Terrascope UK
August 2010
Although father Yod now watches from a different plane of existence, Yahowa have kept their mystical flame burning brightly, treading the same path with devotional fervour, continuing to alter perceptions through the power of music, something that has been crystallised on this excellent package featuring a live recording, some new studio tracks and a short DVD.
I guess, like many of you, I had heard of the band long before I actually heard their music, the strange name cropping up on traders lists, whilst the bewildering discography making hard to decide how to make that leap into actually listening to the music. Indeed, the only album I ever heard was patchy, fantastic in places, frankly dull in others, so much so that I cannot even remember its name, meaning that although this package looked very intriguing, I was sceptical about its actual quality. I am happy to report that I was wrong, this is the real deal,a magnificent collection containing some full on Kosmiche musick, the album named 2013 as this is the date that a new world begins, according to the Mayan calender at least.
Recorded live in Washington and Baltimore in 2009, disc 1 (subtitled “Fire”), kicks of with the potent “Water in DC”, a full-on assault on the senses, guitars burning brightly as the rhythm section thunders away in the backround. Invoking a North American tribal feel, “Pineal Wave” seeks to liberate you from your body, a trance inducing slice of mysticism that will get you circle dancing in a hypnotic haze. More trancey percussion can be found on “King Gob/Earth”, a track which has the feel of a free festival at four in the morning, music for the confused, manically enlightened, insomniacs and the tripped out survivors. Lighter in touch and reaching for the sun, “Smooth Air” has droning guitars and slow-motion rhythms, the piece slowly becoming heavier, building the inner tension with style. Finally, the 15 minute “Can We Go Now” ends it all, a breathtaking psychedelic swirl, your only choice is to get lost in its cosmic world, bliss out and enjoy.
If there is one complaint about the live disc, only a minor one, it is that the sound is sometimes not quite as desired, a minor complaint that is solved by moving swiftly onto the second disc (“Water”), recorded at Welfare Line Studios and featuring four wonderful pieces of space rock, that lovers of “In Search of Space”, Ash Ra Tempel, or Can, should thoroughly enjoy. From their looseness it is evident that these are improvised tracks, the musicians enjoying each others company as they stretch their wings, the guitar dominated “Psych, Wash and Rinse” being particularly fine, whilst the eastern groove of “Light Body Perm and Wave”, features a delightful sounding bass as its dances amongst the stars. That slowly turning groove is maintained on “Astral Body Vacuuming”, possibly the strongest piece on the disc, before “Etheric Body Scrub” is a glorious thunderstorm of noise, think early Tangerine Dream, that leaves you wanting more, the whole disc clocking in at only 18 minutes, which is far too short.
Finally we move onto the DVD, a short film directed/produced by Robert Hoffman that features live snippets and interviews with band members, Djin, Sunflower and Octavius. A fascinating glimpse into the family, the disc is peppered with words such as Kundalini, karma, inner alchemy, synchronicity and awareness, as such, it definitely invokes the spirit of the sixties and it is good to see three people so at one with their lives, remaining totally within the real world at the same time.
I came to this package with reservations, I leave converted. This is a fantastic collection that deserves to be heard - seek and ye shall find.. (Simon Lewis)