by Brian Andrew Marek #2

Quintessence "Self + Indweller" 1972

Okay, so I roll differently. Even in the company of prog-heads, psych-freaks and low-fi obsessives, I'm the weirdo. Y'see, I'm just discovering Quintessence, the late '60's - early '70's British group that managed to bring together psychedelia, prog-rock, fusion, chanting, and high octane jamming with a highly spiritual agenda - predominantly Krishna/Hindu in nature, but with more than a little lip service to Buddha, Jesus, and the like as well. Anyway, conventional wisdom has it that Quintessence's last album, "Indweller", was the worst of the lot - yet I find it fascinating me the most.

I think it started with the cover. Even before hearing the music, I had a gut feeling I'd like it. Later research revealed that "indweller" is an actual word, a noun indicating (roughly) the higher spirit that dwells within a person, but when I saw that claustrophobic, fish-eye lens portrait of the band in a small room, I took it to mean "shut-ins with musical instruments" - which suited me just fine, and still does, thank you very much, because that's what my (admittedly imaginative and suggestible) ears hear on this disc.

With its shakey, fragile vocals (the lead vocalist for the rest of their career had split before this album, as I understand it), low-key atmosphere and rapidly changing music styles (not to mention the predominance of very short and very long songs), this feels like a well-recording analogue of some lo-fi four-track weirdo's basement doodlings. You get Soft-Machine-gets-really-stoned jams ("Indweller"), acid-soaked spirituality ("Jesus My Life"), and, every now and then, something just plain beautiful ("It's All the Same"). I love it.

My copy came to me as part of "Self + Indweller", a CD repackaging of Quintessence's last two albums. A quick glance suggests that this CD is missing one track from the original vinyl "Indweller" - so I may have to go searching if I want the full story. The other album on the disc, "Self", is a fine listen in its own right (although the lyrics of "Wonders of the Universe" actually succeed in making me wince where the other devotionals had failed), especially the live half, which sounds like what the Grateful Dead would sound like live if they were fun, interesting and enjoyable.