TAROT, PART I

I was certain Magick Brother & Mystic Sister were one and done and have disappeared. I'm glad to see that wasn't the truth. I know COVID greatly affected many bands, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister included. It also seems they went through a lineup change, Marc Tena departing, with a new drummer, Alejandro Carmona replacing him, and flautist Maya Fernandez listed now as a guest (I believe that's due to Marc's departure). Eva Muntada and Xavi Sandoval are still there. It's 2024 and their second album Tarot Part I is nothing short of a masterpiece! Alejandro Carmona seems to have a more rock-approach to his drumming (Marc's drumming was more jazzy), so that means the music has less of that jazz-influence, but that really doesn't matter as they took that psych and prog sound to the next level, with a more pastoral and frequently spacy approach than before. Tarot Part I is simply some of the finest modern-day psych music I have ever heard! I could even imagine those who grew up in the 1960s appreciating this. "The Fool" has some really nice use of vocoder, which is unusual for psych, but it goes great with the nice vocals. "The High Priestess" is more in the psychedelic folk vein, largely acoustic. "Battle of Evermore" from Zeppelin is what this song reminds me of. Of course you don't have Robert Plant with Sandy Denny, but you do have the nice ethereal vocals from Eva Muntada. "The Emperor" has that same vibe as the 1967 Elektra album The Zodiac - Cosmic Sounds. It even has similar spoken dialog. "The Hermit" has that strange ethereal vocal in a psych setting, while "The Wheel of Fortune" starts off a bit on the folk side, but then gets proggy at the end with a dramatic Mellotron passage. So, while I don't get much of a Soft Machine vibe this time around, the occasional reminders of The Zodiac - Cosmic Sounds (turns out that Eva loves that album, so I'm sure the vibe of that album on "The Emperor" was intentional), acoustic Zeppelin, Ultimate Spinach (particularly "Pamela" from their self-entitled debut), and psych in general, is what I do notice. There is that MB&MS style, most particularly with Eva Muntada who does actual singing, but still does her ethereal wordless voices as well.

I didn't quite pay close attention to interviews by members of this group, but back in 2020 when they released their debut, they were already hinting at recording music inspired by the Tarot. I'm certain if it weren't for COVID, I would have seen the Tarot albums likely surfacing around 2022 but that didn't happen, for obvious reasons. Tarot I is simply some of the finest modern-day retro-psych I have ever heard! The second installment will appear on November 22, 2024. I saw some articles stating the second installment would appear within a couple of months after the first, but that never happened, and that was probably a bit unrealistic (record pressing plants are more backlogged than ever, that's why albums take longer to be released after they were recorded). Tarot Part I is everything I imagine the band going for that follow-up. They simply upped the ante for some of the finest psych and prog going these days and this album deserves no less than a five star rating!

The Neo-Canterbury band from Catalán is back with their sophomore album--and I'm so excited. (Their 2020 self-titled debut, is one of my top 5 favorite albums of the 2020s, so far.)

1. "The Fool" (5:39) great bass with a bit of a mix of THE BEATLES' "Tomorrow Never Knows" and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT feel with their uses of panned synthesizers, reversed lead guitar, and vocoder, respectively. Once the vocals, drums, and chugging rhythm guitar join in, it becomes more like a psychedelic song from someone like The PRETTY THINGS on S.F. Sorrow or GENESIS' first album or, from the 21st Century, WEST INDIAN GIRL. Very warm and inviting. (8.875/10)

2. "The Wizard" (3:05) male vocal recitation over the spacey opening, but then piano, drums, and bass take us into a more psych-rock motif before switching over to a very NEKTAR-like passage starting at 1:25. This is excellent psychedelia! Too bad it doesn't have more of a "finished" quality to it. (9/10)

3. "The High Priestess" (3:38) dreamy female vocals (many tracks) with some Baroque instrumentation beneath. Very beautiful--and so Sixties-ish! The vocal arrangements could rival anything from THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS, STEELEYE SPAN, or MELLOW CANDLE (or, in the 21st Century, The MEDIÆVAL BÆBES). Eva Muntada's vocal arrangements are amazing! (9.5/10)

4. "The Empress" (3:42) more dreamy, floating vocals over more normal folk-rock-like instrument palette. I am so impressed with Eva's amazingly etheric vocal layering! It's so Siren-like in its calm and ultra-confident allure. Whale-like lead guitar arrives in the third minute. Nice! And thank you, Maddy Gray, for those seductive words to finish! (9.125/10)

5. "The Emperor" (2:52) a little more reminiscent of the band's first album, the rich palette of Fender Rhodes, thick bass, "distant" horn synth, and fuzz guitar make for a wonderfully alluring sound. The spoken voice of Dominic O'Dair fills the pause in the middle with pertinent descriptors and nouns from the lexicon of the Tarot world. (9.125/10)

6. "The Hierophant" (3:21) guest Tony Jagwar's searing sitar soloing over fast-rocking bass and drums and hypnotic floating waves of synths! This reminds me of KULA SHAKER at their absolute best! Xavi Sandoval is the listener's champion: he makes his bass sound and lines so infectious! (9.5/10)

