Tropicalia

Various Artists - 1967 - Tropicalia: Ou Panis et Circencis
Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Caetano Veloso - 1967 - Caetano Veloso
Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter; 4.5 out of 5

Gilberto Gil - 1968 - Gilberto Gil
Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Caetano Veloso - 1969 - Caetano Veloso
Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

Gilberto Gil - 1969 - Gilberto Gil
Quality: 4.75 out of 5
Tip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Milton Nascimento - 1970 - Milton
Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

I've got to admit, I've been staring this post down in the face for almost two months.  It's not necessarily writer's block.  The Tropicalia scene in late 60's Brazil carries the cajones of any Beatle-boot wearin' prog rocker among the English speaking music set, so it's important, groundbreaking stuff.  These artists' names typically get tossed around the musical hipster crowd, especially with the more proactive efforts of David Byrne, but the fact remains that I've been looking for a few of these albums for almost 20 years.  I'll blame the language barrier.

I've got a lyric sheet in Portuguese, and one in Japanese, and I'm not to sharp on reading either.  Tropicalia is a wild fusion, owing a base in traditional Brazilian music forms, but basically incorporating outside influences in an indiscreet, and often very trippy way.  Now our British and American musical heroes were not lacking in trying to lyrically take down the Man a notch, but Brazil was under the thumb of a military dictatorship at the time, and the abstractly political lyrics actually put Veloso and Gil in prison for a spell, and then exiled to the UK for a few years.  They were saying important stuff, but I don't know what it is, and thus I've had trouble considering each album as a whole.  That's why I've elected to write about the musical tend as a whole.  So lets get musical.

The Tropicalia compilation is about the most definitive that one can muster for a musical form on a single LP.  It probably helps that despite the various artists nature of the thing, it seems that most of it was recorded as an album, with Caetano Veloso ring leading, and Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Brazilian space rockers Os Mutantes, and LSD-drenched composer and arranger Rogerio Duprat making important contributions.  Some of the tracks are just mildly twisted bossa novas, which are pleasant enough, but the key tunes are real mindbender.  I think I've preached the Os Mutantes performance of "Panis et Circencis" as being completely on the level of a "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "Good Vibrations," and I'll second that here.  The Mutantes also help Gilberto hit one out of the park with the Carnival-funk of "Bat Macumba,"  and Veloso and Costa turn in the absolute best version of "Baby," which I think has become somewhat of a Brazilian standard.  Oop! and let's not forget the Tom Ze-led musical concrete pop of "Parque Industrial."

Following this set, Veloso and Gil both turned in their first post-Tropicalia solo albums (they had done some straight-up bossa nova in the past).  While firmly in the cockpit, the musicians could take their spaceship further out there.  These albums are sort of like bouncing signals of Sgt. Pepper off of the surface of Mars and picking the transmissions up again in Rio.  Veloso's LP is lusher, with Duprat's twisted orchestral arrangements taking the Lewis Carroll whimsy side of British psychedelia and putting it up in a swinging Sao Paulo penthouse.  Although Veloso claims he never liked the tag"tropicalia," this album contains the track that gave the sound its name, along with one of his signature tunes, "Algeria Algeria."  Gil had the Mutantes still in tow, and skews a little more acid rock.  This helps since Gil tends to put the emphasis a little more on the rhythm, so you can twerk to more of this if you want to.

After this happy flowering of Brazilian psychedelia, the sound starts to darken (it would morph into 70's MFB style, which you can hear most easily on David Byrnes essential Beleze Tropical compilation ).  The word is that Veloso and Gil would wrap their political messages in poetic double and triple entendres, but they still ended up in jail for bucking the system.  And this is where they recorded their 1969 albums with only vocal and guitar.  That's not all you hear though, as the tapes were then shipped of to Duprat for full psychedelicization.  Gil comes off a little better under such a dark mood, with the first two tracks being among his best and the closing "Objeto Semi-Identificado" serving the listener with a full-on, experimental freak-out.  Veloso practices his English on a few tunes, but makes a perfect two point landing with "Nao Identificado."  I don't know, maybe I just think 'Identificado' is a cool word.

As the two intrepid singers were scuttled off to the UK, we've got this 1970 album release from Milton Nasciemento.  Although a talent equal to the tropicalia gang, he wasn't really a part of that scene as far as I know.  I think he was flirting around with Verve Records, which established a jazz connection which has allowed Nasciemento to appear on more American recordings, so I suppose it was a good idea.  His songwriting isn't quite as effortless as Veloso and Gil, but it's not shabby at all and his voice is absolutely distinctive in a way that few singers can muster.  I enjoy this CD, but I can't say I know much about it other than the sound.  There seems to be little hard information for this one drifting around on the net.  There is a jazzier glide to the sound, as well as a bit more of a band sound here.  It's sort of a transition from the 60's tropicalia to the somewhat spikier and percussive sounds Brazil would produce in the 70's.  You can get an earful of that at this retro-post: http://psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.jp/2008/01/milton-nascimentolo-borges-1972-clube.html

So there we go.  I totally dig these albums - I want to share them - I'm probably not that qualified to talk about them.  Don't let that dissuade you, though, and dive into to some of the best music the world has to offer.  Tell me if you're into this writing format as well.  I may continue with it a bit.

