Rocket Probes – February 2021 playlist

VED – Ett visst fängelse
(Banging new single by this Swedish band)
VED

DJINN – Transmission
(Incredible album of eclectic, cosmic jazz from Hills/Goat members)
DJINN

Flowers Must Die – Live in Liege
(Live recording of a very special show in 2018 featuring guests Hanna from Hills and Laura from Julie's Haircut)
Flowers Must Die

The Utopia Strong – Ninth Art
Latest album in their beautiful live series of ltd hand made LPs)
The Utopia Strong

Oneida – The Brah Tapes
(New 'old' big O and lot's of it!)
Oneida 

Yerba Mansa – Five Years
(Amazing album of free-form psych on Box records, can't wait to see this lot live again)
Yerba Mansa 

The Stargazer's Assistant – Remoteness Of Light
(Mike from Utopia Strong and Dave from Guapo create haunting, psychedelic landscapes)
The Stargazer's Assistant

Miles Davis – The Lost Septet
(One review of this 1970 show said it is "more Sabbath than Sly Stone")
Miles Davis

Sosena Gebre Eyesus ‎– Sosena Gebre Eyesus
(This great album still getting a lot of plays...new reissue on Little Axe soon)
Sosena Gebre Eyesus

Byron Westbrook – Distortion Hue
(Great new album...on Hands in the dark)
Byron Westbrook

John Dwyer – Baphomet
(Great album....but this track in particular a bit special)
John Dwyer 

Dadawah – Peace and Love
(Saw a review once saying "this is the closest reggae comes to psychedelia")
Dadawah

Don Cherry & Terry Riley ‎– Tambourinen Session
(Impeccable immersions)
Don Cherry & Terry Riley

John Carroll Kirby – Conflict / Tuscany
(Some very fine Centrum recommendations)
Conflict
Tuscany

Moths and Locusts – A ram named drama
(Nice bit of fuzzy psych)
Moths and Locusts

Jericho – Jericho
(Another great La Novia release)
Jericho

Running – Art Seen
(Another banging Cherrystones recommendation)
Running

Kutiman – Maasai in Dub
(Psyched dub sounds)
Kutiman

Banabila, Erker, Samson –  Viewpoint
(Cheers to GNOD's Paddy for intro'ing this)
Banabila, Erker, Samson

Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo -– Deep Fried Grandeur
(Nice 'space outs' recorded at Le Guess Who, with a bit of a sprinkling of Cave/Bitchin Bajas productions)
Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo

Caterina Barbieri – Fantas for Saxophone and voice 
(Horns n' repetitions and scattered rhythms...cheers to Mike Bourne for turning us on to this)
Caterina barbieri 

Keith Hudson – Hunting
(Heavy)
Keith Hudson

EP/64 – EP/64-57
(With added doses of Ben Vince)
EP/64

Natural Information Society – Descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
(New Natural Information Society – recorded live at Cafe Oto)
Natural Information Society

Jaques Denjean – Nevrose
(Fuzzy French wonderfulness)
Jaques Denjean

Tanz Mein Herz – Quattro
(Drones and rhythms from France...another Paddy heads-up)
Tanz Mein Herz

Agitation Free - You Play For Us Today 
(Killer classic)
Agitation Free

Brightblack Morning Light – Star Blanket Child
(Another fine recommendation from Centrum)
Brightblack Morning Light

Sawdust Caesars – Flower Pop Show
(Old Rocket group of acid-punkers drop their first new track in many years on this comp...their debut album which is more than 25 years in the making is coming out soon apparently)
Sawdust Caesars

Listen to our 'updated monthly' Rocket Probes Spotify playlist' here:

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Terrascope reviews Urdog's 'Long Shadows' album

They say:

Look up “Urdog” on the ol’ Google box and you’ll see that this mysterious three-piece Rhode Island outfit decided to take indefinite leave after their performance at  Terrastock 6 in 2006, which we’d like to think is something they’d planned and wasn’t due to anything we said or did at the time. Long Shadows 2003-2006 mines material from their two original albums and its welcome release marks something of a departure for those onwards and upwards forever questing Rocket twins, being their first foray into retro-land compilations. Either that’s an oddly artistic manifestation of cabin fever in these times of stricture or, as is more likely, a heartfelt expression of appreciation and a desire to bring to a wider audience a little known gem. And believe me when I tell you that this is an absolute pearl.  

