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And a few quick comments:
– good gig, but never hit the absolute peaks IMHO. Might have had something to do with me – had to drive and stay sober.
– quiet crowd, which was both good and bad…Bent commented on it several times
– nice setlist, but momentum absolutely killed by a weak Lacuna/Sunrise (still a nice theme in search of a song, and a poor excuse for a jam) and the perennially overrated Flick of the Wrist (Motorpsycho are masters of the one chord drone, but leave the two chord jams to Neil Young). That was 15 minutes of my life I won't be getting back.
– Tomas is brilliant. Jazzier than Kenneth, but also heavier when he wants to. Brings a new touch to familiar material.
– High points:
1) intrepid Explorer a brilliant opener
2) August was best version I've heard, Tomas absolutely killin' it!
3) The Tower much better than on album
4) Ship of Fools just perfect. What a song!
5) Bartok just insane. You can just tell that they love to play it and know that it is an absolute killer.
– things to criticize: Lacuna/FLick as mentioned above…blaah…Spin is nice on album, still doesn't work live.
BTW; V.S. and Fool's GOld both written as encores, but on the same line, so I think they intended to choose one.
Well, Bartok…you said it again, *exactly* like I would, and I'm 40 too (well, in a few months), so I do think it has something to do with the time we came of age. But all that said, I connect emotionally with The Tower (the album) almost as intensely as those 90s peaks, so they are definitely doing something right these days too. And the consistency of their output is unquestionable – it's just, as you say, that they were so unbelievably good at their (in our opinion) peak that almost everything will have to pale in comparison.
It will be interesting to see if Punj Lizard sees it that way though, coming at it from a different angle and a different age. But your eclectic tastes in music puts you in a perfect place to appreciate their entire output.
Now off to the Larvik gig. I am trying to "ganne" for them to play Rad.Freq and/or Mantrick Muffin Stomp, but it's probably more wishful thinking than anything. That would make my life complete, though.
Aaarghh!! Even better setlist than Bergen 27/9! Alas, I fear they will bring out HBM tonight in Larvik. It was the wettest blanket on the proceedings at Rockefeller in 2016, and I doubt it's any better now. This one above is just about the ultimate 2017 setlist so far.
Supernaut – indeed! It just grows and grows. Incredible album. Just a little track like The Maypole…what a beautiful, uplifting track! Snah is sublime on that one.
Tomas is a perfect fit, and he is amazing on Ship of Fools as well as Bartok. The whole album is just an amazing ride, even the tracks that didn't attract me in the first place keep growing and worm their way into my mind, like A Pacific Sonata.
This album will be remembered as one of *the* very best Motorpsycho records. It has everything.
That would also work, I suppose. But that last paragraph of Ship of Fools is clearly aimed at the POTUS though, isn't it?
It has to be said – these are the best lyrics since on a Motorpsycho record since…I don't know when. They just *work*, and every word feels important. Well, I'm not too keen on the lyrics to The Tower – they seem to signal too clearly (both by words and music): ATTENTION: BOLD AND IMPORTANT STATEMENT TO FOLLOW!…and then not quite deliver on that promise. But other than that, this album is, both lyrically and musically, stunning. It is the most "complete" Motorpsycho record since the 90s, and on some levels surpass those masterpieces. But comparison is useless when you get to this level – suffice to say that Motorpsycho couldn't have made this record 20 or 25 years ago, just like they can't (and won't) remake Timothy's Monster today.
How about some thoughts about the meaning(s) of the lyrics? In Every Dream Home is obviously a put-down of consumerism and materialism. But what about The Cuckoo? I must say my thoughts immediately went to xenophobia and the rise of neo-fascism/neo-Nazism, but what do I know…
Did anyone mention that the album sounds really, really good? I haven't been able to pick it up yet and due to work situation I can only play vinyl very occasionally during the weekends, so my listening so far is through Spotify, but the sound of the instruments and the mix is just perfect.
Tomas deserves extra mention for being the newcomer and absolutely nailing it on first try. His performance on Bartok is unbelievable – he manages to out-Ward Bill Ward.
