Rasa - "Setting the Scene" (1980)

On a visit in my early teens at Uppsala's classic second-hand store Prisfyndet (something like The Price Discovery) I had one of my many meetings with an album cover I thought was really interesting (=druggy and/or psychedelic). When I met such a cover and the price requested was right (low), I used to make a move. I always had the strong hope that the music would be as psychdelic as the cover. This was also the case the day I met Rasa's album Setting the Scene, the price requested was about one dollar. I had never seen an album with such a cover and was extremely curious about the music that was hidden inside. To connect the cover, which I assume represents a Hindu god, with the Hare Krishna movement, never crossed my mind. That the album was recorded at Korsnäs farm (Sweden) told me nothing either.

When I played the record later that day I heard music of a kind I hadn't heard before. It starts with a really nice groove where you hear wind instruments, odd drums, tinkling cymbals, etc. After a while the song starts in a language that's not Swedish nor English, problably it's Hindi (or Indish, as I thought as a teenager ). I was happy, surprised and also a bit disappointed. I had expected a rather psychedelic album with Western music (in retrospective maybe a somewhat strange expectation, given on the cover) but was instead given something completely different, something that was far away from the music on my other records in the collection.

Thanks to the Internet, I know now a little more about the album and artist Rasa. Behind this name is Harikesa Swami, also known as Visnupad. He was born as Robert Campagnola and was aguru in the Hare Krishna movement. He has participated in and produced 28 records, except as Rasa also as BLISS and Sri Hari.

On the record a lot of different instruments are used - saxophone, santoor, drums, congas, piano, bass, cymbals, organ, trumpet. Except Anders Eriksson (drums) all other musicians carry Indian/Hindi sounding names. If they are of Indian origin or if they are Swedes who have taken new names in the Hare Krishna movement, I do not know. The piano is given a pretty big space on the recording and some songs are quiet and calm while others are a bit more groovy. To define the music on the album is unusually difficult, it's like some sort of mix of Eastern and Western music, with an emphasis on the former. The arrangements are often quite grand with a relatively open soundscape.

The album is overall quite nice but after a while I get bored. Visnupad's singing sounds relatively similar from song to song and since I don't understand what he sings it becomes a bit boring. It's easy to lose concentration after a while, especially as the songs are relatively long and sounds quite similar. Nevertheless, I am happy and proud that this album is a part of my collection, and I think it's fun to have a record of Rasa and music on the Hare Krishna theme in my collection. The truth is that I liked the music and the cover enough to buy a whole bunch of other Rasa records (and yes, they were cheap), but more on that later.

It can be added that the Korsnäs farm is situated in Gröding, Botkyrka council (Sweden), and that the Hare Krishna movement have one of their temples there. It's the only Radha Krishna temple in Scandinavia.


Favourite song
The Son of Nanda


Tracklist
Side A
1. The Son of Nanda 7:11
2. Setting the Scene 13:38


Side B
1. The Master 6:14
2. Touchstone II 8:09
3. Shelter 7:17

Harmonium - "L'Heptade" (1976)

My post before last addressed the group Beau dommage, in that post I mentioned that my friend gave me two albums as a parting gift. L'heptade with Harmonium was the second of these, a classic according to my friend and a must-have in your record collection. The album is a double album, and many critics consider it a masterpiece and the most important album ever in the Quebecan music industry.

In 1972 Serge Fioro met Michel Normandeau in Montreal and formed a guitar duo. The following year the bassist Louis Valois joined in and the band Harmonium was formed. This was the time in history when a genuine music industry was born in the French-speaking province of Quebec and the trio got a contract with Quality Records. Their first eponymous album was released in 1974 and became a huge success. After a tour in the region, the band recorded their second album in 1975, Si On Avait besoin d'une Cinquième Saison (If you needed a fifth season), this album expanded the band's members to six.

The third and final album L'heptade was released the following year.

Some time after the release of L'heptade the members of Harmonium decided to dissolve the band and their last concert is considered to have been performed in 1978. The band's career was thus five years long and contained three albums (plus one live album). Many believe that they decided to quit at the top of their career which probably have helped to maintain the band's high status. Although the number of albums isn’t that great Harmonium is nevertheless considered to be one of the most important Quebecan bands ever, and their influence on the music and culture scene has been enormous.

L'heptade consists of seven "main tracks", the shorter parts between these songs exists primarily to bind together the album into a whole. The theme of the album is a day in a man's life in which he moves through seven different states of consciousness. It’s provided some clues to this on the LP, for example you hear a sigh from a man who wakes up and then steps over a wooden floor in the beginning of the album. At the end of the record you can hear this man preparing to go to bed. I must honestly say that although I have been listening for these details, I’ve never been able to hear them.

The main theme of the texts are internal conflicts taking place within the main character, often the texts are about the duality in the world - black and white, light and dark, day and night, etc. On the second LP (sides 3 and 4) it’s implied that only love can merge these opposites together. The singing is of course done in French as that language dominates the province of Quebec.

This record is one of the most popular ever in Quebec's musical history. However, it had at the time of the release not much impact on the local music scene, mainly because the LP doesn’t contain any radio-friendly hits. Especially in circles of progressive music the album was greeted with open arms, also outside Canada, and Harmonium was for example invited to tour with Supertramp in Europe.

The cost of the recording was 90,000 dollars which was a new record for an album from Quebec. A lot of this was paid through a new contract with CBS, but the musicians in Harmonium also had to help paying from their own pockets. The album was recorded in a cabin in the countryside that belonged to the Fiori family and, apparently, we can hear cracks from the floor on the album (although I missed this, too).

I think this is undoubtedly the best of Harmonium’s three albums. A, according me, positive difference compared with the first two albums is that the band uses drums here. This was missing on the initial records, which made ​​the music on these more ambiguous and fluid (in a negative way). It is a solid album of high quality and although it’s considered to be Harmonium's most progressive album, I think it’s the most accessible and enjoyable one. It’s also a more varied album than the previous ones, which makes it more fun to listen to. This was a nice parting gift from a good friend and I can’t do anything else then to recommend a purchase. And also a visit to Quebec, a very nice part of the world.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Prologue (4:20)
2. Comme Un Fou (7:50)
3. Sommeil Sans Rêves (1:25)
4. Chanson Noire (8:12)
I) Le Bien, Le Mal
II) Pour Une Blanche Cérémonie

Side B
5. L'Appel / Le Premier Ciel (11:12)
6. Sur Une Corde Raide / L'Exil (12:54)

Side C
7. Le Corridor (8:10)
8. Les Premières Lumières / Lumières De Vie (14:11)
I) Lumière De Nuit
II) Eclipse
III) Lumière De Jour
IV) Lumière De Vie

Side D
9. Prélude d'Amour / Comme Un Sage (14:03)
10. Épilogue (2:52)