01032014 - Brainticket "Psychonaut"

A classic example of stumbling upon an album and liking what I see before I hear a single note. Just the band name and album title alone are enough to get my attention, and a description of Brainticket as an obscure experimental Krautrock band from the early 70's with members of Belgian, Swiss, German and French descent make me even more interested. The band was founded by Belgian pianist and mastermind Joel Vandroogenbroeck, a name that probably translates into "drugged out mad genius", in the late 60's and their first album, "Cottonwoodhill" from 1971 got banned in several countries, including the USA, for its association with psychedelic substances. Which is nice. There's nothing in "Psychonaut", their second album, to suggest that the psychedelics had worn off, even though it sounds quite different than its predecessor, with more exotic instruments, such as sitar, flute, slide whistle, tabla and tbilat. I love the mood this album conveys, and it's easy to see how fans of Amon Düül II, Hawkwind and Gong could easily get into this.