The latest manifestation of Ajay Saggar’s prodigious workload sees the release of two sessions recorded for American radio stations, WFMU and WGXC, for his solo project, Bhajan Bhoy. These were recorded in the summer of 2023, prior to his US tour in the Autumn. Unlike most radio sessions, rather than promote the current album, he chose to produce nine all new tracks which also offer his widest range of sounds and styles yet. From lysergic guitar excursions to new age minimalism, dub and electronic experimentalism with even a few spoonsful of woozy pop to sweeten the tastebuds, it is never dull and often delicious.
The WFMU session begins with ‘Release The Tension’ which starts with sampled voices from a relaxation techniques recording before becoming awash with atmospheric guitar with a synth rinse. Some very deliberate basslines wander through in a piece that occupies the space between sleep and consciousness, calm and anxiety. ‘Pillbox’ manages to splice dub and shoegaze to create a rare genre hybrid, the bass is thrillingly, bone-rattlingly deep while the vocals soothe and disorientate. Within its first 20 seconds, ‘Who Pays The Bills?’ suggests it could turn into a dance tune, a raga or a piano experimentation, settling on a kosmische layering of the latter two strands in an enjoyable demonstration of repetition and development. The album is at its most mind-melting on ‘J.U.N.K’, a heavily sampled description of being an addict, layered with echo and feedback to create a terrifying concoction. Maintaining the principle of order through diversity, the WFMU session ends with ‘Ghost Smile’, a smothered guitar line topped with woozily sweet and soporific vocals courtesy of Holly Habstritt, Saggar’s co-conspirator in Volksempfänger.
Four tracks were recorded for WGXC and these commenced with ‘Fazer’ which features another welcome contribution from Habstritt. It is no coincidence that her appearances mark the album’s most pop moments as she harmonises with Saggar to a backing of Cocteaus-like guitar and melodica whipping up a compelling and chilled groove. Rapidly throttling back the pace, the eight-minute ‘Race in Slow Motion’ lives up to its name with its minimal bpm and echoing piano to create a mood of wading through psychedelic, deranged treacle. Bits of wooden percussion intercede and in the track’s stripped-back approach, it heightens the sense of keenly listening to each note. The beautifully melancholic ‘Bring It Home’ features another Saggar vocal (a notable development as previous Bhajan Bhoy albums have been mainly instrumental) combined with exquisite guitar and organ burr. The session concludes with ‘Inspector Code’, a kosmische deep-dive, simultaneously chilly and warmly enveloping in its synth textures.
Being a mainly unaccompanied solo act could be limiting, a narrow tunnel-vision of one person’s obsessions and skills. However, Bhajan Bhoy is virtually infinite in his knowledge and appreciation of a range of music and ‘Peace Frequencies / Healing Frequencies’ is his most successful attempt yet at fusing a plethora of styles.
Bhajan Bhoy: Peace Frequencies / Healing Frequencies – Out 6th September 2024 (Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube Records)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
