9. Bobby BeausoleilThe Lucifer Rising Suite
There is infamy to Bobby Beausoleil’s name, as he was part of the Manson family and sentenced to life in prison for murder. However, that’s not why I am drawn to his music. Although maybe the darkness is important to the making of his music. Maybe I can hear that darkness affecting me in a very thrilling way.
I found this record at Earwax record store in New York. My father had recommended the store to me and they have a lot of cool records there. At the end of my visit, I had to choose between buying four different albums by different artists or one four-album suite of music by Bobby Beausoleil. There are four vinyl records in the set, so it was rather expensive for me. I am happy that I bought the suite.
I am not sure how I got to know about Bobby Beausoleil – although it may have been via a friend in Copenhagen who was practising thelema. The Lucifer Rising Suite is a soundtrack from a film called Lucifer Rising by Kenneth Anger, and my friend’s interest in thelema may have brought me to Kenneth Anger, as I think the film was heavily inspired by this occult practice. It may also have been my dear sister, once again, who introduced me, as she is a living library when it comes to art-house films. She is a cinematographer so she has a good reason to have this knowledge. The Lucifer Rising soundtrack is amazing and when I discovered this special edition I had to have it. It contains a lot of additional material that expands really well on the old material.
I love the guitars, mostly. I think this suite is based a lot on improvisation and the way the guitars sound on these records is dark but also dreamy. I think that this is probably the main reason why I love this record. Once again, this is music that I lose myself in when I listen to it and I can get disorientated, as the song structures are blurry.
