When the Warm Times Come by Andy Roid

 

It's the time of year for gifts and Andy Roid's (Here & Now, Music of the Andys) latest single release 'When the Warm Times Come' is just that, a real Yuletide treat. 'When the Warm Times Come' was written to celebrate the Winter Solstice in 2019 and incorporates a wonderful poem of the same name by Norman Lies. As you'd expect from Andy's music it's deeply atmospheric, all rich textures creating almost tangible soundscapes. The opening eerie drone slowly twists and morphs into a haunting retro 80's sci fi style vibe, through which weave threads of the mystical and magical, of something approaching or emerging, dawning, it's audio but you can't help but experience it almost cinematically. Andy's an electronic/synth wizard for sure. To my ear some Andy Roid tracks have something of the 70's weird to them, a sense of something mysterious just out of view in the shadows, something unearthly or otherworldly maybe, there's definitely some of that going on here. Bassy yet sharp reverberating electronic sounds mark your arrival in an alien space, a strange futuristic world, then the introduction of Norman Lies earthy pagan flavoured poem juxtaposes the two worlds of scifi and nature sending them swirling and blending seamlessly. Wonderful stuff. It works perfectly as a captivating aural accompaniment to our strange times, and in the poem we find hope, an understanding of the timelessness of the seasonal wheel balanced with an anticipation of better times to come. Lovely. Go check it out, and his other releases on his bandcamp whilst you're there.

Andy Roid

It was sad to hear recently that the 'Music of the Andys' have ceased as a musical combo, as their post put it 'the goose (of perception) has flown'. What a shame, man, there was a certain magic there, something hypnotic and even shamanistic in their sound, certainly a sound full of energies. Thanks and applause must go out to Andy Roger and Andy Burrows for their sterling work and many great live performances...bravo!  There's still some cool Music of the Andys stuff on their bandcamp page to check out. On a brighter note, it turns out the goose doubles as a phoenix and both musicians continue on, Andy Burrows with the fabulous Here and Now Band, and Andy Roger with a smashing new Andy Roid project which has oodles of potential. Andy Roid's first release is Guru Hoodoo, and it's 24 minutes of great.  You're taken on an aural journey all hypnotic and strange, there are plenty of fabulously odd sounding samples and trippy loops, it's as ambient as feck in a wonderfully weird, at points eerie, way. Andy creates richly textured and deep soundscapes which though constantly evolving, morphing and shifting focus, maintain a cogent path. At a couple of points there are echoes of surreal 60's TV soundtracks, you could imagine Steed running about a tripped out dolls house or something, all filmed weird angles and perspectives. Lovely stuff. I can't wait to see where this goes, nor can I wait to catch him live, should take a bean bag though, this is the sort of music you want to lay back and dissolve too. Check it out.