Kolmas Korva recommends: Albinö Rhino, Black Helium, GÅS

Hi all,
I collected some great psychedelic treasures I’ve enjoyed lately. Quite a lot, actually – I think this is a great bunch. Hope you do too.
Stay safe & healthy. //Mertsi

Article image: Black Helium

Black Helium – UM (Riot Season Records)

The London-based psychedelic power trio is back with a bang. Compared to their previous two records Primitive Fuck (2018) and The Wholly Other (2020), Black Helium has gone more outer-space, more motorik, and even more robust. UM is a great record, highlighted by tracks such as the hypnotic Another Heaven and delightfully trippy Summer of Hair. Black Helium’s music keeps on giving, and by all accounts the trio seems like nice people as well.

GÅS – Vol.1. (Rocket Recordings)

I’ve been following GÅS, a psychedelic rock band from Gothenburg that, just like their compatriots GOAT, operates under anonymity, since their impressive self titled single in 2020. Their debut LP Vol.1. follows the single’s recipe in fuzzy, Black Sabbath-influenced heavy psych, but spices is up with folk-like flutes, percussions and elements of blues rock.
With two over 13-minute tracks the band shows it masters longer kraut-influenced jams with confidence, further strengthening the trippy club of great Swedish outfits like Centrum, Lamagaia, Hills and Agusa.

My favorite song is the hypnotic finishing track 25öre, whose wonderfully menacing rhythm repeats over and over again until you realize there’s actually nothing menacing, it just gets a bit dark in space.

Albinö Rhino – Return to the Core (Space Rock Productions)

The heavy atmospheric downtuned psychedelia of Albinö Rhino has never sounded more intriguing than in their new opus, Return to the Core. The Helsinki-based trio’s previous EP nodded towards Black Sabbath, but this one pays the biggest respects to Pink Floyd. The album consists of one 35-minute song (on Spotify it’s also split to 9 tracks), and travels fluently from Kingston Wall influenced jams to heavier riffs. Good stuff.

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Cool music videos with a psych touch for relaxation

To keep some balance of all rattling garagepsychs, here’s collection of gentle psych videos that I have been enjoying lately. Styles differ from exotica and ambient to psych-pop and soft rock.

Main image is a frame from Reverse Death’s video.

Reverse Death – Teapot

Gentle electric piano and soft drums carry this nocturnal mist spiced with viola and properly echoed vocals. Seattle-based band published an album Stretching to Infinity in December that is definitely worth to listen. Teapot together with Sweet Flower Moon are the most accessible songs on the album among otherwise rather ambient material.

Bobbie Lovesong – Inner Sea

Written, performed and recorded solely by American Bobbie Lovesong aka Madelyn Strutz during covid lockdown in 2020. Very addictive melody and sounds right from the first hearing.

The Sweet Enoughs – Cerberus

The slowed-down beauty of crashing waves combined with synthetic, rhythmic, dreamy tropical music. In May 2020 released album Marshmallow is an interesting piece of lounge/exotica music.

Mac DeMarco – Five Easy Hot Dogs

Slacker star published his sixth album in January. The record was born in a trip (literally): songs are named by the places where they were created on the road. No vocals at all, which makes this good background soft rock.

Inventions for Electric Guitar (R.I.P. Manuel Göttsching)

Ash Ra Tempel, one of the pioneers of krautrock or kosmische musik, had broken up and the band’s guitarist was looking for a new direction. Manuel Göttsching, inspired by Terry Riley’s looping minimalism, turned on his tape recorder and began to play.

The result was an incredibly rich-sounding solo album, Inventions For Electric Guitar — given that the album was recorded in 1974 and every note on it comes from an electric guitar.

The lack of instruments probably inspired him to be creative and experiment in interesting ways. The album makes use of a wah pedal and a steel bar familiar from guitar slides. The focus is on echo and repetition.

The album consists of two long riff-based songs, punctuated by surprising guitar solos. The cosmic pulsating tracks are guaranteed to sink in with fans of Chilean Föllakzoid.

In between these long songs, at the end of the A-side, an ambient gem of an album, perfect as a soundtrack to a snowfall. It’s hard to believe the soundscape of this song was created without synthesizers.