And Snah is in absolute peak form. Sometimes, in less inspired moments, his solos can be padded out with slightly meandering noodling, but here everything is to the point and inspired, complex and layered. Bartok is a prime example – the middle "solo" section could easily have turned into a shredfest or pointless bluesy noodle just to add yet another guitar solo. But here it helps to further build complexity and add to the suspense until it's almost impossible to contain. Can't wait to hear this one live – should be massive! I keep talking about this song, and it's not because there aren't other highlights, in fact, almost every song is a gem in one way or another, but because with Bartok of the Universe I finally feel like they've recorded a real hard rocking track that is at the same level of genius as S.T.G., Superstooge or Feedtime, yet sounds nothing like any of those tracks. Motorpsycho 20 years ago couldn't have made this track, but it is just as brilliant as anything they did back then or any time since then. The same could be said of several other tracks, but when it comes to the real rockers, then this and Cuckoo really stand out.
Bent is, as always, Bent. Master of ceremony.
In case anyone cares…The Tower has officially cracked my top 5 MP albums in a draw with AADAP. Here's my full list, not counting live albums, mini albums or "special release" albums and excluding Lobotomizer and Soothe which, dare I say it, I still don't own.
1. Timothy's Monster / Trust Us
3. Blissard
4. Demon Box
5. The Tower / Angels & Daemons at Play
7. The Death Defying Unicorn
8. Behind the Sun
9. Black Hole/Blank Canvas
10. Child of the Future
11. Little Lucid Moments
12. Heavy Metal Fruit
13. Let Them Eat Cake
14. Here Be Monsters
15. Still Life with Eggplant
16. It's a Love Cult
17. Phanerothyme
Bartok – are you my twin separated at birth? I could have written the exact same thing about this album. It's a home run. I haven't been able to let it all sink in yet, but my sentiments were exactly like yours – it didn't hit me immediately, yet I instantly knew there was something there to be discovered. Slowly, it's beginning to creep in, and you get *THAT* feeling…the buzz, the goosebumps…thinking about the album while busy at work, wanting to replay the track you just heard because it was so awesome, but can't skip because the track that just started is equally great…
The most important thing is; this album has "THE SPOOK" as Neil Young would say. Maybe not consistently across all the songs, although I will not say that for sure until I've had time to let it all sink properly in.
If anyone was worried that Thomas Järmyr wouldn't be a good fit, you can let all your worries fade away. He is *perfect* for the job. Somewhere in between Geb's amazing musicality and telepathic understanding of the music, and Kenneth's muscle and technical skills. Like Bartok wrote, I also felt *something* went missing in the Kenneth years…a certain weirdness and edge that was polished away. I am not going to badmouth the Kenneth years, but as I have said before, I appreciated the albums more than I loved them, with a few notable exceptions. This album, at least at its best, reinstalls a lot of that weirdness. And as Bartok says – I *finally* feel like Motorpsycho has moved out of the unbeliavably tall shadow of their 90s output.
I don't have the lyrics at hand, but first impression is that these are the best lyrics Bent has written in years and years. And perhaps that's part of the success of this album – it just feels inspired, necessary and relevant in a way that the Kenneth era albums never succeeded in doing.
I suppose most of you here have heard the album by now, but just a few words on my album faves so far:
– Bartok of the Universe: one of the few tracks that actually live up to the advance reports of "heaviest" Motorpsycho album in years…as a whole album it's not particularly heavy and actually very varied, but this one is pure Sabotage-era Black Sabbath, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Perhaps the closest thing to stoner rock they've done, which would normally have been a turn-off for me, but this is irresistible. The riffage is just completely off the chart, and there's a new twist at every turn.
– A.S.F.E.: I was lukewarm at first, but in the context of the album it's a driving rocker with a lot of catchiness and just enough weirdness.
– Intrepid Explorer: this one is hard to describe…ethereal, psychedelic, kraut-y and drone-y…can't really compare it to anything else they've done, but when it's over you really feel like you've been on a trip. Beautiful.