Glaze of Cathexis - 2015 - The Amorphous Infinity

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

The best psychedelic rock album we've sent out into the world so far.  The past few albums have revelled in full-on 60's psychedelia, and that's not forgotten, but with this album, you'll hear a modernized, shoegazed, Sonic Youth-thunking conceptual cycle about the search for, and reclamation of the human soul in the grinding gears of modern society.  It's prog rock lyrics set to compact, catchy ditties brimming with far out drums and wires.  Jazzmasters, Casinos, Les Pauls, Strats, and bizarre Fernandes concoctions all sent into the slipstream for vistas of guitar noise.  Take a tour of the title track, Labyrinthian Alchemy, and Cadmium Glow for the quick fly-by.  Have a listen at Soundcloud, buy the thing for a paltry $2 at Bandcamp (with a vinyl option likely coming soon),  or if you're unfortunately destitute, have a look at the comments for this post.  We need to be sustainable, but we want to be heard!  We may be delusional, but we are confident that we are musical shamen looking for a way to reclaim the soul!

Bob Dylan and the Band - 1967 - The Basement Tapes Raw

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-o-Meter: 2.5 out of 5

It's not psychedelic, and it's not really obscure, but I'm here to pratter away about the Basement Tapes.  I think I found my way towards the 1975 album sometime in the late 90's.  It didn't really do it for me, and I never bothered to find my way to the bootlegs.  Turns out the reason was that the 1975 album has bundles of overdubs, it's missing some key Dylan tracks, and it has several contemporary recordings by the Band (I think I basically gravitated to those Band tracks).  That pretty much took the air out of the affair.  The whole point of the tapes is that it some guys dicking around in a basement with a dog sleeping on the floor.  I guess the powers that were needed to make it "marketable" for a mid 70's audience.  We've got official recordings to prove otherwise now, though.  I'm not a rich man and I went for the two disc version, but based on that I think it's worth your time and money for the six-disc epic.  It's a little counterintuitive here since the music diffused 1967 psychedelia, but when it's this good it doesn't matter.

Tunes like "Quinn the Eskimo" and "Nothing Was Delivered" find there way here finally, and this set ranks comfortably in with Dylan's 60's zeitgeist.  The Band are really just backing the Man, but their input is still indispensable.  No, drummer Levon Helm didn't show up until the tail end of the sessions, but we're best off making due with what we've got.  I've done my own basement recordings (as heard with Andrew Bland on "Paper Tigers," and I can dig just how much inspirational juice is fueling these recordings.  Damned if we could have touched it.  I've been obsessively listening back to front of the two discs, and I can't say that for a whole lot.  It perfectly distilled Americana.

Take the plunge.  The best music needs no qualifiers and we can't be psychonauts all the time.  Still, it transportative sounds, and that's what we're all looking for in the end.  Give it a shot in one of these spots:

Six disc version:
http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Tapes-Complete-Bootleg-Deluxe/dp/B00MXILU3S/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1418399041&sr=1-2&keywords=basement+tapes

Two disc version:
http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Tapes-Raw-Bootleg-Vol/dp/B00MXILUH4/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1418399041&sr=1-3&keywords=basement+tapes

Tony Scott - 1968 - Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Tony Scott was a bop artists throughout the 1950's but he seemed to have lost the plot by the mid-60's. Fortunately, he did so in the best way possible, and stumbled into the sounds of the sitar after a 1964 flirtation with traditional Japanese musicians.  Unlike many of the sitar laden albums of the late 60's, and in spite of the cover art, there is nothing particularly exploitative about this date.  What we get is a great, likely improvised fusion of prime Indian drones and jazz flute skipping a path along more exotic scales.

Featuring only sitar and flute, the general timbre of the tracks are quite similar.  As the cover states, this is meditative music.  Both instrumentalists are masters, however, and the melodic variations speak of a lively duet of gurus on the wild mountainside.  A tabla would have been nice in a spot or two, but these tunes are of a strict duet nature.  I don't know if there's much use going through individual tracks.  I've been listening to this for years straight through and have never really brought my magnifying glass to the proceedings.  All of this flows downstream as a whole.

This album is a fascinating and enjoyable early example of the world's music seeping through Stateside. Tony Scott was a few steps ahead of the game.  This is more Indian than jazz, but Scott's fine flute playing brings just a touch of a midnight, rain-
swept Chicago alley to the proceedings and managed an album that is quite wonderful.

