Third Ear Band

Third Ear Band is one of those rare acts that stand apart in the history of rock. The group came to life in 1967, within the English psychedelic scene (UFO Club), but within a few years its ethnic bent moved it away from its original premises to embrace outside influences such as Eastern raga, Celtic folk and the occult spirituality of medieval civilisation. In Third Ear Band's music, esotericism marks the interpretive line in which one recognises a dialogic thread running between East and West.

The self-titled album, dedicated to the four elements of Greek philosophy (air, earth, fire, water), is the fertile ground for the line of thought just outlined, aimed at recognising unity within diversity. All the instrumentation involved breaks from the tradition of psychedelic culture, leaning instead towards the dictates of classical music, arranged in the following chamber quartet:

Paul Minns: oboe

Glen Sweeney: percussion

Ursula Smith: cello

Richard Coff: violin, viola

"Air", the suite's opening movement, tackles the qualitative properties of air through percussive repetition influenced by minimalist avant-garde, weaving in the natural sounds of wind against the overlapping lines of viola, oboe and cello. Third Ear Band improvise, recombining the flow of the various counterpoints each time, forging a union of metaphysical abstraction and human meditation.

The band's sensibility then unfolds in "Earth", fuelled by a dance of strings that seems to want to depict the dizzying spectacle of creation, evoking primordial chaos and visions of animals, meadows, primitive life. Consequently, realism looms large with the stormy chain of phrases raised by the viola, and it falls to "Fire" to restore the beating heart of an effort straining towards the absolute, marking out in unison the ceremony of each instrument. "Water" is another masterpiece of relaxing snapshots, grasped from a universal viewpoint, yet without needing to delve philologically into the musical phenomenon, and without neglecting the feeling of the individual.

Third Ear Band's unity of vision brings exotic folklore back to ideas rooted in Western harmony, an expressive channel that resists mass conformity. A rarity that shuns stereotypes. A world apart, inaccessible to the exhibitionist habits of prevailing vulgarity.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

29/11/2007