Fallout Rec.
Malachi : Holy Music (US,1966)***''
When I hear/read about a ’66 album of one of the first psychedelic records, with an Indian influence I feel moved to check it out. Unlike the Seventh Sons album recorded in 1964 which I think really was the first psychedelic record of its kind, this album from 1966 much more is a meditation, like a raga. Perhaps it is often still not fully understood then, after all these years. Even when 1966 stood on the foundations of a movement to free boundaries and to explore, when looking back some of it still is too quickly called psychedelic, if not fitting within jazz for instance. But this is a spiritual record, digging into sound, and developing with it some kind of raga.
The liner notes say how John Morgan Newbern was born of Swiss and French ancestors was expected to pursue a military career. After having visited Mexican pyramids in 1955 he was determined to search for meaning in his life, and embraced the growing interest in eastern spirituality. This album was recorded with future Red Krayola member Steve Cunningham on jew’s harp. Of course the label Verve could not categorise it, but it sold respectably. But they never let him make another one. John still makes comparable music, writes about meditation, and builds guitars.
The first track slowly begins with jew’s harp and guitar, beginning to occur like drops of water dripping on a silent water surface, finding its sound and effects of self-discovering and its purely developing movements. This definitely is a western alternative of raga guitar music in a very early stage. There is used a meditation on strange harmonies on the edged frame of guitar used to start with, mixed with droning strings, and bits of jew’s harp, finding strange tonal harmonies to develop. This is developed with raga-like techniques of developments and bluesy arpeggios, clever addition of ideas with emphasizing slides. Just the last track adds vocals to it, improvised like a native Indian. This track sounds really psychedelic, and uses arpeggio chords that are energetically heading to formerly unknown upper chakras in a manner of saying. A very interesting record, and for those who are curious about early raga guitar explorations, this one was very intuitive but also very explorative with it.
