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Kavus Torabi — The Banishing
(Bandcamp Believers Roast BR32, 2024, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-09-03

The Banishing Cover art

Kavus Torabi is a very busy musician. He’s made appearances on albums by Karda Estra, Valve, The Holy Family, Nick Prol and the Proletarians, North Sea Radio Orchestra, Chrome Hoof, and Guapo, in addition to Knifeworld and Gong, of which he is leader. He’s also found the time to record several solo albums, the latest of which is The Banishing. He started recording it in 2020 during the Covid lockdown, and his intent was to put out “a positive, uplifting album.” With Torabi providing all the voices and instruments, he succeeded in spectacular fashion. The Banishing is a modern psychedelic classic, full of intriguing sounds, catchy melodies, chiming guitars, and trippy lyrics. After kicking of with a dreamy tune called “The Horizontal Man” he dives into jangly psych with “Snake Humanis” and never looks back. Whether he’s in a quick tempo with interlocking guitar parts like “Heart the Same” or slowing it down with “The Sweetest Demon,” his guitars, vocals, and production all shimmer with ideas that build upon the foundation of 60s classics from The Pretty Things, The Beatles, and their peers, filtered through more recent ideas from The Dukes of Stratosphear, Cardiacs, and Robyn Hitchcock. But in truth it’s all just the unique mind of Kavus Torabi, and not at all derivative. There’s not a weak moment on the whole album, and any fan of psychedelic rock or power pop should give it a listen, and it’s got enough twists and turns to appeal to prog fans as well.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Kavus Torabi

More info
http://kavustorabi.bandcamp.com/album/the-banishing

 

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