Hamilton-based trio, The Battleship, Ethel are the type of band who live by the mantra of don’t rehearse, don’t practice, just play, play, play. Improvisational music is a tough pill to swallow for many people. Some people just don’t “get� it, or enjoy listening to something that has not been previously recorded, crafted, polished and referenced. But what’s not to get? Get over, and get into it. Formed from the ashes of the Tally Hum Orchestra - The Battleship, Ethel started performing in 2001. The band’s sound draws heavily from the early experiments of improv-psych-rock founding fathers: Neu!, Can and Faust - peppered with modern day influences such as Spaceman3, old-school-Sianspheric and Cul-de-Sac. The Battleship, Ethel are the type of band you come across playing in the back room of your favourite local grimy rock club. At first you have no idea who they are, their music impresses you, you click into it right away, and then through talking with them afterwards you realize they were making it all up on the spot. Awesome!! 61 Mixed Vegetables is a mish-mash of 2004 live performances separated into seven servings of free rock. The sound of 61 Mixed Vegetables is lovely lo-fi, cavernous, psychedelic, brooding, immediate and blissful. The Battleship, Ethel’s psychedelic melee of rock drums, keyboards, organs, guitars climaxes into dust clouds of boombast and mellows into faint trickles of drones, space and swoosh. This recording captures all the squeaks and squawks of performing live - you can hear the bar chatter overtop the music in some parts as the band melts into the background, becoming the soundtrack to another evening of debauchery.

By L Pounds
Jan 17, 2005