On their first three cd's Psychon Troopers have been looking for the ideal sound. They improvise in
long jams and edit their sessions with a mini-disc to digestible proportions. Their third, spheric cd
could be a soundtrack to a seventies-film by Werner Herzog. The recordingtechnique is simple, call
it lo-fi fusion, especially when the basis is a kind of 'fakefunk'. Fortunately the bass and drums give,
in the very long tracks, a lot of space to the keys, the sounds (fireworks, the singing from Close
Encounters, voicesamples) and the particular instrumentation (musicboxes, religious singing). At
such moments, this spacy Netherkrautrock can be very pleasant.
november 18 2000
by peter bruyn
Fine music. Especially the songs where guitar/bass are mixed with electronics sound good and
remind me of the album 'Anna' by Reuber (on Staubgold). Some criticism: the cd is just a little bit
too long to hold the tension. Some editing will not be a bad idea for a commercial album.
The Building Playground was recorded on 10 and 11 July 1999. This cd introduces more instruments to the sound of Psychon Troopers, like a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer. 'Snuff Music' features SGP-singer Gabry de Waay. He also plays bass on the opening track. The band recorded over four hours of material for this cd. Available as free mp3 download.