Prana

Formed in London during 1993, the psychedelic trance outfit Prana originated from the partnership of Tsuyoshi Suzuki and Nick Taylor, also known as Snake Thing, who had first connected in Tokyo in the early 1990s and issued recordings there under the name Blissed. Their initial output appeared in 1994 via Inter 1 Records on the Genesis and Indigo EP as well as on Dragonfly Records’ Order Odonata Vol. 1 compilation, after which they aligned with Suzuki’s newly established Matsuri Productions imprint. Throughout the following year the duo supplied multiple EPs to the label, among them Scarab and Future Space Travellers—a joint effort between Suzuki and the Swedish ensemble Athena—while also featuring on assorted compilations. Their first full-length effort, Cyclone, surfaced at the start of 1996, at which point Taylor had relocated to Australia and Suzuki had commenced a collaboration with Andy Guthrie. Over the ensuing twelve months the pair composed and tracked additional material that, together with five Cyclone remixes credited to Snake Thing (Taylor), Tristan, Process, the Green Nuns Of The Revolution, Chakra and Total Eclipse, constituted the second album Geomantik, released in 1997. Other obligations delayed fresh releases until the track ‘Kollage’ appeared on Matsuri’s Forever Psychedelic compilation in 1998. Among the most inventive acts in psychedelic trance, Prana fashion vivid, expansive soundscapes by fusing unexpected rips, squeaks and creaks with understated riffs atop a diverse base of robust, funky rhythms, as heard on ‘Boundless’ (1997) and the remix of ‘Alien Pets’ included on the 1997 Matsuri collection Let It Rip.