LP Co-Release with Cardinal Fuzz (UK)
Volume One – $21
Volume Two – $21
Ajay Saggar is BHAJAN BHOY. Since his debut album was released in June 2020 (“Bless Bless”), Saggar has received an outpouring of critical acclaim for his recorded output and live shows. On Friday 10 March 2023, Bhajan Bhoy will release TWO separate albums on the same day. Bhajan Bhoy’s third and fourth albums are being co-released by two highly respected independent labels—Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Feeding Tube (USA).
Drawing from a deep well of psychedelia, Bhajan Bhoy further shifts the parameters of the genre with a beautiful and meditative set of tracks. Within this kaleidoscopic sonic universe, you will find raga-esque excursions, meditative Dream House drone, Laurel Canyon-recalling folk, electronic soundscapes and heavy guitar riffola (sometimes two chords are enough!). This is the sound of freedom! Imagine Pandit Pran Nath,Spacemen 3, Pauline Oliveros and Don Cherry drinking psilocybin tea and letting loose in a studio.
Byron Coley / The Wire (January 2023) on last album “Shanti Shanti Shanti”: Another fine release by Dutch musician Ajay Saggar. His basic thrust is modern psychedelia, minted from radio snippets, dub reverb flapping, elegant guitar washing, electronic drones interwoven with splashes of mock jaw harp or splashy drums, and a generally stoned atmosphere. And the concept is spectrally good!
The songs for “To Love Is To Love (Vols. 1+2)” were recorded and mixed between January 2021 and June 2022 at Ajay’s sonic laboratory, Soundation Studio.
“It was a highly focused and intensive period of work for me. The pandemic allowed me to go and work in the studio all day and into the night pretty much everyday. I’d never felt more focused in my pursuit of
making a set of songs. It yielded a body of work that I am incredibly proud of, and think is some of the best stuff I’ve done. I was fortunate enough to have some incredibly talented players join me, including Ab Baars, Gayle Brogan, Sheila Bosco, Holly Habstritt Gaal, Mees Siderius, Arvind Ganga, Aaron Lumley, Elsa v/d Linden, Ditmer Weertman. The songs evolved in a very organic manner. The influences are there for sure…but I don’t know any musician who is not directly or indirectly influenced by their peers and record collections. Ultimately though, they are BHAJAN BHOY songs…..and if you listen to them, they are definitely from within ME! The songs are part of a journey, and that is the reason that there are two separate albums.”