Brief introductory incantation aside, it’s ‘Ice On Water’ that hurls us full tilt into a mid-noughties maelstrom of tribal tub-thumping and chanting and kid-in-a-toy-shop gleefulness in the abuse of drums, guitars, Farfisa organ and goodness knows what else. This is the one that Chris Rocket gets asked about when he DJs it at gigs (older readers may remember those). Ah but strip it, and much else here, of all flimflam back to its essence and it could nestle or perhaps that should be lurk, somewhere under a broad folk canopy while simultaneously giving the disparate likes of Comus and Amon Duul I and II a fright. As things stand, though, it marks an experimental Devil may care approach, where wig outs and ambient blissfulness somehow co-exist and whereby, figuratively speaking, Father Yod’s crew go In Search Of Space to wild abandon. It would have all sounded anachronistic - but no less fun - at the time of release (or for that matter any time after about 1971), but which now sounds oddly prescient, fitting in with a lot of what labels like Rocket and indeed other labels like Riot Season and Cardinal Fuzz have been bringing us over the past decade. Incredibly this seems like the perfect fit, the missing piece of the jigsaw that links contemporary psychedelia with its primal sixties roots...

Read the rest here: Terrascope

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Listen to Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi's exclusive mix for Bleep

Bleep · Bleep Mix #164 - Steve Davis & Kavus Torabi

 

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J. Zunz announced to play Transmissions Waves (online) Festival

 

J. Zunz has been announced to play Transmissions Waves Festival which will happen on 12-14 March – we are so excited to finally get to see J. Zunz perform live. Also performing at the fest are the incredible Deafkids!!!

It is an online event and can be watched from here:

Transmission Waves

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Listen to The Utopia Strong live on Gideon Coe

Listen to The Utopia Strong live in concert on Gideon Coe's BBC 6 Music show that was broadcast on 18 February.

You can listen in full here: The Utopia Strong

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs to play this years Bigfoot Festival

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have been confirmed to play this years Bigfoot Festival

Bigfoot have a 'Book now - Pay later' COVID payment policy too, more info here:

Bigfoot Festival

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New 'Sacrificial Blood' version of GOAT's World Music available

GOAT's 'World Music' is being pressed again due to the request of Record shops, plus from new/old fans wanting a new version.

So, you can buy this new 'Sacrificial Blood' (frosted clear/red splatter) version from Bandcamp now, and these will hopefully be shipping next week:

Bandcamp

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Read Fuzzy Sun article on the current Greek scene, including Kooba Tercu

The say:

Kooba Tercu released their latest album ‘Proto Tekno’ on Rocket Recordings and it still plays a lot at my place. Tis experimental band fuses psych, noiserock and electronic music inro some gorgeous blend of krautlike trippy music...

Read the full piece here: Fuzzy Sun

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs album 'Off Cuts' available on Bandcamp

We have just put the labels copies of the 'Rough Trade Exclusive' Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs ltd edition album 'Off Cuts' up for sale on Bandcamp, we don't have loads but you can buy a copy from here:

Bandcamp

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs  – 'Off Cuts' 

In April 2020 Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs released their third ‘Viscerals’ – an album which showed an enormous leap forward in confidence, adventure and sheer intensity.

Incisive in its riff-driven attack, infectiously catchy in its songcraft and more intrepid than ever in its experimental approach, ‘Viscerals’ is the sound of a leaner, more vicious Pigs, and one with their controls set way beyond the pulverising one-riff workouts of their early days.

We would now like to introduce a new Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs album called ‘Off Cuts’ – a ltd vinyl only release (no digital/streaming available) containing previously unreleased versions of tracks taken from all three Pigs albums. These version were recorded live in various studios across the UK and presents rawer, more immediate, more intense versions of the songs you all know and love.‘Off Cuts’ is an essential listen for all Pigs fans and all fans of heavy, fuzzed rock!

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Nowe Idzie Od Morza interviews Paisiel's João Pais Filipe

They say:

This conversation was supposed to happen a few times. First, before the 2019 Unsound Festival, where João Pais Filipe played three sets, then at the beginning of 2020. Finally, we managed to talk in the second half of the pandemic year. There were many reasons – during the last 10 months, the Portuguese drummer released no fewer than 5 albums, and more are still to come.

João Pais Filipe is an extraordinary and original musician in terms of performance techniques. I had the opportunity to see him playing solo at the Tremor festival in 2019, when – using the unusual acoustics of a car garage that served as his venue – his music was intense, trance-like, indigenous, but also techno-like. The drummer from Porto is characterized by an extraordinary motoric sound, he hardly uses the kick drum at all, but he nuances the rhythm very well, playing on the floor toms, hi-hats and gongs. He creates gongs and cymbals on his own, expanding his musical sound arsenal as a sculptor. Not only do they have remarkable acoustic qualities (each is designed differently), but also visual ones – due to the texture, material and unusual sculptures that Pais Filipe places on them.

2020 showed his extremely broad horizons – from his motoric, krautrock incarnation with Burnt Friedman, through a more progressive style with GNOD, the powerful, metal sound with Julius Gabriel as Paisiel, but also an exploration of resonance and electronics with Rafael Toral. It is also the year of his second solo album, Sun Oddly Quiet. Below you will read about his musical path, his fascination with metallic sounds and Einstürzende Neubauten. At the end of the text is a brief review of his albums from the past months. If you missed out, now is the time to catch up...

Read the rest here: Nowe Idzie Od Morza

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