OFF: " atmospheric, like hawkwind, japanese [?] lady vocalist"

[Douglas Pearson]

On Sun, 25 Feb 2001 14:02:57 +0000, Nick Medford <nick at HERMIT0.DEMON.CO.UK>
wrote:
>In message <a8.1190477a.27ca5d8f at aol.com>, DASLUD at AOL.COM writes
>>and my friend Diana wrote me last night: ::
>>
>>
>><<heard this radio show that was featuring some syd barrett thing and then
>>they were playing something that reminded me of hawkwind -- very
>>atmospheric
>>-- but they had a japanese (i think) woman singing ... >>
>>=====
>>...and she was tight! i have no idea.
>>
>>but perhaps someone amongst ye can clue us in.
>>
>Not sure, but I recall reading about an all-female Japanese space/psych
>band - they played some dates with Daevid Allen in the States recently-

That would be eX-Girl, who aren't very space/psych but are still quite ...
erm ... interesting.  Sort of like the Residents meets Hello Kitty (if you
can picture that) ...

see:
http://0505.net/ex-girl/

>maybe the same band? Can't remember the name. Anyone?
>
>The name just came to me: Angel In Heavy Syrup. (no I don't know what
>it means either). Might be the band your friend heard.

Yes, they sound exactly like what you're describing.  Great band!
Atmospheric, melodic, very psychedelic.  I would call them more prog (lots
of tempo/key changes, but always very tasteful & melodic, never gratuitous)
than stoner ... they're not real heavy, although some of their stuff is
nicely fuzz&wah-drenched.  Highly recommended (and at least one of their
albums is available domestically in the US on Subterranean Records; their
releases on Alchemy/Japan will obviously be more expensive and more
difficult to track down; Forced Exposure probably has 'em) ...

Useless trivia:
The first time Angel in Heavy Syrup toured the states, Nanjo, bassist from
the motor-psycho fuzz-blanga band High Rise, was travelling with them (he
was dating one of the band at the time), so (being a HUGE fan of High Rise)
I asked him if they'd do a track for the Hawkwind tribute album I was
planning at the time (yes, this was several years ago) ... he wrote down a
list of his favorite bands/genres, but Hawkwind wasn't one of them (so
obviously it's not where they got their name) ... oh well.  (At least I got
to pester him about it last year when High Rise stayed at my house for a
few days after playing SF & San Jose, and he 'fessed up to liking Hawkwind
now...)  The second time they toured the states, Monoshock opened for them
in San Francisco, but I had to miss the Angel' set because the Dead C were
playing across town that night - I HATE it when there are two great shows
in one night!

    -Doug
     ceres at sirius.com