Podcast 2026.01 Arc Light

November 28, 2025

Maya Ongaku

#Dub #Psychedelic #PsychicPower

maya ongaku returns with their first 7 inch born from a moment of psychic…maybe? “Once upon a time, everyone was psychic. Maybe. ‘Maybe Psychic’ was created during a jam session on a gruelling European tour in June. A kid who has been troubled without being found out whether she is psychic or not somehow forgets that she had such a trouble in the process of becoming an adult. The production of this song was done with such absurd children in mind. The wonder of the brain’s memory system, the true meaning of spiritual sensation, and people who have their free ideas curtailed by being in tune with the structure. This piece of music may help us melt away from the norm in today’s society.”

October 10, 2025

The Wytches

#HardRock #Psych #Surf

The Wytches formed in Brighton in 2011 after meeting at music college. During their first year they relentlessly played any show they could find and rapidly began picking up traction, signing their first record deals with Heavenly Recordings and Partisan (USA). Their debut album followed and they toured the world, headlining shows and sharing stages with the likes of METZ, Cloud Nothings, Blood Red Shoes, Pixies and Jamie T, hitz weaving seamlessly between gut-wobbling monster riffs, swampy rock, slick surf, and finely tuned song craft.
TMODM: What had the strongest influence on Talking Machine?
The Wytches: Rediscovering a love for simple and stylised pop and rock music of the 1960’s influenced a lot of the album.
TMODM: What records changed your life?
The Wytches: Bob Dylan – Desire, Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Nirvana- In utero, Big Star – Third, The Beatles – Revolver.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
The Wytches: Experiment more with the next sound. Maybe learn a new instrument.

November 28, 2025

Julie’s Haircut

#Alternative #Electronica #Experimental #AvantRock #Psychedelia #TripHop #TripHop #Trippy #ksip

Active since the late nineties, Julie’s Haircut is a band from Emilia, northern Italy, devoted to spacey, hypnotic sounds. The band’s music has evolved in time from the garage-rock soulful energy of their debut towards more experimental grounds, focusing on improv and sound research, without losing touch with the groove and melody that characterized their music since day one. They have been making music with Damo Suzuki, Sonic Boom, Philip Corner, Valerio Cosi and more.
TMODM: What had the strongest influence on Radiant Opposition?
Julie’s Haircut: Time.
TMODM: What record(s) changed your lives?
Julie’s Haircut: The Velvet Underground & Nico, Soundtracks by Can, Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
Julie’s Haircut: We’re beginning our tour in mid-January and plan to play live as much as we can in 2026.

December 5, 2025

Carlton Melton

#Alternative #Krautrock #Psych #Psychedelic

Northern California psychedelic sorcerers Carlton Melton are brain surfers, mind trippers, … “psychlists,” if you prefer. The band will take your head for a ride, occasionally rushing at superluminal speeds through a wormhole or gliding softly on a gentle breeze in a leafy glade. Sometimes your brain needs to rage, and sometimes it needs to repose. For a decade and a half, the band has yo-yo’ed, almost schizophrenically, between these two modes: walloping space jams with furious guitar solos in one hemisphere of the brain and ethereal, feather-light splashdowns in the other. Not to mention a track here and there that builds from the latter into the former. But with two new releases in 2023, the band has evolved. Whether psych rock or ambient trance, their sound remains driving, organic, and flowing. With the addition of Anthony Taibi (White Manna, DDT), however, the group’s metal freak-outs are Hawkwindier and their droning kraut trances are Spacemen 3-er. In January, the quartet released the playfully spacey Resemble Ensemble, recorded in Taibi’s home studio 3D Light. October now sees the band Turn To Earth, a work with scents of Autumn, a season of death and transition. The cover art evokes a vine- covered, electric crucifix. The sound is, well, earthy but also gritty and striving towards change. The album was recorded in Fall 2022 and now harvested in Fall 2023. Phil Becker (Terry Gross, Pins Of Light) contributed drums and percussion to a few tracks on Turn To Earth, recording the album at El Studio in San Francisco. With Becker at the helm, the synths have become more prominent (“Cosmicity,” “Roboflow,” “Migration”) and the tone heavier on the doom (“Cloudstorming,” “Unlock The Land,” title track): several moments could even serve as background music for epic dark fantasy films like Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, or Heavy Metal. As exquisite as Turn To Earth is, Melton are best appreciated as a live act: their recordings as well as their gigs are largely improvised – not so much composed as birthed. And yet their most recent tour ended abruptly and perilously. The group had to cancel its final three shows once members were admitted to Arnhem hospital in the Netherlands. Five years later, reinforcements have strengthened the band and restocked its arsenal of great tracks. After the rockus interruptus of that 2018 tour and the tantric tease of the intervening Covid lockdown, Melton have some unfinished business. An October 2023 tour is poised to set the freshly minted quartet back onto the stages of Europe and within the cerebral folds of its fans. Turn To Earth, sure … but keep your head in outer space.
TMODM: I couldn’t find it on any other release. Has it appeared elsewhere or was it exclusive to the compilation?
Rich – ‘War Cry’ is exclusive to the PAC compilation. The track was recorded many years ago , maybe 2016 , in our friend Brian McDougall’s geodesic dome in Point Arena, California to a Tascam 4-track cassette tape recorder.
TMODM: How did you decide to contribute this track to the compilation?
Rich: PAC had put the word out. They were asking bands to submit potential tracks for a third compilation. ‘War Cry’ seemed a good fit. I always thought it had a Native American feel. Especially the repetitive drumming. The guitars were to wail as if crying into fires in the night.
TMODM: Is there anything you hope listeners take away from this track, especially in the context of the cause behind this compilation?
Rich: The track was saved for quite a while for something special like this. This was the right fit. For it to be included in a compilation with so many great sounding bands and for a noble cause is very gratifying for us.
The PAC Bandcamp page explains very well how cancer affects everyone at some point in their lifetime. Whether it’s friends, family, or oneself. The PAC compilations raise awareness and funding for MacMillan Cancer Support in the UK. Please support if you can.

