zodiac cosmic sounds 1967

The Zodiac- Cosmic Sounds (1967)

Quality: 3.5 out of 5

Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

I first came across this album from a buddy of mine living in a

concrete werehouse practice space who had procured a vinyl copy of

this baby for use in his electronic performances. I was greatly amused

by the oddness of The Zodiac and spent the next 5 years searching for

my own copy.

The seeds of this particular disc stem from Elektra Records guru, Jac

Holzman. At the time primarily a folk label, Holzman was taking some

initiative in searching for new, hip sounds. He probably decided that

"What's your sign?" was indeed a groovy pick up line in bars, and

proceeded to construct a 12 track album based on the signs of the

Zodiac. He recruted former folkster Alex Hassilev (of The

Limelighters) to produce and far-past-his-youth Mort Garson to arrange

the music.

Maybe one of the first rock and/or psychedelic concept albums, Cosmic

Sounds is a truly demented journey through pre-fab sound. The Zodiac

itself was not really a band, but in fact an Elektra Records project

which utilized many members of the Wrecking Crew. These players, who

can be heard on most 1965-967 Beach Boys recordings, the "Mr.

Tambourine Man" single by The Byrds, and about 8067 other 60's hits

are probably among the most reknown sessionmen and women ever. They

also considered themselves mainly jazz players, and "slummed" to play

on rock and pop sessions basically for the money. Still, drummer Hal

Blaine and bassist Carol Kaye have admitted their presence on most of

the tracks here, and both of them are amazing musicians.

With the talented, but admittedly white collar, musicians in place

we'd of course have a highly competent album. To set this one over the

edge, however, a few ringers are necessary. Three folks on the record

fortunately fit this bill. Emil Richards was recruited as

percussionist wildly bashing on anything in hand (including a wide

range of ethnic percussion). Electronic experimenter Paul Beaver came

about after the initial tracking sessions with his early modular Moog

synthesizer in hand, or uh.. trailer (modular Moogs are crazy big).

This contributed some properly strange sounds for the time as Cosmic

Sounds was likely the first commercial appearance of a Moog synth.

The real lynchpin of this endeavor was narrator Cyrus Faryar. Although

the words describing the Zodiac were hacked out by a fellow by the

name of Jacques Wilson, Cyrus really brought them to life. Speaking

with a seriousness and hubris that would put Jim Morrison to shame,

Mr. Faryar somehow managed to intone lines like "Nine times the color

red explodes like heated blood" while sounding like he really meant

it.

As far as the songs themselves, some of the signs stick out more than

others. "Aires-The Fire Fighter" managed to work up a quintessential

(if not completely inspired) acid-rock groove, while "Cancer-The Moon

Child" creates an atmosphere of 1967-vintage new age bliss. Apparently

Cancer wants to be touched by everything. "Libra" takes a musically

odd route to being a "Flower Child" which actually manages to not use

what are not folky cliches. "Sagittarius-The Versatile Daredevil"

gives us a carnival sound which resembles a chopped up and mutilated

"Mr. Kite." Unfortunately my sign, represented by "Pisces-The Peace

Piper," is a little on the dull side as well as a few other tracks.

Fortunately, even on the lesser tracks, Cyrus comes through with his

dramatically stated, but incomprehensible ramblings. "To be afraid,

and not care that you are afraid, is the courage of which Scorpio is

made" indeed.

To be honest, Cosmic Sounds rates a lot higher on the kitsch level

than musically. Still, there's a strange naive charm permeating the

record. It's a lot of fun to listen to, and as the all-capital purple

letters plead on the rear sleeve, Cosmic Sounds MUST BE PLAYED IN THE

DARK. If you're looking for something to stack next to Pet Sounds or

Forever Changes, Cosmic Sounds will be a massive disappointment. A

better mainstream comparison might be The Doors' throwaway track

"Horse Lattitudes" found on Strange Days. Cosmic Sounds is a novelty,

but one of a high order as far as novelties go.

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