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Son of Walter (1996, 72.22) ***½/T½ |
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| Plastic Elvis Beautiful Sister Red Hair You Saw Me Comming Barking or False Point Blues Forgiven All Hope is Gone With You Away Dead Man Sitting on a Train |
It's Not Like You Garden Aeroplane Trap Driven Away Raining on TV Requiem Winner's Way |
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Valedictory Songs (2000, 71.22) ****/½ |
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| Godsent By the Water's Edge Early Riser Let Them Beautify You High on a Downer Artillery Row We Are the Dead Portobello Man Can't Feel it |
Sugar Voids Back on My Star The Speed of Light Old School Rock Child Living in Real Time China Fry Confession |
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I'm ashamed to admit that, prior to this, I've never actually heard a Bevis Frond album all the way through, even though I saw him/them live years ago. The Bevis Frond is essentially Walthamstow native and 'Countdown' regular Nick Saloman (don't worry about this stuff if you're not a native Brit), who writes, sings and plays guitar on everything, ploughing his own lonely psychedelic furrow through the murk of what is laughably known as The Music Biz. In his own quiet way, he's a real star, refusing to bow to 'commercial reality' (a.k.a. 'The Man') while managing to keep his head above water far enough to carry on making his own unique brand of psychedelic guitar-driven rock. A whole slew of his albums used to be available on London-based Reckless Records' (legendary and now late small second-hand chain) own imprint, but the rights seem to've long-reverted to his own label, Woronzow, which also seems to be linked to excellent obscuro fanzine the Ptolemaic Terrascope (with me so far?).
Son of Walter is something like Nick's 13th album in nine years (!) and it's a double (although I'm aware that several of his early releases consist of older material); believe me, this guy doesn't mess about, although his output has slowed of recent years. It covers several different bases, from the acoustic singer-songwriter fare of Winner's Way and Dead Man Sitting On A Train, through the grunge madness of Barking Or False Point Blues to the (short) side-long killer jam of Garden Aeroplane Trap. It's this last that interests us the most, as Nick (who plays everything, by the way) overdubs tons of 'Tron flutes and strings, although I've zero idea where he might've found a functioning Mellotron in 1996. In fact, there's so much on the 12-minute track that it actually gets a full T½ rating, despite not being heard anywhere else.
Four years on and Nick released Valedictory Songs, potentially the band's last album, although, thankfully, this has turned out not to be the case. Another double, it's full of the curiously affecting likes of By The Water's Edge, Artillery Row and the wry Portobello Man, alongside the more full-on fare of slightly Cardiacs-esque opener Godsent, We Are The Dead and Can't Feel It. Despite being credited with the mighty 'Tron, it's pretty much absent here, certainly in comparison to Son of Walter, with naught but high flutes, doubling the restrained Hammond on High On A Downer.
So; Nick Saloman needs and deserves your support, so buy these albums. Only one decent 'Tron track between the pair, but it's a) good and b) long, so Son of Walter's a borderline 'worth it for the 'Tron' one, I think.
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Parallax (1983, 38.29) ****/TTTSilent RunningPrediction Suite Ran Prologue: The Sky Distorting Too Much A Klaxon of Dr. Strange-Love Parallax Company Great Parallax Epilogue: Crimson Children |
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Ran: Live Vol.3 (1994, recorded 1983, 53.42) ***½/T½Psycho (Part I)Warning Suite "Ran" Double |
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Kyobo Na Ongaku [a.k.a. A Violent Music] (1998, 53.18) ***½/TT |
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| A Violent City Feet on the Ground A Violent Party A Violent Fort A Man of Hand to Mouth Creep Funk A Violent Nightmare |
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I believe noted Japanese King Crimson imitators Bi Kyo Ran's second album, 1983's Parallax is fairly typical of their oeuvre. Opener Silent Running isn't actually that great, starting off in arena rock mode, although it improves over its near-eight minute length, but Prediction is a lot better, operating in laid-back 'I Talk to the Wind' mode, with little Mellotronic interjections here and there. Side two's Suite Ran is definitely the album's highpoint, opening with Mellotron flutes before lurching into a Crimsonesque riff that sets the tone for the rest of the track. Mellotron strings in (I think) part 3, Great Parallax which pounds the listener into submission with a hypnotic cycling riff for seven or eight minutes, with flutes and (real) violin in the following gentle Epilogue: Crimson Children (are you sure?!). This is pretty fine stuff, actually, if rather lacking on the originality front, but since when was that necessarily a problem?
I haven't (yet) heard the band's first Mellotronic archive live release, 1987's 1978 recording, Live Volume I: Fairy Tale, but Ran: Live Vol.3, recorded in '83, taking the form of one short(-ish) piece and three very lengthy ones, presumably gives us a good idea what the band sounded like on stage at the time. Opener Psycho (Part I) sounds a lot like exactly what it is - a Japanese band heavily influenced by King Crimson - while Warning opens with a several-minute quiet section, followed by something best described as 'noisy Crimson' and a fittingly Japanese-influenced part, before slipping back into 'noisy Crimson' mode to finish off, the last two tracks fitting broadly into the same mould. Although Kunio Suma and Masaaki Nagasawa are both credited with Mellotron, their regular roles as guitarist and drummer make the Mellotron use fairly sparse, with a flute solo opening Warning, reiterating throughout its first section, closer Double having an even more overt flute part a few minutes in, although there's nothing to be heard on Suite "Ran", even though it's present on the studio version.
Well, in fifteen years, it seems that Bi Kyo Ran haven't changed noticeably, still sounding an awful lot like King Crimson. Kyobo Na Ongaku, or A Violent Music, is well-named, slightly resembling Crimso's Starless & Bible Black (album) in its relentlessness and angularity. It's difficult to pinpoint 'best tracks' on an album like this, as there's little stylistic difference between most of them; suffice to say, if you like their previous work, there's a good chance you'll like this. Mellotron strings on most tracks, from Noriyuki Kamiya, though never that much, and I'm not entirely convinced they're real. As so often, though, it's devilishly hard to tell, and certainly on opener A Violent City, it sound 'wobbly' enough to just possibly be real. Kamiya's 'Tron technique seems to consist of waiting until maybe 40% of the way into each song, then bringing in some nicely Crimsonesque, ever-so-slightly dissonant chords, which are played for about 30 seconds before he switches to another instrument, which he sticks to on every highlighted track above.
So; a good, if pretty derivative band. If you like Crimson, and don't mind someone else ripping off their sound wholesale, you may well go for this, unless you're dead set against imitators. These are all good, remarkably consistent albums, not bad on the Mellotron front without being at all outstanding.
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Bible Black (2012, 44.40) ****/TMistVampires Blood Watershed Helix Wuthering Heights Hydra In the Dark of Madness |
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Bible Black's eponymous 2012 debut rather unsurprisingly owes a major debt to '70s King Crimson, although far less so than several Japanese copycat prog outfits I could name. Effectively an instrumental trio (the keyboard player doubling on guitar), the music is (thankfully) far less ELP-like than you might expect, while the Crimso influence only crops up on occasion (Hydra being a notable example), other obvious pointers including Camel's melodiousness and anyone who ever experimented with 'Eastern' scales (fair enough, given their location). Despite some tracks' heaviosity, they avoid the prog-metal label, to their credit, while throwing a few fusion moves around in places, particularly at the end of Wuthering Heights (no, of course it's not that one).
Although photos exist of this lot sporting a Chamberlin M1 (right), we're apparently hearing a 'Mellotron Archives' MkVI machine here, played by a guesting second keys man calling himself Iwanov, who concentrates exclusively on vintage 'boards. Despite several false alarms, the only obvious use is some strident strings work on closer In The Dark Of Madness, although it would've fitted in nicely elsewhere. Overall, then, Bible Black's a confident debut, if a little derivative in places. More, please.
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The Underfall Yard (2009, 60.38) ****/T½Evening StarMaster James of St. George Victorian Brickwork Last Train Winchester Diver The Underfall Yard |
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Well, Big Big Train have been threatening to get into this site's main reviews for a long time, and have finally done so with 2009's The Underfall Yard. Reason? The presence of no less a personage than Dave Gregory (ex-XTC) and his trusty M400, albeit on just one track. The band have been improving steadily over the years since their early neo-prog-by-numbers approach, their last effort, 2007's sample-only The Difference Machine, garnering four stars over in Samples. The Underfall Yard opens with a Beach Boys-esque harmony vocal section, before shifting into the same kind of inventive, reasonably individual symphonic prog they played on its predecessor, drumming throughout again provided by Spock's Beard's Nick d'Virgilio.
Instrumentally, the band continue to stand out from the pack with their use of a brass section (think: orchestra, not soul revue) on three of the album's six tracks, with occasional cello, too. Most of the album's 'Mellotron' work (there's some on most tracks) is sampled, but Gregory adds strings, choir and possible flutes to the twelve-minute Victorian Brickwork, sounding a little bit more 'real' than the M-Tron employed elsewhere.
So; another excellent album from Big Big Train with some real 'Tron this time. I'm still not sure why the band don't try to use a real one (I mean, they even had access to one this time), but that's up to them. If you like inventive modern progressive rock, though, you can't go too far wrong with this. Worthwhile.
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Winner (2005, 46.56) ***/T½ |
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| Kelvin Stardust Fall in Fall Out Complicated Lady Tu as Gaché Mon Talent Ma Chérie Reach Out Oh My Gawd! B.O.O.G.A.L.O.O. Fever Special |
Everybody Boogaloo Jackson 16 The Hawk Got it So Bad Deception |
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Big Boss Man apparently formed after randomly meeting on a ferry (as you do); given that two members were the boat's house band, it's hardly surprising that a broad 'lounge' streak runs through their music. Their second album, 2005's Winner, opens with a pretty cool soul/funk instrumental, the amusingly-titled Kelvin Stardust, several other tracks mining a similar lounge/Latin vein, although the vocal tracks tend to let it down a little, largely due to organist Nasser Bouzida's frankly rather weak voice. Best tracks? Kelvin Stardust, Everybody Boogaloo and closer Deception, although pretty much any of the instrumentals are worth hearing.
