Kula Shaker - K

This is by far one of my favourate albums ever. Just listen to it and judge for yourself.

The Britpop quartet Kula Shaker appears to have raided the closets of its favourite bands in the making of its debut album. K contains a bluesy, retro ambience very much like The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. The full-throttled guitars sound like those of Oasis. And a hefty dose of Hindu mysticismruns rampant throughout--a la Cornershop.But Kula Shaker manages to make something original of all those borrowed parts. Rising above its influences, Kula Shaker creates a niche of Britpop in which transcendence is the goal. Amidst theblues-drenched guitars and the Hindi chanting, the band is hard at work building something spiritual and sensual. Kula Shaker isn't afraid of a tamboura, using the exotic instrument on several tracks. Nor is it afraid to be linked with theGrateful Dead, eulogising that band in the track "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There". But Kula Shaker is no freewheeling "jam" band; there's a precision to the musicianship on this record that cannot be ignored.

1. "Hey Dude" – 4:10
2. "Knight on the Town" – 3:25
3. "Temple of Everlasting Light" – 2:33
4. "Govinda" – 4:57
5. "Smart Dogs" – 3:16
6. "Magic Theatre" – 2:38
7. "Into The Deep" – 3:49
8. "Sleeping Jiva" – 2:02
9. "Tattva" – 3:46
10. "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There" – 5:42
11. "303" – 3:08
12. "Start All Over" – 2:35
13. "Hollow Man Parts 1 & 2" – 6:10 (plus 0:12 hidden track after – 13:04 silence)

The cover art (by comic-book artist Dave Gibbons) consists of various images related to the letter K, including: John F. Kennedy, Lord Kitchener, Karl Marx, Gene Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Ken Dodd, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Krishna, King Kong, 2 Knights (a pair of Keys on one of them), a Kettle and Rudyard Kipling's book Kim.

Download here: K