Polytoxicomane Philharmonie - 2004 - Psycho Erectus
tracklist:
1. Entry 1:01
2. Flight 858 10:48
3. Poisonous moth 6:12
4. Pink Noise 3:56
5. Sulphur 9:47
6. Too sad, Lady Mushroom 4:36
7. Lokus Pokus 9:43
8. Chanson verte 10:06
9. Kronos, vomiting a child 4:49
10. Fuddle pie & puddle fie 7:03
11. Lizard - Song 9:48

Polytoxicomane Philharmonie is a bunch of weird guys from Germany, hidden somewhere in the woods around Frankfurt, enjoying every minute of life and also making music now and then. According to their (nick)names they are not that serious about what they are doing, anyway the line-up has changed a lot during the last years. Their music can not be described in one word: psychedelic, space-rock, jazz-rock, kraut-rock, ambient and even a bit folky. A track like Fuddle Pie & Puddle Fie can be easily compared with the works of Frank Zappa, both textually as musically.

There are female and male vocals and very often it is all about the spoken word, like in Sulphur and La Chanson Verte. Lokus Pokus has an Eastern exotic flavour, while the horns make it evolve towards jazz-rock, not seldom the music of Soft Machine comes to my mind during this track. Besides, there is manual for the cd on their site, mentioning the different rhythm patterns (7/4, 11/4, 6/4, 15/8 and so on..), you have to be a keen musician to understand everything. And maybe this is the problem for this kind of music, so much is happening, perhaps too much, which makes it less recognizable and some tracks begin to resemble each other. Naturally, a lot is due to this particular music style, often the tracks are escalating in nervous playing saxophones (cfr. also Gong), like for example in ‘Chanson Verte’, in the second part of the song you can hear suddenly some spacey Porcupine Tree-like music. In fact I encounter a lot of nice fragments, interesting guitar solos, but without true highlights, luckily there are no real drawbacks neither. I am convinced that ‘Psycho Erectus’ will certainly appeal to certain progressive rock fans, especially those that are into the small world of RIO, Canterbury scène and other experimental rock.

Line-up:

Howling Mad Fishli : vocals, spacewhisper, spaceguitar, soundeffects
Commander I.M. Crab : vocals, guitar, heroic speech
Matelot au vin : woodwinds, juggle with horns - simulating the "Puke Bernemton Orchestra"
The Emir of Quaver : drums, vocals on "Too sad, Lady Mushroom"
Wum : guitars, hair-style
Onkel : bass, E-piano, keys, soundeffects, whip
Steve Jeewee : guitar on "Lokus Pokus"

my opinion: outstanding german psychedelia, very catchy melodies, very much genres mixed together, uncomparable and definitely worth listening to! Wonderful covers! Highly recommended!
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