Morgan Nicholls and Bouzida play Mellotron, with what I take to be a harmony cello part on Fall In Fall Out (which cops a riff from Status Quo's early hit Pictures Of Matchstick Men) and a flute line on Tu As Gaché Mon Talent Ma Chérie from the pair, flute chords and melody on B.O.O.G.A.L.O.O. from Nicholls and vibes on Jackson 16 from Bouzida. The album's best features, though, are Bouzida's Hammond work and the overall vibe, rather than its fairly minor Mellotron use. Take a copy to the next '60s mod night at your local dance emporium.
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Und die Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer (2006, 53.02) **½/T |
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| Blutrausch (Smooth Interlude) Rejoice the Rig The Freeways of My Mind Song Bong Blue Hey, Soldier Saticoy Street 'Cause That Shit's Too Evil (and She's Just a Gangsta Bitch) |
Get Off the B Saxophone Pelo de Elote I Lie Down Hammer on Pull Off Eastside Westside Blue Speedy's Rejoinder |
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Big Sir are essentially the duo of bassist Juan Alderete (Racer X, The Mars Volta) and vocalist Lisa Papineau, 2006's Und die Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer ('And the Shit Always Changes') being their second album. I'm not honestly sure where they're coming from on this, most tracks consisting of drums, bass and ethereal vocals, with little real harmonic content, other instruments relegated to supporting roles. I'll admit it's original, but is it any good?
Matthieu Lesenechal plays Mellotron on opener Blutrausch (Smooth Interlude), his cello line being the first sound heard on the record, with a skronky flute part later in the track. I can't say I got much out of this album, sadly, but its one 'Tron track is worth hearing, if you get the chance.
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Bluebell Wood (1971, 45.01) ***/TDeath of a HopeOdd Song Free Life Aunty James Saint & Sceptic Bluebell Wood Watching Love Grow When the Sun Was Out |
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The Welsh Connection ran deep in Big Sleep, who were, essentially, a renamed Eyes of Blue, the new name chosen by a record company exec, although they never played under it and split soon after. 1971's low-key Bluebell Wood is one of those psych-into-prog albums that were fairly prevalent at the time, later described by keyboard player Phil Ryan as, "Making Lou Reed look like the Bay City Rollers!" While not half as bad as that suggests, nor is it the most exciting thing you're ever going to hear, the title track being the nearest it gets to 'prog', while jaunty closer When The Sun Was Out would've improved the album by its absence.
Someone (probably Ryan) plays Mellotron on the title track, with a pleasant string part that enhances the song nicely without being overbearing (sadly), although the strings on a couple of other tracks are clearly real. Various Eyes of Blue/Big Sleep alumni went on to bigger and better: Ryan to Man, vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins to Rick Wakeman (OK, maybe just bigger), while drummer John 'Pugwash' Weathers played on most of Gentle Giant's albums before becoming Man's longest-serving drummer. Now Bluebell Wood's available on CD, do you bother? It's a pleasant enough effort, but without any really outstanding material and with so little Mellotron, I'd leave it on your 'B' list if I were you.
See: Eyes of Blue
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#1 Record (1972, 37.09) ****½/T½ |
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| Feel The Ballad of El Goodo In the Street Thirteen Don't Lie to Me The India Song When My Baby's Beside Me My Life is Right |
Give Me Another Chance Try Again Watch the Sunrise ST 100/6 |
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Radio City (1973, 36.11) ****/T |
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| O My Soul Life is White Way Out West What's Going Ahn You Get What You Deserve Mod Lang Back of a Car Daisy Glaze |
She's a Mover September Gurls Morpha Too I'm in Love With a Girl |
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Sister Lovers: the Third Album (1978, 50.30/55.15) ***½/T |
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| Stroke it Noel Downs Femme Fatale Thank You Friends Holocaust Jesus Christ Blue Moon Dream Lover |
You Can't Have Me Big Black Car Kizza Me For You O Dana Nightime Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on Kanga Roo |
Take Care [CD adds: Nature Boy Till the End of the Day] |
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Keep an Eye on the Sky (2009, recorded 1968-75, 300.24) ****/TT |
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| Psychedelic Stuff All I See is You Every Day as We Grow Closer (orig.mix) Try Again (early version) Feel The Ballad of El Goodo In the Street (alt.mix) Thirteen (alt.mix) Don't Lie to Me The India Song (alt.mix) When My Baby's Beside Me (alt.mix) My Life is Right (alt.mix) Give Me Another Chance (alt.mix) Try Again Gone With the Light Watch the Sunrise (single) ST 100-6 (alt.mix) The Preacher (excerpt) In the Street (alt.single mix) Feel (alt.mix) The Ballad of El Goodo (alt.lyrics) The India Song (alt.version) |
Country Morn I Got Kinda Lost (demo) Back of a Car (demo) Motel Blues (demo) There Was a Light (demo) Life is White (demo) What's Going Ahn (demo) O My Soul Life is White Way Out West What's Going Ahn You Get What You Deserve Mod Lang (alt.mix) Back of a Car (alt.mix) Daisy Glaze She's a Mover September Gurls Morpha Too (alt.mix) I'm in Love With a Girl O My Soul (alt.version) She's a Mover (alt.version) Daisy Glaze (reh.version) I am the Cosmos You and Your Sister Blue Moon (demo) Femme Fatale (demo) |
Thank You Friends (demo) Nightime (demo) Take Care (demo) You Get What You Deserve (demo) Lovely Day (demo) Downs (demo) Jesus Christ (demo) Holocaust (demo) Big Black Car (alt.demo) Manana Jesus Christ Femme Fatale O, Dana Kizza Me You Can't Have Me Nighttime Dream Lover Big Black Car Blue Moon Holocaust Stroke it Noel For You Downs Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' on Kanga Roo |
Thank You Friends Take Care Lovely Day Til the End of the Day (alt.mix) Nature Boy (alt.mix) When My Baby's Beside Me My Life is Right She's a Mover Way Out West The Ballad of El Goodo In the Street Back of a Car Thirteen The India Song Try Again Watch the Sunrise Don't Lie to Me Hot Burrito #2 I Got Kinda Lost Baby Strange Slut There Was a Light ST 100-6 Come on Now O My Soul |
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Big Star formed in Memphis when Alex Chilton (ex-Box Tops, of The Letter fame) joined Chris Bell, Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens in Ice Water, changing their name during their initial writing sessions. They played what was, for the early '70s, deeply unfashionable intelligent pop, with a soul influence from Chilton creeping in here and there, leading to the group being included in the infamous 'B's; Beatles, Beach Boys, Badfinger, Byrds... There honestly isn't a bad song on either #1 Record or Radio City, so yet another great band ignored during their lifetime have gone on to, if not fortune, at least posthumous fame.
#1 Record doesn't put a foot wrong, from the opening pure pop of Feel, through rockier numbers (Don't Lie To Me, When My Baby's Beside Me), or ballads (Give Me Another Chance, Try Again). Plenty of other writers have written about this album far more eloquently than I ever could, so I'll concentrate on my usual speciality. Bassist Andy Hummel's only solo composition on the album, India Song, is a beautiful acoustic number, with a richly original Mellotron flute part, played by him, making it one of the album's highlights (against stiff competition), while Give Me Another Chance has some rather unsubtle strings from friend/studio owner Terry Manning, although the end result is still well worth the effort.
By Radio City, Bell had left, producing demos that would appear as I am the Cosmos long after his death in a car crash in 1978. Big Star seemed to function just as well as a trio, at least in the studio, as live dates were apparently a disaster. The songwriting is still fabulous, with songs like Way Out West and You Get What You Deserve equalling those of their influences. Hummel's (if Hummel it is) Mellotron is only obviously heard on one track; opener O My Soul has some stabbed string chords, with some slurred pitchbend work at the end, and despite a couple of other 'possibles', it's the only definite 'Tron track here.
Hummel departed after the album's release, leaving the remaining duo to record another album with a new bassist, although The Third Album, sometimes known as Sister Lovers, wasn't released until 1979, long after the band's demise. It's a messy affair, to be honest, with every different release seemingly containing a different track selection, the one above being from the UK 1987 Dojo/Castle vinyl version, which claims to contain every track recorded at the sessions. It's unsurprisingly less focussed than their first two albums, but there are still many excellent tracks, if little of quite the same quality as before. The Mellotron on Kanga Roo could have been played by either Chilton or producer Jim Dickinson, opening with a wobbly flute melody, before some string chords in the verses; note the alternate sleeve above, with (reversed) 'Tron surprisingly in shot.
2009's four-disc Keep an Eye on the Sky answers the question I'm not sure anyone asked: "How do you fill a four-disc box set of a band who only ever released two albums in their lifetime?" And the answer is... Demos, alternate mixes (and occasionally versions) and a live disc. In some ways, you could buy this instead of the studio albums, as both #1 Record and Radio City are represented, track-by-track, with a mixture of the original versions and demos or alternate takes, while all of Sister Lovers is here, although not in sequence. The set touches on Chris Bell's I am the Cosmos, too, without in any way removing the committed fan's need to buy it. Of course, committed fans are going to buy this on top of the original albums, although the alternate mixes really aren't that different, while acoustic demos can't match the studio versions in intensity. The live disc (recorded in January '73) is from the post-Bell era, but is still worth hearing for the faithful.
