LINE UP——
FRIDAY—— SATURDAY—— EXHIBITION—— CINEMA——
Eindhoven’s Effenaar music venue and Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia and are thrilled to announce EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB: a new European festival, located in the Netherlands and established to explore and showcase the futuristic sights and sounds of the modern psychedelic condition. The line up will swell and morph with, dj’s, visual artists, and more. But until you’ll hear from us again, there’s more than enough to enjoy right here!
BANDS——
Anthroprophh (UK)
The Heads pioneered 90’s fuzz driven psych madness. Hailing from his Bristol hometown, heads-guitarist Paul Allen continues in that same way, only even more frantic, wild and ferocious. With his freshly acquired backing band ‘The Big Naturals’ he will bring this out of control kraut rock to stages and festivals around the globe. With a new album coming out real soon, Eindhoven Psych Lab welcomes Anthroprophh with open arms, closed eyes and open minds. Prepare for a trio that will shock your world in a way only The Heads have done before.
Cosmic Dead (UK)
Much like Eindhoven and Liverpool, Glasgow is a DIY industrial town. And much like those cities, there’s a long tradition of fresh and inspiring bands. The Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Mogwai, Arab Strap and The Delgados to name more than a few. In 2010 Cosmic Dead build upon that powerful legacy and expanded it with their own mix of kraut rock and space jams. If you understand White Hills and Hawkwind, you will certainly understand Cosmic Dead. Check out any of their releases, whether it be cassette, digital or LP to get deep into cosmic space with Cosmic Dead.
Website
Cosmonauts (USA)
The Albums by Cosmonauts were recorded in a warehouse with a view of the nightly fireworks of Disneyland. Their scorching garage rock fits well with the current Californian crop of bands, i.e. The Growlers, Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees to name just a few of these incredible groups. The second delivery from these Burger Records-signed fellas is called ‘If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die’. The album is filled with up-tempo songs in a slow motion, kind of downer way. It’s like XTC combined with heaps of valium and guitar amps pushed to a spinal breaking eleven, but always perfectly poppy. Like Beach Boys on downers somebody once said. He said well. Last year, their third effort 'Persona Non Grata' made them a household name in the psych garage scene worldwide.
website
Crows (UK)
Noisy, gritty, fierce. Crows is a band to discover. And to remember as well. This four piece from London put out two singles produced by Matt Johnson of Hookworms, they run their own label called ‘Dolphinarium’ and sound like a intensely dark new wave version of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Well that’s all we know actually. Sound more than interesting right?
Dans Dans (B)
It might get a little crazy. Actually, we’re pretty sure it will. From garage jazz, psychedelic blues and ecstatic noir soundtracks to spacey rock-‘n-roll: the labels that get thrown at Dans Dans give a pretty good indication of the extent of their eclectic style. Both their first album and their live shows are not only inspired by the likes of Sun Ra, Nick Drake, Sonny Rollins and Ennio Morricone, but involve taking these masters on fearless improvisational adventures
Disappears (USA)
This band gave Eindhoven a show to remember in 2012. Since then drummer Steve Shelly of Sonic Youth has left the band and Noah Leger of Electric Hawk replaced him shortly after. Every album since 2010’s ‘LUX’ is showing a more mature sense of minimalistic songwriting. Slowly evolving loops, repetitive guitar hooks and delayed vocals are still the pillars on which Disappears builds it’s strange dreamlike songs. Their latest studio effort ‘Era’, is full of short song titles like ‘Girl’, ‘Power’ and ‘Ultra’. It’s like a statement: ‘listen to the music, let it in slowly, get into our groove’. And it’s true, good music needs a patient listener, you will be rewarded!
website
Elephant Stone (CAN)
What an impression these guys made last year with their show in Eindhoven, shortly after their s/t release. Easy going psych rock with a subtle addition of sitar. Montreal’s Elephant Stone were formed in 2009 by sitarist/bassist Rishi Dhir. As one of the most highly sought out sitar players in the psychedelic music scene, he has recorded and toured with the Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Horrors, the Soundtrack of Our Lives, and many more. Let’s have a listen, shall we?
website
Follakzoid (CHILE)
Last year everyone in the universe realized there was a new kid in town. A Chilean kid actually. Follakzoid take everything that’s cool about kraut rock and mix it with their own special blend of space sounds. In New York, the quartet was noticed by Sacred Bones Records and they propelled the band into a cosmic trip around the world. They stopped over in Eindhoven as well last year and we knew straight away it wasn’t the last time they played out their musical visions of space in Eindhoven. Their album ‘II’ has quickly become a standard in the scene and a reference for all bands in the neo-psych galaxy.
