Northern Star Records - Psychedelia 4 Album Review

Look up and down the charts and all you see is R & B, pop R & B, pop and maybe a little indie thrown in for good measure. The age of bands that actually make their own music and invent new ways of doing things are becoming somewhat of an endangered species. Even when you go to your local record shops the shelves are filled with all this manufactured stuff and it's taking increasingly longer to search on the internet to try and find the next gem. Bands like Exit Calm and We Were Promise Jetpacks depend on the internet and word of mouth from their live shows to get them noticed.

Now it's time to introduce you all too Northern Star Records who go out on a limb. The kind of label who find artists that you can't even pronounce the name of never mind finding them in the record shop. They take a gamble and try to keep alive real music made by real people who breathe, eat and sweat music. For those who have never heard of this label, this album is the forth chapter to the series and though number4 is a whopping 35 tracks long, there's not one track that you feel ought to be cut.

There is no doubt that this album needs to be kicked off in style and thanks to Singapore Sling it does. 'Godman' is a deep, dark tune with heavy bass lines and a continuous guitar riff that doesn't explode onto the scene but most certainly gets your attention. The exploding has been left to The Dolly Rocker Movement's 'Mystery Man' which is a similar style to The Horrors latest tracks, which lets face it, is no bad thing.

It would be very easy to talk about any of the bands on this compilation as it's packed with so much talent. Even though this is the fourth part to the North Star Records collection it features many of the same qualities of their original compilation, it's full of back to basics pure kick ass rock tunes.

The Medicine bang out a rock track that reminds the listener how music should be made. 'Send The Rain' has it all, gritty vocals, drums being used how they should be and all out guitars. So you're not only treated to a bit of psychedelic, shoe gaze and alternative music but also a bit of original rock n roll.

Disco two kicks off in equal style to the opening track on disc one with 93Millionmilesfromthesun (say that ten times after a few beers) This is proper shoe gaze, in its most intense and perfect form. One artist to definitely look out for has to be The Domino State that are set to release their debut album, 'Firefly' is a perfect track to show what the band are all about. Lead vocalist Matt Forder's vocals are mind blowing and after playing with the likes of Exit Calm it seems that some of their influence has rubbed off.

You will find that a lot of people will listen to the second CD first with the fact that there are a couple of more established artists on here such as, Spotlight Kid, Insect Guide and Sennen. The album comes to a close with The Voices' track 'Arrivistes' which in short is just a perfect way to end proceedings.

It is refreshing to see that some record labels are still looking at the roots of music and are not just going for the easy sell. With the likes of Northern Star bringing new music to listeners ears, there's hope for the independent side of the industry yet.

If you're a "Psychedelica virgin" then it would be advised to visit all four CDs in the Northern Star catalogue - starting at disc one do not have to, all discs work will in any order and number 4 is just as strong as each before.

4.5/5

Mark Moore