On the Mellotron front, disc one has several relevant tracks, including the flutes on both the alternate mix and version of The India Song and the strings on alternate mix of Give Me Another Chance. The really interesting tracks, though, are the previously-unavailable acoustic Gone With The Light, with a nice flute part and the infuriatingly-edited excerpt from The Preacher, with strings that almost convince the listener they're real. The other three 'Tron tracks are already available, being the one each from Radio City (O My Soul) and Sister Lovers (Kanga Roo) and the title track from Bell's album, leaving precisely two unheard tracks over four discs.
So; two great albums, one reasonable one and one expensive-yet-necessary box, all in the 'intelligent pop' vein. Four Mellotron tracks spread over three albums; you decide. As a sad postscript, halfway through listening to Keep an Eye on the Sky, I heard that Alex Chilton had died at the age of 59, mere months after producer Jim Dickinson.
See: Chris Bell
Bigelf (US) see: |
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Morning Macumba (2002, 36.26) **½/T |
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| Radio Ougadougou Fakin' Amnesia Knees on Top Norwegia Catch That Spark Whispering Winds The Americans in Rome Moonracing |
Small Faces Sleepyhead Lemonade Untitled Untitled |
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The Kiss (2007, 46.00) ***½/T |
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| There's Something Odd About Elizabeth She's Radioactive! Your Lips and You Trouble A Dancer's Feet Are Not So Neat Podiaphobia Hole in My Eye The Mystery of Magnet Power |
Hideaways ...And We Will Come Back as Dogs Destinitis Siamese Twins The Statue Thief |
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Formed in 1994, Bikeride (with an Aquabats connection) released two 'proper' albums and a compilation of EP tracks before 2002's Morning Macumba, mostly written in South America; it shows, the album sounding somewhere between US indie and Latin stylings, with the (very) occasional psych touch thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, the fatal combination of a lack of especially good songwriting and an irritating lead voice (founder Tony Carbone's) scupper the album's chances of getting a good review from yours truly, although more songs like The Americans In Rome (good tune, witty lyrics) or Small Faces (ho ho) might have helped. Sean How plays Mellotron, with a multitracked flute part on opener Radio Ougadougou, although I couldn't honestly say it sounds that Mellotronic to me...
2007's The Kiss is a rather better proposition all round, managing to be quite obviously powerpop without being trapped in that genre, like so many other worthy, yet hidebound bands, introducing other influences, not least country (A Dancer's Feet Are Not So Neat), electronica-lite (She's Radioactive!, ...And We Will Come Back As Dogs) and raga-rock (Your Lips And You). How on 'Tron again, with faint strings on opener There's Something Odd About Elizabeth and a major flute part on Podiaphobia, although all other orchestrations appear to be real.
I'm not sure who Morning Macumba is really aimed at, although The Kiss should appeal to anyone who delights in well-crafted, intelligent pop. However, anyone looking for major Mellotron use should probably go elsewhere. Recommended anyway. Sadly, Carbone died in 2008, so I rather doubt whether we'll hear any more from Bikeride.
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This Bilk is Radioactive (2006, 40.11) **½/½BeyoncéSunchano Objects Gone to Texas Terminator Phantom Bloody Bill Anderson R2d2 |
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The Zagreb-based Bilk have been around for over a decade, although it took them until 2006 to release their debut album, This Bilk is Radioactive. It utilises techno, rock, reggae and various other styles, mixing programmed synths and beats with rock guitars and real bass and drums into what could either be described as 'an intoxicating stew of influences' or 'a bit of a mess'. It has its moments, not least the interesting Fripp-esque guitar work on Phantom, but the overall effect is a little confused. Maybe this is what they dance to in Croatia?
Janko Novoselić plays Mellotron, with background choirs on Terminator that may very well not be real; I've no idea if the handful of Mellotrons that found their way into Yugoslavia as was are still there, let alone whether any of them were used on this album. Anyway, unless you're from the region, or just can't get enough of that dance/rock crossover, I'd advise you to go elsewhere, I think.
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Billy Talent III (2009, 42.57) **½/½ |
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| Devil on My Shoulder Rusted From the Rain Saint Veronika Tears Into Wine White Sparrows Pocketful of Dreams The Dead Can't Testify Diamond on a Landmine |
Turn Your Back Sudden Movements Definition of Destiny |
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Billy Talent play metal festivals, yet going by 2009's Billy Talent III, they're as much an 'alternative rock' proposition as a metal one; have the two genres intertwined that much? Probably. The good part is that they're not some screamy mess, the bad part being the overly-emotive vocals (hang on, is this 'emo'?), although at least that means we get some tunes thrown in here and there.
Producer Brendan O'Brien adds Mellotron to a couple of tracks, with a quiet flute part on Saint Veronika and more of the same on White Sparrows, none of which adds up to very much at all, really. I've heard a great deal worse than Billy Talent III, but then, I've heard a great deal better, too... Confusingly, the band opted to release a limited edition of the album containing a second disc with all the guitars removed, known as the 'Guitar Villain' version, complete with the click to which they play audible at the beginning of each track. Bizarre. Anyway, not that great, next to no 'Tron.
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Quinta Dimensione: ESP Music (1978, 69.10) ***/TTT |
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| Life Oxigen Heat Relax Space ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) Psychokinesis Chiaroveggenza |
Messaggio dell'Inconscio Quinta Dimensione |
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Quinta Dimensione: ESP Music (1978, 69.10) ***/TTT½ |
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| Passeggiata Sugli Urali Canoa ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) Pause Dance Gioco di Cristalli Quinta Dimensione Quinta Armonia Life |
Oxigen Heat Relax Space Grande Nero ESP (Definitiva) Psychokinesis Chiaroveggenza Messaggio dell'Inconscio |
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You want odd? You've got it... Tony Binarelli is an Italian magician and general TV personality, who decided, for unknown reasons, to record an album of instrumental prog in 1978 called Quinta Dimensione; I've checked, and yes, it's the same guy. It's subtitled 'ESP Music' on the sleeve, which may indicate that he intended it to be used for mildly supernatural purposes, thus the slightly 'out there' style, certainly for '78, by which time most things musically interesting were being replaced by things musically dull (er, didn't the same thing happen at the end of the '60s?). Anyway, it's a surprisingly reasonable effort, all things considered, although it does slip into Cheese Mode every now and again; I still can't work out, though - what made him record this?
It seems that the original LP was a ten-track affair, resequenced and bumped up to eighteen for the CD; more importantly, it seems that Binarelli's (sole?) contribution, his spoken-word passages, have been removed (for shame!), so expect a re-review should I ever find a an original. Marco Grasso plays Mellotron, with choirs and strings on ESP, Oxigen, Heat, bonus track ESP (Definitiva) and Messaggio dell'Inconscio, plus choirs on bonuses Pause and Quinta Armonia and original tracks Life and Space, making for a surprisingly Mellotron-heavy effort from the late '70s, not to mention in such an unusual setting.
Do you buy this? Yes for Italian prog completists (you've got a job on your hands, chaps), or people who just can't get enough Mellotron choir. The rest of us? It's certainly unusual, with some really nice moments, but the larger part of it slips by without really making much of an impression. I really need to hear this with Binarelli's original narration...
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Rose Kennedy (2001, 52.10) ***/TT½ |
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| Novembre Toute L'Année Les Roses Et Les Promesses Les Cerfs-Volants La Mélodie Du Bonheur L'Observatoire La Monotonie Soixante-Douze Trombones Avant la Grande Parade |
Los Angeles La Palmeraie Rose Kennedy Sous le Soleil du Mois d'Août Les Joggers sur la Plage Un Eté sur la Côte La Dernière Heure du Dernier Jour |
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Benjamin Biolay's debut album, Rose Kennedy, sounds (to my cloth ears) like a hommage to France's most notorious chansonnier, Serge Gainsbourg's L'Histoire de Melody Nelson, not that I've ever actually heard said album, but I'm sure you get the idea. Heavily influenced by French chanson, this is an album out of time, despite the occasional jarring inclusion of modern beats; the cover shot alone, of Biolay smoking on a deserted promenade (looks like Southend, but almost certainly isn't), with Photoshopped-in creases, looks exactly like something you'd find at the bottom of the pile in your local charity shop. For what it's worth, Rose Kennedy has stacks of built-in cool, possibly more likely to appeal to non-French speakers, as even French sounds exotic if you don't speak it (says someone who 'learnt' it for several years and STILL can't speak it).
Biolay plays both Mellotron and Chamberlin, while Yannick Fonderie chips in on 'Tron, too, but due to the album's considerable use of real strings, it's hard to tell where they might've been used. Obvious use is the flutes and choirs on Les Cerfs-Volants and Les Joggers Sur La Plage (hey, even I can translate that!) and the flutes on La Palmeraie, while the strings on the title track are likely to be Chamby, too.
So; retro-French faux-MOR, anyone? This is the kind of music inextricably linked with Gitanes and lung cancer, which is never a selling point around these parts. If you're really looking for that kind of Left Bank cool, go to source and listen to Gainsbourg. Saying that, this is perfectly good at what it does, it just doesn't grab me in any way whatsoever. Passable tape-replay use, but not really worth it for that alone.