September 26, 2025

Pallbearer Industry

#Experimental #Dark #Improvisation #Psych

3-piece psych/stoner/drone/doom from the Ottawa Valley, Ontario Canada Jeff Dowdall – Drums, Percussion, Synths Pat Farrell – Guitars, Vocals Leigh Newton – Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
TMODM: “Maintain the Escape” appeared on the latest Psych Against Cancer compilation Psych Against Cancer Vol 3 Part 1. I couldn’t find it on any other release. Has it appeared elsewhere or was it exclusive to the compilation?
Pallbearer Industry: “Maintain the Escape” appears on a self-released cassette entitled Constellation Seance, which we put out in September 2025.
https://pallbearerindustry1.bandcamp.com/album/constellation-seance
TMODM: How did you decide to contribute this track to the compilation?
Pallbearer Industry: We decided on this track because it’s a fresh release from a brand-new album, a number we play live, and a more straight-ahead tune. We suppose it could almost be a “single,” as opposed to the more crazed and out-there pieces that complete the album.
TMODM: Is there anything you hope listeners take away from this track, especially in the context of the cause behind this compilation?
Pallbearer Industry: We are extremely happy and fortunate to be able to contribute, in a very small way, to this incredible cause. All of us have been touched, in some way, by this terrible disease.

December 5, 2025

Trigona

#Alternative #Krautrock #Psych #Psychedelic

Multi instrumentalist one man psych rock project. Psych rock recordings featuring lots of fuzz, delay, swirly effects and that motorik beat all the kids are talking about.
TMODM: I couldn’t find it on any other release. Has it appeared elsewhere or was it exclusive to the compilation?
Trigona: I recorded the track a few years back when I was putting together Isophase. It didn’t fit on the record due to length, so it got the chop. I’d always been pretty pleased with the guitar in it, so I was happy to dust it off and donate it to the compilation. It’s a great cause, and I was very happy to get involved with the project.
TMODM: How did you decide to contribute this track to the compilation?
Trigona: It’s actually one of the shorter songs I’ve done over the years, so I figured it would be a good fit for a compilation — quite punchy and upbeat. There’s a general level of positivity that runs through the track, and it’s pretty psychedelic, with some sitar sounds in the background, so I thought it would be suitable.
TMODM: Is there anything you hope listeners take away from this track, especially in the context of the cause behind this compilation?
Trigona: Cancer has probably touched all of us in some way, and if it hasn’t yet, it will one day. My cousin died quite young from cancer recently, and it’s awful how quickly the disease can take hold. It’s been a reminder of how fast things can change, and to refocus on what’s really important in life — and what’s not, in the scheme of things.
So maybe there’s a little bit of what’s important and fun to me in life in this track. I had a good time recording it, and I hope folks have a good time listening to it. Fuck cancer.

June 20, 2025

Black Helium

#Noise #Psych #PsychRock #Psychedelia #PsychedelicRock #Sludge

With this, their fourth album Black Helium find themselves widening the parameters of their take on heavy psychedelic rock, with probably their most baked and hook-laden material to date. From the no-safety-net freak out of ‘Return the Curse’, to the sawtooth groove of ‘Up on a Hill’, ‘The Animals Are Coming’ LP is Black Helium at their most exploratory and focused. Recorded one sun-drenched week in late June 2024, this time at Axe and Trap Studios with Ben Turner (Hey Colossus, Part Chimp). ‘The Animals Are Coming’ is the band sweating it out in a room, fueled by “party foods “and vintage amps. Digging deeper towards the source, no matter how transcendent, no matter how dark. Black Helium are a psychedelic power trio, based in London. Never afraid to stray from the beaten path, they traverse aural hallucinatory soundscapes; from detuned Neanderthal rock to deep oceans of introspective blissed out psychedelia. The band consistently gig across the UK (including a two week tour with Japanese label mates Hibushibire late 2024), and have recently started ventures into mainland Europe. And plan to continue this path. BLACK HELIUM are Stuart Gray (vocals, guitar) Beck Harvey (bass, vocals) Diogo Gomes (drums) Previous Black Helium releases on Riot Season BLACK HELIUM ‘Primitive Fuck’ (2018) BLACK HELIUM ‘The Wholly Other’ (2020) BLACK HELIUM ‘Um’ (2023)

November 22, 2025

Sons Of Zoku

#Experimental #Psych #Psychedelic #PsychedelicRock #World

Sons Of Zöku are from Adelaide, Australia. Ricardo Da Silva – Vocals, Guitar Ica Quintela – Vocals, Flute, Percussion Hannah Yates – Vocals, Keys, Congas Oscar Ellery – Guitar Jordan Buck – Bass Luke Swann – Drums

November 25, 2025

Frozen Planet….1969

#Echo #HeavyPsych #Instrumental #Psychedelic #StonerRock

It’s been longer, much longer than usual between albums for Frozen Planet….1969, but they are happy to be back! Back visiting Earth! Back delivering more instrumental tunes and improvisation. Only this time more emphasis could be placed on “tunes”. Still with plenty of jamming to go around but with some structure and arrangements thrown into the mix. More focus on layering sounds and utilising the studio environment. Welcome back to the Planet! John Debono-Cullen has once again provided the visuals, sculpting Echoland from the ground up. credits released November 25, 2025 Personnel: Paul Attard………6 strings Lachlan Paine….4 strings Frank Attard…….no strings

January 29, 2026

Adiós Cometa

#Alternative #Ambient #Post-rock #DreamPop #Shoegaze

Mucho chorus y reverb desde San José, Costa Rica. Pablo Matamoros – Drums Emanuel Mora – Guitar, bass and vocals Mark Murillo – Bass, guitar and vocals Gabriel Piedra – Guitar Jonathan Villalobos – Guitar and vocals.
TMODM: What had the strongest influence on Un destello de luz?
Adiós Cometa: This record is a melting pot of the diverse influences shared by the five of us. You can hear everything from more obvious references like shoegaze and post-rock to emo, along with elements of ambient and post-hardcore. There’s a bit of all of that woven throughout the album.
Lyrically, our main influence comes from our families, experiencing parenthood, and of course the light and shadows of modern life. There’s a strong sense of catharsis throughout.

TMODM: What record(s) changed your lives?
Adiós Cometa: Personally, I could name countless albums, but if I think about the ones that most influenced the music I make with Adiós Cometa, I’d have to mention Gold by Starflyer 59, Raising Your Voice… Trying to Stop an Echo by Hammock, Define the Great Line by Underoath, and Sore Eyelids by Sore Eyelids.

TMODM: What’s next for you?
Adiós Cometa: Un Destello de Luz comes out on January 29, and we’re really excited to finally share what we’ve been working on for the past year and a half. We love connecting with other bands and scenes, so we’re also planning to release some very interesting split records next year, which will allow us to experiment further with sounds we want to explore more deeply.
Finally, there’s the plan to play in new places. If everything goes well, we’d love to visit Europe in the second half of the year.

