Press clippings

Earworm Press Release

SUNRAY Featuring SONIC BOOM
Ocean EP
Earworm Records EGS009

The first release of the year for Earworm sees another collaboration between the mighty Sunray and Sonic Boom.

Having previously joined forces for the incredible side-long 'Music for the Dreammachine' 12" a couple of years back, the pair release a phenomenal 13-minute take on the Velvets 'Ocean' which starts with a seemingly faithful take on the Lou Reed gem. However, brace yourself for take off midway through as it takes on a whole new route to the stars. A two-chord drone dream laced with farfisa, Sonic's hushed vocals and Starstreamer and buzzing Moogs.

Released on 12" only, clocking in at a value-for-money 25 minutes, the b-side is equally strong. Sunray's 'I Wish You Were Mine' hits you like an early bluesy spiritualized, and final track 'One-Note Jam' is, as the title suggests, a fuzz drenched, one-chord stomp which closed a recent live show. Incredible stuff house in a beautiful psych sleeve to boot.

Reviews

8/10/2006
Sunray featuring Sonic Boom Ocean EP

Side A is an amazing cover of the Velvet Underground’s Ocean, with Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3 on vocals. Mellow and full of feedback. Nice & fuzzy. Super psych!
Side B’s first track is a sweet little folky acoustic ditty, sounding like it could be straight out of a teenage high school love story. Innocent and cute. Just go on a date with the boy already! The second track is a live percussive psych-rock jam freakout! In the middle it sounds like someone talking on their cell phone, and the yells make me feels as if I’m there! Love it!
(Spidey KFJC Radio US)

New avant-post rock, drone releases 24 Jul '06
Record of the week

The beautiful shimmering cover of the Velvet Underground's "Ocean" by leftfield types Sunray featuring Sonic Boom takes ROTW here this week.
(Piccadilly Records, Manchester)

Sunray Featuring Sonic Boom : Ocean EP
Earworm

The first release of the year for Earworm sees another collaboration between the mighty Sunray and Sonic Boom. Having previously joined forces for the incredible side long "Music for the Dreammachine" 12" a couple of years back, the pair release a phenomenal 13 minute take on the Velvets' "Ocean" which starts with a seemingly faithful take on the Lou Reed gem. However, brace yourself for take off mid way through as it takes on a whole new route to the stars. A two chord drone dream laced with Farfisa, Sonic's hushed vocals and Starstreamer and buzzing moogs. I'd swear you still hear it building even when it ends; one of those tracks which, like the Spacemen at their pomp- you wish would last way longer than one side of vinyl allows. Released on 12" only, clocking in at a value-for-money 25 minutes, the B-sides are also equally strong. Sunray's "I Wish" hits ya like an early bluesy Spiritualized, and final track "One Note Jam" is, as the title suggests, a fuzz drenched one chord stomp which closed a recent live show. Incredible stuff house in a beautiful psych sleeve to boot.
Ltd 12" - EGS09 - £7.99

I went to see the excellent Televise band up in Islington last weekend and it left me longing to hear more Shoegazey / Fanclub-esque sounds. What a bonus then to get this absolute gem in this week! Spaceman 3's Sonic Boom featuring on a simply beautiful 3 track EP / mini album with the excellent Sunray (who I really like). Pop this on and could be 1992/3 all over again! The main track is a drifting, beautifully layered track with wistful vocal elements and beautiful swathes of guitar sound. The two tracks on the B-side are more song-based but retain an ethereal quality whilst taking elements from the Slowdive, MBV, Fanclub and even Mogwai. A luscious record that proves beyond all doubt that this sort of music is due a very large comeback in the near future!
(Smallfish Records)

