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You may be wondering how there can be any news about an instrument that's around 40 years old. Well... It seems that, despite the ever-encroaching software sample package (damn you M-Tron! Damn you Sampletank!), the state of play in the World Of Mellotrons is healthier than it's been for years, so although I can't see myself updating this page every week, things will go up periodically.
I've recently been made aware of the downloads on Mike Dickson's site. Mike is the British member of US/UK electronic outfit Systems Theory, and its Mellotron owner/player. No surprise, then, that his three solo albums and the latest Systems Theory album all feature shedloads of Mike's M400. And they're FREE! Download immediately, and send them a donation via PayPal.
Site news: Another quandary resolved. What to do with all the 'officially unreleased' stuff that's popping up everywhere, principally on the 'Net? An Unreleased page, that's what. Various odds and ends will eventually find their way here; so far, there's a couple of download-only things, two unreleased albums sent to me on CD-R, and a pair of Mellotron-infused soundtracks recorded onto my hard drive from video/DVD. Told you it was a mixture. I'm also nearly halfway through spell-checking the entire site, which is a dispiriting experience, I have to say.
The Zombies put on a brilliant show in London in March, playing the whole of the wondrous Odessey & Oracle, plus a load of other stuff. Highlight? Walking into the theatre and seeing an M400 on stage! Sadly, it was barely used, as Rod Argent played piano for most of the set, leaving his deputy to play 'Tron samples, but a solo part on Changes was quite jaw-dropping. I hear that they've also used it at their holiday camp '60s weekender-type gigs, too, although I've no idea what it might've been used on.
Site news: at last! I've actually done some work on the thing this time round, as regular readers will probably/hopefully notice. New lettering for headers (yes, I know they're slightly pixelated) and the better part of twenty new 'single artist' review pages. The purpose of the latter is to group together all available information about an artist in one place, instead of, say, Genesis fans having to look in three or four different places. Although there aren't any written yet, video/DVD reviews will be added to these pages as I do them, alongside regular albums, samples, bootlegs, interview snippets and the like. As a result, several obsolete pages have been removed from the 'articles' section, all of which were written before the reviews section was started. Another innovation is the 'Mellotron(s) used' annotation to many reviews, where the type of machine and its owner are listed, where known. Internal links have been checked, too; please let me know if you find any that still don't work. There's plenty of housekeeping work to do yet, but I've made a start!
Mellotron news: well, I did think of some, then forgot it again... Diagonal (on Rise Above Records) have used my Mellotron in the studio, so expect that out before too long. A collection of Barclay James Harvest BBC sessions from 1974-6, After the Day, is due out any time, almost certainly stuffed full of Woolly's M300. Loads of King Crimson 'download only' recordings have been added to the site (thanks, Nick!), and a new Pugwash album is due out any day. Oh yeah, the big news: UK fusionesque proggers Thieves' Kitchen have their latest effort, The Water Road, out any minute, with stacks of Mellotron from none other than Thomas Johnson, ex-Änglagård. There you go - knew it was something special... Review to follow a.s.a.p.
The trouble with this News section is that it's invariably the last thing I write before updating the site, and I can never think of anything to say... It shows? Site news: the improvements are still in the pipeline, as is an ever-growing review backlog... (Again). I'll get round to it all at some point, honest.
Mellotron news: very little, really. The Fiery Furnaces' newie, Widow City, is apparently stuffed to the gills with real M400 and Chamberlin; expect a review next time round. Anekdoten's A Time of Day is the expected 'Tron-fest, and Astra's MySpace tracks are incredible. Streetly's M4000s are being turned out as quickly as their team of trained monkeys can assemble them; I believe there are five or six now out in the Big Wide World; expect some recordings featuring them before long.
Site news: apologies for taking so long to update the site; there are some serious improvements in the pipeline, but they're going to take a while to implement, as I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the day-to-day business of writing reviews and updating the album lists.
Otherwise, the M4000 is doing very nicely, with the first few off the 'production line' (such as it is) already in the hands of their hopefully ecstatic owners. I haven't had a chance to knock up a proper reviews page yet, let alone give you any pics, but here are a few quotes from Dave Etheridge's review in new gear mag Performing Musician:
| "The thinking behind the M4000 is to take the best aspects of the Mark II, with its height (you stand up comfortably to play, rather than stooping with consequent strain on your back), light and fast keyboard action and cycling system of six banks of three tapes, and the improved tape motor, preamp and (relative) portability of a single manual M400". |
| "Wherever possible, all the parts are hand made in house, and it shows in the beautiful and lovingly assembled engineering. Just observing the innards makes you realise that this sort of hand crafted work is no longer produced in the U.K. to any great extent". |
| "The keyboard action is as light as a synth, which may be a surprise to anyone who ever played an M400, where you had to occasionally fight the action if you wanted to play fast solos. Here you'll find that the articulation on each note is superb, and you can play 200mph solos to your heart's content". |
| "While those who think that everything can be done by computer technology will turn their noses up and walk past, the muso with eye to see and ears to hear will have no problem loving the instrument for what it is and all its foibles. The M4000 is a wonderful instrument, a carefully thought out development of the original design, fully backwards compatible with previous technology, and designed for decades of use without hassle or tears. The look, the feel and the sound is truly timeless and outside the vagaries of fashion, and M4000s are designed to be still ticking over when todays PCs and VSTs have gone the way of the dodo". |
And a list of the 'standard' tapeset...
