IN DEN GÄRTEN PHARAOS

1. "In den Gärten Pharaos" (17:37) droning, slowly changing, organ and synth are joined in the eighth minute by hand drums and then, in the eleventh minute, by cymbals. This could very well have been similar to the ambient sounds one might hear lilting around in the courtyards and alleys of the royal palaces of Ancient Egyptian kings. At the end of the 13th minute Fender Rhodes takes the fore while the percussion rhythm changes and the organ and synth take a much further-in-the-background role--until a few temporary uprisings occur in the 15th and 17th minutes. Certainly Kosmische Musik! (31/35)

2. "Vuh" (19:48) church organ in a more traditional use--with big chords, long held and slowly shifting--comes out as the principle music maker here though crashing, crescendoing, and tinkling cymbals, synth "flutes," and "heavenly" choral voices are also heard. And that's pretty much it! Hand drums in the far distance join the cymbal cacophony in the eighth minute and then gain an increasing share of the soundscape (moved forward in the mix) during the 12th minute and beyond (as the organ is commensurately moved to the background). What I thought was going to be a gentle, beautiful organ concerto turns out to be a bull-in-the-china-shop cymbal exhibition. With the 15th minute the cymbals and drumming take a break, allowing the still-droning, rhythmically-shifting organ to take the fore again, but then the cymbals rise again in the 16th minute, hand drums in the 17th. This music was obviously a big inspiration for Vangelis' 1970s work as well as most of Stefano Musso's great career as ALIO DIE. Also for Jonathan Goldman's work with trance-generating and other meditative/breath work musical guides. (35.5/40)

Total Time: 37:25

I'm not sure which of the two side-long mesmerics I like more--probably "Vuh" due to the presence of the drone organ and mysterious background vocals (which also lend credibility to the possibility of this type of music/sound being familiar to Egyptian palace workers 4500 years ago.

B/four stars; an excellent album that will not be everyone's cup of tea but should not be missed in terms of hearing yet another of the diverse musical forms of expression contrived over the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite my overall lower than expected marks, I do consider this album a major landmark in the formation and solidification of a niche of music that will have profound use and effect in the "human potential" movements of the 1970s and 1980s; a sure-fire masterpiece of Kosmische Musik.

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