I sometimes like to guess, while listening, what genre an album is going to be classed as under its Wikipedia entry, even though quite often trying to pigeon-hole music as a specific genre really doesn’t work. Especially an album as a whole where an artist may include tracks with lots of different influences. My guess for this one would be “progressive soul”, maybe “psychedelic soul”. Which were both correct.
All of which to say is that this is soul/funk that gets into some very laid-back and catchy grooves. Otis multi-tracked himself playing all the instruments apart from horns and strings, which are used to decorate the tracks throughout. Consequently the album took about three years to create, damaging Otis’ credibility as a viable commercial partner with studios. Which is a shame, as the tracks are all very strong.
Sparkle City turns to a lengthy steady jam, backed by a bass motif and embellishments of guitar. Aht Uh Mi Head uses an early, analogue, drum machine to give a beat like the ticking of a clock (reminding me of Pink Floyd’s Time), and some nice flute work by Jack Kelso over the top.
Side Two of the album has a cluster of shorter, sub-3 minute instrumental tracks that range from the mellow Rainy Day to the electronic experimentation of XL-30, Hammond wanderings over an electronic drum beat. The longer track Pling! also uses the drum machine beat with a delicate piece that is like Tangerine Dream doing soul music. Which is kind of what the entire album is - a collision between soul and kosmische rock, and as I have learned that I generally enjoy both genres, it's no surprise that I liked this one.
Comments
Post a Comment