Kula Shaker – K – 20th
Anniversary Edition (BMG)
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| Kula Shaker - K |
Release Date: Out Now
It is human nature, at times of
great sorry, despair or stress, to look back to better times when the world
held more hope and social media meant sharing your copy of Melody Maker with
the kid next to you on the bus. It’s fitting, then, that this 20th
Anniversary Edition of Kula Shaker’s legendary ‘K’ should land on my door mat
at just the time I needed it most. Let’s face it, when you’ve had a shitty
day/week/month/year what you really need is for an old friend to turn up in a
beaten up Mercedes and take you on a road trip with some good tunes and a bag
of hash.
For those of you unacquainted
with ‘K’, it was a debut released during the peak of Britpop that stood in
direct opposition to the lad culture of the time with themes of Indian
mysticism and English legend played out to a soundtrack of 60s guitars and
urban hedonism. The opening strains of ‘Hey Dude’ are instantly recognisable as
the soundtrack to the summer of ’96 as much as any Blur or Oasis number. The
slow burn introduction to the classic ‘Govinda’, complete with peacocks, sitars
and tabla, still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up – especially when
Paul Winterhart’s loose drums come pounding in and the guitar kicks in.
Modern nostalgia is a funny thing
that I’m usually suspicious of but being reminded of tunes like ‘Tattva’, ‘Grateful
When You’re Dead/Jerry Was There’ and the road trip anthem of ‘303’ makes me
feel like a teenager again and that is no bad thing right now. The other point
to note is this; you can say what you like about Kula Shaker and their
appropriation of other cultures or misguided use of the swastika in its
original form but you can’t deny that they had honed their craft, played bloody
good tunes and too the spirit of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper to a new logical
conclusion. I’m off to vote for Blair, drink some Hooch and buy shares in
Myspace……
More information: https://www.facebook.com/kulashaker
Live Dates:
1st December – O2
Academy, Oxford
2nd December – O2
Academy, Bournemouth
3rd December – Rock City,
Nottingham
5th December – UEA,
Norwich
6th December – G Live,
Guildford
8th December – O2 Forum, London
9th December – O2
Forum, London
10th December – Albert
Hall, Manchester
12th December –
Institute, Birmingham
13th December – O2
Academy, Bristol
14th December – O2
Academy, Liverpool
16th December – O2
Academy, Newcastle