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Symphony (1973, 41.00) ****/TTTTT1st Movement2nd Movement |
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Forever Blowing Bubbles (1975, 36.15) ****/TTTChansonWithout Words Way Ergotrip Et Pendant ce Temps la Narcisse et Goldmund Jungle Bubbles |
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Clearlight (NOT 'Clearlight Symphony') were the brainchild of French keyboard player and Gong co-conspirator Cyrille Verdeaux; in fact, side two of his/their debut album, Symphony, features three of Gong's then current line-up as Verdeaux's backing band, including the inimitable Steve Hillage. The album is absolutely excellent, with definite musical similarities to Gong (they even shared their UK label, Virgin), with trippy jamming stuff going on throughout, along with some seriously fiery playing from all concerned. Verdeaux's Mellotron work is absolutely beyond reproach, too, with bloody great slabs of strings and choir all over the place, with cellos added for colouring. 2nd Movement (a.k.a. side two) probably has marginally less 'Tron than side one, but I can't give this album anything less than the full five Ts. Magnificent!
They followed up two years later with Forever Blowing Bubbles, producing another great album with some fantastic playing, particularly Jean-Claude d'Agostini's Hillage-like guitar work. It's difficult to pinpoint a standout track, but the heavy jamming of Chanson works well and in direct contrast, Narcisse Et Goldmund is a beautiful ballad, underpinned at the end with some 'Tron choirs. Other Mellotron work on the album includes Without Words, with some background string chords, while Way features the choirs quite heavily, but Et Pendant Ce Temps La is the album's standout 'Tron track, with an upfront melodic strings part to die for.
So, both albums are definitely recommended on the musical front, though the chief 'Tron one is quite clearly Symphony. Both recommended musically, though. Buy.
See: Gong
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Unlimited (1973, 45.26) ***/TT½ |
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| Under the Sun, Moon and Stars Fundamental Reggay World of Peace Black Queen Be True Oh Jamaica Commercialization The Price of Peace |
On My Life I See the Light Rip-Off Poor Slave Born to Win |
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Jimmy "Cliff" Chambers' best work is generally regarded to be that recorded by legendary Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, who died in 1971, along with the following year's soundtrack to the infamous The Harder They Come. His seventh album, 1973's Unlimited was, therefore, his first non-Kong/soundtrack work and while lacking the intensity of his earlier work, it's far from being a bad album, opener Under The Sun, Moon And Stars and Commercialization amongst its better tracks.
Leslie Butler plays Mellotron, with a humorous descending octave string line on Fundamental Reggay, a full-on pseudo-orchestral string part on Be True and chordal strings and solo flute on Commercialization, The Price Of Peace and I See The Light (plus cellos on the latter). Not the strongest reggae album ever, then, but a perfectly respectable effort, with some nice, upfront Mellotron use.
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Dirty King (2009, 45.07) **½/T |
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| Haunted Dirty King Not Your Boy Red and Blue Henry Emily Career Suicide Love Gun |
We Are the Wolverines Falling Overboard Animal Farm |
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The Cliks (from clit/dick, apparently) are unusual in that their best-known lineup is exclusively part of the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community, giving rise to the situation whereby vocalist Lucas Silveira lives as a man and appears male, yet sings with an obviously female voice. How much the band's identity affects the makeup of their audience is unknown, but I'd imagine Warners have had to be spoken to fairly sternly to avoid the stereotype trap. The band's third album, 2009's Dirty King, is, unfortunately, a fairly ordinary indie-style release, although the band cover a fair bit of stylistic ground within the genre, including rock'n'roll (the title track), drippy acousticness (Not Your Boy) and a (real) string-driven waltz (Emily).
Producer Sylvia Massy plays Mellotron, with rather generic flutes on Red And Blue and a rather better string part (including some drastic pitchbends) on closer Animal Farm. I really can't recommend this album for the music, although two decent 'Tron tracks make it slightly more bearable. Generic.