This is not suprising given that one of the guests on the epic 13 and a half
minute 'Ocean' ( a cover version of a Velvet Underground track) is none other
than Sonic Boom, him of Spacemen 3 fame. It's an enthralling Oceanic sprawl
of the most lovely enveloping kind, featuring an array of Analogue instruments
and guitar, all reaching to achive the highest levels of music that takes
your head somewhere else. The other two tracks are more or less the comedown
to the first one, more stable and simpler, but still heavily psychedelic
and recorded with much heavyness and depth. The last track on the ep is a
seven and a half minute instrumental drone piece based around a single chord,
it's intense and gorgeous at the same time.
(WARPMART, warp records website, July 2006)

The latest collaboration between the mighty Sunray and Sonic Boom. You get a phenomenal 13-minute take on the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ocean’ loaded with two-chord drones, farfisa organ, buzzing moogs and hushed vocals. The B-side features the bluesy Spiritualized-esque cut ‘I Wish You Were Mine’, and the fuzz-drenched ‘One-Note Jam’. Packaged with psychedelic sleeve.
(midheaven.com)

A truly monstrous collaboration that sees Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom on top form once again. Side A takes us into pure Spacemen territory with an extended cover version of the Velvet Underground’s classic ‘Ocean’. It starts out pleasant enough, with Sonic singing Lou Reed’s lyrics subtly over some distorted instrumentation, but before long we’re into psych-out bliss and layer upon layer of feedback is flowing out of the speakers. The B-side tracks are harder to pin down, the first being a folky acoustic number and the second going more into the realm of percussive psych-rock, but no less satisfying.
(BoomKat.com)

Version of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ocean’ that starts kinda similar to the original before stretching out into a 13-minute two-chord epic of blissed out keyboard/guitar repetition reminiscent of early to mid period Spacemen 3.
(Jumbo Records)

A fabulous collaboration between Sunray and Sonic Boom. A killer 13-minute take on the Velvet’s ‘Ocean’, with farfisas, moogs and hushed Sonic vocals – they’re all here. Plus two great Sunray tunes on the reverse, all housed in a nice psyche sleeve.
(e-bay!!!)

Sunray ft Sonic Boom - Ocean
Format: 12" Vinyl
Label: Earworm
Release Date: 24 April 2006

The first release of the year for Earworm sees collaboration between the mighty Sunray and Sonic Boom. Having previously joined forces for the incredible side long "Music for the Dreammachine" 12" a couple of years back, (selling out in 2 weeks) the pair release a phenomenal 13 minute take on the Velvets' "Ocean" which starts with a seemingly faithful take on the Lou Reed gem. However, brace yourself for take off mid way through as it takes on a whole new route to the stars. A 2 chord drone dream laced with Farfisa, Sonic's hushed vocals and Starstreamer and buzzing moogs... I'd swear you still hear it building even when it ends- one of those tracks which -like the Spacemen at their pomp- you wish would last way longer than one side of vinyl allows. Released on 12" only, clocking in at a value-for-money 25 minutes, the B sides are also equally strong. Sunray's "I Wish" hits you like an early bluesy Spiritualized, and final track "One Note Jam" is, as the title suggests, fuzz drenched one chord stomp which closed a recent live show. Incredible stuff house in a beautiful psych sleeve to boot - A mighty collaboration which is expected to sell out quickly...
(Newt Records)

'Ocean' EP

'Retrospective In Stereo' LP

180gram virgin vinyl platter in 350gram sleeve, limited to 500 copies. A collection of previously unreleased material, compliation tracks, singles and demos. A very nice, tripped out, psychedelic romp.
(Tonevendor.com)

'Retrospective In Stereo' is eight tracks of class psychedelic recorded between 1993 and 2003 by electronic artist Jon Chambers. It brings to mind al the elegance of psychedelia's best acts - the Beatles, the Byrds, the Velvets, Pink Floyd and Spacemen 3.

'Incantation' is a demo. It is slightly too long and self-indulgent and sounds like a trippy combination of the Doors and the Spacemen. 'Open Your Mind' is more perky - imagine the Byrds playing covers of songs from the Beatles 'Rubber Soul'. 'Time To Fall' and 'Forever One' are both somewhat Rain Parade flavoured. The latter drifting off into experimental Velvets territory.