My Bloody Valentine - 2013 - mbv

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Well, it's not exactly obscure, but I'd be remiss not to acknowledge this psychedelic supernova.  I downloaded this in full quality audio, but hit the play button with a bit of trepidation, half expecting a shoegazing bout of "Chinese Democracy."  Fortunately, I discovered an album that I'll have to break taboo on, and outright state that I like better than "Loveless."  I'm not trying to slam that classic at all - it's still a sublime blast of psychedelia echoing from the peak of the musical Mount Olympus.  "mbv," though, is a quantum distillation sent straight through the galactic core.  First off, the production is warm and fuzzy, with the walls of sound enveloping and warming your cerebral cortex.  I could never get through the CD copy of "Loveless" without acquiring a bit of a headache (although I never had this problem with my 180 gram vinyl copy).  I've read a few folks that wanted a bit more treble on this new release, but let's give Kevin Shields the benefit of the doubt - this slacker king has had 22 years to refine his production approach.  The guitars are thicker than ever before and the drums, both real and synthetic, take on a tribal thunk that guards the gates of the ethereal.  My first thoughts were that the songwriting wasn't as solid as "Loveless," but "mbv" moves past conventional rock motifs and is fully impressionistic rock.  Before we get in too deep, let me also express the glorious vibes of Colin O'Ciosoig, who remains at the top of his game with his trademark "falling down the stairs" skittering beats.

Many have already noticed that this album is best considered in thirds.  The first three tracks present themselves as the logical continuation of "Loveless."  "who sees you" dovetails from "only tomorrow," and may be the definitive ball of warbling sound from these aural psychonauts.  The band is lost in the wilderness of time in the middle third, but the results are nothing less than fascinating.  "is this and yes" strips down the sonic cathedral of the band to the core, exposing the divine glide of Belinda Butcher's vocals with the backdrop of only a light percussive pulse and an organ that takes the best from the explorations of Terry Riley.  I think the minimalist influences of Steve Reich and Riley may confound the uninitiated, but push "mbv" directly into the Om.  Meanwhile, "new you" is an enjoyable dead end wherein the band breaks down their essence into a reconstruction of the pop edge of Swing Out Sister or Everyone But the Girl.  On it's own, it would be a disappointment, but it heralds the shift into new territory, wherein the Valentines blow out the core of your mind on the final three tracks.  "in another way" sets up the electronic-fused journey of the future Valentines, while :nothing is" is a punk rock, full throttle take on Steve Reich's phase experiments.  I'm sure experiencing this tribal pounding live would count as a brainwashing.  The best is saved for last, though, on "wonder 2."  This strange drum and bass rupture takes the already monumental "Soon" from "Loveless" 1,000 years in the future.  Fusing drum and bass and rock has never worked particularly well, except maybe for Radiohead's "Idioteque" (and my soft spot for Bowie's "Little Wonder").  "wonder 2," though, pushes into the transcendental, presenting the guitar as a warped, cosmic whale seeking the whole of the universe.  It's instantly one of the band's best tracks ever.

We don't need to compare "mbv" with the band's peak - they are clearly still there.  Honestly, I tried my best to find fault with this album as best I could through the first few listens, trying to convince myself that Shields and crew couldn't possibly match their legend.  The power overwhelmed me, though, and I've kept spinning it in longer and longer loops, cranking the volume to come closer to a true nirvana of sound.  I'll keep Tame Impala in the role of the best straight up psychedelic band in action today, they're still mortal while the music on "mbv" comes to us from another dimension.  I think it's very groovy that age is slipping away as a prerequisite of rock n' roll - Neil Young, well into his 60's, managed some of his best last year on "Psychedelic Pill," and My Bloody Valentine has thrown down a masterpiece without missing a step from their heyday after 22 years.

Get your tunes here:
My Bloody Valentine - 2013 - mbv

Or have a sampling here:
My Bloody Valentine on YouTube

Robert Fripp - 1980 - God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners

OHMYGODTHISALBUMHASTWOCOVERSIDONTKNOWWHATTODO!!!

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

I have a pretty weird perception of Robert Fripp. He most certainly ranks among my favorite guitarists, but I'm not into that much of his main project King Crimson, and even his solo albums tend to sound a bit spotty to me ("Exposure, " anyone?). The gold to my ears is when he's working with Eno, or Bowie, or the Talking Heads (whose leader David Byrne also appears here for one shining track). So, I find this amazing album to be Fripp's shining solo journey into transcendental sound. Much of the album revolves around Fripp's meditative, ambient Frippertronic guitar sound, but there are a couple of serious art rock ringers rearing their heads at the end.

Side one of the LP is completely devoted to deep space guitar explorations. You'll never remember what "Red Two Scorer," "God Save the Queen," or "1983" sound like, but you may very well dig the sonic journey anyhoo. It's of note that each track comes across a bit more menacing than the one before it.

