Prana Crafter – ‘MindStreamBlessing’ (2019)

Prana Crafter – “MindStreamBlessing” (Cardinal Fuzz/Eiderdown 2019) 

Will Sol is Prana Crafter and his new album is a laidback floating collection of slow burning guitar soundscapes. Opener ‘At Agartha’s Gate’ wafts around the room like sweet-scented incense, but ‘As The Weather Commands’ hauls out the fx pedals and fuzz boxes for some brain-frying stringbending, supplemented with tribal tablas adding an Eastern aroma to the heady brew. As the title suggests, the music can change as quick as the cloud formations in the sky and midway through an organ sneaks in for some peaceful navel gazing which continues throughout the visual space mantra of ‘Fingers Flow Through Old Skol River’, a title as tantalizing as vintage John Fahey with execution somewhere in the head space of a Robbie Basho or, more recently, Trappist Afterland.

There’s a touch of old school, homegrown guitar psych in the vein of Nick (The Bevis Frond) Saloman serpentining through the ‘Prajna Pines’ and ‘Luminous Clouds’, which capture the vibe of desert sands stretching out as far as the eye can see. Fans of Black Sun Ensemble will approach nirvana with these! Inner and outer space explorations accompany the title track’s tender finger-picked ambience, which morphing mushrooms overcome the listener during the cotton-mouthed tongue twister ‘Mycellial Morphohum’. Overall, a deeply moving, meditative experience for coming to terms with your inner soul.
– Jeff Penczak