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Update on my cancelled trip to Leuven. Definitely cancelled.
If anyone wants a free ticket for both nights, send me an email at jyotipunj at hotmail dot comI’m very pleased to say my ticket has now found a happy home. I hope you all have a great time tomorrow night, and on Saturday for those who are staying for both nights.
Damn! Fuck! Shit! Bollocks!
Looks like I have to cancel my trip to Leuven. I’m absolutely gutted. I will know for sure in a few hours, but if anyone is interested in a free ticket (pay it forward if you’re able), email me at jyotipunj at hotmail dot com
@UPS When E9 played with MP in Drammen a few years ago I hoped SS would join MP for a couple of numbers, but it didn’t happen. However, Benny of Orange Factory told me last spring that he was hoping to talk SS into joining MP on stage in Leuven. I’m not expecting it to happen but am still hopeful.
@nicoot – so that’s you! If I had known, I would have said hi earlier.
Hi. Just to confirm I had no trouble signing in. Many thanks to both you, Vegard, and to Eivin for keeping the the forum up and running. :D
Currently on my second run-through. No question for me, tracks 3 and 4 are main attraction here. I like The Ladder well enough, and The Flower of Awareness is a perfect fit for introducing ML/A. Now it's time for a third listen, which, appropriately enough, will take place as a I go for a walk in the woods. So far, so brilliant. :MPD:
Heavy metal? I'd rather a heavy mariachi album. And I'm not even joking. I reckon they'd make one hell of a fuzz guitar mariachi album. :lol:
And another interview. This one's with Saiten Kult
Review at betreutesproggen.de
The creativity of the Norwegian psych rockers from Motorpsycho seems to be almost inexhaustible. Just a year has passed since “Kingdom of Oblivion” saw the light of day. Since “The Crucible” was released in 2017, the Trondheimers have been releasing their albums every year. Few bands release at such a pace. Since the band was founded in 1989, the band has changed their style in all directions without losing their basic unmistakable Motorpsycho markers. From alternative rock, brit pop, shoegaze to jazz rock, psych rock, progressive rock and stoner… Motorpsycho has definitely tried its hand.
It is not yet clear that the band is slowly getting tired of this tempo and the creative roller coaster ride. Because now their 26th album will be released with “Ancient Astronauts”. And first of all, the bar is still quite high.
The band has been looking for new inspiration during the pandemic. As a result, Ancient Astronauts includes a portion of the Motorpsycho-designed score for a dance project by Impure Dance Company performed for a small audience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, "Ancient Astronauts" is not a one-piece work. The album was recorded live in the studio in Oslo and only the vocals were added afterwards.
As is often the case with Motorpsycho, their latest work can only be compared to its predecessors to a limited extent. The album slows down a few steps in tempo and doesn't present itself as colorful as "The All Is One" or "Kingdom of Oblivion". Motorpsycho play more with soundscapes and give the music a lot of room to grow. Two of the four tracks are extended long tracks at 12 and 22 minutes. The opener 'The Ladder', on the other hand, is a bit out of the ordinary. As usual, he opens rocking with a creaking, distorted bass and a driving rhythm, as known from the Gullvåg trilogy ("The All is One", "The Crucible", "The Tower"). But that's about it for the rocking side of the band on “Ancient Astronauts”.
The instrumental transition 'The Flower Of Awareness' builds quite a menacing vibe with electrifying rumbling soundscapes. Almost unusual for Motorpsycho. This tension is discharged with the following 'Mona Lisa Azrael' through its folkloric and ballad-like drama. A delicate song accompanied by soft tones. Half of the song picks up speed and turns into a contrasting, positively absurd-looking free-jazz intermezzo with rough bass riffing. The calm before the storm, that's what you could call it. The initial melodic beauty and the emerging dissonant and experimental outburst know how to inspire in their entirety.
The 22-minute psychedelic instrumental 'Chariot Of The Sun – To Phaeton On The Occasion Of Sunrise', with its spherical character and clear Pink Floyd borrowings as well as elements from the post-rock, ends "Ancient Astronauts" without harsh edges and extroverted excursions . A track that convinces with its slow and relaxed development just as much as the opener with its directness and boldness. The synth sounds, the details and the amazingly good hand for the calm tones and emotional moments make this song a highlight in the back catalog of motorized psychotics. However, the subtleties and its appeal only reach the listener with concentrated attention.
Anyone who knows the band could have guessed that after the Gullvåg trilogy and “Kingdom of Oblivion” no other Motorpsycho album of a similar style would be released any time soon. One could almost say that it was about time for a change. Whether “Ancient Astronauts” is just an outlier due to the musical dance accompaniment is anyone's guess and will become apparent with their next album at the latest. But that's what makes Motorpsycho so great. The diversity and changeability and maybe also the lived "-psycho" in the name.
“Ancient Astronauts” again shows Motorpsycho from several angles. The album starts rocking, changes to lovely medieval melodies and ends in a dreamy long track. The psychedelic cheerfulness is completely missing here, but it wouldn't really fit either.
The Norwegians focus on atmospheric width and a high emotionality and try to inspire more on an instrumental level. A work that wants to be enjoyed in a relaxed manner. Even if the equally great 'The Ladder' seems a bit lost here stylistically and would have fitted one of the predecessors more, Motorpsycho have again presented an extremely good album. Even if the song sequence seems a bit fragmented. This is Motorpsycho with another face that amazes and delights like all other phases of the band.
Rating: 13/15 points (MK 13, KR 13)
(Translated by Google)
Review at Musikreviews.de
Because MOTORPSYCHO have long enjoyed the freedom of fools, their fans also get through with an album that consists of superficially contradictory set pieces like a collage. As a mixture of ballet music, film soundtrack and easy-going jam session, “Ancient Astronauts” teaches a great deal, even if it isn't ultimately a great moment in the band's catalogue.
On the other hand, the record works pretty well with its Janus-faced nature, and if we're honest, given the Norwegians' adventurously extensive discography, it's presumptuous to expect constant highlights. MOTORPSYCHO like to experiment often, but they never lose the classic rock thread – not even on "Ancient Astronauts".
The music was mainly created in collaboration with a dance project during the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns. The main ideas are older, says bassist and vocalist Bent Sæther, but the final structures and moods were set specifically for the album release. The fact that Helge Sten alias Deathprod (unofficial band member behind the controls since "Demon Box") was once again involved in the production can only be interpreted to a limited extent in the sense of "back to the roots".
´Mona Lisa / Azrael´ (based on Thomas Mann’s novella “Death in Venice” and its film adaptation by Luchino Visconti) is exemplary for the record as a whole as a consistent contrast program: gracefully calm, almost hymn-like passages alternate with effervescent, apparently chaotic and confusing ones Moments that in turn underline that the basic tracks of "Ancient Astronauts" were recorded live in the studio.
'The Flowers Of Awareness' is mixed ambient, ebb and flow noises, but if there's one track you should take with you permanently from this album, it would be 'Chariot Of The Sun – To Phaeton', an epic heavy rocker after a slow start On The Occasion Of Sunrise (Theme From An Imagined Movie)´, in which MOTORPSYCHO show off many of their trademarks (especially the catchy in the weird) as usual.
CONCLUSION: From a distance, "Ancient Astronauts" is probably seen as a transitional work. MOTORPSYCHO close a chapter of their work with this experimental improvisational-traditional hard rock-program music concoction, without showing the nakedness of fraying, but without a doubt they have used up more evocative songs on an album.
(Translated by Google)
Another interview, this time with It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine
