Dr. Schluss - 2011 - Reprograms Your Mind

This is the music that I tend to listen to while hanging around on my balcony, waiting for inspiration. Quite a bit of it is sort of ambient and drone filled, but it's the kind of stuff that I really dig. I often hang around listening to the sounds around me and looking for glimmers of light while listening to this stuff, predicting the chance that a train will soon pass by. I don't live quite as close to the train tracks as Elwood Blues, but I'm plenty close. Since I'm lazy, I never got around to making a compilation of my favorite albums from 2010, but if you read into this tracklist, you'll get a good idea about what I got into. For the record, Tame Impala's "Innerspeaker" was my number one album last year. There's plenty of other tunes milling about here as well - most of it can qualify as psychedelic, but I've got to give space for musical dieties like Charlie Parker as well. Give it a listen - I hope you'll find it as groovy as I do.

Track List:
1. Desire Be Desire Go - Tame Impala
2. Double Helix - Emeralds
3. Divergent Paths - Panabrite
4. One With the Sun - Santana
5. In Motion - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
6. Please Take - Wire
7. Counting Sevens - White Hills
8. Synesthesia - The Electric Flag
9. Fireflies on the Water - Arp
10. Wasting Time - This Love is Deadly
11. Same Dream China - Gold Panda
12. Bongo Bop - Charlie Parker
13. The Game Has Changed - Daft Punk
14. Chariot of the God - Deodato
15. We Got the System to Fight the System - Maserati
16. Alice et Simon - Sonic Youth
17. Sun Demon - Stereolab

The Electric Flag - 1968 - A Long Time Comin'

Quality: 3.5 out 0f 5
Trip-O-Meter: 1.5 out of 5

With the name 'The Electric Flag,' a great psychedelic album cover, and the fact that the band's previous work was the soundtrack to "The Trip," you'd be forgiven for assuming that this album was a prime psychedelic work. For better of for worse, that's not the case. This is very much an album of horn-driven blues rock, although I certainly dig it more than what Chicago or Blood, Sweat, and Tears ended up doing with their horn sections. We've also got the phenomenal guitar of Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles' awesome drumming to tide us over, but it's not really a psychedelic affair. It's really more of a legitimate take on what the Blues Brothers were humorously aiming for.

There is a pretty groovy version of "Killing Floor" on display here - it's not quite up to the level of Hendrix's cover or Howlin' Wolf's original, but it's pretty groovy. For you psych spotters, the extended "Another Country" is your best bet, although it eventually does settle into blues jam territory - but again, the musicianship makes it worth your time. "Over Lovin' You" also hits a few trippier spots with its harpsichord passages.

Yeah, this is very much a blues rock sort of affair. I'd wager that it's the least psychedelic thing I've covered here at the garage, but if you're in the right mood, it can certainly find a few musical sweet spots.

The Electric Flag - 1967 - The Trip

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5 (but varies greatly by track)

Way back in days of legend gone past (aka 2007), I did a review of the awesome psych-sploitation film "The Trip," which you'll find by clicking "The Trip." I tried to be as objective as possible, and I don't disagree with my old review. Yet despite (or maybe because of) its flaws, it ranks as one of my all-time favorite films and one of the few that I watch at least once a year. This soundtrack, by the Electric Flag, mirrors the film in terms of quality. It has moments of pure, yet manufactured psychedelic brilliance along with a few charmingly dumb sounds. The credits that I tracked down say that blues guitar god Mike Bloomfield wrote all of the music here, which I have trouble believing (and drumming deity Buddy Miles didn't write anything?). Maybe he just did a lot of tripping while working on this one - I guess the whole band did - this sounds absolutely nothing like their proper albums. While there very little horn driven blues rock, there are plenty of great psychedelic tapestries on display, goofy vaudeville inspired tunes, and aimless jamming. Fortunately, when Bloomfield is playing on top of the aimless jams, it remains pretty entertaining. It's even more entertaining in the movie when Bloomfield is wailing away on the soundtrack, yet we see Gram Parsons (who had absolutely nothing to do with the Electric Flag) playing something entirely different on screen. There's also a little bit of early Moog usage scattered about for all of you synth geeks out there.

