The Writhing Squares "Chart For The Solution"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Psychedelic, Space Rock, Krautrock
Label: Trouble In Mind Records
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: March 26, 2021
Tracklist

1. Rogue Moon (11:34) 

2. Geisterwaltz (4:24) 

3. Ganymede (3:32) 

4. The Abyss Is Never Brighter (2:54) 

5. A Chorus Of Electrons (1:55) 

6. The Library (6:43) 

7. NFU (3:40) 

8. The Pillars (18:39) 

9. North Side Of The Sky (5:38) 

10. Resurrect Dead On Planet Whatever (3:37) 

11. Epilogue (8:14) 

Total Time 70:50

Line-up

Kevin Nickles: Sax, Flute, Clarinet, Synth, Vocals

Daniel Provenzano: Bass, Synth, Percussion, Vocals

   With

"Harmonica" Dan Balcer: Harmonica (7)

John Schoemaker: Drums (11)

Alex Ward: Organ (11)

Description/Reviews:

 "Chart For The Solution" is a double album chock full what makes them tick; heady, progressive, psychedelic space-rock-cum-minimal synth slop, punctuated by MacKay/Chance-style blasts of brass & woodwinds that definitely scratch an itch.

Over the course of "Chart For The Solution"s four sides, Nickles & Provenzano utilize the extended format to stretch out & settle into a groove all their own. From the relentless synth pulse of opener "Rogue Moon", thru the aggro-throb of "Geisterwaltz" & four-on-the-floor scree of "Ganymede", The Squares have no mercy for your weary ears. After a brief, (slightly) mellow respite thru three tunes ("The Abyss Is Never Brighter"/"A Chorus of Electrons"/"The Library"), the band ratchets up the intensity with the cacophonous clatter of "NFU" leading right into the album's centerpiece; all of Side Three's "The Pillars", a near-nineteen minute epic suite that launches the listener straight into the maw of a black hole & thru the other side. Side Four closes out "Chart For The Solution" starting with the slinky stomp of "North Side of The Sky" into "Resurrect Dead On Planet Whatever"s unsettling, cosmic-funeral dirge. Fittingly, "Epilogue" closes out the album, with Nickles' sax dive bombing around Provenzano's bass throb like an alien interpretation of "Funhouse"s howling anarchy, augmented by live drums by John Schoemaker & organ by Alex Ward. 

Media/Samples
Bandcamp

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The Writhing Squares "Out Of The Ether"

Country: USA
Genre(s): Krautrock, Space Rock, Fusion
Label: Trouble In Mind Records ‎– TIM142
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: January 25, 2019
Tracklist: 
1. Dirt In My Mind's Eye (4:31)
2. Steely Eyed Missile Man (4:30)
3. Bloodborne Hate And Black Book Mass (3:35)
4. I Turned To The Mirror (7:52)
5. A Whole New Jupiter (19:49)

Total Time 40:17

Line-up: 
Kevin Nickles - Saxophones, Vocals, Keyboards, Flute, Percussion
Daniel Provenzano - Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion

Description/Reviews: 

“Out of the Ether” kicks off with the metronomic throb of “Dirt In My Mind’s Eye”, setting the stage for the album’s 5 tracks of minimal, droning ambience, overtaken at times by Nickles’ wailing, saxophone skronk; a mixture of the soulful runs of The Stooges’ Steve McKay & the no-wave stabs of James Chance. “Steely Eyed Missile Man” picks up the pace, with a four-on-the-floor drive underneath Provenzano’s guttural basslines. “Bloodborne Hate and Black Book Mass” and side one closer “I Turned To The Mirror” add the industrial menace of Cabaret Voltaire to a locked-in groove and lysergicly introspective lyrics. Album closer “A Whole New Jupiter” takes up all of the LP version’s side two, slingshotting the listener over the event horizon and thru the center of a sonically sculpted black hole, it’s relentless motorik dirge evolving over the course of the track’s 19-minute runtime into an abstract pulse before lurching back into the groove, riding it into the sun. 

Media/Samples 
Bandcamp

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Krakatau "Water Near A Bridge"

Country: Australia
Genre(s): Instrumental, Psychedelic, Electronica
Label: Trouble In Mind Records
Format: vinyl, digital
Release date: July 29, 2014
Tracklist: 

1. Riddells Creek - 10:10
2. All Water Near a Bridge - 10:22
3. Kuriere - 15:28

Line-up: 
James Tom - piano, organ, synthesiser
Danny Smith - bass
Dylan Lieberman - drums

Description/Reviews: 

Melbourne trio Krakatau have definitely found that ‘something’ in the ‘Water Near A Bridge,’ their debut on Trouble in Mind Records. More specifically on the stellar opening cut ‘Riddells Creek,’ an absolute stunner slice of key heavy prog. Sounding like a future transmission from a half-remembered past, ‘Riddells Creek’ evokes a glimpse of some mist shrouded yester-world through lenses coated in a proggy film. 

 Read the full review at mratavist.com

Media/Samples 
Riddells Creek

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Jacco Gardner "Cabinet of Curiosities"

Country: Netherlands
Sub Genre: Psychedelic, Pop
Label: Trouble In Mind/Excelsior
Release date: February 12, 2013
Tracklist: 
  1. Clear the Air 3:39
  2. The One Eyed King 2:24
  3. Puppets Dangling 3:41
  4. Where Will You Go 3:23
  5. Watching the Moon 3:51
  6. Cabinet of Curiosities 2:46
  7. The Riddle 4:24
  8. Lullaby 3:01
  9. Help Me Out 2:55
10. Summer's Game 3:15
11. Chameleon 4:09
12. The Ballad of Little Jane 4:06

Line-up: 
Jacco Gardner - all instruments (except drums) and vocals
Jos van Tol - drums

Description/Reviews: 

... listening to multi-instrumentalist Jacco Gardner's debut album Cabinet of Curiosities is like a forty-one minute blast of nostalgia. Brimming with 60's psychedelic influences pulled straight from the likes of The Beatles, Cabinet of Curiosities is sure to bring back memories of a time long long past.
The album is a wonderful fusion of baroque pop and psychedelia, and is backed by a whole slew of various instrumentation, most of which performed by Jacco himself; everything from your standard fare guitar and drums to organs and harpsichord, with Jacco's dreamy, almost nasally at times, voice soaring gently above it all.

... So if you've ever been a fan of Pink Floyd or the Beatles or any even remotely similar acts of the 60's and 70's, Cabinet of Curiosities is sure to be a pleasant and all too familiar listen. 

 Read the full review at  sputnikmusic.com

Media/Samples 
Clear The Air
Cabinet Of Curiosities

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