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Transparent Make-Believe (2003, 47.47) ****/TTT |
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| Farewell & Godspeed King of Cabbages Callous Affair With Lady Godiva Insect Religion The Looking Glass Old Witch Dimension 5 Madeline |
Sympathy for the Swine Galileo's Son Time Machine |
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E(i)ther Or (2008, 48.55) ****/TTTT |
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| Day in the Life of a Raincloud Transparent Make-Believe Cucumbersome Technicolor Autumn & Spring Karmic Engines Mouth of Lions Father Time He Wastes it Hallelujah |
Fell Right Out of Bed The Golden Era Spiraling Staircase Jane Jubilee |
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Bipolaroid are a modern psych outfit who sound more like Syd's Floyd than, say the Elephant 6 collective, or the whacked-out, 13th Floor Elevators-style stuff that plenty of lazy bands see as a way to psych credibility in the 21st century. 2003's Transparent Make-Believe appears to be their first album, and what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in bravado, fearlessly going where no-one (OK, not that many) has gone since, well, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, I suppose. Ben Glover's vocals are limited, especially his mutterings on Dimension 5 and Time Machine, although overall, the material's great, even if you think you might have heard some of it before. Best tracks? Opening Astronomy Domine soundalike Farewell & Godspeed and closing psych epic Time Machine, probably, but in truth, there's not a bad track to be heard. Plenty of Mellotron from Benjamin Sumner, with flutes on King Of Cabbages, alongside real strings, with a nicely upfront string part on the excellently-named Insect Religion (shades of Bill Bailey, for UK readers). A lovely flute part on The Looking Glass and solo strings opening closer Time Machine and throughout, phased at the end, make this a bit of a Mellotron winner, and at the risk of making a twat of myself, it sounds as real as you like, too. Why can't there be more albums like this?
It took Glover five years to get another Bipolaroid lineup together and release a new album, but E(i)ther Or (Elliott Smith homage?) has been worth the wait. Pretty much as good as its predecessor, it features a panoply of psych styles, albeit mainly British ones, top tracks including tripped-out opener Day In The Life Of A Raincloud and the frantic Karmic Engines, but there's little here that lets the side down. Strangely, closer Jane Jubilee ends the album rather limply, although it would probably stand up perfectly well on any lesser record. Stacks of Mellotron this time round; the strings on Day In The Life Of A Raincloud are completely outclassed by the full-on ones on Transparent Make-Believe (a new addition to the small list of 'album's title tracks actually found on its follow-up'), with flute and string parts on Technicolor Autumn & Spring. The breakdown in the middle of Karmic Engines is filled with 'Tron strings, displaying fine use of the 'Mellotron ripple': working your way round the inversions of a chord to sustain it (sometimes way) past its eight-second limit, while Mouth Of Lions features flutes and strings through its entire length. There are background choirs, for the first time, on Hallelujah and Fell Right Out Of Bed, plus strings on the latter, with an actual flute solo in Spiraling Staircase, among the remainder of the album's 'Tron work. Wonderful.
All in all, then, two very nice little modern psych albums with plenty of Mellotron delights. OK, so they sound like the Floyd, so where's the problem? Unoriginality? Everything's unoriginal now. Stop moaning.
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Some Dusty (1999, 34.41/40.52) ***½/TT |
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| Laugh Dusty Morning Let Her Go One Two Five Lazy Day Folk Singer Port Sunlight Blue Dress |
Linus I Can't Let Go [Bonus tracks: She Can't Lose Thanks for the Birthday Card] |
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Triple Echo (2001, 35.04) ***½/TT |
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| The Original Strand Such a Sound Rosie's Drugstore Sidewalk Poster Blue Eyed Son Silver Line Twin I Love You |
Monday Hammond Blue Eyed Son (Reprise) Coda |
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Reverb Deluxe (2002, 33.16) ***/T½ |
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| Such a Sound Please Rain Fall Send and Receive Silver Line (Reprise) Golden Image Natural Star Lift Up the Sun Shipwrecked |
Thirty Dollar Drum Theme From Tired Linus (Version) |
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Birdie are (or were) the British duo of Deborah ('Debsey') Wykes and Paul Kelly, both associates of Saint Etienne, so it's hardly surprising that their sound echoes the Etienne crew's '60s pop/girl group sound. They debuted with 1999's Some Dusty, an album so wonderfully out of time that, apart from the clean production, it could quite easily be mistaken for a lost mid-'60s obscurity. The songwriting's good, if not jaw-dropping, although Dusty Morning features a beautiful, unexpected chord change. To my knowledge, all the band's album's were recorded in a little studio in Walthamstow and utilise r.m.i.'s Duncan Goddard's M400, complete with its 8+ tape frames. What we get here (from Wykes) is high strings on Dusty Morning, wavery flutes on Let Her Go and Lazy Day (the latter alongside real strings), although you feel it could've been used a little more.
Their follow-up, Triple Echo, carries on in the same vein as their debut, in a sort of French-easy-listening-via-'60s-film-score stylee, all played by Englishmen (and woman). Birdie's lounge lizardry walks the fine line between knowing irony and genuine homage, to the point where you wouldn't turn a hair if you heard these songs used in a retro/'60s film. Or a genuine one, for that matter, as the band's sound is firmly rooted in that decade, with no obvious modern instrumentation at all; the CD booklet even features lovingly-shot snaps of vintage amps, guitars, haircuts etc. Wykes plays all the Wurly piano and Mellotron parts, with 'Tron flutes on Such A Sound, Coda and Poster, with extra cellos on the latter, leaving Blue Eyed Son (Reprise) as the odd man out, with something I can't readily identify, though it may be one of the MkII sax sounds on M400 tapes.
There seems to be some debate over exactly when Reverb Deluxe was released; 2002 seems to be the nearest we get to a consensus. It essentially follows on from its two predecessors, although the fun seems to have gone out of it slightly, which may explain why it appears to be their last album. Wykes adds Mellotron to a mere two tracks this time, with most full-on strings on Silver Line (Reprise) and Lift Up The Sun, making a never-too-late entry into the Mellotron Strings Stakes.
So; while not 'Tron albums per se, Birdie's use is really nice, as is the music, to be honest, although these aren't exactly ones for your prog obsessive. Buy according to taste.
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Super Natural (1973, 36.42) ***½/½ |
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| Rising Sign (Funky) Rising Sign (Climax) If I Ever Any Color Flow Thru My Heart Turn Around Hate (Communicate) I Love You Michelle Down on the Beat |
Tune From Callicoon Last Exit Before the Toll |
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Dance of Survival (1975, 35.35) ***½/TTDance of SurvivalPossessed (Take the Evil Spirits Away) Something Ain't Right (Gotta Go Home) What's Your Sign? Night of the Full Moon Your Smile Gave Birth to My Idea Astral Walk |
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Edwin Birdsong seems to be a slightly shadowy figure on the US '70s funk scene, releasing odd albums in a sporadic manner, though, of course, this makes him far more interesting than the usual run-of-the-mill funkster. 1973's Super Natural was his second release, sounding like the bastard child of James Brown and Funkadelic, with huge helpings of Hendrix thrown in, making for a highly listenable rock/funk hybrid. There really isn't a bad track on the album, opener Rising Sign (Funky), Any Color and Flow Thru My Heart particularly standing out, with hardly any 'typical' soul of the period. Birdsong (is that really his name?) plays Mellotron, amongst other instruments (he had proper musical training, which explains a lot), with background strings on If I Ever, I Love You Michelle and Tune From Callicoon, although you'd barely know if it wasn't credited.
'75's Dance of Survival is another synth-led, post-psychedelic groove machine, getting even my terminally un-funky foot tapping, though those fat Moog lines help with my appreciation, I have to admit... Birdsong, apart from his fantastic full-on blaxploitation vocals, plays all manner of keys, including the ubiquitous clavinet (What's Your Sign?), the fattest MiniMoog ever (Possessed (Take The Evil Spirits Away)) and, of course, Mellotron. It's rather difficult to tell where the 'Tron appears for the first half of the album; I presume it provides the strings on the title track and Something Ain't Right (Gotta Go Home), although it sounds more like string synth. Side two's a different matter, though; Night Of The Full Moon and Your Smile Gave Birth To My Idea, are upfront 'Tron-a-go-go, with chordal string parts swamping the mix, almost drowning out the gospel-inflected backing vocalists, making this a little more of a 'Tron album than I'd at first thought.
So; you'll need to have a modicum of funk in your soul to enjoy these (rather surprising that I do, then), but there's some great keyboard work on both and the songs aren't bad. Pair of lost gems, actually, surely ripe for sampling, assuming they haven't been already (like, how would I know?). Decent 'Tron on two tracks on Dance of Survival, but don't pay a fortune.
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Enfants d'Hiver (2008, 44.30) ***/½ |
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| Prends Cette Main Période Bleue À la Grâce de Toi Madame Oh Comment Ça Va? Maison Étoilée 14 Février Enfants d'Hiver |
Il Fait Nuit Pourquoi Aung San Suu Kyi Je Suis au Bord de ta Fenêtre |
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I may list Jane Birkin as being British, but she's lived in France since the late '60s and is now, to all intents and purposes, a French artist(e). She'll never escape the notoriety of her infamous duet with Serge Gainsbourg, Je T'Aime... Moi Non-Plus, but nearly twenty years after his Gitanes-assisted death, she continues to record, releasing albums like 2008's really rather good Enfants d'Hiver. It's basically a French singer-songwriter effort, with little sign of Birkin's past life over the Channel, falling into the same general category as, say, French first lady Carla Bruni's work, albeit with considerably more gravitas, notably on the English-language Aung San Suu Kyi, where Birkin gets righteously political.
Fred (Frédéric) Maggi is credited with Mellotron on Période Bleue, but the otherwise uncredited solo violin line running through the song doesn't sound like any Mellotron I've ever heard (and I've heard a few, I can tell you). Still, innocent until proven guilty, eh? Overall, then, a quietly beautiful album for those who appreciate (honorary) French female chansonniers; as far as that Mellotron goes, this stays here until/if I should find out otherwise.
