Back at the beginning when I started blogging (if that's what it is : ) ), I posted the song "Keep Your Mind Open" by the American "Kaleidoscope"; so having dedicated the last few posts to folk and country (there will be lost more to come too), I decided to get back to where I started, but this time with the British "Kaleidoscope". They have absolutely nothing to do with each other but existed on each side of the Atlantic simultaneously. This song "Flight From Ashiya" was on a rare vinyl compilation I had and lost many years ago, along with a song called "Dream For Julie", or something along those lines. Whilst not as raw as their U.S. counterparts, they have a very special psychedelic shimmer that has reverberated through my head for a decade and a half now. If you listen to the album, "Tangerine Dream", and back on their entire career, including their excursions as "Fairfeild Parlour", you might be quite surprised at how accomplished this band truly was. Melodically, they are up there with some of the best sixties bands and lyrically, they are mostly pure escapist so definitely something to lose your mind to if you need it. I have chosen the aforementioned song simply because it was the first song I heard by them and the one that made me want more (I believe my collection is complete but you can never really be sure what else is lurking in the vaults). Fasten your seat belts and let Captain Simpson take you up through the clouds on a "Flight From Ashiya":
