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Old 03-27-2009, 10:12 PM   #52 (permalink)
Anteater
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Okay everyone, time for a straight-up review of one of my favorite obscure albums of all time, and one that some of you may even recognize if you've been paying attention.

Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill (1971)


Track Listing

1. Black Sand (4:05)
2. Places Of Light (4:06)
3. Brainticket (26:12)
- Pt. I (8:21)
- Pt. I Conclusion (4:36)
- Pt. II (13:14)


"After Listening to this Record, your friends may not know you anymore!"
"Only listen to this once a day. Your brain might be destroyed!"

The two above sentences were the warnings issued on the inside of the vinyl cover of Cottonwoodhill after a limited number of copies hit stores back in 1971, the debut album of a bunch of Swedes led by the very mentally unstable multi-instrumentalist Joel Vandroogenbroeck. Although other records would follow this one from him (the original lineup broke up after this work), none would be as ****ed up as this one, perhaps due in part that they all stopped doing massive amounts of LSD during recording sessions (and hence got freaked out and left after the recording session).

Personally, I am of the opinion this is a rather dangerous album (especially the title track on side 2) to anyone who does drugs of any kind. Those warnings that were on the original vinyl really were there in all seriousness: Putting this on while you aren't in the right frame of mind as some people did back then when they heard this will inevitably cause bad trips and terrible nightmares. 'Cause For every wah-wah guitar grooving solo there is dissonance and darkness, and back then even the trippiest music was positive to a point. However, there is nothing happy or positive about Cottonwoodhill. Only stark-raving madness with something sinister along its borders, and to some that is what set it apart and above from almost anything done back then.

Also, there is no singing, but only the insanely doped up Timothy Leary-esque ranting of Dawn Miur, the female "vocalist". Spoken-word sequences compliment this sort of mind-expanding music very well, and its interesting and hypnotic even if you aren't really paying attention.

As with what I said about Dracula's Music Cabinet when I reviewed it, this is yet another album not for the faint of ear. Cottonwoodhill's effects on the human mind were thought to be so damaging that it was even BANNED in France, Italy and the U.K. upon its initial release. It is, without a doubt, the best goddamn piece of psychedelic music ever committed to record, but that doesn't mean this is the best place to start if you are curious about mind-altering rock. Climbing Mt. Everest before at-least hiking around the Rockies some is sorta silly ya know?

Basically en finale, this has been on my personal top ten list of albums I have ever heard for a long time now, and there is nothing else that truly matches it in either sound nor in its insidious reputation among those who feared what would happen to people when drugs and music were paired together.

This, my friends, is a rare example of an essential album that goes beyond merely being a genre hightlight; it's aural entropy of the greatest, most elusive kind. My rating system would be destroyed trying to place a grade on it. To those who are not afraid of weird ****...GO GET THIS

Album Verdict: #$%&/7

Also, here is track 2, Places of Light, for those who want a very tame taste of what Brainticket have to offer thy ears.
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Last edited by Anteater; 01-25-2015 at 07:10 PM.
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