Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Kula Shaker - Peasants Pigs & Astronauts - 1999


My favorite album of 1998-99 was Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts by Kula Shaker.  I had thought their K album was pretty good when I got it, but this one completely blew it out of the water.  It's a complete blast.  From the eerie, spacey opening of Great Hosanna, to the very last mystical chant of Stotra, the album pulls you into this otherworldly experience of psychedelia that I can only describe as cosmic transcendence.  Don't I sound full of shit?

Needless to say, this was an album that still rocks my house at least 3-4 times a year.  It's musicmusicmusicmusic...  Okay, where's that Kula Shaker album? It's also freekin' awesome to play air guitar on this album, too.  Pull out that Townshend windmill move.  Or maybe that Billie Joe Armstrong stance.

It's hard to think of areas in which the album suffers.  It's speeds up and slows down just where it needs to, and never gets boring.  It sucks you in when it slows, and explodes all over you on the power anthems.  Mystical Machine Gun, Great Hosanna and Golden Avatar to name a few.  My favorite song is Timeworm, a slow subtle track that's slinks in and melts all over your brain, right before the albums closing tracks.

BUT, the reason for this post wasn't the main album, but the B-Sides, which are just as good, and I have compiled into a nice supplemental disc to accompany this fine album.  They're pretty good, not as good as the album, but a necessity to a complete Kula experience.

Just remember, you don't have to be a hippy to like this kind of music.  Ain't that right, Ryan Parr?

4 comments:

  1. I still play the everlovin' hell out of this album.
    I was living in Vancouver when it came out, and my friend was working at a chain called MUSIC WORLD. I kept imploring him to play this over the P.A. and try to push it on all the customers, such was my passion for this underrated gem. It'll never get it's due, but man oh man is this a solid, beautiful album.

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  2. I still play the everlovin' hell out of this album.
    I was living in Vancouver when it came out, and my friend was working at a chain called MUSIC WORLD. I kept imploring him to play this over the P.A. and try to push it on all the customers, such was my passion for this underrated gem. It'll never get it's due, but man oh man is this a solid, beautiful album.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you ever get your hands on the 10th anniversary edition please put it up on here. It features the un-used track 'Strangefolk' (which was the original title of the album.... that was then used on their 2007 album lol).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Links expired, please re-up. THANKS.

    ReplyDelete