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I WASH MY SOUL IN THE STREAM OF INFINITY

My Brother The Wind

Psychedelic/Space Rock


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My Brother The Wind I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity album cover
3.95 | 198 ratings | 11 reviews | 22% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2011

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Fire! Fire!! (13:07)
2. Pagan Moonbeam (3:47)
3. The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart (5:40)
4. Torbjörn Abelli (10:57)
5. Under Crimson Skies (10:33)
6. I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Inifity (6:19)

Total time 50:23

Line-up / Musicians

- Mathias Danielsson / guitar, electric sitar
- Nicklas Barker / acoustic 12-string & electric guitar, Mellotron
- Ronny Eriksson / bass, Hammond
- Tomas Eriksson / drums, percussion

Releases information

Artwork: Lisa Isaksson

CD Transubstans Records ‎- Trans 090 (2011, Sweden)

2xLP Transubstans Records ‎- TRANSV04LP (2011, Sweden)

Thanks to windhawk for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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MY BROTHER THE WIND I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity ratings distribution


3.95
(198 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(22%)
22%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(43%)
43%
Good, but non-essential (26%)
26%
Collectors/fans only (7%)
7%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

MY BROTHER THE WIND I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Eetu Pellonpaa
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars The first album of My Brother The Wind introduced the dogmatic principles of this group. On this second record the core content of their spontaneous philosophies are provided to listeners with both better sound production and by firmer grip to the matured mutual improvisational performing collaboration. The band sticks mostly to one key harmony scales, and stir out most wonderful sonic prayers from these simple starting points.

"Fire! Fire!!" opens the album with solid abstract tonal space, from where the bass guitar starts to open the rhythmic imperative for other players. Raw guitar riffs quietly answer, and the sea of sounds starts to wave predicting the sacred turmoil of psychedelic rock raga. The melodic forms find their shapes, forming sacral state for the guitar to pray redemption from the heavens. Hazy winds blow over the freely voyaging musicians, pace keeping stagnant, but the intensity taming as the drums switch to a march-oriented sequence. Guitars echo both the starting theme and a new brilliantly shimmering layer of pickings. Mellotron creeps in to escalate the dramatic spheres of the coda, which closes the long process with sudden drop of all instruments. As an anekdoten, there is a neat video being spread from this session as an album promotion material.

"Pagan Moonbeam" continues with calmer moods, building from a single note for acoustic emphasized dharma-activities. Some vintage analogue synthesizer and sitar solo upon this sonic carpet, before the short oriental tune ends to tingling announcements of cross- rhythmic bells. This peaceful moment leads to more aggressively fuzzy acid guitar and powerful drum battering of "The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart". Melodies wander indecisively, giving so far the strongest associations of Wetton-era King Crimson live improvs, as the instruments search their mutual traits from the mysterious planes of neurosis. One fine detail I paid attention was the rapid single note pulses from a guitar, which were responded by the others, leading the whole piece evolving quite dramatically. Maybe the jam however ended to some unwanted directories or something, as the track is faded out as its tempo starts to decrease.

Following euphoric song for "Torbjörn Abelli" is really touching; A calm and sorrowful hazy elegy for a late gentleman, who pioneered the minimalist psychedelic rock at Sweden with most influential way, and was really ahead of time in global scale when considering psychedelic progressive rock music. Driven by the guitars, the song is again relating powerfully to spiritual context, which I sense very powerfully in this album and group, refers to these being present also in the album covers and written titles. This hopeful lamentation passes calmly towards the Nirvana, intensity of the aether growing ever thicker when reaching the broader levels of Samsara. Parallel guitar and bass lines start the ending process, which is conducted calmly, allowing the notes echo without haste to the infinity in the wake of Torbjörn's spirit. I really appreciate this homage, and believe the hypnotic power-approach developed by his groups Pärson Sound and Träd, Gräs och Stenar have certainly influenced also My Brother The Wind's spontaneous improvisations, along with the long jams of Baby Grandmothers. However the 1960's tones have not been replicated here in totally purist manner, and these sounds are part of today's sonic reality, carrying forth the torch from earlier generations along the sacred path of psychedelic illuminations.

