When he’s not laying down epic cosmic rock guitar riffs with Comacozer, Rick Burke, otherwise known as Tropical Sludge, makes mind-altering psychedelic instrumental music that blends Eastern elements with rock sounds and even a bit of New Age styling on his newest record Astral Mind.
Starting with “Dreaming Shaman,” the album uses sitar and synths to elevate you off the ground right away. “Tranquility” blends ambient forest sounds with the sitar and tabla to the point where you start to think, “This would make a really good make-out record.”
Burke uses simple, repetitive guitar notes on “Flowers” to put you into a nice trance. I seem to hear native Aboriginal Australian instruments in “Witchcraft,” which wouldn’t surprise me at all since Burke is from Oz. Burke’s use of sampled dialogue on the track (and others) that’s sometimes difficult to decipher is a neat effect, making you wonder what’s being discussed but not worrying about it at the same time. The voices become other natural sounds emerging from and blending into the musical land / sky / sea / space-scape he’s created.
“Digital Hippy” is appropriately hazy and groovy (listen carefully for that 70s funk bass). “Zen Tribe” practically pulls up next to you on a hand-poled river boat and offers you the opportunity to glide across the water and forget everything on shore that was weighing on you. “Hypnotising the Serpent” takes us further down the river and then across the sky instead of over the waterfall.
This album might indeed take your mind to the astral plane. It’s worth the trip.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Rick Burke!]
