For those following along at home, and even more so for fans of a) Brainticket and b) delirious experimental Swiss Krautrock, 1973’s Celestial Ocean was just one of those albums that once it was on your turntable, it never came off! From a story inspired from the "Book of the Dead of the Ancient Egyptians," and re-released this month as a 2-CD deluxe edition version of the masterpiece album, that now comes accompanied by a rare live concert from the same year, Celestial Ocean is a concept album that details an ancient Pharaohs journey into the afterlife. Well, ok, if you substitute the word "journey" for "trip" and you'll get what they were driving at!

Brainticket explored some truly compelling musical territory and produced a superlative blanket of sound on Celestial Ocean, and it even featured a pioneering mix of early synthesizers, flute, zither, sitar, and male / female stream-of-consciousness spoken word vocal that ebbs and flows in the same general cosmos as classic Gong.

The accompanying second disc is a rare live recorded concert from the same year and taken fro the Live In Rome performance. Containing 12 tracks, such as ‘Egyptian Hings,’ ‘Jam 1’ and ‘Jam 2,’ ‘Era of Technology, Part 1’ and ‘Era of Technology, Part 2’, the concert - as you would fully imagine - explores some truly compelling musical spectrums.

Also, for those that loved Brainticket back then, I have GREAT NEWS for you al, because not only is this wonderful album now re-released, but as it has been over 14 years since the band released a new studio album, Brianticket founder and leader, Joel Vandroogenbroeck has now done just that! Sure he may well have opened his recording career with Brainticket in 1970 with a trio of albums that bounced off the presses like they were going out of fashion - Cottonwoodhill, Psychonaut (1971), and Celestial Ocean (1973); the latter now re-released, as detailed above - but he then slowed his musical roll down to just over an album a decade thereafter!

The brand new Brainticket album is Past Present & Future, which begins with an epic 2-part composition that has to be heard to be believed. Maybe it took him 14 years to get this one song, ‘Dancing On A Volcano’ just right, who knows, but it is most certainly one hell of a way to open; and reintroduce Brainticket and Vandroogenbroeck back to the musical fold. Check it out, along wit this Deluxe Edition 2-CD Celestial Ocean as soon as the record stores open! You won‘t regret it, trust me.