Hamburg’s H42 Records has kept itself pretty busy since the 2013 release of The Flying Eyes‘ and Golden Animals‘ split single (streamed here), and the imprint will take a moment to celebrate its accomplishments as it pushes past the three-year mark next month with a new compilation called Home of the Deer Vol. I. The name of course implies it’s a series with more to come, but either way, the 16 included tracks showcase some of the killer material past, present and future in which H42 has been involved with releasing.

Nothing like starting off with some Mos Generator, and from an acoustic track from Kadavar-offshoot The Loranes to previously unreleased cuts from Mangoo, Daily Thompson, Molior Superum and others, there is much to dig into from there. Release announcement and track info follow, as seen on the PR wire:

H42 Records CD LABEL SAMPLER ,Home Of The Deer – Vol. I’ sees the light of day before X-Mas!

On 22 January 2016 the Hamburg based Label H42 Records is celebrating its third anniversary. Among other things, this will be celebrated with the Promo Label Sampler ‘Home Of The Deer Vol. 1’. From the 14th December, all songs will be streamed for two days till January 22th 2016 on the Bandcamp page (https://h42records.bandcamp.com/album/the-roaring-deer-vol-one-h42-025) of the label. Among them are well-known songs from H42 Records releases such as ‘Raise Hell’ by The Flying Eyes from H42 Records first output in 2013, but also new previously unreleased tracks as ‘The Awakening’ by Mos Generator or the brand new track ‘Supernova Remnant’ of Molior Superum. Best of all, Everyone who stocks up with vinyl from the H42 Records shop (www.h42records.8merch.com), get one of these limited promo CDs for FREE. Do not forget only available while stock lasts.

Tracklist:
01 Mos Generator – The Awakening (Reference Mix)
Previously unreleased – recorded at HeavyHead Recordings 2015
02 Sons Of Alpha Centauri – 27
originally released 2012 on Bro Fidelity Split 12“-Vinyl
03 Lord Of Giant – Dust Demon
taken from H42-Records release H42-006 ‚Dust Demon/Woman 7“
04 Mangoo – Hooks (Live)
previously unreleased live recording – Live at VR Studios 10.04.2012 Åbo, Finnland
05 Daily Thompson – Lo-Fi
previously unreleased – recorded at MountHoven Studios Dortmund 2015
06 The Loranes – Hey You Said (Acoustic Version)
previously unreleased acoustic version originally from ‚Trust‘ 2015 – recorded November 2015
07 Molior Superum – Supernova Remnant
previously unreleased – recorded 2015
08 The Flying Eyes – Raise Hell
taken from H42-Records release H42-001 Split with Golden Animals 7“
09 Enos – Devil Makes Work (Live)
taken from DVD ‚Live at East Slope‘ – recorded 20.04.2013
10 Dean Allen Foyd –Devil’s Path
taken from H42-Records release H42-007 ‚Sunshine Song‘ 7“
11 Black Salvation – Flickering Days
previously unreleased – recorded on the ‚I am Pretended‘-Session
12 Mother Of God – Dark Sun Above
taken from H42-Records release H42-003 ‚Black Ocean‘ 7“
13 Larman Clamor -Drone Monger (Bonk Then Stomp)
taken from H42-Records Release H42-020 Split with Blackwolfgoat 7“
14 Odd Couple – Nightcrawl
Taken from Odd Couples debut ‚It’s a pressure to meet you‘ 2014
15 Coogans Bluff – She Gave Her Life For A Man
taken fromH42-Records release H42-010 ‚Ein Herz voller Soul‘ 7“
16 Alpha Cat – The Last Day Of Summer
originally released 2009 – first time on vinyl in 2016 on H42 Records

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Sons of Alpha Centauri, “27”

Add up all the various limited editions — 50 on purple vinyl, 50 green, 100 purple/gold marble, 120 black, 30 gold/black marble — and Swedish psych traditionalists Dean Allen Foyd‘s new single on H42 Records is still pretty limited with just 350 copies pressed. Some versions are exclusive to different mailorders, and the Australian edition (the gold/black marble) has tweaked cover art, but at the heart of Sunshine Song b/w Devil’s Path are the two songs themselves, and from whatever color platter they might emanate, they find the Stockholm four-piece proffering a charming blend of garage-pop-rock boogie and heavy psychedelic flourish. Comprised here of guitarist/vocalist Francis Rencoret, bassist Fredrik Cronsten, drummer/vocalist Wille Alin and organist/vocalist Erik “Errka” Petersson, as well as guest spots on guitar and a string quartet, Dean Allen Foyd seem most geared to the beginning moments of the psychedelic era — the heavy that was pre-heavy; more Beefheart than Leaf Hound — and it’s an aesthetic they convey naturally, having honed their craft across two full-lengths to date, 2012’s The Sounds Can be So Cruel and 2013’s Road to Atlas, both on Crusher Records.

“Sunshine Song” is a fittingly classic A-side, both in its construction and its sound. It moves and grooves over a solid rhythmic foundation bolstered by added percussion and tosses out hooks in its verse and chorus given all the more flair via tambourine and the freakout waiting to surface. Dean Allen Foyd never go full-force into the jam, but neither would I call them restrained on “Sunshine Song.” They keep a 1967/1968-style pop sensibility to the first half of the single, if one meatier in its tonality, but still come across less stylistically retro than, say, Germany’s Vibravoid, for whom color-tinted glasses and striped pants seem to be a religion. Nothing against that, and it’s worth noting that Dean Allen Foyd and H42 released Sunshine Song to coincide with the anniversary of Syd Barrett‘s death, but there’s still something inescapably modern about their approach, and all the more on “Devil’s Path,” which even as it seems to be nodding at The Doobie Brothers‘ “Long Train Running” does so with guitar tone thicker than one finds from most “vintage”-minded acts, classic though the handclap timekeeping and direction of the song itself might be, leads swelling and receding in the background of the chorus before taking the fore about halfway through underscored by a bassline worthy of being higher in the mix than it is.

Both sides of Sunshine Song seem to be working in a building structure, but the apex of “Devil’s Path” comes across clearer than “Sunshine Song” itself, though a fadeout and the constraint of the format invariably cut short what was a continuing progression. I’d be interested to hear the longer version of the track if there is one, but even as it is here, “Devil’s Path” satisfies both as a complement to “Sunshine Song” and on its own merits. Totaling about nine minutes, Sunshine Song is an unpretentious jaunt into the roots of psychedelic rock that keeps just an edge of modern heaviness to remind listeners to what age it actually belongs. With its foldout artwork sleeve and quick runthrough, if it’s to be your first experience with the band, it should prove an engaging one that speaks to spacious places without getting lost in them.

Dean Allen Foyd, “Sunshine Song”

Dean Allen Foyd on Thee Facebooks

Sunshine Song at H42 Records