Why another re-release?
The album was re-released on vinyl by the Australian label Ramble Records in 2021. This is the ultimate edition of the album - so why re-release it again?
Because this time what you're getting is the original 2014 Kendra Steiner Editions mix and master.
I remember Bill Shute telling me to "make it as loud as possible".
Bill Shute was the driving force behind KSE and he has published many books of my poetry 2008-2013, and "Stoned Gypsy Wanderer" on CD-R on October 17 2014.
So, mark your calendars - the album is coming to THE SWAMP RECORDS on October 17 2024 - exactly 10 years after the original release! Hooray!
"Several of the album’s 14 songs have a vocals and acoustic guitar driven acid-minstrel quality that reminds me of the Bevis Frond, though like Nik Saloman, A.J. has his own sound. Representative tunes include Amaranth Blues and the title track, plus the majestic C.O.K.E., with its screaming guitar, and I love the trippy, mind-bending effects that augment This is Not New York and Slavia Nova. There’s lot of variety too. I love the jangly yet endearingly dissonant Folk-Psych of Berger. Crown Of Things is a darkly Gothic, droning Acid-Pop song with lysergic guitar lines that weave a snake-like trail amongst the catchy melody. Wine Of Rape is a hauntingly seductive slab of Psychedelic Prog-Pop, with organ, piano and orchestration. There are also songs with a high energy rocking feel, and even some that are whimsically fun. Still Within gushes with spirited Psych infused Folk Rock and ripping electric guitar fills. A.J. goes totally trippy on the equally energetic Whispering Egypt, with its wildly wah’d freak guitar, haunting organ and spaced out mesmerizing vibe. I like the lively, Celtic tinged Veil Of Isis and the bouncy In a Blue and Violet Morning. Iceberg has a stoned, trippy, carnival-like rhythmic pulse, horn section, and jabbing keyboard notes. And Operation is the most different track of the set, having a quirky New Wav-ish rocking feel that reminded me of an early 80s Bill Nelson song. Stoned Gypsy Wanderer is a captivating set of songs which mine the Psychedelic, Folk and Prog realms and are then stamped with A.J.’s own personal touch."
Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations.
"When I first listened to this album, the thing that stood out the most is the wonderfully classic aesthetic to the recording of each track. Yes, there are a variety of influences at play here including psychedelic folk and garage rock. But the constant thread between all of them is an encapsulation of the era to which it calls back. Listening to it is like jumping into a well-crafted time capsule taking you back to the era of bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Doors with a raw sound that lets the elements of each composition shine through whether they combine into the complexity of tracks such as "Wine of Rape" and "Whispering Egypt" or the simplicity of a guitar and voice in tracks like "Amaranth Blues" or "Stoned Gypsy Wanderer." This is the album where you can make yourself a cup of coffee, light up something special, and let yourself zone out to the reverberated guitars and psychedelic aesthetic."
Lars Haur, On The Fringes of Sounds.
"Hailing from Poznań, Poland, A.J. Kaufmann puts his wide array of influences on his sleeve on the multifaceted Stoned Gypsy Wanderer. Featuring a wide array of sounds with everything from 80s-flavored garage rock to rustic psychedelic folk, Kaufmann is in full flight on this record. At times Kaufmann conjures up the weird acid folk stylings of the likes of Perry Leopold, especially on the opening track “Berger,” while at others, Kaufmann rocks out with a surreal and macabre atmosphere, like Robyn Hitchcock or The Dukes of Stratosphear. The best moments on the album are when Kaufmann leans further into the astral folk side of his aural spectrum. Just take a listen to the Pearls Before Swine-like “This is Not New York,” and just try to not get caught up in its spell. Dreamlike and fascinatingly versatile, this is an album that you won’t soon forget."
Ketih Hadad, Record Crates United.
"A. J. Kaufmann is well-known to followers of Kendra Steiner Editions as a poet….he and Doug Draime have issued the largest number of poetry chapbooks of any KSE authors, and I have worked on three collaborative chapbooks with him as well as a joint chapbook, so I not only know his work well, I have worked alongside him and know HIM well. He never fails to surprise me with new angles to his work and his unique and exciting insights. A. J. has also always been a musician and songwriter, and his earlier album SECOND HAND MAN was widely praised for its fine songwriting and eclectic mix of styles. That album was a professional studio production and even had session musicians beefing up the sound. For his second studio album, however, AJK decided to go to the other extreme…..essentially do an album of DIY home recordings featuring the songs front and center and go for a blurred lo-fi mindfry of a listening experience. AJ sent me a link to his bandcamp page, where he was going to release the album, STONED GYPSY WANDERER, digitally, knowing I’d enjoyed his previous album and wanting me to hear this one. Before the first song was half over, I’d hit the ceiling in ecstasy, and when the last track ended, I sent him an e-mail asking if the CD rights to this album had been given to any label yet because if not, IT NEEDED TO BE A KSE RELEASE….and now it is. From the first multi-layered seconds of the opener (which sounds like Robyn Hitchcock on steroids sitting in with Country Joe and the Fish if they’d been doing DIY recordings in 2014), we’ve got a first-rate collection of 14 new and diverse psychedelic anthems…..all with interesting chord progressions and the kind of lyrics worthy of a poet….some have a trippy singer-songwriter vibe a la Dino Valenti or John Wonderling….others offer kaleidoscopic swirling ships of sound in the “Scream Thy Last Scream” vein…and post-60s influences such as Scary Monsters-era Bowie or the Psychedelic Furs are swirled into the mix…along with the DIY genius of someone like Bobb Trimble. Yet knowing AJ as I do, I know that the album is not an assemblage of influences (he hadn’t even heard of John Wonderling when I mentioned the comparison)….it’s a songwriter and creative tour-de-force standing in the musical soil once walked on by the 13th Floor Elevators (they may have even gotten high there) and heading full tilt toward the sun. As AJ is a serious fan of Krautrock and obscure European bands of the early 70’s, I’m sure there’s some heavy Space Rock influences too, but unlike those bands, the tracks on STONED GYPSY WANDERER are relatively short and like a good 40’s B-movie that wastes no time in getting to the meat of the story and the conflict, AJ’s music starts in high gear….all killer, no filler. After getting a copy of this sent to him, Brad Kohler left a message on my voice mail saying, “This new album by AJ Kaufmann is stunning….it’s got many different styles, all equally well handled… it compares to the best things Julian Cope has done.” STONED GYPSY WANDERER, unlike much of what labels itself “psychedelic” today, is NOT a revival work…. it SOUNDS like a 2014 recording and is forward-thinking and forward-sounding, but it has all the independent spirit and originality and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink low-budget raw production and fully-formed-style-from-seemingly-out-of-nowhere that one finds in the best and the biggest-ticket private press psych masterpieces. Had this been recorded in rural Maryland in the early 70’s and been a private pressing, it would have been pirated on a label like Psycho or Breeder and would have become “legendary.” But it’s not….it’s BRAND NEW songs that are timeless from a man who’s a major creative force….perhaps best known so far outside of his native Poland for his poetry, but soon to be equally well known for his music. And I’m told by those who partake, that the album passes with flying colors the ULTIMATE test of any psychedelic album…. And the cover features a stunning original painting from Austin’s JUSTIN JACKLEY….what’s NOT to love!"
Bill Shute, Kendra Steiner Editions.