October 10, 2025

The Utopia Strong

#Electronica #Krautrock #Electronic #Krautrock #Psychedelic

The Utopia Strong – Doperider The life of a psychonaut can take one to many plateaus of reality. Opinions vary as regards which of these are either desirable or optimal. All things considered though, it’s fair to say that once the average cerebral wanderer finds themselves a stoned skeleton on a motorbike, it’s a sign that they’re going places. Such were the movements of The Utopia Strong, in making their third and arguably trippiest full length album for Rocket Recordings. As the band explain: “When recording we tend to have books, bits of art and interesting things lying around the place. (Kavus) had recently bought the Paul Kirchner compendium, Awaiting The Collapse. Paul’s character Dope Rider (the skeleton in question) drives around the desert, getting into all manner of high jinx and spouting cosmic philosophy, highlighting the absurdities of life, death and the American mythos. “When we had created that particular track, one of our most beautiful and outré, it seemed to name itself. Certainly, we were looking at the comic strips while listening to it and something about it’s wide-screen vibes and the beautiful desert seemed to marry together.” Serendipity has always played a strong role in The Utopia Strong, with the improvisatory approach of Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi and Mike York – as well as the innate chemistry between the trio – allowing them to take extensions through dimensions that frequently end up as much of a surprise to the band as the listener. The band has summarily found ways to evolve its approach to facilitate the most adventurous exploratory missions possible. In this realm, the band’s formidable history – Steve as a snooker champion and bona fide household name, Kavus as a psychedelic and progressive polymath in the like of Gong, Cardiacs et al, and Mike in his work with Coil, Current 93 and as one of the UK’s foremost bagpipe makers – is transcended and usurped by their combined psychic chemistry. Yet more than anything else this remains an evolutionary process. “All the pieces on Doperider began as purely electronic pieces, with Mike and Steve on modular synths and Kavus on an analogue synth” the band relate. “We were deliberately trying to not repeat ourselves and, for this reason, made a point of changing the model a little. Not that we’ve ever been necessarily conventional but I think this album goes a little deeper than the previous two studio albums.” Doperider does indeed take the band down a variety of auditory pathways previously unexplored, and further into the realms of more surrealistic visions akin to the systems-built bliss of Caterina Barbieri, the unforgiving noisescapes of Hiro Kone or the alien soundtracks of latter-day Laurie Spiegel. “Certainly Steve’s listening habits have changed somewhat since the first album, he has gone deeper into abstract electronica and musique concrete as well as becoming increasingly adept with his modular set up. This seems to have formed a backbone to how the music developed” reflects Kavus. Hence the coruscating intensity of the title track and the elegiac rapture of ‘Unity Of Light’ showcase a still more moving and melancholic approach to their art, alongside the blissful ‘Harpies’, which features the vocals of Katharine Blake (Miranda Sex Garden/Medieval Baebes) Elsewhere curveballs strike such as the strident and stentorian curtain-raiser ‘Prophecy’, which utilises the influence of Magma and Zeuhl music – a longstanding passion for all three members – for the first time in earnest. “It sits better at the start of the album as otherwise it would disrupt the decent into the beautiful hell hole that unfolds” as Steve notes. Essentially however, the mission of The Utopia Strong remains intact – to offer a transformative pathway to wonders anew. “Well, we are making psychedelic music or, if you will, head music” reflects Kavus. “We put an awful lot of detail into each piece. It’s certainly not minimalist. Often after our shows people will remark that we had made them feel like they were on drugs. That’s the idea really. We’ll take you on a voyage of self-discovery that won’t preclude showing up to work on time the next day. Although really the core message of our music is ‘Quit your job and start a commune.” As Steve notes: “Hopefully we’ve done justice to the comic book character Dope Rider and that he’d have loved riding along on his Harley Davison on another quest, with the wind blowing through his rib cage, listening to this album. if the audience choose the psychonaut road, then we are delighted to have been of service.”

November 17, 2025

The Dharma Chain

#Alternative #Doom #Downtempo #Electronica #HeavyPsych #Neopsychedelia #PsychedelicRock #StonerRock

The Dharma Chain, formed in 2020 in Byron Bay and now based in Berlin, is known for delivering captivating live performances that blend ethereal and at times offensive guitars, reverb-soaked vocals, industrial undercurrents, and atmospheric synth textures. Their sound is ever-evolving, with roles shifting between members, allowing multiple singers and guitarists, to create a dynamic experience. Official lyric video: youtu.be/uhohM-5JwUM THE DHARMA CHAIN: Amanda McGrath: guitar, vocals Jarra Grigg: guitar, vocals Ben Rompotis: guitar Giulia Piras: bass Aidan Stewart: drums, percussion Music by The Dharma Chain. Lyrics by Jarra Grigg. Recorded by Richard Zurke at Fonojet Studio. Mixed by Ben Rompotis. Mastered by Enyang Urbriks. Artwork by Frank Broek at DTAN Studios. Video by Frank Broek at DTAN Studios. Released by Spinda Records.