As band honcho Boris Bardash explains, Ole Lukkoye’s name comes from the hero of a fairy tale written by 19th century Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. Ole Lukkoye used to bring the dreams for the children, as a Sandman of Morphey. In the last page of the tale he told the story about his elder brother, whose name is Death. So, “Ole Lukkoye” is a soft name of the group – “Death”. This explanation came in an interview I conducted with Bardash in the January 1999 issue of Aural Innovations, back when we were still a printed zine. So Ole Lukkoye have been around for a long time (I believe their first recordings date back to 1989). And Dyatly is a treat because it’s the first album of new music from these Russian Ethno-Psychedelic rockers in some years.

As usual the band utilize a combination of standard and ethnic instrumentation, including guitar, keyboards, bassoon, percussion, djembe, darabouka, jambi, ngoa and dav. Kommuna Ra opens the set with 14 minutes of Psychedelic groove rock, consisting of steady pounding rhythms, mesmerizing drones, ambient Jazz horns, freaky space electronics, seductive female Indian inspired chants and shamanic male vocals. Think tribal ceremony meets rave in a Middle Eastern bazaar in space. Dyatly (Woodpeckers) features 17+ more minutes of hypnotic spaced out grooves, with lightly wailing organ lines, ambient trip guitar fills, multi-layered atmospherics, effects, and a mind-bending yet rhythmically flowing sense of magic carpet ride soundscape grooves. I love the combination of Ethnic Pop, lysergic shaman ritual, Space-Jazz, and cosmic alien presence that pervades throughout, creating a hallucinatory sense of other-wordly inspiration. Bela Dama continues with 14 minutes of trippy spaced out Ethno-Psychedelic soundscape grooves and cosmic Raga Rock that you can simultaneously dance to and meditate on. It’s the Om chant for your bad soul searching self. The fun continues as Bela Dama segues seamlessly into the explosively intense 17 minute Just Wind. And Veni, Vidi, Vici is a short coda to what is essentially one continuous 70 minute journey. I hope we don’t have to wait years for another new set. This is magical music.

For more information visit the Trail Records web site at: http://trailrecords.us
Visit the Ole Lukkoye web site at: http://www.olelukkoye.ru

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz