As part of the promotion for the second Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind CD release, an eighth volume of the radio series was produced, for release exclusively through The Pod Room. The thing I like about this mix is the completely new batch of tracks, many quite different to previous MPB selections. The 90 minute mix runs through the usual gamut, from psych folk to acid rock freakouts, mellow prog and cosmic electronics, with environments, spoken word samples and the now very familiar range of Amorphous Androgynous samples. Nothing here has been included on a past mix, although several pieces would go on to be included on the third CD release of the series. A list of artists was offered on FSOLDigital, and as ever, doesn’t seem to quite match up with what’s on show. Apparently there’s exclusive Amorphous material in here, and it might be the sitar, tabla and metallic percussion piece near the start, but unlikely; no other unknown tracks seem to fit the bill at all. Drum Circus and the Cosmic Jokers are two more which I have yet to identify, and although there are two spots these tracks could occupy, none seem to really fit the bill, as the two later pieces are both live recordings of instrumental space rock bands.
Pierre Cavalli’s opener is a surprisingly hectic sounding piece for a MPB mix; Neil Young is a refreshing and surprising inclusion, and not an artist I would normally associate with Amorphous; the jazz of The Heath Brothers was easy to identify through its famous use as the backing for Nas’s ‘One Love’; The Kinks are another group whose appearance took me by surprise here; The Hollies bring a very welcome and much overdue whimsical ’60s psych-pop spin to the series, a very underused sound in my own view; the Panama Limited Jug Band’s comedy bluegrass is a wonderfully ludicrous moment. Stereolab are paired up with Neu!, in either a great moment of satire, or simply an enjoyable mirroring; Prem Joshua’s tribal ambient/new age track is a completely new direction for the MPB series; Boredoms continues the exploration into modern space rock; Davy Graham’s intense folk fingerpicking is another slightly different sound; Tortoise’s electronic-tinged post-rock sounds remarkably technological in comparison with everything around it.
For me, it’s one of the better Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble mixes, with an incredibly diverse range of music and comparatively little crossover with other entries into the series. Although a further radio mix has been broadcast since, this is the last to receive an official numbering. As with most of the group’s mixes, the podcast was removed from The Pod Room in 2012, although a slightly rearranged and truncated version can be heard on the Monstrous Bubble MixCloud.
Tracklist
00:00 Transmission intro
00:28 Pierre Cavalli – Chasse à L’homme
02:30 Unknown
05:01 The I.D. Company – I Watched the Women
07:00 Guru Guru – Stone In
09:33 Neil Young – Old Man
11:43 The Heath Brothers – Smilin’ Billy Suite Part II
13:56 The Kinks – Fancy
16:01 The Groundhogs – The Ringmaster
16:31 Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Summertime
17:13 The Hollies – Lullaby to Tim
20:00 The Tremeloes – Hard Time
22:59 Between – Devotion
26:35 Jonny Trunk – Wife Swapper
29:38 Panama Limited Jug Band – Round & Round
30:32 Peter Thomas – Coordinates Meeting
32:04 Iron Knowledge – Show Stopper
34:01 Brigitte Bardot, Sacha Distel & Serge Gainsbourg – Hippies
36:26 Trader Horne – Morning Way
39:59 Stereolab – Moogie Wonderland
42:50 Neu! – Super
45:59 The Monkees – Porpoise Song (Theme from “Head”)
48:55 Prem Joshua – Hot Season
52:47 Pozo-Seco Singers with Don Williams – If I Were A Carpenter
55:00 Boredoms – ◎
1:00:00 Kraftwerk – Ruckzuck
1:02:44 Witthuser & Westrupp – Trips & Träume
1:05:43 Stelvio Cipriani – Love Symbol
1:07:57 Davy Graham – Maajun (A Taste of Tangier)
1:10:30 Unknown
1:16:01 Tortoise – Gigantes
1:22:12 Harvey Mandel – The Snake
1:25:02 Jonny Trunk – Lesbian 77
1:26:02 Unknown
1:32:43 End
Fractional Difference 