Review: Various Artists – Intergalactic Moonloonies Invade Mushroom Hill Vol. 2 (released June 1, 20

Full Disclosure: I was personally involved in this project, having contributed a track to Vol. 6. However, up until release, I had heard only a few of the tracks that appear on these compilations.

So, there we have it. Intergalactic Moonloonies Invade Mushroom Hill was a project organized by Dave Pearson of computerchemist as a benefit to raise money for the Aquarian Moons internet radio show, done by Paul Higgins, aka The Electric Gypsy. Paul has enthusiastically supported the psych/space/electronic music community for years, buying much of the music himself to play on his radio show. So, this project was designed as both a thank you from many of the musicians he has supported, and a benefit to help him to keep buying music so the radio show can continue. Originally, there was supposed to be just one volume, but so many artists wanted to contribute, that it quickly expanded to six volumes of roughly 70 minutes of music to each one.

Volume 2 begins on a serene note, with the ambient stylings of US artist Eric ‘the’ Taylor. HOLD comes in with gentle washes of sound that melt into fragile piano notes. A quiet, mere suggestion of what’s to come. If you dig classic Tangerine Dream, you’ll love the contribution from Dutch musician Von Haulshoven. Lonesome Road is a 22-minute epic full of deep ambience with distant echoing Mellotron flutes, and of course, those gorgeous poly sequences. You’ll swear that this lonesome road surely leads you right back to 1975. US band Caladan is up next, with Wind, an enticing track that at first you think is another ambient piece, but then Thierry Sportouche (publisher of Acid Dragon and one-time member of Silver Lining) begins singing and the piece becomes a trippy, psychedelic pop gem that culminates in a sweet, lysergic guitar solo before peacing out.

After that, things continue to rock as Russia’s Space Mirrors check in with a dark and organic, propulsive slice of acoustic/electric space rock called Earth Gods Dance. US musician Martin Lindhe, better known as Bassic, offers up a track from his latest album Biochrome, a slick little cut of chillout funk called Cruz that just seems to glide along effortlessly. Germany’s Level π gives us the magnificent Dunkelstunde, a seething track of intense, dark and swirling Krautrock. The penultimate track of Vol. 2 is by The Electron Sun Project, an intriguing collaboration between Sean and Clare McCarthy of electronic band Altocirrus and vocalist Ali Carter AKA Pure Mischief. Curved Street is a 12-minute whirlwind of pulsing electronica, with Ali Carter’s vocals a kaleidoscopic blending of spoken word and singing. Vol. 2 closes with certainly one of the highlights of the collection for me, Canadian artist Midnight Airship’s very Floydian sounding instrumental One Mushroom Hill. It’s 10-minutes of lush music abounding with acoustic guitars and deep spacey synths. An excellent end to an excellent volume.