23 August 2024

LAMP OF THE UNIVERSE MEETS DR SPACE – Enters Your Somas (2024, LP Sound Effect Records)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Sound Effect Records

Format: LP, Album, Limited Deluxe Edition Split LP, Violet Vinyl, (Comes in a resealable Japan plastic over bag, black poly-lined inner sleeves, hype sticker), 100 copies

Format: LP, Album, Limited Deluxe Edition Split LP, Black Vinyl, (Comes in a resealable Japan plastic over bag, black poly-lined inner sleeves, hype sticker), 200 copies

Release Date: 14 June 2024

America, New Zealand, Portugal, and Greece are 4 countries “related” to the LP album “Enters Your Somas”… And, this is what I like to call “a cultural crossroad”, let me explain… An American guy, Scott Heller (everybody knows him as Dr. Space and one of the founders of Øresund Space Collective) for quite a few years he is relocated to Portugal, teams up with Craig Williamson (the one-man band behind the name Lamp Of The Universe) who is a New Zealand native, and a Greek label that goes by the name Sound Effect Records (run by the cool Yiannis Andriopoulos) took over to release the “seed” of this collaboration… This is how things happened: “In 2022, Scott approached Craig about making some music together. Both were fans of the work each other had done in all their different projects. In 2023, Scott sent Craig, two long synthesizer improvisations, and a few months later, Craig had added his bits and made the mixes. Scott made some comments, adjustments were made and then Scott mastered it!! Done… An epic mind trip conceived and realized between Portugal and New Zealand. A time/space symphony spread in two tracks, “Enter Your Somas” and “Infiltrates Your Mind”. Not for the faint-hearted!”…

It’s Dr. Space on Analog Synthesizers, Mellotron Micro, Hammond XB-2, Modular Synth, and Craig Williamson on Drums, Bass, Guitar, Sitar, and Flute. Also, Shane Beck lends some Spoken Words on side ‘B’.

“Enters Your Somas” (18:39min) starts in a very electronic (New-Age) way reminding a lot of the early works of Jean Michel Jarre, becoming a bit ambient-like, and with all these analog synths it gives you the sense of a Spacecraft that warms up the engines… All of a sudden without even noticing it you find yourself in the middle of Infinite Space, Craig’s unique and trademark Heavy Lamp Of The Universe improvised guitar Sound floods the place/Space taking absolute Control while Dr Space’s numerous synths (in the background) are doing the most important job, keeping the “vehicle” in orbit! This is an amazing amalgam of Heavy Impro Eastern-influenced guitar and New Age Space Music creating an explosive electronically flavored Space Rock cocktail! “Infiltrates Your Mind” (19:07min) occupies side ‘B’, the intro here is even much more Spacey, a huge electronic dive into the Deep Space I must say, while the pounding drums leave no wonders about the direction of this Sonic Trip, it’s going to be HEAVY and SPACEY, tons of Space Rock adrenaline leak into the dark cold Space, space-bubbles along with modular synths, analog synths, and mellotron, all together for once more are keeping the “capsule” in the desired orbit, improvised guitars (Heavy of course) are all over, at some point the music, the New Age Space Music, becomes quite EXPERIMENTAL, trippy, windy… and out of nowhere enters this cold echoed voice adding a fantastic mind-bending spacey dark atmosphere to the track, it feels like the engines stopped in the middle of nowhere for some unexplained reason, just for a very short time though, pounding drums and trillions of space-bubbles and real Heavy guitars are bringing the power back, and our “capsule” kind-of-ejected at the speed of light… Oh, what a Space Trip! A Space-Trip inextricably linked with your “Soma” and your “Mind”… R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-D-E-D! TimeLord Michalis