INDO-PROG/RAGA ROCK

My biggest complaint with the music here is that once they lock into that groove early in the song they stick with it. And I'm not big on this style of music as it is but I certainly agree with the critics that this can be boring. We do get vocals which are quite strange sounding but I must admit that the closer "Tante Olga" is where the vocals actually take the song to another level. And I'd call it that Krautrock level with one guy singing out of the one speaker while the other talks and laughs(clearly stoned) throughout the song. Again they get an idea and they won't vary from it but this is the song I appreciate out of the six.

A lot of acoustic instruments here but some bluesy guitar at times. Singing and speaking are in German. Worth the 3 stars but yes this one is lacking in my opinion.

The end result sounds an awful lot like a prototype for Univers Zero. That isn't something you might expect given the musical influences that feed into their work - medieval folk, traditional Indian music, a touch of psychedelia here, a larger dab of free jazz and avant-garde classical there - but between the dark atmosphere, the "chamber rock" instrumentation, and the unconventional approach, it very much feels like a prototype for the sort of territory that Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and Present would eventually explore.

Careful listeners may also detect elements of avant-garde classical music and free jazz deep in the DNA of this bizarre musical chimera, but really there is little precedent for Third Ear Band besides the group's own debut album; Univers Zero or Art Zoyd would later revisit some of these territories (listen to the start of Water, for instance, and tell me you can't imagine those ROI stalwarts doing something similar). Like its predecessor, astonishingly ahead of its time.

There is a certain raga influence - right down to Glen Sweeney using tabla for much of the album - but it's far more artfully handled than the usual "add a bunch of sitar to some psychedlic pop" approach that the Beatles-imitators of the era would run to. Instead, the band use the repetitious and hypnotic aspects of Indian music as merely one tool in their portfolio, with aspects of free jazz, avant-garde classical, and folk music all blending together.

The downfall of a lot of experimental music lies in becoming so obtuse as to be inaccessible, or so technical as to lose sight of feeling. Not so here; Third Ear Band clearly have a very specific mood they wish to evoke here, and they communicate it adeptly. At the same time, the material is intricate enough to reward mutiple listens. The overall impression is of a free jazz band transported to the medieval era, and that's an intriguing enough proposition to keep the album interesting for its running time.

Starter "Jesus Is My Life" is very funny piece! Maybe they made it seriously, but now it works only a humor song. But direction changes into next one: although "Butterfly Music" is very short, it has really deep atmosphere played by flute, guitar, bass and very gentle drums! It sounds to be from the larger piece, it´s sad they put only so short part of it in this album. "It´s All the Same" is long acoustic song with very warm feeling in it! To me it sounds title piece has taken also from the longer improvisation piece as "Butterfly Music", because it sounds as awesome! "Portable Realm" ends the a-side in acoustic way and has great "late evening"-feeling. "Sai Baba" is mantra song. "Holy Roller" is little bit mediocre song, but has good groove whole through. "On the Other Side Of the Wall" is again very serene and melodic piece with great flute playing. "Dedication" is calm, short acoustic very Indian sounding piece including some mantra. "Bliss Trip" starts with organ, thunder sounds and gong. Soon comes very meditative flute. In the middle there comes beautiful sounding vipraphone. Very holy atmosphere continues whole over six minutes. "Mother Of the Universe" ends album as cheerful way as it starts, it seems to include again some mantra.

I have listened now only once their all albums, but really going to listen them again. I have given four stars to everyone. To me this albums sounds as great as those others. Quintessence was from the begin very spiritual taken influences specially from eastern religions, so if that´s too much for you, you´re not liking this or their any other albums. I haven´t got anything against those philosophies, but it´s the music that I love in this band! Still I don ´t think they made any masterpieces, in every album there are empty moments here and there. Anyway you hear very rare this kind of music these days.

"Mindrama" is a great opener bringing FLOYD to mind with that urgent sound with mono-toned, low key vocals. Very much a sign of 1971. He repeats "Mindrama" over and over on the chorus. But man this is experimental to start and finish. This is such an amazing headphone album, the sounds are all over the place. "Organza" continues that vibe and we get Turner adding flute and there's also some guest electric piano that I love. "Kyte" reminds me of that song off that MORTE MACABRE album with a female going "La la la la la...." same here. Catchy stuff. "Infinite Chord" has some delay and sitar and then it explodes into an uptempo groove. Crazy synths and mellotron too along with some wordless vocals.

"Analepsis" opens with what sounds like people playing tennis as guest acoustic guitar joins in then it becomes spacey with vocals. Such a cool and drifting track, I like this one a lot. "Aqua" is powerful to start, experimental too before becoming this flute-led piece late, quite beautiful after 5 1/2 minutes. "Nipple" opens with samples before heavy beats take over and organ. Vocals are laid back as they sing over top, flute too. So much going on instrumentally once again as this plays out. "Utterly Luminescent" has a nice slow heavy beat with sitar and sounds that echo and more. It's dark as soft vocals join in. I really like "Hedge Maze" a trippy tune with echoes and beats, sitar too and vibes. Yes I'm hearing mellotron too. Love this stuff. And what a great way to end the album with "Syrian" the longest track at almost 11 minutes. So much atmosphere and Daevid speaks!

