By Laura Turnbull
Surfing the acid wave of San Francisco in the sixties, and probably fresh(ish) from a Jefferson Airplane gig, psychedelia psychologist Timothy Leary set the record straight by turning it sideways. “In order to use your head, you’ve got to go out of your mind,” he declared. So a summer of social bubbles doesn’t have quite same appeal as the summer of love, but with two months of self-isolation under our belts we’re totally up for a trip out, and with Taiwanese psychedelia duo Mong Tong providing the soundtrack it’s set to be one mind-bending journey.
Forget Hunter S. Thompson though, this road trip is more mythical sleeper train than sweaty head-rush. Ahead of the release of their debut album ‘Mystery 秘神‘ later this month, Taipei-based Mong Tong shared single ‘Ancient Mars’, a sample-heavy and surreal cruise through the twilight zone. Full of spooky, synthesised phrases it’s easy to hear the echoes of folklore and superstitions that inspire the siblings’ songwriting. Using electronics to invoke an out-of-body vibe and sounding something like a xylophone being exorcised, ‘Ancient Mars’ really does create ‘something unlike anything else out there’.
Listen to the single here:
Recorded in their home-studio in Taipei, ‘Mystery 秘神‘ is set for release on June 19th via Guruguru Brain, Kikagaku Moyo‘s label for Asian underground music.
In the meantime, find Mong Tong making noise here:
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