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The Climax Chicago Blues Band (1969, 44.38) ***/½ |
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| Mean Old World Insurance Going Down This Road You've Been Drinking Don't Start Me Talking Wee Baby Blues Twenty Past One A Stranger in Your Town |
How Many More Years Looking for My Baby And Lonely The Entertainer |
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Plays On (1969, 43.51) ***½/TFlightHey Baby Everything's Gonna Be Alright Yeh Yeh Yeh Cubano Chant Little Girl Mum's the Word Twenty Past Two Temptation Rag So Many Roads City Ways Crazy 'Bout My Baby |
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The Climax Blues Band, still sporting their 'Chicago' addition at this point, played a form of progressive blues that had more than a little in common with contemporaneous Fleetwood Mac, though with less guitar and added sax. Their debut, 1969's The Climax Chicago Blues Band, is a decent enough record of its type, although it sounds a little tame compared to what Peter Green and co. would get up to over the following year, not to mention Led Zeppelin... Many of its songs are typical blues boom repertoire (Wee Baby Blues/Wee Wee Baby, How Many More Years, a.k.a. Zep's How Many More Times), although I'd imagine it was pretty radical at the time. Its best track is also the only one with any Mellotron content, the eight-minute slow blues And Lonely, with some near-as-dammit inaudible 'Tron strings on the background from (then) guitarist Derek Holt.
Plays On was their second album, and captures the essence of the era's blues/rock scene admirably, with fiery playing and the ability to step outside the 12-bar format, without slipping into the AOR stylings that would make them such a success in the States in the following decade. There's probably as many non-standard as standard blues tracks on the album, but the most 'out there' is side two's opener, Mum's The Word, a weird, keyboard-led instrumental, not actually blues at all, featuring Holt (now bassist) on Mellotron strings. My heat-damaged copy of the album has obviously had a hot coffee cup placed on it at some point (!), and the first two tracks on each side won't play properly, but you can still hear that this is a bit of a departure for the band, and an area to which they wouldn't return after success hit.
Neither album's worth buying for their 'Tron tracks, but Plays On is a good example of the genre, far better than their later, blander material, although their debut's a bit formative.
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At the Crossing (197?, 26.41) */T |
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| At the Crossing The Healer I've Never Loved Him Better Than Today I Stand Amazed He Giveth More Grace Lovest Thou Me Zion's Hill These Hands of Mine |
His Name is Wonderful I Should Have Been Crucified |
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When Jerry Cline's name is mentioned, you'd been forgiven for saying, "Whom?" From Louisville, Kentucky, he's described on the rear sleeve of At the Crossing as 'one of the finest young gospel singers in America today'. Young? Gospel? I point you, ladies and gentlemen, to exhibit A: the picture of the esteemed Jerry from said LP rear sleeve (right). OK, maybe he is young in this picture, despite his appallingly conservative appearance, but then, he's a Christian; what do I expect? He actually looks like the kind of man you wouldn't necessarily trust with small children; not that I'm saying he is, only that he has that air about him. Exhibit B: the album. Gospel? Sorry, but I consider gospel to be black church music, generally infused with some kind of joie de vivre. Believe me, there's no joie de vivre here...
At the Crossing is the most tedious, unexciting drivel you can imagine, Jerry's whiter-than-white voice hailing from another era; although the album's undated, the Mellotron puts it at some point in the '70s, despite all evidence to the contrary. Lyrically, there's not a single surprise here, although I couldn't stop laughing at the title of closer I Should Have Been Crucified. No comment, Jerry, no comment... Occasionally, guitarist/bassist/keys man Mel(vin) Pierce goes slightly off-piste with his arrangements, notably the ill-advised sitar (!) on The Healer (why?), the even more ill-advised attempt at funk guitar on I've Never Loved Him Better Than Today and the guitar-through-tape delay of His Name is Wonderful, but there isn't a track here that's anything other than turgid, joyless, grey Christian conformity.
Pierce plays strangely effected Mellotron strings on He Giveth More Grace, giving them a strange underwater sound. Maybe they were played underwater. Maybe they should've been. Once again, folks, my pal Mark Medley brings you the very worst in American thrift-shop crud, lovingly converted to MP3 and buzzed across the Atlantic to yours truly. You know, if his sources dry up, I'll miss 'em. Vile, yet strangely compelling, although I can't imagine I'll ever play this shit again. Superbly appalling.
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The Giant Pin (2004, 73.02) ***½/½ |
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| Blues, Too Fly Fly He Still Carries a Torch for Her The Ballad of Devin Hoff The Friar Something About David H. Bright Moon |
A Boy Needs a Door Square King Spell Watch Over Us |
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Maybe surprisingly, jazz/improv guitarist Nels Cline's current gig is with Wilco, although given his diverse career path over the last thirty years, maybe a sharp left turn like that should be expected. Another of his ongoing projects is the ironically-named Nels Cline Singers (they're instrumental), whose second album, 2004's The Giant Pin, is pretty much the kind of experimental, improv jazz you'd expect, with much atonal guitar work, albeit frequently in an unexpectedly quiet setting. Personal favourites include He Still Carries A Torch For Her and Square King probably because they're about the least abstract things here), while I detect hints of Fripp on Something About David H., which can never be a bad thing.