Next stop for this lineup found the band changing its name to International Harvester which did release one album in 1968 titled "Sov gott Rose-Marie." This project continued the psychedelic folk and rock but drifted more into the world of progressive rock and what would be later named Krautrock. This version of the band proved to be highly influential for all those true trippers who would make the Nurse With Wound List however this band just couldn't decide on a style to settle upon and then once again dropped the "International" part of the moniker and simply carried on as HARVESTER. Under this name the band once again released a single album in 1969 only this time crafted its droning and jam based psychedelic rock around Swedish folk music.

This band would only last for one album before carrying on as Träd, Gräs och Stenar in 1970 after adding some new members. That band would release two albums in the early 1970s before going on hiatus for several decades and reforming at the turn of the millennium. As HARVESTER the band released HEMÅT which jettisoned the more structured compositional style of "Sov gott Rose-Marie" and reclaimed the hypnotic jamming style of Pärson Sound. While some lump this into the world of raga rock for its transcendental freeform flow, the only ethnic influences are homegrown with moments of traditional Swedish folk music. The music for the most part sits comfortable with the Pärson Sound noise jams that offered some of the earliest true psychedelic tips. The Germans would pick up on this and create a fertile music scene of it.

Despite the seemingly detached escapism that the album exudes, HARVESTER was very much a band that promoted Swedish nationalism that tackled the sticky wickets of politics and environmentalism. The album itself was recorded in the Kafe Marx which was owned by the Swedish Communist Party. Consistintg of seven tracks, HEMÅT captured the sounds of the 60s heavy psych world with fuzz guitars, heavy bass and pronounced percussive beats. The addition of the horns, fiddles and cello offer the local folk flavors and the incessant repetitive grooves off minimalist composiitons that for the most part are instrumental but off a few muddled vocal performances such as on "Everybody (Needs Somebody To Love)."

This is decent but less compelling than the psychedelic otherworldliness of Pärson Sound or the much better compositional charm of International Harvester. This is this team's least known album as it has been eclipsed by what came before as Pärson Sound and International Harvester as well as the Träd, Gräs och Stenar that followed and there is good reason for that as this one sounds like an impromptu jam with minimal production and mixing having taken place. While it perfectly exemplifies the wild and experimental psych scenes that were quickly taking over much of European rock, it is hardly essential but a decent lysergic detachment that is well worth the experience once you have checked out the other versions of the band's frequent name changes.

This band that emerged from Nimbin just south of Brisbane didn't stick around for long and only managed to release its sole album DREAMING before the musical tastes for such occidental meets oriental musical fusion had waned a bit but what a beautiful album these fine musicians left behind! By the latter half of the 1970s John McLaughlin with Shakti had pretty much stolen the show for anything remotely jazz / raga fusion but this band from Australia did an excellent job at crafting beautiful pastoral soundscapes that live up to the album title.

While Shakti delivers an incessant bombast of jazz-raga fusion, KANGURU focused on a more intricate fusion of Indian sounds that included the the sarod, pakhavaj and tabla with other non-indian ethnic instruments such as the the indigenous Australian didgeridoo. Add to that some gypsy folk sounds of the electric viola as well as some lush flute sounds and acoustic guitar occasionally accompanied by vocals and what you get is an interesting interpretation of the raga rock scene from a part of the planet not usually associated with these fertile hybrids.

Cited as a hippie band that is certainly evident in the few lyrics on board with themes of being a rainbow and a moonbeam however this is a mostly instrumental affair and really does evoke a dream state with doesn't really rely too heavily on any particular style of ethnic music. There are definitely some Mahavishnu Orchestra vibes that would evolve in the Shakti universe but the album seems to incorporate various ethnic influences ranging from Indonesian folk music to homegrown aboriginal sounds into a unique tapestry of raga influenced majesty. The sounds experienced on DREAMING are perfectly in line with the om symbol featured on the cover art. The music is non-linear and features some interesting transitions and stylistic differentiations that incorporate jazz and Western classical as well as the Indian and other ethnic sounds.

As far as i'm concerned albums of raga rock nature need to take the listener on a spiritual journey and in the case of KANGURU on DREAMING, that is exactly what transpires through a unique procession of musical motifs that never remain static for too long. While the meditative and transcendental aspects of the album are clearly in tact, so too are those moments of imploring action and promoting periods of growth that eschew stagnation. What makes this sound most like Shakti is the electric viola performed by Cleis Pierce of the progressive jazz-rock outfit MacKenzie Theory that released one album in 1973 however this album really stands on its own two feet and a gem of the Australian underground. As far as i'm concerned this one is extremely successful in crafting a seamless fusion of various ethnic sounds and one of the highlights in all of the so-called raga rock scene of the era.

