Mandra Gora Lightshow Society - Lucile's Grotesque Diary Of Her Interstellar Journey... download mp3 flac

First impressions of this album (judging merely by the cover) were that it would be a fairly typical Prog Rock piece of self indulgence - the title (a long, convoluted attempt at hitting the Guinness Book Of Records for longest title*) and Discordian imagery set it way back in the Sixties, with only the prescence of NIKKI SUDDEN (of SWELL MAPS) and NIK TURNER (of HAWKWIND) to suggest otherwise. But the album actually profits from it's self-indulgence, and while there's a strong retro feel to it, it makes a pleasant hybrid mixed with a more contemporary atmosphere.

Musically the element which sticks out prominantly is the elegant organ, played very much in the MANZAREK style, establishes a less-Blues-influenced DOORS as core comparison. And when he wants to, the vocalist can perform acrobatics much the same as MORRISON - take the worms-it's-way-into-your-head second track for instance - a definite high point in the album and on a par with "L.A. Woman".

When they want to (which certainly seems most of the time on this album), they can light a fire with their serpentine rhythms and sprawling indulgencies. And when they burn, they are like magnesium - bright speck stars stealing the mundane world from around you and replacing it with something, at least for that moment, better than reality.

"Put All Space Into A Nut'shall" is perhaps their most self-indulgent piece here - stripping the music away to 'strange' electronics and general mindfuck warping before pulling itself together into the runaway Rockabilly thrashout of "Meet A Diddley From Planet Bo".

Other comparisons? Couldn't help but feel CURRENT 93 circa "Swastikas For Noddy" had taken the helm here and there; a spot of Rockabilly akin to THE CRAMPS might seem to contrast with the music so far described, but quite easily beds itself into the overall eclectic atmosphere; moments of chord progression remind me of YES; and the NIKKI SUDDEN track brings DYLAN to mind, albeit a rather unfocussed BOB tripped out more on scaling writer's blocks than 'finding God'.

If those I compare it to sound a right mixed bag, might I say they carry this cultural junk shop mix off much better than many (and I include FAUST) - it sounds not so much like a ill-considered compilation, but more a lucky dip of delights, where each new piece is both a surprise and a wonder.

Using the two 'guest' musicians as a measuring device - you could say they sit between the humour of one and the trippy hippiness of the other.

A plethora of good songs and a hearty balance between rock solid musicianship and an outward-projecting sense of good feeling make this an entertaining album. I guess I had expected not to enjoy this album, but find it hard now to switch it off.

Oh, and the use of bird sounds midway through the album sent our cat crazy - added entertainment.

Originally reviewed for Metamorphic Journeyman.