Now I heard a Talking Heads song on the radio about ten years ago that completely blew my young, eggshell mind. I went on a hunt to find the damn thing, and even bought the Talking Heads horrific "Naked" album, hoping it would be there. Turns out that it's not actually a Talking Heads track, and in fact appears on this album as "Under Heavy Manners." David Byrne guest in a long, strange rant about '-isms' and jizm. His band was originally called the Artistics, which many people tweaked to the Autistics, due to Byrne's freaky stage manner. Anyway, this track has me thinking that maybe that name wasn't a joke. Closing out the set is "The Zero of the Signified," which hits us up with seven minutes of afro-beat groovin', followed by another wall of ambient Frippertronics.

I think this album has been greatly obscured by the dust storms of time, but it really does present Robert Fripp at his best, with a fine chaser of David Byrne at his most freaky-spastic. Give it a listen.

Faine Jade - 1968 - Introspection

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

I've had this album lying around for a few years now, but I never really got around to listening to it- I think I found the band's name somehow unappealing. Anyway, that was my loss as this is a first rate collection of sun-drenched psychedelic rock. Faine Jade isn't a band either as it turns out this is a solo LP and that's the feller's name - sort of an opposite version of the Lynyrd Skynyrd - Jethro Tull - Pink Floyd conundrum. As often crops up on this blog, Pink Floyd is also a notable signpost for the music here as Faine Jade's songwriting and vocals were definitely taking notes from Syd Barrett, and he does a damn fine job of it. Still, the thing that really makes this a notable release is that Jade takes the sound of British Psychedelia and executes it as a garage-rocking, awesomely low rent version of the L.A. studio sound. A very groovy sound indeed.

There's not a bummer among these tracks - I try to not just throw around my 5 ratings. If you're looking for a straight up Americanized Barrett fix then you can't go wrong with the great "Games People Play," or "In a Brand New Groove." For straight out rocking, Faine Jade gives you the one-two punch with "I Lived Tomorrow" and "Ballad of the Bad Guys." "Cold Winter Sun" manages to sound like Galaxie 500 20 years before that band even started recording. You'll also find some strong psychedelic ballads on the title track and the "All You Need Is Love" echoing closer "Stand Together." I also find that "On the Inside" comes across as a nice extension of David Crosby's freaky later work with the Byrds. The only track here that might try your patience is the freak-out jam/sound collage "Grand Finale," but if you've got a soft spot for "Revolution #9" (as I do), then it'll all be groovy, yeah?

Really, this album belongs in the Pantheon of top rate, obscure psychedelic rockers like Rainbow Ffolly, July, or The End. In fact, it may be the best of that particular bunch. Faine Jade somehow managed to take pretty all of my favorite stylistic touches of 60's psychedelic rock, and get them all in the same place. It's like he was reading my mind eleven years before I was even born!

The Pretty Things - 1968 - S.F. Sorrow

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

A full-length rock opera that predates the Who's Tommy, S.F. Sorrow is also a prime slice of British psychedelia that works just as well as the best of the early Pink Floyd, or psychedelic-era Beatles or Stones. In fact, this album is a third sibling to the better known Sgt. Pepper's and Pink Floyd's debut. These tracks were recorded at Abbey Road studios around the same time, with Beatles engineer Norman Smith serving as producer. The Pretty Things were a grungier, R&B sweating group, however, and this is by far the crunchiest of the three albums. Fortunately for you psychonauts out there, this is not at the expense of great songwriting and psychedelic flourishes. The lyric aren't quite as transcendent as the best of Bob Dylan and John Lennon, but they are good enough to be a reference copy for tripped out 60's psychedelic lyrics. As far as the rock opera story goes, I have no idea what the hell is supposed to be going on, but just as on Tommy, it doesn't really mater when the songs are this good.

There is no lack of phenomenal songs on this recording. While the opening track is very good, the creepy chanting vibe of "Bracelet of Fingers" is the first sign of perfection. It like the ghosts of the 1967 Beach Boys alternating with a whimsical Syd Barrett punch. I'm also a big fan of the insistent beat and sound effects of "Balloon Burning." My favorite thing here, though, is "Baron Saturday," which somehow sounds like a mid-70's Bowie track on the verses, while vocalist Phil May does a dead-on Lennon impression on the majestically psychedelic chorus. We also get a wall of delayed, Sun Ra-like percussion and short trip into an acid-fried happy land before blasting back into the chorus. Great stuff! For the big finally, there's a bit of full-blown, proto heavy metal on "Old Man Going." An amazing thing about this album is how often the Pretty Things managed to anticipate future styles of music. And before we move on, let me give a quick shout out to the criminally underrated guitarist Dick Taylor, who rattles off one awesome lead after another throughout the album.

We have a few fine bonus tracks here, but I'd be remiss not to address "Defecting Grey." This was a single, presented here in an unedited, five minute version. It's one of the best 60's psychedelic singles, period. It juxtaposes wildly demented psychedelic music hall sounds with wild acid rock rave-ups and pop bridge sections and ties it all together with noise and entertainingly jarring shifts. It's sort of like scanning through the 1967 radio dial from beyond the psychedelic curtain.

