Every week, dozens of new albums arrive at the Maxazine editorial office. Far too many to listen to them all, let alone review. One review a day means that too many albums are left untouched. And that is a shame. That is why today we are publishing an overview of albums arriving at the editorial office in the form of short reviews.

Club d’Elf – Loon & Thrush

Grab the hookah, curl up in a Lotus position, and put on this new album by Club d’Elf, which begins with a rendition of Grateful Dead’s ‘Bird Song’, the start of an hour-long trip that really only the group led by bassist Mike Rivard can deliver. Naturally, the bass is prominently featured on this new album once again: deep and pulsating, clearly rooted in dub, while instruments move freely over it in fragments of melody, Eastern influences, and electronics that are sometimes barely recognizable as such. The tracks flow into one another as if they were part of one long improvisation, in which every musician knows exactly when to add, and especially when not to. Music like hypnotic, psychedelic liquid slides that were so popular in the heyday of the Grateful Dead. In comparison, Club d’Elf sounds a good dose of funkier than the Dead. Just listen to the groove of the title track or ‘Left Hand of Clyde’, which leans much more on 70s fusion. Larry Coryell’s The Eleventh House revisited. The band isn’t done with Jerry Garcia’s work yet, however, as his ‘New Speedway Boogie’ also gets a tasty makeover. Pass that pipe around. (Jeroen Mulder) (8/10) (Face Pelt Records)

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