Important, the Newburyport, MA label that issued this 2007 release by Acid Mothers Temple the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., claims that this is a "very clean sounding" AMT release. They're right; it is. In fact, it may be the best-produced recording by the prolific ensemble in its long history. Fans of the unit have grown used to the speaker-bleeding distortion and bust-out volumes, which have often led to hearing less differentiation on their recordings than is desirable -- even to them. Yet the clean sound on Crystal Rainbow Pyramid Under the Stars is only one of the elements of this slab that sets it apart. It is as innovative as Mantra of Love or La Nòvia, without sounding like either of them. With new vocalist Kitagawa Hao in the spot formerly held by Cotton Casino, AMT are on the verge of moving into yet another realm. Comprised of three cuts, the set is 71 minutes long, and ranges from trademark AMT free-form intensity overload to acoustic dronescape with electronics to nearly ambient folk music and back with new textures and uses of spatial dynamics previously unheard on AMT releases. The opener, Pussy Head Man from Outer Space, is a little over seven and a half minutes long. It's Hendrixian guitar squall right out of the gate, clawing and screaming its way into the listener's skull, adding layer upon layer of speed guru power until it almost bursts. From here one moves toward the nearly elegant, improvisationally astute, and spacy flowing astral travel of the title track.

1		Pussy Head Man from Outer Space
2		Crystal Rainbow Pyramid
3		Electric Psilocybin Flashback