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| Vishnu chillin' on Ananta S’esha |
Not just for many headed serpents, the term "Ananta" also refers to a UK music combo from the late '70s that produced an album which somehow found its way into my possession by way of a Brighton Ontario yard sale.
The group was formed in England by Latin Grammy award winner Ilan Chester and fellow Venezuelans "the Spiteri Brothers", whoever they are. These men hooked up with a number of UK musicians and put out two albums, Night and Daydream and Songs From The Future.
I obtained the former album which is a decent effort at spiritual-pscych-prog. I have seen reviews calling this both the best and worst item in various personal collections.
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| Ananta's Night and Daydream |
I haven't really made up my mind about this LP musically, my first impression was that it is mediocre at best. What has really captivated me about this album is its marketing technique. A friend and I were both monetarily misled to think that this unknown group really did collaborate with Santana, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and George Harrison.
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| John McGlaughlin (left) and Carlos Santana (right) sandwiching Sri Chimnoy. The latter being a guru with questionable claims of personal strength, but whose followers make a damn fine lentil soup. |
However, closer inspection suggested that these artists are listed on the back cover not as participants to the recording but for their inspiration and assistance in Ananta's "Worldwide Projects". Indeed, those artists had nothing to do with the record and it is very interesting to think that this apparently peace-love-oneness band employed such a shameless marketing ploy. There is some reason to think that the record was peddled by Hare Krishna people on the street, using the hard sell. (The notes say that it is a benefit recording). Lots of fun blog posts about Ananta online. Check out this forum in which the release is called both "a very under-rated and unique sounding band" as well as "the world's least saleable record".
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| The backside of Night and Daydream, read the small print! |
Make up your mind for yourself after listening to the name-dropped artists played on the broadcast before I unleashed what I think is the best track on the record. Lacking a solid knowledge of good non-hit, non-Beatles George Harrison songs, I opted for the uninspired Gone Troppo with a track that one blogger said was the worst song on the record. As Apfran says, no one got better in the eighties. I realize that I need to make an effort to get to know Harrison's work from the 1970's. Write me with suggestions!
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| George Harrison, getting to know India in 1966. I plan to get to know both George and India a bit better in 2011. |
Because the show was pre-recorded, the end got cut off in the archive for TSIYH's hour. Listen to the full song here.
Not much time for robot news this week, but here is the link to the teaser headline. It sounds better than it looks in this video. But we are getting closer to this and ideally, this.
Not much time for robot news this week, but here is the link to the teaser headline. It sounds better than it looks in this video. But we are getting closer to this and ideally, this.
Played List
Artist - Track - Album
Frank Zappa - Dancing Fool - Sheik Yerbouti
Stevie Wonder - Jesus Children of America - Innervisions
Santana - Waiting - Santana
Genesis - The Return of the Giant Hogweed - Genesis Live
King Crimson - Inner Games - Lizard
Saga - Don't Be Late - Silent Knight
Bob Dylan - The Ballad of Hollace Brown - The Times They Are A-Changin'
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rose - Hot August Night
George Harrison - I Really Love You - Gone Troppo (bad song that rocks)
