December is always a month that doesn't have very many releases. Ya know, because list season. To really value something you have to sit with it a while. You have to. Countless times I've heard something once or twice and thought "This is fuckin' awesome!" only to sober up some and realize it's just okay. Just as easily, but less often, something could be a hard pass early on only to come back around under different conditions and it's a completely different thing. Decemeber doesn't allow that so I get it. That being said, recency bias and/or state of elevation should take nothing away from this month's favoured listen, 'FRYDOM' by The Whims of the Great Magnet.
A state of elevation could be gained just from listening to 'FRYDOM'. You can feel a sort of lightness coursing through the air, the psychedelic vibes lifting burdens from your shoulders as the crude material world dissolves away on "Baby Blue (Hit Song)". A little later "Sunstroke Serenade" plays around with a warm, grungy, garage rock energy and the "jam band" nature that permeates their output. There's a live version on Youtube that's pretty cool too.
It's not a terribly complicated thing really. But it doesn't have to be. I mean, their tag line is "slacker mellow yellow stoner jam band". I don't think anyone is slacking here, especially considering it's mostly the work of Sander Haagmans. His live band does not slack either. The mellow stoner jam thing is pretty spot on. The loud/soft dynamics aren't formulaic and seem to form naturally between and within tracks. Bluesy guitar work blossoms in the solos. Waves of psychelia wash between hemispsheres, between the ground and skies, all according to The Whims of the Great Magnet. I'm not completely sure what FRYDOM means but I'm taking it as the freedom to get fried and escape with this album for a little while. Check it out.
You can find "Reborn" and a track from their 2019 album 'Good Vibes and High Tides' on my As I Go December 2024 Spotify playlist along with a bunch of great tracks from the whole year as I worked on My Favourites of 2024. Stay tuned.
Other notable releases from December 2024:
Cogents - 'Desolace' (co-written, recorded and produced by Neil Fallon)
Ze Stoner - 'Desert Buddhist'
Kopilott - 'III'
Some Pills for Ayala - '...and we leave the planet?'
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