Carlton Melton

Carlton Melton

Turn To Earth

Agitated

Northern California psychedelic sorcerers Carlton Melton are brain surfers, mind trippers—“psychlists,” if you prefer. The band will take your head for a ride, occasionally rushing at superluminal speeds through a wormhole or gliding softly on a gentle breeze in a leafy glade. Sometimes your brain needs to rage, and sometimes it needs to repose. For a decade and a half, the band has yo-yo’ed, almost schizophrenically, between these two modes: walloping space jams with furious guitar solos in one hemisphere of the brain and ethereal, feather-light splashdowns in the other. Not to mention a track here and there that builds from the latter into the former. But with two new releases in 2023, the band has evolved. Whether psych rock or ambient trance, their sound remains driving, organic, and flowing. With the addition of Anthony Taibi (White Manna, DDT), however, the group’s metal freak-outs are Hawkwindier and their droning kraut trances are Spacemen 3-er. In January, the quartet released the playfully spacey Resemble Ensemble, recorded in Taibi’s home studio 3D Light. October now sees the band Turn To Earth, a work with scents of Autumn, a season of death and transition. The cover art evokes a vine-covered, electric crucifix. The sound is, well, earthy but also gritty and striving towards change. The album was recorded in Fall 2022 and now harvested in Fall 2023. Phil Becker (Terry Gross, Pins Of Light) contributed drums and percussion to a few tracks on Turn To Earth, recording the album at El Studio in...

Carlton Melton

Resemble Ensemble

Agitated

Carlton Melton, from Northern California, are now a practicing four-piece in the arts of melted-minds psychedelia. With the added kraut-oomph and sike-flutter of fellow Californian Anthony Taibi (whom you may know as being a member of White Manna, and also DDT with Andy) Rich Millman, Andy Duvall, and Clint Golden have now embellished the Carlton Melton sound. Pushing forward as a quartet, the band recorded Resemble Ensemble in July 2021 at Anthony’s home studio, 3D Light in Freshwater, CA. Anthony did all the recording and mixing. The Melton Magick Karpet settled, and our favorite contemporary sikedelic warlods plugged in, amped up and let it flow—and flow it does—from the krautrock fuelled pszych-raga of "Prescribed Skies," the fluid dronescape of "Elsewhere" that welcomes you into its arms with a warming tone, almost a missing Spacemen 3 demo at the feast here. "So The Story Grows" has the drone scraping through a murk of dazzling feedback and pummel, with the fuller sounding Melton giving the genre a proper wobble, hold on to your brains people. "High Alert"—whas this? Synth and guitar interplay jambusting, this is the Melton wigging out and almost interweaving 70s high table rock with some odd and downright perverse synthfunkpunk rhythms. Get weird or get wired—or both. Easily done here.. Closing out the album with "Route Thirteen" is the road trip home. They’ve been, they’ve massaged and mangled your synapses, plug in the satnav and take the higher-route home, if you get our drift.

Carlton Melton

Microwavelengths

Broken Clover

***"Nestled deep in the forests of Mendocino County in Northern California, huddled under the protective shade of towering redwoods and within earshot of frothy waves crashing against the Pacific coastline, squats a geodesic dome that has served as crucible for the experimental genius of Carlton Melton. Nature and Man operate under different logics. But here, Carlton Melton wholly entrusts this idyllic environment with the task of inspiring + guiding their musical improvisations. The Dome has been the ideal setting to facilitate their creativity. Without forcing a specific dynamic or theme, the band inhabits its womb-like confines to improvise, explore, dream. Their music draws on psychedelia, stoner metal, krautrock, and ambient atmospherics to convey, above all else, a mood. A prickly guitar melody will float lazily, a wall of dissonant feedback will resolve into a hypnotic drone, or a colossal riff will exhume the soul of Jimi Hendrix. One hears Hawkwind or Spacemen 3 jamming with Pink Floyd at Pompeii."—Eric Bensel, Paris 2020

Carlton Melton

Out To Sea (Dark At Night Edition)

Agitated

Reissue of the long out of print Carlton Melton classic from 2013 with new deluxe packaging. Out to Sea sees the band expand the psychedelia and free outrock sound of their previous output to its furthest horizons. Huge rhythms, outta space riffage, sparkling synths, pastoral passages, searing shards of molten guitar, smothered ambience and gentle guitar-picking all flow together into waves of sound to lap at the shores of your senses. Housed in new screen printed "DARK NIGHT" jackets. Includes print of original front cover. White vinyl sides A/B - blue vInyl Sides C/D.