The real 'money' on this disc musically are the phenomenal Hollywood psych instrumentals. Since we all live in the future, and can program albums however we want now, stick "Peter's Trip," "Joint Passing," "M-23," "Synesthesia," "A Little Head," "Inner Pocket," "Fewghh," and "Flash, Bang, Pow" all together and you'll get one of my personal favorite 15 minute blocks of music. Feel free to add the more traditional jams that actually sound like the Electric Flag from the latter half of the album - you can basically start at "Home Room" and go until the end of the album - but take out the goofy, fake dixieland of "Senior Citizen." You can program that with the equally ridiculous "Psych Soap," "Hobbit," and "The Other Ed Norton," play it in an endless loop, and drive yourself insane. "Green and Gold" is sort of an outlier. It's a pretty groovy fake Tex Mex track. Realistically it probably fits in with the "Senior Citizen" camp, but I like to program it along with the "Peter's Trip" clutch of tracks.

If you're already a fan of this movie, there's no way that you won't absolutely dig this soundtrack - warts and all. For those of you coming in from the outside, there are some treacherous waters, but you'll likely find some psychedelia or blues jamming to your liking. And for that guy out there who considers Harper's Bizarre his number one favorite band - you'll fall in love with the other tracks.

The Electric Banana - 1967-ish - Blows Your Mind

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

Unfortunately for the Pretty Things, they weren't quite in the top tier of moneymaking British rock bands and had to moonlight recording film soundtrack music under the psuedonym The Electric Banana. Fortunately for us, this means that there are a bunch of other songs recorded by the band around their S.F. Sorrow prime. If S.F. Sorrow is the Pretty Things' Sgt. Pepper, then this is their Magical Mystery Tour. This collection doesn't hold together as an album the way S.F. Sorrow does, nor does the production sparkle quite as much, but it doesn't really need to. You can take these on a song-by-song basis, and on that criteria you'll find quite a few gold sonic nuggets.

I love the tribal pounding "Alexander," which repurposes a short bass riff from "Defecting Grey," and build onto that to make a first rate psychedelic rocker. "Blow Your Mind" and "Rave Up" do just what they promise to do, with the band a full tilt and giving the Yardbirds a run for their money. Elsewhere, "Eagle's Son" is a great anthemic sounding track which the band probably could of used as a single. "If I Needed Someone" is not a Beatles cover, but a horn-laced ballad that shows off the band's softer side (which is good, but admittedly not as awesome as their balls-out rocking side). "I See You" is a rerecording of the S.F. Sorrow track - it's not as good, but it's still an interesting take of a great song. They do drift a little too close for comfort into pop cheesiness on the twee "What's Good For the Goose," while "Danger Signs" goes for the Motown sound and misses the mark. But since there's not really much flow to this collection to start with, they are easily ignored.

You'll hear some of the Pretty Things at their best and worst as the Electric Banana, but the balance definitely tilts to the positive side and this serves well as a companion disc to S.F. Sorrow. I only recently became aware of this set recently, and it was certainly a very groovy surprise.

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.

Ulrich Schnauss - 2007 - Goodbye

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

This is the end result of Schnauss' obsessions with icy style electronic sounds and shoegazing aesthetics. Here we have a digital shoegazer classic that I feel ranks only a tiny cut below the best of My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive. A big development here is that Schnauss seems to have really focused on pure songwriting. His earlier album featured fine melodies and a few nice vocal hooks, but they still had the 'sound sculpture' feel that often shapes straight up electronic music (not that I dislike it - I typically take the 'sound sculpture' approach to my Damaged Tape compositions). Here, several songs are fully formed as a good rock band would do, or in Schnauss' case a good shoegazing band. In fact, while close scrutiny does reveal the hand of a skilled electronic producer, Goodbye often has the feel of a band recording - of course a very trippy band.

"Never Be the Same" is a nice announcement that Schauss will be going for a purer shoegaze sound with some fine female vocals and the trippy walls of echo in full effect. Schnauss typically appropriated the textured clean sounds of the quiet side of shoegazing, but on "Stars" he finally tackles the full on distorted guitar roar of My Bloody Valentine, and it results in one of his best tracks. Schnauss then indulges in several great, more ambient tracks - he is a master of this kind of tune - before opening the sonic gates of distortion once again on "A Song About Home." The guitar riff is a little reminiscent of Slowdive's "When the Sun Hits," but I'll give Schnauss a pass as that Slowdive track is one of my favorite songs in general. "Goodbye" is a nice crossroads of all of the styles Schnauss typically mines - perhaps he's suggesting that his next original album (which we're still waiting for in 2011!) will try something entirely different.

If this is 'goodbye' to Schnauss' shoegazing obsession, then this album is a fine send off. I just hope that he didn't mean 'goodbye' from music as we're still waiting for more (Schnauss did release a remix collection a year or two ago). But for you aging hipsters out there that can't get enough of these sorts of sounds (and hopefully a few of you young pups as well), then Goodbye is one of the best recent showcases you're likely to find.

