It could be that I’ve been locked down in limbo on my own –  starved of any physical contact – for far too long, but this struck me as a supremely sexy record – this selection, by Time Capsule, from Gabriel Roth & The Mirrors back catalogue. Its slow tribal timpani seems to tap into something “primordial”, something basic. The ceremonial hand percussion – produced on a vast assortment of instruments sourced from far reaches of the globe – building, rising and falling, as if an ancient, ecstatic rite. Interwoven with Romany strings and wah-wah-ed otherworldly horn. Seductive serpentine saxophone shapes, and didgeridoo drone, supplementing subliminal whispers. Trippy, spectral, ethereal, multi-tracked temptresses. Totally intoxicating, possessed even. Its sorcery, hypnotic, stoned, heavy with eroticism, and promises of heaven in the pleasure of another. Roth not singing or “playing”, but taking the assembled musicians – up to 10 in number – through group improvisations led by the muse and her dance. 

If you’re looking for musical references, well, imagine Kip Hanrahan interpreting Dr. John`s JuJu. Night-tripping to New Orleans gris gris, voodoo. Summoning something powerful. Something not necessarily dark or malevolent, but menacing all the same – simply due to its size. Wordless vamps on The Neville Brothers Healing Chant, where Native American song evolves into rituals invoking indigenous peoples worldwide. Encompassing classical harp and clipped, thumbed kalimba. Stretching as far as the Sahara`s Tuareg. Its bottleneck blues in places a ringer for a sitar’s buzz. Traditional reeds and woodwinds riding a Liquid Liquid-esque funk. At its most muscular, its fretless fusion bass runs resembling Bill Laswell`s ambitious ethno-experiments. Weaving a similar modern Magick to The Durian Brothers` Diskanted, Salon Des Amateurs chug.

You can purchase Gabriel Roth & The Mirrors` Selected Works 1985 – 2005 directly from Time Capsule.