LP released in UK/EU by Cardinal Fuzz Records
www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
LP released in USA/NA by Feeding Tube Records
feedingtuberecords.com/releases/paradisiacal-mind/
cassette/digital release by Pome Pome Pome Tones
"The ritualistic droning incantations of San Fran experimental rock outfit Dire Wolves reappear from the misty hollow with a new concoction of devotional psychedelia. Patient, meditative singing leads hauntingly into a slithering guitar lead that exhumes the band’s vast, momentous instrumentation." (New Commute)
“hypnotizing astral psych that follows the improvisational vibe of jazz” (San Francisco Examiner)
"a spacey, cosmic and spiritual set of psychedelic sounds, combining influences from krautrock, spiritual jazz, prog and more avant garde musical realms—at times sounding like Pharoah Sanders jamming with Ash Ra Tempel. It’s quite a trip, perhaps the sort of thing that’s necessary to give a spin during the chaos of a national election. It’s a weird and wonderful set of sounds from a band that’s always headed toward some new and unfamiliar realm." (Treble)
Dire Wolves (Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band) put forth a sound of ecstatic improvisation, each member documenting coordinate points in the higher dimensions of cosmic free-rock. The music lies somewhere near the nebulous intersection of psych, kosmische beat and astral jazz. These are exploratory journeys, transportive trance-based experiments in vertical listening, totally collaborative and often forming spontaneous compositions. The focus is more about feeling than any specific approach to playing.
“Paradisiacal Mind”, the group’s tenth (or possibly twelfth?) full-length since 2008, conjures a floating stellular kraut Americano with quite a lot to pull you in to the mix and then drift you right back out again. Following two simultaneous 2017 releases - on Feeding Tube and Beyond Beyond Is Beyond - that explored out-of-body experience, this latest work turns decidedly inward. Psychic rock that guides your vision to heaven, and heaven is in your mind. When cover artist Kyla Quigley asked the band to draw from the tarot to inform her new work, the card was The Star, a renewal of hope and strength to carry on.
And so it all came together - acute, right and obtuse, all at once. A portion of the record was recorded in Oakland by Zachary Watkins (Black Spirituals), who helped set the atmosphere to capture the festival consciousness vibes. The remainder was realized on Bernal Hill, celebrating the 50+ year tradition of San Francisco psychedelic intensity. Additional players include Laura Naukkarinen (Lau Nau), Taralie Peterson (Spires That In The Sunset Rise) and Michael Whittaker (Jackie-O Motherfucker).
Recommended to the open minds that celebrate such sounds as the punk-hippie crossover scene of mid ‘80s SST records, as well as listeners of Scandinavian/Teutonic communal motorik vibes. And those into spiritual jazz, meditative and primordial minimalism, and scratched Environments LPs from the dollar bin.
For the heads.
-- Glen Burnout, September 2018
released November 9, 2018
1. Unfettered And Alive
Jeffrey Alexander - guitar
Sheila Bosco - drums
Georgia Carbone - voice
Brian Lucas - bass
Arjun Mendiratta - violin
2. Just Live Your Life Behind Your Eyes
Jeffrey Alexander - guitar / bells
Sheila Bosco - drums / percussion
Georgia Carbone - voice / bells
Brian Lucas - bass
Arjun Mendiratta - violin
Laura Naukkarinen - voice
Michael Whittaker - flute
3. We Are Stardust
Jeffrey Alexander - fife / phonograph / guitar
Sheila Bosco - electric piano
Georgia Carbone - voice / shaker
Brian Lucas - tapes
Taralie Peterson - saxophone
4. In And Out Of den Gärten He Goes
Jeffrey Alexander - guitar / chalumeau / percussion
Sheila Bosco - drums / percussion
Georgia Carbone - voice
Brian Lucas - bass
Arjun Mendiratta - violin
Taralie Peterson - saxophone
5. Paradisiacal Mind
Jeffrey Alexander - guitar / moog
Sheila Bosco - drums
Georgia Carbone - voice
Brian Lucas - bass
Arjun Mendiratta - violin
Laura Naukkarinen - voice
1+4 recorded at Santo in Oakland CA by Zachary Watkins
2+5 recorded at Bessie Street in San Francisco CA by Jeffrey Alexander
Track 3 recording and all tracks mixed at 3141 Mission St in San Francisco CA by Jeffrey Alexander
Mastered by Chris Hardman
Front cover screen print by Kyla Quigley