LEK- Giant World Knowledge Bliss Control
(Lek Music 2007, no catalogue number)
From Aural Innovations #37 (Sep 2007)
Lek Padrusch (or Greg, before he got his new name bestowed upon him by “a crinkly old Thai foodcart owner in Koh Samui“) has released an album which covers everything from explosive psychedelic stoner rock to gentle acoustic finger-picking, and much in between. There seems to be no clear distinction between Lek the man, and Lek the band, and the band bio mentions no other players by name. Still, whether group effort or solo project “Giant World Knowledge Bliss Control” (nice title) is an admirable attempt at sharing the stream-of-consciousness work of this self-described wandering spiritual philosopher poet.
The album starts strongly with “Quixotic”, a spoken word poem done in Jim Morrison style over waves of psychedelic guitar rock. This leads into “Demon”, a slower paced but equally loud rocker featuring layer after layer of multi-tracked guitar. It is unfortunate that this and other songs on the album reveal the limitations of Lek’s vocals, which sound overly raw without the benefit of studio production. “Fuzzworld” and “Gotam” feature some female vocals over more industrial strength guitar, with the latter track starting off relatively quietly before breaking into a lengthy and powerful instrumental passage.
The short and self-explanatory “Piano Interlude” is followed by the acoustic “Olivia” which showcases Lek’s guitar skills with more somewhat raw-sounding vocals over the top. The acoustic themes continue for the next few tracks, including the instrumental “Patong”, probably my favourite track on the album.
The somewhat strange “Grandma’s Chicken” consists of more spoken word poetry, eastern drums and wailing female vocals, before a return to the more conventional 1960’s rock of “Chiliman”. “Saint Jam” features lots of psychedelic guitar over bass and drums, and has a live-in-the-studio feel to it. Album closer “Post Travellin’ Blues” has Lek exploring his journey of discovery (seemingly both physical and spiritual) over fingerpicked guitar.
With full studio production, “Giant World Knowledge Bliss Control” has the potential to be a monstrous slab of classic psychedelic rock. In its raw form, it serves as a fascinating taster with the potential for great things to come.
For more information you can visit the band’s web site at: www.lekmusic.com
Reviewed by Pat Albertson