jsREVIEW:
Recorded in ‘79, this rune-titled album (see also: Led Zep) sounds less like the food co-op drum circle that the back cover photos might evoke and more like a shambolic Fela Kuti fusion groove-out.
The first strength is Robbel Kuyper’s polyrhythmic percussion, which overlays congas and surdo over Tom Kalep’s crisp and simple drumming. On top of that, David Reinstein busts out a surprisingly well-toned tenor and soprano sax bed for the melody (though given the four folks credited with multiple and overlapping melodic instruments, it’s hard to tell who did what when). Toss in some uplifting lyrics echoed beyond, and Prismatic at their heights sound like an accoustic Funkadelic circa ‘72, just gang-tackling you with the drugged out lurve, man.
And before evaluating whether this album is for you, lemme let you know my bias— I think the weakest parts sound like Stevie Wonder’s middling Innervisions ballads, which I hate. The smoove which occassionally posessed him does sieze Prismatic too, and those moments (like the intro to “S.m.i.l.e. [Dedicated to Timothy Leary]) bore the hell out of me. Maybe it’s because of that soprano sax, which has a hard time not sounding smoove. Anyway, a lot of people like Innervisions, so whatever.
Prismatic also have a bit of the ADD going on, which is mostly a blessing in their case, as it tends to keep the dreaded slick r&b from taking over things too much before they bust out a slap bass and freak out, and since they’re just so goddamned uplifting you can’t hold anything against ‘em.
Especially when they turn out tracks like “Nothinkg” (sic), which sounds like Material have quantum-lept into The Fixx in some sort of alternate funkverse, or “Huna” which is what Frank Zappa might have written if he could have ever gotten high and relaxed.
A solid jam album from a time before Phish, this one’s equally suited to chill-out rooms or as a gift to your hippy mama, and is flavored with enough funk to make anyone with toes to tap smile.
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