7. "The Lover" (3:21) Mellotron and keyboard bells (and distant flute) make for a very dreamy, Days of Future Passed- like soundscape. Then harpsichord takes over to back the angelic multi-tracked voices of Eva Muntada before the music switches to pure Indian with Didac Ruiz' tabla play and Xavi's sitar. Unexpectedly fragmented but it all works! It is an amazing cross-cultural view of the cosmic phenomenon we call "love"! (9.125/10)

8. "The Chariot" (3:06) more bass-led music that could very well have come from the band's debut album, Xavi, Alejandro, and Eva create a wonderful groove over which wah-ed lead gutar, flute, and organ take turns soloing. I love the flanged drums! Great tune! Xavi's electric guitar really cooks in that 30 seconds! This one reminds me very much of something from Devonshire band MAGIC BUS. (9.25/10)

9. "The Justice" (4:56) Xavi's great bass, front and center, seducing us from his first notes, with reverbed drums and piano and dreamy 1960s flute open this one before Eva's balmy vocals--in a lower register--come in to sing us her folk wisdom. Great pop-jazziness to this one. Should/could be a hit! Eva's Mellotron and Xavi's heavily-effected chorused lead guitar come in with about a minute to go but it's 'tron and flute that take us to the end fade. Wow! A perfect song! (10/10)

10. "The Hermit" (3:11) floating strummed guitar chords with matching lead guitar notes and Mellotron male voices open this instrumental like some kind of Steve Hackett impressionistic piece. More vocals and heavily-flanged cymbal play join in during the second half. Great atmosphere with a very mystical result. (8.875/10)

11. "The Wheel of Fortune" (4:21) lightly-flanged 12-string pickings for an intro before the music shifts into a psychedelic pop waltz with Glenn Brigman's dreamy DONOVAN-like flanged voice singing. It's so Sixties dreamy Psychedelic Pop! Masterful! Even the rising chord progression that carries the song has something magically mind- altering to it! Absolutely, astonishingly wonderful! (9.5/10)

Total Time 41:12

The band has definitely chosen to proceed down the more space/psychedelic form of Canterbury that Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlin, and Gillie Smyth travelled over their careers--maybe even moreso! I have to agree with fellow reviewers that this is one of the finest collections of Neo-1960s-Psychedelia that I've heard--and that it surely qualifies of one of 2024's prog masterpieces!

A/five stars; a minor masterpiece of wonderfully-suggestive Canterbury-tinged Space/Psychedelic prog.

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.

4.5 stars. MAGICK BROTHER & MYSTIC SISTER became a four piece in 2013, and that four piece wold release their debut in 2020. This band is from Spain, and they play a spacey brand of psychedelia with male and female vocals. It's interesting that they drop to a trio on this their second album "Tarot Part I", and some 8 months later they release "Tarot Part II" as a duo with no guests.

So two albums in one year but it completes the subject of Tarot cards. And while I'm not into this subject it certainly is interesting as a concept album. I really appreciated Walter Wegmuller's "Tarot" album from the early seventies. Walter was an artist and he painted his own Tarot cards, plus he was an expert on the subject. A huge inspiration for Xavi and Eva our two main players here was Daevid Allen. And meeting him at a music festival must have been a dream come true.

So yes they name themselves after the opening song on GONG's debut "Magick Brother" from 1969, but switch the order of the names. And while my favourite psychedelic band from Spain is ATIVISMO, I have to admit this band is approaching that level with this record. Mind you the music here has more in common with SATURNIA, from neighbouring Portugal. Eva is the keyboardist and main singer while Xavi plays the stringed instruments. Some guests add spoken words, percussion, sitar and flute.

The opener "The Fool" after a spacey start kicks in with a catchy rhythm. A great opener actually as it's catchy, melodic, and it moves with some pace. Some acid guitar before 3 minutes. A trippy track. "The Magician" really shows this bands stripes. The spoken words, the piano, the depth of sound, the atmosphere. So drifting at times with the synths helping with that. "The High Priestess" opens with piano and guitar expressions bringing to mind Conny Veit and POPOL VUH. There will be a lot more of this on the next track. I like the mandolin on here and really there's lots of beautiful sounds on this track.

"The Empress" sounds like a lost POPOL VUH song because of the guitar mostly. So refreshing to hear this though. Mellotron, spoken words and more. "The Emperor" like the opener adds some energy to this record. "The Hierophant" is a cool tune with that sitar. More sitar on "The Lover" along with synths, mellotron, guitar and organ. I really like the flute on the next track "The Chariot", and also on "The Justice" which is my favourite song overall. A bass line to start the latter as drums arrive, and I really like this. Flute then vocals. Almost a jazz vibe here.

"The Hermit" is different, of course. It's an instrumental that sort of breathes in and out with guitar, synths and mellotron. Lastly we get "The Wheel Of Fortune" which had to inspire Vanna right? I'm not sure why I'm not hitting the five stars here, but 4.5 stars rounded down for now. And for sure this will rank high in my top ten or so of 2024.