Two shows of note at Chop Suey this month! From Japan on the far out Psych, Noise, Improv-freakout end of the spectrum, the Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. ship is landing in Seattle again, after having played a pretty stellar show here just last year. Acid Mothers Temple, who's earliest western tours in the early 2000's inspired such acolytes as Jhon Balance of Coil, The Wire magazine, and Guru Guru, their arrival on this side of the globe making converts all summer long with the Kosmische Jam Assault of what is probably their masterpiece to date, "Absolutely Freakout Zap Your Mind", coinciding with the "New Geocentric World" tour. A spectacular decade of psychedelic freakout and cosmic rock explorations ensued, as covered in The Quietus' interview with guitar guru Makoto Kawabata, "From Another World: Acid Mothers Temple Interviewed". Highlights of this ten year+ stretch include the self-described "Electric Heavyland" more galactic meanderings of "Glorify Astrological Martyrdom" the folksy pastoral bliss of "41st Century Splendid Man Returns" and the brutal riffage assault that was "Recurring Dream And Apocalypse Of Darkness", arriving in the present day to a higher plane with "Astrorgasm From The Inner Space" featuring members of the original AMT in an expanded lineup. Hopefully exactly what we'll be witness to on the "Astrorgasm From The Inner Temple Tour 2014"!
The second act needs little introduction if you were even remotely attuned to the post-Spacerock happenings of the 90's, LOOP were largely known for their legendary shows of immense volume and total psychedelic droned out submersion of the audience. Over the span of their brief existence from 1986-1991 they produced a number of recordings that attempted to capture the staggering e-v-e-n-t of their live incarnation in the studio, none of them quite equating those heights. Their debut full length, "Heaven's End" comes closest, and immediately got them signed to Beggars Banquet's then taste-maker imprint Situation Two, who released the following more polished and constrained sound that most listeners are accustomed to on albums like "A Gilded Eternity". Shortly after the band disbanded amidst a barrage of UK press, with only interviews of recent years like that (again) for The Quietus, "Never Fade Out: Loop's Robert Hampson Interviewed" shedding any light on the period. Come 2013 and out of nowhere LOOP's founding member Robert Hampson is joined by John Wills, and new additions; bassist Neil MacKay and James Endeacott on second guitar, after their issuing a statement describing the conditions of this one-off tour across the UK, North America and central Europe. Regardless of whether they realize the kind of greatness suggested by early reports, it's a singular, final, opportunity.
Photo credit: Greg Cristman & rubicante_kid
