It takes all of a second to realise that, in terms of guitar instrumentals, Geiger Von Müller’s ‘Alien Fig Yoghurt Incident’ isn’t entirely of this world. It opens with a flurry of insanely high pitched harmonics, creating more of a mood than a melody. This immediately catches the ear, but makes the listener wonder where things are actually headed. A saner guitarist might flesh out such a technique with a couple of broad chords to make things palatable, but not this guy…
VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Magic Forest: More Pastoral Psychedelia & Funky Folk 1968-1975
In 2022, the Cherry Red subsidiary label Grapefruit Records released ‘Deep In The Woods’, a 3CD collection of cult recordings from the late 60s and early 70s, which documented the trippier and occasionally proggier elements of folk rock. Featuring a host of familiar names along with some genuine obscurities, the lengthy listen played brilliantly, offering the more open minded prog fan and 70s rock buff a listen that relied on far more than easy nostalgia.
PETE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Sea Of Eyes / The Lamplighters remix EP
Formed in 1997, the curiously named Pete International Airport is a musical project featuring the talents of Dandy Warhols man Peter Holmström (also of Sun Atoms, a band who released some excellent material in 2024), and Collin Hegna of Federale, a genre-hopping act who also offered one of 2024’s finest discs.
Under their Pete International Airport moniker, these musicians and other assorted friends have explored various sounds, usually veering towards influences from the 80s and 90s alternative scenes. In the last quarter of 2023, the band made a welcome comeback with their long player ‘It Felt Like The End of The World’ – the first wholly new PIA work since 2017 – which introduced new listeners to their indie/goth/rock sounds.
Watch: Saints Among Us share new video for ‘Hunger’
Now six years into their career, British alternative metal crew Saints Among Us have unleashed one of their finest tracks to date. ‘Hunger’ blends different alternative styles seamlessly, lurching between outright heaviness and sugar sweet melodies with absolute ease.
Watch: The Big Deal share new video for ‘Fairy of White’
Today sees the release of The Big Deal’s second album, ‘Electrified’. It’s a record that shows none of the signs of being a “difficult” follow up to an excellent debut, partly because the Serbian rockers have stuck to a familiar blueprint. The mix of bombast, melody, melodic metal crunch and soaring hooks works just as well for them the second time around.