website
Gnod (UK)
Flashback: 2012; the incredible Roadburn festival had a band on the bill that nobody really knew too well. Gnod, a collective of musicians from the UK ushered on by a fog of smoke entered the stage and instantly connected all minds present. After an hour and a half they left a room full of people that couldn’t believe what just happened. The band however dropped their instruments a few weeks later, collected all the fuzz, delay and reverb stompboxes they could find and started something completely new. A dark, twisted techno kraut live set. Luckily, this reincarnation of Gnod is just as exciting as Gnod v.01. We can only say this: ‘In Gnod we trust.’
website
Great Ytene (UK)
The best way to describe the voyage Great Ytene takes is: slow motion. Their debut EP is a six-track, 32-minute trip of laid back psychedelia. Waves of sound enter the shore but they don’t make a sound when they hit. These waves only resonate and evolve while they are rolling. Sounds a little too esoteric for you? Well, we can assure you, you will become a believer after the show at Psych Lab. Lush never sounded this lush before.
website
Hookworms(UK)
What an incredible debut album Hookworms unleashed into the world with ‘Pearl Mystic’. It’s like a box of tin cans, filled with anger, fear, depression, dark trips and bizarre hallucinations all exploding at the same time. And, soon after, imploding back into fresh grenades starting the circle all over again. When you think Hookworms are quietly taking you on a Spacemen 3 like trip, a wave of screaming guitars shakes you awake violently and without remorse. A new record is already in the works at singer MJ’s home studio. Bring it on, we’ll be listening!
website
Lay Llamas (IT)
Okay, we thank Rocket Recordings for this one. Lay Llamas are a band you probably have not heard of. This Italy based band formed in 2012 and quickly released two sold out cassettes. They came to the attention of Rocket and signed a deal soon after. This Italian enigma are putting the finishing touches to their debut album which is planned for release in May 2014. Their sound is a mix of kraut rock, sunny afro repetition, shoegaze fuzz and DFA'esque grooves. What’s not to like?
website
Mugstar (UK)
The good thing about Mugstar is that they are not afraid of anything. They don’t care about what everyone else thinks, they just want to create a journey for the ones who are not afraid as well. The destination is different every night and the landscapes travelled through always change. It’s like sitting on a bus to a different planet. A different planet may well have been the destination during their recent tour with Mogwai, a trip instigated after a personal invitation from the iconic Scottish group.
website
Night Beats (USA)
These guys are no strangers to Eindhoven, recently rocking the daylight out of AreaFiftyOne and The Rambler. With their releases on Reverberation Appreciation Society, Trouble In Mind and Burger Records they sit exactly where they belong. If there was a prize for melting neo garage and psych, these three would win it. Check out their recent and incredibly well crafted collection of songs called ‘Sonic Bloom’. The missing link between Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, 13th Floor Elevators and Electric Prunes? Here it is: Night Beats!
Nisennenmondai (JAP)
Nisennenmondai is a very hard band to understand completely. You could even wonder if these three girls from Tokyo really do have a plan. This said, you should highlight them in your schedule, because they have a live reputation which scares the bands playing with them. The Incubate festival had them over last year at one of their infamous Incubated nights and described Nisennenmondai this way: a no-wave/kraut-rock/japanoise/disco band. So now you know exactly what is going to happen: an experiment!
website
Peter J Taylor (UK)
Peter J Taylor is a composer, guitarist from the UK and leader of ‘pop up’ orchestras around the world. Taylor can be compared to Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca Boredoms, and has performed nationally and internationally playing with hundreds of musicians. In 2012 he led an Eindhoven based orchestra with over 30 musicians! Multiple drummers, bass players and guitarists where kneaded into a psychedelic drone machine within a day, performing that same night. At Eindhoven Psych Lab, Taylor will again do something stellar.
website
Pink Mountaintops (USA)
All star band? Check! Krautpop of the future? Yup! Frontman Stephen McBean of Black Mountain (!) is back with a glorious new album called ‘Get Back’. He took his phonebook, went to the ‘befriended musicians’ part and called up people like J Mascis, Gregg Foreman (Cat Power, Delta 72), Daniel Allaire (Brian Jonestown Massacre) and Stephen Kille (Dead Meadow), to name a few. The result (listen to ‘ Ambulance City’ or ‘North Hollywood Microwave’) is anything but a trend following adventure. It’s an adventure all right, but the word ‘trendsetting’ comes to mind first. Rap and saxophones in repetitive rock songs? Sure!