Ulrich Schnauss - 2003 - A Strangely Isolated Place

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Ulrich Schnauss doesn't make a drastic change in his sound on A Strangely Isolated Place, but he mixes up the details just enough to keep things interesting while generally maintaining quality control. Whereas his debut album was very cold and clean sounding, he grunges up the production a little bit for many of these tracks. They're still chilled out electronica with a shoegazing aesthetic, but the atmospherics end up much more varied with some distorted drums and high altitude crackling.

"Gone Forever" is the poppiest that Schnauss had gone up to this point, with an ethereal vocal hook serving as the signifier of the track. A propulsive bass line and a buzzsaw synth pushes "On My Own" a little harder than Schnauss had attempted up to this point. "Monday - Paracetamol" has a dirty, underwater sound that I suppose perfectly rflects the title, while "Blumenthal" has some huge synth that ramp up the ambient aspects. In fact, I would have been happy if the track never developed into a full blown production, although I have no complaints about the chiming melody in the second half. The title track is a multi-part affair which also does a fine job with ambient sections while also managing a spot of grungy shoegazing in the middle.

This is often cited as Schnauss' best LP, although I'd have to say it's actually my least favorite of his albums so far. That's not to say I don't like it - I do - but these tunes don't quite burrow into my brain the way some of his other efforts do. You may have a different reaction to this sonic narcotic.

Ulrich Schnauss - 2001 - Far Away Trains Passing By

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

I think Ulrich Schnauss is one of the more underrated musicians of the past decade. Along with his German countrymen (and women), Guitar, Schnauss has been taking aim an a great Euro-brand of shoegazing and electronic fusion. It's not the most original musical idea, but Schnauss' production talent allows him to work it into a state of near perfection. I think Schnauss is much better playing to his own strengths as his discography is wonderfully consistent, whereas Guitar got pretty hit-or-miss after their phenomenal first album. But we're here today to give a listen to Schauss' also great debut. The electronic quotient here is a little higher than his later albums, and while rarely lapsing into simple copying, the sounds here often evoke Air, Boards of Canada, and the quieter moments of Slowdive.

The album sets tone with the perfectly chilled out sounding "Knuddelmaus," and the album more or less hew closely to that sonic template. Some 'delayed to infinity ' guitars make their way into the sonic mix for the great "Between Us and Them." In fact, I feel like this does a better job of nailing down the electronic shoegazing sound of Slowdive's final album better than that band was able to do itself. "Molfsee" is the most derivative sounding track on the album, but it would fit perfectly well on a Boards of Canada album without anyone noticing that it was by a different creator. "Nobody's Home" brings the sound a little more above ground than the rest of the album, but it still features some wonderful dream pop textures.

My copy of this album came with a bonus disc which is good enough to make this qualify as a double album. These singles and B-sides fit in perfectly well with the rest of the album. The highlights include a great cover of Slowdive's "Crazy For You" and "Wherever You Are" ramps up the energy, which seems to be a signpost for where Schnauss would go on future releases. You'll even get a touch of vocals on this otherwise instrumental collection. In fact, the only dim spot on this bonus set is "As If You've Never Been Away," which comes a little too close for comfort to U2's "With or Without You."

This is a very modern sounding album, and definitely mining strains of psychedelia developed in the past couple decades. As I'm sure many of you do, I love vintage krautrock, but Germany has definitely shown a propensity for great electronic music over the past 15 or so years, and this is a great calling card for that.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - 2007 - Dandelion Gum

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.75 out of 5

I've been digging this one on a pretty regular basis for the past three-and-a-half years. This very psychedelic synth loaded band hails from Pennsylvania and can rightfully lay claim to one of the trippiest pop albums of the past decade. There's plenty of novelty on this record with all of the vocals being run through a vocoder and plenty of goofy analog synths sounds often competing with mellotrons (or a good approximation of one). Still, the band steps up to the plate with some great songwriting and top rate psychedelic atmospherics.

This is an album that washes over you entirely, and there's not a bum track among the bunch. Even some of the experimental tracks rise above the 'filler' status as they do a fine job of transporting the listener through the album. I will give you a few starting points, though, to get you hooked. "Jump Into My Mouth and Breathe the Stardust" comes across as Beck on quaaludes with it's crusty acoustic guitar riff occasionally becoming overpowered by huge washes of mellotron, synth, and strange sound effects. "Lollipopsichord" seems to physically twist your mind with its reality bending synth riff. Actually, I think this would have been a fantastic album opener. The band does a fine job of building off of French electronica bands like Air and Mellow - "When the Sun Grows on Your Tongue" definitely would have fit well on one of Mellow's albums as a standout track.

