The wait is over...Census of Hallucinations "13" is finally released. The almost legendary British progressive, spacerock, underground psych heroes deliver another stunning album. Sadly this appears to be their swansong but it captures their spirit perfectly. The usual Hillage / Gong comparisons apply but what really makes Census stand out is their unique vocal delivery and stunning songs. We are left holding our lighters in the air and wanting more.

Census of Hallucinations from the UK can now be considered as a psych/prog/space rock legend, since they have released over ten albums by now. The band led by Tim Jones and Terri-B still walk pretty much their own paths that can lead anywhere from beautiful folky music through tight space rock grooves and melodic pop songs to cosmic, hallucinatory and experimental soundscapes. Waylaid on the pathway to Oblivion is their latest double CD offering. The first CD is a great headphone listening experience starting with the spoken narrative/ celestial synth (Dicon Peake) of ‘The World’s Transfiguration’. Tim Jones’ distinctive form of guitar rock makes its entrance on ‘Don’t Do It’. ‘Chariots of Gods’ is a nice contrast with amplified acoustic guitar and the vocal harmonising of Tim and Terri B working well. The pace increases again on an amusing little musical ditty entitled ‘Milk’ concluding with a quotation from The Hollies. This one has already made its way to my MP3 player although I’m not saying a thing to Jim, our local milkman!

There’s a sensitive and atmospheric backing track to a salutary tale of the difficulties faced by travelling people on ’15 Years Time’. ‘Holiday Dreams’ features some lovely guitar arpeggios (and noisy seagulls!) and some more vocal harmonising before ending in jocular fashion with a quick chorus of ‘I do like to be beside the seaside’. There’s also a documentation of the gestation of song about a broken lighter that ends up as song about a ‘Painted Stone’ and this turns out to be one of C of H’s more charming compositions with Terri B once again providing harmony vocals to Tim’s guitar arpeggios.

CD 2 should perhaps be regarded as a bonus with two live songs recorded on a ghetto blaster - ‘Lie Again’ and ‘Orion’ both enthusiastically received! There’s also a ‘pop’ version of Atomic Rooster’s ‘The Devil’s Answer’.

Census of Hallucinations’ music is always about something - it might appear rather haphazard and anarchic at times but there are serious and challenging messages there that demand to be taken seriously (although the band don’t take themselves too seriously!)- making for an enjoyable and eclectic roller coaster of a musical ride. Not the perfect introduction to the band perhaps but there is enough good new material to make the investment worthwhile.

‘Secrets of the Alchemists’ revisits past themes and gets into an excellent groove, serious music with a feel good factor ‘Slinky’ is just as the title suggests with some moody expressive guitar, piano and vibes. ‘Don’t Sing in the Park’ is a variation on one of COH’s themes: ‘It’s essential to be your self in a world where you’re expected to be like everybody else’.( I seem to remember Ray Davies put this sentiment into a song rather well once upon a time but that’s another story). If you’ve got this far you must be intrigued!

So to summarise the 15 tracks are mostly short and snappy, quixotic and quirky In fact. there’s a refreshing and at times spontaneous feel about the whole album, the music really flows and it sounds great through headphones.

Falling A reissue of this much sought after live jam session featuring the members of Census of Hallucinations and Krom Lek. Recorded live in the studio Autumn 2003. Originally released under the title "Essential Stone Premonitions volume 1". This is two of the finest spacerock / progressive bands from the modern era bouncing off each other's energy and vision in a very unrestrained manner. The performance has edge and flashes of genius. This album is well worth having if you are fan of progressive music. Believe me, Census of Hallucinations and Krom Lek will both make their mark in the annals of progressive music.

A combination of psychedelic, festi, folky, and Canterbury, this is firmly a song-based album, even a concept album one might think, with the dual female-male vocals eschewing the Allen-Smyth comparisons of old, in favour of a much more cohesive, tightly-knit approach, with the actual song-writing working a treat. Instrumentally, the band is red hot most of the time, with some great guitar work throughout. But what really takes your breath away is the variation from track to track with so many twists and turns along the way, it's almost impossible to take it all in on one sitting - there's so much happening lyrically and vocally in particular. Probably the nearest comparison is a crusty version of University Of Errors, decidedly more "English" sounding but no less bizarrely structured in terms of its compositions and arrangements. All in all, it's a head-bending album that is actually totally accessible but you just have to take it all in and stick with it, and you'll find a rather fine album begins to unfold.

I do have one small regret about this album. 'Daydream (In the Slipstream)' should be at least 3 minutes longer to allow Tim Jones to develop the brilliant guitar breaks that 'bubble' but don't quite 'erupt' (Is a re-mix of this infectious song in order?) 'The Oats & Ivy Symphony has a more folky feel to it and C of H are never averse to including a few traditional bits and pieces- listen out also for the 'circus' music that introduces the astoundingly monikered sound collage 'Andy Warhol Dancing with Nuns In A Barrel of Paint' (Only the likes of Egg or Hatfield and the North could rival such a title!) 'Orgasmic Hairnet Sandwich' is another example not only of an eye catching title but also of the adventurous path taken by the group as a conversation carries on effortlessly beneath some beautifully counterpointed guitar licks.

