HOMEMADE LOFI PSYCH --- WHERE TO START?





"There is so much great music here..." WHERE TO START???

I recommend to
start with the HLFP-Samplers (especially HLFP 04).
Here you will come to know many of the bands/musicians featured in this blog. If you like what you hear, you may check out more of their music later on.
(You may also click on the picture on the sidebar and you will find the original post with download links.)

There is also a "FOCUS ON..." section. Here you will find albums that imo are absolutely great (***** = "five-stars-recordings") and that are essential listening and strongly recommended for download.


I TRY to RE-UP some stuff that has been down from time to

time, but I still don't have enough time to

listen to/post much new stuff.

Sorry!

IMPRESSUM: see here!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

RE-POST: Orange - Industrial Acid Punk Rock (Live Bootleg 1994-96) (GER)



I already posted some material by this German psychedelic rock/grunge band, that existed between 1993 and 1997, and will do so in the future. Why? Because I really like that stuff.
ORANGE mainly played in the Rhein Main area around Frankfurt a. M. and also did some festivals/open airs in that region and also in south Germany - to mixed responses. They baffled quite a lot of people with their unique sound/style mixture (grunge, free style improvisation, krautrock, psych-folk, psychedelic rock, minimalistic avantgarde music...). ORANGE built themselves a small follower fan base with their always surprising live gigs (not a great number of people, but it was ok for a start). No two concerts were the same, and so one never knew what to expect from the band.

ORANGE also once won the second prize at some kind of "battle of the bands" contest with some hundred bands competitioning in Mainz at the OPEN OHR FESTIVAL in the final round. The interview segment (track 6) is about that competition, where ORANGE played - of all things - a shortened (!) 20 minutes version of "Neil's Elevator".

This live collection here features the more experimental pieces of the band with the flashlight on ORANGE's most avantgarde project, the minimalistic track "Rockwork Orange", that followed an acid punk version of"Magic Spell" (read more about the history and the many variations of that song here).

This version of "Rockwork Orange" is a composite version from two different gigs, with the long middle section coming from the debut performance of "Rockwork Orange" from Frankfurt's "Dreikönigskeller". After 40 minutes the tape run out, while the song lasted for over 60 minutes. The story goes like this:

"In the 'Dreikönigskeller' we first played a normal set with some more or less simple rock songs and then wanted to end the gig with our minimalistic piece 'Rockwork Orange'. The original idea was to play the same riff over and over again until everybody in the audience left the room or the power was cut off by the club owner - however long that might take. But most of the people in the audience really got into us and were digging what we were doing - you can hear some ecstatic screams every 15 minutes or so from some guys in the audience - and the club owner also liked what we did and even contributed on the mixing desk adding spontaniously some effects. So it all ended that we played the same riff for over 60 minutes until we called it quitts... It was indeed a very special experience for both, audience and band. Very trance like and very far out." (Mike S. 2009)

"Rockwork Orange" was played live on view occasions, but never that long again and more often in a more 'traditional' way with the guitar doing some noise solo instead of monotoniously repeating the same riff over and over again.

"He Came To Me One Morning" was improvised on the spot and is a good example of the more free style jamming ORANGE.

"25 Ways" and "Yawning" are some kind of organized improvisations, more in song format.

More ORANGE stuff is still available for download here.
Enjoy!

ORANGE - Industrial Acid Punk Rock 
(Live Bootleg 1994-98)
(mp3 zip, 6 tracks, 73 min, 99,6 MB, artwork for slimcase incl.)
1. 25 Ways - 4.38
2. Magic Spell - 4.38 ->
3. Rockwork Orange (Composite Version) - 44.49
4. Yawning - 8.44
5. He Came To Me One Morning (Jam) - 7.39
6. SWF 3 Radio Interview (incl. fragments of Neil's Elevator) - 1.49
Get it here!

Dreamtime: Centre of Mind (Video)



Great band! Great video!

Band name: Dreamtime
Track name: Centre Of Mind

Track details: 
Track 1 from our second self-released album called Sun. This track is currently streaming and available for download on our Bandcamp page. The full album will be released on our Bandcamp page this Saturday 17th November. We will be playing at Lost Race Festival, Coorparoo Bowls Club, Brisbane Australia to launch the album locally.

Band Bio:

Drifting off during extended meditative jams, the music plays through us. Inspiration comes to us through psychedelic bands from 1968 – 1971 among other places. We are mindful in creating personal journeys to help draw listeners out of their frontal lobe consciousness and into sonic fantasies. Drums – Tara Wardrop, Bass – Catherine Maddin, Guitar – Zac Anderson




Austin Psych Fest: http://www.austinpsychfest.com/

Thursday, November 8, 2012

RE-POST: Paneye - Wilt and Loom (AUSTRALIA 2009)


 "Wilt and Loom" is a fantastic record!!!

