GIG REVIEW - Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting paradiso U.F.O - Corsica Studios, 22/10/12

AMT from left: Tsuyama Atsushi, Tabata Mitsuru, Higashi Hiroshi, Shimura Koji & (not pictured) Kawabata makoto

Round the back end of Elephant And Castle in London is this lovely little place, Corsica Studios, having seen AMT play there last year, I knew it would be a good show again. So I was excited, happiness increased when another person in the queue told me that she had seen them a few nights before hand and still had ear troubles. The sign of a good heavy gig!
It's worth saying at this point that Acid Mothers Temple are a very... VERY loud band. It's not just loud like a metal band, but in that it really works for the music and the audio cacophony creates such amazing sensations.

 

Hey Colossus! the support act. Very heavy.

The support band was Hey Colossus! a really heavy rock band, combining elements of grunge and thrash with a Hawkwind style chugging of repetitive riffage pounding into this psychedelic experience. The shouted vocals were pretty difficult to hear over the amped guitars but was audible enough to add extra texture. Also nice use of a tape machine to get this background droning going throughout the tracks. Apparently the Spice girls used to do something similar with Posh Spice. Anyways they were a cool introduction and you could tell that there was definately energy and passion in their playing. Good band.

The Groovemaster Generals, Acid Mothers Temple!

Of course, Acid mothers Temple & The Melting Paradiso U.F.O came on and the crowd blew up electric. Quiet glissando drones, spacey synths, latino cool, comedy lyrics, heavy riffage, peace glasses, burning guitars, it's all there. Shimura Koji kept a perfectly steady beat throughout, definately one of the hardest working drummers around. They played an impressive set including my two favourite psyche tracks and ATM live stalwarts, Pink lady Lemonade and the Om Riff(a cover of Gong's epic Master Builder). It was like heaven, the constant beat, the sheer energy, the ultimate speed guitar. Pink Lady Lemonade really set into groove with the repeating melody, lifting you up into the stars ready for blastoff, and then when Kawabata Makoto  hit the first note of the solo, it was like orgasmic joy as he charted us off through the galaxies, leading into the meditative force of the Om Riff, using Daevid Allen's Iao Chant to help secure the powerful force within the track before letting off into an impressive display of awareness of the cosmic sounds. Tracks included a bizarre doo-wop inspired jam, and a lovely call and response section between Kawabata and Tsuyama Atsushi, showing a band having fun at what they do. You could feel the whole world shake from the volume, and being about 2 metres away from the amps, I got it full blast to the point where it actually started to physically hurt towards the end of the gig. It was fantastic.

Of course, the show ended with them upping the tempo and the volume even more, and Kawabata Makoto setting fire to his guitars whilst playing them, smashing them and chucking into the crowd.
But of course, one can't neglect Higashi Hiroshi's mastery of the synth, creating a constant feeling of otherworldlyness throughout their set, and Tabata Mitsuro's charisma and ability to play a damn fine tune (and awesome glasses!)

As you'd expect me to say, seeing as they are one of my favourite bands, whenever you can, go see Acid Mothers Temple!

Hawkwind - Motorway City

Released during Hawkwind's 'controversial' 80's period (consisting of much more electronic experimentation and less chugging riffs), this little single here contains two amazing tracks which are full live staples of our long running heroes. Motorway City and a live updated Master Of The Universe. During this time, Hawkwind were also taking in more metal influences, and writing... GASP... conventional songs, but it's still Hawkwind through and through. Previously, I've reviewed their hit single, Silver Machine, and  professed my extensive love for Hawkwind's brand of space rock. So it's interesting to see how this holds up to that genre defining classic.

A crystalline appegiated synth, staccato guitar and a Hew Loyd Langdon guitar solo take us into this funky groove of Motorway City, which lasts for the verses, and Dave Brock's unmissable singing. The breaks between verses/chorus have more smooth guitar work and we get some nice powerchords during the chorus. This isn't like the old full and heavy Hawkwind, it's much more musical and sounds like it could have been a big hit if done by a more commercial band. We get anthemic choruses, decently accessible keyboard chords and a lovely rhythm going on. It's very danceable, yet still very spaced out. The band is insanely tight, and I think this might be around the time that they started using click tracks, as it's very spot on with the timing. We get another silky spacey guitar break over an extended jam and then the track fades to silence, due to the time constraints. All in all, this is a great track, solid playing and a cool groove.

The flip side, Master Of The Universe, takes the legendary Hawkwind track, and updates it for a more contemporary time, ironically making it sound so much more dated than earlier versions. It starts with some classic Hawkwind riffage, which melts into Master Of The Universe' trademark riff, however this time, it is punctuated by a keyboard jangle at the end of each line. Brock's vocals lack the insane punch of Nik Turner's from previous versions, yet still carry the absurdist lines. Langdon plays a very very awesome guitar solo over the vamping powerchords, also worth pointing out here the frantic thrash-like drumming going on. Now, back to that solo, it's more conventional rock than 70's Hawkwind, but ultimately fits in with this track well. Ending with a roaring crowd, we realise that this is a live track, yet the quality is still amazing.