Like the other psychedelic Abbey Road albums, the mono mix is by far the superior mix. The stereo suffers from ridiculous stereo panning that dilutes the power of the band and a lack of skill in creating a proper psychedelic soundfield. Chances are a fair amount of you reading this are already perfectly familiar with this album, but it always a nice disc to revisit. If you haven't heard this, you're in for quite a treat - this could be your new favorite album.

Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan - 1995 - Master Musicians of India

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.75 out of 5

One would expect much from a collaboration between Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, two of India's most revered classical musicians, and this album does not disappoint. Shankar is probably the most visible Indian musician to westerners, and of course has done much to bring that music to the West. Khan is the 20th century participant in a family chain of master sarod players (the sarod is a sort of Indian lute) which stretches back to the 16th century. This music is firmly grounded in Indian musical traditions, and manages a rarified mystical aura that only the best musicians can achieve. I'm not sure on the particulars of this set (1995 is simply the tag on my files), but I believe that the first two tracks are from concert recordings in the early 70's, while the third track is a bonus track. Feel free to correct me.

Both the recording quality and the intensity of the music seems to build throughout this album. "Raga Palas Kafi" evokes primordial awakenings, with the string players weaving around each other mostly unaccompanied (some tabla begins pulsing in the last few minutes). There is far more tabla in "Raga Bilashkani Todi," allowing the music to ground itself a little more after floating through the vapors of the first track. It's worth noting that Shankar and Khan manage a perfect synergy, with neither pushing forward too much, but both making their musical identities clear. The third track, "Bangla Dhun," has a much more festive, lively sound, with very defined melody lines and a jolly roll to the tabla beat.

Regular readers of this blog are probably aware that I consider Indian music to be just as, if not more psychedelic, than the freakiest of 60's rock. This album has nothing but the ethereal sounds of Indian classical music, but it is definitely music that speaks directly to your mind's eye. It doesn't get much better than this with two masters performing at the top of their game, so I can recommend it without reservation.

Bruce Haack - 1970 - The Electric Lucifer

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Bruce Haack expended a lot of his efforts on children's and novelty music. Here, he tries to make a more 'adult' album, although the insane concept and sounds keeps it charmingly goofy. I guess you could say that this album sits at a crossroads among the Jefferson Airplane, the easy listening Moog stylings of Perry and Kingsley, and wacked out mysticism. No, that combination doesn't really make sense, but that's probably a good thing for this album. The album's concept has to do with 'Powerlove,' a force that is supposed to bring humanity together and reunite it with the forgiven Lucifer. Word up!

Despite the concept, this album comes across best as a series of great, and very out there, tunes. My favorite here is "Program Me," which really does come across like alien doppelgangers of the Jefferson Airplane playing rubber instruments in a glass moon dome. "National Anthem to the Moon," meanwhile, has a great minor-key melody and "Electric To Me Turn" features some awesome homemade vocoder. "Word Game" is sort of an even more deranged version of what Haack was doing with Miss Nelson. For a dose of pure psychedelic madness, I direct you to "Super Nova." You get your 'powerlove' anthem with "Requiem," although it entertainingly loses focus after each verse, and then ends with a bit of "The First Noel."

This is a pretty phenomenal album. It's certainly unlike anything else that you'll come across. Bruce Haack really was a mad genius. Although his approach and music was extremely different, I feel that Haack must have shared the same astral plane as Sun Ra (I like to think they still do). When I bought this one on vinyl, the fellow at the record store gave me a discount for the simple fact that I was buying The Electric Lucifer.

Ravi Shankar - 1997 - Chants of India

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

I'm still having some problems with my internet connection, but I went out of my way to share this one with you as I've been listening to it regularly for the past five years (and almost daily for the past month or two). Ravi Shankar and George Harrison are certainly not obscure fellows, but this is apparently out of print, so here we are. Despite the marquee names, you won't hear Ravi Shankar's sitar or George Harrison's voice or lead guitar. Still, this is one of the best things that either recorded in their careers. Shankar took it upon himself to arrange a number of ancient Indian chants, while Harrison took on the role of producer and contributes some acoustic guitar parts as well as some instrumental textures such as the vibraphone. This is truly transcendent music - much of the music on this blog may take on additional layers after ingesting a few psychedelic substances, but all this album needs to take you on a trip is a ray of sunlight piercing through your window.

A track-by-track review doesn't really seem appropriate when dealing with deeply religious music, so I won't bother. I will say that the chanting is top notch to my ear, while Harrison's instrumental contributions adds a little incentive for the modern rockers among us. Shankar's arrangements do include much of the East with the chanting and drones, but a fair amount of western sounds show up as well with acoustic guitars and some string embellishments wafting over the music. One session of this was recorded in London, while the other two took place in Mumbai. As such, it's not an entirely authentic Indian experience, but it is as near a perfect musical and spiritual experience as you're likely to find on a physical slab of media.

