Two world traveller friends of mine found this at a record store in Singapore, and were kind enough to bring me a copy as a present. It is a split EP by two bands, Singapore's The Observatory and Japan's Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (AMT for brevity's sake). What initially drew their attention was that each side plays at different RPM speed (33 for AMT, 45 for The Observatory). Plus the gimmicky cover art, which produces multi-colored psychedelic effects with the use of a foil included in the package (see:above). I was only slightly familiar with AMT, from reviews I had read and half-watched youtube videos - although youtube can be a handy medium to discover music, I can't stand listening to music on the laptop and will rarely watch full clips of bands unknown to me. Anyway I had seen enough to be somewhat interested in AMT but their discography is a mess and I wouldn't know where to begin. They play some sort of experimental space rock, influenced by Can, Gong, and the atonal work of modern composers like Stockhausen. Hawkwind are another important influence, especially evident in this specific track called "Flatwoods Monster A Go Go ~ Cometary Orbital Drive 00∞00". Hidden inside the 20-minute cacophony there's a piece with "normal" song structure, and it's a good one; it takes place roughly between minutes 8 and 16. The other (45RPM) side was rather more interesting to me, if not for anything else then because I didn't have any other Singaporean rock music in my collection. Despite being the more obscure of the two, I like The Observatory better. Like AMT, they've been around quite some time: apparently the band members are veterans of other Singaporean bands who formed Observatory in 2001 and already have 8 LP's under that name. Their song "Vibrational" starts off as dreamy acoustic psychedelia reminiscent of certain early Pink Floyd soundtrack work, and gets progressively louder. It was recorded live at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Arts Festival 2017, and features 30 students as guest guitarists. Nevertheless it thankfully doesn't sound as clattered as one might expect, as the multitude of guitarists is only intermittently audible. Impressed with what I heard, I was convinced I should delve deeper, and found more of their stuff on bandcamp. They combine experimental prog with moody vocals, melancholic melodies and occasional violent instrumental outbreaks. If you're into the likes of Porcupine Tree, Tame Impala, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Anathema etc, I think you'd also like these guys. A word to the wise; their albums are limited edition (this one came out in 300 copies only) so if you hear something you'd like to add to your collection, move fast!
**** for Vibrational (The Observatory)
*** for Flatwoods Monster A Go Go ~ Cometary Orbital Drive 00∞00
(Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.)
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