As with anything Hawkwind, I would recommend getting hold of this single. Two great versions of two great songs. Masters Of The Universe is suitably heavy and Motorway City is pure class.

Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno - Iao Chant From The Cosmic Inferno

The Acid Mothers family of bands are easily the most exciting thing to happen to music in a very long time. Springing into action around 1999, they continue to weave their own brand of cosmic rock throughout the known universe. Constantly touring, no other band has the same level of devotion to music as these guys, and I would definately recommend everybody go see them at least once, because there is seriously nothing else like them on the face of the earth. Combining Stockhausen's unmelodic approach to music with Hawkwind's heavy jamming, yet taking it over the top to unheard of levels. Guitarist Makoto Kawabata says that he is acting as a radio transciever for his own inner cosmos, relaying to us the music he hears in his head. And boy... is it one hell of a cosmos!

Iao Chant From The Cosmic Inferno features only one track, a sprawling 50-so minute rendition of Gong's epic, Master Builder. The track, titled Om Riff From The Cosmic Inferno takes us fully into overdrive as we start off with some gentle meditative glissando drones, spacey beeps and boops start appearing, and then... The Mighty Om Riff kicks in, and refuses to let you go, coupled with the Iao Chant (provided below) takes you on a right proper spiritual journey. The groove locks properly in place within an instant, and Makoto's guitar launches into an insane sonic freakout of improvised glory. Trying to not sound like gushing admiration, but the man is so outside of the box, it's unbelievable, like he is to guitar what Sun Ra was to piano! Using his instrument to channel proper cosmic vibes. After several minutes, the track takes another turn, into this repeated delayed riff over a totally rockin' beat, you close your eyes, your mind travels through space and you drift away. Time becomes meaningless, all there is is you.

You and the cosmos.

The sweet glissando ambiant drones make a pleasant return here, these aren't just drones though, these are full on music of the spheres. The bass comes back in, a dirty groove takes hold, the guitar comes back, it is sweet. After several minutes in that dark, dirty, sweet place, the familiar groove locks back into place, a delayed riff appears, then we blast off further into the heavens than before, chanting returns, this is not music, it's a spiritual experience. The Mighty Om Riff thunders back, we go further and further into the universe, there is no way back to Earth now! It glisses out, and returns to the ambiant droning/chanting from the start of the track. We have been taken to the furthest reaches of the universe and back, and it was good.


IAO
(ancient pagan chant balancing male & female)
ZA EE ZAO
(invoking forces of darkness/shadow)
MA EE MAO
(invoking powers of mother love)
TA EE TAO
(invoking energies of light)
NOW

Hawkwind - Silver Machine

It will come as no suprise to anybody who knows me, that I will post about Silver Machine early on. Hawkwind are easily one of my favourite bands, one which has shapped and inspired so many genres, and despite being pensioners, even now they push forward with their own ever-changing brand of spacerock. Hawkwind are a genre by themselves.
But... Enough of this gushing, time to talk about this classic single.

Silver Machine is not my favourite Hawkwind track by a longshot, however this is to it's benefit. It replaces their trademark pummeling riffs with a chugging rock'n'roll rhythm, allowing it a more commercial and traditional value. But this is no ordinary rocker, the spacey sound effects take us off to Jupiter and beyond, and as the track plays out, we just go further and further. Robert Calvert's lyrics about his childhood bicycle become an adreneline filled description of a mysterious 'Silver Machine' which describes what seems to be a spaceship, but with an overly sexual tone. Most famously, here the world is shown Lemmy unleashed, for the first real time. And the world loved him. His greasy biker shouting jack daniels vocals really work well with the rock'n'roll vibe. This is outer space pubrock.

The B-Side is another Hawkwind Classic, Seven By Seven. Whilst Silver Machine was the high of the trip, this is the crushing downer. True dark psychedelia describes a journey, being lost in the dark world, your soul lost for all eternity. The classic Hawkwind pummeling riffage is on force here, complimented by a softer verse section, reflective. The chorus however is shrieked at us through a vast echo, we get the desperation, it brings us down. Though for whatever reason, there is a sense of restrain here, I'd assume from the production side as the playing is brutal. The track is utterly spacey and cosmic and not at all unlike Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics which were being published around the same time (and I really would recommend reading them!).

This 7" represents a trip, and it doesn't let us down. While Seven By Seven would truely find it's real sound on Hawkwind's epic Space Ritual live album, Silver Machine here is the best version around. Noticably the mix on Vinyl has far more depth of sound than the version on CD reissues, and the dance remix is pretty... terrible. So yeah, here we have the definitive version of Hawkwind's most well known song, and a somewhat controlled rendition of a great song. Naturally I would recommend everybody purchase this, it serves as the perfect introduction to one of rock's most explorative bands, the introduction to the majesty of Lemmy, and most importantly of all, two kick-ass tracks containing a heavyness unheard of at the time.