Jon Brion plays Chamberlin, with flutes and cellos on Something About David H., although there's nothing obvious on Brion's other credit, closer Watch Over Us. Overall, then, not one for those who like their music highly structured, but avant-rock/jazz fans should go a bundle on this. Next to no Chamberlin, though, so don't bother on that account.
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Let's Get Naked (2002, 15.44) ***/TTLet's Get NakedCold Waters The Final Run |
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This Crumbling Garden (2003, 20.28) ***/T½Intro (St. Christopher)Our Crumbling Garden Lover's Lie Skull Tattoo Rum and Mother's Milk St. Christopher |
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Clockwork are (or maybe were, as the last 'news' on their site is over two years old at the time of writing) another Mattias Olsson (Änglagård, AK-Momo etc.) production, at his rather wondrous Roth-Händle studio, on the outskirts of Stockholm. Regular readers of this site will probably have clocked (ho ho) by now that this means they play a particular kind of skewed, melancholy pop, although Clockwork are a bit raunchier than the average, and I'm afraid to say, a little less appealing to moi, but you know what they say about opinions...
As far as I know, their Let's Get Naked demo is their first recorded work, although I could be wildly wrong, of course. It has decent enough indie cred, and more than a hint of the expected melancholy, skewed etc., but unlike, say, Kit Le Fever, I felt unable to engage with what they're doing, which is probably more my fault than theirs. Anyway, Mellotron on the first two of its three tracks, probably played by Mattias, with flutes on the title track and oboes, cellos and strings on Cold Waters.
Their next effort, 2003's This Crumbling Garden sounds more cohesive to my ears, and a bit less typically 'indie', which has to be a good thing, although I'm not sure if I'm any keener on its material, to be honest. It opens wonderfully with Intro (St. Christopher), consisting solely of some beautiful (real) harmonium, with a 'Tron flute melody writhing over the top, although nothing else on the EP reaches the same heady heights. Otherwise, on the Mellotron front (Mattias again?), Our Crumbling Garden features a more overt string part than anything on their previous demo, although, unless I'm missing something in the rather dense mixes, that would appear to be it.
Unlike several of Mattias' productions, pretty much all of the above are downloadable from the band's website, although I don't see a link for the best track here, Intro (St. Christopher). Anyway, not bad, but didn't really float my boat, couple of nice bits of Mellotron.
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Now I Understand (2006, 67.19) ***/TT |
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| Introduction Bass Beatbox Hungry Ghosts Quilty Vishnu Dub A Toy for a Boy Luminous Things What Would Cthulhu Do? |
Now I Understand And Shadow Saw the Gods Wetbones (extended) Vision of Kali Just Kiddin |
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Despite existing since the late '90s, 2006's Now I Understand is Club d'Elf's first studio album, its seven predecessors all being live. Huh? Seems it's a semi-improvisational ensemble with an ever-changing cast, helmed by bassist Mike Rivard (Paula Cole, Aimee Mann, Jon Brion), who has constructed this largely instrumental album over a period of some years, involving loads of musicians, not least Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine), Mat Maneri, DJ Logic and the ubiquitous John Medeski. It's... well, er... OK, try 'North African trance-dub from Boston'; very rhythmic, very trancey, pretty experimental while remaining danceable, if that sounds like your bag.
Medeski plays Mellotron amongst other things, of course, with what sounds like a single Chamberlin male voice note on Introduction, although it could, of course, be a sample, or indeed, something else entirely. Bass Beatbox features a repeating high cello run (or is it Maneri's electric viola?) with a few seconds of strings at the end, low choir notes and heavily manipulated flutes on the fabulously-titled What Would Cthulhu Do? and pitchbent strings on the title track. This isn't going to appeal to everyone, by any means (or even everyone who reads this site, which is another matter entirely), but those who follow Medeski's career may find something here to interest them. Typical Medeski 'Tron work, but (as usual) it's not overdone. Interesting, but I shan't be returning here too soon.
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Mu (1972, 37.45) ***/T |
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| Introduzione I Parte Ora Che Io Sono Luce Coltivò Tutte le Valli II Parte Uomo Festa III Parte Era Mattino Sul Mondo Vita |
IV Parte A Dio Corpi di Creta |
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Born in what was to become Vietnam, the Italian/French Riccardo Cocciante moved to Italy at the age of eleven, releasing his first album, Mu (doubtless named for the legendary lost continent) in 1972. It's another of those Italian pop/prog efforts that were so popular in the country at the time, essentially a singer-songwriter album wearing a progressive overcoat, although a few tracks, notably closer Corpi Di Creta would almost pass as 'proper' prog.
