“Vine is really very good at describing frustration and pain.”
— George Clayton Johnson, Author of Ocean’s Eleven and Logan’s Run
“This album is a collaboration between Californian poet/musician Vine Sweetland and sitarist Rahul Sakyaputra. On Light Shining in the Distance, they are accompanied by 22 musicians. The sound palette includes vocals (spoken and sung), keyboards, guitars (both electric and acoustic), sitar, and an arsenal of Indian percussion instruments. The album contains one 74-minute piece, a long psychedelic opera which moves from spoken words over drones to rock numbers reminiscent of Aphrodite's Child's 666, with sitar solos and spacey instrumental tunes in between. Some passages are a little sloppy, but the writing is honest and the performers' excitement compensate for a few production mishaps. Still, a piece that long is hard to digest. Since the booklet lists titles for 27 sections, it would have been nice to have the CD indexed accordingly. That said, the fact that there are so many parts to the piece tells how much Vine Sweetland and co. don't indulge in long-winded solos. Ideas follow one another at a pace that will keep your attention sharp.”
— François Couture, All Music Guide
“At the very least it this a revelation....
I considered myself a man of the musical world (as it were) until placing 'Light Shining In The Distance' into my trusty Yamaha carousel. Upon completion of it's lengthy run I realized that I knew nothing.... a more unique experiment you will not find. For good or bad, this is like nothing I have ever heard. Bizarre. Ambitious. Amazing. Magical. Beautiful. Enchanting. Exotic. Mellow. Spiritually-Intense. Eclectic. Mystical. Frightening. PSYCHEDELIC.....Welcome to the world of "Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium". A group of two dozen musicians from across the globe have come together to work with popular American poet Vine Sweetland to create self-described 'Quasi-Psychedelic Sound Waves'. 'Light Shining In The Distance' is beyond mere song, instead follows a soundscape approach that melds together patches of traditional rock, middle-eastern instrumentation & liberal doses of psychedelica with spoken passages placed over the top of shimmering background music. The sheer breadth of instrumental talent is quite astounding, as is the sheer fact that it was brought together in such a flowing and undistorted manner…
When all is said and done, "Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium" have created a thoroughly MOVING experience, which is much more than can be said about 99% of music today.......”
— The Astral Project
“First vote here goes for the catchiest name around! The next has to go for the 74 minutes (one track) of psychedelic fusion that is contained within the disc. With a collective force of over 20 musicians and 40+ instruments the CD tells the story of a Caterpillar set on her life's journey by a dying Guru. The poetry of Vine Sweetland ties the music together. The opening minutes of spoken word are very much akin to the Door's This is the End or Jim Steinman's Love and death of an American guitar. To try to bestow upon you the excitement and enthusiasm that is on this disc in a few words would do no justice to this CD at all. What I will say is, if you can cope with a psychedelic sound of spoken words, eastern sitar vibes and a stoned to the max affair, this could well be the musical trip you have waited a long time for. The music swings from mellow sections of plain piano to an intense, bizarre, paranoid mixture of guitars/drums/cello/flute/dijurdu and more. The instrument list goes on forever! Never the one to be frightened away from anything on first listen I'm back with this CD for around the 5th time in as many days. With each listen I find new sounds arising at every turn, drawing you in to this hypnotic passage from the outset. From old hippies to new psych heads, anyone who either listens to, or try's to understand the psychedelic culture will gain many hours of "musical ecstasy" from this release”
— Acid Attack Music
“This CD is a huge collaboration of 25 musicians playing over 40 instruments, featuring world-renowned sitarist Rahul Sakyaputra and "street-poet" Vine Sweetland. Vine is actually based in Orange County, California (though I doubt he was seriously affected back when OC "went broke" about eight years ago...), and the recording and general organization of the project also seems to have been centered in OC. But I'll leave off the local kick and get to the music.
The first thing I'll mention is that this 74-minute CD contains only one track. They are broken into sub-titles in the insert, but it's all meant to flow together, telling a continuous story through the lyrics, which are based on the physical and metaphorical journey of a caterpillar/ butterfly (though I would have had no idea of this if I hadn't read about it in the liner notes). About half of the album is comprised of instrumental music which covers a LOT of ground, from the many obligatory Indian-styled psyche jams and ragas, to quiet interludes, to burning rock 'n' roll. Vine handles all the lead vocals but is more than capable, competantly utilizing many different approaches. He rarely "sings", but usually speaks, shouts or whispers. Now for a partial break-down of this monster.
