Lanaleminaz Music Fashion Shield

The original LP version of the Garden of the Elk's debut was originally released in 1972. This Älgarnas Trädgård album (their only studio recording until the newly discovered Delayed) has been one of the pinnacles of underground psychedelic rock -- comparable to early Pink Floyd and other masters of freak-out excellence. Recorded in 1971, this CD issue adds a couple of bonus live tracks from 1972. The Elks utilized violins, rebec, cello, guitars, sitar, piano, zither, organ flutes, zinks, Jew's harps, tablas, percussion, Moog synthesizer, and VC-3 Putney synthesizers in their musical panoply. Though they used them in a way that had little to do with rock, it came out as psychedelic rock just the same. They put together combinations of instruments with influences ranging from Floyd to Bach to Terry Riley, the Third Ear Band, King Crimson, and Olivier Messiaen, just to name a few. They listened closely to one another and employed every effect they could get their hands on, finally resorting to drinking tea with sound effects. The use of a synthesizer -- the first one to make it into Sweden -- is interesting in that it's used to heavily treat the sound of a Beatles record in snippets -- an early attempt at remixing and sampling. It's pointless to mention standout tracks -- their titles are too long anyway -- as they all sound like one long gorgeous, otherworldly journey. But make no mistake, this disc is for fans of early Floyd (A Saucerful of Secrets, maybe), early Ghost, Can, and anyone else in wildly inventive, deeply textured, wondrously executed psychedelic process "rock." AMG.



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