Licorice Roots (Raymond Listen) - Licorice Roots Orchestra LP

Have you ever had a great afternoon nap? The kind where you drift off, and on your way back to the afternoon, shards of the dream creep into your reality, bits of reality creep into your dream? As you wake up, you can’t tell if the afternoon just got better because the best parts of the dream made it into the day, or because the nap refreshed you so completely that you now have a whole new perspective?

That’s what Licorice Roots Orchestra by Raymond Listen sounds like. 

If you tilt your head at the appropriate angle, you will hear the best parts of Marc Bolan, Donovan, and the Beatles. Or maybe just a massively talented fan refracting those things, but when you’re just waking up, who can tell?

How could such a beautiful, unique piece of work come out in the midst of a creative boom time, and go mostly unheard? My theory is: It was too nice. People were looking for snark, angst, neurosis, and despair in their indie rock music in 1993, and Raymond Listen offered peace and serenity. Grace doesn’t win a battle with a jackhammer.

Now RidingEasy comes to the rescue. If you ever loved the dreamier side of the Flaming Lips, the idea of Elephant 6, or a great afternoon nap, here’s your chance. This is why the world needs record collectors. Licorice Roots Orchestra is, on its own terms, a masterpiece. Good night.

---Geoffrey Weiss, Los Angeles, 2024

Track List:

1. September in the Night
2. Cloud Symphonies
3. Saturn Rise
4. Lemon Peel Medallion
5. Tangled Weeks
6. Ocean's Long Floor / Spell on This Room
7. Sunday Theme of Petals
8. Coronation Day
9. Let Darkness Fall
10. Everyday Supernatural
11. Garden of Chalcedony
12. Black-Eyed Susans
13. Firmament