The album begins with an old record twittering its cylces, a heart-beat and the whispering of Vine before segueing into the first movement of any significant length, which is a wild sound-assault including what sounds like numerous animals' response to a forest fire, frantic tribal drums and a killer hip-hoppish vocal delivery from Vine, introducing the mostly-Eastern religious/philosophical themes which dominate the story. From here is a brief but moving instrumental movement of female vocal, sitar and various other exotic instruments. Next is a tune which continues the story but is not too musically exciting. But before you know it the aggressive side of Vine returns and we get to hear him test his vocal chords with some wicked shouted vocals reverberating powerfully with an echo-effect, all against cold-blowing synth-wind. But after this the quality drops off for a while. It's all very professional-sounding and well-played by the many expert musicians (with more sitar, tabla, violin, cello, piano, organ, you name it); these segments all seem to fit well enough into the musical and lyrical flow; also introduced at times is the great evil dijeridu and some good vocals from Vine here and there.
...But I wouldn't insist that you must listen to this album all-at-once or not-at-all. That would be nice, but perhaps not realistic. Take as needed. But then... Evil rumbling repeating dijeridu and freak-out voices of all kinds definitely put your mind in another state for a while, and Vine all of a sudden sounds like someone you wouldn't want to meet in an Orange County alley. But the mood is rather brief and it's time to boogie. This means several consecutive rock-and-roll segments generally in a '60s fashion with acid/wah-Hendrix guitars, organ and Morrison-esque on-the-beat shouts by Vine. It's kind of cheesy in a way, but quite enjoyable. The final of these segments has a trippy sweeping tape-manipulated cymbal and an interesting chorus chant. But now as we're about 2/3rds of the way through the odyssey, things become quite ethereal again and Vine does a thing over sitar and tabla where he sounds again a lot like Jim Morrison. This is nothing too overpowering, but shortly after returns the enchanting female vocal, more obscure Indian instruments, and from here on it's almost pure bliss, with some great rising ragas and psychedelia. One of these brings itself epically into the light with powerful flowing electric-guitar drone and a strange watery synth-effect. (This is for fans of the Tea Party!) Then comes another fantastic raga with a violin that sounds almost as human as the above-mentioned female, while sitarist Sakyaputra REALLY brings it (as a street poet might say) and someone sends waves of harmonium. Is that it? Not quite...
The album finishes in a really odd post-modern manner. A fevered Arab-type wails, the evil dijeridu reprises itself, Vine returns for more spoken-word and the butterfly is born (to be the last of its kind). Then more people join in on the horrific chant, carbonated synth bubbles and again an old record twitters its cycle as John Beresford introduces himself and says "Let's start off with some basic", and at that very moment the CD comes to an abrupt end. A notable and unique release!”
— Chuck Rosenberg, Aural Innovations
“Street poet Vine Sweetland is also known as a multiinstrumentalist. He combines both talents in his poetry musical projects like his new CD “Light Shining In The Distance”. A 74-minute journey through his poetic declamations and mostly Eastern-influenced music as a background for his lyrics. Although the music is very meditative and complex in many ways, it grows remarkably. Flutes, percussion and various acoustic sound effects, lots of variety in instrumentation...”
— Background Magazine
“VINE SWEETLAND & THE FOREFATHERS OF THE NEW MILLENIUM - "Light Shining..." CD '99 (Private, US) - Bizarre & out of left field, this is one 74 min cut that combines varying degrees of psychy (noisy to folky) with spoken-word passages. Different stuff for a different mood, give it a shot, pretty cool!”
— Chaos Realm
“Onto this strange album, the likes of which I have not heard since I first listened to An American Prayer by Jim Morrison and The Doors. The leader of this ensemble is Vine Sweetland, known within the Californian spoken word scene and he is ably aided in musical direction by Rahul Sakyaputra, a world reknown sitarist who studied under Baba Alla Uddin Khan.
Though the album indicates only one track (at close to seventy four minutes!), it is subdivided into twenty seven sections. Unfortunately there is no visible division within the track and so to access a particular section, one has to either fast forward or listen to the whole track. Musically speaking this album features a variety of influences ranging from world music to pure psychadelia.
