Okta Logue, first released nine years ago with an album release, is now an institution in the German rock scene. Their catchy, wonderfully arranged songs bridge the gap between folk, indie and progressive psychedelic pop. On their fourth album "Runway Markings", the quartet has further honed their sound with the help of producer Johann Scheerer.
Philip Meloi is in Italy right now when we get him on the phone to talk to him about his group's new record. Probably also because, but above all because he knows that Okta Logue have recorded a wonderful album with "Runway Markings" - the first on the indie label Clouds Hill - the guitarist and songwriter of the south Hessian band seems extremely relaxed.
eclipsed: You've always been with a major label. What kind of changes did changing to an indie bring to you?
Okta Logue never moved anywhere else. The band's own workspace in Griesheim near Darmstadt in southern Hesse serves reliably as a creative laboratory for a pleasantly modern reading of psychedelic rock. In the office of their Berlin label, singer Benno Herz and guitarist Philip Meloi talk in a good mood about the creation of their third album "Diamonds And Despair".
eclipsed: When you hear your music, you think of waves, surfing, West Coast feeling. Only a few people would bet on a band from Hessen...
Benno Herz: A beautiful association, we definitely like California, sixties surf sound and the lifestyle associated with it - which is admittedly far from our life in Frankfurt or Darmstadt.
eclipsed: You already know America quite well, you were there twice on tour. This is still very unusual for German bands.
Okta Logue are among the positive surprises in this country that could also make it internationally and beyond the "big pond". Already their last album "Tales Of Transit City" has brought it to the US release and at the 2013 European concerts of Neil Young the guys from Frankfurt were allowed to play the supporting program. Her new oeuvre was intended to fuel her success, for it is rare to hear such fresh ideas at the interface between psychedelic and indie rock.
JOE BONAMASSA - Mountain Climbing (5:42)
Album: Blues Of Desperation (2016)
Label/Distribution: Provogue/Mascot Label Group/Rough Trade
www.jbonamassa.com
Even if the master appears here rather stylish than excessive, "Mountain Climbing" bundles all qualities of Bonamassas twelfth studio album "Blues Of Desperation" in a perfect way: Biting songwriting, powerful groove and earthy guitar sounds refined by a top production.
DEEP PURPLE
NOW even more so?!
Eight years Deep Purple have been dragging into the country between "Rapture Of The Deep" and their current release "NOW What?! - the longest span since "Come Taste The Band"/"Perfect Strangers". But the considerable abstinence from the studio didn't let the British hard rock flagship get rusty. On the contrary: The third recording of the Mark VIII line-up is its strongest.
OKTA LOGUE
Old in the heart
