Elderberry Shiftglass by Loop Guru

The artists Mickey Hart, Jean Michel Jarre, Pop Will Eat itself, Banco de Gaia, Les Baxter and Youth all invited Loop Guru to add that unique Loop Guru 'je ne sais quoi' into their music for remixes. Two tracks in the film 'Entrapment' and many TV programmes add to their list of commercial prowess and accomplishments.

REVIEWS OF "Elderberry Shiftglass"

DJ Mag

Loop Guru

Elderberry Shiftglass

Elsewhen

Ambient dub psychedelia

Loop Guru were one of the pioneers of ethnodelic dance music in the early '90s, and are still going strong. They retain their psychedelia here, but experiment with prog rock, dreamy downtempo soundscapes, backwards tape loops and bizarre samples. a treat for da heads. Kim O'Connor

Mint track:

'Strawberry Girl'

****

(4 stars out of 5)

MUSICIAN MAGAZINE

PSYCHEDELIC POP

LOOP GURU

ELDERBERRY SHIFTGLASS

Remix masters and soundscape creators Sam Dodson and Jamuud offer a stunning blend of Gerry Anderson pop-a-rama and familiar childlike psychedelia across 20 recordings that capture your heart from the fabulous opener 'Strawberry Girl' to clser 'Spring (before the aftertaste)' . Proudly announcing the inclusion of such elements as "a bicycle bass at picknic", this is a million miles from your standard fare. With tracks often prologued by spooky spoken samples, we soon settle into a world where space-race Telstar acolytes meet in the Twilight zone. Loop Guru highlight the appeal of a very English type of music-making that never loses it's appeal. Highly recommended. www.myspace.com/loopguru

KEITH AMES

VANITY PROJECT (Fanzine - webzinne)

Loop Guru – Elderberry Shiftglass (Elsewhen)

Subtitled Soundcakes From The Universe Next Door, this album sees Loop Guru continue on their ever evolving and mutating trajectory through the guruniverse and landing on an Elderberry smelling planet that is caught in a hazy sixties psychedelic blur. Whilst unmistakably Loop Guru at heart this release sees Muud & Gita embracing warm psychedelic pop and twisting it into new shapes and colours while it swirls away in a dreamlike state; Opener Strawberry Girl is the perfect mix of Loopish beats and twinkling keys before giving way to the Beatles-esque United States Of Elderberry. The trip continues through twenty colourful visions interwoven with spoken samples, bringing to mind those old films of visiting other planets and meeting aliens before they all get down to a hip shaking party filmed in bright

colours and at odd angles, the ladies in mini skirts doing smart moves as the scene fades in and out of focus. This is probably pushing close to the classic Amrita album for being my favourite Loop Guru album; a fun and colourful explosion of groovy sounds and a true love for sounds from the psychedelic era and dare I say a true masterpiece. www.myspace.com/loopguru.

GREBO

YORKSHIRE EVENING POST

Loop Guru

Elderberry Shiftglass

Elderberry Shiftglass (subtitled Soundcakes From The Universe Next Door) is sampling wizards Loop Guru's 13th album and it sees what is, for the duo of Sam Dodson and Jamuud, a major shift in direction. Out goes the focus on world music in favour of a 60's psychedelic theme, a kind of high-tech instrumental reimagining of the hippy, dippy summer of love. Tracks with toungue-in-cheek titles like Soft Fruit Sunday, Cryptic Kaleidoscope Crumble and Blueberry Mermaid Marmalady are multi-layered soundscapes of Beatles' style cellos, swirling organs, breathy girly backing vocals, swinging breakbeats, assorted spacy noises and a plethora of dotty vocal samples that cast a seductive, highly relaxing spell.

There are few artists out there who manage to be both this entertainly playful and satisfyingly listenable

ELSEWHEN RECORDS

Here's a couple of reviews of "Bathtime"

BILLBORD

Loop Guru

Bathtime With Loop Guru

Producers: Jamuud and Saam

When the instrumental credits listed in the cd booklet include "quantum physics," "insect manipulation," and "luminous wetlook," you know you're in for an unusual listening experience. But the abnormal is de rigueur for British ethno-techno group Loop Guru, Bathtime With Loop Guru follows the sample happy grooves and stolen themes of previous outings. The band, now reduced to a duo of Jamuud and Saam (aka Dave Muddyman and Sam Dodson, respectively), freely samples sitars and mellotrons, Kraftwork rhythms and gamelan cycles-all collaged into delirious, dub trippy grooves, Loop Guru really would have been happy as a 60's psychedelic band, hanging out between Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd, but forged a few years too late. Yet it has adapted to the technology and tone of the day, mixing sly humor into its most chilled and sensual album to date.-John Dilliberto

UNCUT

Latest offering from post-rave ethnological adventurers

"Bathtime"

It's typical of their cheery nature but Bathtime With Loop Guru is a bit of a debilitatingly flip title. Don't be put off. This ranks up there with their best work. Beneath their mock- Hare Krishna trappings and big cyclical rhythms, LG are a scholarly duo who's vast, eclectic musical knowledge, ranging from Gamelan to avant-garde, lends the LP a wealth of nuances and citrus twists.

From the samples of Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique on "Today" to the brass band strains of "Spring", this is a fine reminder that Loop Guru are still around and still in their prime.

David Stubbs - Uncut Magazine. ****

Average Customer Review: