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That so called "Hippie" style like On go to California or the Maypole is exactly what I loved most about the guys through all the years.. Although murder Beasts like the Complete Little Lucid Moments suite too impressed me very much over the years… Guess we would argue about what to play for music if we would once hang together 😂 I would appreciate another Ltec or Phanerothyme album to come very much…
Maybe hippie was the wrong term, maybe Gratful Dead / CSN-ish westcoast pop is closer, though I don’t like it anyhow;) Or the Beach Boys. Or the Doors. And yes, I’m sure we would argue. And I’m sure we’d hug at the end:)
I'll be in Drammen too, would be nice to hook up! I will probably be driving so no beer though…
Great songs post-Geb:
– BH/BC is full of great songs
– She Left on the Sunship has some killer riffing but is let down by the jammy ending
– The Alchemyst is beatiful
– The Magic and the Wonder (and to a slightly lesser extent Entropy)
– I like the main themes of Lacuna/Sunrise, but again the jamming dilutes the impact. IMHO.
And finally, The Tower is chock-full. I love The Maypole too – lyrics perhaps a bit contrived but working nonetheless, and musically I think it is a homerun even if lightweight compared with the rest of the record.
@ shakti. Send me an email and we'll make arrangements. And I don't drink alcohol these days, so no beer for me either.
I really enjoy reading all the different comments whether I agree with them or not. Just shows that Motorpsycho attract fans from all walks of life, a truly interesting bunch!
I guess I'm a metalhead at heart, that's why I miss that "primitive oomph", as supernaut rightly put it, and that's why I started this thread, but let me say that I love all of MP's different musical phases. I adore the three non-hard rock albums, I love the hippie vibes in general, I'm a sucker for prog rock concept albums and jazzy drumming on top of psychedelic freak-outs. I'm glad that Motorpsycho followed their tastes, made the riffs a bit more intricate, the overall playing a bit more frisky; changing drummers several times forced them to reshape their music.
Still, I can totally see where those who cherish the 90s phase the most are coming from, and I guess I am one of them. The albums from the nineties truly display a certain urgency, no matter if the songs are slow, fast, three or twelve minutes long. There is a certain incredible drive and emotional depth to their playing, as if the next note, the next song they play might be the last. There is a scene in This Is Motorpsycho where Bent talks about the relationships within the band and says something like "Snah is kinda my main man in the band and I know where he is in times of need. We are friends, too, but it is mostly about the band." He seems kinda down in that interview, at odds with himself. Later, he can be seen sitting in a dressing room or something, surrounded by Geb and Lolly, feeling like he's a failure, totally depressed about the way the gig went. To me that sounds totally like the kind of person who would write songs like Kill Some Day and Greener. And maybe he needed to be that way to write heavier metal stuff as well as heart-wrenching ballads like Sungravy (I swear to god, every time I hear that song I have to keep myself from crying!). I guess so. And in a way it's great that he isn't the same person anymore, makes things probably way easier for his family.
I reckon the band have kinda found themselves. The genre-hopping is more or less a thing of the past. Motorpsycho albums are not as diverse as they used to be. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as they excel at playing the kind of music they love. But I don't think the whole "They never repeat themselves!" thing holds true anymore. Their last few albums, I guess ever since 2009, are "Variations on a Theme" (Om) to me, because since then they have been playing full-on seveties psych/prog/hard rock, which has always been present in their sound, but I don't really hear that much Fugazi or Sonic Youth in their music anymore.
And that's great. I know where I to go when I need my fix of hippie rock and get out the old caftan. So what am I trying to say? I guess I'm just greedy and want it all! I want the acoustic guitars, the millions of effect pedals, the horns and strings as well as that damn Hate Bass! I wish daddy Saether could go for a walk with his family, put the kids to bed, lock himself in his man cave, take out that down-tuned Jazzmaster, and still lay down some mean and nasty licks like he did back in 92. But I guess that's just not how he rolls. Still, I'm gonna keep on dreaming, and I wish I had had the money to see them play that Demonic Box two years ago. Would have torn my head right off!
First world problems, folks! You want everything, all the time! By the way, does anyone have that live version of Lake Innersfree which appeared on some bootleg?
Good Text Hans Boller… I think it is allmost the same with me hearing Sungravy… I think allways of my Motorpsychodelic days back then being a student… :wink: A very special Song…
Sungravy is Holy Music. Very intimate (Bent's voice) and beautiful (that strings arrangement!). Play this at my funeral (not in a long time I hope)!
I think many are in agreement with you, Hans. I too sometimes miss that 80s/90s indie or metal influence in their songwriting. Last heard around BH/BC I think. And I would tend to agree that the progress from album to album isn't really that noticeable anymore, but again, that's something that will eventually happen to anyone. I wouldn't agree that their whole range isn't on display anymore though, it's just not so obviously eclectic all the time. More like their influences have congealed into its own sound.
That said, since 2008/9 it *has* been heavy on stoner-ish psych-prog excursions, and their weaker (IMO) albums are the ones where that style is most prominently on display. Typically those are also the albums with the weakest songs (again IMO). Which was why I was so happy with The Tower; great songs, and virtually all of their sonic universe utilized to full extent. Coupled with that sense of urgency and "need" to write (as you convey very well with your references to "pained" Bent in This Is Motorpsycho) it became IMO by far the best Motorpsycho album in almost 20 years.
@ Hans Boller: I've got the 1991 Copenhagen bootleg with a live version from Lake Innersfree (flac files). If you're interested I could upload the stuff somewhere and post a link (for a short time).
@ shakti: I thought "Here Be Monsters" the best MP album in 20 years. Oh how lucky we are! Let's wait for the next one
grindove: "but they've never done an album that I think is brilliant from start to finish."
Great King Rat: "Really? Not even Timothy's Monster? Trust us? Blissard?"
-I used to like "Feel", but got tired of it, so usually I skip it. "Beautiful sister" never did it for me, and I can live without "On my pillow" (although once in a while it's good, but not every time).
-"Ozone", "Siddhardtino", "Evernine", "Superstooge" and "Dolphyn" are just good.
-"Blissard" is actually very close, but I've never totally worshipped "Greener". Not "Nathan Daniel's tune from Hawaii" either, except for the title and explanation of it.
Joining "Blissard" at being the closest to a solid masterpiece of an (entire) album for me is "Behind the sun", but "On a plate" is no favorite, and I don't like the vocals in the verses of "Cloudwalker"
Bands/artists I've liked who have been active for more than 20 years, whose current material I still consider relevant, are very, very few, but every new Motorpsycho release is the musical highlight of the year for me, and their albums end up high on my Best of the year-lists (usually at top position).
@ grindove and the other's ..
To me Let them eat Cake and Little Lucid moments are definetly Albums I would call Masterpieces.. But it's just my kind of musical taste..😂 I still like to listen to them completely today…There are Not so much records still become played regularly like them by me…
@ mybestfriend83
I'm very strict here. I'm talking about thinking that every track on an album is fantastic. I tend to find a couple of songs (or details in songs) on each album that is just "good" – not "amazing". That's just me
grindove, if those three albums don't match your indeed very strict parameters, is there an album – by any band – at all that does?
Ok – skip the if – here's some very primal motorpsychedelic heaviness indeed (including Lake Innersfree):
https://www91.zippyshare.com/v/QyKgh4Q1/file.html
(Barbue Copenhagen 11 december 1991 – used to be on DIME, but vanished in the meantime, probably due to lack of downloads)
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