What more could we say about Mushroom? In his just-published review of the band's latest album, Mr. Moo says: "Originally from The Bay area, home of the freaks, this rather instrumental combo channels every style there ever was in progressive music: californian psychedelic, electric jazz & funk, kraut-rock, afro-beat, avant-garde, ragas, garage, british folk & jazz, soul, prog & space-rock". Before that he had written a mind-bending interview from their bandleader Pat Thomas and had published a tripping Mr. Moo presents Mushroom pt.1 mix to download. Well here's the...

Mushroom - I Don't Remember Yesterday, Today It Rained
(Live at the Tip Top Inn, San Francisco March 1st, 2000)
(Limited CDR 100 copies/Digital) 4 Zero Records FZ008, 2011-07-11

Mushroom has been ranks among the top 5 psychedelic rock bands out there for so many years I've stopped counting. It's just one of my favorite bands ever, and either you're a good friend of mine and read/heard about Mushroom already, or you're not a close relative and surely never heard about them - even though that's their 17th album since 1997… This particular night was a special night for Mushroom, the band was debuting a new bass player; Jeff Palmer. Another unusual aspect of that night was the use of a 3 piece horn section helmed by trumpeter Marc Capelle (long time sideman of Mark Eitzel and American Music Club), trombonist Carroll Ashby (a veteran of Mushroom’s 1999 European tour) and Mushroom co-founder Erik Pearson on saxophone. Rounding out the line-up was keyboardist John Sanders, drummer Pat Thomas and percussionist Dave Mihaly. Mushroom’s sound is ever changing and evolving and on this night, it's evident that the band was channeling a lot of early 1970’s progressive British jazz - such as Ian Carr's Nucleus, The Keith Tippet Group, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath and Soft Machine’s Third.

Read the full review of this album by Mr. Moo
Read the extensive interview from Pat Thomas
Download Mr. Moo presents Mushroom pt.1 mix (sept 2011)
Download Mr. Moo presents Mushroom pt.2 mix (oct 2011)

Mr. Moo presents Mushroom pt.1 (MP3 Podcast on www.ParisDJs.com) 2011-09-24 We've been featuring Mushroom in our annual best of' albums selections so many times that bandleader Pat Thomas started coming back to us about doing the interview we had offered to do years ago already. The band keeps on releasing mind-blowing records year after year so we asked our psychedelic music expert Mr. Moo to take care of what ended as an Herculanean work…. You can read the interview here. To go along with with this in-depth discussion, Mr. Moo has prepared two 45mn mixes focusing on Mushroom's music, with...

Mushroom / Pat Thomas
(Interview by Mr. Moo, for Paris DJs - summer 2011)

Mushroom, the only one worthy of a well-deserved name, is a very potent band...

Originally from The Bay area, home of the freaks, this rather instrumental combo channels every style there ever was in progressive music: californian psychedelic, electric jazz & funk, kraut-rock, afro-beat, avant-garde, ragas, garage, british folk & jazz, soul, prog & space-rock.

Read the in-depth interview
Download Mr. Moo presents Mushroom mix pt.1

Ebo Taylor - Love And Death info
Free The Robots - Ctrl Alt Delete info
Gonja Sufi - A Sufi And A Killer info
Homelife - Exotic Interlude info
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Stay Gold info
Marco Benevento - Between The Needles And Nightfall info
Mushroom - Naked, Stoned & Stabbed info
Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro - Tradition In Transition info
Skeletons - Smile info
The Souljazz Orchestra - Rising Sun info

After publishing a solid 10-records-a-year selection of the last decade (from 1999 to 2009), we took a few days to think about the 2010 best of... READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE ON COLORED-INC.COM

Ebo Taylor - Love And Death (Strut) parisdjs
Free The Robots - Ctrl Alt Delete (Alpha Pup) parisdjs
Gonja Sufi - A Sufi And A Killer (Warp) parisdjs
Homelife - Exotic Interlude (Humble Soul) parisdjs
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Stay Gold (Kinnara) parisdjs
Marco Benevento - Between The Needles And Nightfall (Royal Potato Family) parisdjs
Mushroom - Naked, Stoned & Stabbed (4 Zero) parisdjs
Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro - Tradition In Transition (Tru Thoughts) parisdjs
Skeletons - Smile (Impossible Ark) parisdjs
The Souljazz Orchestra - Rising Sun (Strut) parisdjs

