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Unsung Forum » Yah Ho Wa Discog Breakdown |
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Sin Agog 2253 posts |
Jun 04, 2014, 19:52
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I had a couple of their records, but I think they fell victim to the infamous DJ Box Taxi Purge of the late '90s (in which I leave 100's of CD's in the back of a taxi, and he drives off into the foggy night with 'em). I remember them as being loose-limbed mantric tantric psychedelic emissions of some quality, the kind of thing I imagined the Dead as being before I actually heard them, but being as it's been so long since I last played those records and I've forgotten their names entirely, it would be great if some fine specimen of an HH'er can scat about the records they've heard so I can recoup my losses. Ta Yu Stas!
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 01:13
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Hi Sin Agog, Yahowha 13 are my favorite American band, for me they are the highpoint of US psychedelia. Lots and lots of great mindblowing, spiritually uplifting stuff. Most is improvised. Original Captain Trip Box Set: Father Yod and the Spirit of '76 - Kohoutek, Contraction, Expansion - Father with his largest band - 2 guitarists, bass, drums, 1 or 2 keyboards, 3 or more female backing singers. Contraction is the best of the three, a royal mindfuck, and has been reissued separately. All or nothing at all - primitive hippie folk with real songs. Father doesn't appear. On first listens I hated it, but the "authentic coffee shop" feel tied in with the spiritual message gives it considerable charm and now I love it. Savage Sons of Yahowha - real songs recorded with a variety of lineups, but without father. Has a nice acid rock vibe to it. The best tracks are those which feature Electron Aquarian, who sounds like he could be Malcolm Mooney's long-lost cousin! Yahowa 13 - Father with a stripped-down lineup of bass, drums, and guitar, but not that great. Again, the band seems to be playing real songs. There is a desolate, rural vibe to some of the tracks which gives it an "outsider" status. Works as a Father Yod solo album but not a Yahowha 13 album. Penetration - My favorite album of all time. Improvised instrumental tracks, guitar, bass, drum, kettle drum, gong, and whistling. Doesn't work as background music, though. But when listened to in the right circumstances, Penetration delivers the psychedelic motherload. Has been reissued many times, though I like the Captain Trip version best, sound-wise. I'm Gonna Take you Home; To The Principles, for the Children - More improvised greatness, up there with Penetration, but with more use of Father's voice, which can be unsettling at first (though great once you get into it.) Have been reissued. If you don't want to explore the entire Yahowha 13 discography, Penetration, I'm Gonna Take You Home and To the Principles should be the ones you get. Golden Sunrise - Features Sky Saxon on some tracks, and mostly very good. No Father. The final track, "Celebration" is an eleven minute dirge-like hippie trip to the (inner) cosmos. Yodship - With Sky Saxon. Sounds like a less-structured version of Paridieswarts Duul. I consider it to be an unrecognized masterpiece of acid folk. No father. Unreleased materials - some unreleased tracks and alternate versions. Sky Saxon appears on a few. Also has interesting field recordings of the family chanting variations of Yahowha. No father Related Singles - Mostly Sky Saxon tracks, and one track by another Yahowha family member. The Sky Saxon tracks are all recorded outside of his time with the family and are only "related" in the sense that he yells out "Yahowha!" on a few of them. Still, top-tier wasted garage rock. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post!
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 01:46
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In addition to the original box set, there was some more Sky Saxon-related material that wasn't included, most likely because Sky forgot he recorded it! These are: In Praise of Our Father - a one-sided private press 14 minute lp, which is actually the final 14 minutes of Yodship. Essential if you like the Yodship album, but doesn't work as a stand-alone piece. Masters of Psychedelia - released in the early 80s, but side two is actually vintage recordings from Sky's time with the family, totally awesome. I personally consider Sky's work with the Source family to be even better than his stuff with the Seeds. Side 1 of this lp is Sky with a then-current 80s band. Lover's Cosmic Voyage - Sky playing piano, backed by a harp, and rambling about dogs. This has not been confirmed as being recorded with the source family, but I'm pretty sure it was. The sound and vibe is the same. A 14 minute ep released in the mid 70s. Post box-set, there has been more material released. These are: The Operatta - Similar in vibe to I'm Gonna take you home and To the principles, this was the last material Father recorded. But at this point the Family had moved away from LA and their home recording studio, and this set was recorded in a warehouse where the family was crashing. So the sound is not so good, though still worth getting. Children of the Sixth-Root Race - Similar to All or nothing at all, real songs recorded without father. But more polished than All or nothing at all, so not as appealing. But it does end with a good 14 minute acidified jam about the coming apocalypse in 1997 or so. Father Yod and the Spirit of 76 - like the other spirit of '76 albums, Father backed by a big band, though I like it less than the other three. Father doesn't seem to be on top of his game lyric-wise. I wonder if this was recorded before the other three? It sounds like they are still finding their sound. The Thought Adjusters - a comp mostly featuring unreleased spirit of '76 material, plus two or three songs from the Yahowha 13 era. Fairly good, I like the Spirit of 76 stuff here better than what's on the one I listed above. Magnificence in the Memory - another comp of unreleased material, very good. Compiled by the guy in the No Neck Blues Band. Definitely worth getting, and maybe an ideal introduction to the band. Fire is the final baptism - a CD that came with the book about the source family that was released by process media, featuring unreleased tracks (though one later reappeared on the Magnificence in the memory comp). Also has some radio interviews. The CD and book are both quite good. Chants of the Source Family (name might be slightly different, I can't recall) - features field recordings of the family chanting Yahowha. But it comes across as a total rip off. A 2 minute chant will simply be repeated 3 times to make it 6 minutes, etc. Could have been a decent ep for die-hard fans but not an album. There is also a new comp released in conjunction with the documentary from last year, but I believe it is all previously issued material, so I haven't gotten it. Also one exclusive instrumental track appeared on a comp issued by Drag city, though I forget the comp's name. And 30 hours' worth of mp3s of Father's morning meditations can be ordered though the family's website, though I don't yet consider myself to be such a Yahowha junkie as to make that purchase. If you are interested, I have also written longer reviews of Penetration, To the Principles, and Yodship on Unsung a decade or so ago. And I have short reviews of all these releases on Rateyourmusic. Like I said, Yahowha 13 is my favorite American band. Hope you enjoy them!
