This episode traces a path through raw improvisation, global influences, and deep psychedelic drift. Across these tracks, structure loosens, grooves stretch, and songs open into something more immersive and alive. New releases from Tony From Bowling, Major Stars, Sons Of Zöku, Drone Accelerator, White Canyon & The 5th Dimension, Gondhawa, Lunar Grave, The Junipers, clâm, Balkan Taksim, Sun Voyager, and Lamp of the Universe.
| time | artist | title |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | Tony From Bowling | Summoner |
| 3:57 | Major Stars | Wrapped Up in Circles |
| 9:03 | Sons Of Zöku | The Moth |
| 13:24 | Drone Accelerator | Estación de la flor |
| 18:36 | White Canyon & The 5th Dimension | Flesh and Bones |
| 23:53 | Gondhawa | Takameyo |
| 28:46 | Lunar Grave | Pyramid Initiation |
| 36:21 | The Junipers | When She Turns |
| 38:47 | clâm | Levee Lament |
| 46:07 | Balkan Taksim | Ludilo |
| 49:31 | Sun Voyager | Running Hot |
| 52:54 | Lamp of the Universe | Ship of Eternity |
Turn Me On, Dead Man 2026 Podcasts
#AcidFolk #Alternative #Ambient #Beatlesque #DesertRock #Doom #Electronica #Experimental #Fuzz #GaragePsych #GarageRock #Grunge #GuitarHero #HeavyPsych #IndieRock #Krautrock #Lo-Fi #MiddleEastern #Minimal #Motorik #Post-punk #ProgRock #Psych #PsychGrunge #PsychRock #Psychedelic #PsychedelicFolk #PsychedelicPop #PsychedelicRock #RootsMusic #Shoegaze #Shreddy #SpaceRock #StonerRock #Tribal #World |
With the music in this episode, you hear artists working in the moment, whether it’s Tony From Bowling trying to capture ideas before they lose their spark, Lunar Grave building entire albums out of pure, unplanned improvisation, or Sons Of Zöku describing songs as “chapters” that emerge within a loose conceptual frame. Even when structures are more defined, there’s still an emphasis on energy in the moment—on feel above all. Again and again, the music here resists overthinking. It’s about trusting instinct, following a thread, and seeing where it leads.
There’s also a strong sense of place, though it feels less like geography and more like overlapping worlds. These tracks move between places and traditions: Gondhawa blending microtonal guitar, West African groove, and grunge into what they describe as “music of the world and worlds”; Balkan Taksim channeling a “folk-psych” state through instruments tied to tradition, ritual, and dance; and Sons Of Zöku navigating a space between Portugal and Australia that never fully resolves into either. Even when the setting is more localized—like Lunar Grave’s basement in Portland or Major Stars’ decades-deep Boston psych lineage—it still feels connected to a wider continuum. Across the episode, place isn’t just where the music comes from; it’s something fluid—translated, recombined, and reimagined.
Running through all of it is a tension between structure and dissolution. Songs stretch toward trance and repetition (Drone Accelerator, Gondhawa), riffs open into atmosphere (Sun Voyager), and tightly written forms drift into something more meditative and open-ended (Lamp of the Universe, White Canyon & The Fifth Dimension). Even the more song-oriented moments—The Junipers’ nostalgic garage psychedelia or clâm’s slow-building tension—feel like they’re brushing up against something larger. Taken together, this episode moves between grounded, physical grooves and expansive, borderless sound worlds, all connected by a shared impulse to push beyond fixed forms and let the music become something immersive, communal, and alive.
#GarageRock #PsychedelicRock
Tony From Bowling is from Morgantown, West Virginia
TMODM: Back in 2023, you mentioned you were gearing up to write and record your first full-length album, which came out early last year. Looking back on it now, how did that recording process go, and how do you feel your sound has changed over time?
Tony From Bowling: We recorded it ourselves, so the process took way too long, but we learned a lot along the way. A lot of the songs from those sessions were actually older ideas from the last eight or so years of being a band, but since it was our first album, that felt right.
Our sound has definitely been changing. Right now it feels like we’re playing catch-up in the studio. We had a lot of ideas on the back burner while trying to finish the album, so we’re all stoked to get back up to speed and start working on newer material.
TMODM: Did the new single (“Summoner / Electric Tony”) come out of the same sessions as the album, or is this a new phase for Tony From Bowling?
