The Seventh Ring of Saturn "Ormythology"

(Review by Nathan Ford for The Active Listener)

The Seventh Ring of Saturn's previous, self-titled album fell into my lap courtesy of Fruits de Mer Records' Keith Jones. It wasn't a Fruits de Mer release, but Keith was sufficiently impressed to feel I should hear it, and he was right. Unfortunately with a release date of 2007 it was far too old for me to review for you. Nonetheless, I contacted TSROS's Ted Selke to attempt to negotiate a digital reissue through the Active Listener Records imprint, but Ted was gracious but firm; TSROS had come a long way, and were working up new material which would offer a far more accurate representation of what TSROS was really all about, and that was Ted's primary focus. Interpreting this as Ted's way of saying that he thinks that the self-titled album (which I think is absolutely fantastic) is not up to scratch left me extremely curious as to what this new material was going to be like.

The Seventh Ring of Saturn – Ormythology

Eight years have elapsed since the first Seventh Ring of Saturn album, a self-titled bundle of joy, was unleashed, since when Ted Selke and co have contented themselves only with carving sonic swathes through the art of the Pretty Things, the Beatles, the Hollies and the Dead for a clutch of Fruits de Mer compilations.  And if that particular role call even gives you a hint of what you might find on their second album, then it was groundwork well done.

Spin Cycle met up with Selke last year (here), at which point Ormythology had already raised its head as a limited edition CD-R distributed at an FdM gathering. “It’s a very different record from the first one,” he said at the time.  “I tried to make it the opposite  in every way, the yin to it’s yang. It’s darker, harder, bigger and louder (if you turn it up). I recorded the individual tracks differently, and we’ve been incorporating some of the mixing ideas we’ve come up with working on the tracks for Fruits de Mer.”

Such esoteric roots, however, only throw fresh fuel onto the psychedelic flames.  Across its eight tracks – two originals, half a dozen covers – TSROS cannot help but nod back to more mythic times, but like the rest of the best of the modern psych pack, there’s no hint of tiresome revivalism here, and no time machine xeroxing either.  In fact, no matter how steeped in classicism their repertoire might be, the fact that Selke’s own “Burning a Hole” is the most instantly memorable track lets you know you’re in for a wilder ride than maybe you expected.… and that’s seriously, instantly, psilocybic ear-worm wild, even before the shadow of “The Hall of the Mountain King” falls over the guitar solo.

TIme slips, and inspirations, too. “Spaceman,” sung here by keyboard player Jeremy Knauff, was first sighted on the Danish band Peter Belli and the Boom’s Hurdy Gurdy album in 1971.  The instrumental “Teli Teli Teli” dates from a 1979 hit single by Greek star Haris Alexiou; “Karlı Dağlar” from Turkey’s Erkin Koray’s 1974 album Elektronik Türküler; and Asik Veysel’s “Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim” (“I am on a Long and Narrow Road”) dates back to the 1930s, and is as familiar to subsequent generations of Turks as “This Land is Your Land” is to their American contemporaries.   Heroically rendered an instrumental, it soars here, riding drums that pound and guitars that cry, and maybe, yeah, you can look at that list and say “wow, it sounds like a mess.”

But that’s the beauty of Ormythology because the magic is in the way the moments merge; the way you can switch from a Turkish folk song to a Danish psych rocker with barely a pause for breath; the way the atmospheres swirl and sway, transporting you from sitar-shaded super-psych, to brilliantine Mod pop; from searing acidic extravaganzas (“Yedikule”) to the churning freakbeat of “Faces”… all loping percussion and rolling riffs, recalling but scarcely recording TC Atlantic’s long-ago original (catch it on volume three of Pebbles – and, tantalizingly unreleased, there’s also a TSROS version of the Third Bardo’s ”I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time,” as found on the same side of the same album.)

Hopefully it won’t be another eight years before TSROS get around to their third album; hopefully, too, any gap that should arise betwixt this LP and their next will be plugged with another disc’s worth of solid offerings to the compilations of this world.  In the meantime, Ormythology is here to baffle (“what does that title mean?”), bemuse (“where on earth did they find these songs?”) and beautify your world.

Which is more than you can say for most of what you hear these days.

Visit the Seventh Ring here.
 

23/10/15

THE SEVENTH RINGS OF SATURN Ormythology 

Nusrat 

Ormythology is the second album of The Seventh Rings Of Saturn. It incl. eight songs of which only two of them are their own. The unbelievable burning a hole, a song that blows up your brain cells with guitars spread psychedelic mushrooms and the excellent time to fly. The six cover songs, some of them in relatively unknown songs are excellent! In spaceman of Hurdy Gurdy, faces of TC Atlantic, and from Turkish karlı dağlar of Erkin Koray and uzun ince bir yoldayim (Asik Veysel), and in Greek with teli, teli, teli of Manos Loizos and Yedi kule of Vangelis Papazoglou!

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn - Ormythology

The long awaited second album from Atlanta's TSROS. Mixes psych-rock with middle eastern scales and rhythms in a most appealing way!

I first became aware of TSROS when they featured on Fruits De Mer Records' recent 7&7 Is box set of 7” singles covering The Grateful Dead. They were good at that but what's more of a revelation is the band doing their own material. Ormythology is the band's second full length album, several years in the making, self released on a lovingly hand-stamped CD. It contains a pleasing mix of what some people call college rock and music of an altogether more Byzantine/Arabesque nature.
 