The peaceful melancholia is cut powerfully by "Under Crimson Skies", which starts abruptly directly from a middle of jam, already been developing for some time before implemented to this record. This creates a strong contrast; an element which was used more strongly on their first album. Guitar practices interesting soliloquy bringing forth themes like phrases, and then answering them back, others creating a hypnotic groove for him at the background. The solo instrument and the group fusion together later, and slowly oscillating phasing mesmerize the scenario. These dreamy characteristics culminate to wonderful reverb-treated electric guitar psalm, conjuring long causeway of peaceful notes disturbing the ability of sensing time, and allowing an experience of transcendental cosmic harmony. From this long moment I got an association of some tamer acid rock passages of The Spacious Mind. These feelings lead to the album's title track, which is also the end of this journey. Soundscapes from the solace of fountain streams lead to the dominant jam rock characteristic of this record, holy mantra being weaved with guitar, ever repeating its calm and peaceful theme, and rhythm section supporting this progress steadily and monitoring situation for potential changes and reaction needs. The second guitar keeps firmly in creation of blurry background tones, painting a vision of colossal psychological state of hope. "Nothing ever dies". Background tones start to gain melodic forms, before the grandiose entity disappears back to the divine gardens.

I personally think the simplicity of the content of this music strengthens its power dramatically. It unites the sacral sense of style from the players, creating cantatas for sermons held in more earthly temples, where gigs of this group usually occur. Being privileged to witness one such concert, I felt this album was closer to that mass, which was certainly the musical highlight of my year. I can also claim so for this wonderful album, where the band has certainly developed to even greater heights from its fine debut record. Personally I am currently very open for this kind of music, allowing the flow on euphoric and logical sounds, which are yet surreal and solemn in their abstract form. Thus my sincerest listening recommendation of this album for anybody liking improvised spiritual music. The band offers quite much free streams of their stuff in though their web presence for sample listening, and in addition of these studio jams I believe there are some live gig recordings stramed freely from their Soundcloud page.

Review by Rivertree
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Band Submissions
4 stars Their 2010 debut succeeded to be critically acclaimed in psych/space rock circles. Well, this may have surprised and has probably pushed them to continue in this way - generously. So one year later the same lineup offers a new album which will please genre fans again, you bet! You'll find intriguing groovy space jams as such once more, but also some complementing stuff which makes this album even more interesting to explore. Nicklas Barker adds finely dosed mellotron/organ contributions here and there

The impressing Fire! Fire! evokes soaring guitar walls first while the band is preparing for the cosmic journey. Emergency, emergency - what a lively bass - this makes a difference to many other space rock oriented bands provided with a rather hypnotic rhythm backbone. What I mean, this sounds like Ronny Eriksson is constantly trying to run away, back and forth, but the other band members are skilled enough to follow over the course due to a concentrated collaboration.

Leaving this fulminant start behind Pagan Moonbeam shows them on rather acid psych respectively indo/raga paths where The Mediator Between Head And Hand comes way more eclectic, avantgarde oriented with melancholic mellotron backing reminding me of Anekdoten. Torbjörn Abelli is relaxed floating right from the start, again both guitars are playing an intriguing duett, great interaction. The song gradually increases with incredible tension.

Under Crimson Skies starts suddenly ... somewhere amidst an extended jam I would say ... and evolves to one of my favourite space rock explorations I came across recently. I love this sensitive experience - this especially applies to the floating part. The Eriksson groove section is involved with an impressing drive and both guitars are nicely meandering around and complement each other as for the soloing and rhythm tasks.

MY BROTHER THE WIND is a project which initially may have found together for having some fun temporarily ... but now it's clear, there's no way out in the meanwhile, I emphatically insist, you have to continue - come on, boys! Finally let me say, that 'I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Inifity' is an accomplished and emotional affair, don't miss that - 4.5 stars - which means close to masterpiece!

Review by BrufordFreak
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Wow! This is amazing music that everyone simply must hear! Incredible atmosphere created by inspired musicians of supreme talents. Hypnotic, trance-inducing, virtuosic instrumentalists improvising in perfectly harmonius, entrained grooves. Check out the live in the studio YouTube video of "Fire! Fire!" put out by their recording company, TransubstansRecords. It's awesome! Like every year, I just know I'm going to find tons of musical gems from 2011 AFTER the year has passed! What an amazing year for prog music! IMHO, I think it will go down in history as THE BEST YEAR EVER for music. Thank you Internet! Thank you ProgArchives! Thank you YouTube! Thanks progstreaming.com!

