INDO-PROG/RAGA ROCK

My mind was already made up about the rating, but a nail in the coffin comes on the final track where he says, "Let us sing in praise of Rama, who is the eternal one... it matters little whether we call him Allah, Buddha, Christ, or Jehovah. He belongs equally to us all." My initial impression was that this seems out of place considering the overly commercial nature of the rest of the album, but then I thought about what was just said. I suppose the intention here is good, and I acknowledge the attempt at unity, but this statement is theologically ridiculous. Allah and Jehovah are indeed types of supreme beings, but Christ and especially Buddha are not compatible with this statement. Christ is the logos of the Christian faith, the bridge between man and God, and the Buddha is the great teacher in Buddhism. It is simply inaccurate to suggest that either Buddha or Jesus is comparable to the supreme being figures listed.

The primary faults of this album are the cheap 60's rock covers which appear to solely be attempts to cash in on the songs' popularity and the uninspired, repetitive, clunky playing comprising the rest of the album.

Rating: 2/10

'Wstep Do "Ksiegi Chmur"(Introduction to the Book of Clouds)' is the first song. It covers the entire first side of the LP with a flute-oriented, Kraurtock-like improvisation. Behind the ongoing flute, there is a lot of percussion and some sound effects, which create a very natural feeling. Despite all the percussion, there is hardly any sense of rhythm throughout the piece, as sounds just come and go. This music might appeal to fans of Faust.

The second half of the album is 'Epilog "Muzyki fruwającej ryby"(Flying Fish Music)'. The first part, 'Ten sam wiatr porusza dwa drzewa(The same wind moves the two trees)', starts of with the kayagum of Jacek Ostaszewski, who also played the flute in the first part. After a while, the trumpet of Tomasz Stanko comes in with some lines and screeches. About halfway, tabla and other percussion come in and create a dark rhythm, while the trumpet gets continuously more aggressive. From there the trumpet and trombita improvise over the percussion up to the start of the second part, 'Dziurawe ucho (prawe)(Ear holes(right))'. The name of this part is based in the second half of the first piece, which was named 'Dziurawe ucho (lewe)', or 'Ear holes(left)'. This part starts off slowly until percussion takes over and the flute returns to the music. The trumpet of Tomasz Stanko is again prominent. Later the music turns again very minimal and arrhythmic with occasional trumpet and percussion interacting. This is kept up until a long trumpet note marks the ending of the album.

Overall Ossian provides very unique music, as a mix of Krautrock and ethnic music, with a lot of rare instruments as well. The music might, however, be difficult to enjoy, with not much rhythm and little variety. That makes that this not a perfect record.

Recommended to fans of experimental music, a bit risky for fans of melodic music, but still a very original mix of influences, overall 4,5 stars, rounded down to 4.

Shakti is the band that arose from the dissolution John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, a band that burst onto the fusion scene with tremendous fiery technicality only to implode upon itself soon thereafter. Technical based bands seem to only sustain themselves for so long. So, McLaughlin decides to take part in the raga music of India, and he assembles a team of Indian musicians to help him achieve his vision of his guitar skills in raga.

In a way, we have the end result of what the Mahavishnu Orchestra would sound like if it was a raga band with solely acoustic instruments. The main attraction is the speed-of-light dexterity from both McLaughlin and violinist L. Shankar (not sure if he's related to the late Ravi) that harkens back to the McLaughlin-Goodman trade-off solos of MO. Yes, these two instrumentalists are intended to be the main attraction here, but the percussionists are the ones that really shine in that they pin the rhythm down for the soloists to do their work, and their constant drive is what seals the good quality of this record.

However, this is essentially an acoustic MO as a raga band. And the fact that only ''Lotus Feet'' is under fifteen minutes is daunting to the minds of those who listen. The long runtimes kill the excitement of the music here, and the percussionists can only do so much before my mind starts drifting. There's only so much trade-off violin and guitar before everything bleeds into itself. I never was fond of MO going over ten minutes, and similar problems that plague long MO songs can be heard here.

No, I don't like this. It is more like they were in a drug hallucination than playing music. You can enjoy it ? sure. I think the best track here is "Kristallen den fina". Here they are very attuned and there is som nice flute included. In the end you can alse find a melodi. Melodies is what I miss on this record. If there was melodies perhaps I would have liked it. This is really progressive music ? but not progressive in the way I like it. But listen to it. They were unique and perhaps you like it.

Whenever I watch the movie, a favorite of mine, I love everything about it, not least the music with it's chaotic, scary ambiance. When I listen to the soundtrack I am less amused. Obviously there's brilliance on this record. The band is brilliant. It is simply a question of the music not being able to sustain the brilliance on it's own. Accompanied by the movie it is an easy four star album, when listened to without the movie a solid three star. That does not mean I fully grasp the music. No, not at all ('cause I don't) but I can feel it, knowing and understanding that it is good.

My favorite track on the album is "Fleance". That track is as gourgeous as music gets. Steeped in history and molded in an amazing coat of a strong, beutiful voice of a young boy it lifts me up and transports me in to Time and Space, allowing me to touch tha world of yesteryear. Obviously I am raving but it is quite a powerful track. When combined with the footage it is heavenly, on it's own captivating. Easily a five star song and one I return to ever so often. I thank Third Ear Band from the bottom of my heart for that track.

Conclusion: Great soundtrack, not so great an album. Brilliant but not as enjoyable on it's own as with the actual movie. Still, "Fleance" is a track making the album worth every single penny.