Album opener “Burning A Hole” contains Nirvana-esque melodies, lyrics of a decidedly 1967 vintage (“cellophane sunflowers, what do you think about time?”) before nutmegging listeners with killer guitar solos that owe more to Turkish or Greek music than that of your more traditional guitar heroes. This is quickly followed by “Teli, Teli, Teli”, an instrumental which ups the Byzantine ante with guitar flights of fancy that both stretch out and wig-out in equal measure.
 
“Time To Fly” is a more straight ahead Anglo-American rocker, which brings to mind Teenage Fanclub or The Byrds, characterised by sumptuous vocal harmonies, and power-pop chord progressions. There's still room for the lead guitar to surprise and take the song somewhere new. Time To Fly indeed!
 
It's refreshing to know that some bands do look beyond the much mined seams of Hendrix, Page et al for their inspiration. Time signatures look beyond the usual rock-fayre, and the melodies are equally at home in a souk or incense filled temple as they are in a western rock venue. A cliche-free and illuminating experience is guaranteed for all who are adventurous enough to listen!   (Review by Duncan Fletcher in Harmonic Distortion  -  June 3, 2015)

The Seventh Ring of Saturn - Ormythology
 
On this mini-album dedicated to late band member Jeremy Knauff, Ted Selke's Atlanta, GA cosmic combo have honed the Turkish/Greek/West Coast sunshine/psychedelia fusion first unveiled on their 2007 debut, since when we've had to be content with only snatches through various Fruits de Mer releases.
 
Spooky psych-pop opener 'Burning a Hole' reveals a sound steeped in strong melodies embellished with hooks a plenty and of course those Near Eastern phrasings. The other Selke composition 'Time to Fly' is another infectious highlight. So too is the old T.C. Atlantic number 'Faces', while the remainder comprises Greek and Turkish instrumentals which work to varying degrees of success ('Yedikule' especially is a doozy).
 
Something of a cut and shunt between The Luck of Eden Hall and David Shuford's Rhyton, Ormythology nevertheless displays more than enough verve and nous to avoid the old curiosity trap and is worthy of investigation.
 
(Ian Fraser in Shindig! #48)
 

 

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn – Ormythology

Sunday, 17 May 2015, 16:46 | Category : Reviews
Tags : The Seventh Ring Of Saturn

Review by Jason Barnard / The Strange Brew

Arriving through the letterbox came US rockers The Seventh Ring of Saturn’s new album “Ormythology”. Beautifully hand printed you’d could almost expect Alice in Wonderland behind the wrapper but instead the more muscular take on American psych abounds. An 8 track mix of strong original material and astutely picked gems the guitar laden 29 minutes certainly doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Kicking off with Ted Selke’s memorable “Burning a Hole” it crafts a popsike hook with a harder edged sound also epitomized by Selke’s “Time To Fly”. A cover of TC Atlantic’s “Faces” fits alongside the self-penned tracks neatly highlighting the tightness of The Seventh Ring Of Saturn’s playing.A nice pair take a instrumental trip to Eastern Europe with “Yedikule” giving an old Greek song the late 60s heavy rock treatment, whilst “Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim” does the same for this Turkish anthem.

Closing with the instantly accessible hard rock of “Spaceman” sung by Jeremy Knauff, a track dug from Danish group’s Peter Belli and the Boom’s 1971 original, the might just have saved the best to last.

Limited edition 300 copies on ‘glow-in-the-dark’ vinyl plus CD, more information can be found at tsros.com

The Seventh Ring of Saturn “Ormythology” (Nusrat, LP & CD)

The Seventh Ring of Saturn “All The World Is Love / Mountains On The Moon” (Nusrat, 7″)

