Brainticket – Cottonwoodhill

Cleopatra

The sleeve of this release says: “After Listening to this Record, your friends may not know you anymore” and you can see what they meant, at least in 1971 when this was first released. Cleopatra seem Hell bent on making Brainticket a thing, re-releasing their classic albums, pushing them onwards, trying to find a space for them in the world.

I always loved Celestial Oceans but didn’t actually own Cottonwoodhill, which seems a little less odd whilst retaining the “Intastellar Overdrive” era Pink Floyd groove (you can almost hear the oil projections). In fact, what I like a lot about Brainticket is the very thing that I feel holds them back from joining the Can(on) of other Krautrock ‘legends’ – they sound like they don’t really know what they’re doing and are just… doing it anyway. In this way it reminds me of when me and all my West Country mates were trying to recreate Acid House without ever really hearing it (it sounded better than most Acid House, though not in a anyone-would-buy-it way).

There doesn’t seem to be anything overtly intellectual about the Brainticket exercise; the sideswipes into odd ambience or found sound don’t seem especially considered or grandiose, even if they work wonderfully. It’s lovely stuff, perfect for Sunday afternoons getting gently wrecked in the park. If people only had a clue, this would be sound-tracking Hippie-era documentaries on the History Channel. The White Rabbit could do with a break.

NOTE: for some reason I’ve written this in the style of mid-’90s Music From The Empty Quarter. Sorry about that.

-Loki-