Psychedelic? Experimental? New Weird American? Psycho-Jazz? New Age? Actually a little of each, and then some! Gene Tangren, founding member of the AmRep bands Vertigo and Silver Salute again joins forces with photographer/artist and childhood friend Mike Nehl to deliver their third Grackle CD. Not particularly satisfied with the current state of readily available experimental music in the new millennium, Mike and Gene (or as they like to refer to themselves, Hackle & Jackal), began searching for more and more outlandish music. Bands such as Bugskull, Trumans Water, Hokenkeit, etc. fit the bill well. This exposure coupled with their existing love of Syd Barrett, Gang of Four and Jefferson Airplane’s “After Bathing at Baxter’s” meshed nicely with their well developed metaphysical leanings (e.g. Carlos Castaneda, shared UFO sightings and wanderings in the Sonoran Desert). In 2003 they were inspired to form Grackle as an extension of this interest in the eccentric. Their main goal was to create a soundscape so unusual and otherworldly as to propel themselves into altered states of consciousness with no other tools but the music itself. At the same time they were acutely aware of the hilarity and absurdity of such an endeavor. They found themselves laughing until the point of tears at some of their creations. Like its two predecessors, “Third I” was borne out of an ever increasing hunger for extreme psychedelic music. Percussion, bass, guitar, ukulele, kalimba, found sounds and strange vocal renderings are still mainstays of the Grackle Sound, but the addition of piano, sax and horns gives some of the new tunes a distinctly “Free Jazz” feel. Some of the songs are inspired by serious matters and others are just plain playful in nature. But, one thing that can be said about any/all of the tracks is that they are rated “E” for general audiences (or is that “G” for everyone?). Even the backwards and twisted vocals are benign (if not inane) even though they at times might sound ominous and foreboding. Hackle & Jackal do not feel the need to alarm with obscenities or dark subject matter; the music itself is designed to shock the listener sufficiently…