Magic Sand - Magic Sand mp3 album

Alright … no doubt you found your way to Magic Sand by way of Hooterville Trolley and their blistering psychedelic single “No Silver Bird,” though here it’s referred to as “Get Ready To Fly.” I know exactly what you’re thinking, you’re of the mind that Hooterville Trolley has somehow, or for some reason been required to reinvent themselves in order to deliver the album that should have encapsulated and featured “No Silver Bird,” and shattered the world with an under appreciated masterpiece of sonic bewilderment. Yet now that this bit of vinyl, for which you probably paid around $75 for is spinning on your turntable you’re a bit confused, perplexed, disheartened, disappointed, dejected, and dare I suggest, feeling rather ripped off.The album Magic Sand has virtually nothing in common with the song “Get Ready To Fly” (“No Silver Bird”), where the other ten tracks come off as a cobbled together mix of mismatched musical enunciations that lead nowhere, support nothing, and by no stretch of the imagination prepare you for a Trans Love flight where god-doses of lysergic have been concocted in preparation for your departure.All of this I know, because I dropped a fair amount of change for this vinyl, and if nothing else, I have the song “Get Ready To Fly” as part of a twelve inch wax pressing, and can play this, as opposed to the 45 rpm which set me back nearly $1000US; but it was something that I wanted, could afford, and treasure. You’re going to make an effort, trying hard to find reasons to justify owning this album, and it will take you awhile before you come to terms with the fact that unless you're in possession of the 45 rpm, and don’t particularly wish to wear it out, that there’s no good reason to have Magic Sand in your collection, because there is nothing magical, spacey or transcendent about it. As I said, the track “Get Ready To Fly” was originally released as a 45 single under the group named The Hooterville Trolley, with the song titled as “No Silver Bird”. However, there is no relation between the two groups other than the Hooterville Trolley song appearing on the Magic Sand album. Magic Sand was a studio assembled project and the Hooterville Trolley track was included by the producer without consent or knowledge of the Hooterville Trolley band or the original songwriter. “Listen To What's Not Being Said” is a recording by the band Mudd. There was definitely no group called Magic Sand, and unlike normal compilations the original artists are not listed. It is believed that Al Klein assembled the album and sold it to Uni Records with the intention of passing it off as the work of an unsigned band.The production was very much in keeping with the then fledgling stereophonic recordings of the day, the drumming is featured almost exclusively on one channel, with the instrumentation being mixed between the two, and the vocals hunkered down in the middle, almost sounding as an afterthought, except on that one number “Get Ready To Fly.” The pressing is not up to snuff either, ripe with surface noise, all one would expect from a small in-house label. Yes, there are a couple other tracks that are worthwhile, but nothing elemental or of note … just some ‘stuff’ that’s been cobbled together, and features one of the best psychedelic songs of all time.Review by Jenell Kesler