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A Message From Birmingham Sunday (1968, 26.59) ***½/TTTT |
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| Egocentrick Solitude Wondering What to Feel Prevalent Visionaries You're Out of Line Medieval Journey Mr. Waters (The Judge) Fate and the Magician Peter Pan Revisited |
Time to Land Don't Turn Around |
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Apparently only ever released as a test pressing, a handful of original copies of A Message From Birmingham Sunday are in existence, making the odd volume fluctuation on the reissues a smaller deal than they might otherwise have been. I don't know anything about the band at all; in fact, all I can tell you about this is that it's fairly typical West Coast harmony pop with male/female vocals, operating at the lighter end of the Jefferson Airplane. Oh, and the Mellotron. Or, given the time, the Chamberlin, which seems far more likely in California in 1968.
This album is absolutely smothered in Chamberlin strings; almost every track features a strong presence. I'm sure it was only used as a cheap string section substitute, with the unintended result that, nearly 40 years on, it can be regarded as a bona fide Chamby classic, even if it's a bit lightweight musically. So; a pleasant enough record (if a little bit wet), very much of its time, but shedloads of Chamby strings, often played quite innovatively, clearly in an attempt to emulate real strings rather than the usual 'block chord' organist's approach. If that's what you're after, buy.
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Rebirth (1973, 38.15) ***/T½She's Got Nothing on YouMister Hero Grandjeanville No Shade is Real M.P.C. Together Alone Tonight Back From Hell |
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Plastic People (1975, 43.39) ***½/TPlastic PeopleRockin' Rollin' Roller My Mind Tiny Flashlights Trial Trip This Song is Just for You |
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Birthcontrol (or Birth Control) were, at least going by their early material, one of those bands who seem to have ended up being labelled 'prog' without really being anything of the sort. Going by '73's Rebirth and the following year's double Live, they were more in the organ-driven hard rock vein, with some material stretching past the five-minute mark; think 'sort of a Teutonic Uriah Heep'. Their two guitar and keys lineup allowed for some interesting instrumental interplay on occasion; in fact, their keyboard player, Zeus B. Held (are you sure?!) went on to be a big-name producer in the eighties. It's interesting to hear that the man can actually play, with several ripping Hammond solos scattered throughout the album.
The actual material on offer here is quite ordinary fare, to be honest; several over-long boogie workouts that were probably more fun to record than they are to listen to, and an entirely unnecessary drum solo, complete with 'Moog drum' in album closer Back From Hell. It's not all bad news, though, with the beautiful 12-string guitar instrumental Grandjeanville, the instrumental ballad M.P.C. and the epic Together Alone Tonight. The latter two are the only Mellotron tracks here; M.P.C. has flutes and strings, and there's some more strings buried in the mix on Together Alone Tonight. Strangely, Herr Held is credited with, apart from 'Mellotrone' (sic), 'flute' on M.P.C. (straight quote). It's fairly obviously Mellotron; why make a point of mentioning it?
Two years on, however, Birthcontrol had discovered prog for real, making Plastic People a far better proposition. It still has its weak moments (unsurprisingly, Rockin' Rollin' Roller and This Song Is Just For You are among them), but overall, this is a band who've learnt how to write an intricate arrangement without sacrificing their ability to, er, 'rock'. No 'Tron until side two, with choirs from Held on Tiny Flashlights and brass, unusually, on Trial Trip.
Anyway, Rebirth is not bad, not great, although Plastic People is a noticeable improvement. The Mellotron use is OK, but not really worth buying either of them for.
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Time for Answers (2005, 31.54) ***½/½ |
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| You're Everywhere Her Big Man Mike Hammer's Casting Guy Shuffle Rust Colours My Dreams/Loaded (Can't Stand to) See You Crying Rage Song Left Behind Wendy's House |
R'n'R Exile She Got Me Bad Time for Answers [Hidden Track] |
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If you didn't know better, going by the evidence on 2005's Time for Answers, you'd have no idea that Spain's Biscuit weren't America's latest garage/powerpop sensation, so accurate is their homage. The album is all American accents and raw guitar jangle, best heard on opener You're Everywhere, the punky Her Big Man, The Georgia Satellites on heat of She Got Me Bad and the powerpop gem otherwise known as the title track.
Santi Garcia is credited with Mellotron, but the background strings on You're Everywhere could be just about anything, although since they're not actually completely identifiable as samples, this will have to stay here until/if I find otherwise. The presence of Mellotronic sounds are fairly irrelevant, actually; this is a prime example of how to get it right in the world of powerpop. Well worth hearing.
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Nights at the Circus (2007, 45.42) ***/½ |
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| Nights at the Circus Magus I am You The Swan Grandmother's Floor Never Seen Your Face Nightbus After the Party |
Vicious Stories Broken Creatures On My Own Again Namaste |
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Bishnu "Bishi" Priya is a London-based musician who successfully combines influences from her ancestral home and her actual one on her debut album, 2007's Nights at the Circus, with various Indian and British forms jostling for space; well, when was the last time you heard harp and sitar on the same track? The overall effect, given that this is essentially pop music, is really rather good, knocking seven shades of unholy shit out of the identikit so-called 'r'n'b' nonsense that infests our airwaves like a particularly virulent virus.
Bishi plays the (real?) Mellotron herself, with a short flute part on Never Seen Your Face, although the strings sound fairly generic. If you're looking for something a little different in the female-fronted line, Bishi's album may just fit the bill; you're not going to buy it for its Mellotron use, but that's pretty par for the course, really.
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Uncivilized Love (2003, 42.23) **/T |
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| Cadillac Tears Dry Kisses When You Go 12345 City Life Violent Rain Paranoid Over a Great Wall |
Catch Your Breath Debut Never Before Our Time Despacio Uncivilized Love |
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Gus Black (originally just Gus) is an LA-based indie singer-songwriter whose work has, to my complete lack of surprise, been used on TV shows of the Grey's Anatomy variety. I haven't heard his two Gus albums from the '90s, both featuring Mellotron or Chamberlin use, but 2003's Uncivilized Love really is the drippiest load of old tosh I've heard since, well, the last one. The title track is a passable enough acoustic number, but the bulk of the record wusses along with the best (or worst) of 'em; welcome to the mainstream, boys'n'girls. Is there a standout track? Yes, actually: the surreal, acoustic version of Black Sabbath's Paranoid, last verse taken almost a capella, which really has to be heard to be believed.
Black plays Mellotron, with a flute melody and a string line on Dry Kisses, flute chords on Debut and strings on Despacio, assuming it's real, which it quite possibly isn't. It'd be nice if Black's two earlier relevant albums weren't as bad as this, but I'm not holding out too much hope.
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Reverence for Fallen Trees (2009, 34.52/44.15) ***½/T (T½) |
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| Baiulus Fragile Meadow Heirloom An Ocean and Peril Old, Dim Light Walked-on Wood Dandelion |
Madagascar Reverence for Fallen Trees I Shall Cross This River [Reissue adds: Ella Walked-on Wood (2011 version)] |
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Darkling, I Listen (2012, 23.25) ***½/TTT½The Aftermath (of This Unfortunate Event)The Flooded Road (Built on Sand) Darkling, I Listen An Archer, a Dancer Quiet, Humble Man |
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Groningen's The Black Atlantic sit somewhere in between that rather American form of haunted, ghostly folk-influenced style and the quieter end of modern indie (Fleet Foxes are a vague reference point), with hints of Sigur Rós' superior post-rock thrown in for good measure.
Their debut, 2009's Reverence for Fallen Trees, opens with Baiulus, a piano-and-massed vocal piece featuring faint echoes of The Beach Boys's Our Prayer, following with another drumless track, Fragile Meadow. I have to say, I actually prefer the tracks where they lock the drummer in a cupboard, particularly the mandolin-fuelled Dandelion; the Sigur Rós comparison especially rears its head on the bonus re-recorded version of Walked-On Wood, but is a constant subliminal companion throughout the record. Matthijs Herder (Oceana Company, several Colossus Project albums) adds Mellotron flutes and strings to Madagascar, with gentle flutes and choirs on bonus track Ella, making this a relatively low-priority Mellotron album, more worth hearing for the actual music.
2012's Darkling, I Listen EP carries on the good work, paring their writing down to the essentials, possibly making a better record than its predecessor in the process. Highlights include the title track and An Archer, A Dancer, but there's no dead wood here whatsoever. Herder adds Mellotron strings to The Flooded Road (Built On Sand) and the title track, with a major part, ever so slightly reminiscent of Genesis' iconic Watcher Of The Skies, on the latter. We also get flutes, strings and choirs on An Archer, A Dancer and flutes and strings on closer Quiet, Humble Man, making for a most satisfying listen all round, I have to say.
The Black Atlantic are really rather good at what they do, I have to say, particularly on Darkling, I Listen, easily the better Mellotronic release of the two. Recordings of an intermittent, quiet beauty that should appeal to lovers of the gentler end of things, then. Recommended.
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Black Bonzo [a.k.a. Lady of the Light] (2004, 58.28) ****/TTT |
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| Lady of the Light Brave Young Soldier These Are Days of Sorrow New Day Intermission Fantasy World Freedom Sirens |
Jailbait Leave Your Burdens Where the River Meets the Sea |
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Sound of the Apocalypse (2007, 54.03) ****½/TTTTThorns Upon a CrownGiant Games Yesterday's Friends The Well Intermission - Revelation Song Ageless Door Iscariot Sound of the Apocalypse |
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Operation Manual: the Guillotine Model Drama (2009, 49.34) ****/TGuillotine DramaBecause I Love You Zephyr Sudden Changer War Machine How Do You Feel? Tell Me the Truth Nest of Vipers Supersonic Man |
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You think you've heard retro? You ain't heard nothing yet... Black Bonzo are a seriously authentic early-'70s sounding outfit from northern Sweden, apparently, and are, to all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from any lower-division heavy/progressive band from, say, 1972, with one important difference; they're excellent. Not to diss the likes of Gracious! or Stray, say, but these guys don't let the quality slip, or meander off into soft-rock territory. Their debut, Black Bonzo (a.k.a. Lady of the Light)'s erstwhile title track Lady Of The Light starts fairly generically, before suddenly mutating into Uriah Heep's Easy Livin' with added Mellotron, stretching the whole thing out to seven minutes, complete with piano interlude. One online reviewer has pointed out that this is probably the album's high point, but that isn't to say the rest of it isn't pretty good, too, just possibly not quite up there with the opener. Incidentally, they invoke the spirit of Heep again on New Day, which sounds like Stealin' this time.