Side two opens with 'Shake It' which starts off sounding like the Spacemen and Pink Floyd but finishes as a post-rock number, followed by 'Fire Inside' featuring a sitar-sounding Appalacian dulcimer. 'Hey Little Girl' sounds like Bob Dylan and incorporates a 70s-style flute.

'Fall To Time', the last number, sounds like it was recorded to be played backwards and resembles the more psychedelic elements of the Beatles 'Revolver'. Very cool stuff indeed.
(Anthony Strutt, Pennyblackmusic.com)

Jon Chambers is hailed as a 'disciple of the school of mind-bending melodies' and if this collection of his Sunray project is anything to go by, there is a hypnotic quality to these recordings which suggests a trip back to the 60s. Much of the enjoyment of this album will depend on whether the listener enjoyed George Harrison's Far Eastern workouts on the Beatles later LPs.

Head-nodding is unavoidable on the seemingly endless opener 'Incantation', while 'Fire Inside' follows a similar mantric path with a steady increase in rhythm. Chambers is more direct at other times - the spaced-out romance of 'Shake It' and the gentle folk of 'Hey, Little Girl' are much more arresting songs.

Definitely recommended for worshipers of drone and psychedelic rock.
(Leonard'slair.co.uk)

From the opening sitar-like drones and gently tumbling percussion of
'Incamtation', it is apparent that Sunray's Jon Chambers is a lover of all things psychedelic. That the first track is a demo is evident from the slightly hesitant four-track quality of the sound, but it suffers in no way; gaining something from its warm lo-fi fuzziness.

And so it goes with the rest of the disc - initially pressed only on heavy vinyl, the LP is peppered with the sort of leather-jacketed mysticism which would make Sonic Boom or The Seeds proud; as set out with track titles like 'Open Your Mind' and 'Forever One'. For an album which is a collection of singles, a compilation track and a bunch of unreleased pieces, 'Retrospective In Stereo' holds together well, with a fair quota of jangly chord progressions, tablas and hallucinatory harmonics. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the hipster love-song 'Hey, Little Girl', which is a charming folk number for acoustic guitar and flute.

Anyone with an ear for finely-tuned, home-brewed head music, as demonstrated on the reverb-drenched swirler 'Shake It', the handclap and sitar groove of 'Fire Inside' and the backwards loops of 'Fall To Time' will want to groove along to this collection.
(Linus Tossio, freq.co.uk)

‘Song For Brion Gysin’ Good Vibrations: Bedroom Ambience Four Compilation, Enraptured Records

“Jon Chambers AKA Sunray, who over the years has adorned us with a handful of top-of-the-drawer detuned psyche brainwashing for the esteemed Earworm label, gets all softly sentimental and dozy eyed with the spectral ‘Song For Brion Gysin’ and pops up again as part of the duo Data 70 for a spot of mesmerising drone electronics.”
(Mark Barton, losingtoday.com)

‘Incantation Live’ CD

“One of Sun Ra’s most telling quotes is “I paint pictures of infinity with my music” which must have struck the eternal chord with Sunray’s Jon Chambers’ musical psyche. They’re already known for their Spacemen 3-esque ‘Shake It’ and Sonic-Boom-produced ‘Music For The Dreamachine’ whose tremeloed flick-book pulse was designed to be used in conjunction with Brion Gysin’s consciousness-altering device. Their Incantation CD, however, catapults the listener way back to their earliest days and records their only ever live appearance at the Vertigo Club, London in 1993. They’ve fashioned a giant cosmic watch spring, slowly unravelling with cyclical guitar figures with keyboard wafts beamed from ‘Cirrus Minor’ and the minimal inference of ether-percussive. A 23-minute bliss-out for the seasoned inner-space traveller that works on elastic time.”
(Ptolemaic Terrascope, Issue 33)