Sweetland's narration at times is hypnotic while at others his shouts jar the listener (remember Jim Morrison screaming "Wake Up!" in An American Prayer?). At times he is talking about pain, frustration and anger whilst at others he questions the beauty of life. In certain sections the words make alot of sense but at times, in sounds alien-like with certain vocal effects that reminded me of artists like Captain Beefheart. If there was any need for confirmation of a sixties influence, there is the narration by Dr John Beresford on the last section, The Guide, as special guest. He was the man who turned on Timothy Leary (the famous LSD 60's guru) with Albert Hofmann's 47th gram.
The music itself is as intriguing as the narration. The majority of the music is dominated by a Middle Eastern feel with drones, sitars and hypnotic tantras. Yet even this is not continuous as there is the occasional dive into more traditional Western territory with the use of flutes and even a Stax-like groove. Obvious correlations to other bands cannot be made as an album like this, I have never encountered. The influences are too varied and short-lived to be able to pinpoint such a thing, yet at times there were hints of Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, the afore-mentioned Captain Beefheart, not to mention Ravi Shankar.
In truth I would have preferred to describe this album as a psychadelic masterpiece which would be of particular interest to Dead Heads or to those still living out the summer of love. The album is an enigma. Some might call it a masterpiece, others bizarre while others would dismiss it as pretentious. This is one classic case of the listener having to judge for himself. If you deem yourself adventurous, then have a go and you will not be disappointed.”
— Nigel Camilleri, The Dutch Progressive Rock Page (DPRP)
“VINE SWEETLAND & THE FOREFATHERS OF THE NEW MILLENIUM (Light Shining In The Distance) CD : That’s very very untypical music for the Cosmic Lava, because of the fact that you don´t find one heavy riff on it. This album contains only one long trip (73:52 min.). This musical journey is filled with poetry about a dying guru which inspires a young caterpillar for her further life. A lot of musicians, that are fronted by Vine Sweetland (one of the most recognized names in the Californian spoken word scene) are playing forty different instruments like Tablas, Sitar, Tambura and a lot of other instruments from different continents. It´s very psychedelic and this trip reminds me to early 70´s Space or Artrock bands, but like I said before this is no Rock album. The form of poetry you can hear on classics like HAWKWIND´s "Warrior On The Edge Of Time". But that´s only a small term to describe this musical journey. The music is very relaxed and it sounds more like a session with all the different instruments, but inside the booklet the song is undertitled in 27 parts, but that´s only important for the story behind the music, I think...”
— Cosmic Lava
“Oh man..... I don't even know where to start. OK, Vine Sweetland isn't so much a band, more of an orchestral arrangement (there are 20 musicians and 40+ instruments). This demo is just 1 song which clocks in at just under 74 MINUTES (thanks for choosing me for this review Sean) and is about 'A dying guru who inspires a young caterpillar with his final vision of life's ambition'.
In the beginning, it is almost reminiscent of Jim Morrison's spoken word work before changing in to an Indian ethnic piece. 10 minutes later, it is a beautiful flute lead piece... why am I being so choppy-changey?.... well I am following the album. Although moulded together beautifully, it is more like a whole album of songs joined together rather then 1 long piece of music.... and this got me to thinking.... what’s the point?
15 minutes in, and on to another spoken word segment, being told over the sound off the wind. Then it is on to a violin based piece.... I know how this may sound, but you know the music they play in an Indian restaurant during your meal? It is a bit like that but without the repetitive edge. Now don't get me wrong, I LIKE Indian music and Indian fusion. Banghra is very cool, and people from Future Sound Of Bengal right down to 60's star Ravi Shankar have earned respect.... and this CD in no way a disgraceful effort.... in fact, musically it is quite brilliant.
50 minutes later, and we are down to the last 5 minutes with the album culminating in an upbeat fashion before one of the best dying song sounds ever where it seems like everything just got turned off before a spoken word/dying scene. The whole thing ends with the guy who did the 'narrative' part of the album talking to you for 10 seconds like a 'Party Political Broadcast'.... surreal...
Footnote: A word has to be said for some of the spoken word stuff.... there are very few songs that can incorporate 'ritualistic debauchery' in their lyrics.”
