-=- SHGZ -=-


* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *



         ARTIST..: Magic Castles
         ALBUM...: Starflower

         GENRE...: Psychedelic Rock
         STYLE...: Space Rock, Stoner Rock

         YEAR....: 2015
         LABEL...: A Records

         ENCODER.: LAME 3.98.4 -V0
         BITRATE.: 244 kbps avg
         QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo

         SOURCE..: CD
         TRACKS..: 8
         SIZE....: 51.94 MB


         URL..: http://www.facebook.com/themagiccastles


         - TRACKLIST


   1   The One                                 3:57
   2   Moon Dust                               3:21
   3   Hollow Moon                             2:55
   4   Lost In Space                           4:36
   5   See Her Eyes In The Sky                 3:16
   6   She Wore Lilacs In Her Hair             3:14
   7   Samara                                  3:43
   8   See You Shining                         4:41



                                     Total Playtime: 29:43



   Magic Castles are a Minneapolis group well-versed in the ways of blissfully
   floating psychedelically-inclined folk-rock. Gentle harmonies float above
   winding streams of twanging guitar and organ clouds.

   *

   Nearly three years ago, even with the help of Anton Newton [Brian Jamestown
   Massacre], or perhaps because of it, Magic Castles were nearly written off
   and doomed to be forgotten. Here on their Starflower release, we find the
   band still steeped in lazy dreamy neo-psychedelia that is both predictable
   and somewhat savvy, in that their songs are more dream-pop oriented, far
   shorter, and while still relying on effects peddles, they've come to have a
   better grasp of who they are and where they want to be.

   With deeply buried vocals and sonically layered productions, this outing
   sounds more shrouded in mystery, reminding me of the wonderful Cheval Sombre,
   delivering their content with droning keyboards mixed with fuzzy guitars ...
   content not to take you anywhere you don't want to be, from the time you drop
   this disc into the tray, to the time you take it out.  With a delightful
   undercurrent of madness, the songs seem designed to absorb the listener and
   take them to some far off distant land, where for the next thirty minutes one
   gets to dream without comprehension. And in that aspect, the course Magic
   Castles have taken is right on the mark.

   There's a element to Magic Castles' background sounds, and that comes in the
   nature of Brian Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets [especially on track 7], along
   with Moon Duo and of course BJM, allowing me to feel that I'm charting a
   journey that's somewhat clear to me, somewhat familiar, and all without
   relying on anything that's gone on before them in a manner that would suggest
   they are doing anything other than paying homage. This is a hazy release,
   make no mistake about it, it's for the armchair traveller in all of us, for
   those of us who need to take some time out, and those who simply long for the
   rapture.

   *

   The Magic Castles sound like a cloud whispering to their favourite cloud, and
   that just happens to continue on 'Starflower', because clouds happen to float
   on, okay? I think Modest Mouse told me that once. This record is addictive in
   the same way sitting on a bean bag is; you don't want to get up from it.
   'Starflower' offers dulcet pop songs and synth instrumentals beamed down from
   the sky, and I wager it's the closest a lot of us will get to experiencing a
   rapture.

   Plenty of your favourite chiller tricks are at hand on this record: there's
   that thing where the bassnotes feel like they've been flicked between, as if
   someone's pressing a switch rather than moving down the frets (as on the
   gorgeous "Hollow Moon"; there's a psychedelic waltz of reverberating tricks
   that sound like they've been crammed into a Phil Collins slow jam (maybe you
   didn't ask for this, but it's contained in the rather lovely "Lost In Space";
   there are even some bona fide psych tunes, like the distantly locked grooves
   of "See Her Eyes In The Sky". As far as psych rock albums go, I'm told psych
   tunes are currency.

   Not only is 'Starflower' a great, stoned out genre pastiche, it sounds
   utterly lovely: there are bands who seem to channel their best qualities
   through the atmosphere, who make production sound like their blood vessels,
   and the Magic Castles are one of those bands. Like Kevin Shields engineering
   songs rather than writing them, this  band have created a floaty wonderland
   and then sung into it.



                               -=- SHGZ -=-

                                   P.S.
                               ** Thanks ***
                          *** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
                *** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
          *** Props to CaHeSo, awesome Asian Indie/Shoegaze ***
   *** And to FANG/HOUND for supporting all the Indie lovers out there ***
                                 --===--

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