Motorpsycho - Angels and Daemons at Play (2016) [6xCD Box Set]

The fourth of Motorpsycho’s expanded archival sets revisits 1997’s Angels and Daemons at Play – a chronological and developmental follow-on from the earlier Blissard set.

The box contains 6 CDs but it’s actually quite a tidy package, with very little replication of material. There’s just one disc of EP cuts and rarities, plus a complete concert recording that spans two further CDs, and the original album, presented, as the first 500 copies were, as three separate CD EPs, although all the music would fit onto a single disc.

There are no experimental studio tapes or discarded albums to exhume this time around, as Motorpsycho circa 1997 was compacting and locking into a hectic schedule of touring and recording.

The EPs make sense, with the first, Babyscooter, being a vigorous collection of melodic indie rock tracks. The third, Lovelight, is more of a mixed bag, but likewise features Motorpsycho pared back from the quintet that recorded Blissard to the core trio of Bent Sæther, Hans Magnus ‘Snah’ Ryan, and Håkon ‘Geb’ Gebhardt. The middle EP, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, is something else: a suite of more progressive music with guests Deathprod on electronics and Ole Henrik Moe (ohm) on saws, strings and piano, further enhancing the trio’s multi-instrumentalism.

The Motorpsycho sound of this era reveals both The Beatles and Blue Cheer as bedrock underlying other classic rock, grunge and (not so much) prog influences, but since the trio, Sæther in particular are no slouches in the songwriting department they’re closer to the former, and the overall impact of Angels and Daemons is more punchy and concentrated than the curate’s egg eclecticism of Blissard, though there’s still plenty to dig into.

Of particular interest are the three versions of “Un Chien d´Espace”, a structured improvisation to accompany Luis Bunuel’s surreal short film Un Chién Andalou. These include its first performance, recorded at Cinemateket, Oslo, in 1996 (on the ‘rarities’ CD, along with an improv extract from a later performance), a subsequent performance on the 1997 live set, and the studio version on the Have Spacesuit Will Travel EP.

One of my few gripes is that this EP isn’t indexed, so “Un Chien d’Espace”, the title piece (which was dropped from the single CD version of the album), and the short “Ohm’s Concerto for Alto and Soprano Saw” are run together as a continuous half-hour ‘suite’ despite not being one – the longer cuts are quite separate, with “Have Spacesuit Will Travel” pointing the way to the expansive progressive rock of more recent years.

The rarities include a couple of album outtakes, also with Deathprod and ohm, which are less experimental than the “Have Spacesuit” cuts, but more so than the material on the other EPs, on which the most outré thing is the untitled banjo-based ‘joke’ track that ends the album proper, and which I could happily live without.

In a similar vein but more welcome, there’s a trad romp through “Syk”, a song originally recorded – with a more contemporary electronic sound, ironically – by cult Norwegian children’s entertainers Knutsen and Ludvigsen. For the most part though, the bonus material only goes to point up what well-honed artists Motorpsycho were becoming: they even manage to nail an acceptable studio version of “Flick of the Wrist” from post-Blissard reject album When The World Sleeps.

The live CDs contain an entire two and a half hour 1997 concert, including Deathprod’s opening half hour noise/ambient piece “Komet”, on which he’s accompanied by Moe and a couple of percussionists, all of whom assist Motorpsycho’s power-rummage through what was already, in ’97, a rich back catalogue.

Standout tracks include a hefty rendition of “Hogwash” from debut LP Lobotomizer and a suitably rough-and-ready take on The Who’s version of Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues”. Though the latter isn’t as convincing as the Live at Leeds classic (they fare better, on the Starmelt EP, with a powerful retrofit of Humble Pie’s “Up Our Sleeves”), the audience singalong to “The One That Went Away” is testament to an exhilarating, crowd pleasing set. All very nicely recorded by NRK, the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, and newly mastered by Deathprod.

As usual the box itself is neat and sturdy, with a re-design by Kim Hiorthøy, a booklet with all the info you need, and three photos of Bent, Snah and Geb looking almost dapper, which is only appropriate – these Motorpsycho reissues are exemplary.

by Tim Owen

Tracklist CD1 - Baby Scooter:

Sideway Spiral I (Ryan, Saether)
HMR: lead vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals, piano, organ
BS: acoustic guitar, backing vocals, drum-solo: “knobby dick"
Ohm: alto saw, soprano saw

Walking on the Water (Saether)
BS: lead vocals, bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, piano, percussion, backing vocals
Gebhardt: drums, percussion
HMR: electric guitars, percussion, backing vocals
Ohm: violins

Heartattack Mac (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
HMR: guitar right channel, Moog Taurus, piano, vocals
BS: guitar left channel, prepared piano
Gebhardt: drums, percussion

Pills, Powders and Passion Plays (Miss Mitchell in the Ladies Room) (Saether)
BS: bass, guitars, vocals
Gebhardt: drums
HMR: piano

In the Family (Saether)
BS: bass, vocals, Mellotron
Gebhardt: drums
HMR: electric & acoustic guitars, piano



