Artist description Low-blood-sugar waking dreams and nightmares.

Music Style Experimental/Post Rock/Ambient/Electronic/Psych-Punk/Middle Eastern/Electronic/Trance

Similar Artists Hawkwind, Wire, Gamelan Music, Eno, Faust, Cage, Barrett, Morricone,

Artist History In March 1983, keyboardist Keir McDonald, drummer Robert Wonnacott and the late and dearly-missed guitarist, Josh Sparbeck, formed a band. Unfortunately, Sparbeck left after only a few months (probably sick of hearing McDonald and Wonnacott's bad renditions of Gap Band songs.) McDonald soon found guitarist Jeff Tarleton, and the new lineup began calling themselves Trancegland--by way of a mysterious piece of paper with the name scrawled on it found in Wonnacott's studio. The trio is one of the great unsung heroes of psych/punk music. Their performances were legendary--just ask anyone who was there. After a year of playing gigs around Detroit, Wonnacott decided to join the Army. Tarleton's girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Deb Agolli, was taking drum instruction from Wonnacott became the drummer by default The band soon changed their name to Viv Akauldren and after several months of rehearsal, released their first LP--Old Bags & Party Rags (Akashic, 1985 - Resonance.) It was psych/punk in the vein of Gong. Standout tracks included: Censored, the spaced-out Life Expectancy, and the tribal-Catabolic Blues. But by far the best track was the Can-styled As You Wish. In 1987 the band released their second album, I'll Call You Sometime (Akashic), a concept that pivoted on spiritual themes, The ballad--Along The Way and the world-music groove of-The Chain testify the eclectic nature of the music, but where the band truly shines is at the border between psychedelic (Is This It, Inn'er Current) and minimalist/ambient music (the instrumentals The Maker Of The Sun & The Moon and Farrowbone). The album ranks as one of the unheralded classics of psychedelia. VA's next release was the mini-album Witness (Resonance, 1988). One critic described it as "a Hawkwind biker-rock coctail that slams you over the head and drives Eye Suck and the other catchy, aggressive tracks into your collective unconscious. Throughout this four-year period, the band criss-crossed the US several times playing with everyone from Sonic Youth, The Pixies and Nirvana, to The Flaming Lips, Nick Cave and The Gun Club. Upon returning from a tour of Europe in November 1989, Deb Agolli left the band. This was unfortunate because it marked the release of VA's most powerful and icy record to date--Vivian's Fountain (Resonance 1990). At its heart was a perfect blend of Cyber-Psychedelia and krautrock. Again, ahead of the curve but poor promotion killed this one too quickly. Recorded in Detroit by Mike E. Clark (producer,ICP) and in Nurenberg, Germany, it was finished hours before the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1990 Viv Akauldren did a legendary tour of the UK. It was marked by the return of the original drummer Robert Wonnacott, who also played on half of "Vivian's Fountain." Basically, this album was an anthology of unreleased material ranging from the early days of Trancegland. The songs, Faith and May As Well are a few of the highlights of Vivian's Fountain (Resonance, 1990). A summer UK tour was VA at their best. Melody Maker and NME were raving about the album, comparing it to Kraftwerk and David Bowie's "Scary Monsters". The tour was successful on an artistic level, but not commercially. The record company at the time gave ZERO tour support. In fact, they seemed more interested in vodka, magic mushrooms and Jethro Tull B-sides, than setting up a John Peel session...Oh Well...London was never one of the big rock-n-roll towns anyway. As a result, VA was touring with little product available in stores. Still, despite the record company's incompetent approach (they are out of business now, fuck-off you dutch drunks), VA did receive critical acclaim. One of the tour's highlights was a supporting Hawkwind at the Glastonbury Festival. Another gem was a gig at the legendary Club Dog in London. Audio and Video tapes exist from this tour, but have been kept by Tarleton for reasons still unknown. VA's final gig was at the New Music Seminar in NYC July 1990. After this show no one could stand each other any more--Tarleton's lack of drive for success and control-freak complex, McDonald's frustration from 4 years of touring with little success and Wonnacott's boredom, impatience and apathy for all of the above ended a great band. Tarleton fell victim to whatever and disappeared from the music scene, eventually relocating to Berlin, where he became a busker, and eventually a solo artist for Delerium Records in the UK. Agolli went on to form Hot Footin' Puddin' Pie and then joined Outrageous Cherry. Wonnacott went on to study drums with Tommy Campbell in NYC and eventually formed R.F. Energy--a rock band with influences: Neu, Bowie and Eno.

Instruments Gamelan-tuned guitars, Analog Synths, Tape Loops, Drums, Bass, Vacuum Tubes

Albums Medusa Cyclone, Mr. Devil, & Tangier---split single with Pavement

Press Reviews *** The hypnotic world of Medusa Cyclone began in 1992, following the breakup of legendary Detroit psych/punk outfit ViV Akauldren. ViV keyboardist and Medusa Cyclone frontman, Keir McDonald, wanted to continue the space-rock approach that made ViV famous on both sides of the Atlantic. Medusa Cyclones first release was in 1992 on Manta Ray Fleet, a Detroit-based 7 label started by McDonald and Chris Girard. Although Manta Ray Fleet worked in small runs of about 200, the label enjoyed a strong following in the lo-fi underground of the early 1990s. Early fans included Stephen Malkmus and Mark Ibold of Pavement. Eventually, a split single was released with the lo-fi legends in 1996-- Pavement Dancing with the Elders b/w Medusa Cyclone--Chemical. A self-titled CD---Medusa Cyclone--soon followed to considerable critical acclaim. Standout tracks included: Chemical-a lethal sonic mix of Can, Faust and Wire, Dream House-a seductive narcotic from the same planet as Syd Barrett, and Helium Head, a sonic vortex leading to another dimension. Medusa Cyclones shows during this time could best be described as an echo-charged sonic assault taking the audience to the world beyond beyond. Gigs included support dates for Pavement, Bardo Pond and Cul de Sac. A second CD, Mr. Devil, was released in 1998. The album was a full dose of sonic madness and included The Smith Can the Devils spawn of trance rock, End Cloud an underwater dream on a 90 degree summer day and Invisible World a Japanese gamelan-influenced gem blurring the line between time and space. During this period, things were looking good. Mr. Devil was doing well in Finland and the UK, and had generated chart activity on CMJ. It was especially popular in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. But when NATO began its security action against the Milosovic regime, airplay stopped after a government takeover of the national public radio station. Three years have passed since Mr. Devil and much has changed for Medusa Cyclone. Still, one thing that hasnt has been McDonalds need to dream another record. So he enlisted the help of legendary Detroit drummer, Mike Alonso-- Five Horse Johnson, Speedball, Bantam Rooster plus other Detroit luminaries: John Nash, The Alphabet, Volebeats, Matt Smiths Outrageous Cherry, Robert Wonnacotts RF Energy and McDonalds brother, Gavin. The result is nothing less than Medusa Cyclone's best record yet---ten gems of pure trance/psychedelia called Tangier. ***

Additional Info These recordings are out-of-print but some are still available from Delerium--see link. There will be a new cd released on Smallstone Records in Feb. 2002 see link on website---best, Keir

Location Detroit, MI - USA

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