Chris Schlarb, the man behind Psychic Temple seems to be doing what Bill Laswell was doing in the first part of the Eighties with his Material and Golden Palominos projects. Gather some of the best, disparate and eclectic musicians around and see them make magic with covers, originals, musical concepts, whatever.
But then, Schlarb himself is an eclectic artist. He became first known for his experimental and free jazz stuff, but then he decided to throw in everything into the mix, pop, Americana, anything and everything.
The Psychic Temple concept started out under his own name in 2010, when Schalrb recorded an album under the name Psychic Temple. The album turned into a band and a musical concept in 2013 with a profound title: II. Of course, the title was deceptive when you consider that you had Sufjan Stevens, and people from bands like Mars Volta, Xiu Xiu and Black Keys (just among others), tackle stuff like Brian Wilson’s classic ‘Till I Die and others.
But the concept seemed to have picked up steam this year. Schlarb came up with a single, “Two Songs About Cults”, which actually includes three of them since the the third S.O.S. is supposed to be a dub of the same song, but is so radically re-done, that it practically has no resemblance to the vocal version. Let alone that the ‘second’ song is a version of “Everybody Wants to Rule The World”.
The ‘band’ (including this time around, among others, Mike Watt of the Minutemen fame) also came up with their version of Brian Eno’s “Music For Airports”. It was recorded in one afternoon without any effects, overdubs or edits and sounds like the Miles Davis band of the “In A Silent Way” era playing Eno.
The key piece of the year is the Psychic Temple’s third ‘proper’ album, “III”, on many lists as one of the best albums f the year (deservedly). Again, its a cast of thousands, including Stevens (again), soul/country legend Spooner Oldham and more. This one reminds you why those more melodic Jim O’Rourke albums are so missed. It just adds another jazzy touch.
Lets see where Schlarb is going to position this temple yet.
