DANTALIAN'S CHARIOT-CHARIOT RISING, LP, 1995 (RECORDED: 1967), UK

Stewart Copeland wasn't the only Police member with a hippy past (see his Frolkhaven album that I posted a few months back). Way before Stewie got the idea to make a drug freak out album, old Andy Summers (here listed as Andy Somers) was already an estasblished figure on the British psych scene, once even maintaining a brief membership in Soft Machine, before Kevin Ayers became intimidated by his playing. Circa Britain's summer of love though, Andy's primary psych vehicle was opposite former R & B star Zoot Money in the frequently amazing Dantalian's Chariot. Having only managed to get one single released during their lifetime, this archival release culls together a wealth of previously unheard material. About half of the contents here are complete revelations, the best bits alternating Candy and A Current Bun Carnaby Street pop psych dementia (sometimes a bit like Pussy) with, on the mindblowingly beautiful instrumentals Soma pts. 1 & 2, an almost Chocolate Watchband-like orchestrated approach thats poignant in the extreme.

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