An excellent addition to the West Coast's psychedelic groove movement alongside Tranquility Bass, Single Cell Orchestra and Spacetime Continuum, Daum Bentley's Freaky Chakra project combined funk, earthy techno and elements of classic industrial music for his debut LP, 1995's Lowdown Motivator. A fan of hip-hop and industrial until the nascent rave scene hit San Francisco in the late '80s, Bentley began recording in the early '90s and appeared live in early incarnations of Miguel Fierro's Single Cell Orchestra. Introduced to Tranquility Bass' Mike Kandel through Fierro, Bentley passed him a demo tape and released the debut Freaky Chakra single "Halucifuge" on Kandel's Exist Dance Records. One year later Bentley was signed to the surging independent Astralwerks, which released his first album Lowdown Motivator in 1995. Comprising a range of material recorded as early as 1990, the LP earned glowing praise from critics, as did the stormy battle-clash Freaky Chakra Vs. Single Cell Orchestra. Bentley resurfaced in 1997 with the EP Year 2000, and his second proper full-length Blacklight Fantasy was released one year later. ~ John Bush