Let the Freak Flag Fly

Let the Freak Flag Fly

Track Listings

1. Five Miles High

2. La La La

3. Bird

4. Soldier's Sweetheart

5. We All Want to Be Free

6. Never Gonna End

7. I'll Be Here

8. Let the Freak Flag Fly

9. Lichen Me to Wyoming

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Forget about the Prodigy Brothers, the new and improved techno U2, or whoever it is that's being hailed as The Next Big Thing in electronic dance music this week. On the debut album by Tranquility Bass, Chicago's Mike Kandel creates loopy sonic tapestries where Grateful Dead-styled world beats meet Terry Riley's minimalist melodies, and driving dance-floor grooves are warped and contorted by all manner of psychedelic tomfoolery. This is sexy, good-time, mind-warping dance music for the raves of 2067-or is that the acid tests of 1967? No matter. Tracks such as "Five Miles High" (an homage, you Byrds fans!) works equally well for both. Jim Derogatis

Tracks:

Five Miles High
La La La
The Bird
Soldiers Sweet Heart
We All Want To Be Free
Never Gonna End
I'll Be Here
Let The Freak Flag Fly
Lichen Me To Wyoming

Amazon.com

Forget about the Prodigy Brothers, the new and improved techno U2, or whoever it is that's being hailed as The Next Big Thing in electronic dance music this week. On the debut album by Tranquility Bass, Chicago's Mike Kandel creates loopy sonic tapestries where Grateful Dead-styled world beats meet Terry Riley's minimalist melodies, and driving dance-floor grooves are warped and contorted by all manner of psychedelic tomfoolery. This is sexy, good-time, mind-warping dance music for the raves of 2067-or is that the acid tests of 1967? No matter. Tracks such as "Five Miles High" (an homage, you Byrds fans!) works equally well for both. Jim Derogatis

Customer Reviews:

before you die listen to this album.......2004-12-16

Amazing! is to humble a word to describe this album I first bought this album back in 1998 and on a first listen it didnt hit me one bit! it has remained in its box until last year when I gave it another go, WOW! this is without doubt a true masterpiece!
I am a producer myself and cant start to descricbe how much love and work has gone into this album,far as im concerned Kandell can die a happy contented man!

Even though the album wasn't well received, I hope this wont put him off delivering us another slice of sonic mastery!,If your in the right frame of mind this album will consume you completely and will be something you come back to time and time again,thank god for Tranquility Bass!

post-rave grooverock classic.......2003-11-11

well, it's been six years since the release of 'let the freak flag fly', and we're all still waiting for more. this album is easily one of the best examples of true fusion in the post-rock sense. mike kandel of the exist dance label struck out on his own to produce a record of epic yet subtle import. most well known for his more electronic meanderings as part of the exist dance collective, this first full-length album from tranquility bass represented a radical leap forward in the direction of so called 'chill-out' or 'ambient house'. nothing since has so successfully fused the synthetic with the organic. sure, there are dozens of rock-electronic hybrids out there, but none of them really give the sense of owning a fully developed sound which truly incorporates the machine with the man (or woman, or other.) highlights of the disc include 'five miles high', sounding like 'around the world in a day' era prince meets cosmic dancer t-rex. 'soldiers sweetheart' is odd. a love song from one man to another man. hmmmmm... the crown jewel of the disc is the transition from 'i'll be here' to 'let the freak flag fly'. the change is so subtle, you probably won't realize the track has switched. this moment alone is worth the price of the entire disc. MR. KANDEL, YOU MUST GIVE US ANOTHER ALBUM. IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG.

WOW!.......2001-01-26

I first heard "Let The Freak Flag Fly" around Spring/Summer'97. It is the closest to a psycho-active substance without being an illegal hallucinogen. This CD has remained in my travel case ever since. The layers of sounds and subtle changes...the almost completely seamless flow from song to song...it almost opens that legendary third eye. Thanks Mr. Kandel, may we have another.

The jams go on...........2000-03-15

I listened to this CD one time and didn't know what to think. I didn't think it was particularly interesting at first, so I put it aside and listened to some other things I had bought at the same time.

A few days later, I had to take a long, long drive late at night. I didn't feel like listening to anything loud and thought I'd give this "Freak Flag" thing another try. It was on a dark lonely highway in the middle of no-where's-ville, with the windows down, the accelerator on cruise control, my wife sleeping next to me, and the volume cranked that the magic of this CD hit me...

"Never Gonna End/I'll be here/Let the Freak Flag Fly/Lichen Me To Wyoming" just goes on so hypnotically long and wonderfully, like a blurry dream of happiness and unified solitude (if that makes since?). So this became one of my favorite "Mood" CD's.

But wait! The story is not quite over....Maybe two years later, I listened to this on headphones for the first time. The sound effects and layers of noise and voices and squeaks and warbles are (maybe) overpowering, dizzying, and creepy. And yet the song still go on and on.

I met Mike Kandal at a Flaming Lips concert last summer. He was such a nice guy. I begged him for another release and he said its coming, but I've seen nothing yet.

Finally, this is a 5 star CD without "Soldier's Sweetheart". But that song so ruins (my opinion) the mix's mood, and I hate it every time I have to push skip when listening.

simply put .....Fantastic.......2000-03-05

I first heard of T.B. on a moonshine records comp cd with is single "they came in peace". After waiting 3 or so years for a full album, i can honestly say it was worth the wait. notable tracks are 2,3, 5(check out the drum work!), and the 7-8 epic "i'll be here/let the freak fly fly". the beats, the instumentation, the vibes, are all slammin in full force-imagine hendrix, the dali lama, and towa tei and miles davis gettin together to jam. if u never get anything else of his, get Let the Freak Flag fly- LEt It Fly!

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