”During which one guy with a guitar does what Tangerine Dream needed three guys and a bulkhead of electronic gizmos to do”, as one listener commented on Rate Your Music.

After listening to the album, you should continue by watching this interview with Göttsching at the Red Bull Music Academy. He talks at length about his career and music. He explains and demonstrates how Inventions for Electric Guitar emerge at 41:20.

R.I.P. Manuel Göttsching (1952—2022)

Kolmas korva DJ’s at Helsinki Psych Fest 2022 (see setlist here)

We had the pleasure to play a back-to-back vinyl DJ set including 60s, kraut, prog and neo-psych, at Helsinki Psych Fest 2022. Here’s what we played (in alphabetical order):

Leo’s picks:

The Blues Project – Flute Thing
Circus – Monday Monday
Electric Wizard – Mountains of Mars
Föllakzoid – Rio
Goat – Let It Bleed
Jethro Tull – Cross-Eyed Mary
John Mayall – The Super-Natural
K-X-P – 18 Hours (Of Love)
The Keith Tippett Group – Black Horse
Kikagaku Mayo – Dancing Blue
Kikagaku Mayo – Gatherings
Lamagaia – Lamagaius
Neu – Neuschnee
Pekka Laine – The Silent Star
Percewood’s Onagram feat. Michels – I’ve Got Woman
Santana – Jungle Strut
The Soul Investigators – Baby! It’s Delicious
Spirit – Gramophone Man
Tasavallan Presidentti – Wutu-Banale
Ten Years After – She Lies in the Morning
Ten Years After – Two Time Mama
Tross – On Board
Uusi Fantasia – (Tosi) happamat kallot
The Yardbirds – Heart Full of Soul
The Yardbirds – Smokestack Lightning

Mertsi’s picks:
The Black Angels – History Of The Future
The Black Angels – Without A Trace
The Black Angels – La Pared (Govt. Wall Blues)
Black Lizard – Window In Time
Circle – Points
Fleetwood Mac – Black Magic Woman
Goat – Let It Burn
The Holydrug Couple – Concorde
Holy Wave – Schmetterling
Holy Wave – She Put A Seed In My Ear
Holy Wave – Star Stamp
Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit
Jim Sullivan – U.F.O.
Lumerians – C-Rock
Mikronid – Sügis
Moon Duo – Circles
Moon Duo – Sleepwalker
Nazz – Open My Eyes
Nazz – Wildwood Blues
Night Beats featuring Robert Levon Been – That’s All You Got
Procol Harum – Cerdes (outside the gates of)
Pääkallo – Kuoleman taikaa
The Shadows – Scotch On The Socks
Soft Power – Sleeping City
Titanic – Sultana
The Vacant Lots – Departure



Many thanks to Daisy and other organisers of the fest, it was a blast!
If you want us to play at your event, please contact us via e-mail kolmaskorva @gmail.com.

Music video picks: Kikagaku Moyo, Crows, Ashinoa & Mildlife

Main image is a screenshot taken from Kikagaku Moyo’s Cardboard Pile video, directed by Katsushika Shusshin.

Kikagaku Moyo – Kumoyo Island

A Japanese group’s possibly the last album ever ”Kumoyo Island” will be released in May. Two songs with crazy illustrated music videos are out already. Especially the immediately catchy ”Cardboard Pile” raises expectations high for the upcoming LP.

Crows – Garden of England

London-based Crows published their second album and the single ”Garden of England” is a fiery piece of Brexit / Covid era psych-post-punk.

Ashinoa – Koalibi

The French Ashinoa, similarly signed and published by Fuzz Club, is one of Mertsi’s early year favourites. Do check out their album ”L’Orée”, it’s fruity.

Mildlife – Live from South Channel Island

A year ago, Australian Mildlife recorded session in a small artificial island South Channel Fort. Now this whole session, live versions of pre-released material, is on Youtube, as well as on vinyl. Mildlife sound is somewhat combination of jazz-funk, disco and psychedelia. A tip for the busy ones: in 15:45, a bit slower song ”Im Blau” with exciting rhythm and bass.