website
Radar Men From The Moon (NL)
After the release of their debut album ´Echo Forever´ and a crazy year of touring Europe, these Dutch meisters of instrumental shoegaze and neo-psych are back with a freshly recorded set of songs, called ‘Strange Wave Galore’ through Fuzz Club Records. We celebrated in style with The Oscillation and Those Foreign Kids on the 30th of January, which was also the first show RMFTM did with new member and synth psych-head Niek Manders. RMFTM will be exploring galaxies even further away at Eindhoven Psych Lab. We are proud to have such a cool local band on the bill!
website
Sonic Jesus (IT)
Everything on Sonic Jesus records has been through a fuzz pedal. It’s like they bought every single fuzz unit out there and use them all at the same time. Lazy? Maybe, but who the hell cares? They groove, they zoom, they pierce like a M%*&%$*$%*^$. You can always play clean when you’re older, no? It’s the way The Velvet wanted to sound but couldn’t, because they didn’t have the gear to do so. Farfisas, theremins, and did we mention fuzz? In the words of Sonic Jesus himself: ‘It’s time to hear’.
website
Spectrum (UK)
If you’ve never heard of Spacemen3: the group was a legendary psychedelic -space- kraut- group from the UK that disbanded in 1991. Soon after, Spectrum was formed by Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember, founder of Spacemen 3. Aside from occasional live tours, Kember has played, collaborated with a number of artists, including Stereolab, Yo La Tengo and produced bands like MGMT and Panda Bear. Today, he will bring the best psychedelia he can produce to Eindhoven Psych Lab. This is nothing less than monumental!, with a well-deserved exclamation mark after mental!
website
Suuns (CAN)
This band looks to the future, not the past. Not afraid to try stuff, even if it seems completely ridiculous. Electronica was never used this way before in rock music, creating vibes that would fit in any David Lynch movie without any trouble at all. Their latest effort ‘Images Du Futur’ is literally like a vision of what’s about to come in music. Highly danceable, deep, grooving, pulsating, poppy, dark, light. Suuns is a cocktail consisting of what seems to be a few ingredients too much. But it’s not. It’s damn tasty and you will get drunk, high and in love. They are truly the ‘lab’ in Eindhoven Psych Lab. An experiment gone well, would be the understatement of the year. The year ‘2020’ that is.
website
The Oscillation (UK)
Their show with Radar Men From The Moon in January was a trip to remember. Modern kraut textures, psychedelia and that typical British punk edge come together in a way which can only be described as pure psych beauty. The Oscillation is everything that makes music worth tripping to. Famed for their exploding live visuals, diverse sonic explorations during concerts and a groove that holds you firmly in a meditative state, this three piece will be remembered in the city of light. Check out their latest and super fine record ´From Tomorrow´.
website
Teeth of the Sea (UK)
What a fitting name! Imagine waves of sound showing their fangs, swallowing you whole and pulling you under the water into a vast liquid with sights and sounds you will never hear above sea level. Teeth of the Sea are a band hard to categorize, their music is like a soundtrack of a film you have to see. Their mix of kraut rock, techno, psych, disco (!) and noise can be heard best on their recently released and critically acclaimed third album ‘Master’. Four to the floor? Yeah, but the fever you get from these guys has nothing to do with John Travolta.
website
Terakaft (MALI)
A band from Mali you ask yourself? Why the hell not, would be our answer. Psych music is anchored in drone and repetitive rhythms and Tuareg music is too. Luckily, continents do not exist in music, nationality is not really relevant at all. It can, however, provide a sobering context, considering these guys live in parts of Africa where war and civil conflicts are part of everyday life. Terakaft are a group of Tuareg guitarists, in the same vein as Tinariwen. There’s nothing astonishing about the similarity, if you consider that Terakaft was founded by Kedou and is now led by Diara, both formative members of Tinariwen. They may well be one of the best rhythmic bands from Africa out there at this moment.
