Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Parais — Are We Experimental?

“Are We Experimental?”  finds AMT offering up a collection of shorter, more unhinged and unbalancing freak-outs; compared with their normal, more lengthy jam based psychedelic space rock work-outs. And to answer the question posed by the albums title; yes they are, and very brain melting/tripped-out too this time around.

I guess you could say this album is a lot more focused,to the point and less wondering than most of ATM vast catalogue. No track here goes over the eight and a half minute mark, and most tracks fall between two to six minute mark.

Starting off our strange and tripped -out sonic ride we have “E.S.P(Experimental Spooky peace) which is a four and half minute track that starts out with a thick and deep space synth dwell, then some chanted Japanese vocals, weird dialogue chop-ups then  layers of tripped-out solo guitar textures from Kawabata Makoto. Not long after this we have  “Daruma Clause In Opposition” which features weird warbling high pitched vocalising, raising and chiming guitar textures, waves of synth space drift, wondering and off-kilter bass runs; which all creates a very unhinged near on seven minute track.  And bit later on we have “Lyomange Of The Rising Sun” which melds AMT spaced-out sound with hectic jazzed out piano runs, jazzy double bass lines and funk guitar hacks.

There is a certainly and unhinged & spaced jazz vibe to a lot of the tracks here, but of course it’s all done in that very distinctive and one off ATM way with layers of Kawabata's seared to slightly off-kilter guitar textures, and their trademark spacey synth trails. All in all this is a great AMT album with lots of ideas abound through  each of the eleven tracks on offer here, and somehow it all works as a wonderful tripped-out album too.

This is also an ideal starting point for newbie’s to the Acid Mother’s tripped-out sonic cause, as their madness comes in more smaller & manageable(but no less head-screawing) slices.