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VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA - Joka Baya

Format: LP Label & Cat.Number: VHF Records VHF119 Release Year: 2009 Note: one of three new LP released simultaneously by the "ecstatic drone" cult project from UK !! Lim. ed., act fast if interested!! Price (incl. 19% VAT): €16.00 More Info "The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outre jams on a trio of limited-edition LPs. Slightly reorganized around a line-up of stalwarts Mick Flower and Adam Davenport with frequent collaborators John Godbert (Total) and John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man), the band here stretches way, way out over these six sides. Joka Baya offers up a set of shorter pieces on the A-side in a high-fidelity style that contrasts the dark, smoky sound of the rest of the tracks. The percussive grooves are overlaid with Sunroof!-like shimmer, stabbing electric leads, gentle acoustic rain, and droning organ peeking through at opportune moments. The roaring side-long epic on the flip is a droning, phasing slice of psychedelia with Moloney's drums battering the tape in between long stretches of humming stasis." [label info] www.vhfrecords.com " It's been a while since we've heard from UK ur-drone spacelords Vibracathedral Orchestra, founder Neil Campbell took off on his own a while back, and now kicks up a ruckus as Astral Social Club, but the Orchestra is still going strong, fronted by long time members Mick Flower and Adam Davenport, who for this new set of THREE (!!) full length releases, is joined by John Moloney of Sunburned Hand Of The Man and the mighty John Godbert of the legendary Total. Each of the three, Joka Baya, The Secret Base and Smoke Song, function on their own as fully formed proper albums, but the three also seem to fit together into one expansive whole, a sweeping sprawling songsuite, that seems to drift from one lp to the next, and in fact, although we didn't try it, we imagine you could probably play these records simultaneously in various combinations and the results would be even trippier. Needless to say, most folks will most likely want all three, but no harm done in starting with one, and then grabbing the others later, unless they sell out that is, which seems very likely considering that these are quite limited. Up first is Joka Baya (in the black cover) beginning with a bit of African drumming, which gives way to some gorgeously glimmering and glistening prismatic dronemusic, swirling effects, all dreamlike and bleary eyed, with what sounds like birdsong mixed into the chiming notes and extended tones. The record shifts gears after that into something much heavier and more blown out, a full on psychedelic post Hawkwind spacejam, a heavy krautrock rhythm beneath a flurry of tangled psych guitars. The African drums return briefly before the band lock into a throbbing processed minimal looped dronescape, murky and washed out, dark and hypnotic. The flipside is a single side long epic, a slow burning cloud of processed guitars, cymbal shimmer, glitched out FX, building to a pounding psychedelic crescendo before slipping into a propulsive muted buzzdrone raga outro. The second lp is called The Secret Base (in the white and red cover) and begins immediately with a total Spacemen 3 / Loop styled drug rock jam, repetitive, mesmerizing, super hypnotic, the guitars smoldering and incendiary. The next track is an Eastern tinged spacekraut groove, strangely Southern sounding as well, a bit twang flecked, a little dubby even, melodic, and major key and surprisingly playful. Like the first record, The Secret Base also fills its second side with a single extended track, this time, it's all clattery and ritualistic and tribal, shakers, bells, hand drums, moaned and chanted vocals, very reminiscent of Avarus, NNCK, Sunburned Hand, eventually the sound locks into a skeletal groove, hypnotic and propulsive, but still abstract and way loose. Finally, the third art in the trilogy, Smoke Song (in the Orange cover), which begins with a sprawling bit of Clattery, twangy tribal free drift, fluttery flutes, lots of percussion, a sort of wild and wooly drum circle, laced with woodwinds and swirling effects, before slipping into a muted spacey jam, all subtle drumming, wheezing chords, little bits of guitar jangle, warm whirring keyboards, druggy, psychedelic, and just a bit Doors-y (or Wooden Shjips-y, for a more contemporary reference). Smoke Song too offers up a side long closer, this one ending the whole trilogy, and it's a doozy, full on droned out drug rock, cyclical, mesmerizing, sitar-like buzz wrapped around a simple, but pounding motorik beat, while all around it a swirling cloud of hiss and buzz and shimmer. Needless to say, all three are recommended, and again, not sure how limited these are, or how long they'll be around..." [Aquarius Records]