QUINTESSENCE

A superior follow-up to their debut 'In Blissful Company', this self-titled effort sees Notting Hill's Quintessence expand upon their exotic raga-rock sound with layers of guitars, drums, sitars and a slighly more progressive lilt. Some may find the quasi-religious mumblings a tad unbearable, and some of band-leader Raja Ram's rather indulgent noodlings do sometimes hinder the otherwise fluid acid rock, but it's all part-and-parcel of this quirky group's appeal. Imagine Hawkwind on valium and with acoustic guitars and tabla's instead of electric instruments and you get the picture, except Quintessence sport a slightly more refined musical style. Both of the group's first two albums are well worth checking out, especially for fans of Jade Warrior, Clark Hutchinson's 'A=Mh2' and ethnic krautrockers Yatha Sidhra, and despite the fairly laughable hippie-dippie lyrics, the sounds of offer here are genuinely progressive in their execution and the instrumentation richly-textured in it's attempt to re-produce the exotic sounds of India and beyond. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010