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In June of 1982 vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jeff Phry, keyboardist Keir McDonald
and Robert Wannacott formed a band called Trancegland in
their hometown of Detroit.
When Phry's girlfriend and soon to be wife Deb Agolli replaced Wannacott
as the drummer, the band changed name to Viv Akauldren.
The trio is one of the unsung heroes of psychedelic music.
Their performances were legendary.
Old Bags & Party Rags (Akashic, 1985 - Resonance)
offers progressive-rock in the vein of Gong that can be
quirky and catchy (Censored),
spaced-out (Life Expectancy),
tribal (Catabolic Blues),
and convoluted a` la Can (As You Wish).
After a live EP with The Titanic Mind, the band released their second
album, I'll Call You Sometime (Akashic, 1987), a concept that pivots on
spiritual themes,
The ballad Along The Way and the world-music of The Chain
demonstrate the eclectic nature of the music, but where the band truly shines
is at the border between progressive-rock (Is This It,
Inn'er Current) and
minimalist/ambient music (the instrumentals The
Maker Of The Sun & The Moon and Farrowbone).
The album ranks as one of the unheralded classics of psychedelia.
The mini-album Witness (Resonance, 1988) is its alter ego:
Hawkwind's hard-rock takes over and drives Eye Suck and the other
catchy, aggressive tracks.
Magnolia and May As Well are the highlights of
Vivian's Fountain (Resonance, 1990),
an anthology of unreleased material ranging from the early days of
Trancegland.
Upon returning from the British tour, in November 1989 the members split.
Phry fell victim to drugs and disappeared from the music scene,
and eventually relocated to Berlin, where he became a street musician.
Agolli went on to form Hot Footin' Puddin' Pie and then joined
Outrageous Cherry.
McDonald, whose fame as a keyboardist had obscured Keith Emerson in the
Detroit's underground, started Medusa Cyclone as a solo project, listing
Sun Ra and Wire as main influences.
McDonald plays guitar and uses tape-loops on
Medusa Cyclone (Third Gear, 1996), that compiles his first three
singles.
Meandering Faust-ian suites like
Assigned Frequency (15 minuts of it) and Helium Head
steal the show, but McDonald's spectrum is much broader, extending from
Neu's drilling rhythms (Chemical) to
catchy synth-pop nightmares (Gravity Serpent), from
oddly subliminal takes on world-music (Burner, Inch Of Mercury,
X-Plodo Sub Hat) to the
ballad Dream House that sounds like Syd Barrett fronting the Spacemen 3
(vocalist Jeff Oakes lends a hand).
In his most conceptual moments
(Black Dawn , Atomic Hand ),
McDonald straddles shoegazing and kosmische musik,
Spacemen 3 and Tangerine Dream.
A couple of singles followed.
Hypnosis Take (Manta Ray Fleet, 1997) weaves a captivating mixture of
noir and futuristic atmospheres.
The catchy pop of End Cloud (Third Gear, 1997) is misleading, as
Ouija Ground and Junebug Canyon, on the same single, are two
of his most experimental pieces.
Mr Devil (Third Gear, 1998) displays the same schizophrenia, ranging
from the most accessible Medusa Cyclone ever (Blind Witch) to
the darkest sides of the previous singles.
Tangier (Small Stone, 2002) is another wild bunch of
instrumental improvisations.
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