SOUNDTRACK: ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O.-Lord of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixir (2009).
A lot of AMT music sounds vaguely similar with Kawabata’s wild guitar noodling (and because they always play “Pink Lady Lemonade”) but this album really changes things up because Kawabata plays the bouzouki, saz and sitar which adds a Middle Eastern flavor to the proceedings.
There’s three songs on this album, one really short one, one really long one and one really really really long one. The lineup is the same as other albums from this period, although the instrumentation has changed a bit:
- Tsuyama Atsushi: monster bass, voice, acoustic guitar, alto recorder, flute, toy trumpet, kazoo, cosmic joker
- Higashi Hiroshi: synthesizer, dancin’king
- Shimura Koji: drums, latino cool
- Kawabata Makoto: electric guitar, bouzouki, saz, sitar, organ, percussion, speed guru
“Eleking the Clay” is fourteen minutes long. Kawabata plays a simple, fast, rocking riff on the bouzouki while Tsuyama Atsushi sings along. At around five minutes Kawabata starts a wild solo while the rest of the band continues chugging along. Near the end the keys take over and the bass starts going predictably wild. It’s interesting to hear the familiar mixed with the new here.
“Sorcerer’s Stone of the Magi” is a short guitar piece at just under 4 minutes. Acoustic guitar chords and a lead sitar play a bouncing melody while the singer sings along. The track is full of bird song and chatter in the background. A lovely pastoral piece.
“Vishnu and the Magic Elixir” is the monster song on this album at over 25 minutes long. It starts off slowly with single notes on the sitar but the echoing notes almost give it a Western feel at the same time. The trippy synth sounds make the song sound like Middle East meets the Old West in outer space.
Tsuyama starts adding in pig snorts and mocking laughter after and around 6 minutes some growling and singing are followed by the kazoo (!). By around ten minutes the song starts to pick up the tempo with the bass really taking the lead and meandering around. Kawabata’s solo starts to get intense around this time as well. Then Tsuyama throws in some toy trumpet. Things build and build and by 17 minutes it’s a full on wild freak out that lasts almost until the end of the song. Although by 25 minutes the song stats to fade with echoing notes giving the song a proper ending.
And, yes, I don’t really know the difference between a bouzouki and a saz, so I could be wrong about what he’s playing.
[READ: May 1, 2021] “A Tranquil Star”
This very short story was translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein.
The story concerns a star and its observer. The star was a peaceful star and it was very big and very hot. But words are meaningless on this scale, right? Australia is very far, an elephant is very big, I can have a hot bath.
The thing was though, that the star was not so tranquil. It was just hard to observe from earth. Arab and Chinese astronomers were aware of the star, but Europeans were too busy with earthly pursuits to notice. The Arab watched it for 30 years and watched how it performed differently at different times.
But when he died, the star took no notice.
Years later however, Ramon Escojido, a thirty-four year old astronomer was photographing the stars.
He was modest and lazy. His wife, conversely was ambitious and social. But they lived in a remote area where he could observe the stars. Weekends were her choice and she often chose to go out.
The way this story began and the very different way it ended (although only a few short pages) was pretty fascinating. Especially the gigantic concern that happens at the end, of which the star could be the cause, but could not care,
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