Halasan Bazar

Halasan Bazar is an experimental psych-pop band based in Copenhagen, Denmark, though their roster and sound sample from more cosmopolitan realms; band members hail from across northern Europe and even Australia, the group brought together in a collective invocation of rock and psychedelia. Led by songwriter Fredrik Eckhoff, the band finds strong points of affinity with the historic outpourings of New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s evolving character as a nexus for similar sounds, excelling most when lines of influence blur under the guidance of Eckhoff energetic vocals and whimsical lyricism. A dedicated crooner, the spontaneity of his vocal contribution is often what makes a song gel on Space Junk. Though the band's caseette debut How to Be Ever Happy was a more tightly wound instrument, here Eckhoff changes gears, taking more responsibility for his vocals as an instrument with their own range. His voice communicates the urgency of Space Junk, the novelty of its occasionally fragile inconsistency and how those equations are balanced. Undeniably more loosely rock-influenced, the album ably unwinds and explores the retro influences of its predecessor, deconstructing the band's baroque past in the assembly of a more impulsive present. "...a wiry psych-pop fever dream that delivers watery guitar lines, chiming xylophones, and appropriately zonked-out vocals from lead singer Fredrik Eckhoff. Halasan Bazar move beyond mere homage territory by vividly evoking the fuzzed-out bliss of a hallucinogenic-induced stupor, rather than dwelling on a chord-for-chord imitation of their influences." -Pitchfork Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.