Nine Invisibles ~ England

Soundbombing (2000)

About a year ago we featured an excellent space rock / festival band called Ship of Fools. Nine Invisibles is Ver 2.0 of Ship of Fools. I had picked up Nine Invisibles' debut Pureheadspace not long after it was released in 1997, but Soundbombing was an album that never made it to these shores back then. In fact, other than money maker Porcupine Tree, this album was the last hurrah for the great UK psych label.  By this time, almost all CD's on Delerium had an electronica / techno angle to their sound - and quite frankly I think they lost their core audience because of it.

So when The Laser's Edge managed to secure a copy recently, I jumped on it. What separates Nine Invisibles from your garden variety techno dance act is the synergy of having a multitude of people involved, along with the occasional use of analog instruments (guitar, bass, flute, etc...). In this way I'm reminded of another space rock band that incorporated techno into their music late in their career: Mandragora on their final release, Pollen.

Former ownership: 2000 Delirium. Multi page booklet. Acquired in 2012. Downsized in 2022.

2/23/12 (review); 2/17/22

Also own: Pureheadspace

2/23/12 (new entry)

Lunar Dunes - Galaxsea. 2011 England

On their second album Galaxsea, Lunar Dunes go more in for atmosphere and less for pyrotechnics. On a first listen, I was slightly disappointed, but the album has grown on me quickly. Track 7 'Free to Do' is a perfect example of the sounds of the album. Exotic female voices, fuzzed out psychedelic guitars, tripped out effects and post-rock like jazzy rhythms. Excellent band who have managed to create something entirely new within a familiar context.

Ownership: CD: 2011 4 Zero. Digifile

2/14/12 (new entry); 5/3/18

Rob Thomsett - Yaraandoo. 1975 Australia

I'd like to type out some of the liners from the LP reissue. If this doesn't get you going, not sure anything else I say will. I wish I could write like this! "Australia's burnt landscape is sketched in hypnotic washes of Moog oscillations, Bamboo flutes and tape delay. The 40,000 year-old sound of antediluvian Aboriginal folklore is channeled through Mellotron, dilatory jazz guitar solos, and Avant cross rhythms, all symbolizing the harsh and isolated landscape of rural Australia. Yaraandoo is a bold sound exploration never attempted this adventurously again with this country." Wow!

This is one trippy album, I'll tell you that. And there's some Canterbury like grooves mixed in here too and you'll hear a couple of Nucleus / Soft Machine style runs. One thing to note - Thomsett assembles no less than 9 people to play on this album. This isn't a private bedroom affair, but a full scale psychedelic work. This is one of those six dimension type albums that I love so much. The real-deal freaky underground. You'll recognize the pioneering field tapes of Agitation Free's Malesch and the otherworldly-ness of Algarnas Tradgard. For my tastes, this album is genius.

Ownership: LP: 2011 Roundtable. Single sleeve.

CD: 2017 Now-Again w/ Hara (USA)

2/1/12 (new entry); 3/24/18

Hills - Master Sleeps. 2011 Sweden

I felt Hills on their debut showed a lot of promise and that they'd captured the spirit of the original Krautrock movement very well. Master Sleeps shows the band moving more towards the trendy, post-rock motorik side of the house with the familiar steady 4/4 Can/Neu! styled beats. The title song underscores this tactic. On other tracks you'll hear the "wall-of-sound" fuzz guitar overload ala classic Hawkwind. I'm fond of all these bands, but I was hoping Hills would explore new regions of the genre, or at least walk down the road less traveled. So for me, even though I still recommend Master Sleeps, I do think the album is a bit of a step back. I definitely miss the flute, an instrument that greatly extended their range. 

Former ownership: CD: 2011 Transubstans. Jewel case with art booklet.

2/1/12 (first listen / review / new entry); 1/25/24