genre: psych
country: uk
quality : lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)
time: 44'42" size: 259 mb
issue: 2004
Tapestry of Delights:
This underground group was formed in response to an advert in 'Melody Maker' and after auditioning had been held in All Saints Hall, Notting Hill Gate. The guiding lights were Raja Ram (who'd been born Ron Rothfield in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia) and Sambhu Babaji.
Their music was a fusion of jazz, rock and Eastern music which made great use of jazzy flute and rock guitars. At times they veered towards the pretentious but at their best they were able to achieve a high degree of spiritual union with their audience through the chanting of mantras.
In Blissful Company was recorded a few weeks after their formation following their rapid success in getting the audience to their feet at consecutive Implosion underground events at the Roundhouse in 1969. The self-titled Quintessence followed the next year. Very much a period piece it hasn't aged well. The opening track, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gauranga has a haunting quality and several other cuts like High On Mt. Koilash, Shiva's Chant, Moho Mantra and the finale, Infinitum are based around mantras and achieve a spiritual feel. Of the remaining material Burning Bush contains some good fuzz guitar and Prisms exudes an aura of freshness and optimism. The remaining cuts are rather tedious, mostly instrumental freak-outs.
Dive Deep is generally less spiritual (the exception being the final track Sri Ram Chant). It's comprised of pleasant, predominantly instrumental longer tracks (six in all), of which the title cut and Sri Ram Chant sound the best. Much of the material is too self-indulgent.
Shiva and Maha Dev left after the partly live Self album. Shiva went on to form the similar Kala.
1. Giants (4:37)
2. Manco Capac (5:17)
3. Body (3:34)
4. Gange Mai (4:00)
5. Chant (3:02)
6. Pearl and Bird (3:57)
7. Notting Hill Gate (4:38)
8. Midnight Mode (9:15)
bonus:
9. Notting Hill Gate (2:31)
10. Move into the Light (3:26)
Sambhu Babaji / bass, acoustic guitar, Jew's harp
Dave Codling / rhythm guitar
Shiva Shankar Jones / lead vocals, keyboards, hand drums
Mike / sitar
Jake Milton / drums, percussion
Alan Mostert / acoustic & electric guitars, bass
Raja Ram / flute, bells, chimes, percussion
Surya / tamboura
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