PSY VALLEY HILL

As a fan of both Guru Guru and Univers Zero, I knew when I heard about this one that I wanted to check it out. The album turned out to be quite a lot of fun, and on terms of how much of each band is felt here...it's definitely a Krautrock album, as opposed to a RIO/Avant. I don't have any problem with that though (actually I like Krautrock stuff at least as much as most RIO/Avant).

These guys, though all getting up there in age, are still all highly energetic players. Neumeier especially is impressive. Listening to his drumming is always great, as I've found he's one of the more expressive and playful drummers on the scene. He doesn't disappoint here. Ax is a great guitarist, and the crazy stuff he does on Spaceship Memory especially is a ton of fun. I am a sucker for guitar with delay and/or echo, and he uses them here. Last, but certainly not least, is Guy and his bass. He and Mani seem to play very well together, as they make a pretty monstrous rhythm section. Some of the time he's got some fuzz going on with his playing, which again is something I always enjoy. Even when he's not playing fuzzy, he's usually playing a fun bass line.

This album doesn't really bring anything "new" to the table, but I can't say I was expecting that to begin with. I was only expecting a good album with three musicians enjoying themselves and playing some fun music, and that's exactly what I got. If you're a fan of Guru Guru or some of the similar Krautrock/space rock groups, I'm sure you'll enjoy this album. Fans of Univers Zero, don't expect anything similar here because of Guy. This is another good 2010 album, though not one of the absolute best I've heard.