Wonderwall Music

by

George Harrison

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"Wonderwall Music" is a fascinating recording, and I speak from the point of view of someone who loves to play with tape recorders and audio at home. Beatlefans should note that this is not a collection of pop songs, nor are there any vocals except chanting at the end. Instead, it is an eclectic group of little ditties of varying lengths, which make full use of some fascinating sounds - both Indian (tabla, shenhai, sitar, etc.) and western (tapes played backwards, tapes cut up and edited together, jangle pianos, searing electric guitars, gentle mellotron, etc.) Harrison's studio prowess is quite evident throughout, and it is a lot of fun waiting to hear what is going to happen next. (In some ways this record makes an interesting companion to the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" in its experiments with sound. Indeed, Beatlemaniacs will remember that early versions of the song "Flying" ended with an obscure jazz record tacked onto the end. Harrison seems to have taken the same jazz record here and sliced it up, looped it, and superimposed some other music on top of it.) While a few moments sound a bit like "Revolution 9," more often there are appealing melodies and beats going on. Really, there is some sophisticated music here, especially considering that Harrison was only 25 when he recorded it. It's difficult to summarize this album because I can think of no other quite like it. For those who have an ear for a variety of sounds employed in a creative studio environment, I heartily recommend "Wonderwall Music."