Apart from the Hammond and synth (Moog?), Nicklas Åhlund gets a fair bit of 'Tron onto the album, with intermittent strings on Lady Of The Light and Brave Young Soldier, and a typical 'Strawberry Fields'-style flute part plus strings on Fantasy World. The other highlighted tracks all feature strings to one degree or another, with a beautifully lush part on Leave Your Burdens. Åhlund's work stands out for its restraint, with few of the relevant tracks having more than a few seconds of 'Tron here and there, fading in and out where necessary.
Their second effort, 2007's Sound of the Apocalypse, opens with a multi-overdubbed portamento-laden monosynth part worthy of Rick Wakeman's No Earthly Connection, with the essential difference that it's not the only thing on the album worth hearing. In fact, Black Bonzo have seriously raised their game here, making an album that sounds far more like themselves than Uriah Heep, or anyone else for that matter. This is seriously good stuff, from the two-minute Intermission - Revelation Song to the 13 minutes of the closing title track, with a proggier and more original feel than before, although their spiritual forbears are still the early '70s hard rock bands, rather than the progressive ones.
Mellotronically speaking, Thorns Upon A Crown features no 'Tron at all until a brief choir part right at the end of the song, although Giant Games ups the ante with a considerable string and flute presence. A flute melody duels with acoustic guitar on Yesterday's Friends, with more strings and choir on The Well. Now: confusion. Ageless Door has a 'stabbed' string part played in fifths that sounds both like and not like a Mellotron, with more of the same sound on Iscariot. Is this a different string sound? One of the new ones? No way of saying for certain, but it seems more likely to be a 'Tron than not.
2009's oddly-titled Operation Manual: the Guillotine Model Drama is more diverse than its predecessors, although Heep still play a large part in its sound. Somehow, it seems a little less exciting than Sound of the Apocalypse, although it still knocks the socks off most current bands. This lot should tour with Bigelf, thinking about it. Strangely, the Mellotron is hardly anywhere to be seen this time round, with naught but strings on opener Guillotine Drama and Nest Of Vipers, with real strings on a couple of other tracks.
So; three albums for retrohounds everywhere. Uriah Heep are probably Black Bonzo's chief influence, at least on their debut, but anyone who can't get enough of that turn-of-the-'70s Hammond-driven sound should buy these immediately. Decent 'Tron work, too. Buy.
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Monkey Business (2005, 66.03) **½/T |
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| Pump it Don't Phunk With My Heart My Style Don't Lie My Humps Like That Dum Diddly Feel it |
Gone Going They Don't Want Music Disco Club Bebot Ba Bump Audio Delite at Low Fidelity Union |
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The Black Eyed Peas are apparently relatively unusual in the hip-hop world, refusing to conform on various fronts, although to the casual listener, hip-hop it remains. Their fourth album, 2005's Monkey Business, manages to mix serious lyrical concerns with the puerile My Humps, sung by female member Fergie, although she could be said to be making a stand against endemic male sexism. Maybe. Musically, a handful of tracks are more adventurous than the average, although the majority are the same old same old, I'm afraid.
A gentleman calling himself Printz Board, for some reason, plays what sounds like real Mellotron on Don't Phunk With My Heart, with string and flute stabs, ending with a weird little choir melody that I can't imagine anyone else in the hip-hop world going anywhere near. Anyway, one so-so 'Tron track, and for all its invention, the album's still hip-hop. I shan't be playing this again.
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Alive Without Control (2005, 44.23) ***/T |
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| Three Sheets to the Wind Last Call at the Toothless Saloon Alive Without Control Darkest Corners Mirrorman Studio Suffering Third World U.S.A. Tight |
Broken Exit Stagefright Burning Trash Unchanged I Need to Know |
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The Black Halos hail from Vancouver and play punk bloody rock mate as it was, is and evermore shall be. Actually, they make a pretty decent noise, not entirely locked in the past, with real, unfettered energy, unlike absolutely anything that could be described as 'indie', however much they protest to the contrary. Alive Without Control is their third album and rocks along nicely, although Billy Hopeless (stop laughing)'s vocals do grate somewhat. Best track? Probably Broken, with its churning, high-energy riff, although nothing here's going to irritate the seasoned punk fan.
Jason Staczek plays occasional piano, Hammond and Mellotron, the latter on Tight, which opens with some very authentic-sounding solo cellos, before the track shifts into the band's usual gear. A lot of you aren't going to like this at all, and I'm not sure how often I could listen to it, to be honest, but it does what it says on the tin, and one decent 'Tron intro's a lot better than none. Incidentally, for the handful of you who haven't noticed, their label name is a joke that was old when the mighty Blackfoot used it in a lyric in, ooh, 1981 or so.
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Softly Towards the Light (2009, 38.14) ***½/TT½ |
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| Run With Me Run Gloomy Monday Morning When You're Not There Everything's Fine Number Ten Girl Lead Me to Your Fire Let Me Be the One Can't Stop These Tears (From Falling) |
How Did We Get Here Don't Be Afraid to Ask |
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The cheekily-named Black Hollies wear their sole influence quite clearly on their velvet-jacketed sleeves: what Americans call the 'British Invasion'. Softly Towards the Light is an album of stunning unoriginality, although it's also an album of fun, good quality songs that do absolutely nothing to offend anyone who loves the just-pre-psych era as much as The Black Hollies. They're got all the right moves: Farfisa organ? Check. Yardbirds harmonies? Check. Corduroy caps? Check. There isn't a bad track on the album, but nor is there one you don't feel you've heard many times before, The Yardbirds' For Your Love obviously being a band touchstone. The most blatant steal is probably on Lead Me To Your Fire, and then more for its lyrical reference to coming on down from the 13th floor (Roky who?) than any specific musical quirk.
Jon Gonnelli and Justin Morey both play Mellotron, a rare glitch in their homage, as few bands of the era hit it this hard, with a very real-sounding flute melody, complete with key-click, towards the end of opener Run With Me Run, string chords on Gloomy Monday Morning and How Did We Get Here and a faint flute line in Everything's Fine. As on so many records, it may be hidden away on another track or two, but it's rather hard to tell. So; fun but deeply unoriginal. And how, precisely, it that any different to most of the music from the last decade or two? The fun bit, chiefly.
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Brothers (2010, 55.28) ***½/TT |
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| Everlasting Light Next Girl Tighten Up Howlin' for You She's Long Gone Black Mud The Only One Too Afraid to Love You |
Ten Cent Pistol Sinister Kid The Go Getter I'm Not the One Unknown Brother Never Gonna Give You Up These Days |
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I'll openly admit I've never heard The Black Keys before, the limit of my knowledge being that they're from Devo's hometown, Akron, Ohio and they're a bassless duo, à la The White Stripes, only without their image-consciousness and with a drummer (specifically, Patrick Carney) who can play, the other half of the partnership being guitarist Dan Auerbach.
Ignoring EPs and the previous year's Blakroc collaboration, 2010's Brothers is their seventh album proper, forged in the heat of a Brooklyn summer and at the legendary Muscle Shoals in Alabama. The duo are clearly exceedingly well-versed in all aspects of ye olde rock'n'roll, no two tracks of its fifteen sounding alike, while all fitting into an r'n'b/soul groove with a slight hip-hop edge to the vocals, with other influences dipping in and out as required. The most surprising of these is '70s glam rock, several tracks, not least opener Everlasting Light, sounding like dead-ringers for T. Rex.
Auerbach refers in an online interview to having bought a Mellotron, transporting it to Muscle Shoals for the recording, utilising it on Next Girl, (faint choirs under sustained guitar), The Only One, I'm Not The One and Never Gonna Give You Up (strings), alongside the harpsichord they inadvertently persuaded their manager to locate. Anyway, despite sitting slightly outside my comfort zone, Brothers is good enough to transcend the usual barriers to acceptance, making for a most satisfying listen, merely enhanced by its Mellotron use. Worth hearing.
See: Dan Auerbach
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Shot to Hell (2006, 44.04) ***/TT |
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| Concrete Jungle Black Mass Reverends Blacked Out World The Last Goodbye Give Yourself to Me Nothing's the Same Hell is High New Religion |
Sick of it All Faith is Blind Blood is Thicker Than Water Devil's Dime Lead Me to Your Door |
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Zakk Wylde (that's Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt to you) got the gig with Ozzy Osbourne in the late '80s, keeping it to this day, although it's hardly what you'd call the most full-time post these days. As a result, Zakk has plenty of time to run his own outfit, Black Label Society, which seems to be as much a beer, barbecues and bike club as a band. Going by their seventh studio album, 2006's Shot to Hell, Zakk appreciates that sometimes you need to slow things down a bit, although the bulk of the album's made up of Ozzyesque metal with a bit of Sabbath thrown in for good measure. The first half of New Religion surprises, being a piano-and-orchestration instrumental before the guitars cut in, while Nothing's The Same and Sick Of It All pile on the piano and (relatively) sensitive vocals, but don't make the mistake of thinking Zakk's gone soft on us, er, so to speak.
