Our first vinyl release (aka magnificent split between Skyjelly and Solilians) is finally here! Listen to it, buy it and/or help to spread the word around!
6 digital tracks / 6 tracks on CD (available via Wormhole World) / 2 tracks on vinyl. What’s not to love?
Lets go back and look at some of the reviews/quotes about both bands.
Skyjelly
The ‘Blank Panthers’ side comprises of just 5 tracks and is the more ostensibly ‘psych’ side. Right from the get go with ‘Sixes’ and its funky, jazzy bass and layers of reverb all mixed with an eastern motif running through you know you are about to leave on an epic trip. The rest of ‘Blank Panthers’ flies by in a flurry of haze. ‘Acosta’ with its highly infectious rhythms leads into ‘Seamagnet’ and its ethnic sounding percussion.The standout track, however, must be ‘Krilltastica’; a slow burning, moody track which benefits from some fantastic guitar work which brilliantly spans the gap between psychedelic and jazz, accompanied by some soulful, yearning vocals and almost noirish percussion…it’s laden with atmosphere and feeling. The side is rounded off with ‘Can’t take my mind’, another melancholic number that defies categorization – flashes of kraut guitar, shuffling rhythms and layered vocals all mixed to produce a dense melange of colour and sound. – Dayz of Purple and Orange on Blank Panthers / Priest, Expert or Wizard
Skyjelly Jones took his band’s name from a substance he read about called star jelly – sticky matter found at meteorite crash sites. He remembered the name wrong, but it stuck.
Traversing indie rock, experimental jams and brooding drones, the Boston quartet has the chops to shape its sprawling aesthetic into something like a coherent form. But part of the band’s charm is in its explorative journey. After you’ve listened to its latest album Góst Rock a few times, the eclecticism begins to sound all of a piece, but even within a single song the band can go in surprising directions. – Spectrum Culture on Gost Rock
Prepare yourself for some weirdness. “Energy Vampire Weekend” is a mellow psychedelic rock track by Boston native Skyjelly. It captures a sound reminiscent of the great rock era from the mid-80s to the late ’90s, where wandering vocals fall somewhere between David Byrne when he gets weird and David Bowie on a good day. – DigBoston on Energy Vampire Weekend
This began as a random surprise, when a Twitter friend of a friend sent me a Bandcamp link after I shared the somnambulent William Basinski track I was drifting off to. Sure, I was immersed in the most vaporous of ambient excursions, but I was intrigued by the raw boldness of the presentation, as seen above. I saw the cover art, the label, and the band name and thought, this is probably my kind of thing, even though it’s likely nothing like Basinski’s fragile ambient drone sculptures. – Optimistic Underground on Blank Panthers / Priest, Expert or Wizard
The cassette has been making a bit of a comeback of late, I did not see that coming, and it really is a great medium for bands to get their music out there in physical form in a relatively cheap way…to the extent that I’ve even taken to eBay and got myself a cassette deck and walkman (there’s some real bargains out there) to explore some of this interesting sounds that are coming out.
Which brings me to Skyjelly, a band based in and around the New England area of the US, mainly Boston I think. Their album, Góst Rock, is one that immediately hit me as interesting and different, both in sound and atmosphere. The overall sound gives the impression that the tracks are improvised and ‘homemade’, and to an extent (possibly because I’ve just be listening to the newly re-issued version) reminded me of the Lift To Experience album ‘Texas Jerusalem Crossroads’. This, I would say, is because the music has the same sort of effortlessness to it, yet is also contains a certain finality around it too. You get the feeling that the sounds have poured out of the musicians like the only future is no future. – Figmented Flanteur on Gost Rock
Solilians
They sound unlike anything I’ve heard in recent years, sounding as out there as some of A Sunny Day in Glasgow’s material. That only scratches the surface, because they throw in klezmer and horns too. To quote the press kit: ‘Solilians space drone dreams are the interstellar journeys of mystic seekers, mantra minimalism for the next generation. Benjamin Malkin’s slow motion ambient dub prisms of klezmer melody refract Sharon Malkin’s Mediterranean Hebrew beauty; while Gabriel Walsh’s psychedelic sci-fi edge dances with Neptune Sweet’s otherworldly cosmic majesty – Primal Music Blog on Shin
A slow moving, almost avant-garde electronic album that, in many ways, defies any effort to label it, although I clearly have tried here. Solilians move from drone/ambient, slowcore electronica to Mediterranean flavored moments throughout. The band isn’t afraid to experiment and utilize various sounds and instruments to create an emotive, contemplative, and often spiritual experience for the listener. – Somewherecold on Shin
Solilians space drone dreams are the interstellar journeys of mystic seekers, mantra minimalism for the next generation. Benjamin Malkin’s slow motion ambient dub prisms of klezmer melody refract Sharon Malkin’s Mediterranean Hebrew beauty; while Gabriel Walsh’s psychedelic sci-fi edge dances with Neptune Sweet’s otherworldly cosmic majesty, all coming together on Shin, the four-piece’s debut full-length. Think Stereolab slowed down to Stars Of The Lid. – Noisy Ghost PR
This is a gorgeous ambient underground project that John contributed bow guitar to and it comes with it’s own super “out there” comic book. This particular track has dark drones with eerie female vocals and is sure to put you in the Halloween spirit. – Static Distance on Gamma Rays 37
An internally logical response to 2016’s polytheistic neo-gospel revival movements, Solilians’ new album Shin is indeed, as one or more of the ensemble’s hive mind communicated to me in a handwritten letter, “trippy, man.” Which is to say, if you don’t hear from me again within a few weeks, the basements of Merrick’s temples and synagogues might be a good place to start looking (ken eyne hore). Or rather, please enjoy TMT’s premiere of the “Hine Ma Tov (Space Drone Dreams Mix)” video and The Binah Comics Pt. 2, and chave a chappy Chanukah! – Tiny Mix Tapes on Hine Ma Tov (Space Drone Dreams Mix)
Associated Projects
Wolfbear / Dr. Wolfbear – solo project of Dave from Skyjelly / Tiki Twins
Electric Djinn – solo project of Neptune Sweet from Solilians
The Earthly Frames – solo project of Gabriel Walsh from Solilians / Your Team Ring
Yar-Dreams of Sela – ambient clawhammer duo of Long Island
Goodbye Better – label run by Ben Malkin.
Don’t Be Sad – new single by Skyjelly featuring a video by Dave Wolfbear
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