The man behind the one-man project 
PANEYE is Will Treffry, and he is from Summer Hill near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
PANEYE's music could be described as a mixture of electronic, ambient, psych folk and indie dream pop.


Regular blog readers will certainly already be familiar with Will Treffry's music recorded under the name PANEYE as well as BRIRSTLES ON THE CARAPACE. In fact he is one of my favourite musicians featured here on HLFP. 


Dive into his dreamscapes and enjoy!


PANEYE - Wilt and Loom 
(AUSTRALIA 2009)
(mp3 zip, 14 tracks, 46 min, artwork incl., 66,4 MB)
Get it here!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

RE-POST: The Wig Museum - House Of Toucan (UK 2006)

Another PSYCHEDELIC GEM by an until now unknown one-man-band, called THE WIG MUSEUM, based somewhere in provincial UK. Marvin, the man behind the project, has played and recorded with various bands over the last 20 years and THE WIG MUSEUM is his solo project.
"House of Toucan" was recorded in 2006 in a humble basement studio – and is a great piece of art, believe me! There's lots of mood swings and influences range from film soundtracks/weird cinema to inner and outer space travels in the style of 70s krautrock or various psych bands of older times. The overall atmosphere is quite nightmarish, surreal in a filmic sense, reminding of horror movie soundtracks as well as of STEREOLAB harmony pieces, only to be interrupted by explosions of noises, backward loops and scary sound effects. This is PSYCHEDELIC in its true meaning: mind expanding!

"... They come surfing a mondo wave of electric piano riffs and crying trumpets, laden with phantastic sights and sinister sounds from the bendiest corners of the universe. Please feel free to enter my wigwam. Pull up a cube, slip into something more comfortable, and watch your screaming mind as it drips to the floor. Soon you may see sphericals, skyangles, triangles and evil rhomboid faces; you may hear bells, sirens, explosions and even screams – do not be alarmed. Just take a deep breath and keep repeating 'it's only The Wig Museum... only The Wig Museum... only The Wig Museum...' "

Nothing more to add. DOWNLOAD THIS TREAT!!!
Enjoy and don't forget to visit Marvin's great psychedelic blog!

THE WIG MUSEUM - House Of Toucan 
(UK 2006)
(mp3-zip, 10 tracks, 31,4 MB, art incl.)
1. Sleep
2. Night Of Shame
3. Hunchback Thrash
4. French Spy
5. Life In Bulgaria
6. Mandalay Sun
7. Theme From The Acid Killers
8. Saxon Creche
9. Secret Petal Of Fear
10. Wake up
Get it here!

RE-POST: The Vertigo Swirl (USA 2009)


BRIAN ANDREW MAREK's first release by his psychedelic project with the name THE VERTIGO SWIRL from 2009. A great album!
Grab it now, if you missed it the first time around!

BaM: "Well, here it is - the first product of my new psychedelic project, THE VERTIGO SWIRL. Three songs and two instrumentals, all recorded by my lonesome in December and these first days of January. Thank you to Mike Floyd and all the artists on the homemade lofi psych blog for inspiring me to get off my butt and do some new experimental recordings."

The three tracks in song format presented here are nice explorations in psych pop, but the real treat are the two instrumental tracks: "Baited Breath" is a very far out soundscape psych song complete with backward guitars and sitar like sounds that (except for the drum sound) could easily come from a 1967 album. This is the kind of song I could listen endlessly... The second instrumental track, the title song "The Vertigo Swirl", is another, more krauty, psychedelic masterpiece, that comes along as a mixture of the echo-ey guitar sounds of early 70s experimental German guitar player ACHIM REICHEL ("Die grüne Reise") or MANUEL GÖTTSCHING's mid-70s ASH RA ("Inventions for Electric Guitar") and CAPTAIN BEEFHEART's early rhythmic experimentations ("Mirror Man Sessions"). With 22.47 minutes not one second too long! GREAT!

All we can say is: Wham bam, thank you BaM!

You'll also find one very psychedelic track by BRIAN ANDREW on the HLFP-Sampler (# 03): 
"NEW KIDS ON THE BLOG".

The Vertigo Swirl (2009)
(mp3-zip, 5 tracks, 93.1 MB, 43 min, artwork incl.)
Get it here!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Voyageurs - Trigrams (USA 2010)


I know, it's been quite some time since I posted something new ... well, in fact in this case not that new, since it was first released in 2010, but "new" in the meaning of: not a repost of older stuff already posted before on HLFP.
Enjoy!

