Review: Electric Moon - Zeiss Planetarium Bochum 2015 (live)

If there is one thing that music lovers can agree upon, regardless of 'genre', band etc, it is that live music is IT! It's the most visceral aspect of being a 'fan'; the point at which you can see the band in the flesh, as it were, and experience the music in a way that the recorded medium just cannot reproduce accurately. There are vagaries of course to the live experience; I'm sure we've all been there, when we finally get to see a band we seriously dig on vinyl but it turns out that live they are a bit 'meh', conversely seeing a band who you've never really considered on physical formats but live they blow you away. However, the best is when you finally see a band, after years of waiting, and if anything they exceed expectations. This happened earlier this year when I caught Electric Moon live in London and it was awesome - everything I was hoping it would be and then some! Now, I don't tend to review gigs I've been to because I find myself 'writing' the review as I go along instead of just enjoying the experience, however, Electric Moon have just released a digital only live album that I can, and will, review!

There are a couple of things you need to know from the outset: firstly, there are six songs on 'Zeiss Planetarium Bochum 2015', which equates to 2 and half hours of music.....you want immersive, EM will give you immersive! secondly, the album comes with a caveat that points out that the band had some technical troubles with their instruments (a guitar amp blew and a synth, a Polysix, lay down and died at the end of the first track!) but it is testament to the band's skill that this in no way spoils the album as a listening experience. Proceeds from the sale of the album go towards repair costs.

'The Last Words of Mister P' kicks things off and for the first few minutes it is all synths and space noises coming together to lay down an atmosphere thick with cosmic ambience. The bass and guitar stealthily inveigle their way into the proceedings, almost unnoticably at first, but gradually taking over. It's not until the 13th minute that you hear a drumstick hit skin! Right before your eyes the track has turned 180 degrees and become, what some may say, Electric Moon's trademark acid jamming. The sheer length of the track (28:21) gives Lulu, Dave and Marcus the space to just let the track grow organically; nothing forced or pushed along. It is simply a joy to hear....it's everything that a fuzzed-out psychonaut wants from music! This is followed by 'Air To Space', the album's shortest track (15:47!), a heavy space rock track with plenty of wah-wah and fuzz. What is evident, and remains so throughout the length of this marathon gig, is the chemistry that the three have; Lulu and Marcus provide the backbone of the music that allows Dave to roam free and let his guitar go exploring. No surprise really, they have been playing together for ages and so have honed the band's dynamics to something approaching perfection. 'Radio Contact Was Lost' opens with the bassy sounds of a huge framedrum, joined at the 4 minute mark by Lulus bass, laying down a gentle but insistent bassline over some spacey effects, giving the track an immediate tension and sense of cosmic foreboding. The introduction of the guitar sees things grow and expand; that bassline remains a constant, like a standing stone that has seen eons pass by, but the drums (you cannot ever pass over the skill and power of Marcus' drumming!) and the swirling maelstrom of guitar lift the track higher and higher until the listener becomes swept along on a wave of acid psychedelia. That is until there is a breakdown where, yet again, it is only that bassline of Lulu's that can be heard, holding everything together until it all picks up again. 'Close Encounter of the 4th Kind' is another huge track - again, beginning quietly with the synth very much central, until it becomes a mammoth opus of acid / krautrock jamming courtesy of some more stratospheric guitarwork from Dave and a motorik rhythm from the Lulu/Marcus combination - it is 26 minutes of bliss! 'Sunburst Odyssey' is the longest track at just shy of 30 minutes long. It opens with some gentle sci-fi drones before becoming what is now that recognisable song structure; everything held together perfectly by drums and bass allowing the guitar to meander through the far recesses of space. However, for recognisable, please do NOT read 'predictable' or, heaven forfend, 'boring'.....this trio of technically consummate musicians have the ability to transcend time itself...the 30 minutes of this track fly by in an immersive, hypnotic flash, leaving the listener mesmerised and in a psychedelic reverie. This live opus is brought to a close by 'Star Factory' - another initial slow burner full of spacey effects that seem to reflect the loneliness and sheer scale of space. It evolves into possibly the 'heaviest' track on the album; overloaded on fuzz and delay, the drums crashing and the bass throbbing....a more than suitable way in which to close a mammoth set.

'Zeiss Planetarium Bochum' is monumental, not only in length but in sound. It highlights a band at the very peak of their powers, which bodes very well for a rumoured new studio album in the pipeline! Electric Moon are a unique package in the psych world and what is so refreshing about them is that, although not frivolous or flippant, there is no pretence about them, they are just 3 mates who enjoy what they do, it just so happens that they are the best at what they do. This is an awe-inspiring 2 and half hours, best enjoyed in the dark with no interruptions, and having seen the band live, I am incredibly jealous of the lucky souls in Bochum that night. 'Zeiss Planetarium Bochum' is a download only release, available from the Electric Moon Bandcamp page here and will cost you all of 10 Euros, and it will be the best 10 Euros you have spent!