Alan Watts - This Is It
(Locust)
Alan Watts is often thought of as a philosopher, proponent, teacher, and student of eastern thought, but, his recording "career" is something of an afterthought. Watts' 3 albums, issued originally in the 1960s by the MEA imprint. This Is It, which was recorded and released in 1962, wasn't initially meant to be a recording session that would find its way to the ears of listeners, although, after recording what was meant to be a document of an intimate meeting of friends, Watts and his collaborators made the decision to release the recordings as an album, to give others the chance to share in the experience. The emphasis here is on the fact that This Is It was entirely spontaneous, a subconscious musical journey free of rational thought, any sort of composition, or plan. The aural result was not the important part of the equation. Instead, it was the creation itself, the process that led to the sounds that are heard. Voice is the instrument that proliferates most of the recordings, with Watts, Roger Somers, and Joel Andrews providing the vocalizations. Somers also plays drums, with Leah Anada contributing her Conga skills, William Loughborough playing bass marimba and lujon, and Henry Jacobs on piano and French horn.
The first half of This Is It consists of five smaller pieces, from the vocal gibberish duo of Watts and Somers on "Love You" to "Gagaku-Ku," part of a Japanese Noh (a traditional performance) with musical accompaniment. The second half, however, contains a longer piece, "Metamatic Ritual," which contains the music most reminiscent of certain eastern styles on the disc. Mainly a piece for percussion and voice, it sustains over almost fourteen minutes of frantic drumming and vocal chants and exclamations. The music feels as though it's building to something, but it never seems to reach that level, at least to the listener. But, when examined under the context of why the music was created, normal expectations are useless.
This Is It is an album that may very well confound many listeners. Its proto-psych sounds are only part of the equation, though. Since it was created without an audience in mind, the listener can often feel as though they're on the outside looking in, because much of the disc is far from easy listening, for many different reasons. The screams that are emitted in both "Love You" and "The End" are some of the most primal to be heard on any sort of musical album, and much of the music might seem to be nothing more than some drug-induced hippie jamming. Viewed as a document, however, a primary source in the biography of Watts and his friends, This Is It makes more sense, and becomes a more interesting listen. The worth or quality of such a CD can be debated elsewhere, but when the listener can tap into the vibe that Watts is emitting, This Is It can be pretty out there indeed.
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