THIRD EAR BAND

Third Ear Band's bizarre variety of raga-influenced ambient medieval folk is taken a few steps further on their self-titled album, consisting of four long suites themed around the classical elements. If their debut, Alchemy, was a rough draft of this musical vision, this is their magnum opus - with better production, richer compositions, more layered instruments, less sparseness. The use of repetitive percussion is reminiscent of some flavours of Krautrock, whilst the foreboding mood evoked manages to bridge the world of the darker sorts of drone ambient and the more sinister flavours of folk.

Careful listeners may also detect elements of avant-garde classical music and free jazz deep in the DNA of this bizarre musical chimera, but really there is little precedent for Third Ear Band besides the group's own debut album; Univers Zero or Art Zoyd would later revisit some of these territories (listen to the start of Water, for instance, and tell me you can't imagine those ROI stalwarts doing something similar). Like its predecessor, astonishingly ahead of its time.