Acid Mothers Temple - "Pataphysical Freak Out MU!!"

With a band and album name that unabashedly psychedelic, you have to know what you're in for with this album. Kawabata Makoto's cosmic troubadours are back with five cuts of the farthest-out freakouts imaginable. Things start out quietly with a gentle drone and French vocals from Audrey Ginestet, but then "Acid Takion" starts up and the band is off on its travels, with Tsuyama Atsushi's pulsing bass and Makoto's LSD-soaked solos. Traditional rock music never comes close to reaching the vibe on this track, something so alien to popular sensibilities, but at the same time, so vital, so searching, and so capitol-R Rock & Roll. Acid Mothers Temple tackles the blues on "Golden Bat Blues Dedd" and is mostly successful in aping the genre's conventions, giving them a subtle twist most apparent with Cotton Casino's Yoko-esque vocal wails. "Right About Rainbow" showcases Makoto's signature speed-guitar freakouts. The drums crash and clatter, the bass rumbles from the underworld, and the tone generator just goes and goes and goes. In another world, this music would be recognized as the inheritor of Ornette Coleman's free jazz mantle, but in this one, it is merely an excellent introduction to this wondrous band.

3 stars