Sweet & Honey- Trips Festival 1993

As promised earlier in the week, here is another Trips Festival tape from Japan. Man, they do the hippy/heavy psych thing like nobody else! This one is a cassette from Sweet & Honey, a pre Ghost band from Masaki Batoh. Definitely more in the Hawkwind/Amon Duul overload vein than Ghost's mystical ethereal vibe, this one clubs you over the head with repeating riffs and long jams. Their LP, Live at Your Cosmic Mind on The Now Sound (man, that was a great label, since rescued and reissued by Drag City) was one of the first Japanese Psych pieces I picked up back in the mid nineties. It's goofy Funkadelic style cover was a big hit on 18th and Fitzwater and the jams enclosed were even better, this was exactly what I was looking for at the time. Fantastic long jams and heavy riffs, mumbled barely audible vocals and tons and tons of guitars... Much more heaviness than Ghost and lots more wah wah damage. Alas, that was their only release save for a track on a Tokyo Flashback comp that called them "sweat rock." Nice.

Anyways, in the early 2000s I snagged this live cassette from Eclipse Records. I am not sure exactly if any of these tracks were on the LP, but the cassette definitely has one track that was never released, an early version of the Ghost warhorse, "Guru In the Echo." This version doesn't feature the amazing guitar playing of Michio Kurihara that pops up on the Ghost 7" on The Now Sound, nor is it the ultra mellow recorder driven version on Ghost's Temple Stone CD. Anyways, this one is the meat of the riff and chorus with some killer wah wah guitar dive bombs. Probably my favorite Ghost song, so glad they still play it live. The rest of the tape is equally awesome. Man, I wish I had been at this Trips Festival! Enjoy!

Sweet & Honey - Trips Festival 1993 Bear's Osaka

And remember, Ghost is touring the USA in May:



Tuesday, April 28
San Francisco, CA
The Independent

Thursday, April 30
Portland, OR
Doug Fir Lounge
(w/ Six Organs of Admittance)

Friday, May 1
Seattle, WA
The Crocodile
(w/ Six Organs of Admittance)

Saturday, May 2
Missoula, MT
The Badlander

Monday, May 4
Minneapolis, MN
7th Street Entry
(w/ Baby Dee)

Tuesday, May 5
Chicago, IL
Empty Bottle
(w/ Baby Dee)

Wednesday, May 6
Pontiac, MI
The Crofoot (The Pike Room)

Thursday, May 7
Pittsburgh, PA
Andy Warhol Museum

Friday, May 8
Philadelphia, PA
Johnny Brenda's

Saturday, May 9
Brooklyn, NY
Music Hall of Williamsburg
(w/ Magik Markers)

Sunday, May 10
Washington, DC
Velvet Lounge
(w/ Magik Markers)

Monday, May 11
Chapel Hill, NC
Local 506
(w/ Magik Markers)

Tuesday, May 12
Asheville, NC
Grey Eagle Tavern & Music
(w/ Magik Markers)

Wednesday, May 13
Athens, GA
Tasty World
(w/ Magik Markers)

Thursday, May 14
Birmingham, AL
Bottletree
(w/ Magik Markers)

Friday, May 15
New Orleans, LA
One-Eyed Jacks

Saturday, May 16
Austin, TX
The Mohawk

Monday, May 18
Denver, CO
Hi Dive

Tuesday, May 19
Albuquerque, NM
Launchpad

Wednesday, May 20
Tucson, AZ
Hotel Congress

Thursday, May 21
Los Angeles, CA
Spaceland