This would easily make my list of ten 'Desert Island Discs' for those of you that used to peruse the pages of Tower Records' "Pulse" magazine. I've been playing this a lot around my one-year-old daughter as what I hope is mind expanding children's music. This album is truly a part of my life and a very welcome gift from Shankar and the departed Harrison. I hope you will dig it as well.

Far East Family Band - 1976 - Parallel World

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Far East Family Band was one of the absolute best psychedelic/prog bands from Japan, while producer Klaus Schultze was (and is) at the top of the electronic krautrock pile. Even with such strong credentials from the outset, this album is more than the sum of its parts. The two musical forces meld perfectly, with the best parts of their musical identities at the forefront without obscuring the other. Parallel World is how every collaboration would go down in a perfect world (a perfect world that is parallel to ours I would suppose).

"Metempsychosis" is sort of a prelude track, working a tribal groove not too far removed from Schultze's "Moondawn." Schultze's presence is felt even more with his cascading Moogs on "Entering," which eventually crashes head on with the full blast of the Far East Family Band on "Times." Yeah, they're probably echoing Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun" a bit too much, but I'll forgive them as I think "Times" is ultimately a superior track. We then get an extended 'sad Japanese man' psychedelic ballad with "Kokoro." It's my least favorite track here, but the quality of this album is so high that it would be a highlight on a lot of other albums. Side two consists of the "Parallel World" song suite, and of course is not to be missed. "Amanezcan" provides some modular Moog haze, while the band cranks up the voltage into some fine psychedelic funk beats on "Origin" and "Zen." The rest of the album lets the sonic DMT kick in as we're treated to some cosmic sounds that rival those on Tangerine Dream's Alpha Centauri.

Parallel World is one of the best psychedelic/prog albums of the 70's. It's definitely the best the Far East Family Band ever sounded, and it's a high point for Klaus Schultze as well. This reaches farther out into the space rock aether than most of the space rock luminaries ever managed, and deserves the ear of all the heads out there.

Steve Hillage - 1979 - Rainbow Dome Musick

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5


I originally picked up this album with no knowledge of Steve Hillage or Gong. The cover art simply grabbed my attention, as did the title. Rainbow Dome Musick sounds like a psychedelic planetarium to me, which is very appealing to my sensibilities. Fortunately, that description fits the actual music quite well. While Steve Hillage's space rock albums may have had some clues towards this sound, Rainbow Dome Musick is worlds away from those earlier albums. This is an ambient chill out album, with sliding sequencers, watery noises, and glissando gliding guitars. 1979 may seem earlier for an ambient chill out album, but Alex Patterson of the Orb famously DJed his late 80's chill out room using this, and once it caught Hillage's attention, the guitarist ended up both working with the Orb and founding the fine electronic group System 7. It's not a stretch to say that this album is ground zero for an entire genre.

This is music that must be experienced - you will not find yourself humming it as you go down the street. As such, we are presented with two side long tracks. With Tibetian bells, spacey sequencers, Hillage's restrained guitar playing, and the sounds of flowing water, it's difficult to focus on these sounds. But that's the point. If these album clicks with you, it will likely shirft your brain into a more zen state. All I can say specifically is that I'm always disappointed hearing the ting-sha at the beginning of "Four Ever Rainbow" as that lets me know that the album is now half way over.

Those that read this blog regularly are probably aware that I have a soft spot for trance inducing records, and this is one of the best ones to come from a rock background (not that you'll find anything resembling rock here). I would go as far to say that this is one of the albums that got me motivated to start writing this blog. Why it took me three years to actually write about it is beyond me (probably laziness).

Note: The vinyl pressing of this is on clear vinyl. It looks awesome and fits the sounds found in its grooves.

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1979 - Rainbow Dome Musick

Gas - 1998 - Zauberberg

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Back when Tower Records was still thriving in the US, they published Pulse Magazine, wherein folks would have their ten desert island discs posted every month. This album is a shoo-in for my personal ten desert island discs. Gas' music is formally described as 'minimalist techno,' but to me these ethereal loops and minimal, submerged-sounding percussion exist in their own netherworld which defies any easy classification. More than almost any other music (William Balinski excepted), Gas propels my mind somewhere else.

The tracks on this disc are all untitled, but it's probably best to consider the entire album as a single piece named "Zauberberg." We start upon an infinite ocean of sound, which ebbs and flows for several minutes. As the piece progresses, we start to move upon the surface, with beautiful, strange, and sometimes even disturbing images passing through our mind's eye. The tracks build upon a strengthening heartbeat. Maybe it's the sound of the abandoned lunar disko. Eventually we are returned to rest back in our infinite ocean. "Zauberberg" turns out to be a mystical musical pyramid. As listeners, we are allowed to explore the interior in all of its transcendent glory.

This is music that cannot be hummed while walking down the street, or chopped up into representative parts, but it is amazingly visceral. I imagine that if you're trawling around the Psychedelic Garage, you may be in the market for a musical trip. I don't think you'll find one much better than "Zauberberg."

