Brahman ~ Canada ~ Vancouver, British Columbia

Brahman (1971)

Brahman were somewhat typical of the 1970-71 North American major label bands trying to get a foothold into the marketplace. They weren't quite sure what style to stick with, so they tried many variations on a theme. There's the usual hodgepodge of classic rock, leftover psych, early progressive, and hard rock. The latter is the pin I'm sticking this donkey with. But the songwriting here is a cut above the usual, and these guys have talent. They're a six piece plus a full time mime (?). Plenty of guitar, organ, piano, and good vocals. This is the kind of band you wish to hear about archival material sitting in the vaults - you have to think they had more ambitious compositions that didn't make the cut. Brahman's album requires a few listens to comprehend. Not sure I heard greatness here. Maybe they have some archival material to take it to the next level.

Former ownership: 1971 Mercury (LP). Acquired in 2022.

No reissues as of 3/30/25.

12/6/22 (review / new entry)

Black Mountain ~ Canada ~ Vancouver, British Columbia

In the Future (2008)

In the Future is an intriguing release by Black Mountain. The band's background is one of both the stoner and indie genres, and yet In the Future is an authentic attempt at an early 1970s retro prog sound. As we learned from their follow up Wilderness Heart, Black Mountain's "heart" remained true to their background, and In the Future ended up being something of an anomaly (or at least I believe that to be the case, having not heard IV, but the reviews indicate similar). To my ears, because of this juxtaposition of styles, Black Mountain ends up sounding like an "out of time" band from 1978 trying to recreate 1970, rather than a modern band doing such. In the Future is like discovering the most interesting looking album at the local Montgomery Ward, set inside some ancient mall that felt more like a DMZ than a shopping plaza (America in 1978 was a much different looking place than today). Black Mountain has captured the aura of what Arista Records originally intended to do, before giving into crass commercialism. It's the type of album you can hear over and over, because of the many different textures, colors, and styles. In some ways, I can also hear a band like Australia's Tarot here, with the focus on a hard rock style, and teetering that stoner genre, but not quite crossing over. There's also quite a bit of mellotron here as well for fans of the instrument. I really like this album, though it does appear to be one-off greatness in their canon.

Ownership: 2008 Jagjaguwar (CD). Lyric booklet with artwork.

2008 (acquired); 8/12/17 (review)

8/12/17 (new entry)