After publishing a solid 10-records-a-year selection of the last decade (from 1999 to 2009), we took a few days to think about the 2010 best of... The first thing that came to mind when weed look back at the past 12 months, was the obvious blast of compilations that were released. From the incredible Ninja Tune XX boxset (6xCDs, 6x7", 2x12" and a book - all new tracks and remixes!), the amazing "world" compilations and reissues from Soundway Records, Analog Africa, Academy LPs, Nascente or Vampisoul, the fantastic and rare funk/jazz stuff from the diggers at Finders Keepers, Jazzman or Luv'N'Haight, the jaw-dropping sets from Numero Group, all those Fania Records reissues... I'm missing a few but you get my point: this is highly-entertaining quality stuff, but from hte independent's viewpoint it also looks like the music industry has never been so much focused of its back-catalog.

Meanwhile, a few labels are still doing the job of distributing today's music to the people of today, and maybe they deserve a little bit more spotlight... That's what we thought would be interesting to look at anyway. We had to forbid ourselves not to put any Colored-Inc. release in our selection, of course, even though some of the records we've put out this year were simply astonishing... such as the Hard 2 Find series for example!

What was left: some genre-bending electronic/hip hop/psychedelia marvels from Gonja Sufi and Free The Robots, from the Los Angeles beats scene, ecstatic afro/jazz from Germany (Eboy Taylor & Afrobeat Academy), Canada (The Souljazz Orchestra), or England (Skeletons), addictive cumbia/soul from Columbia (Quantic and his Combo Barbaro), psychedelic folk exotica from former Nina tune affiliates Homelife (their leader Paddy Steer has also released a solo album that's quite a treat too), and finally mesmerizing jazz/indie rock mixtures from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey or Marco Benevento, both released thru the sensational US label The Royal Potato Family. Well, all in all another good year for music, nothing like 1976 when stadium FM rock was rising and Hotel California was king...

Contenders : Bonobo, The New Mastersounds, Randa & The Soul Kingdom, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Qualitons, Saravah Soul, Hidden Orchestra, The Roots, Kings Go Forth, Big Pimp Jones, The Hot Rats, Flying Lotus, Candice Monique & The Optics, Aloe Blacc, Cochemea Gastelum, The Bees, Roots Manuva, Lloyd Miller & Te Heliocentrics, Brownout, Grupo Fantasma, Mike Gordon...

Mushroom - Naked, Stoned, & Stabbed
(CD) 4 Zero Records / The Royal Potato Family, 2010-04-27

Mushroom, a musicians' collective based in the San Francisco Bay area, return with their first album in three years, Naked, Stoned, & Stabbed, to be released April 27 through 4 Zero Records/Royal Potato Family. A new phase for Mushroom, the project was conceived as a cross-continental Cinema Verite travelogue of time and space. Acoustic, ambient and blending eastern and western hemispheres, its music floats on an ethereal blanket of sitar, violin, pump organ, celesta, vibraharp, dulcimer and flutophone, while African, Latin and Indian percussion replace a conventional drum set. Enigmatic song titles include Celebration At Big Sur (The Sound Of The Gulls Outside Of Room 124), Though You're Where You Want To Be, You're Not Where You Belong, Tariq Ali and the only outside composition, a remake of the Syd Barrett/Kevin Ayers collaboration, Singing A Song In The Morning. Recorded over a weekend at The Wally Sound in Oakland, CA, the sessions were both planned and spontaneous with producer and percussionist Pat Thomas often adding and subtracting instrumentalists on the fly. Configurations range from a duo to a trio to an octet, and thus give each song a varied approach. At the time of the recording, the band had just come off a multi-night run of performances interpreting Pete Townshend's 1971 rock opera Lifehouse. The vulnerable and dynamic music of that experience provided a catalyst that resulted in the album's final 13 tracks. Mushroom also cite influences like Sandy Bull, Alice Coltrane, Davy Graham, Brian Eno and Fela Kuti as having played a roll in the sounds found on Naked, Stoned, & Stabbed.

