RÅD KJETIL AND THE LOVING EYE OF GOD - Mattmar (Countryman 008)
Well, what do you know? Second proper release (there is also a
ridiculously limited cd-r somewhere in the mists of time) from our
mysterious femme fatale and her backing bozos - or was that bolos?
Anyway, this was all a secret once but word has it it's not such
anymore, but I won't be the first to blow it officially. Fear of
retribution, you know.
Yeah... now, were you to guess three things about the sounds of
Mattmar, I'd say you're right even though I wouldn't bother to listen
to any of your suggestions. Yes, it's strange, dark and enigmatic. Yes,
it's fulla treated soul, mind but not much body. No, you can't digest
it in daylight & it sure as hell doesn't sound like music from someone
who's been dead for hundreds and hundreds of years. Well, actually it
does, come to think of it. And I just gave you a clue which may help
you get rid of the cobweb that hides the truth... if that would be of
importance to you.
Once I was standing out in a field with nothing before my eyes
but the soil of the earth and the brightness of the sky. That's where
I'm always heading, that's what I'm about and that's not important
here. Råd Kjetil is out amongst the whispers of that field and that, on
the other hand, is truly important. She'll bring you up, she'll bring
you down, plants your feet back on the ground... Råd Kjetil.... Råd
Kjetil... Oh, sorry, just had a day with the Moodies. You should try
that too someday.
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff sings his own song in his own head and grows his own food
for his own body. He's seven feet tall and dries onions better than
anyone else in the world.)**************************************************************
JENS - If You've Seen Me Lately, Please Tell Me Where I've Been
(Countryman 007)
Second release from soul brother Jens & while he did ask me to
write nothing but lies here, I just can't do that - karma's not
something to fool around with - so I will say what I have to say and
pay the price.
Last time I visited Jens down at the Hawkland Farm he was
standing outside in the early morning light doing nothing ('but hey,
that's important too'). My reason for being there was a promise to be
the first non-involved person to hear rough mixes of his newly recorded
songs, but as it turned out Jens didn't feel like playing any of them,
so instead we spent the day listening to Banana & The Bunch (twice) and
Norman's Petaluma LP, as well as discussing the downfall of Western
civilisation.
This was back in early March, and only now, in late April, have I
finally been allowed to hear Jens' new stuff. You're about to hear it
for yourself so there's little point in me telling you much about it.
But I can offer this: it's music for loners, mystics and organic
farmers. It's music for softspoken revolutionaries, drop-outs and
daydreaming mountain-climbers. It's music that speaks of other values
and other places. Sadly, it doesn't stake out directions to those
places (though I can do that for you: follow your inner light from here
on and turn left where its says 'freedom') but perhaps that would be
asking too much. But then again, maybe not - who's to say that Jens'
next album won't be called The Road You All Should Follow? I'm pretty
sure he'd like that one, if nothing else it's the one lie in here and
that takes us back to where I started & now I don't feel like goin' on
anymore. Take it away, brotha.
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff is who he is & he is amazingly good at it - unable to fly
but born of the sky.)
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The Spacious Mind - Rotvälta (Countryman 006)
You know that book "Hippie" by Barry Miles? On page 343 there's a picture of a
wildlooking guy throwing a bomb aimed at The Establishment, and it's been suggested
elsewhere that that man is B.C. Wolff. Yeah, me. Well, it's not, but that's not to say
that it is not me, either - if you dig. Like, it could've been me, but I don't think it is.
It's spring 1970 and I walk out of the revolution, tired of the phonies, of the simplification,
of the god awful stupidity that marks most of my peers. You can see in their eyes that they
will become bank clerks, salesmen, corporate lawyers, whatever, and I will not.
So I leave and and I'm still leaving to this very instant in March 2005, still creating my
own revolution as I make new paths through the woodlands.
And while I'm leaving I'm also still here. You follow?
Ok, soldier. If you're shopping via credit card and eating lunch at McDonalds, you're the enemy.
If you support leaders and suppress nature you're on the hitlist. If you would like to see the cities
burn down and with them the western mind you're an ally and you can come here to stay
and make plans or grow vegetables whenever you want to. Don't expect me to be around though -
I'm leaving, only to not show up when you expect me to. I've had enough of people, of civilization,
of the George Bushes that live on every block in every country in every world.
