“Les Trois Amis de l’hiver (Three Friends of Winter)” refers to the three species of plants: pine, bamboo, and plum, which are named after their ability to remain vigorous during the winter months”

This is Li Jianhong, Wen Zhiyong, and Deng Boyu sharing with us the content of one very special heavy jam evening amidst rampant lockdown in 2021 Beijing. The musicians had a lot to get off their chests, and boy did they. This is a spellbinding listen that is perfect for those who like their psych long, ritualistic, free improv’d, jazzy, dark, heavy, and beautiful.

I struggle to really think of what I would compare this to, honestly? They’re put out on WV Sorcerer so that should give you an idea of the kinda psych flavor you’re gonna be dipping into here – a quality label that regularly puts out excellent heavy avantgarde psych music that embraces experimentalism and noisy avenues (such bands with them include Neptunian Maximalism and Dope Purple)

These three dudes really know how to put together a hell of an evening of improv and they invite us along on the exciting journey it truly is. Everything is given time to breathe, expand, grow, develop, just as it is allowed to meld and mix and bind together with the other elements at play. These guys are not in a hurry, because they know they can and will absolutely deliver the goods with beautiful guitar feedback freakouts, spacey floating synth warbles, and just an overall primal, ritualistic sound that also indulges in free and dark jazz. The free improv is strong with this, and it’s oh so well handled. A night to remember.

Definitely check this shit out. Its length can be intimidating but I found it nothing but enjoyable, and hope you will too.