— Colin Weston, Drowned In Sound
“VINE SWEETLAND & THE FOREFATHERS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM - LIGHT SHINING IN THE DISTANCE
A somewhat pretentious name for a band, though the project itself is more in the line of ambitious & it's certainly one of the more unique selections that have been sent for review over the years. This album is basically a single track, spread over nearly 74 minutes of music, with an astounding 40 instruments & over 20 musicians.
For those who remember the beat poets of the 1950s in the US, the styles found across here will certainly seem familiar, with poetry read over an amazing backing track & a collection of interesting musical instruments including more conventional instruments like trumpets, violins & the like, while more unusual are the inclusion of sounds from exotic instruments like the sitar, chimes & many others. While this isn't for everybody, there's a universe of music to be discovered on this CD alone.”
— hEARd
“VINE SWEETLAND is one of the most important artists in the spoken word scene in the USA. Vine has gathered more than 20 musicians in order to record his poetic concept "Light shining in the distance". The CD contains one (non-indexed) 73 minute song telling the story of a caterpillar that is given wisdom by a dying guru and during its adventurous journey it realizes that it will become the last butterfly on earth. The CD takes you on the journey with this caterpillar and through its stages of life. What you get here is a 73 minutes psychedelic opera with lots of exotic instruments creating a magic and unique atmosphere. It's nearly impossible to discover any structures that could be called a song but nethertheless this is a highly interesting CD offering hippie-ism, exotic world music, psychedelic and soundscapes.”
— DURP, Tales from the progressive ocean
““Light Shining In The Distance” is a single, un-indexed 74-minute "opera" consisting of 27 sections, most of which run between three and five minutes. (First sentence of plot synopsis: "A dying guru inspires a young caterpillar with his final vision of life's ambition.") The elements include shouted mystical poetry, Indian music, a few meditative songs, and a burst of hippie jamming around 40 minutes in. It's well-performed, and some sections are appealing…”
— Pat Buzby, JamBands.com
“Orange County’s Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium offer one of the most unusual demos we’ve ever received — a one-cut, 74-minute, high concept piece (“Light Shining in the Distance”) that combines personal poetry with eastern-influenced music and exotic sound effects. Not everybody’s cup of herbal tea, this is difficult to critique or categorize. We cannot recommend it to the established music labels, but to only the most adventurous and open-minded of listeners.”
— Music Connection
“Set the controls for the heart of the sun, Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers Of The New Millennium are in town and you are in for the ride, like it or not! One of the more interesting (and ambitious, it's ONE 74 minute track..) CD's to have dropped through the Pooterland letterbox in recent months (alongside other heavyweights such as Lamp Of The Universe's Cosmic Union and Acid Mothers Temple's La Novia) Light Shining In The Distance features acclaimed American Street Poet Vine Sweetland, accompanied by 24 musicians from 4 different continents playing 40 different instruments, including renowned Sitar talent Rahul Sakyaputra.
Spawned in Orange County, California in July 1998, although one continuous and uninterrupted track, the sleeve notes list 27 different 'sections' that become apparent as we embark on this monumental voyage with the young female caterpillar as she begins her epic and profound journey as the 'last butterfly born'...
'A dying guru inspires a young caterpillar with his final vision of life's ambition. Crawling from the window sill out into the jungles of tribulation she pursues wisdom and understanding. The trials of her existence offer friendship and folly, heartache and horror, as she acknowledges her destiny: that she has become the last butterfly born.'
Opening with an authentic vinyl lead in, overlayed with an embryonic heartbeat we are treated to the first poetic interlude. I will ignore the frequently drawn comparisons with The Lizard King, sure Vine is American and he's a poet...and?. Some powerful and prophetic poetry ensues (Equinox Breeding) and portrays, with some foreboding, the introduction and gravity of the situation. Next up Rahul takes us up on Leaf Ride On The Niranjana as our vision slowly starts dissolving and the ride begins for real. Now it's time to let go and surrender ourselves to the story line, smiling gently at the light-headed feeling and the warm sensation lapping up your spine.
