The mysterious Harumi recorded his sole, eponymous LP in New York with producer Tom Wilson, whose CV included Bob Dylan, The Mothers Of Invention, The Velvet Underground and Simon & Garfunkel. Sometime around 1967 / 68, together, they cut 13 tracks for Verve. All of the songs fly their freak flag high, at full mast. Filled with swirling Ray Manzarek / The Doors-esque psyche organ, kaleidoscopic drum hits, acidic axe riffs and big bright mariachi brass – a la Arthur Lee & Love. Colourful action painting splashes that are filtered and sent spiralling through trippy stereo panning effects. Gentle fractal fretwork spins in paisley patterns. Harumi’s delivery somewhere between Sixto Rodriguez and Donovan. Sometimes switching between English and his mother tongue, Japanese. His lyrics hinting at hippy awakening, as if still gripped by an LSD peak. Plus the odd bit of mantra-like chanting. The set seems the very definition of sugary 60s pop being pulled apart by the enlightenment of the…
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