The Kaleidoscope
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…
Side Trips
Like a mind-boggling combination of Summer of Love acid-rock, goodtime saloon music and a Middle Eastern jam session, Side Trips, the debut album by Kaleidoscope, stood out, even in the eye of the psychedelic hurricane, as something altogether different! Staffed by a hall of fame roster of multi-instrumentalists? David Lindley, Chris Darrow, Solomon Feldthouse, Chester Crill (aka: Fenrus Epp) and John Vidican's This San Gabriel Valley, Calif.-based combo cut their dazzling 1967 album with a star…