Pelt - Ayahuasca
(VHF)
I'll embarrassingly admit that I was a little late to pick up on Pelt. My first exposure came in June of 1998 as they opened for Sonic Youth in Raleigh, NC. When Jack, Mike and Patrick came out with their homemade hurdy-gurdy, prayer bowls, and other toys in tow and then lit two sticks of incense on stage, I was completely unprepared for what I was about to experience. The boys picked up their instruments and proceeded to launch into a 40-ish minute freeform drone session. They abruptly ceased the noise at the exact moment that the incense sticks were extinguished. I picked my jaw up off the floor, changed forever, and tried to prepare myself for Sonic Youth. I failed. My fascination with the band grew, and I would religiously flock to each and every one of their shows whenever they came to my area. Their festival-ending performance at Transmissions 002, including the powerful and legendary (to anyone who saw it) closing chant of "John in Africa," still brings me shivers when I think about it.
Fittingly for an outfit with this much authority and rabid obsession stemming from their live shows, the band's recorded releases fail to disappoint. Starting when the band began to cultivate their current sound with Max Meadows and continuing to the present, the Pelt discography is remarkably consistent and solid. Each subsequent release has been able to somehow to top the one before it, hardly an easy. Rob's Choice, issued in the summer of 2000, seemed to be the pinnacle of the whole catalog. (Speaking of the band's entire catalog, if anyone out there has an extra copy of their ultra-limited Six of Cups CDR from their recent anniversary tour that they're willing to part with, please let me know. Hell, a CDR burn would rock too.) Given their ability and drive to constantly hone their sound, it is almost fitting that the band's most ambitious release, the two disc 130+ minute epic Ayahuasca, is clearly their best.
I firmly believe that more Pelt equals the best Pelt. Accordingly, the massive nature of Ayahuasca provides the perfect and blissfully long Pelt experience. Adding further to the power of this album is that it touches on all of the aspects of the band's music. Whether you prefer your Pelt to drone, to perform the music of Appalachia, or something else inbetween, Ayahuasca aims to please. "True Vine" opens the first disc and sets an appropriate and powerful tone for what is to follow. Sixteen minutes pass before you know it, escorted away forever with a collection of the standard Pelt sounds. "Deer Head Apparition" picks up right where the previous track left off. Electric prayer bowl resonance dominates the tune's first 13 minutes, lending way to the low drone, scratching, and prayer bowl chiming of the second half of the piece. Powerful is simply too weak of a word to describe the track. Having firmly placated the listener through drone, the first disc then turns over to the acoustic and more indigenous mountain that appears at some of the band's shows. "The Cuckoo" starts this trilogy with its banjo, guitar, low drone, and back-porch styled vocals. "Deep Sunny South" is even more down home and raw, seeming like it easily could have been included on the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? The band's first tribute for John Fahey is the last song on this disc. "Raga Called John, Pt. 1" effectively combines Fahey-esque guitar work side-by-side with the more traditional Pelt elements of Buddhist cymbals and bowed instruments. Pairing both the drone and the acoustic sides of the band on the same disc makes for interesting and varied listening. The first disc of Ayahuasca is so strong that if it was released on its own it would probably be my favorite Pelt album. That said, we're only halfway through the record at this point.
Disc two starts with a different recording of "The Dream of the Leaping Sharks" from the one featured on Carbon Records' The Nature of Systems compilation. At over twice the length of the previously released version, the track resets the tone towards drone. "Bear Head Apparition" plays along wonderfully, continuing the Pelt drone mood. "Will You Pray For Me?" and "Raga Called John, Pt. 2" advance the case further.
The band returns to one last acoustic-based number to close off Ayahuasca. "Raga Called John, Pt. 3" again features delicate guitar work placed over a beautiful field of low level drone. At this point you've gone over two and a third hours without having come up for air. Not that you ever noticed.
Pelt. You either love them or hate them. I've yet to find anyone who can really claim a neutral stance on their work. I personally can't get enough and firmly feel that this most recent release is the high-water mark. If you're a fan, Ayahuasca is the record you've been waiting for.
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