1. "Fire! Fire!!" (13:07) starts the album off with what I call the second best song of the year. (Please check out the YouTube video of the studio recording of this song! It's amazing!) The band is just jamming from the start, trying to get a feel for one another, trying to get connected, and then entrained. The bass player establishes the line that brings the others into the 'stream': first the drummer, then one of the guitar players, then the other. Later one of the guitarists (NICKLAS BARKER, also known as a composer/founding member of ANEKDOTEN) steps over to a mellotron to add some of his wizardry from there. By that time the song has long jelled into one amazingly hypnotic groove. . . . One that could go on . . . forever . . . (But, sadly, does not.) (30/30)

2. "Pagan Moonbeam" (3:47) starts with all acoustic instruments, some from the Orient, some more medieval European. The stringed instruments and hand percussives all kind of drone into a slow groove that never really goes anywhere and, actually, feels several times as if it is about to fizzle out. The organ play and sitar are the only things that actually try to stray from the melody at all. A very spacey, sleepy ending. (8/10)

3. "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart" (5:40) opens with some very deep bass wabbles--not unlike some of HOLGER CZUKAY's experimental sounds from his days with CAN and after. The dissonate guitar arpeggios and mellotron chords never quite gel, despite the efforts of the drummer and bass player. (7/10)

4. "Torbjörn Abelli" (10:57) begins a high-pitched wail--whether it's guitar amplifier feedback or synthesizer I am not suer. A picked electric guitar riff joins in and is repeated for about three minutes. Just before the two minute mark the second guitar, bass and drums start to join in and, very gradually, build up some steam. By the start of the fifth minute the formerly plucking guitar is strumming and the volume of the music is increasing. Cymbols are now crashing almost constantly. The second electric guitar continues to explore, to enjoy, its freedom. Definitely the song that feels the most like it is soundtracking a 1960s group drug party. (18/20)

5. "Under Crimson Skies" (10:33) begins all of a sudden (as if the engineer does a quick fade in from somewhere midstream of an already existing jam song). It's pace is fast, furious, loud and easy to get sucked up into. This one feels very much like it could have come from an OZRIC TENTACLES album or live concert. Drummer and bass player are locked into an awesome groove while blues-rock (PETE TOWNSEND or KEITH RICHARDS anyone?) guitar and guitarist/keyboardist play (and groove) over the top. At the 3:30 mark there is a shift as the lead blues-rock guitar work stops and a heavily effected 'space' guitar (MICHAEL BROOK) takes over the lead for the rest of the song. Meanwhile the rest of the band drops down in volume to play support with some very subtle, quiet play, until the song finishes with mellotron as the main, lead instrument. (19.5/20)

6. "I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity" (6:19) has a very laid back groove, started by a repeated riff from a YOUNGBLOODS-like electric guitar sound. Early PINK FLOYD also comes to mind when listening to this one. And maybe some NEKTAR. A beautiful song to send us out into the ... Stream of Infinity. (9/10)

EVERYBODY: Get on this train! This is human expression at its creative best--at its highest potential! Five stars without questions or qualm! This is ESSENTIAL music not just for prog lovers or even just for music lovers but for any human being that might aspire to squeak out the most of their human potential. Ride the waves of Ronny Eriksson's bass lines. Fly into the stars with Mathias and Nicklas' guitar (and keyboard) sounds. Dance across mental planetscapes with Tomas Eriksson's batterie play. Music not to be missed!

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.

Review by Guldbamsen
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Retired Admin
4 stars Kites

During the last couple of decades, we, here in Europe, have had an underground surge of bands trying to conjure up the majestic fire breathing Krautrock of the past. Bands like Øresund Space Collective, Electric Orange, The Spacious Mind, Papir and My Brother the Wind all fit into this newly found love of free structured psychedelic music that takes its inspiration from the more esoteric of 1970s bands. I guess it is all down to one's tastes, but I find myself far more enticed, persuaded and wet in the trouser-department listening to the aforementioned acts, than I do with a lot of the current American psych bands, which rely heavily on metal, sludge and slow lethargic song structures. Somehow they feel too rigid for my tastes.

Another way of illustrating the massive leap there is between these two ocean-parted psych deliverers, try imagining these acts as kite flyers. Big yellow butterfly coloured kites swooping around in the skies. If the American kites are recognizable by the controlled atmosphere - the carefully thought out placement, where the wind is in your favour and you have just about everything under control, - then these European acts are the direct opposites. My Brother the Wind's music is like flying a kite in the heart of the city, where buildings upon buildings continue to add unnatural corridors for the wind to grow wild and increasingly unstable. Then the music is ready to start.

