Thirteen Albums I Currently Like, From A To M. By Stephin Merritt | Page 14 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

13. M: Master Musicians of JajoukaBrian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Jajouka

The seizure-prone should avoid listening to this particular album while driving. H.P. Lovecraft’s "muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes" could be a record review (instead of the music of the blind idiot god Azathoth), and there is also strange sinister chanting in an eldritch tongue (Maghrebi). But if the CD reissue is to be trusted (which is a subject of much controversy), they are chanting sentiments no more sinister than "Your Eyes Are Like a Cup of Tea." Partly because the major local crop is marijuana, many Western visitors have discovered and rediscovered Jajouka and its remarkable music, which is considered trance-enhancing and therefore an aid to meditation (and self-medication). Phasing and echo effects added by Brian Jones pointedly undermine the expectation of field-recording authenticity.

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