Review: Prana Crafter - Bodhi Cheetahs Choice

I've long been an admirer of Prana Crafter's music and it is good to see him picked up by a label of the calibre of Beyond Beyond Is Beyond (and I mean no disrespect to labels that have already released his material..I'm talking reach here, not quality!). His music is always deeply spiritual and always has a bucolic charm that reflects the environs of his beloved NW United States. Last year's 'MindStreamBlessing' was a rich slice of pastoral bliss .....if it is possible 'Bodhi Cheetah’s Choice' is even better!

'Bodhi Cheetah's Boogie Blues' opens with a heavy guitar chord that positively hums with electricity but this acts as a bit of a red herring for what follows is not a psychedelic freakout dripping with fuzz and attitude...it's way above that! It is a beautifully crafted track that takes the seventies jamming of The Dead and throws in some jazzy structures and 'good time' piano lines. I have to say that the guitar is exquisite..resonant and yearning, it conjures a feeling of melancholy and regret, especially when in conjunction with the drones that resonate in the background. Masterful stuff indeed. 'Blooming Of The Third Ear' takes the familiar Prana Crafter tropes and twins them with more lush drones and pulsing bass to produce something organic....almost sentient. It seems to channel the love that Sol (William Sol being Prana Crafter) has for the great outdoors..it has the same sense of foreboding that a traipse through a primordial forest would have but also reflects the majestic splendour of his native Washington State. From a music perspective, it brings to mind some of the great kosmische acts of yore...the same tremulous beauty of Ash Ra Temple (his guitar playing sounding like a mix of Manuel Gottsching and Loren Connors...2 masters of their instruments). 'Holy Temple Of Flow' is a more ambient piece, full of spirituality and mystical alure....exotic drones and sublime, delicate guitar refrains. As if by a flick of switch the track changes..gone is the ambience to be replaced by some strident heavy psych guitar that crackles and crys and yet again takes us back to the heady days of the Filmore East...brilliant, quite, quite brilliant! 'Crystal Sky Wooden Cloud' opens with some flamenco sounding guitar...again superbly played...that cleverly morphs into some folky stylings and the vibe changes from one of indigenous celebration into something far more bucolic and far-reaching. 'Pandimensional Drifter' initially lulls us into a false sense of security..another meander through the sun-dappled wilderness...but oh no! It changes to become a different beast altogether, full of feedback and hum accompanied by swirling organ-like keys, it sounds as if it should have been recorded in Cologne circa 1973..it has the same spirit and ethos as some of the krautrock legends. 'Old Growth Forest' is biiiig! Full of bombast and verve, the guitar(s) play out some deranged 'Duelling Banjo'....one laying down some excoriating fuzz that crackles through the speaker whilst another answers with some crystalline seventies psych...a heady and bewitching cocktail that enthrals and exhilarates. It eventually settles down into something more laid back and almost jazzy..time to catch our breath. The album is closed with 'Vajra Mountain' ..a mainly acoustic number that once again showcases Sol's prowess with the guitar. It comes across like a mix of flamenco, classical and folk in its styling and is sheer quality. It somehow the class that exudes this album from start to finish.

As far as I am concerned 'Bodhi Cheetah’s Choice' confirms what I already knew...that Prana Crafter is one clever dude! The album is beautifully conceived, intelligently constructed and exquisitely played. As much as I have thrown around a few names in the review, it actually does the album a disservice....this is more than just a roll call of musical influences (the main influences, one feels, are not music based but rooted in nature and spirituality) or 'this sounds like'-isms - it sounds like Prana Crafter..end of! In years to come people will talk about Prana Crafter being an influence himself. In short...'Bodhi Cheetah’s Choice' is a work of quiet genius..and kudos to BBiB for giving this a wide release. It is available on cassette (already on it's second pressing) and download...check out the Bandcamp page here.