Friendly Psychics Music - Compilation Disc Volume 1 - CDR
A collection of surprisingly right-on indie rock cuts from this bedroom/home recording collective, 'Friendly Psychics' paints a picture of a productive and impressive underground scene that exists far outside the boundaries of commercial 'budgets' and 'marketing'. From the sensitive folk/rock atmospheres of the fine UPSTATE and WICKED IMMIGRANT to BULLET GASTINO, who's indulgent vocal wails grate with me, this comp runs the gamut. My favorites include UPSTATE's 'Whatever You Want To Be' and 'Falling Missiles', which create melodic atmospheres with well-mixed guitar layerings and propulsive drums. WICKED IMMIGRANT's cello-powered 'Veranda Myth' is another winner. Overall, a really hit & miss affair, but with some gems worth investigating.
Friendly Psychics
Music
Compilation Vol. 1 (1999-2006)
19 songs, 62:30 minutes
Friendly Psychics Music is a label of bands that never play together. As all members live in different U.S. states, they send each other their parts on discs and everyone adds their own parts. Quite unusual, but the past showed that it worked well for Upstate and Wicked Immigrant, whose albums I received about two years ago. Now there's a compilation presenting what five bands have done during the last seven years. The label bosses John Wenzel and Dan Miller (not listed: Chris Jones) are present in four respectively five bands while there are nine more members in the other bands. Instead of playing soccer, these eleven musicians formed the five bands below.
There are five songs by Upstate, an acoustic driven rock band with a dark and sad touch. Even if a song like "Whatever It Wants To Be" contains a longer guitar solo, Upstate are not a hard band. They never lose the right feeling for cool melodies and show that mellow music can contain much more depth than a simple campfire atmosphere.
Not too different from Upstate are Wicked Immigrant that have also five songs on this compilation. Most of their music is acoustic and the melancholic vocals sound very dreamy. My two favourite songs ("Pyramid Law," "Veranda Myth") from their CDs have been chosen for the record. Whenever my dog is a bit excited, Wicked Immigrant is the ideal music to calm him down and make him stop barking.
Dishwater Psychics are playing three songs on this record. They are another band playing music made to lay back and listen to, but their Americana roots are stronger. I especially like "Blueprint of a God" thanks to the distorted vocals. I could imagine Dishwater Psychics on the soundtrack for "O Brother, Where Are Thou?" (sic)
Bullet Gastino are playing straighter lo-fi rock with distortions and coughing parts. On both songs, the singer is convincing, showing parallels to Robert Wyatt and David Byrne. It's a pity that there are only two songs by Bullet Gastino.
The last band offering two songs on the compilation is Tarantula Dinner Party, the rockers on the album. They play distorted noise close to Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth and Monster Magnet.
Friendly Psychics Music certainly isn't the busiest label I know, but their outputs have so far always been of high quality. The same must be said about this compilation giving you an interesting overview of a fantastic and rather special label.
Daredevil Magazine (08/30/06)
Friendly Psychics Music - Compilation Volume 1 1999-2006 CD
Friendly Psychics Music...this label always been a guarantor for laid back and relaxing accoustic-driven music. Now they´ve managed it to bring out this nice compilation. Don´t be afraid there´s not just accoustic music on this baby, no...Compilation Disc Volume I has more to offer...you also get songs in the vein of Queens Of The Stoneage...straight rockers with really delicate vocals....songs which go in the vein of Masters Of Reality...stuff that sounds like old Bowie and Roxy Music stuff...Pop orientated Psychedelia....Check out this very limited piece of music...believe me...you won´t regret.
Rating: 6
out of 7
-RB
Friendly Psychics Music - Compilation Volume 1
A compilation from our friends in Friendly Psychics Music based out of Dayton, Ohio, this jaunt down the busy lanes of indie rock is a welcome mat that is neither worn nor tired. Exhausting stretches of pop catchiness aside, the album will awaken anyone with two ears willing enough to listen. Heartwarming lyrics by bands like Wicked Immigrant and Upstate find us with enough talent to spotlight. But then you punctuate things with groups like Dishwater Psychics and Tarantula Dinner Party and you have something so special it needs its own course.
- J-Sin
Friendly Psychics Music - "Compilation Volume 1" (Independent 2006)
The bands that don't play together...
" None of our bands have ever practised or played together in the same room before..." So runs the publicity for the FPM collective. It would appear that the personnel of the five bands featured on this compilation are basically drawn from the same pool of musicians, and quite frankly, but perhaps not surprisingly, it is difficult to tell one from another. With names such as Tarantula Dinner Party and Dishwater Psychics, they sound, at best, like a kind of third rate Pink Floyd, and at worst, navel gazing and pretentious in the extreme." Whatever it Wants to Be" is indebted to 5D period Byrds, and is one of only a handful of the 19 tracks which merits a second listen. There are occasional glimpses of worthwhile ideas, and a lot of time and effort has obviously gone into the admirable concept behind this project, but ultimately most of it comes across as self indulgent and uninspiring.
Date review
added: Sunday, August 20, 2006
Reviewer: John Hinshelwood
Reviewers Rating: 4 out of 10