Magic Lantern/ Ben Nash

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Brian on Fri 24 Sep, 2010.

Back to less clubby pastures with this new split effort on Blackest Rainbow. Ben Nash takes us on a journey with shimmering drone, sinister cosmic ambience and erm, a kind of wavering cosmic chamber drone piece that reminds me a bit of the Cluster/Eno stuff. It's all fairly hypnotic gear & rather than the one epic, you get four different moods derived from a similar theme. The flip side is possibly of even more interest because it's by, hey! Magic fuckin' Lantern. Their last swampy psych-dirge was quite the ticket and now they've a shortish tune & a big fat long one to stove your face in with. With Cameron Sun Araw feller in the ranks, you kind of know what yr getting here. Drowsy acid rock jamming of the highest order. Squalling drifts of spectral wah-wah, submerged pattering percussion, one note organ piercing through the liquid-y murk. I could listen to this stuff for quite a long time without getting remotely bored. The long track is a more brooding, deep stalker of a thing that sounds a little like Wooden Shjips on Valium. These guys make some of the most entertaining & evocative psychedelia out there, these two tracks are both quality. You should treat yourself, you really should. Only 300 so get yer skates on....

This one's been brewing at BR HQ for quite sometime, due to come out long ago, this beaut of a split is finally seeing light of day. A mutual respect from these two camps brought about what is surely one of this years most exciting releases in the field of the split vinyl LP. Ben Nash returns after over a year's absence from releasing any solo work, now busy as a full time member of the excellent Chora, we may all be in for a long wait for anymore solo action after this release... but hear we find Ben entering new territory with less of the guitar plucking from previous solo outings... Across these three new tracks, Ben is heading in a more zoned out psychedelic drone pieces, fluctuating between blissful electric churning, and incredibly dark swarming monoliths, with buried electric guitar bursts, it's quite a new sound for Ben. Unsurprisingly, he comes out on top form, and it's maybe some of the most interesting recordings he's released so far, but it's a far cry from his debut LP for Blackest Rainbow, 'The Seventh Goodbye' back in 2008. Fellow Sheffield heads Cam Deas and Jon Marshall (Hunter Gracchus) accompany Ben on two of his three tracks, along with Rob Lye of Chora. Following on from 2 massively excellent LPs for our buddies over at Not Not Fun, Magic Lantern return, with what also might be the last recordings we hear from them for a while too... their two track side opens with a murky wild sounding basement jam 'Mosquito Coast' recorded in 2008, followed by the 15 minute groove of 'Long Way Down', full of heavy organ, slow burning percussion, wild wahs, raw riffing and the occassional chanted vocal this is one heavy piece of stoned blues psyche rock out. 'Long Way Down' was recorded by Bobb Bruno of Goliath Bird Eater / Best Coast back in 2009. Pro-printed sleeves edition of 300, designed by Cameron Stallones.

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!