Cottonwood Hill (Purple Pyramid, 2013)
Of all the recent Purple Pyramid reissues, Brainticket’s Cottonwood Hill stands. This album originally came out in 1971 and is an essential recording from the 1970s. It’s one of the finest examples of psychedelic music from the era. In many current press releases, numerous bands claim psychedelic influences. Most of them turn out to be pop bands influenced by late 1960s music. Brainticket is the real thing. The band played psychedelic jams, where trance-like distorted organ and wakajawaka (wah wah) guitars created a hypnotic atmosphere.
Brainticket was based in Germany. On this album, the lineup included band leader Joel Vandroogenbroeck (from Belgium) on keyboards and flute; Ron Bryer on electric guitar; Werni Frolich on bass; Cosmo Malpis on drums; Dawn Muir on vocals; Hellmuth Kolbe on keyboards and sound effects; and Wolfgang Paap on percussion.
The album features four pieces. The first two are relatively short, with great bluesy psychedelic rock similar to Iron Butterfly. The music gets more progressive and exploratory, full of innovative sound effects, on the extensive jams titled Brainticket Part I and Brainticket Part II. Vocalist Dawn Muir provides reverb processed spoken word (in English) more than singing, delivering lyrics in accordance with the trippy atmosphere.
Cottonwood Hill is positively one of the most interesting progressive music reissues of the year.
Buy Cottonwood Hill