Zacht Automaat

ZACHT AUTOMAAT are a duo specializing in home-recordings of eclectic instrumental psychedelic music. They record principally on 4-track cassette using conventional rock instrumentation (bass, drums, keyboards, guitar) followed by extensive editing often resulting in albums in a collage style. They have self-released 15 digital albums on a Pay What You Can basis. Their 2nd, 3rd and 4th were also released by Toronto Label MEDUSA on cassette. The band also self-released their 8th album as a double cassette and 14th as a single cassette. Toronto Label CALICO CORP (Meg Remy and Max Turnbull of U.S. Girls) released a double-vinyl compilation of their first 11 albums in 2013. That record came with a 40 min CD of unreleased material. A first pressing of 333 was followed by a second pressing of 222. Toronto label PLANET OF THE TAPES commissioned and released a cassette album of cover songs in 2015. In 2018 Alicia's Klassic Kool Shoppe released their 15th album, Memory of the World, as a ltd vinyl pressing of 300. The live band has only performed twice a year since 2011 when founding member Michael McLean moved from Canada to Oxford, England. The live band can include Louis Percival (drums) and Colin Fisher (sax, perc, synth) but they have also played as a duo and trio. A show in Toronto in 2017 saw the drummer and organist playing live in Canada accompanying a projection of the bassists performing at home in England. All shows have been Pay What You Can. Julian Cope has referred to them as "Druids".