Praise for 3Leafs‘ Eat The Earth (self released) from San Francisco?s aQuarius Records: We’ve been waiting for this one for a while now. The infamous, and much talked about “mushroom record” from this SF improv psychedelic space rock collective. So called, because the entire thing was conceived, created, performed AND recorded while the entire band was under the influence of magic mushrooms.

Close to 40 minutes (edited down from much more than that, although it’s unclear whether it was also edited in the same state), of gorgeous, tripped out, abstract psychedelia, sprawling swirls of kosmische drift, all blurred guitars, krautrock like pulses, streaks of druggy FX, throbbing propulsive bass, equal parts total spaced out ambience, and head nodding hypnotic motorik churn.

The opening track ‘Fahren Bei Tag’, starts off with nearly 5 minutes of hazy atmospheric exploration, before the drums finally kick in, and it’s another minute or two before the band lock into a serious cosmic kraut groove, but when they do, it’s exultant. The pulsing bass and stripped down drumming, surrounded by gorgeous peals of fragmented melody, thick corrosive swells of undulating high end, grinding chunks of feedback drenched chordal buzz, all winding down after about 13 minutes, leading directly into a bit of super melodic Neu! worship, with some washed out swirl and shimmer and a playful meditative main melody.  This time the vibe much more new age-y and drifty, sun dappled and dreamy, the warm processed guitars conjuring up a lush layered bed of rapid pulses, over which synths whir and warble, and that main melody drifts on and on.

The title track, clocking in at 13+ minutes, is definitely the record’s centerpiece, a dark brooding epic, haunting and otherworldly. The rhythm skeletal and spare, the wheezing keyboards hovering amidst rubbery basslines and glitch electronics, the vibe very gothic and gloomy, but shot through with bits of melody and light. It’s a slow build, but not in the traditional sense, it doesn’t get louder or heavier so much as subtly more intense, totally hypnotic and mesmerizing, the core sounds soon joined by bird calls and other field recordings, strange burbling liquids (bongs perhaps?), swooping streaks of electronics and processed effects. It sounds like it could have gone on for another 13 minutes (and probably did).

The final track, is another organ driven droner, dark and dense and deep, the drums more free and skittery, everything muted and washed out, the organs doing most of the melodic heavy lifting, and much of the textural as well, the bass thick and ropy, anchoring the whole thing, keeping it from drifting off into the stratosphere. Warm and whirring, dreamily druggy and so so good.

We tend to love everything 3 Leafs does, but this might just be their best. Although we can’t vouch for how it sounds when listened to on mushrooms as well. Guess we’ll leave that up to some of you out there.
Featuring members of the Fresh & Onlys, Tussle, Horn Of Dagoth, Amocoma, Citay and a bunch more. And most definitely recommended for fans of Expo 70, White Hills, the Heads, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Bardo Pond, Eternal Tapestry, Sleepy Sun, Burnt Hills, Gnod and other practitioners of modern kraut / space / psych. And it’s probably pretty dang limited too…

At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we?re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.