(Onbekende) psychedelische meesterwerkjes

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Although his incredibly rare first album, Experiment in Metaphysics, was a sensational and dynamic slice of progressive acid folk, Perry Leopold took a phenomenal leap forward on the follow-up, 1973's Christian Lucifer. (It is a small miracle that the recording ever saw the light of day, since the studio at which it was recorded was sold and then closed, and all the master tapes from the sessions were erased and used again, leaving only a few mixdown copies.) The songs on the first album, while all strong individually, didn't quite hold together, but Christian Lucifer is conceptually a whole, impossible to imagine as anything other than what it is. Leopold's melodies again shine like slowly uncovered gems. Complex melodic lines and protracted vocal melodies stretch and build ominously, like the sight of a wise, enigmatic monk concealed beneath a woolen cloak. The religious reference is not an empty simile. If the songs on his first album came across as parables or ancient narrative tales, then Christian Lucifer is a collection of hymns, prayers, and litanies conflicted with the dualities of life, full of metaphysical depth. Whereas the first album stuck to the folk basics, this second album was stunningly produced.

Gorgeous layers of acoustic guitars, bass, clavinets, bassoons, recorders, oboes, cellos, tabla, MiniMoog, and explosive timpani and bells gave the album a rococo-styled grace and wispy beauty, invoking everything from medieval madrigals to Bach and Vivaldi to Middle Eastern musics to psychedelia and the Doors. And yet, it is none of those things. There are imprecise similarities to Nick Drake's oppressive but beautiful fragility, the theatrical majesty and scope of David Bowie (who is quoted at the beginning of "Serpentine Lane," a dystopian reply of sorts to "Space Oddity," with Leopold's deep voice infusing the music with the same alien quality), and the visionary mystical musings of Merrell Fankhauser and Jeff Cotton's cult band Mu.

The foreboding keyboards of "The Windmill" are pulled directly from "Riders on the Storm," but the album is an entirely unique and novel amalgam. There is a Renaissance Fair feel, particularly in songs such as "Sunday Afternoon in the Garden of Delights" and "The Starewell," harsh and pretty at once, and intriguingly arcane. Leopold was, in fact, a troubadour in the truest sense of the word, singing his music for whoever would listen.

Ultimately, the album is a very individual struggle with the duality that lies at its heart and is the crux of everything humanity is and does. Christian Lucifer is both terrestrial and ethereal, both tangible and transcendent. It is unquestionably Leopold's masterpiece, and one of the most artistic, intellectually mature, and haunting albums — released or not — of its era.

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Eight Miles High is een rockalbum van Golden Earring uit november 1969.

Met deze elpee doken de Hagenezen in de acid-rock ofwel psychedelische rock. Het nummer Eight Miles High, geschreven door Gene Clarck, Roger McGuinn en David Crosby van The Byrds, (later lid van Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), leende zich uitstekend om de hallucinante sfeer weer te geven. Tijdens live-optredens in onder andere de Verenigde Staten werd Eight Miles High uitgerekt tot driekwartier en verrijkt met een gitaar-, drum- en bassolo. Omdat een elpeezijde slechts beperkt is tot plusminus 20 minuten moest dit nummer ingekort worden. Met 19 minuten is Eight Miles High de langste track die Golden Earring ooit op plaat zette. Song of a Devil's Servant komt al eerder voor op de voorganger On the Double (1969), maar kent op Eight Miles High een meer psychedelische productie. De elpee is in vijf dagen opgenomen in de Olympic Studio in Londen. De spontaniteit van de songs werd geprezen, de rudimentaire techniek kreeg na de release wat kritiek te verduren.

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Op dinsdag 3 juli 2007 20:08 schreef Uzumaki_Naruto het volgende:
nederlandse psychedelica

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Earthless is the brainchild of Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton and Isaiah Mitchell. Rubalcaba, a prolific drummer, has worn the alias of Ruby Mars during his stint with Rocket From The Crypt, went on to bang away for the Hot Snakes, was the drummer for hardcore art-punks Clikatat Ikatowiand previously was in the Black Heart Procession… and prior to that? Mario was a member of Tony Alva’s Alva Team skateboarding crew. He now finds himself, along with bassist Mike Eginton and guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, knee deep in the near opposite direction of all things punk rock, ensconced in the world of jam, space and “cosmic nodding” a.k.a. Earthless.

The trio, based out of San Diego, met through mutual friends and a fondness for under the radar record collections. Mario explains how the band connected, “We discovered a mutual admiration for a lot of Japanese psychedelic hard rock bands, as well as primitive ‘60s garage music. After combing over each other’s record collections and lending out records, we came upon the idea of, ‘Let’s specifically start a Japanese-psychedelic-heavy-Kraut-rock-band.’ With the Japanese bands, it was always a really kind of heavy, blues, twisted take on Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. Isaiah is an awesome guitar player & Mike is an amazing bassist, playing with the both of them really sealed the deal. Magic happened in the room. Since then, we’ve followed that formula.”
Recently signed to Tee Pee Records, Earthless issues their debut album, Rhythms from A Cosmic Sky, this May. While Mario, Mike and Isaiah can be the most precise of musicians, the group also revels in adding a healthy amount of jam to the mix, as evidenced by the album’s two extended tracks “Godspeed” and “Sonic Prayer. (read all)