The Alchemysts & Simeon

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Treading the thin, jagged orange line that meanders between the savage squall of punk rock, 60s garage, psychedelic rock and tripped out feedback sculpted improvisations, the Alchemysts have existed as a handsome and well groomed power trio for 10 long years. Hidden away in the wild mushroom covered hills and forests of rural Somerset they have watched musical trends come and go, laughing in the face of almost everything, kicking out the jams and ploughing their own lonesome furrow towards sonic guitar absolution. Ignored and unknown except by a select few their many influences include the likes of the MC5, the Stooges, Sonic Youth and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators as well as a host of other bands that youve never heard of or are far too uncool to mention. They have spent their valuable time constantly gigging, touring, writing and recording material for their own satisfaction and maybe yours. Over the years they have released two full length albums, a number of ! e.p.s and have featured on numerous compilations. They recently collaborated with Simeon from cult 60s electronic duo the Silver Apples from which a whole album of material was recorded. The Alchemysts would like to stress that they embrace the spirit of punk rock but freely admit that they are unafraid of guitar solos. They are very approachable but find communication with people from "towns" and "cities" kind of scary in an amusing way.

Performers
Mat Love - Drums & Percussion Jon Guard - Bass Guitar Paul Simmons - Vocals, Guitar, Electric Sitar, Organ Simeon Coxe- Oscillator

Album Description
A collaboration between experimental electronics pioneer Simeon Coxe (of the Silver Apples) and heavy rock band the Alchemysts.

The Alchemysts & Simeon

Tracks:

Terranaut
The Psychic Fayre
Fault Line
Glass Cars
Rocket 69
Gone
Electromagnetic North
Black Hole Kickout
Time Travel For The Lonely
Your Summer Ghosts
DMT Blues
Spores
Achievement Song
Antidote

Album Description

Upon hearing The Alchemysts at last years Terrastock III in London, Rubric's Dave was blown away by the Mudhoney meets Thee Hypnotics grunge whallop that pummeled him into rock out mode (exemplified in such tracks on the album as "The Psychic Fayre" and "Rocket 69"). Dave was also impressed by said bands ability to drift into an almost Deadish psych trippy territory ("DMT Blues") without seeming overly jammy or the slightest bit hippyish. Zero Zen follows up the CD released earlier this year with the Silver Apples' Simeon.

Tracks:

Hi Fi For You To Go
Hydrophobic
Lost Beat Magazine
Interstellar 1-2-5
21st Century In-Car-Entertainment Firearm Blues
Magellanic
Psychotropic Over Modulation
Morning Comes

Album Description

A collaboration between experimental electronics pioneer Simeon Coxe (of the Silver Apples) and heavy rock band the Alchemysts.

Customer Reviews:

Simeon & The Alchemysts - 'The Alchemysts & Simeon' (Rubric).......2007-07-11

An over-looked gem that I find it hard to believe that so few have even heard of this one-off (I'm assuming) project between the UK underground psych / garage trio that's teamed up with Silver Apple's master mind Simeon Coxe. So much better than what I expected, as I really thought this was going to be simply one of those 'too weird for anyone-crap releases'. Glad that I took a chance here. Best cuts include the pure space rocking opener "Hydrophobic", the ripping "Lost Beat Magazine", "Interstellar 1-2-5" and "Psychotropic Over Modulation". Line-up: Simeon-oscillators,fuzz organ,keyboards & vocals, Paul Simmons-guitar,vibes & vocals, Jon Guard-bass & vocals and Mat Love-drums & vocals. Like it when all four players provide harmony vocals. Recommended.

Truly inspiring, groundbreaking collaboration.......2003-11-28

Cult underground UK garage/psychedelic rockers the Alchemysts team up with Simeon Coxe from 60's electronic pioneers the Silver Apples to create this amazing album. Great sheets of distortion and feedback, spoken word tracks over kraut rock beats, imaginary soundtracks to 50's sci fi movies, surf guitars, analog synths, organs and oscillators that rip the speakers to pieces all combine to make this a true one off. Coming across like a mixture of Hawkwind, Sonic Youth, the MC5 and Can along with the usual trademark Alchemysts sonic energy and Simeon's spaced out electronica this album is a classic. Buy now and dive into a sonic inferno of sound!!

very disappointing.......2002-10-24

The Alchemysts, in spite of what you may read in the editorial review, are a pretty mundane and dated-sounding post-rock band with more of a New Wave sound than a 60's influenced sound. Think early U2, Wire, etc., but with more thrashing and far less imagination. Their vocalist basically just shouts his way through the songs, and the songs, such as they are, are pretty much indistinguishable from one another.

Simeon (of Silver Apples fame, if you can use the word "fame" in relation to the Silver Apples) layers analog electronics over what the band is playing. Unfortunately, the sounds he makes (which seem to range only from "bloop" to "bleep" in tonal variety) have nothing at all to do with the "songs." He just seems to start making weird noises after the band starts, and quits playing when they quit, with no apparent regard for what the band is doing. Not that the Alchemysts are doing anything interesting to begin with.

Overall this was a thoroughly disappointing CD. It's monotonous, irritating, and ultimately boring. I am no stranger to electronic music or psychedelic music, nor do I have anything against mixing heavy rock with analog electronics (see my Hawkwind reviews), but this stuff just doesn't cut it. It's not even remotely mind-expanding or innovative. I can think of about a hundred obscure psych gems you should get instead of this one. Give this a pass.

Pretty Kool!---from a reviewer in Beijing china.......2002-02-24

I would say that its not dissapointing at all, but a really cool sound, while not modern, is why we listen in the first place like heavy flange on tracks like 21st century, that song just rocks hard, and I'm sure live would be killer. Good effort Lads, hope your future stuff can be as inspired.