VOYAGEURS - TRIGRAMS (USA 2010)
(mp3-zip, 8 tracks, 107 MB, 46 min)
Get it here or here or here!


Q: Where exactly are you from? 
A: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Q: Do you want your real names mentioned? If so: What are your real names? 
A: We don't want to show our real names

Q: Who involved? Who played what? 
A: Donovan on vox/guitar, Rat Stephens on bass, Jimmy Spice on drums, Stevie Lee on tambourine, and Lord Neil on keys/guitar. Jimmy Spice moved to the blues capital of the world (memphis) to pursue his Stevie Ray Vaughn cover band. Stickey Nix plays drums on our new song Envy is Inevitable

Q: How recorded? 
A: Some of it was recorded with a usb mic, but "nude vegas" was recorded with a firepod using logic

Q: When recorded? 
A: Trigrams was a batch of home recordings that we worked on from July to September of 2010. Nude Vegas was recorded in about three sessions at a friends house in November but we released it in December. Alien Iverson was recorded from December 2010 to January 2011.
Q: Any more releases? Any "official" releases (label?)? 
A: We released Nude Vegas on White Moon Recordings

Q: Since when does this band/project exist? 
A: Since early summer of 2010
Q: Any previous bands worth mentioning?
A: Pisser, Niall, Pink Drapes, Fecal Spectrum

Q: How'd you "label" your music? (I know... nobody wants to get labeled... bla bla bla...) 
A: bruce willis meets john lennon
Q: Influences? 
A: Neu!, Spacemen 3, Nirvana, Brainbombs, Odd Future

Q: Website, Myspace?
A: voyageurs.bandcamp.com
Q: Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...
A:  oddfuture.com

(Interviewed October 2010 by mike-floyd)

Check out more here (you'll find already six more releases by VOYAGEURS for download):
 http://voyageurs.bandcamp.com/

Friday, October 26, 2012

RE-UP: Light Seems Dark - Psychedelic Virgin (GER. 1999)



LIGHT SEEMS DARK - Psychedelic Virgin
(1999, 4 track demo)
(mp3 zip, 4 tracks, 49 min, 68,8 MB, cover included)
1. Between The Clouds (4.51)
2. Mind In Cage (6.51)
3. Callings From The Distance (7.48)
4. Psychedelic Virgin (28.58)
Get it here!

  • This is a fine piece of organ dominated psychedelic rock by two guys in the Rhein-Main-Area, Germany, in 1999. I had the pleasure to do the engineering and mixing work (this time a REAL homemade recording on 4-track analog) and I have to say, that I still like this songs very much. In that time those two were still very young and I think considering their age, they did quite an impressive job. Especially when you think of the primitive recording situation. Most tracks were recorded live with only very little overdubs ... 

  • The music is quite pleasant, relaxing – just one long flow, very much in the style of Pink Floyd in their Atom Heart Mother / Meddle period, but completely without lead guitar (as I said before: the keyboards is very up front). So if you like early PF and keyboard, this may be for you. 

  • LIGHT SEEMS DARK recorded only one more thing, the soundtrack of some trashy no budget movie, called "Affekt" in the same year and then quitt to pursue other musical aims. (If you wish I can post that soundtrack as well.)
  • Enjoy!

RE-UP: Black Sand - How Does It Feel? (New Zealand 2009)


BLACK SAND - How Does It Feel? 
(New Zealand 2009)
(mp3 zip, 3 tracks, 13 min, front cover incl.)
1. how does it feel?
2. falling down
3. catch the sun
Get it here or here or here!

From Auckland, New Zealand, comes the one man music project BLACK SAND

"I record under the name BLACK SAND. I've been recording my songs for a few years now using a Fostex 8 track and Cool Edit Pro. I'm influenced by a lot of English bands - Primal ScreamThe Jesus & Mary ChainThe Stone Roses etc. - and a lot of sixties bands, The CreationThe WhoSmall Faces etc. - Catch the Sun is the oldest song here, written 3 years ago, while How Does it Feeland Falling Down were written in the last couple of months. - I'm a big music fan and I've always written and recorded for the love of it. My songs are what they are, they're born out of a love of listening to music that moves you and makes you feel alive."(Anthony Evans, B. S.)

