Search - Magic Mushroom Band :: Spaced Collection

Psychedelic Music From Un-psychedelic Times

flakecosmo | Brantford, Ontario Canada | 10/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A great and overlooked band from the eighties and early 90's, they eventually split into the very successful ambient techo group Astralasia, and the less successful psychedelic folk group Moonboot Oz. The is a compilation, a "best of" from those heady, exciting, early daze. Magic Mushroom Band slides easily from Middle Eastern, rave inspired guitar trance (Turban Paranoia) to spacy, west coast jazz rock (Hubbly Bubbly) to ambient excusions (Astralasia) and of course, trippy, acid drenched pop singles like "Pictures in My Mind" and "Magick Eye". There are a few weaker tracks, like the dated ambient dance piece "Squatter in the House" with its breathy female vocals, but overall, this is a strong collection of tunes from a great band that was unfortunately out of step with the times in which they existed. Excellent liner notes too, offering a slice of history and a rant against the fashion obsessed, over-indulgent 80's."

Magic Mushroom Band - 'The Spaced Collection' (Cleopatra)

Mike Reed | USA | 01/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Magic Mushroom Band was an ambient psych ensemble that put out something like five(5)albums between the late '80's to mid '90's.I have one of them,'Magic' and I think I like this well assembled compilation disc better.Some fans may describe the MMB as 'psychedelic space pop'.Either way,'The Spaced Collection' is a great buy for fans of this genre.Tunes I liked best were the two exclusive unreleased instrumentals,"Astralasia" and the way-out there sounding "Aravinda".These cuts are ideal for listening to when you're in a late night book or record store.Other decent tracks include the trippy "Hubbly Bubbly","Let It Fly" and "Halcyon Days".Plenty of that indepth space whispers(like Gong)and swirling synthesizer here to frazzle your brain cells.As for the line-up,I was able to come up with a few members,which are Gary Twining&Ed Bones-guitar,Marc Swordfish-drums&synth and Sam Turner-violin.I believe Swordfish and maybe one other member later formed the band,Astralasia.A nice find.Should appeal to most fans of Daevid Allen,Gong,Hawkwind,Ash Ra Temple and maybe Amon Duul II,Egg and possibly Kula Shaker."