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| Kohoutek - Lossless Loss **VINYL ONLY** Limited edition two color vinyl (orange and white!) gatefold packaging! HOT!Available Now!
Improvised experimental psych-rock excursion infused with traces of Free Jazz, Krautrock, and electronic fizzleLossless Loss, the second studio album from Mid-Atlantic improv collective Kohoutek, covers most of the dynamic stylistic range Kohoutek is known for: abstract and textural sound, atmospheric rock, harsh noise freakouts, clattering percussion, guitar heroics, and alien electronics congealing to form a multihued psychedelic extravaganza. Recorded deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in September 2007, the five members embarked on a psilocybic twilight journey, and this 44-minute aural excursion is the result. No overdubs and minimal editing create an experience as close as possible to a Kohoutek performance. With longtime core members Scott Verrastro (percussion, flute), Craig Garrett (bass) and Scott Allison (electronics) augmented by Vic Salazar (electric guitar) and Damian Languell (vocals, harmonica, clarinet, didgeridoo, Space Echo), Kohoutek forge their own path in the improv universe, and Lossless Loss is another burning fragment of this fleeting sonic comet. Track Listing: FuzzRock.com/StonerRock.com
| I'll
give Kohoutek credit - they've been along for awhile now, and every
time they release new material (or I see them live...), I don't know
what to expect. Their "anything goes" approach to psych rock puts them
in the same experimental camp as bands like Sunburned Hand Of The Man.
On
Losslessloss, which is a beautifully packaged vinyl only release, the
band dive right into surreal, free jazz influenced soundscapes. Think
Claude Debussy composing on too much of Woodstock's fabled brown acid,
or Bitches Brew on some serious downers, and you're in the right
ballpark. It's obviously improvised, with some repeating melodic themes
giving it cohesiveness, and it's quite obvious that these guys have
jammed together quite a bit, in various altered states of consciousness.
The
instrumentation isn't your typical guitar/bass/drums setup, there's a
lot of electronic effects going on, along with some "effected" woodwind
instruments such as flute and clarinet. There aren't any riffs or songs
in the traditional sense either, and the rhythms are sparse and
free-flowing.
On the first side of the LP, they pick up the pace a
bit halfway through, with some guitar playing that's as noisy as it is
bluesy, punctuated by electronic flange sweeps and a loose, dub
influenced groove from the rhythm section. Side B immediately starts out
more frenzied and otherwordly before dissolving into the bliss of
electronic bleeps and blurps. Even the electronics have an organic, warm
sound to them though, and as noisy as Kohoutek can be at times, they
never really venture too far into harsh or abrasive territories. Vocals
drift in and out, along with bizarre drones and scrapes, before they
peak it out in a trance inducing rave up.
If you're into psych
rockers that take it as far out as they possibly can every time they
jam, this record is a definite must have. You'll hear different things
with each listen, different melodies or parts will jump out, as there's a
lot going on, and a lot to take in. For fans of Acid Mothers Temple,
Sunburned Hand of the Man, and all things acid damaged, recommended. -Andy Beresky |
TERRASCOPE - AUGUST 2010
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| This
second studio album from Kohoutek, released in limited numbers on
gloriously multi-coloured vinyl but also available in other formats for
the less adventurous, has been around for a little while now – and was
recorded even longer ago, way up high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Virginia during the Autumn of 2007. However, it’s never too late to
review a good record: Lord knows we used to cover enough lost treasures
from decades before in the pages of the Ptolemaic Terrascope long before
they ever got reissued just for the sheer pleasure of sharing. Recorded
“live” without overdubs the idea is that this instrumental jam captures
as closely as possible the live experience; or rather, one facet of the
live experience, as Kohoutek tend to be one of those bands for who
versatility is a watchword and you never quite know what you’re going to
get. On here, long-time core members Scott Allison (electronics), Scott
Verrastro (percussion and flute) and Craig Garrett (bass) are augmented
by guitarist Vic Salazar and Damian Languell, who plays just about
everything else. The
album starts gently enough, hauntingly evocative night-sounds punctured
by the distant siren’s wail of approaching guitar drone led by a lone
flautist. Random elements of percussion are gradually introduced as the
marching army of psychonauts crest the brow of the hill, the sounds
become ever more destructive, one punching at your midriff as another
screws with your mind as it traces space-rock curlicues in the sky above
you and then suddenly BAM! at the ten minute point or thereabouts a
guitar announces the onslaught with an utterly captivating fuzz of
feedbackery, there’s an explosion of sound all around you and battle
commences. Side two continues along much the same improvisational
freakout path throughout, charting the band’s own unique guitar-led
journey through the outer edges of space-rock and hypnotic kosmisch. If
I was still young and devious (not that I ever was devious, of course…)
I’d be tempted to slap a United Artists label on this one, scuff up the
sleeve and palm it off as a lost classic from 1971. Filed alongside a
host of highly collectable Can, Man, Hawkwind and Amon Duul II LPs
nobody would ever be the wiser. And that, to my mind, is no bad thing.(Phil McMullen) |
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