The live recording is split into five jams. The first is the longest, clocking just over 20 minutes. The first 4 minutes of this jam are just sensational. The sound is lush and fresh, and the band manage to create some really ethereal atmospheres. Unfortunately the music seems to go downhill. There is some nice percussion improvisation, but it doesn't really go anywhere. The jam then continues with some violin improvisation, bringing the album to an atmospheric close. The second jam continues the album on an avant-garde and boring note, with a drum beat that starts plodding and ends franticly and without a strong sense of rhythmic structure. The third track is another messy jam, and this time it is a little painful to the ears. This one is driven by heavily distorted guitar and bass. The fourth jam is in my opinion the best on the album. This track continues the messiness of the previous tracks, only the band use this to create wave-like textures that sweep back and forward. The final jam is not as good as the fourth, but it continues the album in a similar ethereal direction, creating another wonderful atmosphere.

Despite it's major flaws this album is not bad. There are some great atmospheres created here, but I would recommend it only to collectors and fans of Indo-Prog or Psychedelic/Space Rock.

2.5 stars.

Continuing the Swedish Krautrock adventure, International Harvester lost the "International" part of their name and continued to fine-tune, push and redirect the confines of their brand new invention. Hemåt (Homewards) is the second and last album of theirs, and it is quite a shame because I for one would have loved to hear what could've, should've might have been. Instead they morphed into an altogether new act called Träd, Gräs och Stenar, which went even further with a certain tool shed production...

What I really like about this album, is the fact that they have evolved the intimate and minimal chug rock of their debut into something infinitely more solid, grooving and rocking. There are tracks here that just ooze wild tribal fury and fire with rumbling Cream like drumming and the apt guitar and bass visions to accompany such a thing. What those tracks turn into as a whole (and as a result of this saucy cooperation) are these magnificent raw creatures of sound tearing up the very soil with Neanderthal music stamping through the airwaves like a regular hippopotamus' hoe-down. It's primal and largely based around simple monkey like rhythm schemes, but it works wonders just as well. The second track Kristallen den Fina is a fine example of this remarkable style.

Jumping straight to my favourite cut off Hemåt - I'd like to speak a bit about the rendition of Everybody (Needs somebody to Love). This track is completely torn apart in these mellow skewed psychedelic surfaces - sounding almost like mantra like chants emanating from your local opium den. Wah wahing guitar along with the tribal tom work again points a finger back towards Cream, but this is just so much more loosey goosey and jello based. If you've heard the original song before, then don't hold your breath for anything recognisable other than the steaming vocalisations in the back... So why only 3 stars you say? Well this album's got some serious issues as well. One of them being the horrifically bad sound quality there is to some of the tracks. Audiophiles of PA take cover - you're most likely going to hate these with every inch of your body. Tracks like Nepal- Boogie and Bacon Tomorrow(HA HAH!! Gotta love that title though...) sound like they were recorded from the insides of a shed by a drunk toddler with a 1940s microphone down his nappy. Whatever qualities there are to either of these tracks are lost in complete marmalade overkill. Everything sounds muffled and gagged - like listening to a psych jam from the other end of a telephone. Too bad, because one of these sounds like an acid drenched take on Canned Heat's bobbing boogie style.

Finally, I find it pretty mesmerizing that the title track Hemåt is a bonus track that originally was left off the record. The only reason I have it is because I purchased the reissue cd, and to top it all off - the tune is actually one of the best psych jams on this outing! Maybe the guys had completely gone fishing - smoked too much space tobacco and injected the wrong kind of medicine, but I think it speaks volumes about the whole mental state of the times(and band), that a track like this was binned in favour of either of the earlier mentioned toddler recordings. Sheer madness! Still, when this album is good - it is very good, and I feel instantly shot back into those Neanderthal grooves with the hypnotic tribal drums, the occasional saxophone toots and the see saw guitars sloshing away - and then everything else just diminishes and turns into mindless concerns of the nitpicking people. 3.5 stars. 

The play on words of `High Rise' could not be more appopriate, as constantly stoned and ragged unhinged electric guitar solos over buzzing winds and cool electronic textures that ebb and flow to build the tension. Maddening tabla and middle eastern percussion tap away throughout the entire piece to create a very disorientating atmosphere.

`Kafi (For Your Love)' is a reflective, heartfelt and spiritual sitar/drone piece with a deeply ambient and swirling keyboard middle very similar to the Manuel Gottsching/Ashra `New Age Of Earth' bubbling runs. Lovely and mystical.

The cosmic electronic effects, folky acoustic guitar and bluesy lead electric playing of the grooving `Spirit Blues' drifts amongst low-key synth washes and hypnotic tabla percussion. Sure to get you nodding your head in appreciation. `Repetition' lives up to it's name, although it's never boring. A long droning ambient piece full of sitar, tabla and glistening dancing crystaline keys, almost drifting into programmed/Tangerine Dream territory, something that several OSC albums have also done lately.

`Sitars In Space' is the most unsettling piece on the album. Although full of howling cosmic winds and long drawn-out echoing sitar, much of the piece travels through eerie and murky murmerring dark bass tension and groaning deep-space machine electronics. Like a sinister nightmare, this track almost compliments dark space works like Tangerine Dream's `Zeit' in parts, and it shares that albums' sense of overwhelming isolation and solitude.

The Oresund Space Collective albums keep coming along nicely, but hopefully the members involved in this wonderful diversion will continue to collaborate and release more quality works in the future! Each new release by the related Oresund Space Collective projects brings them closer to the classic drifting psych/space works of bands like Agitation Free they surely have in them. I buy everything the band releases and have yet to be disappointed. Every new release brings them closer and closer to a truly defining work.

But for now, `West, Space and Love' is a meditative and captivating album to place alongside artists like Daevid Allen's `Sacred Geometry' that successfully fuses ambient, electronic and ethnic/world elements to create an intoxicating and timeless psychedelic spacey journey.

Highly recommended. Four stars!