Debuting with a beautiful album and then disappearing for almost 8 years. Nevertheless for The Seventh Ring of Saturn (Atlanta, Georgia), it was not an absolute silence and this awaited return succeeds in fill a long period and to tell it with a title: "Ormythology". The tale begin by the dedication to the keyboard player Jeremy Knauff, who died at age 28 in 2012, a painful loss but still present with Jacob Brown (guitar), Joe Giddings (guitar), Jamie Reilly (drums) and Ted Selke (vocals, bass, guitar), to wit the original band and all the material in progress for the second album without adding anything that does not include the missing friend. Act of love still recorded on their own label Nusrat, anagram of Saturn in reiterating homage to the cosmic philosophy of Sun Ra and jazz transversality learned in family environments now revived with "Ormythology", in which glimpse the legendary single of Charlie 'Bird' Parker 'Ornithology'. A stimulating practice, through which The Seventh Ring of Saturn, offer opportunities to deepen both when they perform their original compositions, than  in 'borrow' existing standards and it is from this sequence of covers (many released in recent years on the  Fruits de Mer compilation from "Keep Off the Grass" to "the White EP", "7 and 7 is" and "Sorrow's Children") that take place their musical direction on the sounds of Pretty Things, Twink, Beatles, 13th Floor Elevators. It is also the return of The Seventh Ring of Saturn amongst planetary underground affinities in a happy creative neo-psychedelic period actualized by visionary inventiveness that "Ormythology" testifies with capability through dense instrumental guitar textures and remarkable vocal arrangements. Expression of good music and declaration of love still represented by various covers (project as transition zone between the eponymous 2007 album that contained just a few and the future) but this time the themes are developed on important cultural currents to connote the passion of the Seventh Ring of Saturn to the forms of improvisation through some fantastic 'taxim' where the psychedelia combines rock and folk music with results similar to those revealed in the 60s by the legendary Californian band Kaleidoscope. The source of inspiration runs through Greece and Turkey at different times (and not much different, even compared to living the tragic events today). And if the '30s are recalled with the cover of the first Rebetiko players (exiles, poets, virtuoso musicians of bouzouki and baglama) to reload 'Yedikule' (Evangelos Papazoglou) and 'Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim' (Asik Veysel), the 70s are retraced with 'Teli Teli Teli' (Manos Loizos) and 'Karli Daglar' from "Elektronik Türküler" (1974), the second album by the great guitarist Erkin Korai. Passionate and powerful versions to which are added other covers to expand the inspirational horizon of The Seventh Ring of Saturn, from the garage-psych of 'Faces' by TC Atlantic (also in the mythical Pebbles Vol. 3, 'The Acid Gallery') to the hard-space-blues of 'Spaceman' by fabulous Danish band Hurdy Gurdy. The two originals of "Ormythology" transmit signals of future that we hope will materialize in a third album, reiterating the class of The Seventh Ring of Saturn when 'Burning a Hole' starts the accelerator of Big Star particles in a guitar wah-wah-southern-power pop' whirlwind,  and 'Time to Fly' explores jingle-jangle dynamics on interstellar ascendant in the space-rock depths.
"Ormythology" is issued on vinyl and CD with a very underground look and delicious hardcovers illustrated individually. For completists, there is also a promo edition of 250 copies with early versions of the songs, published by Fruits de Mer in 2014 for the festivals of psychedelia 'Crabstock in Wales' and 'Crabstock USA' (including two dates with the participation of TSROS).
But there's more, because the journey continues in simultaneous release always on Nusrat through a 7inch luminescent vinyl (as the album) where flow two magnificent 'sitar freakbeat' covers of "All The World Is Love / Mountains On The Moon" respectively by Hollies ('Evolution') and Grateful Dead ('Aoxomoxoa'). Fantastic complement  of a psychedelic atlas from which the Seventh Ring of Saturn develops in music, their maps of emotions.

review by Giampiero Fleba for PleniROCKium

The Seventh Ring of Saturn  "Ormythology"

The Seventh Ring of Saturn! The name says almost everything.

 

Originally from Atlanta and headquartered in Northampton, Massachusetts, this group of psychenauts modern moves in the cosmos towards the rings of Saturn. The best psychedelic tradition of the past 40 years has a permanent place on the trip, creating a glowing trail of memories and sounds perfect.

 

Eight years separate "Ormythology" and the first album of TSROS. In between were several personal vicissitudes; the spaces fill attempts with a set of singles published in Fruits de Mer as well as building bridges with the past, through versions of themes Grateful Dead, Hollies, Beatles or Pretty Things.

 

But the identity of the band of Ted Selke and Jeremy Knauff was different, as the patent had been self-titled debut album. "Ormythology" rescued them to hesitation. Are about 30 frantic minutes, two original-six versions where light caused by the wake of psychedelic component crosses, merging with the exoticism and Middle Eastern roots.

 

No formal complex "Ormythology" both can revisit the rocker Denmark the 70s, then to the secular Constantinople to ride an exotic hit or end in San Francisco honoring the "Mountains of the Moon" Jerry Garcia. "Burning a hole in my mind ..." Selke sings the opening theme. The challenge is released and realizes that the vibrations "power pop" of The Rooks or psych filigree of Chemistry Set are not far away. "Teli Teli Teli", a Greek theme popularized in the late 70 Hanis Alexiou, here is an instrumental version that TSROS become a battleground between the dirty guitars fuzz mode and the crystalline sound of the sitar.

 

"Time to fly", dynamic and bright, seem descended directly from "Damn the Torpedoes," while "Karli Daglar" slips to Turkey   and Erkin Koray's album "Elektronik Türküler" .   Atlantic again crossed towards Minneapolis: "Faces", version of a semi obscure garage band - TC Atlantic - know a vip treatment, such that the search of the original is the next step. "Yedikule" and "Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim" return respectively to Greece and traditional Turkey, while the finish, "Spaceman" wears the fact psych heavy gala in revisiting one of 1972 Album titles Hurdy Gurdy Danes.

 

An exciting journey through the sounds of the world, "Ormythology" could well be a comet. He leaves behind a trail of sensations that compensate and reward every new hearing. True, there are still so discs.

Review by Luis Peixoto from Atalho de Sons blog and Blitz Magazine - translation by Google

 

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn – “Ormythology” (Nusrat 2015, CD/LP)

May 10, 2015 Aural Innovations

My introduction to the music of Atlanta, Georgia based Psych rockers The Seventh Ring Of Saturn (TSROS) was through several excellent contributions to Fruits de Mer Records compilations, doing covers of The Grateful Dead, The Hollies, The Beatles, The Pretty Things, and more.

Ormythology consists of 8 songs and not quite 30 minutes in length. Two of the tunes are originals. Burning A Hole brings to mind a cross between 60s Pop-Psych and Porcupine Tree. It’s got chunky rocking but slightly jangly guitars, but also a ripping acidic quality and spacey electronic effects, AND the kind of melodic hook that makes the first listen sound like you’ve known the song all your life. Time To Fly is an equally strong, rough and tumble but fun Acid-Garage-Pop rocker.

