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Demon Box (1993, 73.48) ***½/½ |
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| Waiting for the One Nothing to Say Feedtime Sunchild Tuesday Morning All is Loneliness Come on in Step Inside Again Demon Box |
Babylon Junior Plan #1 Sheer Profoundity The One That Went Away [Double LP adds: Gutwrench Mountain] |
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Timothy's Monster (1994, 97.55) ****/TT½ |
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| Feel Trapdoor Leave it Like That A Shrug and a Fistful Kill Some Day On My Pillow Beautiful Sister Wearing Yr Smell |
Now It's Time to Skate Giftland Watersound The Wheel Sungravy GrindStone The Golden Core |
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Blissard (1996, 53.09) ****/T |
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| Sinful, Wind-Borne "Drug Thing" Greener 's Numbness The Nerve Tattoo True Middle S.T.G. Manmower |
Fools Gold Nathan Daniel's Tune From Hawaii |
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Manmower EP (1996, 18.39) ****/TTManmowerA Saw Sage Full of Secretion Heaven + Hell 7th Dream Sterling Says |
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Trust Us (1998, 81.36) ****/TTT |
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| Psychonaut Ozone The Ocean in Her Eye Vortexsurfer Syddhardtino 577 Evernine |
Mantrick Muffin Stomp Radiance Frequency Taifun Superstooge Coventry Boy Hey, Jane Dolphyn |
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Hey, Jane (1998, 24.47) ***/THey, JaneMellow Muffin Stomp Celestine Valis The Ballad of Pat & Put |
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Heavy Metal Fruit (2010, 62.04) ****/TT½ |
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| Starhammer X-3 (Knuckleheads in Space)/ The Getaway Special The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond Close Your Eyes W.B.A.T. |
Gullible's Travails (pt I-IV) I Eye All-Seeing II The Elementhaler III Circle IV Phoot Flower (a Burly Return) |
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Mellotrons used:
Motorpsycho have presented me with a conundrum: some years ago, one of my contacts forwarded an e-mail from the band, saying, "We do not own our own Mellotron... what we have used, and still use for gigs, is samples of the strings (two versions), flutes, cellos, brass and choir from a M400, recorded onto a DAT by a friend and put unaltered into an Akai sampler..." (my italics). However, I've recently been told that the band's Bent Sæther has made reference to 'using Mellotrons in the past'. So how much of their Mellotron use is genuine? I'm having to make educated guesses on most of these and there's no guarantee I'm right about any of them; the only absolute confirmation is 2010's Heavy Metal Fruit. Maybe, one day, someone from the band will give me the full low-down...
So; who are Motorpsycho, anyway? One of the most unique rock bands around, it would seem, although their appeal is still discouragingly selective, probably not helped by their frequent side-steps into other musical areas. Although they're quoted as beginning as a full-on metal outfit in late '89, even their first demo, Maiden Voyage, is more interesting than that sounds, and their first release 'proper', Lobotomizer, is an interesting and varied selection of eclectic hard rock songs as they used to be, without all that one-dimensional '80s metal tedium that we've had to put up with for so long.
1993's Demon Box is possibly just a tad too eclectic for its own good, to be honest, with the 'side-long' title track being 17 minutes of audio cut-up, plus several other tracks that could be uncharitably described as 'messing about'. Plenty of good material, both loud and soft, although the album overall suffers from a slight lack of direction. Mellotron on one track from Lars Lien (Art By Machinery, 3rd & the Mortal), Plan #1, with a flute part that, frankly, could be almost anything. The following year's Timothy's Monster, while still eclectic, seems more focussed than its predecessor, with several killer tracks, not least 13-minute closer The Golden Core. The Wheel is even longer, if less remarkable, but overall, a good album. Five Mellotron tracks this time round, mostly from Helge "Deathprod" Sten, with flutes on Feel (from Sæther), a high string melody on Kill Some Day, flutes and strings on the excellent Giftland, cellos on GrindStone and strings and cellos on the aforementioned The Golden Core.
'96's Blissard proved that the band could edit their outpourings of ideas down to a normal-length album, or it's possible (although unlikely, going by previous form) that they only had that much material. Once again, a wide range of styles was covered, from the almost 'alt.rock' of Manmower through the acoustic Fools Gold, to the epic hard rock of S.T.G. (Sonic Teenage Guinevere). 'Tron on two tracks, from Morten F(agervik), with some background flutes towards the end of Greener and an upfront string part on Manmower. Said track also gave their next EP its title, which can almost be seen as a microcosm of the band's career, covering several bases in only five tracks, including a killer cover of The Who's Heaven + Hell. Aside from the title track, there are more strings on 7th Dream, this time from Bent.
