By JASON HARPER
Highlights from the life of an unapologetic rock fan:
I. Age 15, Led Zeppelin IV, Dark Side of the Moon.
II. Age 29, Little Lucid Moments
Coming of age in the '90s, I was not particularly hip or schooled in the cool underground music of that decade or the one before, but I was pretty sure of one thing: the '70s had way better music. I also knew the electric guitar was the finest instrument ever invented. In the right hands, even better than the human voice, but only narrowly better than the thunderous, crackly, apeshit bass guitar on those early-70s King Crimson albums.
I wouldn't even be thinking about this shit today if it weren't for the discovery of a wholly mindblowing album of gorgeous, aggressive, and, yes, progressive, rock from an heretofore-unheard-of Norwegian (and we're talking Trondheim, which is, I don't even know where) band called Motorpsycho.
Unlike most of the buzz bands lighting up the blogs these days, Motorpsycho has been around for nearly 20 years, according to wikipedia. I discovered them via this Euro bootleg listening site, where, as of now (but not for long!), you can stream the fanfuckingtastic Moments in its entirety.
Apparently the group used to have more of a modern metal sound, as evidenced by this MP3 I found on the Metal Bastard's blog via the Hype Machine, which, sadly, yielded no downloads from Moments or anything very recent. This song definitely finds the group sounding more like their name.
MP3: Motorpsycho, "Seether" from the long-lost 1996 album The Return of Jesus, Part II
One last thing: There's a 2002 concert of the band viewable at Fabchannel.com . Go there, click on "Concerts" and scroll down, or search, or whatever. I'm 45 minutes into it, and they've already roared through dynamic, inspired rock that's more daring and more melodic than most things you'll hear on the radio right now -- and that includes a ton of songs by classic rock acts like ... well, the ones that ruled us when we were 15.
For the Hammer of the Gods' sake, check it out.
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Interesting take on this, as a pilot I'm usually keen to understand more about aviation.
Some photos of the Tusslers can be viewed here: http://www.vera-groningen.nl/p...
welcome on board, psychonaut! :)
quite all their releases are available from their official distributor, in germany (www.stickman-records.de)
for the oldest releases, published by "voices of wonder", you should dig a little bit more..
if you're lucky, grab their "mountain e.p.". it's a 5 songs ep which cointains "Mountain", an 11 minutes pink-floyd style trip, and a terrific Jefferson Airplane's "House at the pooneil corner" cover... highly recommended
and... do you a favor and see them on stage... they've 3 dates on USA
20.06.08 - (USA) Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts
21.06.08 - (USA) Louisville, KY - Terrastock Festival
22.06.08 - (USA) Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
I heard them on Sirius' blog radio - It's A Trap. Bought, love and highly recommend Black Hole/Blank Canvas. Amazing stuff!
Motorpsycho will also play @ Empty Bottle in Chicago on June 22nd in addition to Terrastock. For all I know there might be more US dates. Or there might still be an oportunity to secure more dates? Anyways, check them out, they kick ass live, and reports from their ongoing Norwegian tour in support of Little Lucid Moments say ... fantastic, awesome, OMG!, better than for many years, et cetera. And they've played Fairies Wear Boots and Black To Comm!
Hey Harper
Nice blog. Happy youve found Motorpsycho. I've some of your other posts, and youve given me some nice tips.
Enjoying Motorpsycho, and beeing a great fan of 70s rock, Im thinking you would enjoy Motorpsychos side project; The International Tussler Society as well. Its "country" / "Rock" thing. I think theyre inspired by the likes of Alman Brothers and Greatful dead.
Check it out - http://www.myspace.com/theinte...
Tonight, Motorpsycho concert in Oslo!
Nearly the entire MP catalog on CD, including the new Little Lucid Moments, is available from the Scandinavian obsessives over at Parasol Mailorder: www.parasol.com
That "Roadwork vol 1" '99 live album comes with the most beautyful subtitle: "Heavy Metal iz a Poze, Hardt Rock iz a Laifschteil" (famous last words, reportedly uttered by a German fan). One of my favourite live albums of all times - Motorpsycho is the planet's most awesome power trio. (And a lot of other things)
It's just essential listening.
beeing a Phish head from Norway its
good to see that Motorpsycho�s new album
also are being Played in the US
Roadwork vol:1 ...best album
It is simply THE greatest band ever! They have made some mindfucking epic songs, jazz, exprimental stuff, lots of improvisation, krautrock and so on, but also some beautifull pop(beach Boys-type) records and 2 fantastic country-albums... And everything is done so well!
I love them!
Harp3r- I can't find the box with their 7" and CD's but, as soon as I do (Spring Cleaning)they are yours. I got the itch now
Yay, glad to see americans discovering Motorpsycho! I saw them live here in Trondheim yesterday, and it was amazing! I've been a fan for many years. Other recommended albums by Motorpsycho are "Demon Box", "Timothy's Monster", "Trust Us" and "Blissard". Highly essential listening!
Btw, they haven't done much metal. But they have played a lot of different types of music, ranging from country to progressive rock!
You could also check out their unofficial home page: http://motorpsycho.fix.no/
Cool! thx for this post : ) they're really super live band also, better see em play, will play at Terratock this summer. my fave band since 1991...
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