Defying definition, psychedelic rock exists across a mind-bending spectrum of sound and interpretation. Born from the reconciliation of volume, effects, reverb, and joy, psych rock married post war optimism with misfit counterculture. Their children, a strange brew of electrified folk and barroom boogie-woogie, spawned countless manifestations. Each artist, each era, each scene added its innovation to stretch the genre. Hawkwind and Byrds, Velvets and Verve pushed an ever-evolving sound beyond a unifying theme. Thus, the A-4, restless, modern musicians, suffused in spans of harmonic action and reaction, push towards the future, capably plucking the choicest echoes from the past’s musical vineyard. … the A-4, restless, modern musicians, suffused in spans…
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Reeling over the Stutter Steps
A few years ago, I attended Blue Arrow Records release party at The Happy Dog. I had just interviewed Blue Arrow co-founder Pete Gulyas and his pal and label signee, Ethan Daniel Davidson, on the airwaves of 89.3, WCSB, Cleveland. Hustling from the station to the tiny club, I was surprised when Ethan leapt to the stage first. Ethan said he had to “Catch a train.” Apparently he had a morning meeting with that Bono guy, Paul Hewson. He said something about riding horses. Shuffling toward the Happy Dog’s sweeping, deco bartop, I thought, “Well, this will be an early evening”. Then Blue Arrow Records’ label-mates, the Stutter steps, plugged…
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Taking Trips to Make Music To Take Trips to
For some two decades, The Asteroid No. 4 has been the soundtrack to my many rustic and refined Pennsylvanian adventures: Fly fishing, camping, hiking, and the Warhol Museum. A three-hour trek from my north coast compound, the rurals and metros of Pennsylvania offer cool spots that I can bug out to. Coincidentally, the Asteroid No. 4 are trip-taking Pennsylvanian ex-pats, and, as the myth now goes, the A-4 bugs out, too. Their latest single is vintage Asteroid No. 4: humming, fuzzed-out shoegaze riffs and echoing harmonies. The lead drifts above the din, a shoegaze hallmark of psych brethren, Ride and Slowdive. Story goes that on a recent tour in Europe,…
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I Dream of the A-4
SF’s Asteroid No. 4 Drop Dreamy Single: “The After Glow” John J. Callahan, PhD Upon waking, many struggle to recall the progress of the night’s sleep, the dream: surreal, vivid, blur of memories and emotion. At moment’s wake, still more long to stretch back into that slumbered bliss, with sound, places, and people far, so near. The sonic expression of that drifting moment of somnolence is the target of countless pysch rock outfits. They have put it into the names of their genres, bands, albums, and songs. The list is endless: Dream pop, The Dream Syndicate, An Amazing Dream, “And Then I Dreamt of Yes”. However, the actual capture of…
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Order/Disorder: Stephen Calhoun, Psych Artist
July 13, 2020. This week, Heights Arts features the artwork of Cleveland Heights native son, Stephen Calhoun. Photographer, designer, painter, musician, and all-around cool dude, Steve was interviewed by POW in effort to breathe order into his ever-experimental, mind-bending digital photography. With exhibition dates from July 10 through August 23, Steve’s artwork must be experienced: Found objects, dizzying algorithms, Hubble images, and limitless fractals are displayed in bewitching combinations of hyper-realistic detail and pattern. Appointments are available to view Calhoun’s immersive psychedelia in person. POW: Steve, you are a visual artist; however, your method has been described as a “musical process”. What do you mean by that? How is the…
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Sunwatchers’ McHugh Strikes the BLM Bell
John J. Callahan, PhD July 6, 2020 – Back in 2006, Jim McHugh convinced a Cleveland concert promoter to allow members of his band to ascend the shuttered belfry of St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church. In the hours earlier, McHugh’s 12-piece freakout band from Athens, Georgia, had played Parish Hall, the repurposed church-property turned avant rock venue. Ever the rule breaker, McHugh rang the retired church bell. “The entire tower shook” with frightening percussive strength, recalls McHugh. https://wemustresistcontrol.bandcamp.com/ That was the heady days of Dark Meat, McHugh’s former band. Now he is the guitarist of the Sunwatchers. McHugh also backs Thee Oh Sees’ Brigid Dawson on her latest release, Ballet…