Mushroom with Eddie Gale – Joint Happening
(CD) Hyena Records HYN9359, 2007-06-26

Tracklisting :
01. Peace
02. I Don't Need To Fight, To Prove I'm Right - I Don't Need To Be Forgiven
03. I Was Torn Down At The Dance Place - Shaved Head At The Organ
04. Border Crossing
05. Selling Oakland By The Pound
06. Our Love
07. The Spirit

Links :
myspace.com/mushroomoakland
paisleypop.com/mushroom
myspace.com/pat_thomas (Mushroom leader)
hyenarecords.com/mushroom_jointhappening.htm
hyenarecords.com/mushroom.htm
myspace.com/hyenatherecordlabel
Complete discography on wellers.demon.co.uk

Alison Faith Levy & Mushroom – Yesterday, I Saw You Kissing Tiny Flowers
(CD) 4 Zero Records FZ003, 2007-05-26

Tracklisting :
01. Electric Muse (2:25) | go download MP3
02. Josh Pollock (11:05)
03. Clay Alison (6:00)
04. Gas, Grass Or Ass – Nobody Rides For Free (5:20) | sample | go download MP3
05. You Laugh At Me Because I'm Different, I Laugh At You, Because You're All The Same (7:07)
06. Kraut Mask Replica (22:37)
07. Ocean Beach (5:54)
08. The Sun Machine Is Coming Down And We're Gonna Have A Party (6:53)

Note : Limited edition of 1,000 copies.

Info :
The 'space rock Eartha Kitt' joins the maverick San Fran psych-groove masters with a combination of studio and live performances.

Links :
myspace.com/alisonfaithlevy
myspace.com/pat_thomas (Mushroom leader)
4zerorecords.co.uk
myspace.com/4zerorecords
Free MP3 Downloads on indiestore.com/4zerorecords
Complete discography on wellers.demon.co.uk

Alison Faith Levy & Mushroom – Gas, Grass Or Ass – Nobody Rides For Free
(CD-Single) 4 Zero Records FZ002, 2007-02-05

Review :
Whoa! A new Mushroom release is always a BIG event in my book. I've already warned my fellow friend and collegue Mr Moo (the only other current psychedelic music specialist in France I know) that I had received their new single, extracted from an upcoming album, his answer was immediate and crystal clear: "You bastard!". Not that Mr Moo will ever hate me, he just knows about Mushroom, their incredible recordings to sip acid too, and the collectability of all their releases.

This CD-Single is like the rest of their discography: HARD TO FIND. A hundred copies only were pressed, and most of those were sent to DJs and reviewer, so I don't think he'll buy this one easily on Amazon. Very specialized record shops might carry it or order it for you, shops such as Bimbo Tower near Bastille in Paris for example (who also carry the Rather Interesting releases from Atom Heart when they're issued... contact them on bimbo.tower.free.fr).

The album, "Yesterday, I Saw You Kissing Tiny Flowers", should be released soon (mid-May)... We'll keep you up-to-date with the latest info don't worry.

The opening track of the single is a groovy psychedelic soul jazz ride, with organ, flute, drums, percussions and saxophone, all jamming like furious Wacky Racers while Alison Faith Levy is preaching in the background. Now that's what I call "I can't wait for the album" pressure! Exclusive to this release, previously unreleased bonus tracks are rare live recordings from 2002 and 2004, two softer jam-jazz pieces, more of a end-of-trip thing. You can hear people chatting in the background, so we can guess it's all small venues.
Djouls

Tracklisting :
01. Gas, Grass Or Ass – Nobody Rides For Free (5:20) | sample
02. Half A Mile From The Country Fair (7:34)
03. She's So Phased Out (8:40)

Links :
myspace.com/alisonfaithlevy
myspace.com/pat_thomas (Mushroom leader)
4zerorecords.co.uk
myspace.com/4zerorecords
Free MP3 Download of "Gas, Grass Or Ass – Nobody Rides For Free" on indiestore.com/4zerorecords
Complete discography on wellers.demon.co.uk