Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.

Electric Heavyland (Alien 8)

Live in Japan (self-released)

Univers Zen Ou de Zero a Zero (Fractal)

Electric Love Machine 7" (Fractal)

St. Captain Freak Out & The Magic Bamboo Request (Ektro)

split 7" with Circle (Verdura)

Apparently, the floodgates have been completely washed away. As if the Acid Mothers Temple discography wasn't daunting enough, in the past two months they have released 4 albums and 2 7"s. Add to that the slew of reissues they've had earlier this year, not to mention the many side (and solo) projects and main man Makoto Kawabata's many collaborations, and "daunting" just doesn't quite do it justice anymore.

First up: Electric Heavyland, released by the fine folks at Alien8. The title's reference to the Hendrix masterpiece with a shift in mindset from a hippie utopia to bludgeoning rock is apt. Consisting of three tracks, Electric Heavyland stomps and thrashes its way through just over 50 minutes of nearly unrelenting riff-heavy wailing. The Acid Mothers have held back in the past from allowing their freakouts to rise to the deafening wall they revel in here, touching on, but never quite diving headlong into the maelstrom with this much bravado. Brutal.

Released on their own label is the Live in Japan album. Clocking in at over an hour with just three tracks, this serves as a great way to enjoy the Acid Mothers live set, whether you've seen them before or not. Having toured the world consistently for the past few years playing little more than this handful of songs, they've honed them to near perfection. The recording quality is incredible (16 track digital recording); I can't think of a live release with this quality. The most notable difference from their standard live set is the presence of TWO drummers. Very nice.

Univers Zen Ou de Zero a Zero, a French import on the Fractal label, is the cream of this new crop. Pushing Cotton Casino's vocals to the fore (her synths are often mixed higher than her vocals, or if not, they are manipulated beyond recognition into strange yelps and squeals), this album has the most focused songwriting bend of the Acid Mothers discography. Whether it's the gentle acoustic beauty of "Ange Mecaniqe de Saturne" or the apocalyptic bouzouki dirge "Soleil De Cristal Et Lune D'Argent," this album is what the Acid Mothers have been leading up to with their numerous previous releases. If you get one Acid Mothers Temple album, I would make it this one.

Also on Fractal is the "Electric Love Machine" 7". "Electric Love Machine" is the opening track on Univers Zen... and the single has a reworked version which is tightened up and much more direct (read: shorter and it has a more damaged guitar solo the entire way through). The B-side is a song called "Cosmo Chiva" which is Cotton's vocal manipulations and synthisizer bleeps, but they have so many songs that use this as an intro that it feels kind of redundant here.

The fourth full length (in half as many months, really, it's ridiculous) is St. Captain Freak Out & the Magic Bamboo Request (on Ektro). On this album, the fun side of the band shows through a little more than on any previous release. Fun, meaning schizophrenic and kind of goofy... think a touch of Beefheart or Zappa. There are some very strange vocal moments, like a good deal of tweaking the speed of vocals, and some disturbing manic giggling (on the verge of crying?) on "Angelic Bamboo Bambino Forever." On the other side of the spectrum, "Man on the Holy Mountain" may be the most simple, beautiful folk-tinged song they've done.

Circle joined Acid Mothers Temple for a few dates on their recently finished "Magical Ministry Tour," and to coincide with these dates, they released a split 7". The Acid Mothers track, "The Tombstone Phantom Drifter," has one of their most fist-pumping riffs, covered in synth bleeps which leave enough open spaces to enjoy the music pounding away underneath. "Riemukaari" is classic Circle. It's rhythmically droning, energetically locked in their two-note groove, and kept very minimal until dissonant horns and distorted guitar weave a strange noise over the now insistent beat.

This new batch of records from The Acid Mothers Temple are overall far more satisfying than their past records, offering everything the older records had, with a more tightly focused and sometimes more chaotic and free tendency. Univers Zen... is an absolute must for everyone.

sean hammond 2002 dec 13