New-age music has come a long way from what were earthbound, acoustic instrumental roots. Today it exists on a largely ethereal plain, filled with perfect productions, esoteric concepts, attempting at varying degrees of success to duplicate journeys of flight, or trips to the ocean.
The more unheralded beginnings of the popular style were derivatives of folk and world music traditions. Robbie Basho is an innovator in this realm (often aligned with Leo Kottke and John Fahey as similar guitar virtuosity) uniting progressive instrumentation in a dreamy and spiritual context. His watershed album is his fifth, Venus In Cancer a sweeping, 48-minute journey through Ravi Shankar-esque raga and more familiar mountain music. Basho is like a medium, channeling from divergent worlds, singing eerily, chanting even whistling in an improvisational tour into the corners of this creation. His Venus In Cancer is a mood altering, autumnal piece, one of the most unique records of its kind. Basho died in 1986, leaving behind a strong, yet little appreciated catalog for Takoma, Windham Hill and a variety of other labels. In the two decades since, his work has seen a renewed interest as the genre he worked to create buds into the mainstream, and it only seems reasonable that this will continue, giving necessary darkness and depth to the heliotrope movement.
The re-issue of 1969's Venus In Cancer is a revelation for both guitar fans and new-age enthusiasts. It is a rare achievement, an interesting listen from beginning to end, and represents a wholly essential crossroads between rock and some of its more ethereal outcroppings. |