I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity is one of those special albums, where this old trait of Krautrock seems to reach that incomprehensible level of flow. It is like flying a kite in a storm. Take the first track here, that without warning catapults itself into a high powered electric vortex with huge bursts of fiery guitar, pulsating organs and a hypnotic rhythm section that propels this magnificent excursion forward like a regular YIIIIHAAAAW space wagon. What takes this one to another level altogether is when the mood quiets down, and the wind suddenly gets audible through a series of ghost-like mellotron sweeps, that gives this listener goosebumps on the insides of his arms.

One of my favourite things about this second album is the diversity it holds. Unlike a lot of these modern day space rock flights, you have soft and mellow psychedelically tinged sections often recalling the great Indian inspiration going back into the end of the 60s - branching out in a series of stylistically enhanced groupings such as Indian folk rock, Raga-like jamming and the devotional yogi type blend one could find in the likes of Popol Vuh. It's the latter here that My Brother the Wind wields, and to tell you the truth, I have never ever come across any band, other than Popol Vuh that is, who were able to play this kind of music successfully. These are slow acoustically submersed endeavours, with lots of Eastern flavoured phrasings and the odd break away electric guitar solos, that shoot you out into the starry skies without any need of a kite.

Finishing the album off, we have the title track that again shows another side of this outfit, with its fluffy and soothing texture. It laps up against you like tiny waves in the bathtub lulling you into these beautiful guitar filled dreams with smooth yearning notes - almost telling you that it is about to end - feeling much like a slow heartfelt epilogue of the album.

This is, along with Æthenor's latest, my pick for album of the year 2011. It takes the old ideas of the early Krautrock scene - y'know the idea that music can achieve artistic merit without having to think about it for days on end making it into a building project, - but alternatively relying on what the feel of the moment is giving off at any given time during recording. Just like CAN did a couple of decades back - My Brother the Wind bring the idea of instant song writing to the fore, with but the odd chance of sprucing the thing up afterwards by adding a whiff of sweet mellotron.

It's all based around certain guitar riffs, that all of a suddenly behave like those wild and frantic kites, that I was on about before - they suddenly gain altitude and transform into magnificent gliding birds of sound swooping up and down with great elegance and poise - manifesting themselves in the instruments around them - taking every little part of the music on an astonishing ride up there among the feathered creatures. 4.5 stars.

Review by Heptade
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars This nifty band containing Nicklas Barker, singer/guitarist/mellotronist of Anekdoten fame, carries the banner of 70s space rock and raises it high (figuratively, one would assume!). While Barker's band is generally quite dark, I'd describe this instrumental combo's sound as more "exultant". They seem to rejoice in the sheer size of the sound they can produce. The influences are mainly pleasantly vintage, with quieter passages reminiscent of Popol Vuh (track 2), raging storms that evoke vintage Hawkwind, spacy jams a la Ash Ra Tempel (track 4), and aggressively jazzy bits that remind me a bit of their Swedish contemporaries in Dungen. Some parts even remind me of the Verve's 90s masterpiece "A Northern Soul".

And of course, the glorious 'tron is in full effect all over this record. Despite the band wearing its influences on its sleeve, this music does have its own character, as all good music does. And the jams never seem indulgent - vibe is king. My personal favourite is the ultra-far-out title track, since my tastes veer more to the ambient end of things. But the whole album is a pleasure and is essential listening for fans of psychedelia, Krautrock and spacerock. Pick this one up!

Review by Windhawk
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Swedish quartet MY BROTHER THE WIND appeared unexpectedly a few years back with their self-titled debut album, a constellation of well established musicians that seemingly out of the blue had decided to form a side project rather different in sound from what they explored in their primary projects. It was a creation well received, and many will eagerly have awaited their second production. "I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity" is their sophomore album, and was released by Swedish label Transubstans Records in the fall of 2011.

My Brother The Wind is one of many bands exploring instrumental improvised progressive rock, made with an approach and sound that place it within the space rock genre. Floating, often ethereal arrangements, gentle guitar soloing and layered, wandering psychedelic oriented instrumental motifs make up the majority of such excursions , and this foursome is no exception to that.

Opening or concluding with passages featuring arrangements of a more searching and uncertain nature is a part of the package one gets too, and again a feature found on this production. Perhaps a bit too many such sequences, at least for those not already fond of this type of music. It dos take something of a trained ear to appreciate these moments. But it's when the band have found a direction and is exploring it with direction in hand that improvised space rock is an intriguing experience, and this quartet are top of the trade once they have established a pattern to investigate.