Tracklist CD2 - Have Spacesuit, Will Travel:

Un Chien d’Espace (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: vocals, guitar left channel, piano
HMR: guitar right channel, Moog Taurus, vibraphone
Gebhardt: drums
Deathprod: oscillators

Have Spacesuit, Will Travel (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: vocals, wah-wah guitar, bass
HMR: vocals, fuzz guitar, double bass, Fender Rhodes
Gebhardt: drums
Deathprod: oscillators, reverberators, ring-modulators
Ohm: alto saw, soprano saw

Ohm’s Concerto for Alto and Soprano Saw (Moe)
Ohm: alto saw, soprano saw



Tracklist CD3 - Lovelight:

Sideway Spiral II (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: guitar left channel, bass, vocals
HMR: guitar right channel, backing vocals
Gebhardt: drums

Like Always (Ryan, Saether)
HMR: lead vocals, guitars
BS: bass, backing vocals, piano
Gebhardt: drums, percussion

Stalemate (Saether)
BS: vocals, guitars, Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, bass
HMR: backing vocals
Ohm: piano

Starmelt/Lovelight (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
HMR: electric guitars, lead vocals, piano
Gebhardt: drums, percussion
BS: bass, acoustic guitar, piano, backing vocals

Timothy’s Monster (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: lead vocals, bass, wah-wah and one-note guitars, Moog Taurus
HMR: electric guitar, vocals
Gebhardt: drums



Tracklist CD4 - The Ones That Got Away: B-Sides, Rarities & Live Recordings:

STARMELT EP Starmelt/Lovelight [edit] (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
HMR: electric guitars, lead vocals, piano
Gebhardt: drums, percussion
BS: bass, acoustic guitar, piano, backing vocals
A slightly extended version of the album track, featuring a really nice geb-ism. Always a good singles policy! Athletic Sound, Oct. 1996.

Up Our Sleeves (Marriott/The Pie)
BS: lead vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, percussion
HMR: backing vocals, lead guitar
Gebhardt: drums
Cover of old Humble Pie chestnut. Marriott was the man! Basic track recorded live at Studenter samfunnet in Halden. Overdubbed & mixed at Athletic Sound, March/April 1997.

Wishing Well (Saether, 0ien)
Gebhardt: banjo
Frode: words
BS: everything else
Written with lyrical help from the future Samuel Bjork, Frode 0ien. Four-track/Athletic Sound April 1997.

Flick of the Wrist (Saether)
BS: lead vocals, guitar left channel, bass
HMR: guitar right channel, backing vocals
Gebhardt: drums
Re-recording and definitive version of live favourite and cast-off from the When the World Sleeps sessions. Athletic Sound Oct. 1996.

Instamatic (Gebhardt)
Geb & Geb alone on a four-track. April 1997.

OUTTAKES
Back to Source (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: guitar left channel, bass, vocals
HMR: guitar right channel, backing vocals
Gebhardt: drums
Deathprod: oscillators & theremin
This song was included on the vinyl version of Angels and Daemons at Play, but left off all the digital versions. Later included on the Ozone EP. Athletic Sound, Oct 1996.

Caterpillar (Ryan, Saether, 0ien)
HMR: mandolin, 6 string acoustic & electric guitars, lead & backing vocals, piano
BS: bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Gebhardt: drums, percussion
Deathprod: theremin
Frode: words
Outtake from the AADAP sessions. "Didn't we write this one already?” seemed to be the main reason why we left it off. We hadn’t, but there you go. Athletic Sound, Oct 1996. Previously unreleased.

King Bong Hop (Saether)
BS: lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, bass, piano
Gebhardt: drums
HMR: electric guitars, backing vocals
Outtake from the AADAP sessions, incl. sly Cheap Trick reference. At the time it felt too lightweight and also a bit like it belonged to the "Blissard"-era, and more-of-the-same just isn’t good enough, right? It was later rewritten & rearranged, and became The Ocean in Her Eye on Trust Us. Much better! Athletic Sound, Oct 1996. Previously unreleased.

MOT RIVING
These three songs were released on a split CD with Tre SmS Kinesere to benefit the local housing co-op in their fight against The Man. It was our small contribution in the effort to keep ’our’ part of Trondheim, Svartlamoen, from being sold and turned into a car dealership. The struggle was real, and this was an important backdrop to everything Motorpsycho did at this time. The battle was eventually won and Svartlamoen is still there today. Yay!

Star Dancer vs Car Cancer (Burt, Ryan, Saether, Gebhardt)
Brygga studio, Trondheim, 1997.
Gebhardt: drums, banjo, synthesizer
BS: bass, backing vocals
HMR: guitar, backing vocals
Frode 0ien: lead & backing vocals
Matt: words
Jon Marius: loop

La’moen Rag (Gebhardt)
Geb & Geb alone on a four-track, 1997.

