ALCHEMY

The Third Ear Band origins began in the important '67 London underground. They inhabited many of the same haunts and knew some of the same people as the early Floyd, places such as the UFO club and London Free School, and people such as Blackhill management and John Hopkins. Early in '68 the first official line-up emerged and the band began the music for this album. Minimalist, avant-garde chamber drone would be my personal description of this music. Mostly it consists of acoustic instruments, strings, and oboe with hand percussion. The approach is one of constant improvisation or so it would seem, no doubt they did have plans but you wouldn't know it from listening. Free-form playing is the style in a droning pattern not unlike Eno in some ways, and also sounding a bit like Oregon in approach. This was pretty cutting edge for the time and some claim this is the first world music album. It is often interesting if you have patience and without question was intended for consumption by the chemically-aided mind frame. I appreciate the journey and the approach and yet unlike Eno and Oregon this is not a band I enjoy playing very often. Try as I might to meet this on its intellectual level it still manages to irritate me a bit-not nearly as much as the unlistenable "Abelard and Heloise" but a little. This is a good album and an important work that should be of interest to avant fans and those interested in the origins of world music. Challenging is an understatement. 6/10

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