youtu.be/LaUdgcb-W0Y New Zealands Datura were a stoner band fronted by bassist and vocalist Craig Williamson that released the highly derivative Allisone (Cranium, 1998), sounding a lot like Nebula, and the more original Visions for the Celestial (1999), whose best piece however was the 15-minute Mantra, a dilated psychedelic suite. Lamp Of The Universe (the solo project of Daturas bassist Craig Williamson) was devoted to chanted sitar-tinged shoegaze-ragas that could achieve a degree of complexity worthy of the avantgarde, like a lo-fi version of Peter-Michael Hamel or a looser version of Donovan during his Eastern phase. After the tentative The Cosmic Union (Cranium, 2001), containing Lotus of a Thousand Petals, and Echo In Light (Cranium, 2001), containing the ten-minute Our Celestial Flow, the eight-minute Pyramids of Sam and the 17-minute Dream Sequence, Williamson achieve an eerie synthesis with Heru (Barl Fire, 2005), a seven-movement chamber symphony for sitar, tabla, synthesizer and guitar (the same instrumentation he had used on previous albums but here better integrated). Earth Spirit & Sky (Cranium, 2005) and the four lengthy jams of From The Mystic Rays Of Astrological Light (Astral Projection, 2006) tried different avenues but his best moments remained tied to that original idea. Arc Of Ascent (Astral Projection, 2007), the most static and purest of his recordings, contained two lengthy droning improvisations. Acid Mantra (Astral Projection, 2009) experiments with freak-folk and drums.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:27:03 +0000
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