The remainder of the set is an intriguing variety of a covers. TSROS do a Psych rocking, space efx’d rendition of Faces, which was a fuzzed out rocker by mid-60s band T.C. Atlantic. They’re faithful to the spirit of the original on Spaceman, originally recorded by early 70s Danish Hard-Psych Rock band Hurdy Gurdy.

TSROS go all Greko-Turkish on their bad selves for the remaining 4 songs. They inject a space-fuzzed garage feel into Teli Teli Teli, an instrumental version of the Greek trad./Pop song by composer Manos Loizos. I think Karli Daglar might be a traditional Turkish song but the great guitarist Erkin Koray recorded a version which may have been TSROS’s inspiration for their melodic guitar solo led instrumental with bubbling electronic effects. Ditto for Yedikule and Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim. The latter has a killer ripping solo that gives the music a Black Sun Ensemble meets the Bevis Frond feel.

These guys do a great job with covers and keep bringing them on I say. But I’ll offer some feedback to the band and say that on the strength of the two Ted Selke penned songs I’d love to hear more originals. Really guys, those are good.

For more information visit The Seventh Ring Of Saturn web site at: http://tsros.com
The CD is currently available at Amazon (CLICK HERE)
The LP is projected to be available early June and will be pressed on glow in the dark vinyl. Pre-orders are being taken by Shiny Beast in Holland (CLICK HERE).
Everyone else keep your eyes on the TSROS web site.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz


Sunday, May 10, 2015

THE SEVENTH RING OF SATURN- ORMYTHOLOGY CD (US 2015)

TSROS is a band from Massachussetts in the USA. They have appeared on a number of Fruits de Mer tribute albums with covers of the Beatles, Hollies, and others as well as original songs. The band has made one full length record released on Nusrat in 2007. This CD-EP is all new material (2 original songs) both songs and instrumentals but also includes one cover song of Hurdy Gurdy (an old Danish band) and two others. The CD comes in a very simple thick white cardboard sleeve with two printed stamps on it. Inside is a sleeve with the CD and a white paper with all the details. There are specific notes of how plays what for all 8 of the tracks. The CD starts off with Burning a Hole. This is a happy song sung by Ted (who plays bass on all the tracks) and he also does the guitar solo. I would say the track is inspired by the likes of the Bevis Frond and 60s bands… Teli Teli Teli is an instrumental track with a bit of an eastern feel to it and includes Joe and Ted on sitar guitar. Time to Fly is another good rockin’ 60s inspired track with a the guitar solo mixed well up front (nice..). Karli Daglar is another instrumental track (just bass, drums and guitar). Faces is a more moody track with a cool bass line and nice wah guitar by Jacob Brown. Yedikule is another instrumental again with this eastern feel but not sitar guitar this time.  Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim is another instrumental and features the sitar guitar briefly (does not list it but sure sounds like it) and Jacob returns on lead guitar. The last track is a cool cover of the track Spaceman from the Danish band Hurdy Gurdy! If you are a fan of the band, you will like this for sure… I have put a link below to a great interview with the main man form the band Ted.

http://www.tsros.com     http://www.goldminemag.com/news/artist-news/studying-ormithology-seventh-ring-saturn
Posted by Scott aka. Dr. Space at 1:03 AM

 

THE SEVENTH RING OF SATURN Ormythology CD (Nusrat)

This second album from The Seventh Ring of Saturn is nicely packaged in a hand stamped hard card sleeve with butterfly art and a curly font that's very much in tune with my own sense of visual aesthetics. Based in Atlanta, GA, The Seventh Ring of Saturn's brand of psych-rock cohesively brings together a variety of influences with an international focus. The album features two original compositions written by the band's vocalist/guitarist Ted Selke; Burning a Hole is brilliant ultra-melodic psych-rock with garage and spacerock touches, and even a guitar solo that owes a fair bit to Grieg! A really uplifting song. Time To Fly combines a pop tune and vocal harmonies with a garage punk chug and a raw variety of psych-rock with an authentic retro vibe. The remainder of the album is made up of cover versions, most of which I would think would be obscure to the majority of music fans in English-speaking countries. Whilst these tracks are drawn from diverse sources, The Seventh Ring of Saturn put their own stamp on them, making them all sound like their own material. There are several instrumental tracks derived from Turkish and Greek songs, in which Middle Eastern and Mediterranean melodies are adapted into psych-rock arrangements with a raw garage edge, further augmented by the spacey whoosh of analogue synth. Spaceman is a wild psych-rock track originally by Danish band Hurdy Gurdy, whilst Faces, originally by TC Atlantic, sets a trad folk style melody to a mix of garage, psych-rock, spacerock, and Middle Eastern influences. I'm especially impressed by Ted Selke's own compositions and am very keen to hear more songs written by him, although the whole album is really great - powerful, genuine music, strong tunes, it's all here. Available from www.tsros.com  (by Kim Harten in Bliss/Aquamarine)