“2002 release from UK space/trance merchants Sunray. This is a 23 minute recording of their only live performance from 1993. Influenced by the Space Music of Sun Ra and the electronic experiment of bands such as Kraftwerk, Can and Suicide, this improvised performance combines hypnotic guitar riffs, other-worldly keyboard melodies and a wonderful tabla solo, together with other percussives.”
(The Freak Emporium)

‘Fire Inside’ More Tell-Tale Signs of Earworm Compilation 2-CD

“...Disc two is even more experimental, with synths and noise-scapes aplenty. Southhall Riot keep up the shouty ante, however, and Sunray give the nod to Earworm’s forthcoming Spacemen 3 exclusive...Encouraging stuff.”
(Record Collector Magazine No 268, December 2001)

‘Shake It’/‘Shake It Demo’ 7”

“Second single and first on 7” by Jon Chambers’s psych project Sunray, after the quick-fire sell-out of his debut. Beginning with gently strummed acoustic guitar and buzzing moog, this slow builder will further delight fans of the kind of hazy psychedelic pop mastered in the late 80s by Sonic and Jason Pierce. As the track builds amid the backwards phased guitars, the piece takes on a beautiful ambience of drones and sonic otherworldliness.”
(opalmusic.com)

“Sunray follows his debut collaboration with Sonic Boom on last years 'Dreamachine' with this solo effort. 'Shake it' repeats the same dream inducing soft focus psychedelia of its predecessor, a sublime cavernous cascade that passes between latter style Spacemen 3 and the twang of Jesus and Mary Chain. So tripped out you'll dizzy yourself in drooling ecstasy.”
(Mark Barton, losingtoday.com)

“Simple but hypnotic melodies with cyclical guitar lines and a dazed ambience.”
(apexonline.com)

“With a guitar line vaguely reminiscent of Spiritualized’s ‘All of My Tears’, Sunray’s ‘Shake It’ saunters with the kind of arrogance usually associated with bands much more experienced. Aural pilot Sonic Boom has already worked with this band by re-mixing their last offering – their previous 12” was a whopping 25 minutes long. You know what to expect then. If you’re a fan of top-quality, semi-experimental, blissed-out guitar you will in no way be disappointed with this little corker.”
(Record Collector Magazine No 264, August 2001)

‘Music For The Dreamachine EP’ CD

“The success of Sunray’s ‘Music For The Dreamachine’ has brought the work of Brion Gysin to a new audience. Receiving excellent reviews, radio play in the US and featured on the Channel Four series ‘Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture’, the track is a contemporary underground classic.”
(Beat Scene Magazine No. 40)

“Excellent kraut/trance/psychedelic instrumental CD from British band Sunray. Taking their cue from Sun Ra’s vision of music as a transcendental force, this is a wonderful trip through time and space. Features a mix by Sonic Boom.”
(The Freak Emporium)

‘Music For The Dreamachine (Phase One)’ Sonic Boom Mix 12”

“Sonic Boom teams up with Sunray to thoroughly trip and rip through this one sided vinyl slab. If one can imagine Spacemen 3’s ‘Dreamweapon’ performed by two vintage synths and a tremelo pedal, you are pretty close. The sounds are dense and resemble a high speed repetition of light dancing across your speakers. This is exactly what was intended, judging by the explanation of the music that graces the back of the 12” cover. Suffice to say this release is beautiful in its repetitive complexity and marks a return to greatness for Sonic Boom.”
(Arron Snow, fakejazz.com)

‘Dreamachine Music’ Cassette

“Sunray come across as a hybrid of Pink Floyd and Spacemen 3. The early demo tapes are quite rough but ‘Dreamachine Music’ is altogether more sophisticated. The inspiration for the tape and the dominant piece ‘Music For The Dreamachine’ is a device called the Dreamachine which is a bit like a magic lantern designed to hypnotise the viewer and produce visions when it is spun. The music is suitably hypnotic and very spacey; it is long too, weighing in at around thirty five minutes and split into two parts.”
(Christopher Williams, Adrift In the Ether: The Complete Guide to British Psychedelic Music in the 1990s)