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Whad'ya mean you can't afford one? That's OK, neither can I. Plenty of people can though, it seems, so anyone with a spare £4500 (that's, ulp, $9000 at current exchange rates...) should give Streetly a call, or at least go to their website.
Releases: I haven't heard the new Anekdoten yet, but hope to soon, the Cathedral reformation album is excellent, Rockfour have done it again and the new Fiery Furnaces is apparently smothered in Chamberlin. Hurrah! Glass have a composite live effort out, recorded a few years ago, The Watch have a new, 'Tron-heavy effort, and Matt Thompson (ex-Guapo) has a new project, Rashomon, utilising my M400 on several tracks. And the Rush album? Not bad, but disappointing Mellotronically. Big surprise.
Site news: instead of taking a ludicrously long time to update the site, I've managed a variation on a theme by updating it, but doing hardly any reviews. Maybe I'll find some time to do something to the site at some point in the not-too-far-distant future. Oh, and a slight change on the background colour front, as the last one was too purple.
Otherwise... It's out! Streetly's much-vaunted M4000 is finally available, and is looking pretty gorgeous. Go here for more news. Mellotron Archive's MkVI was the first 'new' Mellotron in well over a decade, and all credit there, but this beastie is the first new cycling machine since 1968's rather ill-fated M300; think of it as half a MkII, but with six more sounds and a far better selection, and that's if you go for the factory standards. For an extra fee, you can have a custom set of 24 sounds, or rather, 24 keyboards'-worth, which isn't quite the same thing. And if that ain't enough for you... The M5000 is the twin-manual version, offering a ludicrous 48 sounds, which should be enough to keep even the most ardent 'Tron fan happy. Drawbacks? Just the one: you can't change the internal sounds yourself, but as long as you choose carefully, do you really need to? Reviews will be collated and posted on the site a.s.a.p. Bravo, chaps!
On the release front, this quarter's shock addition to the site is the new Rush album, Snakes & Arrows. Yup, it's a real 'Tron, and it's the only keyboard actually used on the album; expect a review next time round. The second Litmus album, Planetfall, is finally out, although their esteemed keyboard player (cough) has bailed out, partly due to his dissatisfaction at his role in the band. I'm sure they'll use my Mellotron in the future, as nobody's fallen out with anybody, but not played by me.
Site news: chiefly, apologies for taking so long to update the site - four months is completely unacceptable, and some of you have written to ask why... The short answer is, my computer was on the blink for several weeks over the end-of-Feb period, when I hoped to update. While not 100%, it's an awful lot better now, and doesn't crash for no good reason much more often than it ever did. On the organisational front, I've finally decided to remove the 'number bands' (10cc, 9.30 Fly etc.) to their own page, both in the albums and reviews sections. This removes the problem of where to file bands depending on their country of origin; both 14 Bis (Brazil) and 4/3 de Trio (France) have been filed under Q, for example, which, while linguistically accurate, isn't necessarily the best place for the casual reader to find them. Anyway, the new pages are helpfully labelled with a nice bold '#', and can be found just after 'Z'.
As far as genuine Mellotron news goes, though, it's all a bit thin on the ground: the M4000 is still not out, though it should be any time now; although it's no longer 'news', per se, I've only just heard Shannon Taylor's wonderful if it is to be as it is [sic], from last year, which is stuffed to the gills with Mellotron (and Chamberlin samples), not to mention great songs. Buy it here, or at least listen to the downloads. On the reissue front, according to the Gnosis reissues news page, both Don Bradsham Leather and Quarteto 1111's 'Tron-stuffed obscurities are due out on CD soon. Bring it on!
The BJH tour went very well indeed, I'm glad to say, with good attendances throughout. When you compare this with the hundred or so who turned out to see Woolly a couple of years ago in London, it just goes to show the power of a name, I suppose. The Litmus album's been mixed, with two or three 'Tron-heavy tracks, rather fewer than expected. Hmmm.
Streetly's new M4000 prototype is nearing completion, and looks very nice indeed! Expect essentially a cycling M400, with what looks like a couple of new features. Oh, and R.I.P. Fluff.