The Seventh Ring of Saturn — Ormythology (Nusrat 002, 2015, CD) by Peter Thelen, Published 2015-04-19
Here’s a group of guys from Atlanta who have taken the 60s to heart. Exhibit A: Check out their photo on our artist page – brightly colored nehru jackets, paisley print shirts, and check out the dude in the back with the yellow goggles and the military style cap; they kinda look like they just stepped out of the cover of Yellow Submarine – but they did forget their beads. Exhibit B: Check out the cover of their album; remember when bootleg LPs first started showing up – they all had white cardboard covers with handstamped titles on them, like Dylan’s Great White Wonder and so many others? Well that’s exactly how their CD cover looks too – a gatefold blank white on the outside and inside, except for handstamped artist and title on the front, and a handstamped butterfly and key on the back. Don’t worry though, there’s a song list and infosheet included that tells you who plays what and so on. The proof is in the eight tunes, which seem to be wholly inspired by the late 60s pre-Haight Ashbury psychedelic garage-band ethic, any number of bands that came and went during those years. These guys have a lot going for them, though, including memorable melodies and good vocal harmonies, gritty guitar solos and jangly rhythms on what seems like period instruments and amplification, with a solid air of authenticity throughout, and you knew they would have to use that sitar-guitar effect somewhere, and there it is on the second track “Teli Teli Teli,” and just for good measure again on “Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim” (both instrumentals). “Time to Fly” and “Faces” are two of the more rockin’ and completely memorable vocal tracks here that surely will not disappoint; the instrumentals are interspersed among the vocal tunes, but I have to say that the vocal tunes are their strength, mainly due to the exceptional songwriting and raw energy. If you liked mid-to-late 60s psychedelic rock and still want to live in that space, Ormythology is your ticket home.   (Peter Thelen on Expose Online)

Thursday, April 16, 2015

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn - Ormythology

 

 

 

Photo from the Seventh Ring Of Saturn website.

 

 

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn is based in Northampton, MA but the band has fit in perfectly on a series of various artist compilations released by the UK label Fruits de Mer. In fact, its rendition of  “All The World Is Love” was one of the highlights on the Re-Evolution Hollies tribute album. Like Fruits de Mer, The Seventh Ring Of Saturn loves vintage psychedelic rock, and knows the genre inside and out.
 
Its second effort Ormythology has four appealing instrumentals—especially the Middle Eastern flavored “Teli Teli Teli”—but the tracks with lead-singer-bassist Ted Selke’s vocals are definitely more engaging. Fans of authentic psychedelia will definitely know they’ve come to the right place as he sings mind-bending lyrics like, “Can’t you see she’s burning a hole in my mind?” and “Nothing is what it seems” over the melodic dreamscape of  “Burning A Hole.” On “Time To Fly,” Selke opts for a more garage rock vocal approach as he and band mates guitarist Jacob Brown, guitarist Joe Giddings, and drummer Jamie Reilly unleash an energetic arrangement.
 
“Faces” offers another adventure fueled by an irresistible melody, imaginative lyrics, and Selke’s layered vocals. The rollicking “Spaceman” is an older track with instrumentation that evokes Humble Pie and ZZ Top. Synth player Jeremy Knauff, who supplies the raw vocals, was lost to an apparent suicide in 2012. The Seventh Ring Of Saturn has dedicated Ormythology to him.
 
by Terry Flamm in Broken Hearted Toy


Ted Selke may have moved back to Northampton, Massachusetts after closing his Full Moon Records store in Candler Park, but not before recording the second album by his Atlanta-based psychedelic rock band The Seventh Ring of Saturn. Ormythology is now out on CD and glow-in-the-dark vinyl LP, offering eight stinging jabs of trippy but succinct face-melt including two originals and covers of obscure Danish group Hurdy Gurdy and Minneapolis paisley rockers T. C. Atlantic, but for me the highlights of the album are their versions of instrumental Turkish songs. Seriously, they make up the bulk of the album! Can’t find Ormythology in the local stores? Go to tsros.com/home for info on ordering it.

by Jeff Clark in Stomp and Stammer

THE SEVENTH RING OF SATURN
Ormythology
independent

I first encountered The Seventh Ring Of Saturn through their appearances on Fruits de Mer Records.  They’ve had a crack at the likes of The Pretty Things, The Beatles and The Hollies, but here they are with their own album, a mere eight years after their debut.

Now I would claim it was worth the wait but, frankly, nothing is worth waiting that long for.  However, it is most definitely an album that lover of sixties, left field, psych-pop should be snapping up immediately. There are eight tracks here – two originals and six covers – and it’s also split between vocal and instrumental tracks.  But wherever you drop the needle you’re guaranteed a groovy time.  Now whether that is their late synth player Jeremy Knauff singing a cover of Peter Belli and the Boom’s ‘Spaceman’, which borders on seventies blues-rock, or the nineteen thirties Turkish tune ‘Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim’, they are never less than interesting.

They may not have many original songs, but ‘Burning A Hole’ is a real gem that should be appearing on obscure freakbeat compilations thirty years from now. But you don’t want to wait that long, so just buy it now.

by Stuart Hamilton in Zeitgeist             BUY AT AMAZON
 

The Seventh Ring Of Saturn - Ormythology

Something else. A tasty snack crazy. Was sent to us and it sounds quite nice and is certainly worth mentioning. And with a musical Turkish stimulant even world too.

By Rinconada Ennema

Whether it is real prog rock? No, at least: Not only prog. It has certainly progressive influences, but so are other trends that you can hear on this CD. Seventies, psychedelia, space rock, so anyway: Do not commonplace.

Eight songs are on this album, and with the exception of the first two tracks the numbers do not exceed a running time of four minutes. No epic debauchery so. And then there are also additional covers on the disc: 'Faces' is original TC Atlantic and' Spaceman 'comes from an album Hurdy Gurdy from Denmark and "Karli Daglar' is based on a number of LP Erkin Koray.

