-=- SHGZ -=- * Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal * ARTIST..: Magic Castles ALBUM...: Sky Sounds GENRE...: Psychedelic Rock STYLE...: Psychedelic Rock, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock YEAR....: 2014 LABEL...: A Records ENCODER.: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 TRACKS..: 8 BITRATE.: 228 kbps avg SOURCE..: CD QUALITY.: 44.1kHz/Stereo SIZE....: 68.22 MB URL..: http://www.facebook.com/themagiccastles/ - TRACKLIST 1 Trembling Hands 4:14 2 Sky Sounds 3:47 3 Dragonfly 4:38 4 Silent 3:37 5 Rebecca's World 5:09 6 White Stone 5:58 7 Mole People 8:12 8 Wander 6:02 Total Playtime: 41:37 A fantastic follow up to their eponymous last album, lazy loping west coast psychedelia like honey to your ears. Although you could say you've heard it all before, they manage to make it sound fresh. Trembling Hands starts it off with the aforesaid lazy loping style that gives a hint to the rest of the album, I've only had it a couple of days and I think I must have played it half a dozen times. This is going to be one of those you can back to over and over again. Can't recommend it highly enough. * Brian "Anton Newcombe" Jonestown from Brian and the Jonestowns popped in yesterday for a shop and a chinwag and very charming he turned out to be too. I mention this because this Magic Castles LP is out on his very own 'a' imprint, and the band's expansive wall of psychedelic jangle and drone owes clear debts to BJM's '60s flavoured sound. The similarity is particularly evident in the early stages of 'Sky Sounds', with opener 'Trembling Hands' easing us in with shuffling rhythms full of shaker and tambourine, droning organ, breathy swells of reverbed vocals and snaking backwards masked guitars which builds to an admirably epic crescendo of cathedralesque guitar screeching and pounding drums and emphatically smeared melodies. Second track 'Sky Sounds' sees them in a sun-bleached slacker mode in a laid back countryish plod with strummy guitars and wistful vocals punctuated with streaks of high-gain guitar. For the most part the first half of the album concentrates on more psych-pop oriented material while on side B they delve into a more spacey and ritualistic bag of tricks, with 'White Stone' and 'Mole People' particularly impressing here. The former is a throbbing Dead Skeletons-ish hypno-rock incantation full of Eastern-sounding riffs, deliriously rumbling bass, wailing wah guitar, cosmic synth drones and chanted vocals, leading seamlessly into the irresistible groove of the latter, which mixes a Goat-ish tribal psych rock vibe with dreamy trails of reverb and distracted vocals, wandering organ melodies all meandering patiently to a churning Hawkwind-esque payoff. Super fun. In short it's droney psychedelic pop in places, cosmic hypno-rock in others, and Magic Castles are pretty good at both. * Magic Castles are a five-piece psychedelic rock band from Minneapolis MN. Their sound has been described as minimalistic, dream pop & neo-psychedelic rock. Drawing from a myriad of influences, combining the hazy, "floaty" atmospherics of bands like Spacemen 3 and Galaxie 500, with the organ-drenched psych of the mid/late 60's--particularly American west coast folk-rock, Magic Castles continue to create an altogether unique sound. Since their 2012 release on Anton Newcombe's imprint they have toured consistently, building a solid reputation for wall-of-sound live shows, stretching out their songs to new dimensions. The Magic Castles were the supporting act for BJM's east coast tour in 2012. Thrasher Magazine recently used their song "Big Sur" in a skate video alongside Kurt Vile. On April 20th 2014, BJM released a beautiful 12" split single with The Magic Castles for Record Store Day. "Sky Soundsö was recorded at The Old Blackberry Way Studio in Minneapolis, MN by Neil Weir. Produced by Neil Weir, Jason Edmonds, "Sky Soundsö sees the band reaching new heights. The album is dense with lush arrangements, jangling backward guitar sweeps, ever deepening melodic layers, symphonic Farfisa tones, and bright vocal harmonies. A host of guest musicians were included on select tracks, adding cello, viola, flute & trombone. -=- SHGZ -=- P.S. ** Thanks *** *** BCC FNT IPC SSR *** *** For Knowing Where The Music Is At *** --===-- ********************* * NuHS we miss you! * *********************