Baby Jesus II [demo] (Saether, 0ien)
BS: acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals
Gebhardt: banjo
Frode: words
Demo version of a song previously demoed as All You’re Waiting For during the When the World Sleeps era. Later done properly in Norwegian by Sanderfinger on their Camping album. Four-track, 1997.

VARIOUS
Mad Sun (Saether)
BS: acoustic guitar, lead vocals
HMR: acoustic guitar, background vocals
Recorded live in the Fridge record store in Milan, February 1996. V/A: Soniche Avventure III [Fridge, FRDG007.1997]

Nature’s Way (California)
HMR: acoustic guitar, lead vocals
BS: backing vocals
Ohm: singing saw
Deathprod: samples
Recorded and mixed by Helge Sten, AV-LAB, 1996. Inspired by Willy B, we covered Spirit’s classic ecological hymn included on the V/A: Gamle Moder Jord [GPCD1, 1996] compilation album saluting Greenpeace on their 25th anniversary.

Syk (Dolmen, Lorentzen)
HMR: guitars, violin, Viscount organ, backing vocals
BS: bass, backing vocals, percussion
Gebhardt: drums, banjo, percussion
Winnifried Ryan: lead vocals
One of our biggest favourite albums ever is Knutsen and Ludvigsen’s , and this song is one of our favourite songs from that album. Getting Snah’s mom to sing it was an awesome extra bonus! Recorded for a Progress Records/ NRK-P3 project and released on V/A: Ellediller og Krokofanter - En Hyllest til Knutsen og Ludvigsen [Progress, PRO 0259, 1996]. Licensed from Progress records.

Un Chien d’Espace (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
HMR: guitar, Moog Taurus
BS: guitar
Gebhardt: drums, Arp Axxe
Deathprod: audio virus
Ohm: singing saw
This is the very first performance of Un Chien d'Espace ever. We were asked to improvise to Bunuel’s "Un Chiеn Andalou" at Cinemateket in Oslo in the fall of 1996 and instead of just feeling it out, came up with this loosely structured music where only the beginning and the end were written and everything else was up for grabs. There were two performances that night, both with Deathprod and Ohm on board, and this is the first.Please be adviced that this is a reference recording only and that the balance sometimes leaves a lot to the imagination, but we feel that its value as a document outweighs its sonic inadequacies and that its historical significance justifies its inclusion here. We dig the Oslo-hipster comment at the end! Recorded by Audun Strype, Cinemateket, Oslo, October 1996. Previously unreleased.

Timothy in the Magic City (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
BS: guitar, samples, vocalisations
HMR: guitar, Moog Taurus
Gebhardt: drums, Arp Axxe
Pidah Kloos: live mix & effects
Excerpt from an improv during an Un Chien d' somewhere. Probably Alesund, 1997. Recorded by Pidah, 1997. V/A: We'll Sail Out Far… Maybe a Little Too Far… [Apartment Records, APAREC004, 1997]



Tracklist CD5 - Rockefeller, March 14, 1997 Part I:

Deathprod: Komet (Sten, Moe)
Helge Sten: audio virus
Ole Henrik Moe: singing saw
Knut Alefjaer & Marius Sdbye: thundersheets

Motorpsycho:
S. T. G. (Saether)
Kill Some Day (Ryan, Sten, Saether)
Like Always (Ryan, Saether)
Heartattack Mac (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
Pills, Powders and Passion Plays (Saether)
The Nerve Tattoo (Gebhardt, Saether)
Young Man Blues (Allison)
Starmelt/Lovelight (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)



Tracklist CD6 - Rockefeller, March 14, 1997 Part II:

Un Chien d’Espace (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
Sideway Spiral II (Gebhardt, Ryan, Saether)
You Lied (Saether)
Hogwash (Saether)
The One That Went Away (Saether)
Nothing to Say (Ryan, Saether)
Into The Sun (Farner)
The Golden Core (Ryan, Saether)

HMR: guitar, vocals, Moog Taurus
Gebhardt: drums, Arp Axxe
BS: bass, vocals, guitar, samples
Occasionally joined by Sten, Moe, Alefjaer & Sdbye or combinations thereof.

These NRK recordings are the mixes from the multitrack recording that were originally broadcast on NRK/P3. Deathprod opened this show, playing his work Komet with Ole Henrik Moe and two percussionists. They all stayed for the duration, and can be heard playing occasionally throughout the concert.

We decided to include the complete recording of both Deathprod and Motorpsycho’s sets, both because we think it’s a great document and also because it's a good example of what the music sounded like at the time, warts ‘n’ all. Not all of this music is flawless and perfect — far from it! — but for historical reasons it is great to be able to present the whole evening. This is the stuff legends are made of, and now psychonauts from all over the world are finally able to go back and experience a night at Rockefeller with Deathprod & Motorpsycho.

This recording was produced by Harald Are Lund for NRK/P3. It was engineered by Arne Dypvik & Terje Hellem, and mixed by Terje Hellem & Helge Sten. Thanks to Harald Are for having the foresight and Silje Tomter®nrk for helping find the source material.


All thanks go to tatuk