They’re named after a track on a Guru Guru album. You’re going to love them. Also, they have have released albums on aRCHIVE, Last Visible Dog, Beta-lactam Ring, and Important Records, and recently released a collaborative album with Bardo Pond, fittingly titled “LSD Pond”.
LSD March was formed in 1996 by Shinsuke Michishita, Makoto Inoue and Kohei Michishita. They were mostly a live band, and performed mostly in Western Japan. Before the release of their first album, Kohei left the band, and some guy named Bill joined the group. The first proper LSD March album was released in 2000 on the Japanese imprint Gyuune. Then Eddie and Bill left the band, and Masami Kawaguchi and Ikuro Takahashi joined. Are you seeing where this is going? Suddenly, Like Flames was released in 2001 (then re-issued in 2004). Their most notorious record, Empty Rubious Red, was released by White Elephant in 2005 or 2006, I don’t remember. That’s how I discovered the band. They’re fucking incredible.
“What sets LSD-march apart from the more widely hyped Japanese psych combos is an incredible restraint and consequent attention to detail. Their sound is lo-fi, without doubt, but, as with the Dead C or Last Visible Dog stalwarts MCMS, every sound on Suddenly, Like Fames seems deliberately placed for maximum effect; the sound pallet on the disc is much broader than the instrumental credits indicate. On “When I Die, Hell Awaits,†Akuro Takahashi’s light and airy percussion work sounds as if his kit has been augmented with more traditional Japanese instruments, and a windily haunting wail re-enforces sneaking suggestions of Velvet Underground circa 1969. Even when Shinsu Mitshishita’s guitar rises above its customary reflective murmurings, or when drums are struck with something approaching abandon, as on “Bud of Flesh,†the effect is momentary. Nothing disturbs the disc’s overall sense of melancholy acceptance until the title track, and what a screaming Les Rallizes Denudes-influenced wall of sound it is! There are moments of discernable melody and harmony, but these are fleeting, all ground down by a demonically sludgy proto-funk drum riff. Suddenly, like flames indeed! The effect is majestic and horrifying.” – Dusted Magazine
LSD March
Suddenly Like Flames
MediaFire Download Link
Tracklist:
01. The Lamp – Tomorrow’s Godard
02. Black Bouquet
03. When I Die, Hell Awaits
04. A Bud Of Flesh
05. Suddenly, Like Flames
06. Clepsydra Flames
07. After The Storm (Alternate Version)
