TAROT, PART I

These cosmic trippers emerged from the Barcelona psychedelic scene in 2013. After having named themselves after the first song on the very first Gong album that was released back in 1970, MAGICK BROTHER AND MYSTIC SISTER has revived those early psychedelic Canterbury sounds by looking back to the wild and lysergic 60s for inspiration and developing a sound that absolutely nails the zeitgeist of those freewheelin' years when cosmic visions and astral dreams permeated the youth culture. Basically the trio of Evan Muntada who handles keys, piano and mellotron along with Xavi Sandoval who tackles bass, drums, mandolin, sitar and other stringed instruments. The main duo is joined by drummer Alejandro Carmona and a handful of guest musicians who add some flute, percussion, spoken word moments and even more sitar! It's like a classic Daevid Allen and Gili Smyth party in raga rock land along with all the best hippie vibes at the gleeful glissando gala!

The band caught the attention of the psych freaks in 2020 with its debut release and its spellbinding mystic stylistic approach that sounds like it traveled from another time and place. These cosmic trippers are back for round two with the 2024 release TAROT, PART I which draws inspiration from the Major Arcana of the TAROT, a concept i haven't heard from since Walter Wegmüller's 1973 psychedelic Krautrock journey. TAROT, PART I features 11 tracks which constitute only half of the 22 cards of the TAROT which means we will definitely see a PART II coming soon to an astral plane near you! Crafting a true sense of legit psychedelia MAGICK BROTHER AND MYSTIC SISTER delivers the goods in fine form with nods to not only Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth in their peak Gong years but also to Steve Hillage and his glissando guitar playing as well as some of the more psych folk bands of yore with moments that vaguely remind of Comus, Arco Iris, Tomorrow's Gift and a whole slew of psych folk / rock dabblers of the trade.

Traversing the first half of the TAROT, the album opens with the groovy "The Fool" which slowly slinks into your consciousness and then bedazzles you with psych-soaked keyboards and mellotrons and mesmerizing bass lines that hypnotize your soul and take you to the party section of the astral world where all your anxieties will dissipate into the ether. "The Magician" follows with a far out poetic prose accompanied by arpeggiate piano rolls and spaced out atmospheres and rock bass thumping with busy percussion. The band masters the seamless transitions between more energetic rock passages and dreamy float away escapism with swirling synthesizers and guitar glissando not heard since classic Gong days. "The High Priestess" on the other hand showcases Eva Muntada's siren-esque vocals as she becomes one with the ethereal and generates a Cocteau Twin like style of dream prog. "The Empress" jumps back into the raga motifs with sitar sounds and then off to space on a mellifluous journey into the stars.

"The Emperor" steps off the Gong train for a while to tackle the more classic Canterbury jazz sounds with references to classic Soft Machine and Egg but then re-enters Gong paradise with one of those tripped out sound collages with a cosmic narration before jumping back into the Mike Ratledge keyboard runs. And then back to raga world on "The Hierophant" before that track morphs into a beefy bass driven rocker that offers the perfect raga rock album of the album. "The Lover" is a more sensual affair with a spaciness and melody that reminds me of the "Moon Safari" album by the French band Air at least before it morphs into a classical Indian musical motif with tablas and more sitar. "The Chariot" offers the most rocked out performances with heavy guitars, thumping bass grooves and even guitar soloing. "The Justice" adds a bit more Canterbury key magic while "The Hermit" generates a more subdued loner vibe like the soundtrack of a lost soul in a cavern contemplating the existential quandaries of the universe. The closing "The Wheel Of Fortune" offers a touch of psych folk to bring you back to Earth for a little grounding.

There are quite a few retro bands trying to rekindle those lost escapist paradise sounds of the past but few have done so quite as convincingly as MAGICK BROTHER AND MYSTIC SISTER who studied the early Gong playbook without missing a beat and delivered a fantastic sonic journey into the ethereal and esoteric realms of the occult by dishing out a musical accompaniment to everyone's favorite metaphysical pastime, the TAROT. The album is graced with an incessant lysergia that keeps your astral body floating above your corporeal existence and takes you directly to the shamanic sermon in some parallel dimension. While psychedelic is a constant, each track dedicated to a card in the TAROT delivers a distinct style that keeps the album flowing and interesting. The accessible psychedelic pop hooks mixed with the koschmische Krautish ethereal ambience allow for perfect bed fellows and one of the most authentic 60s prog psych rock and folk albums i've heard in a long time. Wow! Spain is really killin' it this year with its prog. Yet another winner.