Celestial Bums are a dreamy psych rock band hailing from the Catalan capital, Barcelona. The
band who’s members are fluid, with three having recorded the album, but the live offering never consisting of less than five, released their self-titled, self-released debut EP back in 2012. This was followed with a 10” split with now label mates Helicon, on Psyilocybin Sounds in 2013. Having been featured on A Psych Tribute to the Rolling Stones with their take on ‘Child of the Moon’ in 2015, the debut LP has been some time in the coming and hotly anticipated.
Ascend out in digital format on 13 June, and limited edition vinyl in early September, has been released on Belgian label EXAG’ Records and dissects a wide spectrum of psychedelic
soundscapes which range from the hazy, melting rock to fuzz driven dronic mantras. The album was recorded in Cacophony Studios Austin, Texas and produced by Kyle Hunt of The Black Angels. The Celestial Bums strike at the heart with a sound of modern and liquid psichedelia. A vibrant sound free to roam within its dissonances, mindful of grammar rules canonized by the very first Velvet Underground, perverse and uncompromising, of the first steps, influenced by La Monte Young, the Dream Sindycate and lysergic experiments.
Repetitive notes, sometimes aquatic, circles that seem to chase each other endlessly, heavenly voices, trance guaranteed, healing music that takes the listener away, other dimensions achieved
without the need for psychotropic substances, journey to the center of the self suggested by the gentle wall and heavy sound, hypnotic textures of modern psichedelia that evoke the excitement of the Beat Generation, a container in which coexist Blake, Huxley and attachment, almost pagan, to Mother Earth.
LINE - UP
Japhy Ryder
Marc Bromway
Augusto J. Marchetti
Imanol Kylsberg
Lisa Kylsberg
01. CELESTIAL BUMS - CELESTIAL BUMS 2012
Rock could hardly be just music. It is a range of creative disciplines and outlets. It's music, of course,
but it's also interpreting, role playing. And thus, theater and poetry too. Rock is the perfect medium to intertwine the two true sources of art: The dionisian and the apollinean. What is inebriating, and what is dream-like. When rock is played and interpreted, when musicians don't play or si...ng, but recite, rock is more than music, it is the ultimate form of art.
Rock is our legacy as Europeans, our outlet to give a scape valve to the most primary of our creative
urges. Rock twists you with pain and passions. A relatively new ritual, but that reflects the basic elements of the greek tragedy. And it is art that is the ultimate objective of our existence, here and now. The noblest way to express what's on our souls. Sacred ritual and self-realization.
Celestial Bums – Celestial Bums
Label: Patetico Recordings – 6666666
Format: CD, Album
Country: Spain
Released: Sep 13, 2012
Genre: Rock
Style: Space Rock, Shoegaze, Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Before I'm Gone 9:22
02. I'm Alive 10:25
03. Captain Trembly 8:29
04. The Starry Night 11:09
NOTES
Recorded in Barcelona, Spain - October '11 to January '12
All songs written by Japhy Ryder / Celestial Bums
Produced by Celestial Bums
Flac Size: 257 MB
02. CELESTIAL BUMS - ASCEND 2016
Opening track ‘Mind, I Don’t Need You Now’ proclaims dreamy melodic guitar riffs before the vocals
enter and soothe further. This track is so relaxed, it is easy to miss the beauty of what is contained within as it lulls and flows through the aural passage. ‘Let’s Break the Days’ has a darker side than its predecessor and very quickly ranks up the tempo. The steady drum beat from percussionist Augusto Marchetti maintains the pace whilst the guitar croons with a repetitive ditty that instantly stains the mind. The organ is brought forward as the track proceeds and would happily sit at home in any Doors song; an attribute I’m sure they will appreciate.
‘Levitation’, a word now synonymous with those of a psychedelic persuasion, more than lives up to its hefty title with its soundscapes of calm interlaced with a guitar solo so profound its effect is captivating.
This is a track to immerse yourself in, go with the flow and just enjoy in all its spine tingling glory. ‘Full Moon Nightmare’ was the first track I heard when word was set forth that an album was imminent and is probably still my favourite offering. The track exudes sensuality with all elements working in perfect harmony, particularly the vocal nuances of Japhy Ryder, which are particularly strong, to create a track that bodies can happily sway to.
‘Sister of the Road’ runs at a breathe-taking pace and offers up something different from the previous
collection of songs. ‘Gandharva’s Offering’, named for the heavenly beings from Hindu and Buddhist mythology, is a piece of true psychedelia with repetition the driving force to a very pleasing tune. Over seven minutes, it is the longest track on the album but with its consistent mantra and pleasing elements, it finishes all too soon. ‘A Spanish Trip’ is different once again with an added tambourine jangle and a pleasing vocal waver to mark the song out.
‘Magic Colours’ sends the receiver back to dreamland before ‘Killer of the Road’ ups the tempo with
repetition once more striking all the right notes in all the right places. Bonus track for the digital version, ‘Like the Planets’ starts dreamy but offers a kick a minute and a half in and aided by the purring bass line, courtesy of Marc Bromway on this occasion, continues to roll blissfully until the album comes gracefully to a close.
It ‘a compact album, almost monolithic, with minimal movements of sound change, atmospheres that change slowly driving us in a pleasant interstellar sonic ride. The underlying mood is of relaxed
meditation and, although often the sounds are strengthened, the feeling that one gets is that of a pleasant fluctuation supported by a kind of amniotic fluid. The Celestial Bums run through a few centimeters of the handles of their guitars and insist with picks to reach the result that probably they had set at the beginning of the work, to transport us to a safe place, expanded and dreamy. Doing this, they does not stimulate the exotic trip, not evasive, leading to its center, deep identity, which is the horizon that makes it possible to self-discovery.
It feels very much like Celestial Bums had a point to prove with this album, and I’d say they do exactly
that. We may have had to wait some time for its appearance, but it was most definitely worth the wait.
Celestial Bums – Ascend
Label: EXAG' Records – XAG005
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered, Clear
Country: Spain
Released: Jun 13, 2016
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock
TRACKS
01. Mind, I Don't Need You Now 4:09
02. Let's Break The Days 4:38
03. Levitation 5:15
04. Full Moon Nightmare 6:08
05. Sister Of The Road 5:44
06. Gandharva's Offering 7:24
07. A Spanish Trip 5:32
08. Magic Colors 3:48
09. Killer Of The Road 4:33
10. Like The Planets 6:17
LINE - UP
Japhy Ryder: Vocals, electric guitars, 12 string guitar, keyboards, sitar
Marc Bromway: Electric guitars, bass, 12 string guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Augusto J. Marchetti: Drums, percussions
Flac Size: 348 MB
03. CELESTIAL BUMS - VISONS OF HORLA (SINGLE 2020)
01. Visions Of The Horla 05:28
02. Afraid Of The Dark 05:10
03. First Morning Away (Bonus track From Sleep Inside A Horse) 4:07
NOTES
First single from the upcoming album (Sleep Inside A Horse), out October 9th via We Were Never Being Boring (US/ITA).
Songs written by Japhy Ryder and arranged by Celestial Bums
Produced by Celestial Bums
1 mixed by Marcel Molina and 2 mixed by Japhy Ryder
1 mastered by Erik Wofford and 2 mastered by Japhy Ryder
