| CD REVIEW Earthling Society |
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Band : Earthling Society Highlighted by striking artwork from Stacie Willoughby, Beauty And The Beast is an excellent addition to the catalog of 4Zero Records, the perfect home for Earthling Society. ES captures the essence and the spirit of the space kraut rock music, blending references from the sixties acid folk rock style, adorned with Syd Barrett-ish farout vocals, creating some astonishing, enjoyable and moving music The opening track “Drowned world” builds from a electronic breeze intro into an energetic, psychedelic hurricane. The next one “Candlemass” is a real stunner, with a golden sixties vibe and some lovely Neil Young-like playing, “Sundropped” is slow, somber psychedelia. “Modest flower” and “The moonlit road” glide through space-pop neverland. “The boy with the x-ray eyes” is so simple and stripped down... and yet on another level there's so much happening. adding a tasty alien ingredient to the mix. Things stay predominately mellow, but the band is not afraid to rock out either, with pounding out psych riffs or playing gorgeous, soaring solos. The band makes some fabulous use of bazouki, mandolin, kazoo and theremin to work for the benefit of their overall sound and performance. And I dig the percussive instruments such as gongs, chimes, kalimba and tabla that adds an extra kick to the material. The voice isn't particularly powerful or unusual, but it has a great melody and he uses a lot of different styles of singing, some of which has a very stoned feel in some way. The longest track “Valerie a tyden divu” is characterized by melodic prog lines with hints of blues, folk and other interesting styles, colorful space synths. I also hear elements of Spirit’s album 12 dreams of dr Sardonicus . These different styles might be jarring to a casual listener, trying to figure out what the heck Earthling Society is about. but that's what makes them so cool. 92/100 Cosmicmasseur. |