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Sin Agog 2253 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 08:52
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Oh man, you're a legend in your own time! Those posts are exactly what I needed and more. I had no idea Sky Saxon hooked up with these mental longhairs. Strange happenings. Fallin' is one of my favourite songs; that track's intensity would go down wonderfully in the Yah Ho Wa, I should imagine. Will coitanly get at least one of the albums he was involved in. Plus, Penetration, I'm Gonna Take You Home and To the Principles are on the list for now, and I think I should try one of the newer reformed Yah Ho Wa's s'well, right? I always had a mad yen for Paridieswarts, and the first Amon Duul in general. I guess it must be a propensity towards liking one/no-chord yelpathons. That's gotta be on this not-as-yet-written list as well. Thanks so much, man! By the way, I vaguely recall there was a book on them at some point- or at least they were included on a book of cults- did they take the whole cult thang extremely seriously, or were they mostly just having a laugh while they were still young enough to do so?
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 09:53
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You reminded me that I forgot to include the post-Father reunion albums! These are: Sonic Portation, Feather of Wisdom, 2013, and Live at the Velvet Lounge. All feature the original Yahowha 13 guitarist, bassist and drummer. As far as 30-year reunion albums go, they are more than satisfactory, but compared to the original Yahowha 13 albums, something is clearly missing. Of the first three, I like Sonic Portation best. Haven't heard the fourth. In the late 90's Sky Saxon and Djin Aquarian, the main Yahowha family guitarist, reunited for several albums. Many of these were never officially released, but could be ordered directly from Djin. (Once he realized what a fan I was, he kept raising the price) The ones I have are Happy Now, Air Puppy, Anti-war Pro Talk Peace Band, King Arthur's Court, Take Up Thy Name, Accelerate Yourself, and another one whose name I forgot. These range in styles from garage rock, to acid folk to spacey out-there-ness. But they also have their share of uninspired crap. I find the first four to be decent to great, with Happy Now and Air Puppy (my favorite)clearly deserving of wider release. The final three are terrible. Djin claimed he had over 40 CDs worth of new music that he did around this time with Sky, but I lost interest after a while. Djin also self-released his own CD, "Destiny of Aquarius", which showcases hippy feel-good anthems for the Aquarian age. I suspect many HH's will consider it trite. Some of it is, but some I find to be optimistically compelling. Djin also released 1 or 2 albums with Plastic Crimewave Sound, but I haven't heard them. I think that's everything!
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 10:13
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Regarding the religions/cult angle they were completely serious. Along with the daily intake of sacred herb and occasional psychedelic, the family practiced a regimen of vegetarianism, frequent nudity, polygamy (where the woman chose who she wanted to be with, and the man was supposed to meekly accept whoever approached him), and chanting of the name "Yahowha", the syllables of which were supposed to be charged with immense power, much like how Hari Krishnas believe their mantras to be spiritually charged. It's unclear if Father Yod/Yahowha presented himself as God or simply a prophet/messenger. Lyrics to songs could be interpreted both ways. In any event, one of the frequent messages of the band was that "you are Jesus", so I tend to view Father as trying to get us to realize the god-self within. The family also makes occasional mention of the coming cataclysm, of which they would of course survive, and lead the survivors into the new age. I suspect the "cult" aspect of the band puts many people off, who tend to be dubious of organized religion. But when you consider that most good art/music is spiritually uplifting (for lack of a better term) and that bands like Magma, Sun Ra and his Arkestra, and even Julian Cope and his Black Sheep boys also operated with a clear message and dressed accordingly, I don't find the "cult" aspect of Yahowha 13 to be very troubling. In fact, if I had to choose a cult to live in, I think the Source Family would be the way to go. There has been a good book released about them, plus two documentaries, in case you are more interested in their philosophy.
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Sin Agog 2253 posts |
Jun 05, 2014, 10:41
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I think one element of it is conviction terrifies a lot of people, especially the fence-sitting middle-class, but even so-called enlightened underground music fans. Other people's assurance is an ugly reminder that you've spent all this time on this almighty globe without finding anything you truly believe in. I'm a devout atheist, but I feel playing at spirituality is a great way of making the game of life a bit more entertaining. So Yahowha (after searching for a few releases I'm guessing this is the more common name?) and their cultish ritualistic antics only makes 'em even more interesting for me! Thanks again for writing that last post especially- this seems like one band it's utterly essential knowing a bit of back-story about. I'm still marinating on what records to get. I think I might steer clear of their more recent stuff if the music is, as you imply, not quite the rawest, purest ore the earlier material is. That book (The Source?) sounds sooo up my alley as well. I love books like Guitar Army, and the...source material for this sounds even crazier than the MC5 family.
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