Maurizio Giammarco and Paolo Rustichelli (of Rustichelli & Bordini) play Mellotron, with strings on Uomo (part one of II Parte) and Era Mattino Sul Mondo (part one of III Parte), with rather more on the latter than the former. Overall, not a bad effort, vaguely in the vein of Dallaglio's Sera - Mattina, albeit better, but with less Mellotron. Worth hearing if you've already exhausted the almost bottomless pit of Italian '70s prog.
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The Jarvis Cocker Record (2006, 49.25) ****/T |
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| The Loss Adjuster (Excerpt 1) Don't Let Him Waste Your Time Black Magic Heavy Weather I Will Kill Again Baby's Coming Back to Me Fat Children From Auschwitz to Ipswich |
Disney Time Tonite Big Julie The Loss Adjuster (Excerpt 2) Quantum Theory Running the World |
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Jarvis Cocker's first post-Pulp album has been eagerly awaited, coming, as it does, five years after his ex-band's last effort, the underrated We Love Life. Fans need not worry, although I suspect that most of them bought this when it came out, not three years later, as I review it. It's excellent, packed to the gills with (sorry, Jarvis) Pulp-like post-Britpop, doubtless partially due to guitarist Steve Mackey's involvement, overlaid by the man's beautifully wry observations. 'Best tracks' is a difficult one, when the lyrics are as important as the music, not to mention pretty much universally superb. Maybe Fat Children and I Will Kill Again, although nothing here disappoints.
Jarvis plays various aged keyboards (Solina, Roland SH1000, Memorymoog), plus specifically-credited Mellotron flutes on I Will Kill Again, with a part running right through the song. All in all, then, an extremely worthy effort, should you be into Jarvis' thang, although its tape-replay content is fairly minor. And what the hell is a 'parental guidance - explicit content' sticker doing on the CD case?
Incidentally, although it should now be considered heavily passé, there's a 25-minute gap between the last credited track, Quantum Theory and the last actual one, Running The World, with the silence omitted from the disc timing above. Also incidentally, given that this is being written just after Michael Jackson's untimely death, now might be a good time to remember Jarvis' fabulous intervention during the late Wacko's horrific performance of the hideous Earth Song, where the great man got up onto stage and waggled his arse at the cameras in protest. The media storm was a) inevitable, b) excessively tedious and c) excellent publicity. Also also incidentally, I lent a band some equipment during Jarvis' curatorship of the 2007 Meltdown Festival in London. The musician to whom I'd lent said vintage gear (no, not my Mellotron) was nowhere to be found after the gig, being too busy ligging backstage, leaving us to pack the gear up ourselves, but Mr. Cocker held a door open for us as we staggered out carrying heavy flightcases. Jarvis Cocker, you are a gentleman.
See: Pulp
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Respect Yourself (2002, 48.51/56.12) **½/½ |
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| You Can't Have My Heart Love Not War You Took it So Hard Never Tear Us Apart This is Your Life Respect Yourself I'm Listening Now Leave a Light on |
It's Only Love Every Time it Rains Midnight Without You [bonus tracks: You Are So Beautiful (live) You Can Leave Your Hat on (live)] |
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Nearly forty years on, Joe Cocker is still best-known for his excellent deconstruction of the Beatles' With A Little Help From My Friends, and his performance of such at Woodstock, although some may remember his 1983 duet with Jennifer Warnes (who she, anyway?) with the vile Up Where We Belong, all of which negates his great white soul/blues voice. Sadly, it seems said voice is usually persuaded to sing dreck, and while most of Respect Yourself doesn't fall into that category, it's still a bland soul/AOR album for his middle-aged fans. Other reviewers seem to like the brass-driven title track, but I can't personally find any highlights at all. This is not an exciting album.
The inimitable Patrick Warren plays Chamberlin on three tracks, with background strings on You Took It So Hard, then nothing obvious on either Never Tear Us Apart or Leave A Light On, although the strings on closer Midnight Without You sound more 'Chamby' than anything else on the album (Warren is credited with simply 'keyboards' on the song).
So; uninteresting, and little tape-replay. You know what to do.
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The Coctails (1996, 56.24) ***/T |
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| When I Come Around Circles City Sun Cadali So Low Grace Starling Never Knew |
Low Road Hey Sun is Down Cast Stones Last Organ |
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The Coctails formed in the late '80s, busying themselves with an eclectic combination of influences, including jazz and what was soon to become known as 'lounge', about as unfashionable as it was possible to get for some decades by this point. Unfortunately for the band, they became unwittingly caught up in the fashion-victim lounge revival of the mid-'90s, which probably hastened their premature split. 1996's The Coctails was their fourth and last album, mostly consisting of gentle, often instrumental material, the exception being the indie/rock of Cast Stones, better examples including the vibraphone-heavy loungecore of Circles, So Low and Mark Greenfield's beautiful harmonium-fuelled closer, Last Organ.