Carlton Melton

Where This Leads

Agitated

"Nestled deep in the forests of Mendocino County in Northern California, huddled under the protective shade of towering redwoods and within earshot of frothy waves crashing against the Pacific coastline, squats a geodesic dome that has served as crucible for the experimental genius of Carlton Melton. Nature and Man operate under different logics. But here, Carlton Melton wholly entrusts this idyllic environment with the task of inspiring and guiding their musical improvisations.   The Dome has been the ideal setting to facilitate their creativity. Without forcing a specific dynamic or theme, the band inhabits its womb-like confines to improvise, explore, dream. Their music draws on psychedelia, stoner metal, krautrock, and ambient atmospherics to convey, above all else, a mood.   A prickly guitar melody will float lazily, a wall of dissonant feedback will resolve into a hypnotic drone, or a colossal riff will exhume the soul of Jimi Hendrix. One hears Hawkwind or Spacemen 3 jamming with Pink Floyd at Pompeii.   Indeed, Carlton Melton have one foot in the ancient world and one tentacle in deep space. They are both the pack of proto-humans drumming with femurs in Kubrick’s 2001 and the film’s inscrutable monolith hinting at the universe’s mysteries. The “Stoned Ape” theory holds that early hominids ingested psychedelic mushrooms that provided an evolutionary boost to their brains, helping them blossom into Homo Sapiens. Imagine such cavemen trippin’ balls, their nightmarish visions sending them into feverish bouts of rage and then gentle moments of introspection....

Carlton Melton

Mind Minerals

Agitated

This is the new Carlton Melton album, the first full length release since 2015’s widely-lauded Out To Sea, itself a languid drifting of drones and psychedically-enhanced riffmongering. Admittedly, there has been some long EP releases since: Hidden Lights in 2017 (featuring the immeasurable drone-sike-float on “Rememory”) and Aground in 2016 (a companion, the Desert Island weather beaten psych-flow follow up to Out To Sea). Now its time to soak up Mind Minerals. This album finds the band in fine fettle: all the songs were recorded and engineered at El Studio in San Francisco by Phil Manley over two days (except “Untimely”), with the studio suiting them—a logical progression from previous weekend recordings out at the Dome. Under Manly’s watchful ear / eye, the band have created a futurescape soundtrack, a 3001 Space Odyssey. The drums are more pounding and direct than ever, the constantly re-assuring bass creates a helping hand of propulsion through the clouds of static and shards of electrifying guitar dazzling the horizon. Synths help soothe the sharp edges and lull one into an out of body experience, while the orchestrated calamitous scree brings one back. This is a breathless, yet deep breathing album. The core trio of Andy Duvall (drums/guitar), Clint Golden (bass guitar), and Rich Millman ( guitar/synth) have some alchemical bond that’s helped them create a post –rock / psychedelic / freeform organic slab of American Primitivism / space drift, unashamed head-music from the melting pot of Northern California. Five decades ago this album would...

Carlton Melton

Hidden Lights

Agitated

San Francisco trip-makers supreme Carlton Melton return with a new twenty-five minute-plus three-track 12- inch EP for Agitated Records, their first release since the widely received double-album Out To Sea in 2015 and accompanying 2016 RSD Aground 12-inch. Hidden Lights is the first missive from recent recordings undertaken once again at El Studio with the watchful engineering and collaborative help of Phil Manley (Trans AM / Lifecoach / Fucking Champs), who throws in slinky guitar moves that help make the Carlton Melton Magick Karpet soar. John McBain (Evil Acidhead / Monster Magnet / Wellwater Conspiracy) also guests on guitar, and once again has mastered their sike-adelic-drone to perfection. Take a trip to the hidden lights, immerse yourself…

Carlton Melton

Aground

Agitated

Following up 2015’s well-received opus Out to Sea, Carlton Melton runs Aground—five slabs of magick-karpet-wreck’d psychedelic morass. The raft has beached and you have to get your ears on and wander the deserted shores of this desolate isle. Aim for the high ground, build a fire, look to the horizons and let it all flow.  Recorded and engineered by Phil Manly at Lucky Cat Studios, these tracks were from the same sessions that spawned Out to Sea; there’s a natural cohesion that makes the trip worth taking. Aground was mastered at 45 RPM and pressed on green vinyl in a limited edition of 600 copies.

Carlton Melton

Out To Sea

Agitated

The voyage is long, the voyage is joyous. Out to Sea is the most focused of all Carlton Melton’s recordings to date. Leaving their geodesic dome behind, they hitched their magick karpet to San Francisco’s El Studio for a fried weekend in July 2014 with The Fucking Champs / Trans Am’s Phil Manley at the production helm (and occasionally contributing to the furor—Manley plays guitar on “Similarities” and synth on “Peaking Duck”). Out to Sea sees Carlton Melton expand the psychedelia and free outrock sound of their previous output to its furthest horizons. Huge rhythms, outta space riffage, sparkling synths, pastoral passages, searing shards of molten guitar, smothered ambience and gentle guitar-picking all flow together into waves of sound to lap at the shores of your senses. We’re gonna need a bigger boat.  “Radiant” —Mojo  “Intense, sweet, headnodding psych” —Uncut

Carlton Melton

Always Even

Agitated

Andy Duvall, Rich Millman, Clint Golden and (introducing) John McBain on Echoplex (and mastering duties once more!) are Carlton Melton, Agitated Records’ standard bearers, their freak flag wavers. The travelers have returned with Always Even, their fourth album, recorded once again in a geodesic dome in the winter of 2012-13. Strap in, fly on—but do not be fooled by the gentle ease of opening track “Slow Wake.” It’s the calm before the psych-storm, a balm for one’s ears to prepare body and mind for the synth-riff-laden, psych-guitar-knockout blastings to come. Much like “Space Treader” on last year’s Photos of Photos, “Keeping On” launches into a unmapped zones, only to return to earth with the eased-back dome-drone of “Spider Web.” The trip continues with the furious, kraut-influenced “Sarsen,” a track that could soundtrack an entire flight to the Moon and back—not to mention fuel the rocket ship with its ampheto-cranked psych chug. Make sure all seat belts are fastened for final descent, as “The Splurge” envelopes all with its molasses-like fog / fug.

