Die im vorigen Jahr formierten Soundkosmiker von University Challenged bringen Ende Januar ein neues Album mit dem Titel “Oh Temple!” heraus. Das in Holland zunächst als Multimedia-Liveband gegründete Trio ist eine Art Supergroup aus Mitgliedern von Bhajan Bhoy, Year of Birds, Bo Ningen und anderen Bands. Ihre Musik, die meist mit obskurer Hintergrund-Footage aus dem 20. Jahrhundert daherkommt, rangiert von ambienter Psychedelic bis hinzu kraftvollen, eruptiven Klangwelten im Geiste eines zum Teil weltmusikalisch eingefärbten Krautrock. Die Temple Music- und Black Lesbian Fishermen-Fans unter unseren Lesern sollten sich den Namen dick notieren. Das neue Album erscheint bei Hive Mind und wird über Honest Jon’s vertrieben.

The trio began in 2019, playing shows in Holland, where they gained a reputation for delivering highly dynamic sense-rattling shows, ranging from gentle melodic spinouts to epic psychedelic power jams, all played out against a backdrop of beautiful self-made films. Following the success of their live shows, the collective hit the studio to capture their musical force and spirit for posterity. Many months of hard work and focus paid dividends and the product of their effort is the majestic eight track double album “Oh Temple!”, which was mixed and produced by Ajay Saggar at his Soundation Studio in Holland in the summer of 2020, and mastered by Oli Heffernan at his home in Middlesbrough, England.

This beautiful collection of tracks sees the three artists cross musical boundaries with their bold and accomplished playing to forge 8 unique and mesmeric numbers that weave live instruments, synths, and samples into complex tapestries of sound. There’s a commonality in the artists’ approach to music and they take inspiration from a wide variety of styles and genres – kosmische musik, electronic experimentation, modern classical, pastoral guitar soli, and more. If specific reference points were needed then you could do worse than mentioning Amon Düül, Popol Vuh, John Martyn, Aerial M, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Haruomi Hosoni and The Incredible String Band. But beyond the comparisons, UNIVERSITY CHALLENGED have created and settled into a musical space all of their own.” (Hive Mind)