Tony From Bowling: Yeah, those songs were recorded in the same sessions. They’re actually the oldest songs out of the bunch — I wrote them about ten years ago. That’s probably why they didn’t make the cut… I’m kind of sick of them.
TMODM: Last time you mentioned that traveling and playing shows had a big influence on your music. After releasing the album and playing more shows since then, has that experience changed the way you write or record new material?
Tony From Bowling: Definitely. Seeing how songs translate live versus the recordings has been really enlightening. Now we’re trying to get to a place where we can record ideas while they’re still fresh and we’re still excited about them. Like I said, we’re playing catch-up.
#Alternative #GarageRock #GuitarHero #Shreddy
Formed in the late 1990s, the Boston-based group bridges 1960s acid rock and the heavy, improvisational intensity of Japanese psychedelic bands like High Rise. Their sound is built on a massive wall of fuzz and interlocking guitar lines, but the addition of strong vocalists brings a melodic counterbalance to the sonic overload.
Though Major Stars have been playing together since the late ’90s their roots go back much further. Wayne Rogers and Kate Biggar have been crossing paths since the 1980s, first in Crystallized Movements, whose screaming psych-punk hybrids helped lay the groundwork for everything that followed.
Tom Leonard, now the band’s third guitarist, has been part of that orbit nearly as long. His project Luxurious Bags released its amorphous lo-fi excursions on Twisted Village, and he also played alongside Wayne and Kate in Vermonster. After the demise of Magic Hour (Wayne and Kate’s proto-freak-folk outfit with Damon & Naomi) the core of Major Stars took shape, with Wayne on vocals and Dave Lynch on drums.
That long lineage carries forward into the current lineup. By the time of More Colors of Sound and Roots of Confusion Seeds of Joy, the band had settled into a powerful configuration: Kate Biggar, Tom Leonard, and Wayne Rogers on guitars; Dave Dougan on bass; Casey Keenan on drums; and Noell Dorsey on lead vocals.
Across decades of releases on labels like Drag City and Twisted Village, Major Stars have maintained a raw, analog intensity, earning a reputation as one of the most consistent and uncompromising forces in modern psychedelic rock.
#World #Experimental #Psych #Psychedelic #PsychedelicRock #World
Sons Of Zöku are an Adelaide-based hybrid tribe of Portuguese-born Ricardo Da Silva and Ica Quintela, and Australian-born Jordan Buck, Oscar Ellery, Eddie Hannemann, and Hannah Yates.
“Together we are the trip: celebrate the ride.”
TMODM: In the past, you’ve mentioned that your recording process involves everyone stepping into your “headquarters” and layering “colors” until a track opens a door to somewhere new. With your recent string of singles like “Höö” and “Energia,” has that process changed? Do these individual releases feel like standalone experiments, or are they chapters of the “upcoming album” you’ve alluded to?
Sons Of Zöku: The process has changed a bit for this new album. There was a more conscious decision about the overall narrative or topic, but not necessarily about what it should sound like. From there, we allowed each song to blossom within that frame.
The topic is so philosophical and open to interpretation that anything could have happened. There was still an unlimited set of colors to paint with — we just wanted to give the listener a better chance to step into our world.
Each song feels like a chapter, and you’ll need to hear the whole album to understand the full book. That said, all the singles together won’t tell the entire story.
TMODM: Ricardo, you’ve spoken about the connection between the Portuguese coast of your youth and the sea breeze in Adelaide. Your music often feels like a bridge between those two worlds. How does “the sound of someone trying to figure things out” change as the band grows from a duo into a larger ensemble with sitar, tabla, and flute?
Sons Of Zöku: Most of the music has been inspired by living between these two worlds. I’m halfway down the road, knowing that neither direction will take me home. That feeling hasn’t changed.
Music is like dreaming of reality, but I haven’t been able to change my reality, so I just keep dreaming. People are energy — that changes. Music also changes. But my story, and my toughest struggle, hasn’t changed. Creating music helps. It keeps a bit of sanity in this insane world.
TMODM: You seem to favor releasing individual tracks frequently rather than waiting for long-form LPs. In an era of “fast” music, your tracks often feel like long-form meditations or chants. Is this release approach about staying connected to the moment, or simply a reflection of how quickly ideas are flowing?
Sons Of Zöku: I think it’s both. There are many ways to tell the same story — we’re just trying to adapt to the world and balance what feels right for us with what works for listeners.
