Electric Psychedelic Sitar Headswirlers Vols 1-5

After years of collecting 'Nuggets, 'Pebbles', 'Boulders', 'Rubble' and all those other great compilations of obscure 60s psychedelia, the last thing I was expecting to find was a five CD gold-mine of stuff I'd never heard before. So, I was delighted to come across this amazing new box-set in all its electric, psychedelic, sitaric and indeed headswirlic glory. You'll find none of the well-known sitar hits here from the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Donovan etc; instead, you will voyage to a wondrous, incense-reeking underworld of Z-grade sitarsploitation. The sleeve-notes give brief information on the likes of Saffron, The Frederic, Kahli Bahlu et al, but who cares really, as it all seamlessly blends into one glorious droning freak-out (which is hardly surprising, when the modally-tuned sitar only has two melody strings and never changes key). Even when the bands here are known from other contexts e.g. Them, Lemon Pipers and The Strawberry Alarm Clock, the track chosen will be an obscure one, or by some unfamiliar line-up of the group. Some are camp, some are early fusion records and some are recent revisitings of this classic 60s sound. There is even music here (like 'Flowers In The Air' by Golden Dawn member Sally Eaton) that offers something genuinely ecstatic. Best of all, there are another five albums available in the series and more in the pipeline. All the more reason to drone on, tune up and joss out...