– The Cuckoo: OMG. Again, one of the hardest things on the album, and Bent is pissed off. This would have fit right in on King Crimson's Red album, with a middle section lifted from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and the goosebumps are impossible to stop.
– Ship of Fools: another centerpiece of the album, a grande finale, and the kraut factor is high in the end section.
The final verdict isn't in as far as grading, but it's tempting to use the boring description…BEST ALBUM SINCE TRUST US!
Nice little session listening to AADAP and hearing Bent and Helge Sten talk about it. The pre-album conversation between the host/chair, Johan Harstad, Bent and Deathprod wasn't too illuminating, but hearing the album in one uninterrupted session was nice. I could hear details previously buried, such as the low bass rumbling between Un Chien and Have Spacesuit…, and Stalemate sounded much more moving on such a high end system that we were listening to tonight. There was a brief Q&A session at the end which was interesting too. Not too much new to reveal, but glad I went. The biggest kick was seeing Bent's own reactions to his own work…part cringeing, part laughing at his own "funny Valentine" croaking in Un Chien, and definitely laughing out loud at the opening of Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.
BTW; we were listening to the 3 CD EP version, so no Back to Source.
Best song: THE GOLDEN CORE. Utterly mesmerizing. Just thinking the climax out in my head brings goosebumps. No one else has made anything quite like it. Pure Motorpsycho-music.
Best solo: THE OTHER OTHER FOOL (Roadwork version). Tough call, Greener and In the Family were certainly contenders, but I love how this is constructed…really, really good solo, especially considering it's a live version.
Best riff: S.T.G. What can I say? Runners-up are numerous, like Feedtime and Superstooge, but S.T.G. is epic.
Song to let someone get familiar with Motorpsycho: Sooo many contenders, so I'll nominate a recent one that sounds fresh and new and still classic Motorpsycho: THE MAGIC AND THE WONDER
– The version of Chien on disc 4 does appear to be the Cinemateket version! Or maybe not – it's slightly unclear from what Bent says. He says it's the first time they played it…but whether that means an early rehearsal version or the actual Cinemateket version remains to be seen.
– The Rockefeller gig includes Deathprod's opening, which has never been broadcast.
Slightly disappointing package…mostly already released stuff, plus the Rockefeller '97 gig which is nice, but something most psychonauts will have heard many, many times before. But it will be nice to finally have all of the original album in digital format since I missd out on the original 3xEP release.
DISC 1: angels and daemons at play vol. 1 the original album – baby scooter 1/sideway spiral I 2/you lied 3/heartattack mac 4/pills, powders and passion plays 5/in the family
DISC 2: angels and daemons at play vol. 2 the original album – have spacesuit will travel 1/un chien d'espace 2/have spacesuit, will travel 3/ohm's concerto for alto & soprano saw
DISC 3: angels and daemons at play vol. 3 the original album – lovelight 1/sideway spiral II 2/like always 3/stalemate 4/starmelt/lovelight 5/timothy's monster
DISC 4: angels and daemons at play vol. 4 the ones that got away: b-sides, rarities & live recordings 1/starmelt/lovelight 2/up our sleeves 3/wishing well 4/flick of the wrist 5/instamatic 6/back to source 7/caterpillar § 8/king bong hop § 9/star dancer vs car cancer 10/la'moen rag 11/baby jesus II 12/mad sun 13/nature's way 14/syk 15/un chien d'espace § 16/timothy in the magic city
DISC 5: angels and daemons at play vol. 5 rockefeller, march 14, 1997, part 1 § 1/komet 2/s. t. g. 3/kill some day 4/like always 5/heartattack mac 6/pills, powders and passion plays 7/the nerve tattoo 8/young man blues 9/starmelt/lovelight
DISC 6: angels and daemons at play vol. 6 1/rockefeller, march 14, 1997, part 2 § 2/un chien d'espace 3/sideway spiral II 4/you lied 5/hogwash 6/the one that went away 7/nothing to say 8/into the sun the golden core § previously unreleased
