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The Music Explosion Little Bit O Soul 1967 us marvelous garage psych beat 2002 remaster This is an improvement over the best previous Music Explosion compilation, One Ways Anthology, in that it not only contains all 21 of the songs from that release, but adds three non-LP B-sides not on that CD. Granted, all three of these B-sides are psychedelic instrumentals that most likely feature session players and not the Music Explosion. But those are rather cool tracks, in the manner of the trippy fuzz guitar-organ psychedelic songs heard on soundtracks to films exploiting the hippie movement. More importantly, perhaps, the package also includes respectful detailed liner notes, with quotes from several bandmembers. All that borne in mind, you still cant get around the fact that the group didnt have anything too great to offer other than "Little Bit o Soul." They did virtually no original material, and their songs were average, OK-to-unexciting pop garage rock with a bit of soul and b...

Ramayana Soul Sabdatanmantra � �地獄 Scattered Purgatory God of Silver Grass Reviewed by Nathan Ford There are few who read this rag who would doubt that we place Kikagaku Moyo at the very pinnacle of the current Japanese psychedelic scene. That being the case, its not unusual at all to discover that Guruguru Brain, the label run by Kikagaku Moyos Tomoyuki Katsurada is a veritable treasure trove of adventurous psychedelia, inhabited by names known to few in the Western world. Their first release was a wonderful and essential sampler of modern Japanese psychedelia which can still be downloaded for free here, but its two more recent releases that we concern ourselves with today. Ramayana Soul is first on the turntable, and while the band are actually Indonesian, its obvious why Katsuradas interest was peaked. "Sabdatanmantra" is a joyous wonder that perfectly illustrates the singular way in which Eastern psychedelia embraces free form spontaneity without sacrificing a tune, or in...