Mastodawn

Ended the weekend and welcomed the week after a walk with Third Ear Band the second album by the Third Ear Band, released in 1970. It consists of four improvised pieces, "Air", "Earth", "Fire", and "Water", and is therefore sometimes known as "Elements".

Review by Richie Unterberger

Their self-titled, second album is probably their definitive statement, consisting of four lengthy tracks devoted to the primary elements ("Air," "Earth, " "Fire, " "Water"). The feeling is one of improvised (though well-conceived) pieces that build up from initial drones to multi-layered ragas built around the same initial patterns. Their strong debts to both Indian music and contemporary experimental/minimalist compositions are evident...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuByNkoTTJk&list=RDJuByNkoTTJk&start_radio=1

#ThirdEarBand #HarvestRecords #Music #ImprovisedMusic #Drone #Raga

Andi Chorley Feb 5

Ended Wednesday and welcomed Thursday after my swim with Alchemy an album released in 1969 by the Third Ear Band.

Review by Brian Whitener

...In the opener, "Mosaic," which is at seven minutes one of the longest cuts, guitar meets recorder and violin in a disharmonic free jazz summit that fades away before building into a trancy mini-crescendo. On "Stone Circle," recorder lines interweave over an unadorned drum's repetitive rhythm. At times the recorder lines are so fluid and unnatural they sound like they're being played backwards -- which indeed they just might be. Generally the remainder of the tracks run the course between half-structured improv and droning chaos. Comparisons could be drawn to Soft Machine or the Dream Syndicate, but neither quite has the sense of "collective first" nor the repetitive insistence of Third Ear Band. The songs, to quote Sweeney again, are "alike or unlike as trees."...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSYAJmFwvGI&list=RDrSYAJmFwvGI&start_radio=1

#ThirdEarBand #HarvestRecords #Music #Drone