I've seen both Wylde and producer Michael Beinhorn credited with playing the latter's M400 on the album, so I'm not sure which credit's more accurate. Quite possibly both. Anyway, someone plays strings on Nothing's The Same, a flute intro on New Religion, flutes on Sick Of It All over the synth strings and another flute melody on closer Lead Me To Your Door, which is vastly more than I'd expected. Overall, then, a modern metal album with retro touches and some quiet bits laced with Mellotron. Does that sum this up sufficiently?
See: Ozzy Osbourne
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Dandelion Gum (2007, 46.42) ***/TTTT |
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| Forever Heavy Jump Into My Mouth and Breathe the Stardust Melt Me Lollipopsichord They Live in the Meadow Sun Lips Rollerdisco Neon Syrup for the Cemetery Sisters The Afternoon Turns Pink |
When the Sun Grows on Your Tongue Spinning Cotton Candy in a Shack Made of Shingles Drippy Eye Lost, Picking Flowers in the Woods Caterpillar House Wall of Gum Untitled Roadside Demo Untitled |
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Black Moth Super Rainbow are usually referred to as a 'psychedelic' band, but their fourth album, 2007's Dandelion Gum, is more 'indie psychedelic electronica' than anything else, with programmed beats and (presumably real) analogue synths all over the place. Mostly instrumental, the album has its more acoustic moments, but those looking for a 'typical' psych outfit should probably look elsewhere.
There are uncredited Mellotron flutes on most tracks; interestingly, the band's Wikipedia entry mentions that they use a Novatron, so although it sounds too smooth to be genuine, it seems unlikely that anybody would bother going to that level of detail when they merely mean Mellotron samples. Anyway, particularly heavy use on Sun Lips, The Afternoon Turns Pink and When The Sun Grows On Your Tongue, assuming it's real.
So; plenty of Mellotron, albeit only flutes, on an album that seems largely devoid of boring stuff like tunes. In fact, what little melody gets through is largely from the Mellotron... The band's frontman, Tobacco (hey! Good name!), has released a handful of solo albums, including one with Mellotron inclusions, assuming (again) it isn't sampled.
See: Tobacco
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Black Mountain (2005, 46.31) ***½/T½Modern MusicDon't Run Our Hearts Around Druganaut No Satisfaction Set Us Free No Hits Heart of Snow Faulty Times |
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In the Future (2008, 57.16/72.22) ****/TTTT |
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| Stormy High Angels Tyrants Wucan Stay Free Queens Will Play Evil Ways Wild Wind |
Bright Lights Night Walks [Limited ed. adds: Bastards of Light Thirteen Walls Black Cat] |
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Wilderness Heart (2010, 42.49) ****/TTT½ |
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| The Hair Song Old Fangs Radiant Hearts Rollercoaster Let Spirits Ride Buried By the Blues The Way to Gone Wilderness Heart |
The Space of Your Mind Sadie |
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Black Mountain are a funny old mixture; usually described as 'psychedelic', on their eponymous 2005 debut, they actually mix early-'70s hard rock (notably on Don't Run Our Hearts Around) with various strains of late-'60s psych, including that weird 'folk collective' style (think: massed vocals from both genders, sometimes with a vaguely gospel feel), with hints of late-'70s Noo Yawk noo wave and modern indie, to mostly good effect. The band are known to own a real Mellotron (actually a Novatron), but for all their championing of it, there's not actually that much to be heard on Black Mountain, with background choirs on Set Us Free (as it kicks off) and a flute part on Heart Of Snow, probably from Jeremy Schmidt; the strings are either an old string synth or a modern emulation, by the sounds of it.
It took the band three years to follow up with In the Future, chucking out most of its predecessor's foibles in the process, making it a more straightforward and cohesive release. It's unlike me to praise a limiting of horizons, but it's actually a better record for being more focussed. They've seriously made up for their debut's failings on the 'Tron front (Schmidt again?), and how, with strings and choirs on opener Stormy High, nicely upfront string and flute melodies in Angels, strings, flutes and choirs on the epic Tyrants... Wucan's strings are certainly wobbly enough to be real, while Stay Free features the first appearance of a second tape frame and cellos, with more choirs on Queens Will Play and Wild Wind and a return to that second frame for the brass on the 16-minute Bright Lights. A limited edition version of the album adds rather good three tracks to a second disc, two from a limited-edition 12". Bastards Of Light features a 'Tron flute part, with more of the same, plus choirs, on Thirteen Walls.
2010's Wilderness Heart delves even further into the past for its inspiration, sounding like a more psychedelic Sabbath in places; the stupendously rocking Let Spirits Ride could almost be a Heaven & Hell outtake, while the seriously Zep-esque The Hair Song and Old Fangs help to keep the standard up. Nearly as much Mellotron as last time round, with semi-Arabic scale strings on The Hair Song, more strings on Old Fangs, something unidentifiable, yet clearly Mellotronic, on Rollercoaster, background choirs on Let Spirits Ride, another major string part on Buried By The Blues, strings and near-solo choirs on the title track with more of the same on closer Sadie to finish things off nicely.
All in all, then, if you prefer waffly indie/psych with the odd hard rock interjection, go for Black Mountain's debut, but if you're of a hairier persuasion, In the Future and Wilderness Heart are yer men. As for their Mellotronic content, as you can see from their ratings, there's absolutely no contest.
See: Sinoia Caves
Black Sabbath (UK) see: |
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Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse (2009, 91.22) ***/TT½ErnestoProtest-Underground Che Underground Resistance Leila Khaled Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse |
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Black Sheep at the BBC (2009, 34.16) ***/½Bank of EnglandNot Happy Vachel Lindsay The Doorway Character |
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Black Sheep are Julian Cope's latest band project, clearly based around the concept of resistance and revolution. Released in what appear to be two fairly different editions (CD and vinyl), 2009's double-CD Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse is, unsurprisingly, longer, with the title track nearing half an hour. Musically, it both sounds like 'typical Cope' and not, with lengthy jams intercut with chanted slogans and hand-thwacked bass drums. But are there any songs on it? I hear you cry. Er, not really, no, but then that isn't really what you buy Cope albums for, is it? Is it? Cope (credited, amusingly, as 'Julian H.') plays Mellotron M400 (and credited as such) on four of the six tracks, with harsh flutes and deliberately wobbly strings on Ernesto, complete with probably the roughest Mellotron pitchbend I've ever heard committed to virtual tape, although I can't hear the credited 'Tron on the relatively short Che (sound effects?). Leila Khaled starts with a Mellotron string line, switching between strings, reedy choir and flute before leaving the song to its strummed acoustic and wind effects, while the title track has a flute melody near the beginning, then bugger-all until a clicky repeating string line near the end of the behemoth.
The band recorded a BBC session at that organisation's famed Maida Vale studios on April 5th of that year, released as Black Sheep at the BBC, delivering four revolutionary tracts (sic) over the course of 35 minutes, with varying levels of musical success. Near-quarter-hour opener Bank Of England sees the band chanting 'bankers' (or something very similar) for its first few minutes, massed drums, rudimentary piano and guitar feedback filling out the sonic tapestry, while Not Happy, substitutes squalling synth for pretty much any other tuned instrumentation. Vachel Lindsay is a rough-hewn acoustic number, leaving the short, distorted synthscape of The Doorway Character (credited to Black Sheep Electronic Division) to finish things off. Cope adds Mellotron flute (?) chords to Vachel Lindsay, although that would appear to be your lot.
So; another day, another (two) Cope record(s), although these ones take a bit of a left turn, referencing the Black Panthers and (at least on the vinyl version of Kiss) the Baader-Meinhof Gang. Mellotronically speaking, the album proper actually features one really good effort (hurrah!), although it's a bit thin on the ground on the other credited tracks, while the BBC disc really isn't worth it for the Mellotron.
See: Julian Cope | Christophe F. | David Wrench
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Blackfish (1993, 45.24) **½/0 |
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| The Fall I Don't Care The Only One Easy as Saying Goodbye Turn Around If I Sweet Sixteen Down for the Count |
I Wanna Know Sugar Shack Check it Out Hey Julie I Believe in You |
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Blackfish were a one-off late-period hair metal band who had the sense on their sole, eponymous album, to play down the sub-Mötley Crüe-isms and dig out the acoustic guitars on a few tracks. The material on Blackfish is pretty unexciting all round, to be honest, and Down For The Count rips the riff from Rush's The Spirit Of Radio something rotten, while Sugar Shack cops Boston's Peace Of Mind. I wouldn't be surprised if other riffs had origins other than in their rehearsal room, but I'm not well-versed enough (or at all) in their contemporaries to know.
Sean Slade is credited with Mellotron, but I'll be buggered if I have any idea where. Is that the choirs? Nope, backing vox. Strings? Nope, E-bow guitar. Why bother? I mean, why? Lovers of commercial hard rock will probably go for this relatively obscure outing, but the rest of us can sit safely at home knowing that we're missing out on nothing.
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7" (1973) ***½/T Summer Morning Light |
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Nothing to Hide (1973, 36.05/53.32) ***½/0 (½) |
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| Messiah Country Home Cry My Oh My Now We're Three The Spring of '69 Glittery Obituary On His Own |
Too Soon Gypsy Jam [CD adds: Standing in the Road Celestial Plain Sing Don't Speak 2 B Free Summer] |
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Strangers (1977, recorded 1974, 37.34/48.14) ***/T½ |
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| Care to Believe Touch the Sky Shoot All Strangers Tobago Rose Nostalgia Ain't (What it Used to Be) Bye Bye Birmingham Join Together 1812 |
[CD adds: Morning Light Get it All to Me You Need Love] |
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Blackfoot Sue are remembered today, if at all, for their one-off UK hit, Standing In The Road, a 1972 no.4. Helmed by twins Tom and David Farmer, their 'classic' lineup included guitarists Eddie Golga and Alan Jones, all but Jones doubling on keyboards when required. Their official site mentions that they bought a Mellotron, but never took it on the road, in which case, why bother? Why not just hire one when you need it? Odd. Anyway, their third (non-album) single, Summer, is an atypically gentle number, sometimes referred to as being part of the 'Seasons Suite', although I can't trace any references to the longer work. It features a few Mellotron flute pitchbends for good measure, although it's some way off 'Mellotron classic' status.