If you think this has nothing to do with the CD that comes enclosed with this letter, think again.
These words may actually be the words to the songs on there, but as always, they could also
not be the words - you just have to decide on that one yourself, alright? It's time to celebrate
the new man, man; he who rides the magic carpet and ploughs the fields and gives the finger to
Wall Street before he blows it straight to hell.
1% free and all is one except me - that's exactly where it's at.
B.C. Wolff(B.C. Wolff dreams of blue light rain and unbroken chains; he catches rabbits by the hair and double-twixts when he hits the air.)
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Råd Kjetil And The Loving Eye Of God (Countryman 005)
Here's the deal - there is no deal. Wilmot says it all in his liner notes & here's my take on it,
but obviously in other words. After all, words don't count. The heartbeat is what's important,
the flow of the other side to which we may connect if we care enough.
Råd Kjetil is a ghost of the past and the life to come, The Loving Eye Of God is equal parts
gentle tides and raging seas. I don't know much else on this subject, but I can tell you about
dark nights in the woods where no evil dwells for long. The music heard there is not the
same as on this disc, but that doesn't mean the music of Råd Kjetil and The Loving Eye
Of God is not as good. It's just different, and difference can be a thing to hold dear as well.
There is certainly something happening here, but you don't know what it is - do you, Mr Jones?
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff is currently reparing a woodburning stove and chanting haida mantras. He may never be spotted amongst people again.)
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MOON TROTSKIJ – I Fell But Andromeda Rose To The Stars (Countryman 004)
The Artist: Moon Trotskij is the alter-ego of one cosmically inclined sub-human being known to
close friends as Henrik Oja. Pete Frame and others may recognize Henrik’s name off some too-psychedelic
release by The Spacious Mind, where he’s been residing since the beginning of time.
“I fell But Andromeda Rose To The Stars” is his first solo album, though he threatens to have twelve follow-ups ready to go.
The Music: Ah, here comes the tricky bit. How do you describe something that seemingly has no beginning nor end?
Something that flows down ancient universal paths with the grace of the Holy Bird Of Rejijahal only to suddenly
be interrupted by the thunderous power of the rumbling mountains of the Great North, as they reach further and
further into what Man call sky, but Moon Trotskij calls home. Or, it could just be said that this CD contains
enough pretty melodies, heavy riffs, folky chord progressions, and ambient electronics to carry you away at will.
Add a fair load of his trademark ripping guitar solos and you get the sense that this is not so much an album as it is…something else.
The Other: No, that’s too soon to give away…in the head of Moon Trotskij, the future looks amazingly out-there.
Regards,
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff carries black and white magic in his pants and trusts the animals to save his mind)***********************************************************************
'THE SPACIOUS MIND - Live Vol 1: Do Your Thing But Don' Touch Ours (Countryman 003)
It had to happen sooner or later - today's most foremost psychedelic jammers are The Spacious Mind
& what's a psychedelic jam band without a livealbum? Recorded in the deep woods in the far north of Sweden,
"Do Your Thing..." shows why The Spacious Mind have a reputation for being the true heirs of the
San Fran ballroom sound of thirtyfive years ago - but it also displays the unique sensibilities of this band,
which in turn clearly represent the future of acid rock.
The Spacious Mind play their music like they live their lives - with love, repsect & a fondness for organic freefall.
They're quite simply the best.
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff is outtasight and lives in a canyon)**********************************************************************
JENS - Standing In The Trees I Get Lifted By The Leaves (Countryman 002)
Offering deep loner folk with a dreamy, psychedelic air to it, the first solo album by the
founder of The Spacious Mind, Holy River Family Band et al, has already been compared to
such legends as Skip Spence and the Capitol band Euphoria.
To me, this is the sound of a mind falling to pieces; others have heard the trees and oceans whispering in the tunes,
calling us all back to the country.
Whatever your impression is upon listening, it's likely to be one of the most emotional musical experiences
you've had in quite a while. We've got to get ourselves back to the garden, but Jens is already there.
B.C. Wolff
(B.C. Wolff is a UK citizen lost in the Swedish snow. He wishes to remain anonymous)
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