Review: Mugstar - Magnetic Seasons

Mugstar, those leviathans of kraut, those juggernauts of psychedelic improvisation have a new album looming large on the horizon. To anyone with more than a passing fancy for all things kraut/psych/spacey will view this as a red letter day. The Liverpudlian sonic warriors are homegrown legends having played the best festivals, recorded with some true rock gods (Damo Suzuki anyone?) and will go down in history as the last artists to record a Peel Session. Anyone who has seen Mugstar live will attest to the power and sheer onslaught of their live performances (their set at last November's Fuzz Club fest was possibly the greatest 40 minutes of music I have had the privilege to witness) but their studio sets are just as powerful but with subtlety and nuance; these guys can play! Case in point - the new album 'Magnetic Seasons' out in March on Mogwai's Rock Action label.

'Unearth' starts proceedings, it builds on the initial repetition and shamanic chanting and soon transmogrifies into the heavy Mugstar krautrock we know and love; the drums picking up a head of motorik steam and the guitars thick and heavy. About halfway through things settle and become hazily psychedelic, with some sunburned guitars and vaguely discernible vocals effects...as good a start to an album I've heard for a while. 'Flemish Weave', the lead track (see video below), starts slowly with a pastoral, bucolic feel; all dreamy guitars and ethereal vocals, but at the two minutes mark that trademark motorik rhythm kicks in again, driving things forward. Mugstar are at their very best when they have the kraut bit between their teeth...it is pulsating and enthralling. The addition of Pete Smyth's melodica imbues a certain eastern charm to what, in my opinion, may be one of the best things Mugstar have layed down on wax. 'Time Machine' starts at a fair lick but still manages to build and build until it becomes a monster of a track...the drums are huge and the guitars/bass combo throw out sparks. It continues to build until it feels like things can't become anymore frenetic, but then the guitar solo happens and bingo.....there goes my brain. This is awesome. At the beginning of this review I made mention of Mugstar's subtlety and nuance, and 'Remember The Breathing' typifies this. A long track, at over fifteen minutes, that shows the band in a more introspective light. Rich in texture thanks to the drones and the washes of sound, it conjures a soundscape of mellow beauty. It still has a metronomic rhythm and swirling guitar, but played for atmosphere rather than power. 'La Vallee' continues in the same vein; another exercise in pastoral sensitivity, it shimmers and shines and the psychedelic blues guitar positively oozes out of the speakers. Title track 'Magnetic Seasons' sounds as if Klaus Schulze has joined their ranks; lush swathes of keyboard wash over the guitars and drums creating a heady kosmische brew. The guitar, understated but assertive, echoes plaintively like a lone voice in a desert. 'Regency Blues' is drenched in fuzz but is another slowburner. The band are in no hurry to return to the 'sturm und drang' of the opening tracks and continue to mine a rich seam of dreamy atmospherics. 'Sky West and Crooked' is a real beauty. So gentle as to almost fall into the 'ambient' genre - hushed vocals over a delicately picked guitar and chiming percussion - it is an exquisite, unearthly delight. 'Ascension Island' begins with some spoken word before becoming a mysterious soundtrack to a art house movie. It has touches of Tangerine Dream, Vangelis (circa 'Bladerunner') but also the icy ambiance of, say, Tim Hecker. It undulates and throbs with some dark drones and flashes of guitar and shimmering cymbals. Over the span of its seventeen minutes the drones and crystalline shards of ambiance retreat allowing the guitar the slowly meander across the track, accompanied by some understated tribal drums.

This is an astounding piece of work by any standard, It is Mugstar at their most adventurous and experimental, willing to mix krautrock power with a more gentle version. If this is the next evolutionary step for Mugstar, then I ,for one, welcome it. We've always known that the band were consumate musicians, but 'Magnetic Seasons' shows that they are not afraid to mess with a true and tried recipe. I'm not afraid to stick my neck and say that this will easily be in many, many 'top ten' lists come December....it is a magical, powerful album that sets the benchmark from here on in....amazing stuff!

'Magnetic Seasons' will be released as a double vinyl album and is available to pre-order via the Rock Action webstore here.