Love, Peace & Poetry: Chilean Psychedelic Music

I Dig all of L,P,&P obscure psych series...some hard to find, well done comp!

**Review originally appeared at https://midnighttosix.wordpress.comThe tenth volume of Love, Peace and Poetry collects seventeen ultra-rare tracks from Chili’s psychedelic underground, spanning from 1967-1974. That this music exists at all is no small feat considering the political upheaval in Chili at the time (detailed in the liner notes), which ultimately resulted in dictator Augusto Pinochet banning almost all rock music in 1973. As with the other volumes in this series, a variety of then-popular styles are showcased, (acid rock, folk rock, progressive rock, traditional Latin music, etc…) and the results are varied. Some tracks are hands-down excellent, like “Foto De Primera Comunion” by Los Jaivas (The Little Crabs) which marries a traditional Latin rhythms with some scorching acid-rock guitars, or the Byrds-y “La Realidad” by Sacros, a band that often incorporated religious themes into their music, and even played at Catholic mass. However, for each song that slays there’s a less interesting counterpart, like Kissing Spell’s corny “Yellow Moon” or Aquaturbia’s “Erotica” which is jut a woman moaning in ecstasy over a generic acid-rock instrumental. Sixties fanatics with more than a passing interest in foreign psychedelia will dig this disc, but it’s probably not for the casual fan.

This Chilean compilation is up there with the Mexican and Latin American as 3 of the best CDs in the series, and they are certainly must-haves for any fan of psych or world music. The only band I'd known of before were the more famous Aguaturbia, who released a couple of great albums, but after getting this I got all the albums I could lay my hands on from Los Jaivas, Blops and Embrujo, who all made some brilliant albums in the 70s. Often their CDs are not cheap, but fortunately a surprising number of these obscure bands' albums are now available as mp3 downloads.

Friends this purchase has been great. The cds are well edited, the sound is great. Also this is a time in music where creativity and talent sent running. I love this time of rock. I will continue buying the rest of the collection

Inside the spirit of era