Brown Spirits – Vols 1, 2 and 3

Soul Jazz

With Australia’s Brown Spirits having cemented a place in the vanguard of Soul Jazz’s slender non-archival artist roster in a latter-day trio incarnation – that has brought us 2023’s Solitary Transmissions and 2025’s Freq-reviewed Cosmic Seeds — now comes a back catalogue restoration exercise for the band’s much sought-after first three albums, to coincide with a long-awaited UK and EU touring expedition.

Previously available between small Australian and German labels, these reupholstered Soul Jazz editions of the numerically-anointed Vol.1, Vol.2 and Vol.3 capture the formative alchemical pairing of Tim Wold (guitars, bass, sitar, electric piano, organ, synths) and Agostino Soldati (drums, percussion), before bassist Ash Buscombe joined the fold. Though perhaps missing some of the three-man line-up’s heft and flexibility that is more geared up for on-stage translations, this trilogy series is far from being a set of thin warm-up exercises. Quite the contrary, in fact.

While Vol.1 does arguably sit quite squarely in a mid-fi sonic range, there is still an overarchingly sumptuous liquidity and musicality to the wordless nine-track suite. The leading-in cut, “Lysergic Library”, sets the group’s inaugural stall out intrepidly, with its layering of up-close motorik drumming, a prowling array of keyboards and treated electric guitars.

Thereafter arrive cosmological Jimi Hendrix-meets-NEU!  jams (“Kaiser-Panorama”, “Flying And Falling” and “Back To Atoms”); squelching effects-drenched extensions of Pink Floydian funk interludes (“That River Ain’t For Swimming”, “Xan With Red” and “Optokinetic Response”); fizzing synth-saturated night driving soundtrack atmospherics (“Another Vintage Phase”); and psych-rock discordance (“Precursor”).

The gear-shifting Vol.2 opens with a shot of lower-slung and more groovesome propulsion – via the rubbery bass-led entrancement of “Honorable Discharge” — which generally underpins the rest of the subsequent proceedings to varying and impressive degrees.

Hence, we’re hypnotised by swirling strung-out space-prog (“Parallels” and “Can Eater”); unashamed Tago Mago-isms (“Finite Universe”); elemental ambient-jazz (“Mutations”); Dave Brubeck slinkiness-goes-kosmische (“Suite: East Meets West”); and languid wah-wah-heavy wanderings (“First Sign Of Light”) over the forty or so satisfyingly cohesive minutes.

Although it’s an impression that is somewhat skewed by hearing all three of these early works belatedly back-to-back, Vol.3 does genuinely feel like a cumulation collection that brings together its two predecessor’s various ingredients and stirs them into one even deeper melting pot. With the instrumentation noticeably more meshed together, this final tableau in the triptych is an assured assemblage of immersive sounds

Consequently, in places we’re submerged into spellbinding Bitches Brew-meets-Electric Ladyland explorations (“Converge Collide” and “Express Train To Jupiter”); buzzing Can vs Cluster visions (“Bakelite Dashboard” and “Vanishing Exits”); and languorous Maggot Brain nodding noodles (“Montage Homage”).

Elsewhere, we’re plugged into brain-rewiring cross-fusions between Dark Side Of The Moon and Faust IV (“Tumultuous Clouds”); Michael Rother’s solo wares refashioned in acid-rock attire (“Chemical Miscalculation” and “Flawed Optimist”); and free-jazz-to-psychedelic wigging-out (“Hats Off To Pojama”).

Although Vol.3 is arguably the top pick from this generally terrific triumvirate, it’s hard to advise against grabbing all three of these quite limited Brown Spirits reissues in one go. Whilst your bank account and storage space might not thank you in the moment, your ears will do long into the future.

-Adrian-