Ada Music
Siddhartha : Siddharta (1998)***°
The long tracks, like the instrumental “A trip to inner self” (10’29”), and the partly instrumental “Nervous Brakedown” (12’03”) has long stretched passages of over-the-top layers of psychedelic electric guitar improvisations, with second echoed guitars, some (reverbed) bass guitars, has several Floydian movements and guitar effects, psychedelic keyboards and some keyboard effects, some great progressive drumming, and a nice variation in the songs themselves.
The second track is a great guitar psych song with some Middle Eastern tuning elements.
The third track is an acoustic song (with double layered guitar). “Kervan” after that is a fantastic psych track with reverb guitars, keyboards, lots of rhythm changes, drums and some additional Turkish percussion.
"Baroque” is even more arranged -progressive/psychedelic rock- with some harpsichord, with many guitar layers, with an old classical like composition still in a psych/prog style.
"Beyond Destiny” is also very arranged, with multilayers of electric guitars and is in between prog and psych, with here and there a progressive hard rock touch in the guitar psychedelica. Like on the first track we hear also bits of piano there, and some English vocals.
The last long track, “Om” also has some female vocals to it. Hidden in the last minutes is also a great mystery track : Middle Eastern psychedelica combined with another variety of rock styles.
Highly recommended. This has great guitar playing, very good arrangements and splendid execution !! I'm sure the group would have been really big if they were more known here. I'm not sure if they still exist.
Trail Rec. Siddhartha : Trip To Innerself (rec.2008,pub.2009)***°
Already 11 years have passed since Siddhartha’s debute. Luckily for this band which is in fact one of the earliest Turkish new generation psych/prog bands, and also one of the most progressive/psychedelic bands in Turkey, that there has been interest shown from abroad, by an American label. The booklet states “The power of psychedelia lies behind its ability to let you take a trip into your innerself, through experiencing new ways, discover hidden areas in your mind and feel the pleasure of illumination coming through music that’s gently stroking your soul.” A good introduction, because the album has not only a psychedelic approach, like a stretched jam into different areas, the structure is rather “progressive”.
The album slowly starts, a bit like Pink Floyd’s “Meddle” as psychedelia with a more “progressive”(rock) approach, a tension is built up with electric guitars (in different sounds) and organ, heading towards a heavier psychedelic jam, but turning into a first song part instead. This vocal part immediately provokes the feeling of a switch from psychedelia to neo-progressive, a bit screamy in the vocals and rockier guitars, before the trance trips the music once more. From then on the turning points with vocals (-lyrics in English-) are much softer, and nicer, first with an acoustic guitar led part. “Baroque” includes a harpsichord theme with progressive evolution and calm guitars. The next large part (-each section flows gently into the next-) is more dominating with electric guitars, echoing, building up tensions with drums and turning into a mad highlight with witches-alike laughs, with another part of more emotional singing. Also the electric guitars break out with rich emotionality. This fine emotionality can have also more sad moments, with some additional trippy organ. Last part is sung by a female vocalist. This one sounds more trance-like, like a slowed down ethnic Ozric Tentacles, closing the trip moodily.