They released their only album to appear during their 'lifespan', Nothing to Hide, in 1973, bullishly containing no singles, while featuring a vicious put-down of the then-current glam scene, Glittery Obituary. The album's peak, though, is the ripping The Spring Of '69, a condensed heavy epic on a par with the genre's market leaders. Although there's no Mellotron on the original record, it's the easiest place to find the aforementioned Summer, one of no fewer than five bonus tracks on Repertoire's mid-'90s CD issue, although, oddly, the track's ('Tron-free) b-side, the rather average Morning Light, has been added to their follow-up.
This unluckiest of band's said follow-up, Strangers, was recorded in 1974, but not released until '77, and then only in the States, just as the band were splitting up. The bulk of it comprises workaday hard rock-lite, until halfway through side two, when they suddenly lurch into an eleven-minute instrumental prog epic, 1812 (apparently a live fave), complete with musical quotes from Tchaikovsky's piece, church bells, cannon fire and a studio trickery-assisted lengthy Mellotron choir chord at the end. It's not the only 'Tron on the album; Joining Together, while not a great song, features a full-on strings part, although it does little to improve the track. As on Summer, no-one's credited, so it could be either of the Farmers or Golga.
Blackfoot Sue were, at heart, a hard rock band who never really gained enough audience credibility to break through commercially, despite some fine album tracks. As their site says, in the early '70s you were either a 'serious' album artist, or you had hits. They had a hit, cogito ergo sum. Or something. Although their first album's noticeably better than their second, it doesn't contain 1812, so if you really want to hear this lot properly, you're going to need both, as 1812 doesn't appear on any compilation (although, sensibly, The Spring Of '69 does). Incidentally, the band later morphed into Liner, a cheeso late-'70s mainstream band whose one, eponymous album is a classic 'record company record', i.e. the label loved it, but nobody bought it. Forget that, remember them this way.
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Le Long des Lignes (2005, 43.57) ***½/TT½ |
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| Les Aléas Tout se Dévoile Le Long des Lignes Si c'est Ici Se Perdre Je Respire Les Cimes Celui que tu Cherches |
Blâme Moi La Panne C'est là |
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Blanc seem to be a French indie outfit, although I know little about their history. Le Long des Lignes is an interesting effort, although I found some of it dragged a little, though not enough to really spoil the album. Several excellent tracks, though, including La Panne and the epic Je Respire, which has a wonderful cinematic feel to it. They recorded the album in Paris, then presumably sent the tapes (does anyone record on tape any more?) to Mattias "Änglagård" Olsson's Roth Händle studio in Stockholm for overdubs. As you do.
Doubtless amongst other things, Mattias added Mellotron to several tracks, with flutes on Les Aléas and various combinations of cellos and strings on the other highlighted tracks. Strangely, nothing on Je Respire, but most of his 'Tron work is typically upfront, with particularly fine strings on Celui Que Tu Cherches. It's perfectly possible that there's more 'Tron on there, considering some of the more unusual sounds in the Olsson collection, but this is all I can actually hear. So; good album, though not one for the progheads out there, with some nice 'Tron work from the ever-reliable Mattias.
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Happy Families (1982, 40.32) ***½/½ |
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| I Can't Explain Feel Me I've Seen the Word Wasted Living on the Ceiling Waves Kind Sad Day |
Cruel God's Kitchen |
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I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for the more inventive end of the early-'80s synth-pop scene; Soft Cell, OMD, even Blancmange. Remember Blancmange? Their biggest hit was the frankly bonkers Living On The Ceiling, which you probably know, even if you think you don't. They took a while to get themselves signed, missing the main synth-pop boat in the process. Their first release was an independent EP in 1979, Irene & Mavis, but it took them three years to sign to London and get anything else out, and then it wasn't until their third single that they actually started selling records in significant numbers. Their unique sound was a combination of vocalist/guitarist Neil Arthur's declamatory tones and Stephen Luscombe's exemplary synth work, initially still in analogue times.
Their debut album, Happy Families, featured a sleeve painting in the style of Louis Wain, whose anthropomorphic cats are another thing you'll know even if you think you don't. I mean, compare this to Spandau Ballet... The best synth-pop of the era can be seen as a kind of successor to art-rock, and tends to be beautifully crafted, as against, say, Spandau Ballet... Living On The Ceiling fits this description perfectly, and is merely the best example of their style on the album, with its bizarre chorus and iconic Coral Sitar line. If you really haven't heard them, imagine Kraftwerk filtered through a (new) romantic haze, with Bryan Ferry's evil twin on vocals, or a less arty Japan. Unlike, say, Spandau Ballet, the album even features a beautiful instrumental, Sad Day, which sounds unbelievably familiar, although from where I have no idea.
So what's this doing here, eh? Obvious answer, but howcum I found out? Stephen Luscombe wrote to me a little while back to let me know, so I felt the least I could do was pick up a copy of the album the next time I saw it going cheap. One 'Tron track only, in that wasteland decade for the instrument, with some almost unrecognisable heavily-effected choirs on the album's first single, God's Kitchen, which just goes to show what a futile undertaking this site can be sometimes.
So; unlike, say, Spandau Ballet, Blancmange were interesting, arty and fun, making Happy Families a worthwhile listen. Next to bugger-all Mellotron, but don't let that put you off.
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What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have (2006, 48.20) ***/T |
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| For You The Garden's End {Explain} The Albatross Planet New Year Amazing Things Always on This Line The Woman By the Well |
Hammer Queen of Apology Showstopper I Could Never Belong to You |
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Sarah Blasko is an Australian of East European heritage, echoes of which can be found in her work. Her second album, 2006's What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have, contains an eclectic mixture of styles, veering between creepy (in a good way) opener For You, the touching-on-goth The Garden's End, the is it/isn't it upbeat pop of Planet New Year and the sad, wind-blasted balladry of closer I Could Never Belong To You, although in actuality, no one track really sounds like any other.
Jim Moginie (of Midnight Oil and Fuzz Face fame) and Robert F. Cranny both play Mellotron, with a strange male vocal sound that must be Mellotronically-produced on {Explain}, very obvious flutes on Always On This Line and what sounds like a single flute chord on Hammer, although it's quite possible it appears elsewhere, too. Sarah Blasko's far more original than most current female singer-songwriters, although comparisons with all the usual suspects stand up; What the Sea Wants... isn't a bad record at all, although I imagine it will take some listens to really appreciate. Not much obvious Mellotron, but that's hardly why you'd buy this, anyway.
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The Naked Shakespeare (1983, 40.37/43.48) ***/½ |
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| How Beautiful You Are Weird Monkeys Naked Shakespeare Irma Like a Baby Powers in the Air You Can't Miss it Karen |
Vermont Lonely Too Blue Eyed William First Blow Struck [CD adds: Major Minor] |
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American guitarist Peter Blegvad was a member of German/British avant trio Slapp Happy, subsequently merging with Henry Cow, moving on to a solo career (including various collaborations) by the beginning of the '80s. 1983's The Naked Shakespeare was his first solo effort, showing a rather clear XTC influence; hardly surprising, as that outfit's Andy Partridge produced almost throughout. Unfortunately, its recording coincided with the rise of nasty '80s production (XTC were far from exempt themselves), giving the impression that the album possibly wasn't quite what Blegvad was actually after; you can imagine tracks like opener How Beautiful You Are and Vermont easily slotting onto contemporaneous XTC albums.
Partridge plays (presumably) XTC's Mellotron on Powers In The Air, with a descending choir part, well in the background, so you're really not going to track this one down for its Mellotron content. Overall, then, a quirky, post-'noo wave' effort from someone whose work is mostly less mainstream (I use the term advisedly). Has its moments, but generally speaking, a slightly unsuccessful experiment.
See: XTC | Andy Partridge
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Redhead (2003/04, 54.30) ***½/T |
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| Get Up I Won't Go Hollywood That's When I Crash We'll Do it All Again Searchin' for the Satellites Could Be Worse Watchin' You Sleep Somethin's Gotta Give |
Somebody Else You Know, I Know, You Know Trust Me 3's a Charm Feet Don't Fail Dance Dance Babydoll Dance |
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William James "Bleu" McAuley III's third album, Redhead, has been confusingly released in two different versions, the easiest to find being its 2004 major-label issue, following the indie version the previous year. Two tracks from the first version are replaced for the reissue, notably by new album opener, the sublime Get Up, but I've no way of judging whether the surplus tracks should have been replaced or not. Bleu was/is part of the L.E.O. project, so the occasional E.L.O. influence (listen to You Know, I Know, You Know) shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, although his chief influences tend to be the more standard 'B' bands and earlier US powerpop heroes.
Bleu plays Mellotron himself, along with loads of other stuff, although about all I can hear for definite are some iffy flutes and strings on You Know, I Know, You Know, and I'm by no means convinced they're real; L.E.O.'s certainly aren't... I think the orchestrations on We'll Do It All Again are either real or sample-based; the strings on closer Dance Dance Babydoll Dance are real, so it's quite possible they were used elsewhere, too. So; a decent enough powerpop effort, although I've heard better in the genre, and it's a little overlong, given its style. File under 'reasonable'.
See: L.E.O.
