Tags: Psychedelic Rock

Review: Famous as the nephew of the world famous sitarist Ravi Shankar, Ananda Shankar carried the torch by contributing several greats to the continuing tide of prog rock and Western electronica. One such project was Sa-Re-Ga Machan, first released in 1981, and which lent a jungle-safari theme to the already established electronic rock fusions he'd laid down on his earlier self-titled record. Seguing through rollicking, schools-out psychedelic odysseys, not to mention humid, wonderfully sublime tropical soundscapes on which we can't tell what's synthetic and what isn't, this is an worthy new reissue from Life Goes On; worth every penny.

Review: Latin funk music's best and brightest recollector-reissuers Vampi Soul continue to do what they do best with this latest reissue of the debut self-titled album by Zulu. One of the last great albums of the first wave of Peruvian rock,and originally released in 1974, Zulu was infamous for its linking of psych-tinged rock with Afro-Latin American beats and folk pop. The enigmatic Zulu (real name Miguel Angel Ruiz Orbegoso) was best known during his lifetime as a member of the bands Traffic Sound and Los Nuevos Shain, but his only solo album commands a unique aura as a numinous rarity, immediately pre-dating his latter-career immersion in the religious community. Reissued for the first time with the collaboration of Zulu, including extensive liner notes and one extra track, the likes of 'Si en el cielo yo viviera', 'Laberintos' and 'Candela' are pastoral gems of folk-cumbia and salsa, playing back with a level of sensitivity and texture that could only be born of a worthy spirit.