David Axelrod - The Warner/Reprise Sessions: The Electric Prunes & Pride

Shadowy sounds from an even shadowier period

To call David Axelrod an auteur is putting it mildly. Although finally revered the world over by hip-hoppers and lovers of his 60s and 70s cinematic instrumentals (and an excellent eponymous solo offering on the Mo’ Wax label from 2001), Axelrod’s earliest recordings from 1967-70 have remained shrouded in mystery.

Billed as works by The Electric Prunes, Release Of An Oath and Mass In F Minor are most definitely not cut from the same cosy psych cloth of I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night, and with good reason. As Axelrod revealed earlier this year, the band only ever appeared on Kyrie Eleison, with the rest played by sessioneers and Axelrod himself. What you get is a mostly hymnal, always interesting and occasionally wonderfully frenetic journey through a murky, quasireligious darkland. The production here (as well as on a third, 1970’s quaint Pride, authored elusively by Pride) remains stunningly unique, with rhythms turning in on themselves at every turn. The only time anyone has come close to replicating them is when Axelrod himself has been sampled. Check the bonus disc of instrumentals for further proof.

Now signed to Blue Note, but in poor health, the future may be uncertain but Axelrod’s past is written in stone.

Rhino | 8122-74883-2 (2-CD)

Reviewed by Jake Kennedy
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