Living up to its legendary status as one of the most bizarre German acts to drop an album during the early Kraut years, CRAWLING TO LHASA is a tripped out meditative journey that mixes mystical soundscapes with creepy repetitive grooves, whispered German lyrics and surreal allusions to Tibetan Bhuddism. The name KALACAKRA comes from the Tibetan polysemic term in Vajrayana Bhuddism which means both "wheel of time / time cycles" and "patron tantric deity." This music is almost like drifting dirges of smoke fueled sounds that lament the physical state and glorify the states of consciousness beyond the limitations of bodily incarnation.

Despite the rather monotonous procession of grooves, the musical motifs are adorned with a plethora of instrumentation which includes hypnotic guitar grooves, sensual flutes and tortured strings sounds from a cello and violin. Starting off rather slowly, the pace quickens in the middle with "Raga No 11" with fast receptive loops of sound accompanied by crashing cymbals and accented percussive bombast. Ethnic sounds are derived from the Indonesia slentem, a metallophone which looks like a xylophone as well as the medieval shawm which is a double-reed woodwind instrument that was more common in the Renaissance. What seems to be missing is a bass guitar and rock drumming other than cymbals. Percussion if present at all usually is derived from congas and other tribal drumming. Guitars are acoustic.

Sounding closer to medieval folk than raga rock KALACAKRA still carried a vibe heavily steeped in Eastern influences and has been referred to as mantric acid folk. The album is also primarily instrumental with only a few moments when vocals appear. The album is disjointed as the first half of the album is much more interesting than the second which devolves into simple acoustic guitar strumming and flute sounds as well as an unnecessary blues guitar and harmonica number on "Arapaho's Circle Dance." The final "Tante Olga" takes things even further into blues rock territory and by this time these guys seem to have given up CRAWLING TO LHASA and sound more like Captain Beefheart on a drunken binge.

CRAWLING TO LHASA on original vinyl has been quite a collectible since it emerged in the early 70s but has been reissued on CD and vinyl numerous times. This is one of those albums that shows promise but fails to deliver on expectations. The album starts out promising with the opening "Naerby Shiras" and continues for several tracks on a true mystical journey but the album doesn't stay on the oriental express and instead turns into some cheap sounding Krautrock by the album's end. Overall this is certainly one of those obscurities that is well worth checking out. There are some brilliant ideas on here and nothing is inherently bad and unlike many i don't even find it boring. What i do take issue with is the inconsistency of quality as music like this is very easy to derail an intended vibe. Not one i'm going to pay a fortune for but a sporadic listen every few years is totally warranted for the weirdness factor alone.

Existing as a duo for the first seven years, in 1976 when Merler joined the newly formed trio released its self-titled debut which remained the only album until "Langsyne 2" emerged in 2016 on the Garden of Delights label. LANGSYNE's only 70s album was an exclusively acoustic affair which mixed British folk rock with eastern influences that incorporated the Indian sitar and Japanese koto along with other unconventional folk instrumentation such as a banjo, glockenspiel, Jew's harp and organ. The trio performed some excellent vocal harmonies as well with that "i know English isn't their first language" sort of accent but never revealing themselves as German in origin.

Although LANGSYNE didn't really sound German, they have been referenced to other German acts that focused on peaceful folk motifs over lysergic Kraut escapism and therefore often lumped into the German progressive folk scene with Witthauser & Westrupp, Hoelderlin and Broselmachine. What sets LANGSYNE apart from all of the following is that these guys focused on thoughtful contemplative musical arrangements that mixed the instrumentation quite convincingly and the unlikely marriage of banjos with sitars and Jew's harp with organs never seems forced in the least bit. While Indian instrumentation is used in part, LANGSYNE doesn't resonate in the same way that other raga inspired bands does and sort of existed in its own universe. The parts with banjo actually prognosticate to what modern acts like Bela Fleck & The Flecktones would create an entire career out of.

All in all this is a beautiful pastoral musical experience that sort of slips through the cracks of trying to pigeonhole it in any particular way. Yes, it's folk music inspired by the British scene but yet there is definitely a bit of a German sense of adventurism to it. While incorporating the American banjo and Indian sitar, it never drifts too far into the world of American folk or raga rock but rather crafts its own unique brand of meditative music that offered a bit of all influences involved but mostly crafted a nice set of primarily acoustic guitar driven folk tunes with lyrics sung in English. The songs are instantly addictive was the melodic developments are quite brilliant. While bands like Broschelmaschine were much more psychedelic in their folk sensibilities, LANGSYNE was more down to Earth. A nice little slice of the 70s German underground here.