Sunlight"Lovers Cosmic Voyage Side A" 1976 US Psych Cosmic by Sky "Sunlight" Saxon
- 8 years ago
Lovers Cosmic Voyage (album by Sunlight, 1976?.As Sunlight, Sky Saxon released this strange piano-led and extemporized solo record in ~1976.
“Sky’s obscure 1976 LP "Lovers Cosmic Voyage” is one of several one-off projects he had going in the late 1970s. It leans towards the cosmic Ya Ho Wa side of his output, as opposed to the Seeds “rock” heritage. The album – all 15 minutes of it – is quite an experience, although more in an “Incredibly Strange” manner than the deep meditational soundtrack it may have been intended as. The label is usually listed as Golden Flash but there’s also a reference to Emerald Light publishing, which was the imprint used for Sky’s first World Peace Band 45.The press size is unknown, but the LP is hard to find today. It was pressed on colored vinyl, and came without any cover". Patrick Lundborg (lysergia.com).............
Released around 1976, Lovers Cosmic Voyage (no apostrophe) was a short vinyl LP credited to Sunlight — that is, Sky Saxon, during his time with the Source Family and Father Yod. The music within is very soft — led by a mesmerizing, rolling piano, Sky extemporizes lyrics and melodies, his uncharacteristically meditative voice frequently melting into the music. It was likely recorded circa 1973-4, around the same time as the two Yodship albums (Yodship and In Praise Of Our Father).
Lovers Cosmic Voyage, pressed on either pinkish-red or black vinyl in small numbers and consisting of about fifteen minutes of music, could be considered a part of the Yodship project: the music is extemporaneous and free, as is Sky’s singing; it features long, unbroken pieces, spliced haphazardly together; and the lyrics are dripping with dense, utopian mysticism and praise for God (i.e., Father Yod). The label mentions both “Golden Flash Records and Tapes” (nothing else seems to have ever been released under this imprint), and “Emerald Light Music — BMI” publishing. (Sky’s first post-Seeds release was a 7-inch on Emerald Light around 1974~5.)
What separates Lovers Cosmic Voyage from the Yodship suites 1-3 is the fact that it features only piano and Sky Saxon’s voice. It is not apparent if Sky himself plays a piano, but there do seem to be at least two playing simultaneously most of the time — maybe he is playing one (or both, by overdubbing), or perhaps he is only singing. His wife Sabrina said that Sky himself took credit for the piano when she asked him about it years later. (The record label says “LIVE ALBUM” on both sides, and while Lovers Cosmic Voyage certainly doesn’t appear to be live in the usual sense, it could have been live in a studio/recording room with no overdubbing.) Due to the deeply personal, idiosyncratic nature of Sky’s voice here, it would seem appropriate that he did play the piano himself.
To imagine the music, think of Rick Wright’s “Sysyphus” piano solo from Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma album, played by someone who was just sitting at the keys for the very first time. Lovers Cosmic Voyage consists solely of untutored meanderings up and down the keyboard and stabs of clusters of chord-like notes, with the whole thing elevated to a blissful and sublime beauty due to the uncanny mixture of the two pianos’ gentle, unrestrained fluidity. This is the freest music imaginable, untouched by convention, structure, or the pesky requirements of melodic themes.
The two sides of the vinyl are called Side A and Side Z; both list several song titles. These titles refer to vague areas of Sky’s formless lyrics, rather than actual individual tracks. Side A is a single, unbroken performance (the first two and a half minutes being instrumental as promised on the label), while Side Z is made up of two different performances, inexpertly joined together with a crude tape splice. (This hamfisted editing is a feature of both the Yodship albums as well, further suggesting the thematic inclusion of Lovers Cosmic Voyage with them.)
Sky Saxon is again very free and very high, letting his words tumble out without thought. His mood is one of pure happiness and abandon; he tells his “lady” how much he loves her, and assures his dog that she will be included in the cosmic Venusian voyage he offers. He often gets sidetracked while singing the praises of caninedom… at times he seems to distractedly merge his woman and his dog into a single soft, brown-eyed figure, to somewhat creepy effect.......