This is an album that begs for plenty of repeat listening. Although many of the influences are clear, Black Moth Super Rainbow certainly appropriates them into a very groovy sound trip. If you have the opportunity, I'd recommend picking this up on vinyl. The trippy cover art is also bubblegum scented and the discs themselves of printed on strange bubblegum coloured vinyl.

Buy Me:
Black Moth Super Rainbow - 2007 - Dandelion Gum

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.

Gary Lewis - 1967 - Listen!

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.75 out of 5

Gary Lewis was the leader of the Playboys, a group I have to admit I know absolutely nothing about, but it's clear from this LP that the man knew how to make some great sunshine pop on his solo outing. Lewis' voice belongs to the A-list, the musical side of the songwriting is generally top notch, and the better tracks here rival the work of Curt Boettcher or the Beach Boys. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that the legendary Jack Nitzsche was on hand for the arrangements. That rarefied late 60's L.A. pop-psych production sheen is on full display here as well. It's a shame this album didn't share the charts with folks such as the Mamas and the Papas or Spanky and Our Gang - the chops are certainly present and I'd be willing to say that this is a stronger album than those groups typically managed.

There are many fine tracks present here. A few of my favorites are the opening widescreen pop blast of "Jill," "Look Here Comes the Sun," which managed to rip off the Beatles' title before the Beatles had even written their Abbey Road song, and "Angel on the Corner," which could have fit perfectly onto one of the Beach Boys' late 60's LPs. There's an early attempt at country rock with "Reason to Believe," and a bit of a doo wop vibe on "Young and Carefree." Only the bubblegummy "Happiness" comes across as particularly annoying, and the production sheen almost makes me want to give it a 'get out of jail free' card.

I don't typically see this album trumpeted as an A-list sunshine pop LP, but it really is one of the better ones I've come across. Be prepared for an overdose of happy vibes, but that's almost always a prerequisite for this sort of album anyway. Truly I say unto you... Listen!

David Hemmings - 1967 - Happens

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Actor David Hemmings, best known for his starring role in the classic Blow-Up, accepted the call that many other actors have heard, and attempted to cut an album. Fortunately for us, it's a psychedelic folk-rock oddity - certainly of more interest to my loyal blog readers than the musical rantings of Bruce Willis or David Hasselholf (although the latter's drunken video rantings are worth a listen). The main thing holding this album back from greatness, however, is Hemmings voice. Actually, his tonality and expressiveness are pretty solid, but I'll be damned if the man ever managed to sing a note in key. But this album fortunately has a few perks to get your attention. Hemmings enlisted Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman to help out along with their manager Jim Dickson, along with a pretty fine outtake from former Byrd Gene Clark.

This album basically carves up into three slices. We get a cover of Gene Clark's "Back Street Mirror," which is a great track, and some pretty good folk-rockin' takes on Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe," and Bill Martin's "After the Rain." There are then a few versions of tradition folk songs, which are perfectly listenable save for the fact that Hamming can't quite hit the right note. They definitely don't compare to the Byrds' takes on traditional folk. When a few of the aforementioned Byrds do show up on "Good King James," "Talking L.A.," and "War's Mystery," they seem to being trying their best to recreate Tim Buckley's Goodbye and Hello, which would have worked out much better if Hemmings had perfect, or even ok, pitch. Well, maybe "Talking L.A." is more like Hemmings trying to sound like Jim Morrison if he woke up one morning and found himself Bob Dylan. On the plus side, you do get a large serving of McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker playing in its prime. You probably won't feel the need to append these tracks to Younger Than Yesterday or The Notorious Byrd Brothers, but they do make for a nice curio.

David Hemmings solo LP is far from an embarrassment, and serves as a hip signifier of the Summer of Love, but I would like to send him Auto-Tune through some kind of time transportation machine (and this is coming from a man who typically loathes Auto-Tune). Byrds historians of course must hear this, and they won't necessarily have a bad time either. That said, for Hemmings at his best, go rent Blow-Up.

Daevid Allen - 1976 - Good Morning

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

This solo album from Gong luminary Daevid Allen date from about the time that he originally left that band. Unlike the earlier solo album Banana Moon, this album has more of a stylistic consistency, focusing on a kind of pastoral space folk-rock. Granted that description has enough adjectives to make listening to this worth anyone's attention, and as usual Allen does make a few detours. Gillie Smyth of course contributes some vocals, and I'm pretty sure percussion whiz Pierre Moerlin is artfully banging around on the vibraphone at a few spots.

