1.Jugendstil Rec. Apothecary Hymns : Half of what is seen/The Marigold (US,2004)***°
Immediately when I heard the first seconds of this single I thought this was much more Syd Barrett in mood then what most cover bands did with Syd Barret’s songs. But it is also more than that. We hear a variety of musical themes/playing in several blocks of ideas, in psychfolk, psychfolkpop, and psych styles, compiled to one beautiful compact song. Second side is an alternative folkpsych song with some American accent, and with beautifully enriching-the-musical-ideas acoustic guitar improvisations. Recommended. Only 500 printed.
2.Locust Music

Apothecary Hymns : Trowel and era (US,2005)***'
Nice to see that this project/group was invited to make a full release by one of my favourite labels. By making such a full release it’s more clear which focus Alex Stimmel, of this one-man band has. The direction is a kind of song-orientated neo-60’s psych-pop, with most of these a more acoustic foundation (like “The Marigold” with various guitars, good drumming, another favourite, or “The Human abstract” with banjo, guitar, organ) and with a few other tracks (at the beginning and end) which are more electric. The first track “Abandoned Factories” for instance has an almost hardrock electric bass on the bottom, flutes and acoustic guitars with neo-60’s voice on top, and electric guitars in the middle. Just one track, the one before the last, “All True Love is Happiness” is more early 70’s 70’s hard-blues-rock styled, in a convincing way, seemingly a cover from one of Jan Ackerman’s groups ?, with fuzz guitars and organ, followed by a musically fitting “In the Icy beds”. I also like to mention “Watching the bay”, which takes some element of the semi-naïve melodicality of the earliest Pink Floyd, and “the conclusion, in which nothing is concluded” before the more rock track using manipulated recordings and reverbs.
All songs are performed and written by Alex Stimmel, except for “The human abstract” which used words by William Blake.
Instruments used are acoustic & electric guitars 6 & 12 string guitars, banjo, electric bass, drums, wurlitzer, analog synth, organ, flute, recorder, kalimba, autoharp, glockenspiel, voice, & tape manipulation.
Other reviews will be linked as soon as there are some available.