Releasing new music is like watching a new season of a TV show. You might love the first season, but if the second takes too long, you forget about it. Singles are like little episodes or trailers that give a glimpse of what the whole season will be like.
#Experimental #Experimental #Krautrock #Psych #Psychedelic #Tribal
Psychedelic jam band from Peru with an English winds player. Drone Accelerator is from Cusco, Peru.
TMODM: You recently released El viaje al interior (recorded back in 2009) and III within a few days of each other, following a 12-year gap since Message From Liana. What prompted this sudden return, and what brought you back together to record III?
Drone Accelerator: Through all these years, I (Carlos) always kept in touch with Paul, and we would occasionally improvise together in Lima. He also commissioned me to compose music for his poetry work. A few years ago, Paul moved to the Sacred Valley in Cusco, and whenever I visited him, we made music under the name Cabeza de Nube.
The last time I was there, in 2025, Fernando—who also lives in the Valley—joined us. At that point, we realized: this is the core of Drone Accelerator. So we decided to record the next album together. That’s how III came about.
At the same time, we revisited older material and rediscovered El viaje al interior, which had been recorded back in 2009. Releasing both felt like reconnecting past and present—closing a long gap while opening a new chapter.
TMODM: III has such an atmospheric, meditative sound. The liner notes mention that it was recorded between Lima and Cusco over the last couple of years. How did splitting the recording process between those two cities shape the sound of the album?
Drone Accelerator: The first batch of recordings was made by Paul and me. The following year, in the Sacred Valley, Cusco, we recorded with Fernando on bass, adding to some of those earlier tracks. El nacimiento del verde was the only piece conceived and recorded entirely during that 2025 session by Fernando and me.
We improvised and recorded everything on my computer at Paul’s house in Taray, near Pisac. Then we combined those sessions with material from earlier recordings. I later took all the raw material to Herrman Hamann in Lima, where we mixed and produced the final version of the EP.
This release is different because all the instruments were line-recorded. The sound is much more controlled, with better overall quality compared to our previous recordings, which were essentially air-recorded improvisations.
Working between Lima and Cusco created a kind of dual character in the album—the immediacy and atmosphere of the Sacred Valley sessions combined with the more detailed and deliberate production work done later in Lima. That split process ended up shaping the final sound in a very natural way.
TMODM: Carlos, I’ve also been a fan of your past work with La Ira de Dios. Given the long history you all have in the Peruvian psychedelic scene, where does Drone Accelerator fit into your plans right now? Are you planning to play out or record more, or was III more of a one-off reunion?
Drone Accelerator: We don’t have immediate plans for new recordings, but that could change in the coming months. This new approach to recording and production has given the project new life.
All of our previous releases—including the recently rediscovered El viaje al Interior—were live improvisations recorded with a single open mic. So while nothing is set in stone, the story isn’t over. Drone Accelerator could return with new material in this new form.
The key condition is being in Cusco—those sessions in the Sacred Valley are what make it possible. Whenever I have the opportunity to return, I’m sure we’ll create more material. So III isn’t necessarily a one-off—it may be the beginning of a new phase.
#PsychedelicRock #IndieRock #Minimal #Post-punk #Post-punk #GaragePsych #PsychedelicRock #Shoegaze
Spatial environment, guided by reverberated guitars, straight drums almost in a loop, crooked melodies and shoe-gaze style voices. Shining melancholy our sound takes you to colorful landscapes, sometimes lucid, sometimes not. Take a walk through the garage of the ’60s, and the post-punk of the ’80s. He goes through acoustic ballads and the almost obscure frenzy.
TMODM: In our interview last year, you mentioned that “River Song” and “Bladelores” were the calmest tracks on the new album and that there would be more fuzz on the rest of the record. The liner notes for IV mention that the album is structured around the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air. How did you approach bringing that heavier fuzz and those more intense passages into those elemental themes?
White Canyon & The Fifth Dimension: In a general sense, the songs — in their structures — carry the alchemical presence of these elements. They are fluid like water, dense and firm like earth, then move into calmer moments like air, and sometimes they explode and burn like fire.
There is also this idea of solidity and consolidation that comes with the number four. It’s an album that affirms our characteristics and the kinds of sounds we enjoy making. For example, “River Song” feels like water and “Bladelores” like earth. “Flesh and Bones” is something like air… haha.
