I’ve just had a listen to this odd compilation CD I got out of the library. The design etc. looks like yr. standard lounge/chill-out bollocks, but two things attracted me to this disc; 1)It’s called “Look into the Flower: Trip on Psychedelic Grooves” – a great title for anything. I’d listen to a CD by anybody if it was called that. 2)It’s on Blue Note, the jazz label. And 3) I’ve never heard of any of the tracks or artists listed, but they all sound a bit weird.

And it’s a pretty cool listen actually. Admittedly, a lot of it drivels off into kitsch/lounge/porno territory, which isn’t really my scene, but some of the tunes really deliver on the title. I don’t know what genre this stuff is really.. it’s a bit too straightforward and, well, silly to really make it as jazz, but a bit too lively and crazed to qualify as ‘lounge’. The best thing on here is the second track, ‘Streets of Calcutta’ by one Ananda Shankar. As the observant amongst you will have noted, it’s an Indian record, and it’s absolutely joyously mental. It’s sort of based around big Lust-For-Life style drum action, on top of which sitars, freaky organs and blaring horns are chucked around and piled up on top of each other seemingly at random, to fantastically enjoyable effect. It sounds like the perfect soundtrack for a surrealistic 60s Hollywood Technicolor chase sequence through an Indian city, preferably featuring a brightly painted 2CV, overturned market stalls, Peter Sellers and a lot of silly hats. It is joycore.