The opening duo of tracks does a phenomenal job of establishing the space folk groove. Allen does sound a little reigned in here, and the atmosphere reminds me a bit of the quieter tracks from Pink Floyd's Meddle. "Spirit" starts out sounding like an outtake from the Beach Boys' Smile before shifting into another section that features some entertainingly menacing vocals from Allen. "Have You Seen My Friend" and "French Garden" return to more pastoral fields, but this time with a healthy dose of freaky 70's analog synthesis. "Wise Man In Your Heart" goes for the epic vibe of the more relaxed extended tracks on Gong's You. It's not as good as those classic tracks, but very few psychedelic prog songs are. After a brief slough through music hall kitsch on "She Doesn't She...," we get CD bonus track "Euterpe Gratitude Piece." It's a foray into Berlin School electronics that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the album, but I like it and it does provide a nice sonic mindbath to close things out on.

Although Gong's early to mid 70's albums are the main event for fans of Caterbury psych-prog, Daevid Allen did a fine job of staking out a little patch of personal sonic space on his solo albums. Good Morning is no exception. There's no doubt that this is the same man that fronted Gong during their golden years, but it's definitely not the same thing.

Daevid Allen - 1971 - Banana Moon

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Daevid Allen is best known as the ringmaster of Gong's more psychedelic periods (as opposed to Pierre Moerlin's jazz-rock version of the band), although this LP dates to a period before Gong had really coalesced as a band. As such, the sound is very much in transition between Allen's involvement with the psychedelic ballroom sounds of the early Soft Machine and the prog freakout of Radio Gnome-era Gong. In fact, Robert Wyatt of the Soft Machine makes a few appearances here as does Canterbury scene standby, Pip Pyle and Allen's special ladyfriend and Gong fixture, Gillie Smyth.

Side one of the album seems to reflect some of the more 60's forms of psychedelia, while the second side anticipates what Gong would be doing in a few years. "Time of Your Life" is an awesome, full-tilt acid rocker, propelled by what is some of the best drumming I've heard out of Robert Wyatt (who also sings lead on "Memories"). "All I Want Is Out Of Here" makes me think of the Muppets' Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem after Animal made them all take the brown acid, an "Fred the Fish" is the only track on this album that I'd like to take out back and execute. I can't find anything saying that Kevin Ayers is taking on the vocal for "White Neck Blooze," but if that's not him, then Daevid Allen must have a Kevin Ayers aping superpower or something. It would have fit seamlessly on Ayers' similarly titled album, Bananamour. The end of this song also engages in some entertaining, stoned-out absurdity. "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein" and "I Am A Bowl" would not have been out of place as poppy highlights on a Gong album - although 'pop' is a relative term here as the songs are still pretty far out there. For the total freakout mirror of Gong, we get the twelve minute long "& His Adventure in the Land of Flip," complete with Gillie Smyth's cosmic bellowing and Allen speaking gibberish. I think it comes close to the deranged level of Frank Zappa's "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet."

This is every bit as essential as Gong's early albums such as Magick Brother and Camembert Electrique. Actually, I prefer this album to the latter - it also gets bonus points due to Robert Wyatt's drumming contributions. So yeah, stick this one in your ear.

Sagram - 1972 - Pop Explosion Sitar Style

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

...And so my sitar obsession continues. Here we have so British boys coming together to play with the sounds of India. Sagram consisted of a sitar, guitar, and tabla combo, and sitarist Clem Alford apparently spent time in India receiving some proper training. I'm sure an Indian musicologist could find some fault with this music in respect to formal structure and such (I did notice that "Morning Glory" pretty much directly quotes the Beatles "The Inner Light"), but it all sounds pretty good to my ear. The cover art suggests straight up psychedelic exploitation, but the music is something entirely different. There's not many pop or rock sounds on this LP, if any. I love psychedelic exploitation art, but usually find the music included to be crap, so I consider this a nice surprise even if the art and music don't match. And no, the well-mustached harem king on the cover is not a member of Sagram, although it would be kind of awesome if he was.

While the music here is very well performed and pleasant, the sounds are pretty uniform. You certainly won't hear the variety you might expect from someone like Ali Akbar Khan or Ravi Shankar. It sounds kind of like the house band at a groovy Inidan restaurant in London, with the music floating on well-played, but non-confrontational table grooves - the better to digest your curry, y'know. "The Universal Form" does manage to take a different direction, propelling itself on a much airier, ethereal sound.

While there's nothing here to write home about, this is a very enjoyable album for you sitar fans to explore. As a side note, the musicians here also made up the backing band on the Magic Carpet LP, which you'll find here. There's a lot more Western influence on that one, but Sagram finds a more comfortable home on my turntable (well, mp3 player really).