Third Ear Band

condition (record/cover):  EX- (minimal surface noise audible in quiet parts) / EX-

EMI logo only on side 2 label. Gatefold sleeve.

The debut album by the Third Ear Band, released 1969 on EMI's newly-formed progressive subsidiary Harvest (SHVL 756, an early release on the label that would shortly issue Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother and Kevin Ayers' Joy Of A Toy). Alchemy is one of the most distinctive British records of the late 1960s underground: no electric instruments, no rhythm section, no vocals; instead, a chamber ensemble of acoustic instruments performing slow, modal, ritual-inflected pieces with overt occult and alchemical reference.

The band's original line-up: Glen Sweeney (hand drums and tabla), Paul Minns (oboe), Richard Coff (violin and viola), Mel Davis (cello). The compositions are loose modal frameworks, more like improvisational ragas than through-composed pieces, with the four instruments weaving slow ostinatos around each other across long sides. Track titles ("Mosaic", "Ghetto Raga", "Druid One", "Egyptian Book Of The Dead", "Area Three", "Lark Rise", "Dragon Lines", "Stone Circle") gesture explicitly toward esoteric and ritual practice; the band performed live in costumed druidic regalia and would shortly provide the soundtrack to Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971).

The original vintage Harvest UK pressing on SHVL 756, with the iconic alchemical cover. Alchemy is one of the early documents of British acid folk alongside the Incredible String Band catalog, and one of the strangest objects ever issued by a major label.