The rhythm department is the essential foundation for most bands of this ilk, and My Btother The Wind has a most excellent one. Tight, finely interwoven bass and drums motifs that shift pace and intensity in a fluid manner a strength the other instrumentalists can rely upon. And they do so in an impeccable manner, from the tight, energetic and driven landscapes explored on opening construction "Fire" Fire" to the raga-oriented themes of Pagan Moonbeam, complete with a Bo Hansson oriented organ motif, and the final gentle concluding title track "I Wash My Soul in the Stream of Infinity". Always nicely moving onwards, with a dual set of guitars or guitar and one additional instrument wandering through an initial phase fully formed or not, coming through on the other side either finishing off a journey or reorienting themselves to take on a new one. Personally I found the band to be at their very best on "Torbjörn Abelli" on this occasion, an improvisation I presume was developed as their musical tribute to the late Swedish bassist of the same name who passed away in 2010. Rather fitting that this construction is the one that made a most profound impression I guess.

I doubt if My Brother The Wind will recruit any new fans to the realms of improvised space rock with this production, as their excursions this time around to my ears appear as somewhat more typical of the genre than on their most excellent debut. But those who already enjoy music of this type can note down this CD as another must have creation, the band is excellent and their ideas and improvisations maintain a high quality throughout.

Review by Neu!mann
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars The sophomore album from "My Brother the Wind" handsomely fulfills the promise of their excellent debut ("Twilight in the Crystal Castle", 2010), adding another pristine feather to a still freshly blocked cap. The young Cosmic Rock quartet achieves here a level of confidence only suggested on their earlier effort, clearly audible in the feedback-heavy one-chord frenzy of the new album's opening salvo, "Fire! Fire!!" (I would have added a few more exclamation marks, myself).

Check out the band's own video for proof, linked right here on their Progarchives page. It's not your typical YouTube promotional whitewash, but a dynamic visual document of the actual album track being created in real time, live in the studio without any overdubs. Other groups have tried to master the art of intuitive music-making. But these guys are fast becoming masters of spontaneous combustion.

And that pretty much sums up the band's work ethic: capture all the energy on the first take, and give it all you've got. The new album took nearly twice as long to produce as their almost instantaneous debut (meaning: four hours instead of two). And the extra effort adds more variety to the music, enriching the band's entirely improvised, twin-guitar psychedelia with a healthy smattering of Mellotron and organ highlights.

Fans of Scandinavian Prog may recognize guitarist Nicklas Barker, moonlighting from the heavy rockers of ANEKDOTEN. Being released from the pinpoint discipline of his parent band must have been a liberating experience, and for listeners too. At first exposure I'm reminded of fellow Scands HIDRIA SPACEFOLK, but without the obvious OZRIC TENTACLES influence, and far more attractively unstructured in an almost Germanic sort of way (circa 1971).

Thus the classic Krautrock head trip of "Pagan Moonbeam", with its sitar-like guitars and echoing toms. Or the ominous lysergic flashback of "The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart", the unwieldy moniker itself a direct link to German culture, quoting the final intertitle from the dystopian 1927 Fritz Lang silent film "Metropolis".

The longer tracks ("Torbjörn Abelli", "Under Crimson Skies") ebb and flow with a sense of real purpose, unlike the often indiscriminate noodling of other jam bands. Note the unexpected jump-start to "Under Crimson Skies", sounding as if the producer was caught napping, and how it gradually settles into a quieter but no less urgent groove before making a seamless transition to the stately daydream of the title track at the end of the album.

On the advice of a trusted Progarchives source I came to this band totally blind, without even knowing their name, let alone any of their music. And like the beneficiary of some biblical Krautrock miracle cure my eyes (all three of them) have been opened, once again, to the wide range of quality new music still waiting to be discovered in the four corners of the world.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars 4.5 stars.To my ears this is a definite step up from their debut. It has more of a psychedelic vibe, or maybe it's more atmosphere i'm not sure but I like this a lot more. It really comes across as being a trippy, Krautrock album from the seventies to my ears.

"Fire ! Fire !!" has a fairly powerful soundscape early on as the guitar makes some noise. Check out the bass 5 minutes in, it reminds me of Geddy. It starts to settle back some around 9 minutes and it sounds like mellotron after 11 minutes. "Pagan Moonbeam" has an ethnic vibe to it. It settles down after 3 minutes to end it. "The mediator Between Head And Hands Must be The Heart" is drum and mellotron led early on. This is repetitive but good.