Fear takes the upper hand as we are torn from bathing in The Light and our first visit to Paranoia kicks in with some awesome demonic, reverb laden poetry that strikes terror into the very centre of our vision, we are reprieved after a while and allowed to return back to the warmth and The Vision Of Realisation, some beautiful and hypnotic Sitar/Tabla soothes and seduces us as we transcend further into the Realm.
Passages of wonderful orchestration follow and also a brief introduction to an evil 'didge' that I fear will be back for more later on our journey.
30 minutes in and reality is long gone, it's place taken by the Odyssey Of Discernment, a higher level of blissful consciousness and metamorphosis into a free creature of the wind, we are now soaring high amongst the Angels and are brought again under the terrifying gaze of the omnipotent, throbbing Dijeridu before being dashed upon the rocks of Hades. Fear not, we are soon on our way again with some blistering Hendrixesque wah-wah soaked slabs of guitar, carried along with funked up Hammond Organ as we reach the zenith amid intense cacophony and spiralling madness. More phased guitar carries us up high on the wind From The Lips Of The Lotus Leaf until we reach The Breath Of Autumn's Child and begin Charm amidst the call of Peacock's and the seductive female charms of Indian song.
The gently whispered Task Of The Ruby falls gently into the void, dissolving before our eyes as fear spirals up briefly From Within Nothingness awaits Nothingness. Our fantastical trip is drawing to a close now as we are bathed in the Raga Omega Flight and our ears caressed with waves of Sitar and bells, the pleasure still coursing through our veins causing us to grin, our eyes tightly closed and our bodies now weightless and drifting amongst the ether.
Return to earth seems uncertain for a while when we are suddenly gripped with fear, our fingernails involuntarily sinking into the woodwork as the demon Dijeridu returns to terrorise us once more and we are uncontrollably dragged into a world of screaming and chanting demons and the ever pulsing Dijeridu.
Decomposition ensues, the End is nigh and a strangely comforting voice in the shape of The Guide greets us on our return to Terra Firma, he announces himself politely and then nothingness......
This album has come under a great deal of scrutiny and judging from the Press Pack that came with the CD, has been interpreted in many different ways by the various reviewers. One common criticism has been the length of this album, but I do not consider that an issue. The journey is one of many twists and turns, it is a complex work and one that I believe succeeds magnificently on many levels.
Everything you ever dreamed for and more besides.......open up your hearts and minds to The Forefathers Of The New Millennium.”
— Pooter, Pooter’s Psychedelic Shack
“A CD by Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium called Light Shining in the Distance. This CD is a collaboration of 24 musicians including Rahul Sakyaputra, world reknown sitarist and Vine Sweetland, American poet. The CD was designed as an opera, featuring various types of spoken word (poetry/lyrics by Vine Sweetland) and over 40 instruments from all areas of the world. The CD was also voted as the #1 Spoken Word CD in Southern California by Next Magazine. Vine Sweetland & Rahul Sakyaputra have performed with various artists, including Coleman Barks, and have also performed for the Dalai Lama at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles, CA.
It takes just 73 minutes and 53 seconds to attain a blissful stage where rhyme, rhythm and refrains combine creatively to bring poetry closer to anyone who would choose to believe in the concept that this CD tries to put forward.
A great experiment.
Interesting.
As the introductory paragraph in the CD cover says: "A dying guru inspires a young caterpillar with his final vision of life's ambition. Crawling out into the jungles of tribulation she pursues wisdom and understanding. The trials of her existence offer friendship and folly, heartache and horror, as she acknowledges her destiny: that she has become the last butterfly born."
As I said earlier: an interesting concept! And I stick to my opinion.
The CD surely has sound bytes that dance like a poem and words that have the vision of realization even though they may at times seem to leave sanity's door for a leaf ride on the Niranjana. From the first flutter to the closing of the pearl cocoon, from the lips of the lotus leaf to decomposition, there is a charm that is almost like a peacock siren's claw. I wouldn't really dare to call the experiment on this CD a titali named truth though it would be quite fine to hail it as an odyssey of discernment: free as the wind through the web!!
I wouldn't be off the mark if I choose to say that the contents on this CD belong to the translucent world of unclaimed illusions and I would leave it to listeners to decide if they would want it as their guide or not.
The words in italics are all titles of performances in the CD.”
— Poetry Splash!
