Exposé Online banner

Margin — Psychedelic Teatime
(Madvedge Records CD 1401, 2014, CD)

by Henry Schneider, 2014-10-29:

Psychedelic Teatime Cover art From the opening strains of this disc you could almost swear that Psychedelic Teatime is a newly discovered Pink Floyd artifact from the past. But this German trio Margin has produced a new pre-DSOTM Pink Floyd album without being Pink Floyd. Make no mistake, this is not a cover band, nor is Psychedelic Teatime a tribute album. The 24 minute opening track “A Mysterious Cup of Tea,” in five parts, is a mixture of instrumentals and vocals much in the style of Meddle. The intro immediately made me think of “Echoes” and the music is a perfect aural interpretation of the cover art. There are even some jazzy influences along the lines of “San Tropez.” In Part 2 there is the lyric phrase “a saucerful of secrets” that lends a new meaning to the words. Eerie Richard Wright style Hammond organ phrases appear from time to time, and the great guitar work is similar, but not the same as Dave Gilmour. After this long piece, the music abruptly changes to an upbeat, non-Floydian pop-psych song “Psychedelic Underground – The Short Trip.” A much longer, stronger, and progressive reworking of the song closes the disc. In between is the outstanding “Landscapes of the Sun” that begins with a vibraphone and acoustic guitar and builds to a beautiful and trippy psych jam paying homage to “A Saucerful of Secrets.” The other track is “Last Exit to Pluto” that starts slow and ethereal, much like something you would hear in a David Lynch movie. Over its 11 minutes it builds to an aggressive Floydian climax. This is an excellent release and I hope to hear much more from Margin in the future.

by Peter Thelen, 2014-10-22:

With the sprawling, five-part “A Mysterious Cup of Tea” that opens the disc, clocking in just shy of 24 minutes, it becomes pretty clear that Margin’s biggest influence is post-Barrett, pre-DSOTM Floyd, in a big way. This sidelong cut nicks the sound palette of the back side of Atom Heart Mother or Meddle without any shame, even recalling Roger Waters’ vocals to a degree, adding some additional stylistic variation in the guitar solos and bass riffage that might remind of same period Caravan. So who is Margin, anyway? From the album credits, it almost seems like the Berlin based project is pretty much the work of one Lutz Meinert, responsible for all the compositions, arrangements, and production, with a little help from Carola Meinert (backing vocals on two tracks) and Arne Spekat (acoustic guitar on two cuts); everything else on the album, plus the lead vocals is Lutz. Things shift gears a bit after that lengthy opener, and “Psychedelic Underground” (presented here twice, once in a succinct 3:36 version, and again as a nearly 11 minute version as the album closer) provides a bit of a lift into a more upbeat space-rock realm, and “Landscapes on the Sky” is probably the high point of the entire disc, launching with a muted vibraphone sound, following up with an interesting acoustic guitar rhythm and excellent vocal harmonies, all with a main melody that will surely find a place in the listener’s memory. The remaining track, “Last Exit to Pluto,” is a very lengthy and spacy instrumental that fits somewhere between all the rest of what’s here: a little More Floyd, a little bit early Tangerine Dream, with some rock outbursts to add color and power to the proceedings. All taken though, with Margin we are definitely caught in that late-sixties / early-seventies proto space rock place. Enjoy!

Filed under: New releases , 2014 releases

Related artist(s): Margin

More info

Latest news

2021-01-18
Asia Minor Third Album on the Way – On January 29, AMS records will be releasing the long-awaited third album by classic Turkish-French band Asia Minor. Released last year in Japan, this will be the widespread debut of Points of Libration. The album features original members Setrak Bakirel (vocals, guitar) and Eril Tekeli (flute, guitar). » Read more

2020-12-09
Harold Budd RIP – Harold Budd, one of pre-eminent American composers of avant-garde and minimalism, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Budd came to prominence in the 70s, championed by Brian Eno on his Obscure Records label, with music that blended academic minimalism with electric jazz and electronic music. Much of Budd's best known work was done in collaboration with other artists, including Eno, Daniel Lanois, Robin Guthrie, Andy Partridge, John Foxx, Jah Wobble, and many others. » Read more

2020-11-20
25 Views of Worthing Finally Gets Released – A while ago, we wrote about the discovery of a "long lost" Canterbury-style gem by a band called 25 Views of Worthing. And now we're pleased to find out that Wind Waker Records has released their music on an LP. » Read more

2020-10-14
Audion Is Back in Business – Our esteemed colleague Alan Freeman has restarted Audion Magazine after a seven year hiatus. The new incarnation is available online on their Bandcamp site. Audion's history goes back to 1984, and included 58 issues up to 2013. Issue #59 is available now, and #60 is in the works. » Read more

2020-10-06
Romantic Warriors IV – Krautrock (Part 2) Is in the Works – Zeitgeist Media, the people who have brought us the great series of documentary films chronicling the history of progressive rock, are working on the second installment of their examination of German music. Krautrock 2 will focus on artists from Münich such as Guru Guru, Amon Düül II, Xhol Caravan, Kraan, Witthüser & Westrupp, and Popol Vuh. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Steve Roach - Live at Grace Cathedral – This two disc set documents one of Roach’s rare live performances, this one at San Francisco's historic Grace Cathedral on June 29, 2007. The natural reverb of the performance space meshes well with...  (2011) » Read more

Gentle Giant - Under Construction – Gentle Giant was at its best when adding polyphonic arrangements to aggressive rock music. Determining who was responsible was merely a scan of the writing credits, where "Shulman, Shulman and...  (1998) » Read more

Il Trono dei Ricordi - Il Trono dei Ricordi – Quite impressive, this. Il Trono is a new Italian five-piece of keys, guitars, bass/sax, electronics, and dedicated vocalist, with a full time guest drummer. They have captured many of the best...  (1995) » Read more

Guillermo Fragoso - Mexxico – Fragoso practices a brand of swarthy, doomy ambient prog that bears the imprint of Peter Frohmader. Fragoso serves up dark, dank soundscapes with a love of low registers, thick textures, and timbres...  (2001) » Read more

Klaus Schulze - Timewind – Next in the Revisited reissue series after Blackdance is Timewind, Klaus’ fifth release, the one he considers his breakout album and the one that brought him worldwide success. Timewind is also...  (2008) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Bushman vs Iron Bloke

More recommendations
The Eighteenth Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival 2019

Print issues