New Albums
ÌXTAHUELE
Dharmaland
SUBLIMINAL SOUNDS
8/10
The curious fate of an overlooked easy listening jewel
Left unrecorded by Eden Ahbez, the prototypical hippie responsible for Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” in 1948, then 1960’s cult beatnik-exotica album Eden’s Island, Dharmaland was discovered a decade ago as sheet music in Washington’s Library Of Congress. If Swedish quintet Ìxtahuele’s belated interpretation lacks its creator’s eccentricities, it’s nonetheless respectful: Ahbez’s bamboo flutes and drums are present, and his final collaborator, Joe Romersa, adds gruff Leonard Cohen-style vocals to “Fire Of The Soul”. Kadhja Bonet’s also wordlessly seductive on “Manna”, while “Scenes I-III” is 15 minutes worthy of any Tiki culture or Martin Denny enthusiast.