"Torbjorn Abelli" is spacey with guitar. It's building some as the bass and drums join in. It settles after 10 minutes to end it. "Under Crimson Skies" hits the ground running as the guitar solos over top. It turns spacey before 4 minutes as the beat continues. The guitar solos tastefully before 6 minutes. Beautiful stuff. "I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity" opens with water sounds as the guitar and bass join in. Drums too as it builds. Spacey sounds as well. Great sound here ! Water and birds sounds end it.

You know I don't remember mellotron being on the debut although they don't show it as being on here either but it sure sounds like it. Regardless, more atmosphere and psychedelia is always a good thing in my books.

Review by tszirmay
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars It wasn't easy hunting this sucker down, but persistence paid off handsomely with the arrival of this interesting release from Sweden. Being in a psychedelic mode of late, I have been scouring the stars for some bass guitar-fueled sonic rides and this falls right in line with recent Moonwagon, Mantric Muse L'Ombre della Sera and Giorgio C. Neri albums. There is something about cosmic dirge influencing the gas pedal as one is tearing down the empty highway on a clear sunny day. Phew! "Fire!Fire!Fire!" has all those qualities and more, an ardent and explosive convulsion of sound that exemplifies the space genre, dense and hypnotic. Niklas Barker (Anekdoten) leads the charge with the Eriksson lads handling the bass and drums driving their jam- infested space drool with little remorse. Its classic blast-off music, with a heavy booming bass carving out a specific orbit around the sun and washes of colossal mellotron and synths spraying the stars. The dual electric guitars provide some serene psychedelia, scouring and searing notes that induce a sense of weightlessness and further the trip. I am reminded of Steppenwolf's classic "Magic Carpet Ride" instrumental section, a very retro sound that has plenty of staying power. This is 13 minutes of sophisticated bliss. Play it Loud! "Pagan Moonbeam" is more acoustic in feel, a gentle drone and pastoral lilt, with a slight Hindu tinge (the sitar sounds are played by Matthias Danielsson and the shrill organ by Tommy Eriksson). Definitely a step into a parallel world of interstellar overdrive. This cosmological interlude is twinned with the mellotron-raging "The Mediator between Head and Hands Must be the Heart" a brooding, opaque and hefty slab of propulsive drumming entwined with a rabid bass, both serve as appetizer to the next epic ride the nearly 11 minute "Torbjorn Abelli". In typical Scandinavian prog style, rivulets of icy chords coalesce to form patches of glowing sonic sunshine, interspersed by menacing colorations and highly evocative soundscapes that play with one's imagination. Speed here is not an issue, the effortless mood just soldiers on at its own leisurely pace, undaunted and unafraid, drenched in the swirliest psychedelia. The progression is inexorable, an unchained beast of sound and fury that takes no pride in just being there. There is a purpose and a mission to take the listener far away into the deepest realms of space. The dual guitars craze mightily, careening bass and drums provide the insanity. "Under Crimson Skies" is raunchier, almost 70s like zaniness in the chord progressions, a huge caravan of slick phrasings and insane soloing. This is space rock in improvised jam mode, free of direction, time and space. It's a trip. The title track is equally hypnotic, excruciatingly deliberate like some warp-driven monolith, mysterious and yet present in a comfortable way. Floating ecstasy in so many notes. Not as highly rated as the two Moonwagon albums or that stunner from Mantric Muse, but close enough.

4 squall comrades

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars I felt a little trepidation at the start of listening to this latest album from My Brother the Wind - the long opening section of Fire! Fire!! made me worry that this was the sort of early krautrock- influenced space rock band who'd spend the entire album jamming away as though they were just about to launch into something awesome but never quite bringing the awesome. I needn't have worried; once the track slooooowly came into focus, I found it and the subsequent pieces to be an excellent space rock journey reminiscent of the very best of the early improvisations by the likes of Tangerine Dream or Amon Duul II.

Latest members reviews

5 stars My Brother The Wind is a 4 man collective from Sweden, who play improvised space/psych/prog. The men responsible for this effort are all from other bands - Nicklas Barker ( Anekdoten ) on guitars and mellotron, Mathias Danielsson ( Makajodama ) on guitars and sitar, Ronny Eriksson ( Ma ... (read more)

Report this review (#620257) | Posted by Prog North | Thursday, January 26, 2012 | Review Permanlink

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