MYSTIC 100'S - "ON A MICRO DIET" 2LP

LULUS:

 To say that this has been highly anticipated around these parts is to state the obvious. The group of musicians formerly known as MILK MUSIC now go under the name MYSTIC 100's [I got milk in my eye as I write this - don't ask - the universe speaks!] and who can blame them? What a befitting moniker and with this double album it makes all the sense in the cosmos. The opening title track gets right into it and after just thirty seconds they've flexed their toned creative physiques with a preposterously stylish switch up. Then the journey begins - one of many. D'Mystics have achieved magic in the studio again thanks to Captain Tripps Ballsington [yep] and each sound is a treasure, so honest and pure as to be kinda surreal. Bravo, Captain, this joint sounds ultimately and intimately stellar.

Need we remind you that this is for serious listeners only? Only a handful of these songs are under the eight-minute mark with the group taking a leap of faith-in-themselves into the territory whispered of in myth by their esteemed teachers - jamming the fuck out. They get down with Jimi, light joints with Neil, brush their locks with Alice and take long [LONG] strolls with Jerry. They even do jazz - in a Flag way of course. God they're weirdos [thank God they are]. At a run time over an hour one can't presume that everything on this right here opus will fill every cup of tea. It moves in myriad directions and is prone to turning at the drop of a magician's hat but this soul is a sucker for the groovy tricks they play so we carry on.

If "Windowpane" is the gang at their Milkiest then "Have You Ever Chased A Lightbeam?" is them at their Mysticiest; a chakric journey beginning with a classic Coxen chord motif but this time 'round it's shinin' through a prism like that Pink Floyd album y'all know so well. There is a real 'dawning of an age' feeling in the air it pushes from your speakers - except by my reckoning it's in fact not heralding a new age at all; it's boldly embracing what we already have within. This jam sounds like mushroom tea, shrouds of incense/cigarette/pot smoke, sugar cubes, old carpet and a couple half drunk beer cans. A nineteen minute trip of sheer, delicate, heavy bliss. Who needs a saviour when all you need is a beam of light, y'know? A good question, and one that is emblematic of this album and the development in sound from previous releases - the brats have spent more time with their Strats. There's venom when it's called for but the snotty lips that spat in every direction have taken a few deep breaths. Grow your soul and let it shine. Mystic 100's are waiting for you.