TMODM: The liner notes also mention vocal harmonies emerging from the meeting of feminine and masculine energies. When you’re composing new material, how do you determine who sings which parts? Does the music dictate that, or is it more organic?
White Canyon & The Fifth Dimension: This process is mostly not planned. We compose the songs without thinking about who will sing which part or take the lead. Later, when we start experimenting, the fusion of voices naturally emerges.
In some tracks we might feel that one voice works better, but most of the time it’s something that arises organically once we begin placing the lyrics into the music.
TMODM: You recorded IV throughout 2025 in your home studio in São Thomé das Letras, handling the production yourselves, but the record also features a saxophone part recorded remotely from Vienna. How did bringing in that outside collaborator affect the sound?
White Canyon & The Fifth Dimension: It was actually quite simple. We have a friend, Martin Ludl, who had always shown interest in collaborating with us. When we had the song “Alumia” ready, we thought it would be great to bring in something different in terms of instrument and sound.
We asked if he could add some parts and a sax solo, and the result turned out incredible. It was really more of a collaboration — the track was already finished when he joined in.
#ProgRock #MiddleEastern #PsychedelicRock
From Angers, France. From psychedelia to oriental music by the way
by afrobeat and progressive rock, Gondhawa wants to be
music of the world and worlds. All creating a universe
eclectic and singular musical on texts written in a
language from the dawn of time: Gondhawii, choice assumed
to give the voice back its role of instrument, of emotion.
Members:
Clement Pineau : drums, kamele n’goni, vocals, percussions
Idriss Besselievre : Vocals, Guitars, Sanxian
Paul Adamczuk : Bass, guitars, keyboard
TMODM: TÄKOMĀ blends microtonal guitar, eastern modes and a very direct garage rock energy. How do you approach balancing trance, groove and raw power when writing together as a trio?
Gondhawa: First of all, thanks for all of your questions and the invitation on the podcast. To answer your question, it really comes down to our three singular perspectives and influences. For the composition, we often start with a riff, a melody, an idea that Idris had. And then we add some groove and structure over it. For the eastern and microtonal side, it comes mainly from Idris, since he’s originally from Morocco and King Gizzard, obviously we really loved Flying Microtonal Banana when it came out. For the groove side, you can blame Clement. He’s very fond of West African music. The raw side is mostly our love of grunge. Idris and I grew up listening to Nirvana and Alice in Chains a lot, and now I do actually love the hardcore music and some kinds of metal, so that can come across sometimes. Yeah, I guess, and fuzz pedal. Wlike to stomp on fuzz pedal a lot.
TMODM: Takameyo uses your Ghandawa language, which feels very rhythmic in the way you use it. What role does language play for you as meaning, sound, or ritual when you’re shaping a track?
Gondhawa: We really use the voice in our language as a separate instrument. Sometimes we use it to double the melody to make it stronger on other songs. It has a countermelody thing to it, a more rhythmic side. We firstly think about how it will work into the song. Having a flow is very, very important to us. It has to be something very natural to listen to. Then we tell each other what story it tells based on vibes, mostly. We discuss about it, changing some words. For example, on Dioko Saïko we tried to tell an ancient story with call and response between a narrator and a voice from a distance, like echoing the past. The meaning of our song is really in how it makes you feel.
TMODM: Your records clearly capture the intensity of your live shows. How important is the physical, communal experience of playing live to the way you think about Ghondawa’s music?
Gondhawa: I really think you use the right words. Playing live is a physical, communal experience. That’s really what Ghondawa is about, breaking boundaries between styles, languages. We really believe that the future and the real value of music are the venues, the public, the people you met, and the solidarity that comes with it. All that makes you a better human being, I guess. And it can make you do better music, I hope. Yeah. Especially in this day and age with AI and all the internet filtering. Seeing real people is like the most important thing for us actually. Thanks.
TMODM: Thanks very much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Gondhawa: Thanks for your questions. And they were really indicative of you listening to the album and it means a lot to us. And excuse our French accent. We do with what we have, but thanks again. It was a pleasure to answer your questions.
TMODM: No problem at all. Thanks for doing this interview. You can hear Ghondawa’s music on episode 2026.05 | Flowers in the Mirror of Turn Me On Dead Man. You can find that at turnmeondeadman.com/. Thanks very much.
