British psych-rock vets, fronted by charismatic vocalist/songwriter Crispian Mills,
released their debut LP, titled K, back in 1996. It made them instant indie stars.
Last month they launched their 8th full-length, the magnificent WORMSLAYER.
The record, named after a 9th-century Indian poet king, is stuffed with top-flight
pop-edelia tunes, elevating it to a must-hear on repeat level. Mills lifts his troops
to ecstasizing heights of nostalgia. Retro delirium at its todays best.
New album means a new tour to promote it.
Last Friday, they landed in my hometown of Ghent, Belgium.
Oh my, oh my, KS still nails it on stage as they used to do so.
I saw them 4/5 times back then, and every gig was a smasheroo).
The band started with the LP’s key single Lucky Number. From there, with
almost the full tracklist of the new opus, the Brits stormed through a superlative
1 1/2 hour set.
Of course, Crips was the magnet in the middle. His marvelous guitar play mesmerized throughout. Backed by his spellbound assistants, the elated audience went through a trancy show. Not one dull moment.
Visually, our eyes were mostly fixated on the big screen behind the 4 humans. Non-stop full-spectrum, swirling, and high-contrast patterns of hallucinatory hues created a surreal spectacle. Phantasmagoric.
To be honest, I never thought I would listen to a formidable Kula Shaker again,
and I would witness a memorable live performance of them. Hail hail!.
ALBUM
. SETLIST
Lucky Number
Good Money
Charge of the Light Brigade
Broke as Folk
Natural Magick
Infinite Sun
Shower Your Love
Grateful When You’re Dead / Jerry Was There
Be Merciful
The Winged Boy
Day For Night
Wormslayer
Encores:
303
Tattva
Hush
Isn’t It a Pity
(George Harrison cover) Govinda
Band: KULA SHAKER
Who: British psych rock vets, fronted by charismatic
vocalist/songwriter Crispian Mills. Their 1996 debut LP,
titled K made them instant indie stars.
Press info: “Named after a 9th-century Indian poet king, the band have always existed
in an alternate reality, mixing mysticism, psychedelia, and raucous rock ‘n’ roll energy. With Wormslayer, they continue that quest, creating a kaleidoscopic journey that feels both
timeless and urgently fresh.”
Press photo
TUTV: KS show again their passion for 60s psychedelic rock/pop flavered with Indian sitar vibes and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds symphonies. Think early Pink
Floyd, The Kinks, The Pepper Beatles,Traffic and Arthur Lee’s Love.
And they are very good at it. Wormslayer is stuffed with top-flight pop-edelia tunes, elevating this 8th LP to a must-hear on repeat level. Voice/face/songwriter and vibrant guitarist Crispian Mills lifts his troops to ecstasizing heights of nostalgia. Retro delirium
at its todays best. Formidable record.
Press info: “Look Who’s Back took shape in a homegrown, late-night party atmosphere, playfully debaucherous sessions ran late into the night, the cozy room as crowded with mics, cables, and recording equipment as it was with friends, pizza boxes, and beer cans.”
TUTV: This party squad keeps it simple, but oh irresistibly efficient with laid-back
melodiousness, sparkling guitar play, euphonious harmonies, and top-drawer sing along/tap along/clap along tunes with at times, a cosy country feel. It’s called pop-ular music. Instantly entertaining, chipper and ear-pleasing fun.
Trust me, the cliché, no fillers, all killers, is 100% accurate here.
Artists: DEAD ANYWAY Who: British duo who set the dark lyricism of Kate Arnold against the music
and soundscapes of Marc Symonds. They offer a mix of poetry, electronica
and guitars. A heady brew of dark, glitchy head-messing wonder.
TUTV: Again, DA takes you on a relaxing wander, entertaining your ears, mind,
and psyche en route. They trip and hop their way through eight new pieces. Sonically,
as we experienced so many times before, Tricky,Arab Strap, and Portishead come
to mind.
Sydmonds designs a fitting, easy-listening atmosphere, flavored with scintillating guitar
sparks, shiny synth,s and bass-dipped Massive Attack-like percussion, for Arnold‘s spoken
word reflections.
Her laid-back vocals suit the whole sonic picture organically, and her hush-hush
tonality creates an inviting, intimate ambiance. Thematically, the songs are Arnold reflections on her mental issues. The overall outcome of this new LP is engrossing
once again.
Ronker about the record: “The initial plan was to write half of the record completely sober. We mostly succeeded in that effort. Not quite. We noticed that the songs we wrote in those sober sessions had a very distinct nature compared to the more fierce banger-like
songs we hammer out when we have some sort of intoxicants in our veins.”
📸 Nathan Dobbelaere
TUTV’s impressions.
Ronker rage and race once again.
These volcanic punk hyenas develop
an earsplitting havoc that crushes
your mind, your psyche and your
shaking stereo.
Manic demon Jasper De Petter – Trix, Antwerp – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Vociferous vocalist Kasper has 4 lungs
and iron pipes. He growls, barks, howls
and spits and sneers at a sizzling speed.
His backing crew hits hard, really hard.
Schizo riot gun riffs and a Herculean
bass/drum tandem. What you hear
is what your terrified ears get.
On the short & soft, classical piano-driven
instrumental in the middle, you can take
a breather, and the closing ballad, an
intensity-growing ballad Using Eyes is
one of my favorite pieces on the record.
This 2nd LP could easily be the soundtrack
to Quentin Tarantino‘s first horror movie.
Band:GORILLAZ Who: The brainchild of Blur’s Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of their top-ranking
project this year.
Press info: “The album is a collection of 15 new tracks featuring artists and
collaborators, living and dead, including: Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Asha
Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, Idles, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny
Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Sparks, Trueno and Yasiin Bey;
as well as the voices of the late Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper and
Mark E. Smith
TUTV:Gorillaz offer us the first summer record of the year. And if you’re a longtime
G fan you know what that means. Yes, a soft stream of easygoing, feel-good, and bubbly reggae-tinted tunes. But it’s not all sunlight and carefreeness.
Albarn and Hewlett both lost their fathers, in between two trips they did together to India. Those sad happenings resonate in several melancholic musings, embedded in Indian instrumentation (lots of sitars) and Eastern vibes, yet they obviously want to
keep up the good spirits and look to the future.
It results in one of their most entertaining longplayers in their 25-year career.
Band: KULA SHAKER
Who: British psych rock vets, fronted by charismatic
vocalist/songwriter Crispian Mills. Their 1996 debut LP,
titled K made them instant indie stars.
Press info: “Named after a 9th-century Indian poet king, the band have always existed
in an alternate reality, mixing mysticism, psychedelia, and raucous rock ‘n’ roll energy. With Wormslayer, they continue that quest, creating a kaleidoscopic journey that feels both
timeless and urgently fresh.”
TUTV: KS show again their passion for 60s psychedelic rock/pop. Broke As Folk,
Little Darling, Shaunie and Wormslayer are obvious examples of their retro delirium.
Think early Pink Floyd, The Kinks, and Arthur Lee’s Love.
And they are very good at it. Wormslayer is stuffed with top-flight pop-edelia tunes, elevating this 8th LP to a must-hear level. Voice/face/songwriter mastermind Crispian
Mills lifts his troops to ecstasizing nostalgia heights. Respect.
