Abstract Truth - Totum (Reissue) (1970/2010)

Durban, South Africa might not exactly be synonymous with psychedelic folk-rock, but, perhaps crucially, it is a port town (Liverpool, anyone?) where all manner of influences could have come drifting into the air, in the form of records imported from America and England. It's likely that this was the way Abstract Truth developed their sensibilities as heard on their 1970 debut album, Totum. Until its 2009 reissue, this was the kind of record that would make hardcore collectors salivate freely and empty their bank accounts, but at last the rest of us can come to know its subtle pleasures. Totum is made up almost entirely of cover tunes, but the band's distinctive if understated style is clearly stamped on each one. Abstract Truth draws on a mixed bag of jazz, folk, and blues, but transmutes it all into something rather British-sounding; a dreamy, mellow, sometimes psychedelic sound that would be right at home with English contemporaries like Traffic as well as the earliest efforts of King Crimson (their balladic side) and Fairport Convention. The band takes on everything from jazz standards like "Summertime" and "Comin' Home Baby" (listed here as "Coming Home Babe") to a pair of Donovan tunes ("Jersey Thursday" and "Fat Angel"), lending them all an intoxicating, slightly stoned feel, with long jams where guitarist Ken E. Henson and sax/flute man Sean Bergin stretch out to their hearts' content. The album's final track, "Total Totum (Acid Raga)," lives up to its title; the only self-penned cut, it's the most overtly psychedelic moment here, with wandering sitar improvisations surrounded by a swirl of freaky, atmospheric touches. Totum's ultimate impression is one of a dream half-remembered from a time when hirsute musos smoked a little "inspiration" and sat cross-legged in a circle to let out whatever was inside them, commercial concerns be damned. Not a bad way to go.