Recently the French artist residency project CAMP invited a good friend of OBLADADA’s, Will Sol, aka Prana Crafter, to contribute to their web radio station. In turn, Will thought the idea of a collaboration might be an interesting way to tie together some of the ideas and paths we share.
Each month or so, we’ll create a 2-hour mix, woven together and peppered with sprawling psych, spiralling electronics and a tumbling stream of weird zones. We hope it’s an adventure you’ll enjoy listening to as much as we enjoy pulling together…
PRANA CRAFTER CHOOSE…
What?? by Folke Rabe
From the album “What??” released in 1970
I began this episode with this track after hearing the completed show introduction featuring Alan Watts and Terence McKenna, Zinaru jokingly commented that Folke Rabe would fit perfectly with the ‘oms’ of Watts and myself, and he was right! The minimalist tones melted into the Om and created a perfect transition into the next track…
Black Riders (Flight to the Fjord) by Bo Hansson
From the album “(Music Inspired By) Lord of The Rings” released in 1972
I love this album and feel it hits a special vein of mystic energy and imagination, just like Tolkien’s words. This particular track has a unique energy and style that reminded me of the mood from Santana’s first album.
All in the Golden Afternoon by Friends of Dean Martinez
From the album “Lost Horizon” released in 2005
I am a huge fan of Friends of Dean Martinez and this is my favorite piece, I find it to be capable of transporting one into a realm of imagination and sonic bliss, the pedal steel sets the mood and the electric lead paints a picture of a stoned golden afternoon in the sun.
Eyes of the World Live Jam ’72 by Grateful Dead
From a bootleg recording
This is a primo jam from a primo era, i.e. ‘72 dead is a deep wealth of organic, natural, jams and the instrumental sections of Eyes of the World produced some of my favorite moments from that magic era.
Live in Berlin ’72 by Ash Ra Tempel
From a bootleg recording
Since I first heard the playing of Manuel Göttsching I have fantasized about a collaboration between he and the early 70’s Grateful Dead (when Jerry was alive) and I finally partially achieved this imaginal goal by transitioning a ‘72 live dead jam into a ‘72 live Ash Ra Tempel, and I hope listeners will agree it is a perfect fit.
ZINARU CHOOSE…
The Pilgrim to the Woods by Montibus Communitas
From the album “The Pilgrim to the Absolute” released in 2014
Birthed high in the Peruvian mountains, this feels like the real thing. Tweeting birds and the sounds of nature gives way to a stoned groove. As this cavernous track peaks, it throws you deep into a neon tinged forest.
On The High Seas… by Dolphins Into The Future
From the album “…On Sea-Faring Isolation” released in 2009
On his very first album, Belgian musician Lieven Martens sets the scene for his entire sonic voyage. On High Seas… is a wonderful imagining of cetacean dimensions redrawn as pulsating waves of warping electronics.
I Foletti by Teisco (Rimauri)
From the album “D.O.C” released in 1987
Italian musician Marco Meichiori has made several odd releases of library music that somehow hang together as actual albums much more than it’s fair to expect. Recorded under his more recent alias of Rimauri – I Foletti is his purest distillation of strangeness. Translated as ‘goblins’, the track zones in on the day, clearly these imaginary humanoids made mushroom tea.
La Chasse Aux Microbes by Michael Bundt
From the album “Just Landed Cosmic Kid” released in 1977
A journey down the microscope, where thick synthetic modular bubbles replace the tiniest lifeforms. Echoes retrace cells dividing and the micro, re-animate into forms larger than life.
Tripping Through the Rose Gardens by Michael Yonkers
From the album ‘Grimwood’ released in 1974
Michael Yonkers album Grimwood is rightly regarded as a high watermark of acid folk. Whilst the album is for loners, Tripping Through the Rose Gardens perfectly captures a pleasant sunny afternoon that no one quite remembers.
Rest Aria by The Residents
From the album “Meet the Residents” released in 1974
Beauty wasn’t what The Residents ever really seemed to zone in on, but this track from their debut strikes gold. A wonky piano overlayered with horns, percussion and all sort of debris, despite their best attempts, solidifies into a swooping unique form of gloriousness.
Ory (Joyous Toil) by Botany
From the album “Deepak Verbera” released in 2016
Sculpting a heady new aged drift, minus the beats that he often flirts with, Ory (Joyous Toil) is the sound of deep calm. The track floats by like some ecstatic jazz vibe filtered momentarily through a sunbeam.
Giger’s Balinese Green Vaults by Typhonian Highlife
From the album “H.R. Giger’s Studiolo” released in 2014
This track comes from a sprawling album that remains one of the strangest we’ve come across from an artist that specialises in odd. An uneasy oasis of calm with a bouncing ball spine that seems as near to normality that he’s ever been.
Prismatic Haze by Kassel Jaeger
From the album “Le Lisse Et Le Strié” released in 2019
Unidentified electronics overlay each other into a hugely magnetic black hole in sound. This track has always had a deeply profound effect for reasons I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on. It’s human catnip in sound.
10.17.2009 (For CCG) by M. Geddes Gengras
From the album “Collected Works, Vol. 1: The Moog Years” released in 2013
The work of M. Geddes Gengras comes in many bristly electronic forms but 10.17.2009 (For CCG) has always spoken the loudest. A seemingly sombre expansion that just slowly pans back, enlarging itself into ragged threads of hanging kosmic bliss.
PRANA CRAFTER CHOOSE…
Terry’s Tune by Don Cherry
From the album “Organic Music Society” released in 1973
I chose Don Cherry’s ‘Terry’s Tune’ to close out the night because Cherry and Riley together exemplify organic music, they the patron saints of sonic mysticism.
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