#Fuzz #Krautrock #Lo-Fi #Motorik #Psychedelic #PsychRock #SpaceRock
Underground psychedelic/krautrock band from Portland, Oregon. Emerging from the Portland underground in the 2010s, Lunar Grave has carved out a singular space in the heavy psych scene, combining kraut rock infused explorations, and lo-fi sonic mysticism.
Operating as a communal, shape-shifting collective, with a rotating cast of members, the band crafts sprawling landscapes of earthy drones, undulating fuzz guitars, and motorik rhythms. Set apart by a distinctly pastoral and experimental edge, over more than a decade they have built an extensive discography of raw, powerful sonic rituals.
PRISMATIC EARTHSHIP finds the band singularly focused, with serpentine backwards guitars, driving rhythms, and heavy fuzzed out cassette aesthetics across a set of punchy, baroque, and heady psych rock.
I asked Echodelick a few questions, and then Lunar Grave.
TMODM: Prismatic Earthship originally came out back in 2013. What was it about this specific Lunar Grave record that made you want to pull it from the archives and give it a proper reissue now, over a decade later?
Echodelick Records: I like Prismatic Earthship for its hypnotic blend of heavy fuzz, driving motorik rhythms, and trippy textures. The album feels really raw and immersive to me. The winding guitars and drones, create a really dreamy soundscape. It carries a ritualistic, heady energy that pulls you in while also leaving the ability to leave it in the background. These are the types of records that capture my attention and have staying power with me
TMODM: More broadly, when Echodelick decides to reissue an older underground record rather than putting out a brand-new release, what specific qualities are you looking for?
Echodelick Records: I don’t usually go in looking for anything specific. Sometimes an album just hits me, and I’ll check to see if it ever got a proper release. If it hasn’t, that’s where I start—reaching out and trying to help make sure something that good actually sees the light of day. This was one of those albums that really deserved that kind of attention.
TMODM: Since the band seems to have been on a bit of a hiatus, how did the collaboration between Echodelick and Lunar Grave to bring this reissue to life actually come about?
Echodelick Records: This one actually took a few years. The album has always stuck with me, but for one reason or another the timing kept getting pushed back. I always knew I wanted to release it though, and eventually everything came together and I was able to complete this really special project. Big thanks to the band for trusting me with it.
TMODM: The liner notes describe Lunar Grave as a “communal, shape-shifting collective” with a rotating cast. How did that fluid lineup shape the creative process on Prismatic Earthship?
Lunar Grave: Lunar Grave was primarily an improvisational outfit, and as such it was natural for our core group of players to be augmented by various musicians (and non-musicians). The entirety of Prismatic Earthship is improvised in the most spontaneous sense of the term — nothing rehearsed, no riffs written down, no ideas even discussed beforehand.
This is how the majority of LG’s output came about: someone would start playing, the group would join in, and hopefully someone remembered to press record on a tape machine. Depending on who was around, the sound could change dramatically from session to session. In the case of Prismatic, a core trio of players recruited Dave’s roommate Brian Buchanan to play drums and his kinetic, driving style definitely shaped the sound of the album.
TMODM: This album has such a distinct sound with its backwards guitars and “heavy fuzzed out cassette aesthetics.” Looking back at a record you made in the 2010s Portland underground, what do you remember most about the actual recording process and capturing that lo-fi mysticism?
Lunar Grave: Being Portlanders coming of age in the grunge era, Lunar Grave had a distinctly lo-fi, DIY approach that we brought to most aspects of our music. We’d go see Dead Moon play all the time (and one of Jordan’s bands opened for them a few times) and they definitely influenced how we thought of the aesthetics of sound and recording. At the same time, we were devoted krautrock fans, and heavily inspired by Can’s pastiche recording techniques.
A number of recordings were done with one dynamic microphone feeding a mono portable Nagra 1/4” recorder, where many hours of improvised material would then be edited down and structured, sometimes weeks or months later. Using such stripped down methods, the physical space becomes an integral part of the sound. Some notable sessions were done late at night in Miles’s art studio where he was studying to get an MFA.
In the case of Prismatic, Dave had a house in NE Portland with a run-down concrete floor basement and a few ratty old couches. We had just enough space to set up our amps and a drum set, and the entire album was captured onto one track of a Tascam 244 4 track cassette recorder. The mic was a single Sennheiser 421 resting on top of a furnace. The cassette would drop out from time to time and you can hear this happen in the opening track Pyramid Initiation.
TMODM: With this incredible reissue coming out, what is the current status of the Lunar Grave collective? Are there any new sonic rituals on the horizon?
Lunar Grave: We are sitting on many, many hours or recordings. Going through them is surprising and inspiring, so who knows? After a listening session, we usually text each other something like “there’s a good album in here!” so it could definitely happen.
#Alternative #Alternative #Beatlesque #IndieRock #IndieRock #PsychedelicFolk #PsychedelicPop #PsychedelicRock
Psychedelic pop band from Leicester, UK. The Solid and the Hollow is our fifth album. We started this project heading in a slightly different direction to where we ended up. As it progressed it became a kind of nostalgia trip — imagining how we would have approached music as teenagers, when so much of the 60s and indie music we now know and love was brand new to us. It made the whole process feel fresh and exciting to make.
We’ve actually included a song written in our teens called She Makes the Sun Shine — albeit updated and slightly different from the original — and it gave us a good springboard for the vibe we were on.
We were listening to a lot of 60s garage, 80s neo-psychedelia and early 90s shoegaze during its production, which pushed us toward a more guitar-led sound than our previous two albums. We felt we hadn’t made a proper guitar album since Paint the Ground and decided it was time to get the amps out again.
TMODM: Your last record, Imaginary Friends, was born out of the “accidental momentum” of a scrapped re-recording project. In contrast, The Solid and the Hollow feels much more intentional — almost like a return to your teenage roots. How did the creative energy in the studio shift between those two starting points?
The Junipers: We had a few new songs and wanted to change the vibe a bit from Imaginary Friends. We’d been listening to a lot of neo-psych, along with some shoegaze and space rock, and that must have crept into the sound somewhere.
We’re not really a shoegaze or space rock band, but there are definitely some drones on this album. We’ve used drones before as backdrops — with Indian instruments and harmoniums and things like that — but this time we brought them more to the foreground, with fuzzy organs and bits of feedback here and there.
TMODM: The liner notes describe the album as a nostalgia trip back to how you approached music as teenagers, when 60s garage and neo-psychedelia were completely new to you. How much does “When She Turns” reflect that initial excitement of discovery?
The Junipers: I had a spell of listening back to the indie music I loved in the ’90s, and that naturally brings on a nice sense of nostalgia. From there I went further back — to ’80s indie and jangle, and some shoegaze bits and pieces.
When I was a teenager, I had an older friend who worked at HMV — this was pre-internet — and he’d introduce me to things like the Nuggets box set and the 13th Floor Elevators. Those became early influences, and the kind of sounds I tried to replicate at the time.
Going back to that feeling — holding the Nuggets box set, hearing those Elevators records for the first time — was a big influence on “When She Turns.” It actually started more as an ode to Suicide, but as we developed it, it started to sound more garagey, and that direction won out.
TMODM: You included a reworked version of a song you wrote in your teens, “She Makes the Sun Shine,” which helped shape the album’s overall vibe. What was it like revisiting and updating that piece with the experience you have now?
The Junipers: I was really happy with how it turned out. The first ’60s band I got into as a teenager was The Beatles — like a lot of people — but after that I was really into The Byrds and The Hollies.
“She Makes the Sun Shine” was originally an attempt to write something like The Beatles’ “Rain,” with the harmony style of The Hollies’ “On a Carousel,” plus some Byrds guitars thrown in. I always felt there was something worth revisiting in it.
Last year we rearranged it, added some extra lyrics, and definitely improved on the original demo we recorded back in 1998 or whenever it was. The original was very clean and jangly, with single-tracked harmonies — a bit thin sounding, but not bad for our age at the time.
#Alternative #Ambient #Fuzz #Krautrock #Psychedelic
clâm are from Frankfurt Am Main, Germany. clâm fuses psychedelic, ambient, space/slack and fuzz rock with a light sprinkling of disco into a unique heavy psych sound. A symbiosis of psychedelic rock and evocative vocals, characterized by expansive, multi-layered, and overlapping soundscapes.
Songs that are at times both dark and joyful, with meditative guitar, tight bass lines, and drums of driving force and rhythmic soul.
TMODM: The members of clâm come from different countries and musical backgrounds. How did the four of you come together as a band, and what kinds of experiences or earlier projects shaped the sound you’re exploring now?
clâm: clâm came together quite organically rather than as a planned project. Sven and Björn have known each other since their school days and started making music together again years later. Early on, the material was more roots-oriented and song-based, but over time it drifted into a more experimental direction — longer structures, repetition, drones, and evolving textures influenced by psychedelic and krautrock traditions.
Eddie grew up in Germany after his parents moved from England, and Sven and Björn first met him in the Frankfurt music scene in the 1990s. Michelle is originally from Seattle and had been living in Hong Kong before moving to Germany. She and Eddie met while working as picture editors, and she eventually joined the band as vocalist.
Most of our music begins as long improvisational sessions where we explore grooves, repetition, and texture until something starts to take on a life of its own. Those ideas slowly evolve into the pieces you hear on the record.
TMODM: “Levee Lament” evokes powerful imagery of rising waters and uncertainty about whether the levee will hold. What sparked the idea for this song, and how did you translate that sense of environmental pressure into the music?
clâm: “Levee Lament” was inspired by images of rising water and the fragile feeling that something holding everything back might suddenly give way. The song reflects that quiet tension — a slow pressure building beneath the surface.
Musically we tried to translate that atmosphere into a gradual swell. The rhythm keeps moving steadily while guitars and textures slowly accumulate. It’s less a narrative than a mood — the feeling of watching the water rise and wondering whether the levee will hold.
TMODM: You describe your music as blending psychedelic, ambient, fuzz rock, and even a hint of disco into expansive soundscapes. When you’re building a track like “Levee Lament,” do those elements come together deliberately, or do they emerge more organically during the recording process?
clâm: Mostly organically. Many of our pieces begin as extended jams where we explore grooves, textures, and repetition, and only later shape them into songs.
Because the band members come from different musical backgrounds — psychedelic rock, ambient, alternative, and even hints of dance rhythms — those elements tend to emerge naturally rather than being planned. We sometimes jokingly describe our sound as “heavy psych disco,” somewhere between krautrock hypnosis, fuzz-driven psychedelia, and a groove you could almost dance to.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
clâm: Our debut album clâm will be released on vinyl on March 20 via Clostridium Records. The record was recorded live together in the studio in Darmstadt with René Hofmann at Wasted Life Studios, with the goal of capturing the energy of a band playing together in a room rather than constructing it track by track.
After the release we’re planning concerts and continuing to develop new material. The band has always worked in an exploratory way, so the next chapter will likely grow out of the same process — long sessions, experimentation, and seeing where the music takes us. We’re also curious to explore new textures and sounds, possibly bringing more synthesizers into the mix.
#RootsMusic #World #Electronica #Psychedelic #World
Balkan Taksim are a band known for raising a groovy-balkan storm!
Their stylish electronic psychedelia and bass flow directly from their roots in Romania and Balkans upstream to global dancefloors.
A project that’s constantly evolving, exploring rhythms and sounds from every corner of the Balkans gently fused with electronic beats and tribal basslines.
They blend the old with the new and the analog with the digital, thus creating their own unique sound and visuals.
Expect a pulsating balkan-funky groove with a huge dose of energy.
TMODM: Balkan Taksim brings together traditional Balkan instruments and rhythms with electronic production. When you’re working on a track like “LUDILO,” what usually comes first — the traditional musical idea or the electronic groove?
Balkan Taksim: “LUDILO” started with a very simple melody played on a short-scale acoustic instrument from the former Yugoslav space — a Farkaš samica (a small type of tamburitza with a rather peculiar fretting system). This traditional sound became the foundation for the song.
In other cases it’s been similar — an Ottoman tanbur tune or a cobza rhythm sets the direction first.
TMODM: Could you share a bit of the backstory behind this track? What instruments, regional influences, or moods were you drawing on while recording it?
Balkan Taksim: We developed the song by adding layers of electric saz with a lot of distortion, working from a more rock-oriented mood. There are also jaw harp accents, various sound samples, bass, and synths.
Originally it was meant to be an instrumental and stayed that way for a while. But it felt like something was missing. Eventually the vocal came in — inspired by Bosnia — quoting lyrics from “Mila majko šalji me na vodu,” a sevdalinka performed by the late Himzo Polovina.
TMODM: Psychedelia can mean very different things depending on where you are. For Balkan Taksim, how do instruments like the cobza, electro-saz, or jaw harp help unlock that specific “Balkan psych” state of mind?