60ies inspired psychedelic pop/rock that has everything fans of that genre will love: dreamy melodies, backward guitars, and a quite relaxed over all atmosphere...To my mind come indeed some songs by PRIMAL SCREEN. Recommended! I'd love to hear more from that guy!
Enjoy!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Maxim Engl live im Waggon, Offenbach, GER


Liebe Freunde und Freundinnen der schönen Künste, Musikliebhaberinnen und Musikliebhaber,

ich habe das Glück am Donnerstag, den 4.10. im Waggon in Offenbach, Mainstr. 100, einen ganzen Abend alleine bestreiten zu dürfen, um zahlreiches Erscheinen wird dringendst gebeten:


AN EVENING WITH MAXIM ENGL - THREE SIDES LIVE

Three Sides Live - so heißt ein fürchterliches Live Album von Genesis und so heißt das Motto des heutigen Abends im Waggon.
Wer Maxim Engl bereits in Begleitung von Torstn Kauke m Bass mit seinen ätherischen Drones erleben durfte, wer auch auf den experimentellen Slow Heavy Sound seiner Band ephemeroL steht, der wird heute nicht nur satt bedient, sondern bekommt noch mehr Aspekte seines Waltens und Wirkens serviert:

Maxim wird drei Sets spielen.

Das erste Set ist rein akustisch. Teils wird improvisiert, teils werden Stücke aus den Programm von ephemeroL gespielt werden. Wenn die Stimmung des Abends es zulässt, werden vielleicht auch Stücke (mit Gesang!) aus der Zeit kurz vor ephemeroL dargeboten!

Das zweite Set ist elektrisch und wird von Torstn Kauke am Bass begleitet, wird aber anders werden als zuletzt im Waggon. Mehr wird nicht verraten.

Set Drei wird eine Solo Drone Performance sein. Es wird ein Stück vom zweiten ephemeroL Album "pLENK!" gespielt.

Vor und während der Sets werden Stücke aus Maxims Musiksammlung zu hören sein. Alles in allem: ein reichhaltiger Abend.


MAXIM ENGL

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

RE-UP: East Forest - The Education Of The Individual Soul (USA 2008)

RE-UP by request.

The artwork above was penned by VC Johnson.

EAST FOREST is a unique musical project that combines 100% original field recordings with ethereal melodic soundscapes. All East Forest music is free to download at 
http://www.EastForest.org, and is distributed through a Creative Commons license.

"The Education Of The Individual Soul" is the first musical offering by EAST FOREST.


It's "a forty-five minute uninterrupted sonic voyage down a rabbit hole of jungle monkeys, vintage piano, entheogenic messages, and pulse like beats ... East Forest is a gift and a gesture in the spirit of cooperation for the benefit of the human experience."(Trevor Oswald, photographer and artist from Brooklyn, the man behind E. F.)

"Let’s call it “Shaman-Rock”. It’s a special blend of source sounds and ambient post rock soundscapes that humbly hopes to serve as a guide, a little tool, to put a few cracks in the hypnotic spell of our modern life and help each of us rediscover a sense of self through introspection. Times they are a changing and a whispering truth is emerging in the collective consciousness: a feeling of spiritual emasculation and materialistic instability — we are being scared shitless out of ourselves. It’s time to gather up the moral courage and dive back in. So turn on, tune in, and drop in to some East Forest and start your education of the individual soul." (T. O.)

Read a very good review by Rachel Kowal(www.npr.org) 
here.

Very gentle, relaxing ambient music that mixes samples and sound effects (as frog croaking, side walk preaching, dog barking, playing children) with tasteful keyboard/electric piano impressions. There are no sung lyrics, but some spoken passages and different voices. Enjoy!

EAST FOREST - The Education Of The Individual Soul
(mp3 zip, 13 tracks, 45 min, 64,9 MB, artwork incl.)
Get it here or here or here!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

My Interview about the music scene on BANDMO Blog

Read my interview about the current music scene on BANDMO here:
http://bandmo.com/blog/interview-with-mike-floyd/


If you're about to create a band website, you should check those guys out.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

RE-POST: Lucas Nathan - A (USA 2008)

Repost of another great homemade psych recording by a guy named LUCAS NATHAN.
LUCAS is originally from Los Angeles, CA, but had then (in 2008) just moved to New York. He plays guitar, keyboard, a dislocated drum set, bass and percussion, and he's been making music for quite a while, though he performs live very rarely (admitting to be a bit of a hermit), but he's meaning to get out more.

"I record using a few tape recorders I just picked up at radioshack, sometimes plugging one into an amp and recording it again through another tape recorder to get a different sound. Then I'll record into the computer, basically just by holding the mic to the recorder 'cause I'm a bit too lazy to find another way to put it in there..." (L. N.)