“VINE SWEETLAND & THE FOREFATHERS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM/LIGHT SHINING IN THE DISTANCE/(ONE-SONG, 73-MINUTE ALBUM) Ummm . . . anyone seen our bong? A big purple thing, with a leaky base, slightly cracked, which we stuffed into our closet not long after Jerry died? After listening to this disc—and yes, it is indeed a one-song, 73-minute album—we started feeling those old Mary Jane pangs again. But maybe the headspace this CD put us in is one of the reasons this thing took so long to find us—recorded in ’98, released in March ’99, and in our mail bin just two weeks back.
"Psychedelic world-music-cum-stoner-rock" seems to be the going theme here—it’s OC’s very friggin’ own Dark Side of the Moon (and you can interpret that one yourself whichever way you feel). Weird noises, odd effects, Mr. Vine Sweetland (a pseudonym, we assume—no, we hope) rapping sometimes interesting, sometimes-not hippie poetry. But the best moments, quite rightly, come when all the frilly stuff shuts up and the music is allowed to rise—there are 40 instruments and 24 musicians altogether, which alone is noteworthy for a local band (though in this case, "project" seems a more fitting term than "band")…
Self-indulgent, to be sure, and not helped by the fact that if you like, say, a passage that occurs 40 minutes in, you risk carpal tunnel of the index finger by having to keep the SCAN button on your CD player pressed in. But there are segments of this ambitious world-music opera that are moving and beautiful, too: enchanting Indian sitars that pour over your eardrums like chocolate syrup on a bowl full of vanilla-bean ice cream; gorgeous female singing/chanting that hypnotizes—even seduces, if you let it; violins, pianos, cellos and flutes that add an alluring, moody aura; exotic instruments like tablas, marimbas, didjeridus and santoors, tools that some local rock bands might wanna think about fooling around with sometime to separate themselves from everything else that’s going on; even (albeit after a 45-minute wait) an unexpected Stax-like R&B groove that rides for a few minutes before fading out.
It’s music meant for exploring, a soundscape that allows you to get deeper into it with each listen. It would also make for some fine chill-out tuneage during a rave. Now . . . where the hell is that bong?”
— Rich Kane, OC Weekly
“Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers of the New Millennium - A psychedelic array of forty instruments, two dozen musicians, and one poet." Some days ago, I received this strange CD. It wasn't something you could name "rock", but surely it's one of the most psychedelic tunes you can hear today, in the beginning of a new millenium.
This is a record for everyone who loves psychedelic side of music...so, if you only listen to those hyperdistorted superfuzzy megacrunched bands, you probably will not love these compositions...but that's not for sure!!! You could fall in love with this great psychedelic opera.
However, if you love hippie artists like Jefferson Airplane, Jim Morrison, Grateful Dead...if you like strange instruments and dreamy spoken words...if you are wondering what the hell is this cd I am talking about...well, this is the record for you!
Vine Sweetland is a real psychedelic poet (sometimes his voice remembers me Morrison's spoken words on "An American Prayer"), and the two dozens of musicians are really good in performing a 73 minutes long opera, where music comes and goes, like a sweet indian tide.
Well, just like for acid or shrooms, you know there are no words for describing a psychedelic EXP...all I can do is to suggest you to buy this beautiful record.
Have a nice trip, man!”
— Alex, STONEDGODS
“Vine Sweetland & The Forefathers Of The New Millenium consists of two dozen musicians and a poet who created a 74-minute Pychadelic journey of 40 instruments. Which will hopefully take you deep into your subconscious, with or without substances. This endless song consists of 27 stages that sum up all of life and then some. Many parts of the song consist of so-called "Spoken Word", so they talk more than they sing. Jim Morrison is a strong influence when it comes to that part, especially his "American Poet". I wouldn't recommend this record to those of you who only prefer rock'n'roll rock'n'roll. You can hardly be prejudiced against new experiences and musical experiences if you are to like this record…”
— Stoner Planet
“This CD reminds me of the 'Rainbow Bridge' movie that Rhino just re-did for VHS with the extra un-cut footage, where you want to fast forward the hippie poem reading dialogue and get to the good stuff. This 74+ minute CD is a mix of ranting poetry readings (not that there is anything wrong with that...) and Middle Eastern style music that contains more than 2 dozen musicians, playing mostly stringed and percussive instruments, mainly the sitar...and singing in a traditional Indian sounding style... I like the music.
