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** We will happily publish more than one review of each album.....don’t let that stop you **

Lamp Of The Universe - The Cosmic Union **** ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2001 ****

2000

Cranium CR005

Track List:

Born in the rays of the third eye, Lotus of a thousand petals, In the mystic Light, Give yourslef to Love, Freedom in your mind, Her cosmic light, What Love can bring, Tantra asana.

Review:

"In my dream of Love, we cast away all our fears, and Learn to live together.........It's time to unite. We are brothers and sisters of one"
And so reads the liner notes for The Cosmic Union by Lamp Of The Universe (CR005), the latest release from New Zealand's Psych and Progressive label, Cranium Music.
These few paragraphs alone set the scene for a wonderfully laid back and tranquil psychedelic album that reminds me of bands such as Magic Carpet and Quintessence from the very early 70's, who successfully blended traditional Indian Raga's along with contemporary instruments to create a cosmic fusion.
Beautiful, haunting, ethereal music that gently laps at your mind from all sides, washing over you like a blissed out eastern mantra....Sitars and Tabla sit alongside synths and electric guitar and a myriad of other 'exotic' instruments topped off with spaced out vocals fed through subtle effects produce the very laid back and full of love 'Cosmic Union'.
If long, hypnotic and peaceful, eastern tinged mantra's are your thing then Lamp Of The Universe is just what the Doctor ordered, in the form of 8 nice lengthy tracks on this Limited Edition (500 only) CD.
Mellow, cosmic 'head music' that could easily have been released in 1970 rather than 2000.
Also of interest is that all the songs are written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by a certain Craig Williamson.......hmm.....did I hear someone say Datura 'unplugged'??
Top notch eastern flavoured psych, available from: http://www.cranium.co.nz/catalog/A_1679.htm#2802

Reviewed by pOoTer ** Download Samples HERE **

Review 2:

"All songs written, performed, mixed and produced by Craig Williamson", so say the sleeve notes. This guy is some kind of musical genius, especially when you consider the amount of instruments he skillfully plays. You might need to play it a couple of times to get into it but
then you'll be so totally immersed in its brilliance that when you approach your music collection the voice inside your head will be saying, "Put on Cosmic union".
Basically, it's Eastern influenced, free form, pulsed, meditative psych that sucks you in like a cosmic forcefield and spits you out at the end feeling cleansed by its hypnotic trance like sounds.
Yeah, sure there's a couple of tracks that didn't quite hit the mark but then most albums ever written are like that so it's a pretty shallow criticism. So, enter the chill out zone, feed your head, free your mind and experience a pure mystical, musical experience.
Another thoroughbred from the Cranium records stable.

Reviewed by Sir Eel.

Lamp Of The Universe - Echo In Light

2002

Cranium CRM008

Track List:

Freedom To Godliness, Resonance, Our Celestial Flow, Love, Pyramids Of Sun, Dream Sequence.

Review:

Another eagerly awaited release of 2002 that due to the overwhelming amount of review material we have received has taken us an embarrasingly long while to get a review out for (sorry Richard...) is this, the second album by New Zealand's Lamp Of The Universe.
Last years release, The Cosmic Union was our 2001 Album Of The Year and met with considerable acclaim worldwide and I believe, had to be repressed due to popular demand.

Lamp Of The Universe were formed out of the ashes of seminal psychedelic stoner rock band Datura who released two excellent albums on New Zealand's Cranium Music label (Allisone & Visions For The Celestial) before splitting up soon after 'Visions' came out. Founding member Craig Williamson took some time out to reflect on life after the herculean effort expended on the two Datura albums and the end result saw him returning to the studio and recording The Cosmic Union, writing the songs and playing all the instruments. One gets the impression it was as much of a healing process as it was a creative one and the results speak for themselves.
2002 sees Craig returning to the studio where he has written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced Echo In Light at his home studio in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Featuring spectacular cover art from Franz Landl (a painting from 1982 called Serenade) Echo In Light picks up where 'Cosmic' left off and the distinctive 'Lamp' sound has matured into something of great beauty. If your bag is searing guitars and throbbing drums then its time to leave hombre, but if you were touched by the last album's gently flowing Eastern Psych then read on...
Slow, hypnotic and pulsing Ragas laced with Sitar and Tabla swirl around like lazy smoke while a mesmerising synth snakes in and out of the languid wah-wah guitar holding it all loosely together, topped with soft vocals that reach out gently as they ride atop the steady bass rhythm.
The whole album gives the impression of a man totally at peace with himself and is almost meditative in places with equal doses of serenity and psychedelia creating a wonderful flowing celestial tapestry of sound.

Maintaining my annoying habit (so I've been told) of mentioning my favourite track on an album I pondered for a while over my choice as there is so much of wonder here to choose from, eventually settling on the final piece, Dream Sequence. Opening with heavenly ambient synths a soft tabla beat kicks in and the synths soar off into the atmosphere with a reverberating guitar picking out the rhythm. At 9:25 it reaches it's zenith and everything around is placid for a few minutes until at 11:01 it is off soaring high amongst the clouds again. The song ends as gently as it began and this wonderful album is brought to a close.

Slip this into your CD player and step off the 21st Century Rollercoaster, open the doors (and your mind) to The Lamp Of The Universe, feel the warmth and love as they envelop you and smile back at the chaos and insensibility of modern life...

Reviewed by pOoTer - November 2002

To purchase this fine item click the link below:
http://www.cranium.co.nz/catalog/A_1679.htm#3026

Lazy Smoke - Lazy Smoke

1968

Arf Arf 065

Track List:

All These Years, How Was Your Day Last Night?, Come With The Day, Salty People, Jackie-Marie, Under Skys, Sarah Saturday, There Was A Time, Am I Wrong? How Did You Die?
Bonus Tracks: (Unplugged Demos): I Don’t Need The Sun, Changing The Time, I Could Fall Asleep, Wait Till You See, Scarecrow, All These Years, Come With The Day, Salty People, Jackie Marie, There Was A Time, Sarah Saturday, Am I Wrong?

Review:

In Vernon Joynson's book "Fuzz, Acid, & Flowers", he states that Massachusetts band, Lazy Smoke's ultra rare album "Corridor of Faces" is to some the ultimate psychedelic album ever recorded. With so many classic psych recordings out there begging for that very title this is quite the statement. However, psychedelic music is certainly not a dead genre, it is alive and well and the very fact that these ultra rare 60’s albums are being reissued proves my point.
No more than 500 copies of the Lazy Smoke album were originally released back in late '68. Original vinyl copies of "Corridor" can fetch somewhat near $1,500! Now, some 35+ years later, the Arf Arf label has presented us with this golden nugget plus numerous unreleased demos from 1967. "Corridor of Faces" is a superb period piece with fantastic, and at times beautiful guitar work, and flowing Beatles-esque harmonies (that even come with affected English accents). From the backward guitars of the luscious opening track “All These Years”, to the poignant lyrics and tight orchestration of “There Was A Time”, this is clearly a classic undiscovered work of beauty.
The demo half of this CD actually reminds me a bit of the Skip Spence album “Oar” or, better yet, of the more gentler songs by the contemporary lo-fi band, Sparklehorse.
Thank you Arf Arf for making this gem available again!

Reviewed by BlueMagoo - 20th September 2002

Leaf Hound - Growers Of Mushroom

1971

Decca (skl-r 5094)

Track List:

Freelance fiend, Sad road to the sea, Drowned my life in fear, Work my body, Stray, With a minute to go, Growers of mushroom, Stagnant pool, Sawdust Caesar.