Buy Me:
Gas - 1998 - Zauberberg

Steve Reich - 1974, 1986 - Mallets

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

I have to admit that this is probably my most listened to of Steve Reich's highly regarded body of minimalist works. While I'm often a sucker for lots of strange instrumentation, I feel like composers in this genre are often at their best when confined to a small selection of instruments. As the track titles explicitly tell you what you'll hear, this music fits that bill.

First off is "Six Marimbas." "Under My Thumb" is one of my favorite Stones songs, so it may be no surprise that I have an affinity for the marimba sound. The track has sort of a jungle-like, monkeys banging around sound. At first it may even seem like a new age song, but where that genre would start slathering on the cheeseball melodies, Reich plunges deeper into the jungle with the relentless marimba rhythms. I'm not quite as big a fan of the second track, but it is still top flight Reich work, with the mallet work once again taking center stage as the other instruments add a variety of color. As good as it is, this one more overtly recalls Reich's seminal Music For 18 Musicians (you should probably go here if you are new to Reich).

This is the kind of music that I can listen to all day. It is wonderful as background music, but really starts to shine brightly if you are willing to give your attention to the myriad of texture and tonal variety.

William Basinski - 2001 - The Disintegration Loops I-IV

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

This collection of sounds really rates more as an experience than music. The concept at work here came about purely by accident. Basinski intended to simply convert some loops from tape to digital. Unfortunately (at first), his tape machine was slowly destroying the tapes. In a stroke of inspiration, Basinski simply let the tapes run on to their end, and that's exactly what we hear on this album. No music is really being legitimately played, and we hear only the sounds of slow decay. As a strange coincidence, Basinski converted and thereby intentionally destroyed some of these tapes with the smoke of 9/11 billowing over his NYC apartment (I think I saw a very well done 9/11 documentary that used this and ambient street sounds alone on its soundtrack to account for the events of that day; unfortunately I saw the doc on TV before becoming familiar with these discs, so I'm not entirely sure). Far from exploitational, this drives home the concept of mortality as the tapes degrade. This makes the music potentially depressing, but I find the loops far more intellectually stimulating than simply being depressing would entail. I think it's best to view this as a zen experience as we hear something beautiful fade away into absolute oblivion.

The loops themselves are mostly ambient sounding orchestral bits. Yes, this are intensely repetitive sounds, and just by listening, you would notice little change. If you skip around, though, you'll find that over time there are major changes to the loops until they finally sputter beyond the veil of any defined sounds. The tracks go on as long as is needed for the sounds to disintegrate. The shorter ones run out of gas in about 10 minutes or so, but some of the loops go on for more than an hour. All in all, there are four distinct loops heard in various stages on different tracks

This is the last thing that you're going to grab for your next party, and I would wager than this is best experienced in solitude. If you put in the effort to really listen to these very avant-garde sounds, I think you may find the dividends very rewarding. If you have any interest in ambient drones (like Coil's Time Machines), you very well may consider this an absolute masterpiece. As the rating above suggests, I do.

Popol Vuh - 1971 - In den Garten Pharaos

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

This is a close kin to the previous album, Affenstunde, but Florian Fricke and his small crew did a fine job innovating the sounds they pioneered on that 1970 release. This is widescreen mystical music, finding an awesome balance between the cold, deep space tones of Fricke's Moog and the the warm, primitive percussive sounds. I do not hesitate to call this one of the cornerstones of electronic music. It's not too hard to imagine modern sequencing and pro tool technology rendering this as IDM ('intelligent dance music' for those that may not know), but I prefer this one just the way it is.

The opening track communicates its imagery perfectly, and I always appreciate music that I can describe in non-musical terms. We stand on the shores of the celestial ocean (or Nile as the title seems to suggest) as the god-like entities slowly enter, scouting the land for possibilities and bringing in their royal processionals. Eventually the building block for human civilization are introduced, both figuratively and literally. Reaching into the future, all traces of man are erased, leaving us with only the sound of receding waters. The organ-like, sunburst sounds of "Vuh" follow as our tour of the great beyond. The sounds combine over 14 minutes, attempting to attain that cosmic OM sound (or maybe Vuh in this context). I'm not quite sure how to fit the organ and detuned Moog sounds coda into my tale, but it certainly sounds fine. The bonus tracks here are a great addition, although they definitely do not fit the tone of the album proper. Forming what may as well be considered an EP, "Kha-White Structures" is much more overtly psychedelic and trance-like. My imagery here typically involves the idea of creatures living inside of of your multicolored-DNA who want to teach you about reality (I should mention that I'm not completely making this up - this somewhat arguable idea comes from Graham Hancock's book Supernatural).

We have here music that demands creativity from the listener. That means that you need to give this a dedicated listen to really appreciate it. The imagery it suggests is the gold at the end of the psychedelic rainbow. I'm happy to give this one my highest recommendation.

