PSYCHO ERECTUS

It already begun with Flight 858 ...

This is one of my favourite albums of the last weeks. I have listened to it for more than twenty times now within a relatively short period but it's still fascinating to me. POLYTOXICOMANE PHILHARMONIE are a wondrous project as the band name implies. The main influence is psychedelic/space for sure. But it would be too easy to keep it in that way. You can also hear that Frank Zappa is held in high esteem by some members and they are operating with uneven beats which are often unusual for jamming psych bands. Funky trippy hypnotic rhythms and a lot of saxophone attendance are referring to kraut and jazz rock. Ambient/spaced-out soundscapes are rounding up the debut of a band which has an eccentric identity. So for a first summary there is a unique style to notice which they create.

The short ambient opener Entry is announced as an improvisation fragment on their website where the band offers a special (german) album manual for the listeners. And that's significant for their concept - the manual, full of metaphors, leaves you behind with much more questions as you had before. Never mind - the instrumental track Flight 858 takes you on a 75 minute musical trip further on which you will not forget so fast! The instruments, first the drums, followed by e-piano, are coming in by and by providing the mellow dreamy main theme which wraps you up. But breaks and spacey soundscapes are also interspersed and this makes the song very entertaining and prevents you from getting phlegmatic.

I discovered the following Poisonous Moth on a sampler and this attracted my attention and brought me closer to the band. Basically a neo krautrock tune par excellence dominated by a hypnotic groove with nice female vocals and mysterious spoken words contributions. Bubbling synths and sensitive guitars are always swirling around here - fantastic! Pink Noise is heavy hallucinogenic pointed out as reminiscence to Tangerine Dream by the band and the complex Sulphur afterwards shines with an impulsive guitar solo, alienated female and male vocals and jazzy doubled saxophone.

The laid back Too Sad, Lady Mushroom with a rainy background and some weird inclusions is somewhat zappaesque and Lokus Pokus surprises with oriental respectively eastern polka moments. Heavy saxophone additions are imitating a brass orchestra and in the end the song is developing into a jazz rock finale. All in all POLYTOXICOMANE PHILHARMONIE offer a great variety and safety. Chanson Verte features a nice groove, excellent psychedelic guitars and a jazzy part in the middle whereas with Kronos, Vomitting A Child another change to spaced-out soundscapes occurs. The instrumental Fuddle Pie and Muddle Fie gets up in a happy mood with an excellent flow and Lizard - Song finally developes to a groovy jam which absolutely confirms their psychedelic/space home for sure.

'Psycho Erectus' is a completely rounded one which should be enjoyed from the first to the last minute without any break - hard to overtop. This album gets the highest rating from me. Please check it out.

Well as Uwe has already mentioned this is a band with a unique and mysterious style. The music is trippy, spacey, hypnotic, atmospheric and we get male and female vocals along with sax being added to the usual instruments. I never heard of this German band before and the album's title is priceless. This is a long one but in this case I don't mind at all.

"Entry" is the short intro track that's full of atmosphere. "Flight 858" kicks in with a beat right away as bass joins in and more. A calm before 1 1/2 minutes with atmosphere then that beat kicks back in. It turns haunting 2 1/2 minutes in as we get another calm then a minute later it kicks back in with that beat, sax and more. An atmospheric calm after 6 minutes but it's brief. Then we get an electronic vibe late to end it. "Poisonous Moth" kicks into a full sound early with vocals. Some brief spoken words before 1 1/2 minutes then the vocals are back but they're brief as well. So much atmosphere follows this then more spoken words 4 minutes in as the trippy beat and sound continues. "Pink Noise" opens with a dark and powerful atmosphere until after 3 minutes when it turns electronic to end it. "Sulphur" features vocals and a rich sound. Spoken words too. Cool sound. It kicks in at 2 minutes with dark guitar sound that proceeds to lay the soundscape waste. Nasty ! That changes before 5 minutes but it's still heavy and dark. Sax before 6 minutes. A dark atmosphere like the intro ends it.

"Too Sad, Lady Mushroom" is an uplifting piece with guitar and sax. Vocals before 1 1/2 minutes. Catchy stuff as themes are repeated. "Lokus Pokus" opens with guitar, a beat and running water. It picks up as the guitar echoes. Great sound ! Sax 3 1/2 minutes in. "Chanson Verte" has this beat with vocals and atmosphere. Backing vocals join in. Again a great sound here. Sax 3 1/2 minutes in as the vocals have stopped. Psychedelic guitar 6 minutes. This is so trippy 7 1/2 minutes in. Love it ! Relaxed sax comes in. "Kronos, Vomitting A Child" is dark, atmospheric and spacey. "Fuddle Pie & Puddle Tie" has a beat with vocal melodies. Some raw guitar 2 minutes in. "Lizard-Song" opens with drums then dual vocals and a dreamy sound take over. Sax too. It picks up after 2 minutes. Spoken words then a new sound 3 1/2 minutes in as we get a beat with guitar. We're grooving now. Vocals 8 minutes in.

A huge thankyou to David once again. And for all you space cadets out there please hunt this one down.

Electronic sounds + cool Jazz + Rock guitar's licks.

A blending of styles and influences, not that unique as I was meant to understand, but very well accomplished.

This is the kind of release which could have landed, here in PA, in any other of its sub-genres, from Krautrock to Prog-Rock/Electronic to Jazz/Fusion and of course Psychedelic/Space Rock.

Its variety in experimentation could also be tagged as Avant Garde inclined and Rock in Opposition un-structured, but of all those sub-genres I would have chosen Krautrock. It has lots of weird electronic noises and quirky time signatures, but always comes back to basic Rock or Jazz lines.

This band's sound, considering its date of release, should be thought as retro, meaning no real "new" groundbreaking directions, but a faithful extension of the roots they somehow reenact.

Polished yet raw, daringly blending simultaneously all type of these Prog-non-mainstream styles, tainted with Frank Zappa's or Resident's like colors, close to G.A.M.'s or Ash Ra's hypnotic trances, but not really that original in their own music compositions, nevertheless extraordinary in performances, ideas and sound quality. Sound quality which really was ignored or unattainable in those early Krautrock days, which brought back with this top-notch engineering sounds amazing.

Anyway, if you enjoy this release you are a sure candidate to enjoy any of the before mentioned Prog sub-genres ( or F. Zappa's style), which have gone through some very interesting changes up to these days...like this Polytoxicomane Philharmonie's "Psycho Erectus", 2003.

3.5 PA stars for people already acquainted with these stylings and bands and 4 stars for young and hungry for non-mainstream Prog cats.

***3.5 PA stars.