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PRICE:
$37.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Turn To Earth
FORMAT
2LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
AGIT 068LP AGIT 068LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/10/2023

Double LP version. "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. The cover art of Turn To Earth evokes a vine-covered, electric crucifix. The sound is, well, earthy but also gritty and striving towards change. 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 San Francisco. With Becker at the helm, the synths have become more prominent and the tone heavier on the doom: several moments could even serve as background music for epic dark fantasy films like Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, or Heavy Metal. As exquisite as Turn To Earth is, Melton are best appreciated as a live act: their recordings as well as their gigs are largely improvised -- not so much composed as birthed."