The newly launched Water label's first batch of CD reissues includes the Holy Modal Rounders' rare Elektra 1968 acid-folk album The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Roundersand the late-1960s Elektra psychedelic astrological concept album The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds. Click below to read my new liner notes for these, which include material from interviews with several of the participants:

The Holy Modal Rounders: The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders. One of the premier wacko psychedelic folk-rock albums of the 1960s, with two suite-like strings of fried vocals and songwriting that can't quite bury the musicians' extensive mastery of traditional folk idioms. The story behind the album, which is as strange as the album itself, includes quotes from the Holy Modal Rounders' Peter Stampfel and producer Frazier Mohawk.

The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds. Twelve songs, one for each sign of the horoscope, narrated by Cyrus Faryar, with psychedelic backing by top Los Angeles session musicians, and some of the first use of the Moog synthesizer (by Paul Beaver) on a popular music recording. The liner notes include quotes from Faryar, producer Alex Hassilev, Elektra president Jac Holzman, bassist Carol Kaye, and percussionist Emil Richards.
 

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