Prophase Rec. 
Yahowa 13 : Sonic Portation (US,2008)***°
33 years after having disbanded Yahowa 13 after Father Yod’s sudden death some recent circumstances led to, first, a 2 days recording of the newly reformed band by 3 members, late 2007, and then to the mixing by Kerry Brown (who according to the liner notes mixed Smashing Pumpkins too) early this year. It meant the definite return of the band, because we can expect more soon. If I look at the inspiration purely by reading the booklet notes when dealing with the sorts of paths of spirituality that exists, some part of their inspiration seems to be from the path of magic, not by provoking it but by experiencing and learning to understand it. It is as if they deal with almost calculated formations of variations of the Ya Ho Wha basics (translated directly and literally by “what was, is and will be” as an energy of eternal now) are associated from within their own consciousness and experience and are identified with their own creative process of becoming. Mix this portion with some afterwards conclusions with numerology to lead to some associated understandings to be filtered out of the same experience then we still are left with the music in practice itself, which is in fact more simple, but no less deeply enough founded or grounded.
It is as if some tiny ritual ideas are mixed and experienced in a jam, taking and forming quickly various variations on its way, which makes this music spiritual (for the first idea, and because of the success of what follows practically from here), but also psychedelic in the real sense, a not to weird but nice to listen to real musical experience, as a really fine improvisation.
On “E Ah O Shin”, stimulated by a slow thunder bass rhythm the three guys start to sing these ritualistic vowel combinations in a celebrative and moody way, first with a more earthy rhythm as a ritual, which with some experimental sliding electric guitar very quickly adds a psychedelic jam effect into it then forms even more new elements out of it. The guitar then adds melodic slides and also the drums with bass increase some tension. This guitar style is still recognisable from the old days (just check “Penetration” or “I’m gonne take you home..”), calms down again, turning the piece into a very moody improvisation, taking its time to develop, almost like a bluesy psychedelic raga, with a bit of distorted guitar in the end. The second track jams further, and also named this like a “raga nova”, a very psychedelic jam with actually a beautiful electric sound of the guitar. On “Yod He Vau Hey Tetractys” they seems to have built a rhythmical idea around the basic Hebrew letters of their group’s leading energy (YHVH), in a countable rhythm (repetitive for a while into 1-2-3, 1-2-3 and 1234567), before taking the excursion into another psychedelic jam again, with a groovy rhythm (bass guitar,drums). It is a play with rhythm-numerology. This leads to another spread out jam, “travelling ohm” with successfully changing parts, great rhythms and use of guitars. “Big Kundalini” starts from using fast breathings as a ritual element to start with, mixed with a strange voice repeating the ‘Yahowa’ name, speeding the oscillating guitar as if like beaming up into the future, with an effect as if from an increasing tension from a motor, leaving its energy behind it, speeding up with bass and drum as well, with all the elements (fire and earth and air this time especially) uniting. It seems as if the flame then fades out before suddenly returning to the track once more to finish the job, with and affective rhythm, and then changing again with leading rhythmic ideas to lead to the conclusion. The last jam, “In and out” as a 1/2 theme, a basic idea that could be associated with sexuality at one point, through for instance Timothy Leary could also be associated with the “far-out to the way in”, as a right combination of giving attention when it fits and a withdrawal when it doesn’t, or making the right combinations of well calculated restoring affections. Also fine spiritual conclusion from what naturally finds it combinations by uniting the action and reaction, now into this music, while having used some conscious process of past-now-future energy…
