Om - 1979 - Om

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

When both the album and the band are titled "Om," you should have a pretty good idea of what you're in for. These folks from France search for that infinite sound with a variety of percussive instruments- specifically ones that make chiming sounds. I think there might be a touch of chanting in the background too, but that may very well be overtones from the plethora of bells. As long as bells don't give you a headache, you should be able to enjoyably trance away with your new Fremch friends in Om (In full disclosure, bells do give me a headache; that's my excuse for not playing with my parents' bell choir).

The album is structure in a similar manner to some of the more tripped-out krautrock concoctions. First off is "Sons Silence," which slowly builds from strikes on a woodblock, to having your head stuck in a super-sized wind chime on a breezy day. This is in contrast to "Paysages D'Ames," the third track, which starts with having your head stuck in a wind chime on a breezy day and builds to having your head stuck in a wind chime during a particularly rhythmic windstorm. "Ombres," the shorter track in between, would be more like a calm day with a couple plops of rain.

I'm not sure if I'm selling this one too well, but I do think it's mildly enjoyable. I feel a little guilty that Cosmic Michael in the previous post seems to have put in a lot of effort, and these folks seem to be falling over on chimes, yet I consider this to be the superior recording by far. For those of you desiring to explore the sound of 'om,' this should serve as an integral research tool as long as you can deal with the constant ringing.