But still ... I do not know what it is but the music remains in your head. The songs are played with such passion and commitment that you simply move on or should I find myself that I still hours after listening to some tunes between my ears concentricity. In terms of symphonic rock, prog rock or long tracks with surprises this album is not a high flyer, but if you take away just stamps and just listening to this' we-do-it-on-our-way-rock ... man what tasty!

[from Progpraat - translation by Google]
 

The Seventh Ring of Saturn: The Seventh Ring of Saturn (2007/2013)

Written by Olav Martin Bjørnsen. Posted in Reviews

US band THE SEVENTH RING OF SATURN have been around for a few years by now, although so far they have only released one full length studio album, namely their self-titled debut which dates back to 2007. A production not extremely easy to get your hands on these days I suspect. A lucky few who attended the Fruits De Mer Records all day festival in London in the summer of 2013 did get a copy each though, in a special cd-r version made specifically for that event.

This version of the album contain 8 tracks, clocking in at just over 44 minutes in total, and features lesser or greater edits of the original versions of the songs plus a bonus track.

As this disc unfolds we’re treated to a band exploring a fairly wide territory, where the key aspect is that all of the style varieties are fairly retro-oriented escapades. The majority of the compositions can safely be tucked away as 60’s inspired compositions of the pop/rock variety, with distinct beat and perhaps even The Beatles influences, somewhat naive in sound, with an emphasis on compelling melodies. Unlike the fab four the lead vocals as well as vocal harmonies have something of a sleepy, almost detached character to them however, and as far as phases are concerned we’re dealing with a band more familiar with the later, psychedelic oriented escapades of the Liverpudlians rather than their earlier and more easily accessible material.

We’re also treated to a slight variation of this stylistic expression in the short, compact song Sour Milk Sea, this piece one that share many similar traits but with a darker tonal range and a much more distinct blues-oriented sound to it.

More radically different are The Cassini Division, basically an 8 minute long psychedelic and cosmic freakout construction fairly dramatic in expression, and the even longer The Milky Way, which might be described as the longer, ambient alternative in the less coherent, improvised sounding department with it’s slower and more careful surging, droning and fluctuating instrument patterns. Complete with a frail flute motif that comes and goes. These constellations aren’t exactly my cup of psychedelic beverage, but those who enjoy material of that kind will find a lot to be intrigued about there.

Further expanding the scope of this album, and my favorite pick by far as well, is the instrumental Yedikule. Darker and grittier in sound, initially with a dark toned riff supporting a distinctly psychedelic guitar solo and then developing into a less coherent dual layered psych-dripping guitar solo run with a distinct improvisational tinge to it, reassembling in more or less the opening arrangement again prior to the end. A truly engaging piece of music to my ears, and a clear album highlight for me as previously mentioned.

Still, as the more chaotic, seemingly unstructured improvisational constructions makes out just under half of the playtime of this edition of the album, a taste for material of that kind will most likely be needed. If you also have a taste for 60’s oriented psychedelic pop/rock with tendencies that can be traced back to good, old The Beatles, this is an album that you probably should try to get your hands on. And of this 2013 edition is out of reach, as it will be for most, there’s always the 2007 original version that can possibly be tracked down.
 

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The Seventh Ring of Saturn ~ 2013 promo CD reissue of first album 
Knowing them from their contributions/interpretations on Fruits de Mer Records releases (Keep Off the Grass/ Sorrow’s Children/ The White EP/ The Crabs Sell Out.../ Re-Evolution...) and having in mind their quote “...Saturn play Rembetika Rock, overdriven psych-pop, psychedelic Anatolian blues-wailing and more), I was really anxious about their next step. This is a limited reissue (originally released in 2007) promotional item with alternate mixes and an outtake, given to the first 150 customers through the door of Borderline London for the summer Fruits de Mer All Dayer (10/8/2013). Unfortunately I wasn’t there, but I have friends in High Places (thanks Keith!), but let’s focus on the music of this CD. “In Time” with it’s Beatle-ish harmony vocals urge us to get out in the Sun. Sun is Good. Let’s stay out for a while with “Colonel Green” , west-coast L.A. feeling, a blend of Byrds and Lemon Pipers to name a few. “Yedikule” is an old prison, built during the Byzantine Years in Salonica, Greece, employed by the Turks... “Yedikule” is also an old Greek Rebetiko song written by Vangelis Papazoglou in 1935. This cover version uses the same main melody and the same riffs but with a heavy-psych 60s approach including acid guitar licks and a slight Middle Eastern feeling! “Sour Milk Sea” welcomes Jerry in the Sun. Come on in Jerry. Bring The Dead along. Is that Cipollina at the far back fooling around with his Gibson? The song was written by George Harrison in early 1968 and released by Jackie Lomax through Apple Records. “Alice Sunshine” indicates a nice Sun in Frisco too! Let’s cross Golden Gate Bridge and meet The Beatles. There’s a Human Be-In somewhere there! “Pillsbury Palace” makes the Sun darker. Sun rays are transmitting acid psychness while the band sings in full melancholy “... we’ll wait for the sunshine...” It seems that there was some time left in the studio , so Ted Selke exhorted: Let’s Experiment! Let’s Play With Sounds! Let’s Explore new territories... The result is 2 experimental tracks, the hazy “The Cassini Division” and the psychedelic creepy “The Milky Way”. It’s getting hotter. Is that the Sun? It must be... You can view the Sun from The Seventh Ring of Saturn and it’s incredibly amazing!
 