Tracklist
A1.1 Organic Kingdom (Instrumental) 5:17
A1.2 I Am In Love With You
A1.3 Take You To Venus
A1.4 Children Of The Sun
B1.1 Spashing Colours Of Magick 8:44
B1.2 Heading Out To The Country
B1.3 Follow Your Dream With Your Dog
B1.4 Sail The Universe
B1.5 Dancing With My Love
B1.6 While The Wolves And Dogs Are Playing
“Sky’s obscure 1976 LP "Lovers Cosmic Voyage” is one of several one-off projects he had going in the late 1970s. It leans towards the cosmic Ya Ho Wa side of his output, as opposed to the Seeds “rock” heritage. The album – all 15 minutes of it – is quite an experience, although more in an “Incredibly Strange” manner than the deep meditational soundtrack it may have been intended as. The label is usually listed as Golden Flash but there’s also a reference to Emerald Light publishing, which was the imprint used for Sky’s first World Peace Band 45.The press size is unknown, but the LP is hard to find today. It was pressed on colored vinyl, and came without any cover". Patrick Lundborg (lysergia.com).............
Released around 1976, Lovers Cosmic Voyage (no apostrophe) was a short vinyl LP credited to Sunlight — that is, Sky Saxon, during his time with the Source Family and Father Yod. The music within is very soft — led by a mesmerizing, rolling piano, Sky extemporizes lyrics and melodies, his uncharacteristically meditative voice frequently melting into the music. It was likely recorded circa 1973-4, around the same time as the two Yodship albums (Yodship and In Praise Of Our Father).
Lovers Cosmic Voyage, pressed on either pinkish-red or black vinyl in small numbers and consisting of about fifteen minutes of music, could be considered a part of the Yodship project: the music is extemporaneous and free, as is Sky’s singing; it features long, unbroken pieces, spliced haphazardly together; and the lyrics are dripping with dense, utopian mysticism and praise for God (i.e., Father Yod). The label mentions both “Golden Flash Records and Tapes” (nothing else seems to have ever been released under this imprint), and “Emerald Light Music — BMI” publishing. (Sky’s first post-Seeds release was a 7-inch on Emerald Light around 1974~5.)
What separates Lovers Cosmic Voyage from the Yodship suites 1-3 is the fact that it features only piano and Sky Saxon’s voice. It is not apparent if Sky himself plays a piano, but there do seem to be at least two playing simultaneously most of the time — maybe he is playing one (or both, by overdubbing), or perhaps he is only singing. His wife Sabrina said that Sky himself took credit for the piano when she asked him about it years later. (The record label says “LIVE ALBUM” on both sides, and while Lovers Cosmic Voyage certainly doesn’t appear to be live in the usual sense, it could have been live in a studio/recording room with no overdubbing.) Due to the deeply personal, idiosyncratic nature of Sky’s voice here, it would seem appropriate that he did play the piano himself.
To imagine the music, think of Rick Wright’s “Sysyphus” piano solo from Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma album, played by someone who was just sitting at the keys for the very first time. Lovers Cosmic Voyage consists solely of untutored meanderings up and down the keyboard and stabs of clusters of chord-like notes, with the whole thing elevated to a blissful and sublime beauty due to the uncanny mixture of the two pianos’ gentle, unrestrained fluidity. This is the freest music imaginable, untouched by convention, structure, or the pesky requirements of melodic themes.
The two sides of the vinyl are called Side A and Side Z; both list several song titles. These titles refer to vague areas of Sky’s formless lyrics, rather than actual individual tracks. Side A is a single, unbroken performance (the first two and a half minutes being instrumental as promised on the label), while Side Z is made up of two different performances, inexpertly joined together with a crude tape splice. (This hamfisted editing is a feature of both the Yodship albums as well, further suggesting the thematic inclusion of Lovers Cosmic Voyage with them.)
Sky Saxon is again very free and very high, letting his words tumble out without thought. His mood is one of pure happiness and abandon; he tells his “lady” how much he loves her, and assures his dog that she will be included in the cosmic Venusian voyage he offers. He often gets sidetracked while singing the praises of caninedom… at times he seems to distractedly merge his woman and his dog into a single soft, brown-eyed figure, to somewhat creepy effect.......
Tracklist
A1.1 Organic Kingdom (Instrumental) 5:17
A1.2 I Am In Love With You
A1.3 Take You To Venus
A1.4 Children Of The Sun
B1.1 Spashing Colours Of Magick 8:44
B1.2 Heading Out To The Country
B1.3 Follow Your Dream With Your Dog
B1.4 Sail The Universe
B1.5 Dancing With My Love
B1.6 While The Wolves And Dogs Are Playing