This is a massive collection (97 tracks spread over five CDs -- each
volume was originally released in numbered limited editions by Purple
Lantern Records) of swirling psychedelic folk and rock featuring the
sitar from the late '60s and early '70s. It draws on bands and
performers from the U.S., Britain, India, Germany, Sweden, Holland,
Australia, and several other points on the planet, and it's difficult to
imagine getting more flower power drone for the dollar anywhere else.
It's all wonderfully dated, of course, an incense-soaked time capsule
from a very particular time in pop music, and some of it is
incomprehensibly baffling, like Mehrpoojah's ultra-serious "Love Dance
of the Lemmings" -- which sounds like nothing so much as Spinal Tap in
full hippie phase -- while some of it seems like a natural fusion of
Eastern and Western folk music (Pentangle's "Once I Had a Sweetheart").
George Harrison and the Beatles had a lot to do with this sitar
phenomenon back in the Summer of Love, so it should come as no surprise
that there are a couple of sitar-led instrumental versions of Beatles
songs here ("I Am the Walrus" from Lord Sitar and "Eleanor Rigby" from
Chim Kothari) as well as a version of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" by
the Folkswingers -- Roger McGuinn's iconic electric 12-string guitar
breaks in the original version of the song were attempts to fuse Ravi
Shankar with John Coltrane in the first place. The end result of all
this droning through 97 tracks is a fun set that is probably best
enjoyed in small doses -- one could seriously drift away on the incense.
Enjoy! Vol.1
Enjoy! Vol.2
Enjoy! Vol.5
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου