US project SIMONES is the creative of Ohio based composer and musician Al Simones. He has four full length albums to his name, productions of the kind that are mostly known to those with a deep interest in underground psychedelic music. This vinyl single, which comes courtesy of UK label Fruits de Mer Records, is actually the first single to be released by Simones. The tracks, Majic Ship and Seize the Moment, are the opening cuts from Simones album “Balloon Ride” which was released in 1999.
If one thing appears to be certain, then it is that Simones has a strong affection for 60’s psychedelic rock, and then the variety of it that has a firm emphasis on the word psychedelic. Just about everything about these songs points back to the late 1960’s, up to and including mix and production. As regarded from a 2014 point of view I guess most would describe this as a lo-fi production, or at least a basic one. If any studio magic have been applied, then it has been done to enhance the mood and atmosphere of a recording that might as well have been recoded in the time when the popular slogan was “Make Love, Not War”.
The A-side, Majic Ship, is more of a dreamladen and careful affair, sporting plenty of delicate, light toned guitar details, distanced vocals and sporting a more carefully applied darker mood by way of a darker and more prominent bass guitar supporting a shrill, psychedelic tinged guitar solo, and a chorus section that also incorporates a few darker elements contrasting the otherwise delicate and ethereal light toned landscapes.
The B side, Seize the Moment, is one that will get plenty of people drooling with delight due to it’s more expressive nature. On this song the light toned, frail passages are in the minority, contrasting elongated spells dominated by twisted, effects-oriented and otherwise heavily psychedelic flavored guitar sounds and textures, with a suitably dark bass guitar sound supporting these vintage guitar acrobatics. Presumably it is material of this kind that have seen Simones compared to artists like Jimi Hendrix.
In sum this is a single that should appeal strongly to those who love the more distinct and harder edged psychedelic rock of the late 1960’s, and those with an affection for artists of that kind that use the guitar to provide both fuzzed out psychedelic twists and softer, gently echoing details of a more delicate nature should add Simones to their lists of artists that warrants an inspection.
My rating: 80/100