TimeLord Michalis in Timemazine Spring 2014

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The Seventh Ring of Saturn @ TT the Bear’s: This psychedelic group took the audience on a trip to the outer reaches of space and time, Saturn and the 1960's all in one performance. Talk about fuel efficiency! Hopefully those of you who followed them on the journey have returned, ’cause, like, it’s only Thursday.
-- Alex Schab (in Dig Boston - August 2011)

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"With it's acid-inspired (if not induced!) cover art, were it LP sized you might at first glance mistake the debut album from The Seventh Ring of Saturn for some obscure '60's artifact, and indeed the seven selections - referencing the more kaleidoscopic, chiming psych-folk moments of The Byrds and Beatles as well as expeditions into denser trip-prog and zone-out territory - offer little reason to doubt that assumption. It's the latest group from local multi-instrumentalist and record retailer Ted Selke, but while we've grown accustomed to hearing Ted in a supporting role in his many groups over the eons (including but not limited to Joybang!, Arms Akimbo and the pre-Black Mr. Crowe's Garden, not to mention a drumming stint in short-lived Massachusetts band Yellow Dog Contract in the mid-80's alongside future Jane's Addiction member Eric Avery…), Seventh Ring finds him stepping front and center. Four of the CD's tracks were composed by Selke, alongside covers of George Harrison and Vangelis [Papazoglu]…
-- Jeff Clark (in Stomp and Stammer)

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Wednesday, July 07, 2010      
Music from The Seventh Ring of Saturn
Current mood:  amused
Category: Music
 
     Exactly that too, the band named The Seventh Ring of Saturn!
 
     CD Baby is sometimes one of my favorite places to sample "real people" music,...you know, music made out of love for just doing it. The best kind really.  I was checking out listening samples the other day and found this cool little self released disc.  Hidden in a nice cardboard gate-fold slip case with a sort of mandala cover and Pedro Bell-like drawings inside ,....is this new psych/pop album from Atlanta ,GA.
 
       Right from the start you get high quality tunes that would sound perfect on some lost 1960's artifact of that rare era when tunes and experimentation made everything musical magical.  A cover of George Harrison's "Sour Milk Sea" is a bit faster than the original and garage-ish and comes in the center of this album of many delights. A track called Yedikule is a middle-eastern tinged instrumental piece that keeps things varied here.   The tracks In Time and Alice Sunshine would make a nice double A-Side, 45 RPM single for these folks, and are very much highlights with their classic sound. It's funny; Alice Sunshine scores more points for me, being that I misconstrued the lyric as Alison Shine....and I LOVE when lyrics are tricky like that!
 
       Also adding points is that the track Cassini Division has an extended ,jam section in it's center...showing that this band has more ideas up their sleeve that have yet to be explored(hopefully on another album in their future?). The final track is Pillsbury Palace that brings to mind, for me, two things... ONE Cucumber Castle by the Brothers Gibb(only two of 'em ,though...) ,and TWO my local fave band The Swims ,who always have some food reverences in their neo-psych!
 
       I used to rant-on to my (then girlfriend) wife about how it was OK that she liked "big" star's music,...but that the little guy is the best. I said," Because they are doing things strictly out of love"(if they do it right, that is!),and then one day after getting her to go to a Bevis Frond show with me in New York,... she was totally happy with the show and then saw what I meant when we walked right up to Nick Saloman and told him what  great time we had and then we went on to have a nice conversation with him too.  She was totally charmed.   It's not the only way "real people" music is the best.  I just find that totally indie bands are more apt to make better and wilder statements.....because it's originally just for themselves and they are not pushed to come out with an album faster and there's no pressure to please anyone or fit in any genre.  Except of course for the one the band is most enamored of!
 
       Here you'll find a band that has their minds totally in the right place to make a great little psych album that, if not right away, will be looked at as a classic of the modern-psych genre.   Great album guys, let's hear more!     
 
Currently listening: What Did For the Dinosaurs
-- Psychatrone Ronedakk on CD Baby
 
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I was lucky enough to receive this album a few days ago by a band called The Seventh Ring of Saturn. Before even listening to it I was fully prepared to be greeted with a nice heavy dose of psychedelic inspired music. However, what I wasn’t prepared for was its very deep rooted influence in sixties pop/rock, which at first I couldn’t decide whether this was a nice addition to the bands very throwback psychedelic sound or not. After listening to it off and on throughout the week, I’ve really warmed up to it and thus now I figured would be a proper time to write about it.
 
