Danny Ben-Israel

The extended family of "long lost” recordings recently welcomed a new cousin in the form of Danny Ben-Israel. A native Israeli who sang primarily in Hebrew, Ben-Israel recorded "The Kathmandu Sessions” in English, allegedly for a Western audience, between 1968 and 1970. The album is a lysergic feast no matter what your psychedelic taste. The title track is a fuzzed-out guitar epic marrying Donovan spaciness with Mothers of Invention freak-out-edness. "Bad Trip” ups the ante with backward tape effects and free jazz piano to simulate your worst ever drug experience. "Do You Believe in Fairytales” is Jefferson Airplane’s "White Rabbit” as covered by Ravi Shankar. Last, and best, is the track "The Hippies of Today are the Assholes of Tomorrow,” which, besides being psychic, manages to stretch over the ten-minute mark without overstaying its welcome. While modern bands are striving to achieve an "authentic” lo-fi psychedelia sound, it’s refreshing to hear an album that came by its weirdness without pretence.