This is an album I’ve had on my queue for a few weeks now and I’m finally getting a chance to give it a listen. Music Emporium was a psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles in the late 1960s and their first and only release seems to be a classic among psychedelic music enthusiasts, according to Wikipedia at least. The band split up after the center band member was drafted into the war in Vietnam. With that said, I’m pretty interested so I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Nam Myo Renge Kyo” starts out some super groovy psychedelic organs and definitely has an unmistakeable L.A. psychedelic rock sound with heavy use of organs. Oh wow, this song is sweet. Oh wow, the face-melting guitar solo at the end of the tune is super sweet. Honestly this song is super awesome and I’m extremely excited for the rest of the album.
“Velvet Sunsets” has a super solemn sound to the slow pacing and the desolate sound from the electric guitar. Wow, there’s such a great mysticism behind the sound in this song, and the instrumentation feels so intricate and orchestrated quite well while sounding incredibly natural.
“Prelude” has a super sweet classical feel with the arrangement of the organ while the rest of the band brings in some heavy psych sounds to the mix. Oh wow, this one gets primal with the drums, nearly like the band is winding up for the rest of the album. Really sweet tune.
“Catatonic Variations” starts out with some discordant tritones that almost summon demons into the soundscape, though somehow the singer’s voice puts everything at ease in an almost Jim Morrison-esque fashion. Definitely a very eerie tune that sort of puts you on edge keeping you listening for more. Really interesting tune.
Oh wow, “Times Like This” sounds like a tune from The Doors with the nearly discordant intro from the organs with the relaxed sounding vocals from the singer set to a psychedelic rock and roll tune. That envelope filter on the electric guitar played along those chimes are absolutely sweet, and I really dig the strumming from the acoustic guitar giving a nice jangle to the mix. Great tune.
“Gentle Thursday” has an extremely delicate sound to it with the acoustic guitar gently picking you up while the gentle swirling of electric guitar chords flow around you and the keyboards seem to shower the soundscape with bright and warm tones. The female vocalist’s voice is so gentle in this one, almost beckoning you through a dream. This one is extremely pleasant to listen to.
“Winds Have Changed” starts out with some really tasty organs that really release a lot of tension gently built up in the previous tune. Oh wow, the percussive strumming of the acoustic guitar is super groovy, especially while the electric guitar shimmers and meanders around on the opposite side of the soundscape. I really dig the drums in this one – the snare is super tasty. Great tune.
“Cage” has an almost carnivalesque sound at the intro. Oh wow, I really dig the drums in this one too. The band really builds up to really heavy sounding jams quite nicely. Oh wow, the organs really play a really nice enchanting little melody as the band fades out and then comes back in strong. The electric guitar part is super groovy. This kind of reminds me of Iron Butterfly’s first album to some degree. The organs have this dark classical intonation to them in a certain way and it really adds quite nicely to the sound of mysticism in the song.
“Sun Never Shines” starts out with some really tasty notes from the guitar and organs with a nice drumroll to lead into this super groovy jam. Oh wow, the electric guitar hits some super tasty licks that melt into the soundscape. The vocals get super guttural, really driving a lot of force into this fast paced psychedelic rock and roll tune. The flavor from the organs are super sweet too. Holy smokes, the organs are going in for an absolutely awesome solo at this point, hitting some monstrous notes along the way. Really awesome tune.
“Day of Wrath” has a super interesting and massive gospel sound from the church organs in this one, which seem to introduce a gospel song played by the band for a moment. Oh wow, the bass comes on by itself like a heartbeat for a moment before being joined by other instruments in this one, which all come together for a super paced-out jam that feels like it’s winding up to some sort of massive conclusion. Oh wow, the background vocals almost have a Gregorian chant feel to them for a moment. I really dig the gospel-like ending of this one, really great tune. I think this one originally ended the album too.
“Nam Myo Renge Kyo (Instrumental)” is a super tasty jam to revisit, and I’m super stoked to be listening to it again. The bass sounds nearly ominous from the background while the whole band really winds up the playing on this one. Really groovy tune. Holy smokes, the electric guitar that comes on for a moment is absolutely awesome. This sounds like a healthy mix of California surf rock, psychedelic rock, and L.A. based rock and roll.
“Velvet Sunsets (Instrumental)” has some super tasty guitar that introduces you to this nearly soul-warming tune. There’s a really nice swing feel in the rhythm section that really gets a good flow going between the brushing electric guitar and the nearly ominous organs. The bass guitar really bops this tune up in a really subtle way from the background and works quite nicely in the mix.
“Winds Have Changed (Instrumental)” jumps into a super groovy psychedelic ballad sounding song. Though there aren’t any lyrics in this mix, the delicate interplay between the acoustic and electric guitar still seem to speak volumes. I really dig the snap of the snare on the drums in this one. The bass guitar really rolls along quite nicely with the drums from the background in this one. The organs really lift the song up quite nicely with elegantly simple playing in laying down some tracks for the tune to roll on.
“Sun Never Shines (Instrumental)” revisits a super groovy jam that really winds things up nicely at the end of the normal album. The choppy heavy interplay really works quite nicely and really brings out a heavy psychedelia in the whole album. Wow, the electric guitar and the organs hit some really groovy notes. I can’t help but jam along on an air guitar in this one. The gentle bass line accompanied by those chugging drum rolls really add a whole lot of anticipatory feeling in the rhythm section. Really groovy tune to revisit.
“Gentle Thursday (Instrumental)” is a really wonderful way to end this entire listening experience. The gentleness of the tune gently carries you down this stream of music where things are tied up extremely well with this second listen of this one. The organs and guitars all really work together nicely and brush different elements of this song together while creating a gentle listening experience. Really pleasant tune to end this play-through on.
Wow, this album is super groovy. There’s a bunch of great songwriting and performing coupled with a mix of musical genres, both psychedelic and others. I can understand why wikipedia says that this album is somewhat of a classic among psychedelic music enthusiasts. If you do enjoy psychedelic rock, then this is definitely an album you might want to consider listening to. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A