However good the music has been thus far the crowning glory of the album (and indeed of the band's considerable catalogue) is surely 'Hard World' with Tim's very 'close up and personal' singing and a suitably apposite admonitory lyric melded with some haunting guitar arpeggios.

Another all time C of H classic must surely be 'To Prodigal's Guide' with subtle guitar work by Tim and touching lyrics by Tony Morland (How about this for a chorus: 'You took my soul and gave me liberty, You took my mind and set my thinking free, You took my heart and gave me eyes to see, You took my love and gave it back to me') Tony was the lyricist with C of H predecessors (the nearly as prolific The Rabbit's Hat). Tony's talent was sadly lost to the music scene this year and '7th Heaven' is dedicated to his memory.

Tony also writes the lyrics to another memorable piece of music 'The Sun is Rising' with its great lead guitar lines and jazz/ soul feel. As always Terri~B's vocals, sampling and effects contribute considerably to keeping the music experimental and unpredictable at times like the unnerving music and dialogue about being thrashed with a nettle on the aforementioned 'Andy Warhol'. We won't ask what that is all about!

Once again Census of Hallucinations manages to combine beautiful and challenging songs with 'tales of the unexpected'! As it says on the sleeve 'Onwards and Upwards'!

The Sixth Sense is the latest release from England's Census of Hallucinations; unbelievably, it's their sixth full-length CD in 2 years! But if fans were expecting more of the loopy weirdness, wacky political humor, and great song writing from the last five CoH releases, they will be in for a bit of a shock,. The Sixth Sense is a definite departure; a far more low-key, jazzy, ambient, and mostly instrumental album. While Gong and Steve Hillage influences abound, Tim Jones and his co-horts don't just rehash what has come before. We've come to expect more from them, and we get it. Nozy Parker sounds like Gong running headlong into a west coast bland out, Tom Scott's L.A. Express on acid, if you will. Tim Jones gives us some superb jazzy stylings on the electric guitar. Floating Away could have easily nicked a title from The Orb's debut album. With it's dreamy synths and space vocals, coupled with softly picked guitar, Spanish Castles in Space would have seemed a more appropriate title for this song than the piece The Orb used it for. Much of the rest of album is similar to the ambient breaks on previous CoH albums, such as the sound effects laden trance of Organic and the gentle, lullaby melody of Circus, though the band does pick up the pace a little bit for the almost danceable electronica of Where?.

A couple of tracks that break the mould here are the only two "songs" on the album, both purely acoustic cover tunes. CoH turn The Beatles' Yellow Submarine into a sort of little skiffle song, and they take a nice, raw bluesy turn on Status Quo's In My Chair . The final track, Opening the Trapdoor to Outerspace , is the most minimalist thing that CofH have done. It's almost an ambient dub piece, with very subtle shadings of deep space electronics.

There's nothing as wilfully weird on The Sixth Sense as there was on previous CoH albums, but it does seem like a more focused effort, less cluttered than earlier works. At any rate, the band continues to explore new territory. It will be interesting to hear where their explorations take them next time.

Seeing Things is a collection of previously unreleased mixes & out takes from the first four Census Of Hallucinations albums. Heavily influenced by a lot of spacerock bands, especially the approach taken by the likes of The Ozric Tentacles who encompass so many other styles in their music. Raised on a diet of Gong, Steve Hillage, Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine, Caravan, Hawkwind, Kraan, Atomic Rooster and so on. They have absorbed the influences of all they have been exposed to like a sponge and created something unique, with elements of those spacerock / psych / Progressive bands that we know and love.

The  third Census of  Hallucinations album opens with a sea of ringing guitars, ethereal flute and heavenly wordless vocals, leading you to think there's a whole album of this sort of thing, all a bit Gong-like, a state of play verified by the brief spoken word that follows, before the next song arrives, an acoustic led tune with multi-vocals and samples, the subject matter and arrangements furthering the feel of some Daevid Allen style of things, with an almost early Bowie tinge to the male vocals, and all quite engaging in a stiff-upper-lip British kind of way, yet politically aware and all the better for it. The next few tracks are more synth-led pieces with plenty of soaring layers and all continuing the feel and to a small extent the atmosphere of early Gong, or Ash Ra Tempel.  The album is is full of funky, totally cosmic dance and awesome space electronics. At times it drifts into what appears to be random weirdness but all in all, as a psychedelic set of songs and instrumentals goes, this is a treat.

The music on Opus 2 has a powerful drifting quality. Much of it is like light progressive rock but its ethereal nature gives it a psychedelic edge. The keyboards glide smoothly in the background as the guitar jams along. Tim Jones is a great guitarist but you have to listen closely to pick out all the impressive playing scattered throughout this album. And the vocals, of course, are gorgeous. Tim and Terri as individuals are wonderful singers, but as a pair they're hypnotic. One of the things that make Stone Premonitions projects with Tim and Terri at the center so magical is their ability to make the "song" the center of their musical palette, while painting the universe around it with music that is spiritually uplifting and truly mind expanding.  This is Hillage era Gong plus a magic ingredient, the source of which is unknown to us earthlings.