Well, England's gig went well, apart from their high-end Akai sampler breaking down after two songs and refusing to come back to life. I know why Robert used it, but people call Mellotrons unreliable... Barclay James Harvest (or at least, John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme) are touring the UK extensively this month, avec M400. Be there. The cat is well out of the bag concerning Streetly's new M4000, although a tight lid is being kept upon specifics. Remember your mother saying, "Wait And See"? On the Mellotron-heavy new album front, the (US) Cathedral album draws ever closer to completion, as does the second Litmus.
Site news: two major new pages, bootleg reviews and a much asked-for feature, Top 'Tron, or all the higher-ranking reviews (for their Mellotron content) listed in order of T rating.
And you thought news was thin on the ground last time round... England's Japanese dates were reportedly a triumph, and they have a one-off date at the Boardwalk in Sheffield on Saturday August 26th. You will be there. Nothing to do with Mellotrons (although the Floyd used one soon after his departure), but R.I.P Syd.
Sorry, news is a bit thin on the ground at the moment. In fact, all I can think of to say is that yours truly plus some important people will be featured on BBC Radio 4's new Mellotron documentary, due to be broadcast at 10.30 a.m. (GMT+1) on Saturday June 3rd. For those of you not in the vicinity, I believe it's being streamed from their website for a week afterwards.
New albums from (on the prog front) La Maschera di Cera and Paatos, and from Mattias Olsson's Roth-Händle studio, Vijaya and Two Times the Trauma (said we were short of news).
Major news: Rick Wakeman's new album, Retro, was recorded using entirely vintage gear, much of which was discovered as Rick moved from the Isle of Man back to the mainland. No, he no longer owns a Mellotron (well, not after the 1982 bonfire, anyway), but he used his bassist, Lee Pomeroy's machine. Review to hopefully follow before too long.
Irish retro-pop merchants Pugwash have finally released a new album, Jollity, stuffed to the gills with Mellotron, including some performances from ex-XTC/Dukes of Stratosphear god Dave Gregory. Essential.
England's performance at Baja Prog went down a storm, by all accounts. Next stop: Japan. All we need to do now is sort out a British date for the handful of discerning UK progressive fans who actually know who they are, and who don't consider bloody Marillion to be the pinnacle of the genre.
I'm afraid I have to begin with some very sad news; Rick van der Linden (of Ekseption and the mighty Trace) died on January 22nd after a stroke, aged 59. An incredible player, Rick is known mainly for his on/off work with Ekseption, but amongst progressive fans, the first two Trace albums are revered for their stunning musicianship, not to mention the incredible music. R.I.P. Rick van der Linden, 5.8.46.-22.1.06.
On a happier note, the England reformation carries on apace, with the band on target for their official debut performance at Baja Prog in March.
Anekdoten's new live album, Waking the Dead, Live in Japan 2005, apparently features three of the band's four members on Mellotron, although they only used samples on their previous live effort.
It's official - England have reformed! They're lined up for Baja Prog 2006, so fingers crossed for a UK warm-up date. Period instrumentation is expected to be used.
Tom Doncourt of the mighty Cathedral (US division) is recording again, with his 'Tron. No idea when something official will appear, but keep an eye out for it. Speaking of Cathedral the British band have just released a new album featuring the Great White Beast, too, entitled Garden of Unearthly Delights. [Note: turns out it's samples].
England's utterly seminal Garden Shed opus has just been reissued, appropriately, on Garden Shed Music, with a bonus track and in a beautiful package with lyrics and illustrations. Do any of you remember the blurb on the back cover of the original vinyl? "We have compiled a companion booklet to this, our first album, containing all lyrics, and illustrations to the songs, together with information about the group. It's available from..." Well, it never actually existed, though only because no-one got their act together sufficiently to get it done. Well, now you've got it, albeit in slightly different form to how it was originally intended, and very nice it is, too. One minor potential problem for some of you is the packaging format. Robert Webb didn't want the artwork shrunk down to CD size, and although a couple of labels have produced 12"x12" CD packaging, he's opted for 7"x7", or single size; big enough to look good, but small enough to... not fit in your CD racks. Oh well, you'll have to find room for it elsewhere. I'm not totally convinced by the housing for the disc itself, but I'm sure most of you will stick it in a regular jewel case anyway, and put the booklet somewhere else. If lush symphonic prog's your bag, BUY THIS ALBUM!
I don't know how many of you sat through untold hours of Live8 the other week (I didn't), but several people informed me that indie darlings Razorlight wheeled an M400 onstage in London for one song - I believe it was only used on the intro. Well, how's that for commitment to the cause? Nice one, chaps, even if I haven't heard you, a situation I intend to rectify. Actually, Live8 was a haven for vintage keyboards of all hues. Try:
Not bad, not bad...