Light Year - 2020 - Hypernauts Of The Absolute Elsewhere

Light Year 

2020

Hypernauts Of The Absolute Elsewhere

01. An Automobile Accident In The Middle Ages 3:58

02. My Enormous 6:25

03. The Legend Of Myth 5:00

04. Dog Stars 2:27

05. Thoth 6:03

06. Firebird 9:40

07. 3:30 Tomorrow 6:35

Bass – John Yu

Drums – Zak McGrath

Guitar – Randy Sellgren

Keyboards – Cornelius Williams

Percussion – Doug Johnson

Vocals – Sharon Pucci

It is always astonishing what excellent music is stored in any archives, drawers or junk rooms, which for some reason was not published at the time of its creation and only then - if it is lucky - decades later finds its way onto an archive album.

The band was apparently formed in 1974 in San Francisco when drummer Raymond "Zak" McGrath teamed up with keyboardist Cornelius Williams to start a joint musical project. With John Yu, Doug Johnson and Randy Sellgren they found more members and with the singer Sharon Pucci they also found a voice. However, a label that would have wanted to release the music of Light Year was obviously not found. I could imagine that in the mid 70's of the last century such music would have been very popular and sellable, especially with a front woman on the mic. Light Year played live between Frisco and LA for almost two years, attracted a certain amount of attention, but disbanded in 1976.

Apparently, they had recorded all kinds of material under professional conditions, presumably in order to find a record label. In 2010, the same (or a part of it) was released on CD and LP by Green Tree Records, with the fitting title "Reveal The Fantastic" and with a relatively informative booklet, in which at least three former band members share some memories (you won't learn anything about the songs and the recording sessions) and a few contemporary photographs. The sound is excellent!

About the music. Friend Ashratom writes in his blog, Light Year is how COS play the pieces of the Mahavishu Orchestra. Jo, that fits! A colorful and complex jazz prog comes out of the speakers, sometimes with a slow to powerful, often vocalizing female vocals à la Pascale Son. Sellgren's electric guitar determines the sound, supplemented by the virtuoso but rather unobtrusive keywork (electric piano mostly), but in return very extensive, often soloistically working in the foreground interludes on the vibraphone and the very versatile and complex rhythm section. At times it is sound-floating and discreet, at times bulky and rocking, and at other times almost wild and weird.

One of my great personal finds of the last decade was Light Year, whose aptly named album Reveal the Fantastic, brought about a new combination of sounds I'd never heard before. In my notes for that album I referred to Light Year's sound as a combination of Mahavishnu Orchestra and the Belgian group Cos. The ferocious fusion of the former meets the higher pitched singing and insouciant manner of the latter. And while researching the album, we learned that the San Francisco based Light Year was involved in Mingo Lewis' Flight Never Ending masterpiece.

And now 10 years after that release, comes yet another archival find. Being that it's (likely) from 1975, the heavy fusion standards of the day were still accepted. And sure enough, Hypernauts of the Absolute Elsewhere is clearly a follow-up to their debut. Excellent in every way, and their patented sound remains. Perhaps there's a bit more funk than prior, in particular 'The Legend of Myth', which points to the times. And there's no mind blowing 20+ minute epic here, though 'Firebird' has the same gravitas, at half the length and represents the album's best number. The first part of '3:30 Tomorrow' is a fairly dull drum solo, though it atones itself with some lightning fast guitar from Randy Sellgren to close off the album. In conclusion, if you loved Reveal the Fantastic, then you'll also want Hypernauts of the Absolute Elsewhere.