"You my friend, are guilty as can be."

25 January

(From Star 69, R.E.M.)

"Smell the rose, the sweet sweet rose that grows on castle walls in heaven."

18 August

(From Hey Dude)

"Like the flower and the scent of summer, like the sun and the shine..."

Kula Shaker wear their influences on their collective sleeve. They write songs in Sanskrit & use traditional Indian instruments, singers & musicians on their records. This results in some incredible crossover musical moments.

They have other influences, of course. Sometimes their music is psychedelic, sometimes metal, sometimes hard rock, sometimes folky. With liberal use of the Hammond organ, they create a unique, distinctive sound which is by turns trippy, mellow, mysterious & heavy. They write marvellously inscrutable lyrics such as "The truth may come in strange disguises - send the message to your mind..."

Yet despite the often otherworldly aspect to their style & philosophy, they are also influenced by the culture of these shores. Crispian Mills comes from a British showbiz family & songs with reference to Arthurian legend, Peter Pan & tea-drinking lend them a homegrown, if somewhat whimsical energy.

But most of all, Crispian Mills is a man who knows what it is to rock. As if he was born to do it.

Kula Shaker are a band I love dearly for the above reasons & more. I tend to associate them with summertime & warm weather, therefore in an attempt to encourage the sun to shine here, they are the band of August.

1 August

(From Tattva)

"Like a flower, his head is just floating in the breeze."

25 July

(From Dawn's Highway)

"She left some flowers, he smoked for hours..."

15 June

(From Black or Blue)

Happy Birthday, Mum!

"Flowers, bullets, zen and zen."

8 May

(From Human Bondage Den)

"I got the whole Blues of Creation snapping at my heels."

7 March

(From Hanging Out & Hung Up on the Line)

"Might I say, it's sometimes good to know that you're insane..."

"Might I say, I get the feeling I could be the same."

9 February

(From Hysteria Unknown)

"...dreams of incredible things in the window..."

15 January

(From Dr Woofenstein)

"You took the axe to slice the cake."

9 January

Display: Blackbird Bakery

(From Dark Asteroid)