Terminal Cheesecake (UK)
Best bandname ever? Quite possibly. But let’s not kid ourselves here. Apart from their title, this band mean serious business. Since 1988 that is! The group helped shape heavy psychedelic music, combining their musical trips with distorted samples and acid noise. Their ‘classic’ record is called ‘Angels In Pigtails’ and really sums up perfectly why they will rip the stage at Eindhoven Psych Lab. It’s a sound experiment in a noise lab that really turned out perfectly. Neil Francis, vocalist of Gnod, is touring with Terminal Cheesecake and that only makes this show even more of a highlight in the schedule.
The Growlers (USA)
These psychedelic garage kings hail from California and craft their own twisted take on the music of their homeland. It’s hard to describe what they sound like, but the good old Beach Boys come to mind. The Beach Boys at a drug infected carnival that is. Flower power surf tunes are mixed with a smart sense of 70’s songwriting. Oh, and let’s not forget their wardrobe. It’s always a surprise to see The Growlers get on stage, and we don’t mean this in a Versace kind of way. These guys just have a style of their own.
website
The Underground Youth (UK)
Say their name and you will think of that legendary 60’s band from New York. It’s true, that tambourine rings in your right ear and there is a kind of indescribable sexiness in their songs. But there’s also the trancy shoegaze feel and that typical British talent for writing perfect pop songs. And.. it’s raw and psychedelic. It’s psych and we like it. If you haven’t already, check out their latest effort ‘The Perfect Enemy For God’. You will like it too.
website
The Wands (DK)
The Wands are a psychedelic rock duo based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their EP ‘Hello I Know The Blow You Grow Is Magic’ really sums up what this duo - who drag a harem of mates along for the ride when they play live – are about. Good trippy music with intelligent hooks and lyrics, but with a generous touch of doom as well. We welcome these friends of The Woken Trees with much anticipation. Hell they might even get on stage with each other, just like at the Eurosonic Festival early this year.
website
The Woken Trees (DK)
These guys are from the Danish middle of nowhere. They grew up together and started making music and drinking beers, like any young boy would. In 2010 a serious rock band formed out of these friends and they called themselves The Woken Trees. Heavy reverb soaked vocals, post punk guitars that sound like screeching seesaws and dark ‘wovenhandish’ atmospheres are blend together into this very unique Danish psych outfit. You gotta hear them to believe it. You can start right away and listen to their beautiful dark debut ‘NNON’.
website
Wall of Death (FR)
Wall of Death can mean a lot of things. 1. The occurrence of an concert audience dividing in two then clashing into each other with great force on the sign of the band on stage. 2. A carnival sideshow where bikes or motors drive horizontally in a wooden cylinder. 3. A meeting spot for stoners in Seattle. But during Eindhoven Psych lab it only means this: the best psych rock band from France killing it with their powerful blend of San Francisco psych and European heavy rock. You can use their song ‘Marble Blues’ instead of coffee on a Sunday morning and smile all day long. This band will do very well with all The Black Angels lovers out there.
Weird Owl (USA)
You have these bands that sound typically American, but it’s hard to say why. Weird Owl fall into this category. Meaty drums, brilliant songs and very to the point. But these cats, ehm, owls are less easy to describe than this. Under all these great American big rock sounds lingers a veil of psychedelic goodness, which takes you to Pink Floyd’s Other Side of the Moon, 13th Floor Elevators mysticism, and even Led Zeppelin like trip outs. ‘Build Your Beast A Fire’ is released by Teepee records and it’s about time you listen to it.
website
Wooden Shjips (USA)
Ripley Johnson comes to town, so let’s drop to our knees and pray he plays a little longer than scheduled. Okay, it’s not fair to discard the rest of Wooden Shjips, just because Johnson is also the main guy in that other brilliant Frisco band called Moon Duo. This band is as tight as they come in the neo-psych scene and you know it. Their latest effort ‘ Back to Land’ is nothing more than a masterpiece and a benchmark in tripped out groove music. That’s right, you can still dance while joining the shjip to Saturn. Easily one of the sexiest bands around.
website
DJ’s——
DJ Fitz
Al Lover
Liverpool Pzyk Pzoundsystem
Bernie Connor’s Sound of Music
Pomponette
Chris Rocket
B.O.B.
Walter Roadburn
Wiekes (Le Guess Who)
DJ DOM (Drowned in Sound)
VJ’s——
Psychedelic music needs fitting images to go with it. They should enhance the aural trip in a visual way and pull you in into the music even more. A visual artist should also amaze you, excite you and give you a lasting memory. Like music, visuals can go in many directions, and that’s what these guys will bring to the table. We proudly announce the visual artists: