★Epoque Records
A Beacon from Mars
Grey-area repro from this Akarma-related sublabel. Wielding a battery of exotic instruments that once adorned a thrift-shop front window (bazouki, oud, vina, saz, doumbeg), the Kaleidoscope was every bit as multi-hued and subject-to-change as the telescope full of bright bits of colored glass the band was named after. If there had been a prize for the most eclectic psychedelic outfit, L.A.’s Kaleidoscope would have had it stashed on a shelf—between the hookah pipes and the bowling trophies—in th…