The Psych Rock Lounge - Progressive Rock Music Forum

When it comes to psych pop rock.....one of my favorites who never really gets mentioned enough.

Surreal as it gets with great melodies. (Saw him 3 times in the old days in Chicago.)

One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin

No synth pop here, Doc.

Check this band. Heavy psych prog Wink

http://thegrandastoria.bandcamp.com/album/the-mighty-few

If Pink Floyd and The Mars Volta had a baby, and that baby grew up listening to heavy metal and punk, and then formed a rock band, that band would be The Grand Astoria. Speaking of the Mars Volta, Kamille Sharapodinov reminds me of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez in terms of both his creativity and the frequency with which he produces truly new music.
If you are really paying attention you will not be able to turn this masterpiece off, and will have to agree that although there is no proper category for this music, it is undeniably heavy. The Grand Astoria has Led-Zeppelin-like importance for me in terms of how they have altered my perspective on heavy music, and I consider them one of the best rock bands of all time. Here is “Curse of the Ninth”, a tribute to the myth that a classical music composer’s ninth symphony would end up being their last - HEAVY METAL TEXTBOOKS BLOGSPOT

St Petersburg, Russia may not be the first place you think of when considering fuzzed out, psychedelic, prog rock bands but after hearing The Grand Astoria‘s new album, The Mighty Few, it may be the only place you’ll go looking. You may also consider throwing particular genre descriptions to the wind too as although The Grand Astoria cover the descriptors set out above, they also blend in an awful lot more. In fact, if you listen hard enough you may even hear the kitchen sink banging about.
At two songs long you may also feel a little short-changed but again there’s no need to worry. The album still runs in at little under an hour, which may cause alarm bells for those of a punkier disposition or fear the long haul. This is no exercise in restraint and patience though and these two songs include a sum of parts which would constitute many bands double albums. There are more ideas floating around than in here than in a years worth of White Album’s, and probably much more fun too.
We’re not going to try and describe the two songs on offer here as that would take away half the fun and amazement. Needless to say you can expect to veer from straight ahead fuzz filled rock to wonky jazz in little under a couple of minutes before shooting off into some crazy acapella vocals bounced around the aforementioned kitchen sink which rattles away keeping an ever steady rhythmic pulse.

What is perhaps most intriguing is that this is The Grand Astoria’s sixth release and judging from the sheer amount of energy and joy they pump into their music, you can only imagine what drives them in their pursuit of creating something truly original. You could argue that in they are like an over-exciting puppy in their need to please and impress, but that would be casually brushing aside the excellent musicianship throughout this album. That is the product of experience and one that makes you want to hunt down their back catalogue.
So while the eyes of the world look at Russia for different reasons these days, maybe it’s time we looked to a side which believes in creation. One can imagine that working as a band is somewhat different than in the Western world but one thing remains and that is passion which The Grand Astoria have in bucketloads. The album may be one crazy, mixed up ride and test more conservative minded listeners, but to those with an open mind, their world becomes an appealing invitation. - ECHOES AND DUST

This might very well be a personal candidate for 2015 album of the year. The Mighty Few is the sixth album from this large scale ensemble from St. Petersburg, Russia. Reviewing this is like describing the indescribable. The album consists of two verrrrry long tracks. The band touches on 70s retro hard rock, psych, metal, prog rock, avant garde jazz - that's within each track. Stylistically they keep shifting and it all melds together very coherently which will become jaw dropping when you hear them pull it off. The band cites Pink Floyd and Mars Volta as influences. Sure but also toss in a ton of other bands like Magma and Weather Report. Instrumentation includes guitars, keys, flute, clarinet, sax, percussion, and drums. Oh yeah - vocals are in english and are great! A total ripper from beginning to end. Buy or die! - LASER CD DISTRO

Edited by TGArmy - August 18 2015 at 05:07

Don't recall how I bumped into this web site but it's very interesting and has a nice page on obscure psych pop and rock,...

http://active-listener.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/40-obscure-psychedelic-rock-pop-albums.html

One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin