We headed out to the Neon Marshmallow Fest in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and it was a real treat. Sure, here in Brooklyn my act gets to roll deep with sonic heavyweights like Grasshopper and Excepter all the time, but it was nice to rub elbows with those guys in a different time zone along with 80 other acts. One of my favorites of the others was Neil Campbell, aka Astral Social Club.* He’s been in the game for a long time and he was very gracious about answering some questions…

You are notorious for having a huge amount of releases. Has there ever been an unproductive time in your life, a time where you just said FUCK IT, stared at a wall and just let time slip through your fingers?
I guess I’ve been around for a long time, so it’s not difficult to amass a vast discography. I was lazier when I was younger, and had all the time in the world. Now I’m older, and have hardly any spare time, it makes me focus a bit more. Also, my social life is almost non-existent so what the hell else am I going to do with my time?

via Sipping Tea w/ Dr. Strange on the Astral Plane, or My Q & A With Neil Campbell, a/k/a Astral Social Club – WFMU’s Beware of the Blog.

We stopped in Portland with Kyle Clyde & ISA Christ, weird place.

Some kids from Tennessee thought ISA was bringing news of a plague. Amazing.

No idea who the artist is. I dig the third one down, has a bit of a Roerich vs. Wagner vibe.

EMWMusic is excited to annouce the upcoming re-release of RAGA: A FILM JOURNEY INTO THE SOUL OF INDIA, a film documenting Ravi Shankar’s unique career in the late 1960s, early 1970s. EMWMusic is working with Modulus Studios in Boston on digitally re-mastering of the 35mm print, optimizing the film to modern color range resolution and standards as well as creating a fully re-mastered audio soundtrack.

Originally released in 1971, Raga: A Journey into the Soul of India documents the life of sitar master Ravi Shankar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following him on his return to India to revisit his guru, Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. It further explores Shankar’s life as a musician and teacher in the United States and Europe, initiating those in the West to the exceptional world that is Indian classical music and culture. Through rare and candid footage shot in both India and the United States, Raga sheds light on Shankar’s influences and collaborations, from Allauddin Khan to his famed dancer brother Uday Shankar, to his associations with Western musicians Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison. Fully narrated by Shankar himself, Raga reveals music as the soul of India and of Shankar’s life. The soundtrack will be availabe for free with purchase of the DVD or available separately for purchase via all digital retailers. NTSC. 97 minutes. Directed by Howard Worth. Written by Nancy Baca. Produced by Gary Haber. Originally produced by Ravi Shankar and release by George Harrison/Apple Films.

Release is scheduled for both DVD and Digital Sountrack for 10/14/2010.

via East Meets West Music – The Official Recording Label of the Ravi Shankar Foundation

The Light That Serves Me Shines For All…

What is/was Liebichs? If you know, let me know.

Then check out MTenebra Youtube channel, he seems to be doing a great job capturing a chunk of the Chicago freak scene.  Ignore your TPS Reports and check some other videos of the last night at the Mopery and of Neon Marshmallow (although I have to ask, why no Telecult & related?)

Every once in a while I get obsessed with Mt. Vernon Arts Lab/Mt. Vernon Astral Temple”s record The Séance at Hobs Lane, through this I discovered Quartermass & the Pit…

Technicians of the Divine Vol. 3: Espiritismo-a-go-go
Temple of Pei 16
Dedicated to Allen Karnec & Bob Bellerue, Karnec for his groundbreaking work with Spiritualism, Bellerue for being a good friend to all of us.

Cornucopia – Exoplanets

A slow burner, this track by Puerto Rico’s Cornucopia evokes the alchemical axiom of as above, so below. If you have ever ran your fingers through the water of a bioluminscent bay you understand that you have also ran your fingers through distant galaxies.

Telecult Powers – Seance in the Kitchen
Recorded late night in the Kitchen by Bob Bellerue this track documents  Telecult Powers communicating via psychic energy and synthesizers with the UFOs flying above  the El Yunque rainforest of Puerto Rico. You can hear the exact moment when communication was achieved.

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Telecult Powers – Return to the Psychic Dancehall
Snake Mysteries #1
Weird bootleg featuring exerpts from the ridiculously limited CDRs Live From the Psychic Dancehall & Space Age MathMagicians, both premiums for Lisa’s radio show The Mysterious Black Box on WCSB. An hour of returning to the source.

$7 a pop or $12 for both. Very limited amounts of the Return to the Psychic Dancehall available. Paypal to telecult.powers@gmail.com