More so than Ravi Shankar, this stuff is Psychedelic, the music that is. The range of the music reminds me more of a soundtrack to a movie more than anything. Parts of it are real 70's rock opera. you know, when everyone was getting into the whole prog-rock/opera rock stuff. It the 3rd section of this one 74 minute song reminds me of 'Passion Play' era Jethro Tull, with its flute and subtle vocals. Not that it sounds like the whole record by Ian and the boys, but that 3rd movement reminds me of that.
As the Light Shining in the Distance progresses, more instruments surface... mandolins, Guitars, Violins, and Cellos... It becomes a sound-scape of different stringed instruments, but remains mellow...and -well... hippie-esque... New agey if you will...”
— StonerRock.com
“This work, and I will call it a work, as it implies art and all that goes with it, is just less than 74 minutes long, all its words, music and connotations contained within one track ‘Light Shining in the Distance’. I had to submit the offering to the music database, as the album was not recognized. In the submission you are asked to define the music, give it a label, a genre. I was stuck here – New Age ambient? World Music, Psychedelic Rock – none of these felt right, although certainly it could fit in any of the categories, most aptly in World Music. Alas, I had too much of a hard time and submitted it as “Unclassifiable – General”.
What more could I do? When you have the poetic voice and words of a modern day Jimmy Morrison speaking to you about life and dying, all through the eyes of a caterpillar’s psychedelic last journey? What more is there to do when there are such beautiful words, such melodies as never heard before on one such album, such diversity in musical arrangement and usage (guitars, piano, flute, cello, sitar and so much more – 40 plus instruments and over 20 musicians)? That all of these people felt the urge, the passion, to come together under the wonderful poetry of Vine Sweetland. Along for the trip is Dr. John Beresford, who’s known as "the man who turned on Timothy Leary". With Rahul Sakyaputra, a world-renowned sitar player who has studied with Baba Alla Uddin Khan, it’s all very impressive.
But I confess, I am a hippie at heart, and this album speaks to me. It speaks to me of time forgotten in the rush and apathy of the world we now call home. It speaks to me of times when people gathered to listen and meditate, to heal themselves and the world around them. Gathering in small groups, smoking pot, dropping acid and ‘tuning out’. And if you are one who thinks animals talk, as I do, then you can read between the lines. It also speaks to me on an artistic level - you know, the schooled art student who has been trained to pick out aspects of art and recognize what it may contain – for me, and somewhere along the way hopefully what it says in general.
All of the above may turn off some people, but it is not meant to. This is an artistic album, an ambitious album, (I hate calling it an album) and one that contains so many differing tempos, layers, and instrumental arrangements. I confess, I really like this project. I think it is fresh, it’s needed, and it actually has something to say beyond chicks, cars, drugs, anger, and aggressiveness. I have abandoned all other reviews and feel that some people who did review it missed out on some of the major points – this is a spoken word project with a philosophical message intertwined with music to give depth to the words. It’s not about rocking your socks off, it’s not about who they sound like, if you can play it at a party or not, if it’s good enough to play over and over. This is art, it’s music and words to put on when you are alone or with a small group of like-minded people, burning incense and meditating or just calmly sitting back, letting something else guide your thoughts for awhile.
About the music – eastern influenced, psychedelic, moody, melodical, splashed through with great guitar, and downright spooky vocals that semi-sing, mostly talk. There is a very demented segment of yelling vocals intermixed with spaceship sounds (I imagine this to be the end for the caterpillar). Eerie. All in all, a fine piece of musicianship, art and poetry. A good trip to be had, a little buzzed on life or weed, which you will fully enjoy if you are at all inclined towards expanding your musical horizons. Some may say this album is pretentious, some may call it a work of brilliance and some may not even bother. Personally, I think it is great that somewhere people are still tripping and passionate about the mixture of music with poetry and life, in all its states.
I cannot possibly list all the people who have made contributions to this album. Pick it up and read the liner notes.”
— Deanna St.Croix, Stonerrockchick.com
“"Psychedelic-world-music-cum-stonerrock" seems to be the going theme here."”
— Roadburn
“Forty instruments from five continents, two dozen musicians, one poet and one 74 minute track. If your musical horizon lacks the horizon it is perhaps time to expand it here and now, because this is definitely not music for airports or house parties.
