Deep within the rugged embrace of the Kordun hills, a unique tradition persists that quietly challenges the relentless push for expansion: the annual Bear Stone festival. This year’s fifth edition serves not merely as an outdoor gathering, but as a powerful statement on the enduring value of community and deep-seated loyalty over commercial scale.
The magic of this festival isn’t found in vast crowds or sprawling commercial zones; it is meticulously preserved within a carefully curated enclave. It is a place where the focus shifts entirely from mere commerce to genuine communion.
Attendees seek out the tranquil riverbanks, transforming these natural settings into sacred spaces for reflection and shared experience. The atmosphere is less about transactions and more about connection—a deep, abiding sense of belonging that draws people back year after year.
In an era dominated by fleeting trends and expansive marketing, the Bear Stone festival proves that quality endures. It demonstrates that true success lies not in multiplying reach, but in cultivating a devoted core that values authenticity above all else.
By prioritizing loyalty, organizers have successfully fostered an experience where attendees come not just to watch an event, but to participate in a ritual, finding profound connection amid the natural beauty of the Kordun landscape. It is a powerful reminder that the most resonant experiences are those built on enduring trust and shared memory.
Festival Fiasco: The Clash Between Gorillaz and Psychedelic Chaos at Roskilde
The Roskilde Festival, a sprawling annual gathering known for its massive scale and eclectic musical lineup, recently became the backdrop for a rather dramatic musical standoff. While the main stage was dominated by the legendary presence of Gorillaz, an incident involving another UK psychedelic act cast a shadow over the event.
Gorillaz commanded the enormous Danish festival, delivering a sprawling, career-spanning set that captivated the massive audience gathered on site. Their performance was the undisputed centerpiece of the celebration, showcasing their enduring appeal and musical legacy to the thousands who attended.
However, not all acts experienced smooth sailing. Elsewhere amidst the festival grounds, the UK psychedelic crew, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, were attempting to deliver what promised to be a mind-expanding concert for their fans.
Unfortunately, this experimental performance ran into an unexpected halt. Reports surfaced suggesting that the set was shut down, leading to friction between the performers and festival organizers regarding the space and logistics on site.
The tension escalated when Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats voiced accusations against Gorillaz, claiming interference regarding their planned performance space at Roskilde. This clash between a major international act and an independent psychedelic group added an unexpected layer of drama to what was otherwise a celebratory event.
In 1983, Don DeLillo explored the fractured nature of modern culture through his novel American Blood, using the shadow of the Kennedy assassination to dissect how conspiracy theories shape our reality. Nearly forty years later, Chicago crypto-jam band Curls Ultra has channeled that prescient vision of hallucinatory meaning and spiritual paranoia directly into their debut studio album. The result is a sonic experience that is deliberately deranged, disorienting, and surprisingly gleeful—a true trip.
Curls Ultra doesn’t just play music; they create a twilight realm for the dangerously unhinged. With crude artwork reminiscent of a coloring-book version of a Ghanaian movie poster, their aesthetic immediately taps into the apocalyptic mindset shared by lone-wolf killers and the delusional belief systems they spawn. Song titles like God’s Lonely Man and Nothing 2 Love perfectly capture this mood, dealing with the ineffable glory of ruining one’s life.
But this isn’t wallowing in malevolent darkness. The band—comprising vocalist/guitarist Mick Fansler, SJOD (theremin, sampler, synth), Eric Novak on reeds (including the Chinese sheng) and synth, bassist/backup vocalist Dove Hollis, and drummer Steven Plock—takes this unsettling feeling and transforms it into a hot throw-down. They make dangerous alienation feel like a lunatic communion, turning anxiety into grooves.
Musically, the band achieves this by blending sounds that are simultaneously chaotic and meticulously structured. Their instrumental opening, “God’s Lonely Man,” glides and glistens like the Dead at their most kaleidoscopically crystalline, propelled by prismatic keys and a loose, propulsive rhythm section. While many tracks stretch beyond ten minutes, some moments offer blissful reprieve; for example, the unusually brief “Immediate Problem” introduces blissful synth effects and a clunky-funky bassline, punctuated by vocals that sound like Captain Beefheart battling a head cold.
On the other end of the spectrum, tracks like “Vegas (Mandalay Bay)” showcase Fansler’s froggy croon, lending dusty, piano-kissed ballads a lonesome, faintly demented, yet undeniably touching romance. Curls Ultra draw inspiration from the shaggy psychonauts of the ’60s, sharpening that hippy boogie-woogie rumble for a more dissonant and dystopian age.
They weave in echoes of German greats like Amon Düül II and hints of fellow travelers such as Cul de Sac, finding free-form sprawl in pieces like “Luxury Fragrance” and “TOAD: The Mind Prison.” Interspersed with these deeper influences are doses of goofier jammers like Phish and Ween, adding unexpected bursts of good-time energy.
Ultimately, Curls Ultra rejects simple homage or mere party atmosphere. They create something more majestic and deeply disturbing—loose, surging songs that find grooves in the unbalanced, successfully making dangerous alienation into a powerful form of art. If the poet William Carlos Williams was right when he noted that “The pure products of America go crazy,” then Curls Ultra, as an undiluted American band, are certainly going nuts.
After a period of creative gestation, the enigmatic group Black Bananas is ready to share a journey that feels as expansive as the universe itself. Led by Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux, the trio has officially announced their first album in twelve years, titled Bad Bunch, set for release on September 4th via Fire Records.
This isn’t just a collection of songs; it’s the result of deep immersion and unique experimentation. The entire project was handled by Herrema alongside new collaborators Brian McKinley and Kurt Midness, who were deeply involved in producing and mixing every note. They describe the process as navigating periods of disconnected time, allowing the musical elements to expand and combine in unexpected ways.
“Every time we opened the sessions was different and like the universe expanding so did the tracks and the density of the combinations,” Herrema reflects. “We went about constructing over periods of disconnected time—that was the work. We knew it was done when, after shaping it for so long, there was suddenly this completed fully formed record sitting in front of us……it’s totally done when the magic is real.”
The album features a diverse soundscape, beginning with the standout single, “Turkey Burgers,” a jazzy psychedelic creation that showcases the band’s evolving sonic palette. Herrema notes that this track originated from their earlier studio days but reflects how they have adapted and developed their methods for making music in the modern era.
The sound of Bad Bunch is a testament to evolution, blending nostalgic influences with fresh, contemporary textures. The ten tracks on the album offer a rich tapestry of moods, ranging from the groovy “Nutrageous & Jam” and the laid-back “All The Way” to the more abstract explorations of “Dust Of Ages” and “Cold Bussin.”
Other highlights from the release include songs like “Eddie’s Album,” the playful “Tiny Chewbacca,” and the catchy “Good Pass,” all contributing to a cohesive and wonderfully weird experience for listeners. Bad Bunch promises a fully realized, captivating record that captures the magic of their long creative voyage.
