Summer Solstice 2008

Happy Solstice!!!

It's Summer! (Here, in the Northern Hemisphere. To all of our beloved Southern Hemisphere readers, well.., you'll have to bide your time.)

Summer conjures up a massive well-spring of emotions for me and every summer needs a soundtrack. I think. And, I think I have yours right here!

Way back in the mists & snows of February I had (yet another) rather hare-brained idea: invite some bands I really enjoy to create a special track for what I was planning-a "Surprise Summer Solstice" compilation. I'd hoped that with over 16 weeks, or 100+ days, they'd perhaps mull it over and at least think about it given the time they had to work everything out. 75% of all invitees jumped in immediately!
Some said they were in the process of recording new albums and wouldn't be able to fit it in, others were in the midst of a heavy tour schedule and couldn't make the timeline work. I thank them for their honesty and for making the music. To these 18 bands who did join in and create a special track, well words fall severely short here. As I've expressed to each of them through hundreds of e-mails: I hope THANK YOU suffices, and not just from me but from each and every reader who derives any small fragment of pleasure in reading this blog.I believe every band included here worthy of your attention and, beyond that, your support for what they do in providing consistently great respites from the worries and such which is everyday life. What other mode of communication does so much in a mere two-to-five minutes? To each and EVERY band here: I stand up and APPLAUD. THANK YOU!!!


(Once it seemed more than likely this "hipster doofus" idea would actually come off I set about to rope in an able artist, someone who knows from weird. Enter Andrew Goldfarb, a/k/a "The Slow Poisoner." He, too, readily assented to the request for services. Good man this one! I think he's done a wonderful job on the cover art! Next I turned to my "Graphics Go-To Guru", Gomonkeygo. He did the great back cover and the tracklist fold-out insert using Andrew's schema. Thank YOU GoMonkeyGo!)
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The tracklist:

01-The Higher State – Psummer’s Purple Phogg (3:08)
Marty, Mole, Mike & Mark set the scene with this mindwarping opener!
02-Jamie Laboz – Trip Inside This House (3:16)
Jamie keeps the pace with this sitar-driven puff of smoke and haze...
03-Ideal Free Distribution – Trip Inside This House (6:47)
Pure headphone magic! The longest track on here and you'll still want more!
04-Doleful Lions – Underground Werewolf Scribe Agape (3:24)
Jonathan Scott and brother Robert Lee gives us a fragile wonder. Achingly beautiful.

Underground Werewolf Scribe Agape
written by Jonathan Scott

there is an owl inside of all that breathes
this key that breaches n'aton's seed
discordia to trip inside this house
mothwings that sing this sacred song

the pope and the priest an animal entwined
enshrined in a silver bullet so free
i have become humanity will cease
the beast will crush the nations with ease

well do you do you feel alright
in wolf and wonder you're torn asunder
your magick is your only light there to blind you
the only thing that you have lost
in this cosmic manger you are the stranger
in transformation paid the cost now forever
05-The Sun Blindness – Slippery Morning (3:46)
Viva Australia! Tor & Duncan say "Happy Solstice!" to their Hemispheric opposites
06-The Dreadful Yawns – Locked Outside Your Mind (4:54)
Cleveland Rocks! The Yawns best lineup shows why you should love 'em. Somewhere Nico weeps...
written by the dreadful yawns
recorded by aaron dresner
performed by the dreadful yawns:
chris russo - drums
eric schulte - canjo
ben gmetro - guitar, whistling
elizabeth kelly - vocal
clayton heuer - farfisa
+ vince swain - lap slide
07-Anton Barbeau – Trip Inside This House (1:50)
Multi-national psychedelicist flies many flags. We know the freak flag is on the tall pole!
08-The Sparkling Fountains of Magical Reality – Don’t Deny Me (2:31)
Nick Wheeldon shows off his influences and puts us all under the influence!
09-Dog Age – A Trip Inside This House (5:14)
Norway Dreams of Summer! A true trip-inducing track, a contact high!
Recorded at Spendless Studio June 1st 2008
Roughly mixed Endless Sound Studio June 5th 2008
Engineered by Eystein Hopland

The players:
Øystein Jevanord: Drums
Jon Anders Strand: Electric guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
Jørn Smedslund: Lead and backing vocals
Steinar Buholm: Bass guitar
Lars Fredrik Beckstrøm: Baby sitar
Harald Beckstrøm: Electric guitar

Plus, our great pal Jørn captured the day in photos:



(valis: Mmmm! betcha' them oat sodies taste good!)


10-Reefus Moons – The Other Side Of Nowhere (4:19)
Our Man in the Magic Caravan creates this track to christen his newly refurbished caravan studio-we are all transported!
11-Øyvind Holm – Inside This House (2:58)
Yet another Norwegian dreaming of Summer and showing us his Rubber Soul and heart of pure gold...
12-The Maharajas – Trip Inside This House (2:48)
Oh Sweet Swingin' Sweden! the Mighty Ones lob us one as big as the Sun itself!
“Trip Inside This House”


So you’ve been to the dark side of the moon
And you’ve walked the ceiling of your room
I’m all impressed and very eager to see you soon

I hear your voice it carries well
Good for you with so much to tell
If you care to see me just ring my bell

This is an invitation – oh will you come
This is an invitation – to a world unknown
This is my invitation – and how will you come
Man or mouse, man or mouse
how will you trip inside this house, house

It’s your third eye talking no less no more
What if silence was gold; then you’d be poor
Do I smell a scent of someone insecure?

This is an invitation – oh will you come
This is an invitation – to a world unknown
This is my invitation – and how will you come
Man or mouse, I’m the manor mouse
and how will you trip inside this house, house…


Music and lyrics: Ulf Guttormsson with some help from Jens Lindberg and Robert Eriksson.


Ulf - lead vocals, guitar

Jens - backing vocals, bass

Robert - backing vocals, spooky voice, drums, percussion

Måns P Månsson - theremin

13-Joe Kane – 13 Seeds Of Doubt (3:02)
Pscotsman Pshows Psome Psych, Psends Us Psailing!
14-Julian Starr – Dr. Langley (3:32)
Oh yes I did! I set The Wayback Machine to 1966 and got the Walter Ghoul's Lavender Brigade genius to hand us the purple pills...
15-The Squires of the Subterrain – Trip Inside This House (3:25)
From the depths of his Ra-cha-cha lair the Squire let's us all Feel The Sun!
16-Dora Flood – Trip Inside This House (6:44)
California knows sun! And, they know damned well how to trip inside this house..!
17-Andy Humby – (You’ve Been) Casting Shadows (3:10)
From Lon-lon-lon-dinium, Andy goes solo and shows where the solar energy panel of the band resides!
18-Haakon Ellingsen – Trip Inside This House (2:58)
Surprise endings are always good and Norway's own creates a wonderful tune to send us off into the lazy, hazy days of SUMMER!

There you go readers, 18 bands creating a track they hope you'll take to your heart and your stereo devices for Summer! They've done their part and are giving the songs to you, freely. Please give 'em a round of applause, in your own way. Please.

Get the compilation here..., and the cover art with back here and, finally, the insert here.

THANK YOU Bands !!!!!!!!!