Balkan Taksim: We would probably call it “folk-psych,” with the Balkan element implied. Romanian folk dances have a strong “psych” motor. Anatolia has circle dances with the same kind of energy. Caucasian music has rhythms and melodies that feel almost otherworldly.
The cobza, with its short neck, is a very rhythmic instrument that can emphasize this cosmic energy — it was widely used in Romanian village music. The electric saz, on the other hand, has a longer scale, microtones, and thinner strings, making it ideal for melodic lines and solos.
Both are traditional instruments still played extensively at weddings — and weddings, like funerals, are sacred moments where people reconnect with something primordial. Playing these instruments helps us enter a kind of “folk roots and cosmic dance” state of mind — and then return to earth.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
Balkan Taksim: We’ll be playing shows in France in April and then in Romania again. We’re also expanding our collection of instruments and already planning new material.
#DesertRock #Doom #Grunge #HeavyPsych #PsychGrunge #PsychedelicRock #StonerRock
Described as “earthy heavygaze rockers,” Sun Voyager is a trio from New York.
TMODM: The liner notes for “Running Hot” describe the new sound as “cosmic grunge,” and JJ Koczan mentions a “reconfiguration.” What does that reconfiguration actually look like internally, and how did it lead to this heavier, grungier sound?
Sun Voyager: “Cosmic grunge” was actually a label JJ gave us early on, and we just thought it fit this batch of songs. They’re heavier — we downtuned from standard to D standard — and we brought Shaman Smoke into the mix to lay down some shred over everything.
Our jams these days tend to start more from riffs than grooves. You might not hear that as much on “Running Hot,” but the next couple tracks are some of the heaviest songs we’ve ever written.
TMODM: Back in our 2022 interview, you mentioned that your writing process was heavily influenced by testing out what hit hardest live on the road. Was “Running Hot” born out of studio jams, or did it develop through playing it live?
Sun Voyager: We actually played “Running Hot” live quite a bit over the past couple of years — it sort of took the place of “Open Road” in our set. But it also came out of a long studio jam that eventually became the three songs we recorded in this batch.
We haven’t been able to tour as much since COVID, but with these heavier tracks coming together, that might have to change.
TMODM: With “Running Hot” kicking off this new chapter, what’s next for the band? Are you working toward a full-length album, or taking things one track at a time?
Sun Voyager: Yes and yes. We recorded a batch of three songs on a farm in upstate New York last year, and it didn’t make much sense to sit on them until we had a full album ready.
We’re still finishing the other two tracks, and attention spans are short these days, so we figured we’d try something different and release things as they’re ready. Maybe once we’ve got around 40 minutes of material, we’ll press it and put it out — whether that’s a year from now or later.
We’ve never really been into playing by the rules, and there are a lot of bands in our world doing great things by releasing singles consistently. We’re playing Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous in May and Knights of Doom in June, still writing and recording, and you’ll be hearing more from us very soon.
#Alternative #PsychedelicRock #AcidFolk
Acid folk/psychedelic rock one-man project of Craig Williamson (known also from the heavy/stoner rock band Datura and Arc of Ascent).
Formed in 1999, Lamp of the Universe is a acid folk / psychedelic / space rock band from Hamilton, New Zealand.
TMODM: Back in our 2024 interview, you mentioned you were feeling a strong pull to return to your acid folk beginnings — something simpler, more earthly, more esoteric. Now that the new album is out, how did it feel to actually follow that instinct back to your roots?
Lamp of the Universe: I think that pull comes from how I’m reacting to and interpreting the world around me — which feels similar to how I’ve felt at certain points in the past. There’s a lot of chaos in the modern state we’re all living in: the internet, the pace of everything, just trying to make ends meet. It all adds up.
So I felt the need to simplify — to bring things back to something more human, more real. To lean more into the esoteric, the ancient, and an earthly feeling. Acoustic instruments help convey that setting, and they suit the songs I’ve been writing lately.
TMODM: I’m really happy to play “Ship of Eternity” on the show. The liner notes describe the album as dissolving “song form into meditation,” something to be entered rather than just played. How does this track capture that feeling of inner passage and trance?
Lamp of the Universe: “Ship of Eternity” is a meditation on life’s journey. We tend to focus on the end result, but the real benefit — the real inner growth — is in the process and the small experiences along the way.
That’s where the meditative aspect comes in. There’s a constant flow, but also different movements within it — little moments that invite the listener to notice those details and follow the path as it unfolds.