By 1998's Trust Us, Motorpsycho had become pretty reliable at sticking out another lengthy, eclectic, psychedelic hard rock album, pushing all the right buttons. Highlights included The Ocean In Her Eye and Radiance Frequency, but, amazingly for an 80-minute+ album, no stinkers. 'Tron on several tracks, with faint cellos and strings on Vortexsurfer from Bent and Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan and background flutes on EP lead track Hey, Jane (Snah again), but the strings on Evernine (Snah), Mantrick Muffin Stomp (Bent) and the really major part on Radiance Frequency (drummer Håkon "Geb" Gebhardt) are all pretty full-on. The Hey, Jane EP, apart from its title track, contains a reworking of the album's Mantrick Muffin Stomp, Mellow Muffin Stomp, the gentle Celestine, the jazzy Valis and one other Mellotron track, the slow, psychedelic The Ballad Of Pat & Put, with background flutes from Fagervik.
As far as I can work out, the band started using samples after this (I could be so wrong about all of this), until 2010; reviews of probable sample efforts below.
Moving on a decade plus and Motorpsycho's latest, the Blue Öyster Cult-referencing Heavy Metal Fruit (whadd'ya mean, you didn't know that?) carries on the good work, combining intricate heavy rock with intelligent jamming, best heard on opener Starhammer and twenty-minute, four-part closer Gullible's Travails (ho ho). The band used Kåre (Christoffer) Vestrheim (Gluecifer, Morten Harket)'s M400, seemingly played by its owner, with a major string part on Starhammer, complete with pitchbends, more strings (although the brass appears to be real) on X-3, possible strings and definite flutes on The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond and strings and flutes throughout Gullible's Travails. All in all, another great Motorpsycho album, easily matching the standards set by 2008's Mellotron-free Little Lucid Moments.
So; do you buy any Motorpsycho albums? If my description appeals, the answer's yes (fairly obvious one, that), although bear in mind that there's an 'indie' edge to most of their work that may dissuade dyed-in-the-wool hard rock types from diving in head-first. Plenty of Mellotron use on several albums (assuming it's real) may or may not persuade you.
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Phanerothyme (2001, 43.37) ****Bedroom EyesFor Free B.S. Landslide Go to California Painting the Night Unreal The Slow Phaseout Blindfolded When You're Dead |
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Serpentine EP (2002, 20.50) ***½SerpentineShane 2AM Little Ricky Massenburg Snafu Fade to Gray |
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It's a Love Cult (2002, 48.24) ***½ |
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| Überwagner or a Billion Bubbles in My Mind Circles Neverland This Otherness Carousel What if... The Mirror and the Lie |
Serpentine Custer's Last Stand (One More Daemon) Composite Head |
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OK, so I'll stick my neck on the line here and say 'I think these use samples'. I don't know this for certain, but when it comes to Motorpsycho, do any of us really know anything? Come on chaps, write to me and put me out of my misery...
2001's Phanerothyme is named for Aldous Huxley's original term for what became LSD: "To make this mundane world sublime, take half a gram of phanerothyme". His friend Humphrey Osmond wrote back, "To fathom hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic". Anyway... the album opens on a gentle note with Bedroom Eyes, and despite the heavier For Free, it's a more laid-back proposition all round, adding more strings to the band's already well-laden bow, quite literally on some tracks. There's an almost chamber-pop sensibility going on in places, too, not least on the intro to Go To California, which also features a sly little musical Who quote, while the subtle brass on Painting The Night Unreal was a departure for the band. 'Tron string and flute samples on For Free, played just that little bit too fast and too accurately for authenticity, plus flutes on The Slow Phaseout.
It seems that Motorpsycho have only been a part-time proposition since 2003 or so and don't seem to have used their Mellotron samples on the few recordings they've made since 2002's It's a Love Cult and associated sessions. The Serpentine EP preceded the album, with four non-album tracks on board, of which the best is probably the jammed-out Fade To Gray. 'Tron samples on Little Ricky Massenburg, with a melodic flute part that enhances the song and quieter flute and string parts on Snafu.
It's a Love Cult retains its predecessor's eclecticism, giving the impression that most things hard'n'heavy have been left behind, although, of course, things are rarely that simple in Motorpsycholand. The album features their 'Tron samples on six of its ten tracks, although opener Überwagner Or A Billion Bubbles In My Mind's strings only really make themselves heard at the end of the song. Flutes on the acoustic Circles and possibly buried under a morass of near-Motown instrumentation on Neverland, with pitchbent strings on Carousel giving the sample game away. Nothing obvious on What If..., leaving Custer's Last Stand (One More Daemon) as the band's last 'Mellotron' track to date, with heavy (and unusual for them) use of the choirs, plus background strings.
Motorpsycho are one of those bands who struggle along forever, slowly gaining a small but fanatical fanbase, while vastly less deserving acts go on to fame and fortune. Listening to their catalogue in sequence makes you realise how they've progressed over the years, taking on new influences and maturing along the way, even when that means leaving a favourite style behind. For those into epic hard rock, most of their releases up to and including Trust Us are worth hearing, with more recent albums suitable for those with more eclectic tastes.
Don't be silly. The band never owned a real Mellotron, let alone used one live, so although they've been bootlegged fairly extensively, there's no point reviewing any of 'em here.
See: Jaga Jazzist
