Organized by Camper van Beethoven violinist Johan Segal, Sista Maj is an instrumental psychedelic rock trio with Mikael Tuominen on bass, baritone guitar and sitar, and Andreas Axelsson on drums and percussion, with Segal also on organ, electric guitar, synth and bass, for a double CD exploring sophisticated heavy electric rock, jazz, hypnotic, and space music.
Label: Space Rock Productions Catalog ID: SRP037 Squidco Product Code: 25152
Format: 2 CDs Condition: New Released: 2016 Country: E.U. Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded at Roth Handle Studios, in Stockholm, Sweden, in October, 2015, by Jonathan Segel.
Personnel:
Mikael Tuominen-double bass, electric bass, bass, baritone guitar, sitar
"Mikael Tuominen comes from Kungens Män, a post-rock instrumental psychedelic band, coming from the long-standing Northern European tradition that includes both Krautrock and Swedish Progg. In this band, he played guitar, though he played bass, his first instrument, when he met Jonathan playing together in a composed/improvised group led by Einar Baldursson (Gösta Berlings Saga) for a few specific concerts in Stockholm.
Andreas Axelsson plays mostly in jazz and post-jazz improv and avant-garde groups, such as Lisa Ullén's Group and with Mikael and Gustav Nygren in Eye Make the Horizon. Mikael recommended him to Jonathan for a recording session intended for a record of songs and improvisations that Jonathan was working on, but oddly Mikael couldn't make it to the session, so it took another month before the three got together, this time with no agenda.
Jonathan Segel, an American ex-pat in Stockholm, has been playing violin, guitar and keyboards with numerous bands over the past 35 years, most notably the continuing Camper Van Beethoven as well as his own projects which span the genre-worlds of psychedelia, improvisation, prog rock, Americana, electronica and avant-garde. He has played with artists from Eugene Chadbourne to Fred Frith, in bands from Sparklehorse to (most recently) the Øresund Space Collective.
Sista Maj got together occasionally just for fun, but usually recorded the sessions and some were put on Soundcloud. In October 2015, Jonathan had a week booked at Mattias Olsson's Roth Händle Studios in Sollentuna to work on his own music and generally explore. Of course, Sista Maj came along.
What happened was unexpected. With a studio and with the time to explore, they took their time to explore. The intensity that had marked their previous music in its immediacy was now able to find its way in the build-up. The studio itself had instruments that added to the sonic mix-upright bass, baritone guitar, electric sitar, percussion instruments, a Hammond organ. The pieces range from jazzy (Peony Spies) to electric intense (A Very Heavy Feather), from funky and weird (It Never Ends) to hypnotic (Series of Nested Universes), jam (Like a Diamond in This Guy) to space (Bones of Steel.) The album has an overall dark mood, another unexpected turn, but one that only adds to the heavy nature of the music.
Jonathan mixed the tracks in over a period of several months, while also working on the upcoming Øresund Space Collective album "Visions Of...", as well as various other projects including his upcoming "Superfluity" album, coming out in 2017 on Floating World UK.
Now it's here for you to explore, a Series of Nested Universes."-Sista Maj website