Electric Moon – Live At Freak Valley Festival 2019

Sulatron

Freak Valley is always one of those festivals that I’ve wanted to attend, but have never had the opportunity to do so. If I had gone, I would have most certainly chosen one of the two years that Electric Moon played there as I would be guaranteed one trip out into the cosmos. Here we have their live set from the 2019 festival, and what an awe-inspiring sound it is, wrapped around in one of the finest covers that Electric Moon have had to date.

“Increase” starts with a soft drone, some wah-wah-sounding bass and gentle cymbals clattering around. The line-up of Sula Bassana on guitar, Casio and effects, Komet Lulu on bass and Pablo Cameval behind the drums feel as if they want to ease us into our space journey like the anticipation before lift-off. Here we have haunted synth sounds swirling around like the soundtrack to some early ’60s Martian invasion movie. The guitar roars every now and then with some feedback, and the bass plays some deep throb notes and makes the whole thing more rhythmic, lifting the track from the near-static opening.

Slowly, the rhythm and intensity of playing builds (Ah, I remember this so well from the many Electric Moon gigs I’ve experienced); this is their rocket ship blast-off phase and nobody can beat this band when they leave the Earth’s atmosphere like this. Suddenly you are hurtling via hyperdrive to your next location across the galaxy; you pass suns, planets and moons and they all become a blur as you pass them at light speed. When our ship begins to slow down, it is serenaded by some fine psychedelic lead guitar work before the engines stutter to a halt.

“777” (is that a Crowley reference?) starts off with an almost funky sounding guitar before the drums and bass pile in to send us headlong into a twenty-minute space rock epic. This is Electric Moon at their most tribal sounding, screeching guitars from the deep over a rolling rhythm that would need you to do some freak dancing too. And when the big riff hits in, it’s like the room suddenly explodes and you are floating between worlds in a big blistering workout between bass and guitar, with the drums pushing the track forward all the time. Around the halfway mark, the band take things down slightly as almost to give you a few seconds to breathe until they come back harder and heavier. Again, the track includes some haunting guitar work as it shifts gear and gets taken right down before ending on a final blast of cosmic energy, the instruments tumbling over each other to hit that final chord — majestic.

“The Picture” starts with a bass riff while Sula’s guitar chords get all Sabbath-like and the drums start their battery of sound. This opening is a real head-shaker and hits you right in your third eye as things head towards a big crunch of a sound, like supernovas happening inside your head. Echoed guitar swirls in the track’s middle section become the soundtrack to alien races building monoliths on Orcus Prime; it’s the musical equivalent of a Philippe Druilett book. Again, Electric Moon take us higher as the music explodes and spirals up and out into the firmament.

“D Tune” is the shortest track of the set and has one of the best Electric Moon psych riffs of all time. The track careers off on solar winds to become more and more heated ,like a rocket ship slowly being drawn towards the centre of the sun. “Der Mondsenator Auf Dem Weg Zur Erde” is a short acoustic instrumental piece recorded live at a Rockpalast interview and is a chilled out way to end an intense album.

The album is available on CD at Sulatron Records and will have a double vinyl edition as well as a digital release via Bandcamp. Especially at this time with the pandemic still raging, cancelling many concerts for the last nine months, it’s essential to remember just how wonderful and vibrant live music is and how important it is to our wellbeing. Electric Moon are one of the best live bands around at the moment; they excel in concert, so this is a wonderful reminder why we need live music in our souls and why we need Electric Moon.

-Gary Parsons-