Vine Sweetland is not an aged cabernet, but one of the most recognized names in California within the genre known as “The Spoken Word”, or in other words, poetry presented on a carpet of musical support, or simply on the street, so called “street poetry”. Should you be in doubt as to what this is, then perhaps names like Timothy Leary and not least Gilly Smyth with Mother Gong can help you put Vine Sweetland on the map, although we must not forget The Forefathers of the New Millennium either, which I suppose is the considerable number of musicians who appear on this CD.
With him is Dr. John Beresford who supposedly goes by the name of “the man who turned on Timothy Leary” along with Rahul Sakyaputra, a world reknown sitar player who has studied with Baba Alla Uddin Khan, the greatest Indian musician in our time, according to the press release.
The instrumentation is too comprehensive to list in this issue of Tarkus, but if I include all known instruments on the planet and deduct a few, we come pretty close. The musicians appear to be a mix of American and Indian, with a Japanese name on the list…
…Southern California is a melting pot for a variety of musical styles. Progressive rock and related directions have a strong foothold here. Vine Sweetland and the band is strictly based more within the psychedelic direction where “the spoken word”, i.e. the poetry performed by Vine Sweetland, is central, while the music partly lies behind, and partly functions as scenery between the texts, more perhaps like small detached musical pieces always altering character, but generally are psychedelic or quasi-psychedelic (according to the CD booklet).
To many, this may appear a little dire, especially if poetry is not your cup of tea, but just listen to the text which goes like this:
“A dying guru inspires a young caterpillar with his final vision of life’s ambition. Crawling from the window sill out into the jungles of tribulation she pursues wisdom and understanding. The trials of her existence offer friendship and folly, heartache and horror, as she acknowledges her destiny; that she has become the last butterfly born.”
This is certainly poetry worth listening to. Did I say that the music matches the concept perfectly? Oh yes, even without being a poetry fanatic, you will have a lot of good music in measured amounts from this record, and maybe you will listen to the stories as well?
Possibly not for everyone, but for those of you who contain that little extra horizon, or for those of you who wish to expand it…”
— Tarkus Magazine
“One single mind-melting 73'52" track that passes through countless cerebral counties, spiritual backroads, rhythmic rural routes, and musical museums that you may find yourself cursing your inability to easily access the more interesting, less (personally) tedious bits via track #'ing. Ah hell, nonetheless, Sweetland has built a GIANT sonic building that will tickle the funnybones of 60s' retro/World Music/'Hippy' music fans of all stripes. Beautiful bells, handdrums, bowed things, delicate keyboard and breathy voices, shouted rant-poetry, flutes and recorders, chantin' and meditatin'... like a happy schizophrenic stretched paper-thin and printed into sheet music with squid ink and tiger blood.”
— Bret Hart, The Unheard Music
“Psychedlic lives, man! This tripped out 74 minute work blends forty instruments (many of them Indian in flavor), a couple dozen musicians, and one street poet. The tale of a dying guru who inspires a young caterpillar destined to become the last butterfly born.
This is no doubt a throwback to the sixties era of peace, love, and vindaloo. Consisting of vastly experimental, meandering improv, the musical effect is spotty but often enough hypnotic. When the angry sounding street poet jumps in at regular intervals to deliver some hardcore sermonizing, you get the feeling that you better get with the program and whip your karma into shipshape, or else you're in for a tongue lashing, or worse yet he'll pummel you with a steel chain.
Most every psychedlic cat is in the bag here: Hendrix-like guitar runs, droning indian vibes, concrete nature sounds, and gongs, lots of gongs. It's heavy duty enlightenment, dude. ”
— Jim Esch, Turks Head Review
“It's not easy to review this record because it's just one long track, full of little parts using cosmic spoken words, lots of percussions, sitar, etc... This record is a total psychedelic voyage through cosmos and beyond with around 24 musicians as many guides and Vine sweetland as captain.There is a great work in the ochestration of each part. When you listen to this record, you don't feel and see time goes by, the music is like waves that covers your body, your soul..."Light shining in the distance" is for people, that i am, who likes the pure essence of psychedelism. The only advice i can give is: this record is for open minded people. I like this record so i hope you will buy it and like it too.”
— Zoopa Loop