Carlton Melton

Four Eyes

Blackest Rainbow

***CARLTON MELTON have been releasing some incredible improvised psychedelic jams over the last few years, released through their own Mid To Late label and the  UK label Agitated. So after hanging out with these guys at their show here and being absolutely blown away, we're pleased to be releasing this prelude to their forthcoming new LP for Agitated later this year. This new four track 30+ minute 12" EP is dripping with heavy riffs, thunderous drums, gurgling synth psychedelia, and mind altering bass. The Carlton Melton sound lies between drone and space rock entwined with loose jam band improvisation, and they blend it perfectly with a touch of baked stoner rock. The record features special guests BRIAN MCDOUGALL and JOHN MCBAIN (MONTSTER MAGNET). McBain also mastered the audio. Limited to 600 copies pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl. UK import.

Carlton Melton

Photos Of Photos

Agitated

On their third album, Carlton Melton elevates their organic, improvised psych-jams to the sonic plane befitting the geodesic dome in which it was recorded, pulverizing all psychedelic hypno-drone that has come before.  Mastered by John McBain (Monster Magnet, Wellwater Conspiracy), Photos of Photos is a testament to Carlton Melton’s finely honed craft—from the lush, pastoral sonics of “Nor’ Easter” and the album’s title track to the smoldering, gargantuan riffs of “Space Treader” and the synth drones and spare rhythms of LP closer “Wingspan.” The four-piece melds what might otherwise be an indecipherable psychedelic mess into something coherent, uncompromising and loud: Melton’s Magick Karpet Ride. Two bonus tracks (available on the standard CD and download versions, as well as a limited two-disc vinyl edition) feature McBain on guitar / synth / echoplex. The full 23-minute psychedelically enhanced drone of “Adrift” peaks and dips as the title suggests, while “Smoke Drip” sounds exactly how one imagines a song called “Smoke Drip” would. And that is exactly what Photos of Photos is about: the sound, the vibe; a new age drifting, unchartered, across a sonic expanse.  “… intense, sweet, headnodding psych….” —Uncut  “… a dizzying, disembodied dose of fucked-up space psych drug-DOME bliss!!” —Aquarius Records “… horizon sweeping afterglow….” —Mojo “... a sublime example of psychedelia at its most expansive and exquisite.” —Kerrang “No bullshit, just plenty of brilliant, hypnotic riffing.” —Terrorizer “Carlton Melton are one of the best psychedelic rock groups in the world….” —Was Ist Das

Carlton Melton

Country Ways

Agitated

***NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! The San Franciscan four-piece CARLTON MELTON release Country Ways (Agitated), a new jam of gargantuan proportions. Featuring former ZEN GUERILLA members ANDY DUVALL (guitar and drums), RICH MILLMAN (guitar and synths), alongside BRIAN MCDOUGALL (drums( and JOHN STEURNAGEL (bass), Country Ways is their second album conjuring colossal riff laden dronescapes and parched psychedelically enhanced spacerock creating a mind altering magick carpet ride down the Californian highway…. Loud, uncompromising, and yet not a blundering stoned beast, this album has levels of delicate pastoral San Franciscan psych blowing through the almost freeform spaced noise jam. Unlike many of their contemporaries, White Hills, Wooden Ships, Cave, Steve Hillage, Bardo Pond, White Noise Sound etc. Carlton Melton are less concerned with the pulse, rhythm, and the groove, as they are with the SOUND, and the VIBE, weaving lush, expansive sprawls of FX drenched psychedelic ambience; drifting more often than driving, huge clouds of swirling wah guitars, and minimal spare drumming, existing more as a pulse, than a beat—the band drift weightless though swirling starlit sonic skies before the descent into trance inducing drones burrowing deep into the earth. (STREET DATE - 4/26/2011)

Carlton Melton

Pass It On

Agitated

***NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! Another slice of supreme San Franciscan psych-melto to be filed alongside Wooden Shjips et al, and UK’s own Heads, maybe Earthless or White Hills, but this stands real tall indeed. Taking the cues of Hawkwind and Pink Floyd (there’s a heavy hitting cover of “When You’re In”) to create some great heavy droning fogged up glass onion sike…know what we’re saying? Recorded in a genuine geodesic dome. Features ex-members of ZEN GUERILLA, and is nothing short of highly recommended. CD comes with a whole slew of bonus tracks, including the quite sublime 15-minute-plus "Star Of Hazel."