“Get in the van, man! We’re going to Planet Lidders!” That’s part of what the psychedelic savant Jeffrey Alexender wrote in a recent email promoting the new record, Planet Lidders, by Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders, released in late February. And you know what? I did jump in the van.
What’s going on at Planet Lidders? You’d have to ask Jeffrey for the whole story. But I can tell you this: the music being played on the way there was immaculate. I was asked to wear a blindfold on the trip to this undisclosed location, and I was also asked not to share too much about what goes on at Planet Lidders. I will say you’ll want to book a trip there. Hell, cancel your therapy sessions and quit your job. Tune in, drop out. All that stuff that Leary said. Once you get to Planet Lidders, you won’t have a care in the world. Just relax, key into the music, and let Jeffrey and his group carry you away.
But seriously … Jeffrey Alexander is a tireless purveyor of psychedelic music in the underground on the outer fringes of New American Weirdness. He’s been doing this for a long time. So, just trust him. Let him guide you.
The new record, Planet Lidders, features a Side A with some freaky free rock/cosmic jazz fusion that’ll blow your mind. Jeff Tobias guests on the saxophone on Side A, with Drew Gardner playing hammered zither instead of the guitar. It’s the chef’s kiss, as the kids say nowadays. Side B is filled with heady pop, cool-ass vibraphone, and an excellent CSNY cover of “Almost Cut My Hair.” It doesn’t get much better than that.
For those unfamiliar, Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders take the freaked-out improvisation of Jeffrey’s long-running instrumental band – DWLVS/Dire Wolves – into the world of song. It’s heady songwriting, with ethereal jazz and tasty Trad Gras-y blues stomps. The Lidders feature Elkhorn and Bardo Pond members and are currently based in Philly.
As for Jeffrey, the mad professor at the helm of all this action, well, he’s been traveling around the edges of the psychedelic underground for decades. He’s played in several groups, like Jackie O Motherfucker, The Iditarod, and Black Forest/Black Sea. He’s also been a concert promoter, record label owner, radio DJ, tour manager, and curator of international music festivals like Terrastock.
What doesn’t this guy do? Since he’s on the edges of the psych underground, you may not see him front and center. He moves along with the humility and assurance that comes from a deep knowledge of the psychedelic terrain, and he may be behind some of the projects you love, but you just don’t know it – yet.
He’s also got a subscription deal at Bandcamp. If you subscribe to his profile, you get 83 full-length album downloads instantly. Eighty-fucking-three! Come on, man. Since he launched the subscription plan in 2020, the archive series has featured exclusive releases from various projects he’s involved in, such as The Heavy Lidders, Dire Wolves, The Iditarod, and more. New content is added every month because the man keeps creating great new music. Check out the deal on Bandcamp here.
So, what about Planet Lidders? Let me check back in on that. “Plastistone Circle” is more in line with the Dire Wolves-type improvisational long-form goodness, with Jeff Tobias taking us to tremendous heights with his wild saxophone playing. It’s a mosaic of crazed, impossible colors and psychedelic noise that digs deep into your subconscious and doesn’t let go. I mean, come on – this is Planet Lidders we’re talking about, not just some boring outer space stuff like learning the names of the planets in grade school. It’s more like watching Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey while freaking the hell out.
“Crystal Microphone” goes into the heady Lidders songwriting mode, with Jeffrey adding vocals while playing acoustic guitar, fuzz guitar, and electric tremolo guitar. I was surprised by the bluesy licks on the guitar, but it brought some down-home rock comfort to a song that is otherwise a hazy psychedelic trip.
The short, breezy “Mt. Airy Mind” features more vocals from Jeffrey, along with his acoustic and electric slide guitar. Drew Gardner provides the vibraphone on a sweet, gentle track that’s over before you know it and leaves you wanting more.
(Side note: Jeffrey is based in Philly, and the track title refers to a neighborhood in the city where I briefly lived during the height of the pandemic. It’s a lovely part of Philly, feeling much more suburban and away from the more dense downtown. It also is the most well-read neighborhood I’ve ever lived in. Walk around, and you’ll find dozens of little “free libraries” with many excellent books. The neighborhood is a book-lover’s dream.)
“Almost Cut My Hair” is the CSNY cover, a song written by David Crosby in 1970 and featured on the classic Deja Vu album. The original is much shorter than Jeffrey’s longer, jammed-out version. In Jeffrey’s cover, he handles the vocals and electric guitar, while Drew adds more guitar. Jesse Sheppard adds bass, and Scott Verrastro mans the drums. Jeffrey and the Lidders’ version stretches CSNY’s song and takes it to new vistas, slowing it down and squeezing out every ounce of “freak flag” psychedelic groove.
Trust me: Book that trip to Planet Lidders. The album is the geographic center of New Weird America, a place where all the secret histories that Greil Marcus writes about combine into one kaleidoscope of colorful sounds. Dylan’s Basement Tapes are around here somewhere in the van, a whole crate of all that stuff they made, but we’re listening to mostly Jeffrey and The Lidders right now. But beware: Once you make it to Planet Lidders, you might not want to come back. Enjoy the trip.
Check out Planet Lidders by Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders on Bandcamp here.
Support Jeffrey Alexander by finding him on Bandcamp, his official website, Instagram, Linktree, or Mixcloud.
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