une dizaine de groupes parmi lesquels les Bangles, Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, 3 o Clock et le groupe dont je parle aujourd'hui: Rain Parade. Ces groupes ont en commun deux choses je crois, un certain gout pour les années 60 et en particulier ce qui tourne autour des Byrds et d'autre part une approche relativement moderne concernant ces influences, le punk est clairement passé par là.
Rain Parade sont peut-être parmi les plus 60s de la bande, leur premier album au nom plus que long (emergency third rail power trip) est néanmoins particulièrement jouissif et cool. C'est un disque de pop psychédélique aux nettes colorations Byrdsiennes (guitares vous savez comment) sans que l'ensemble sonne comme un pastiche. C'est un super disque en fait, et difficile d'en dégager les meilleurs chansons car elles sont presque toutes intéressantes. Du coup je me suis fait avoir par "this can't be today" qui est assez représentatif de la démarche du groupe sur ce disque, une sorte de raga avec une basse presque post-punk ou new wave et des guitares dans le pure style psychédélique mâtiné de folk, un clavier éthéré complète très bien le tableau, et c'est parti pour plus de 4 minutes 30 de plaisir!

Paisley pop was one the first american indie scene in the early 80s. Among the bands were the Rain Parade, their album (emergency third rail power trip, what a name!) is a very enjoyable collection of psych-pop tunes with that byrdsian guitar sound. It's really a cool release, and very recommanded.

Rain Parade - this can't be today

the Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 o clock (1985)

The Dukes of Stratosphear est l'alter ego psychédélique d'XTC. Sorti le premier avril 1985, les ventes de ce mini album ont dépassé celles des derniers albums du groupe (the Big Express). Le disque est un pastiche savoureux au rock psychédélique 60s, les XTC y maitrisent tellement bien l'abécédaire 60s que le résultat est confondant de réalisme. Évidemment au delà de l'hommage ce qui compte c'est les chansons, et elles suivent! Le mini album est d'excellente tenue, bien que j'ai tendance à préférer l'album sorti en 1987 dont l'orientation est plus pop. Aujourd'hui 25 0 Clock en écoute, un hommage aux Electric Prunes et quelques autres références 60s que l'on apprécie particulièrement par ici.

The Dukes of Stratosphear is the psych alter ego of XTC. This disc was released on 1st april 1985 (25 years ago!) and outselled the last albums of XTC (the big express). 25 o clock is full of great psych hooks, and it's a great hommage to the music of this time, i especially like the first tune "25 0 clock" wich remains the Electric Prunes.

the Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 0 clock