K

Inital pressings of the U.S. release of K included a bonus CD single, TATTVA LUCKY 13 MIX.
Kula Shaker: Crispian Mills (vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, tamboura); Jay Darlington (piano, Mellotron, organ); Alonza Bevan (piano, bass, tabla, background vocals); Paul Winterhart (drums).
Additional personnel includes: The Kick Horns.
Producers include: John Leckie, Crispian Mills.
Engineers include: John Leckie.
Recorded between January and May 1996.
Personnel: Crispian Mills (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tamboura); The Kick Horns (horns); Jay Darlington (piano, organ, Mellotron); Alonza Bevan (piano, tabla, background vocals); Paul Winter-Hart (drums); Himangsu Goswami (tabla).
Audio Mixers: John Leckie; Stephen Harris.
Recording information: Chipping Norton Studios (01/1996-05/1996); Eastcote Studios, London, England (01/1996-05/1996); Eden Studios (01/1996-05/1996); Livingston Studios, London England (01/1996-05/1996); Maison Rouge Studio (01/1996-05/1996); Pierce Room Studio (01/1996-05/1996); Rak Studios (01/1996-05/1996); The Pierce Room (01/1996-05/1996); Townhouse Studios (01/1996-05/1996); Wessex Studios, London, England (01/1996-05/1996).
Photographer: Paul Cox.
The Britpop quartet Kula Shaker appears to have raided the closets of its favorite bands in the making of its debut album. K contains a bluesy, retro ambience very much like The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. The full-throttled guitars sound like those of Oasis. And a hefty dose of Hindu mysticism runs rampant throughout--a la Cornershop.
But Kula Shaker manages to make something original of all those borrowed parts. Rising above its influences, Kula Shaker creates a niche of Britpop in which transcendence is the goal. Amidst the blues-drenched guitars and the Hindi chanting, the band is hard at work building something spiritual and sensual. Kula Shaker isn't afraid of a tamboura, using the exotic instrument on several tracks. Nor is it afraid to be linked with the Grateful Dead, eulogizing that band in the track "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There." But Kula Shaker is no freewheeling "jam" band; there's a precision to the musicianship on this record that cannot be ignored.