MYSTIC SIVA "Mystic Siva" USA 1971

That ‘ramshackle psychedelic sound’ is here en masse on this record, right from the beginning. 'Keeper of the Keys' roars in and rears it organ domination at the crack of the bat (and the balls from this one are going far, far away, out of the park!). "Pigpen goes to the electric church while really forked up" is the feeling I get from the sustained organ presence throughout. The lyrics admonish against the woman who is the namesake of the song (if you thought 'American Woman' by The Guess Who gave a man liberation, try this poultice on for size). Let me get back to the organ comping, strictly underground moves, something you would have expected from The Cavern Club amidst the swirly lights and haze of cannabis smoke - hot and buttered lovely with sticky guitar soloing vamping crashing the gate mid-song. Think H.P. Lovecraft on more acid..

'And When You Go' is seemingly a ballad for all intents and purposes, but there's more going on in the background than would be expected. Add a fat dash of sometime quasi-doomy/always drugged out vocals that are tough to grasp on this particular cut. Tell you what, though, the whole delivery is to have on emesmerized

'Eyes Have Seen Me' brings back the "scorcher method." Stretchy elasticism in the delivery of guitar lines, cymbals crashing up a storm in the backyard and extended notes from the organ along with some repeated staccato motifs. Words are crisp.

'Come on Closer' recalls a mix of early Grateful Dead crossed with The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band equally, but... add a healthy dose of jitterbug rangoon and you get the gist..

Ooooh, take the Issac Hayes guitar sound ripping it up at the outset and then fold it up over lengthwise smacking up a woodblock, that's hot. Needless to mention art this point (I hope) we've got deft fingering on the fried guitar parts in the middle and so much organ that you can't tell your liver from the pancreas. All the while, on this album, the drum-kit has been propulsive and supportive of rhythm and time with the bass lines rumbling along jogging at a steady pace. This killer cut was called 'Sunshine is Too Long.'

Swirling around you is the massive hypnotism when the end of the first side comes to pass. It begins with spaciness and shortly leads one into a full-on straight ahead psych groover with more of the blistering everything mentioned above. 'Spinning a Spell' alights an alchemical chorus of: "Witchcraft, spinning a spell on me, I can't tell what it's gonna' do to me!" - Dunno about them, but, the compound result of Mystic Siva's music has got me singing that exact same chorus about their fabulous sound!

Side two kicks it off with 'Supernatural Mind,' pizzicato guitar droplets and then a wailing harpoon of hook. This draws one right into the center of the vortex facing outwards. Cranking this puppy up gets ya' feeling like you're right there with them tearing up the scene sitting high and lovely smack dab in the middle of a blistering twister by the time an exalted extended guitar solo slays dragons for miles around! The lyric "Like a devil in disguise with my supernatural mind.'" is right on the $ here & damned stookey to boot (and I don't mean Paul).

'Find Out Why' drops it back down like twelve notches to another understated ballad-esque type of organ vamped bomb with lyrics like: "when you walk with me, the street turns to marshmallows under my feet." and "as I'm walking the birds seem to talk to me (...) people don't seem to be reality, I have to find out why.." - 'nuff said.... just listen to the long snippet below and take a dose to the head yourself tripping la-la in alice's wunderland.. catch the waves a few times, this taps the akashic record.

The last three cuts on the album do not disappoint, this beast is shiny and solid.

'Magic Luv' is a hot rocker. 'Touch the Sky' grooves and bastes Thanksgiving turkey in the process. 'In a Room' is a proper rollicking sendoff for a record that was released on a private label in 1971 in Michigan.