Inspired by his own ongoing Indian classical music discovery, Rishi Dhir formed Elephant Stone in Montreal in 2008. With Dhir singing lead and handling nearly a dozen instruments, he recorded the project's debut album with help from several guests, including producer Jace Lasek. It arrived in May 2009 on Dhir's own Elephants On Parade label, distributed by Fontana Records, and was quickly followed by 'The Glass Box' EP in 2010. The group then signed with Canada's Hidden Pony for 2013's eponymous 'Elephant Stone' record, by which time the band had settled into a regular line-up of Dhir, Gabriel Lambert on guitar, and Miles Dupire-Gagnon on drums. 'Three Poisons' arrived in 2014, also on Hidden Pony, and that year they were asked to contribute a tracks to 'A Psyche Tribute To The Doors on Cleopatra Records, for which they chose to cover 'L.A. Woman'. The band's fourth album, 'Ship Of Fools', was released in 2016 on Burger Records in 2016, before they returned with the five-song 'Live At The Verge', which captured a session at Toronto's Verge Music Lab in February 2017. The 'Ship Of Fools' remix EP 'Remix Of Fools' followed in September, but it three more years before we were to hear from the band again, when their fifth album, 'Hollow', appeared in 2020, featuring split guitar duties between Lambert and Robbie MacArthur. In 2022 they issued a French-language EP 'Le Voyage de M. Lonely dans la Lune', which saw MacArthur and Jason Kent taking over on guitar. Combining the influence of Indian classical music with the melodic style of British Invasion bands like the Kinks and the Beatles, the Canadian neo-psychedelic outfit were a breath of fresh air in 2009, and they have not disappointed with any of their releases since then, so if the band is new to you then this sampler will introduce you to the innovative world of Rishi Dhir.
Track listing
01 Sally Go Round the Sun (from 'Elephant Stone' 2013)
02 Lost in a Dream (from 'Back Into The Dream' 2024)
03 Andromeda (from 'Ship Of Fools' 2016)
04 Knock You From Yr Mountain (from 'The Three Poisons' 2014)
05 How Long (from 'The Seven Seas' 2009)
06 Hollow World (from 'Hollow' 2020)
07 A Silent Moment (from 'Elephant Stone' 2013)
08 Child of Nature (Om Namah Shivaya) (from 'The Three Poisons' 2014)
09 Where I'm Going (from 'Ship Of Fools' 2016)
10 Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin (from 'Elephant Stone' 2013)
11 We Cry for Harmonia (from 'Hollow' 2020)
11 Harmonia (from 'Hollow' 2020)
12 The Sea of Your Mind (from 'Elephant Stone' 2013)
13 I Am Blind (from 'The Seven Seas' 2009)
