Vibracathedral Orchestra

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5...according to our Brett on Thu 28 Jan, 2010.

Time for some treats from Leeds-based leg-ends Vibracathedral Orchestra, apparently hinging on the Mick Flower/Adam Davenport axis these days while John Godbert and John Maloney provide the doorknob and letterbox. Getting a quick grip on this trilogy of VHF LPs (in matching sleeves with divergent colour schemes) is gonna be tricky as there's a fair bit of meat on their bones, taking in most styles the band has dabbled with down the years from bubbling raga-drone pieces to propelled krautrock journeys to free improv to near industrial noiseblasts - often in the same track. Joka Baya, Smoke Song and The Secret Base are all ultra psychedelic and hyper amazing, records which anyone into underground sounds should do their best to hear, it's just a shame they didn't release it as a genuine triple LP package instead of a crowbarred-apart wallet ruiner as somehow that seems harder to justify. Nevertheless, I can't fault the content!

The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outré jams on a trio of limited-edition LPs.Slightly reorganized around a line-up of stalwarts Mick Flower and Adam Davenport with frequent collaborators John Godbert (Total) and John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man), the band here stretches way, way out over these six sides.Joka Baya offers up a set of shorter pieces on the A-side in a high-fidelity style that contrasts the dark, smoky sound of the rest of the tracks. The percussive grooves areoverlaid with Sunroof!-like shimmer, stabbing electric leads, gentle acoustic rain, and droning organ peeking through at opportune moments. The roaring side-long epic on theflip is a droning, phasing slice of psychedelia with Moloney s drums battering the tapein between long stretches of humming stasis.The Secret Base starts up at full throttle, straight into a raw-sounding live outing, with Flower s overdriven guitar occupying the same sonic space that gives his Japan banjo /shaahi baaja workouts with Chris Corsano their urgency. The sound is dark and rough,almost Xpressway-like in its claustrophobic atmosphere. The percolating krautrock stylings of If You Can t Smoke Em chugs along hypnotically for over 13 minutes to close out the side. The entire B-side s 20+ minutes are devoted to the clanging free sound of Eyes of Wood, where gamelan-like metal percussion dominates the proceedings.Smoke Song s more gentle exposition starts with Davenport s santoor (a type of hammered dulcimer) leading the band into a lengthy mid-tempo groove on Smoke Song, followed on the second half of the side by the short, quiet Cholita Maria. The second side s 17-minute Get It? lays down the tremolo and phase in a manner reminiscent of the best Spacemen 3 comedowns, taking a pulse and riding it into organ- and percussion-fueled bliss.

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