So this is really homemade lofi psych, folks! The music is instrumental, though voices are sometimes used to a good effect ("Encouragement"), and very atmospheric.
If you want to contact LUCAS, you may find his email address in the info. (Please don't spam and please support the artist!) Enjoy!

LUCAS NATHAN - A (USA 2008)
(mp3 zip, 8 tracks, 35 min, 63,2 MB, front cover artwork and info incl.)
Get it here!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Check out this new blog!


 CLAP & COLLIDE is a new blog also featuring lo-fi and experimental music. It's well worth checking out!


Look here:

Http://clapandcollide.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Re-Post: Orange - ... And Then There Were Three (GER. 1996/97)



Probably the final (demo) recordings by ORANGE, the German psychedelic grunge band from Frankfurt a. M., after original bass player and founder member Mike S. was kicked out of the band and before ORANGE finally broke up.
By this time the songs were less psychedelic than earlier compositions (e.g. "Sleep My Love", "Idiot in Bed", "Neil's Elevator"), but more in a grunge style ("Heaven, Silky-Green", "Distant Smile", "Bear" or "Soft Paws" (the last two not featured here, will be posted later)) with the guitar very much to the fore, before ORANGE drifted into some post rock style based on monotonous repetition ("Sheltering Hair", "Sex Bus", "Sea Stoned"), earlier already explored live with songs like "Rockwork Orange".

"Deadland" was one of the earliest songs by ORANGE and a live favourite, but never recorded before and "Love In The Suffer Room" was a re-recording from the track from the second demo "In the Garden Of The Demon King".
The most interesting song is "Plane" – it's by far the most psychedelic one.
The fuzz-drenched heavy guitar style of guitar player Maxim Engl (aka POET ZERO) gives a clear foretaste of the direction Maxim would later follow with his succeeding bands PAN AMP and EPHEMEROL.

ORANGE - ...And Then There Were Three (After ORANGE) (1996/97)
(mp3-zip, 12 tracks, 68 min, 93,5 MB, art incl.)
01. Sheltering Hair - 7.58
02. Heaven, Silky-Green - 3.39
03. Plane - 11.40
04. Birds - 5.10
05. Distant Smile - 5.40
06. Deadland - 3.24
07. Love In The Suffer Room - 2.27
08. Believe - 4.13
09. Instr. - 2.19
10. Sea Stoned - 12.07
11. Sex Bus - 5.59
12. Nameless Creatures in The Laundry - 3.19

Get it here!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Re-Post: Manual Zombie - S. T. (HLFP Compilation) (USA 2009)





MANUAL ZOMBIE is a New York/Brooklyn-based psychedelic band (like SKY PICNIC), a duo of two guys: Ahmad and Ben. Compared to SKY PICNIC their music is more sinister and far less influenced by 60ies/70ies psychedelic rock. MANUAL ZOMBIE's sound is at least to some degree rooted in the 90ies grunge, post punk and metal sound (though on tracks like "automatic people" some Sweet-Sister-Ray-VU-Punk is greeting). I'd also say I hear some BLACK FLAG influences, and I especially love that excellent distorted guitar playing. Their other main weapon is the voice - often spooky and menacing with strange spoken word passages:This is a trip to the dark realms of psychedelia. Enjoy!




MANUAL ZOMBIE's website lists four releases, and the 9 tracks from this collection here are taken from those records (that you can buy there) except for one song that was only recorded recently.
Favourite tracks: "Automatic People" and "No More Sun"




MANUAL ZOMBIE - S. T. (HLFP Compilation)
(mp3 zip, 9 tracks, 34 min, 26 MB, art incl.)
Get it here or here or here!

INTERVIEW (June 2009):






- where exactly are you from?

brooklyn

- do you want your real name(s) mentioned? If so: what is your real name?
A: sure.  Ahmad.
B: Ben

- how/when recorded? (at home/equipment...)?
B: We have three albums -all recorded on my computer.

- any official releases? If so, label, record nr.?
B: We haven't really released anything officially. We try to sell cds at shows and actually got somebody to buy one last monday. 

- since when are you into music?
A: weird question but I guess I've been into music from a young age, i just took a long time to start playing.  
B: I started listening to black flag in 6th grade. Thats when I started playing bass.

- any previous bands?  
A: Coupe of denver bands that no one will ever hear of. 
B: I played bass in a band called whore nun wizard ninja. We did classic rock covers and played one show. It was terrible.

- how do you "label" your music?
A: indie-heavy, psycadelic-shoegazish rock
B: acid rock

- influences?
A: Personally: Floyd, Zep, Radiohead
B: the velvet underground, bob dylan, pink floyd, black flag, dario argento