Buy Me:
Popol Vuh - 1971 - In den Garten Pharaos

Wendy Carlos - 1972 - Sonic Seasonings

The same year Carlos finalized the score for A Clockwork Orange, the composer recorded a double album named Sonic Seasonings; it was a complete turn away from the majestic synthesizer soundscapes and classical inspirations that had marked the movie score. Instead, Carlos recorded large amounts of environmental passages to produce a work that cycled through the four seasons. Beginning with bird calls and a thunderstorm to mark "Spring," Carlos phrases the synthesizers only in terms of the nature sounds heard. They rarely interject themselves, and the result is closer to a nature recording with occasional effects than a synthesizer recording with nature sounds. Of course, there was no precedent for "nature," "environmental," or even "new age" music in 1972 -- Sonic Seasonings was basically the genesis for several entire genres of music two decades later. As part of East Side Digital's Carlos CD reissue campaign, Sonic Seasonings was issued as a two-disc set, including the original LP plus a second disc of "natural" recordings, originally begun in 1986 and known as Land of the Midnight Sun.

Dr. Schluss' ratings:
Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5
(I should probably mention that this album happens to be one of my all time favorites; thanks Pablo!)

Ash Ra Tempel - 1973 - Seven Up

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Sometimes I get the impression that I may be a little dense. Schwingungen is considered a masterpiece, but I just don't see it. Meanwhile, this one is seen as a misstep in an otherwise stellar run of albums. The catch is that I love this one and pretty much see this as Ash Ra Tempel's shining moment as a proper band (I'd still give the top slot to Inventions For Electric Guitar, which is a Manuel Gottsching solo album in all but name). With the revolving door in full swing, we get new drummers and guests appearing here, most notably LSD guru Timothy Leary. He provides vocals for the album. He can't really sing, but he does sound focused, yet demented, which I think perfectly matches the music.

The first side of the album is listed as "Space," which is probably a fitting name for any track this band produced. Leary merrily belts out what I would classify as bubblegum blues as the band blasts at full tilt on sections like "Downtown" and "Right Hand Lover." Now this alone would rate the music as an amusing novelty, but these sections are juxtaposed with full-tilt walls of intense psychedelic noise. It's like the band was hired at a party to play some groovy dancing tunes, but are so blasted away on acid (with Leary on board there's no alternative substance-wise) that they keep getting distracted and begin searching for the great cosmic sound of Om. Then they realize their error and return to the bubblegum blues before gleefully losing focus again. It's this disorienting loss of focus that makes "Space" one of my favorite tracks period. Just picture these freaks playing this stuff at a bewildered high school dance and maybe you'll dig it.

Side two's "Time" is more Ash Ra Tempel by-the-numbers if such a thing is possible. It's a very chill ambient that lightly recycles themes from the last album and bears a bit of resemblance to Tangerine Dream's Alpha Centauri. This makes sense as Steve Schroyder played organ on both recordings. Leary has a very different role with some strange spoken word vocals often over some beautiful wordless female singing. We don't hear quite so much of Gottsching's guitar on "Time" as is typical, but Ash Ra Tempel was still a proper band at this point, so it's ok. Realistically, "Time" is probably superior musically, but I just can't get over the rush of "Space." But as Einstein theorized, space and time belong together.

So I'm going to put this album forth for some serious reassessment. This is about as psychedelic as rock music gets. You really don't need the help of any substances for this one to utterly and completely blow your mind. It doesn't hurt that the cover art is completely dang awesome either. Give it at least two listens.

Buy Me:
Ash Ra Tempel - 1973 - Seven Up

Morton Subotnick - 1968 - The Wild Bull

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip O Meter: 5 out of 5

A year after "Silver Apples Of The Moon," Morton Subotnick and his trusty Buchla synthesizer returned with "The Wild Bull." Really, to completely understand this stuff, it may be best to get a view of the Buchla:




















Although the same set of sonic tools are at work on this album, the aural picture is very different.

Bringing the sound down to earth, Subotnick focuses less on the seemingly random pings and bleeps that formed the backbone of "Silver Apples." Side A of "The Wild Bull" builds on roaring background oscillators, until the bull finally begins to rise. Here, we find Subotnick focusing more on melody as the bull gets a sort of melodic theme from a fuzzed-out oscillator.

Side B sounds even more progressive with the bleating Buchla forming what could almost be mistaken for a modern IDM rhythm as the ominous, synthesized tones of the bullring wail in the background. The fight ensues as the bulls theme returns, violently rolling around with the rhythm, and finally the bullring returns with its own roar. It's amazing that such a colorful story could emanate from such a primitive machine. I suppose that's a big part of Subotnick's genius.

"Silver Apples" is the electronic breakthrough, but "The Wild Bull" refines and even perfects the alien tones of the Buchla. It's a very listenable piece for what it is and is sure to take your mind on an interesting sonic journey.