Vibracathedral Orchestra

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Rec Blast Motorbike

Vhf

The mighty “classic” lineup of the Vibracathedral Orchestra returns with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group’s radical instrumental strategies into a package of full-on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band’s signature grooves. As with some of the band’s other records, there’s more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit in these ten tracks. If you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more of an instrumental band, here it is.

Vibracathedral Orchestra

S/t

Vhf

VHF presents a public service reissue of this impossibly rare and choice title in the Vibracathedral Orchestra oeuvre, originally issued by the band in 2004 in an edition of 250. Featuring the “classic” lineup (Mick Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport, Julian Bradley) that made Queen of Guess and Dabbling With Gravity and Who You Are, this self-titled double takes a wild ride through the inner-workings of VCO’s stream of consciousness. Many of the tracks (selected from research and development jams) cut in abruptly, continuing the informal, expansive vibe of the band’s other self-released items. The thick blanket of signature drone-fog is never far away, anchoring tunes that veer from early Velvets-style rock jammers (“Thrift”) to swirling electronic mystery (“Clear”). On side three, “Gist” builds up a looping, guitar-led rhythm like a lost AR & Machines track, sharing the same side with the pulsing “Flötz,” which rides a taut electro-pulse bolstered by group small percussion. This lengthy two-disc album concludes with the almost side-long “Minkey,” featuring the full complement of VCO sound signatures in one big, hallucinatory swirl. Exclusive to this release is a 35-minute DVD of three live performances selected by Flower. A rare chance to see some cinema verité of the group in action, the performances here (shot in the UK in 2005 and 2007) are all on the rocking side, with furious drumming and guitar strangling. Perhaps best of all is Flower and Campbell’s optional audio commentary track (!) on “Wisdom T,” providing some insight on...

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Joka Baya

Vhf

The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outre 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 are overlaid with Sunroof!-like shimmer, stabbing electric leads, gentle acoustic rain, and droning organ peeking through at opportune moments. The roaring side-long epic on the flip is a droning, phasing slice of psychedelia with Moloney's drums battering the tape in between long stretches of humming stasis.

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Smoke Song

Vhf

The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outre 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. 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.

Vibracathedral Orchestra

The Secret Base

Vhf

The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outre 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. 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.

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Wisdom Thunderbolt

Vhf

Wisdom Thunderbolt marks the triumphant return of Vibracathedral Orchestra after more than three years in the wilderness of intermittent performance, tangential projects, and unfindable limited editions.   The seven tracks on Wisdom are thee VCO’s most rocking dispatch ever, neatly combining the Ra-like collage of tracks like “Wisdom Thunderbolt” with the insistent pulsing jams of “A Natural Fact” and “Order of the Broad Eraser.” “Ochre Dust” and “Rainbow Whirlwind” are more in the old-school VCO thick-blanket of sound, with tuned-percussion melody peeking out from the fog. After a surprise opening, “Sway-Sage” heaves with raucous drumming (courtesy of Magik Marker Pete Nolan) under the swells of sound.   Hard to imagine, but this is the first widely available music (except for the Tuning to the Rooster comp) from the VCO since 2003’s acclaimed “The Queen of Guess.”

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Queen Of Guess

Vhf

***While certainly VCO's most upbeat and percussive music, the nine tracks on this immense, visceral slab of rackety action run through a wide range of styles. "Ramshackle Sunrise" has a gamelan-like, five-note melody overlaid with a hovering drone. "The Silent Socket" rocks with "Sister Ray"-style guitar careening along side actual drums. The two 20-minute epics that bookend the record are a study in contrasts: "Your Head Shone Like A Stone" has a heavy, excited buzz, while the closing "Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air" is a gentler acoustic epilogue, gliding into the rosy future.

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Dabbling With Gravity And Who You Are

Vhf

***The latest and current pinnacle from the quintet of Neil Campbell, Bridgit Riley, Julian Bradley, Michael Flower, and Adam Davenport was assembled from recordings of their weekly sessions in Flower's kitchen. The tracks here represent the joyous, celebratory side of VCR—all forward motion, massed strings, percussion, horns, and little instruments rocketing forward in a swirl of sound. Compared to the more austere sounds of recent CDs like Lino Hi and Versatile Arab Chord Chart, the tracks here take off from the spot where the loose hippie-chant-and-drum action of collectives like Amon Düül intersects with the polyglot instrumental approach of mid-'60s Sun Ra (ref. "Exotic Forest," "Shadow World," etc). "There is no chord formation that can be planned," says Neil Campbell, "which creates elation or sadness, or any art which is profound enough to change anything fundamental about a person. There is just a resonance around us which musicians and artists are using or not using." * Camp followers of Sunroof and the VHF stable will find this necessary * Amon Düül and Sun Ra freaks won't complain much, either

Vibracathedral Orchestra

Versatile Arab Chord Chart

Vhf

***The second full-length outing from the quintet of NEIL CAMPBELL, MICHAEL FLOWER, JULIAN BRADLEY, BRIDGET HAYDEN, and ADAM DAVENPORT. Like their UK cousins and fellow VHF recording artists Sunroof!, VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA usually works from a base of modal improvisation. Led by Campbell's sawing violin, the group builds up arcs of lingering overtones beneath an undercurrent of melody. They cut the drones in their life with extremely effective bursts of near rock, in a style reminiscent of the pre-Nico Velvet Underground (circa 1966 or so). The band's combination of clattering percussion, droning strings, and considerable sense of where to put the "groove" makes them unique among their peers.