The albums opener “In Time” is actually one of my favorite songs off the album, despite my mixed reactions upon hearing it for the first time. It’s a wonderful wave of sunny feel good sixties rock that really thrives on its sort of laid back hazy vibe. That and I honestly find the riff during the chorus to be amazingly catchy. The rest of the album sort of runs with this theme, although opting to vary it up every once awhile and relish more in the psych side of things. The albums last two tracks are prime examples of this. The eight minute freak out “The Cassini Division” is yet another highlight on the album, which to me is the most impressive track off of it. After hearing repeated songs that were practically all smiles and sunshine, this instrumental piece is almost disturbing to hear as it quickly establishes itself as a very menacing and unsettling affair. The album is then wrapped by a track that sort of combines the bands varied influences, mixing in another improvisational jam before capping it off with a tiny portion that slightly reminds of The Beatles. While I probably prefer the more improvisational explorations that the band performs near the end of the album, it’s a still a solid album all the way through. And for folks that want to take a bit of an intergalactic trip, then this is definitely something that you’ll want to check out.
-- Jonathan Harnish (in Built on a Weak Spot)
 
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"The Seventh Ring of Saturn crafts deep psych rock and pop grooves that could have easily been culled from a long-forgotten cache of outtakes from Lenny Kaye's Nuggets comp., swimming in improv noise and freak-out."
-- Chad Radford (in Creative Loafing)
 
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"The Seventh Ring of Saturn is an intergalactic, subterranean psychoactive experience whose music segues from edgy cacophony rooted in Miles Davis through intense, hard-driving rock 'n' roll rhythms and transcendental vocals like a cryptic spirit at haunt in the darkened recesses of the Fillmore West."
-- Skip Williamson
 
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     As they often say during football commentaries "It’s a game of two halves’", and it certainly is with this glorious slab of vinyl, with side one containing some sweet psych-pop nuggets, whilst the flip side has some very psychedelic spaciness running though its grooves. I guess this analogy may be slightly stretched with the CD now, but hey, I’ve started now.
 
    Opening with the delightful ‘In Time’, the band have a fine sense of melody, the song up there with the likes of Tyrnaround or The Petals, complete with a lysergic coating of perfect hue. Continuing the theme, ‘Colonel Green’, repeats the trick, you can almost see the oil blobs on the wall. After this excellent brace, the band step into covers mode, getting to grips with songs by Vangelis Papazoglu (a composer from the 30’s) and George Harrison. Starting with ‘Yedikule’, the band have turned the song into an eastern flecked guitar workout, the song reaching the inner corners of your mind, an interesting change of pace that lifts the album up a couple of notches. Following on, the cover of ‘Sour Milk Sea’, takes us back to the psych-pop and will have you grooving ‘round the living room.
 
     Finally, ‘Alice Sunshine’ slows everything down, a dreamy slice of neo-psych that presses all the right buttons, with flickering synth and hazy flute adding to the magic. Right, I’m off to get some half-time oranges, see you on the other side.
 
    As though they have undergone some strange mutation, side two sees our heroes leave the planet and head for distant galaxies, with two long deep space improvisations. Opening with a dustfall of electronics, treated guitar, and all manner of scrapes rattles and noises, ‘The Cassini Division’, is a haze of noise that fills the room, the band obviously enjoying themselves immensely. With a brief nod to side one, ‘Pillsbury Palace’ begins in 60’ psych mode, another perfectly formed pop gem. This time however the band have filled the middle of the song with a long intense drone, (sounding more like My Cat Is An Alien than The Beatles), a sound so dense, yet distant, it threatens to engulf the room entirely, turn it up and see what I mean. Then right at the end the song returns as if it had never left, a shimmering guitar solo spreading light as the band finish off in grand style. An away win and no need for penalties
-- Simon Lewis (in Terrascope Online)

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Omnidirectional Music   
 
Is there still a music that knows how to create imaginary, whole worlds to discover, time travels and parallel universes? Yes there is, thankfully and in the cosmology of The Seventh Ring of Saturn the journey is not only fascinating but also a 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' which makes the listener happy, inspiring him to new explorations. It all begins in Atlanta (Georgia) a few years ago, where The Seventh Ring of Saturn released their self titled debut (Nusrat 001) on CD and LP (*). The impact is exciting: from the first notes of 'In Time' they immediately reconstruct the conditions close to the Beatles-ian big bang with a guitar particles acceleration and Big Star's style harmonic evolutions. The map expands and in 'Colonel Green' we are meeting the observations also reported by Dukes of Stratosphear and emissions, somewhat close (also geographically), experienced by Olivia Tremor Control: freakbeat reverberations and eastern spices. But the east of TSROS has a heart that beats between Greece and Turkey and is called Rebetika: the passionate cover of "Yedikule" (Vangelis Papazoglu's composition from the 1930s) triggers the Mediterranean blues with space rock dynamics to explode into a cosmic hymn of absolute beauty. But let's stay on the time machine because the surprises continue with another tribute: 'Sour Milk Sea' studies the creation of George Harrison for Jackie Lomax (Apple single n. 3, 1968) telling a beautiful story in the glowing sea of psychedelia. The same sea on which sails 'Alice Sunshine' driven by a soft wind that warms guitars and keyboards (with electronic veins) to the ignition of the stellar reactor in the journey to Saturn along 'Cassini Division', a fantastic space between the rings where cosmic sounds flow deep and unexpected, free to invent their own Space is the Place. But it's time to return to Earth, the point is 'Pillsbury Park' just before receive the first rays of the sun and offer an heliocentric salutation for a really awesome finale where once again capture the sounds of the cosmos with vocal harmonies, pulsating rhythmics and acoustic fascinations from flute, cello, trombone and didjeridoo. It's all really remarkable about this album, cover included. A project of sonic inventions that launches The Seventh Ring of Saturn in a scene of psychedelic contemporaries (to stay in the US on similar frequencies, thinking of groups such as Sufis, Paperhead and Elephant Stone) absolutely alive and inspired. The great news is that it will not be long to listen to the second album. So, keep the telescope pointed on The Seventh Ring of Saturn!
-- Giampiero Fleba