Archer Prewitt (subsequently of The Sea & Cake) plays a beautifully upfront Mellotron flute part on Starling, although all other possible sightings appear to be real instruments. It's hard to know to whom to recommend this, although those of you who appreciate the quieter things in life may just possibly go for it; whether the presence of one excellent 'Tron track makes any difference to you is something only you can decide.
See: Archer Prewitt
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Treasure (1984, 41.20) ****/T |
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| Ivo Lorelei Beatrix Persephone Pandora Amelia Aloysius Cicely |
Otterley Donimo |
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Tiny Dynamine (EP) (1985, 16.32) ****/TPink Orange RedRibbed and Veined Plain Tiger Sultitan Itan |
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Echoes in a Shallow Bay (EP) (1985, 16.12) ****/TGreat Spangled FritillaryMelonella Pale Clouded White Eggs and Their Shells |
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Treasure, The Cocteau Twins' third album, refined their strange, proto-ambient music, complete with Liz Fraser's wordless lyrics that always sound like she's actually singing something, even when you know she isn't. In hindsight, maybe they should've got a real drummer in, as the mid-'80s drum machine sounds horrendously passé now, as does the DX7 'bells' patch on the first couple of tracks, but those aside, the album has an unearthly beauty, defining the '4AD Sound'. Much imitated, never bettered, this is music in which to lose yourself. Most of the keyboard work consists of then-modern synths and a little piano, but the M400 the band owned comes to prominence on album closer Donimo (NOT 'Domino'!), with choirs (not mixed - maybe male voice) and some rather wobbly cellos and regular strings for good measure. It's possible there's some more 'Tron on the album, but if so, it's buried so far in the mix as to be inaudible.
The Cocteaus followed Treasure with a pair of EPs, now compiled onto one CD, with the style most definitely remaining the same. Tiny Dynamine (NOT 'Dynamite'!) has some ethereal (of course) 'Tron choirs on Pink Orange Red, but I suspect the 'string' sound on Sultitan Itan is overdubbed sustained guitar, possibly played with an E-Bow. Echoes in a Shallow Bay is more rhythmic than its immediate predecessors, sounding strangely upbeat for such a laid-back band. More 'Tron choirs (male voice?), more overt this time, on Pale Clouded White, though once again, that would appear to be it.
There's rumoured to be Mellotron on the Cocteaus' previous release, the Spangle Maker 12", but once again, the reverb-soaked production hides specific instrumental sounds in the overall mix, so the jury's going to have to remain out on that one for a while. However, both this and Treasure are wonderfully atmospheric records, worthy of anyone's time, although don't expect an awful lot on the 'Tron front. Incidentally, the band's Simon Raymonde has written to me to tell me that he played all the Mellotron parts on an M400 bought for an obscenely low sum the year before I paid about seven times as much for mine. And I still got a bargain.
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Sounds of Passion (1986, 41.27) **½/TT½Sounds of PassionPrologue 1st Movement 2nd Movement 3rd Movement 4th Movement - 'Finale' Crazy Fool and Dreamer Defended |
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Hmmm. Coda were a Dutch outfit from the '80s on the SI label. Now, if that doesn't start ringing warning bells, you're in trouble. To be fair, they were a lot better than many of that label's output, and this doesn't fall 100% into the 'neo-prog' category. Obvious reference points are Genesis/Steve Hackett, Marillion, and the occasional Emersonism from project mainman Erik de Vroomen on the keys. Thankfully, the 29-minute title track is mostly instrumental; the vocals on the last two pieces are appalling - badly-accented English, half-spoken, half-sung. There are far too many digital synths on the album, assuming the band were aiming for a warm, '70s-type sound. Thankfully, some real Hammond, the odd bit of analogue mono and a little Mellotron saves the album from Digital Hell.
So; the music: Very melodic but frequently rather insipid, it has some nice moments, not all of which are the ones containing Mellotron. The spoken intro to the album is completely ludicrous, and rather spoils the first few minutes of the piece proper, as you're still smirking from its idiocy. 'Oh, feelings, feelings... feelings... I can hardly describe it...' I can, but I won't. If you find a copy of this cheap, get it for bits of parts 2-5 of the ineptly-named title track (Je t'aime, anyone?) and the surprisingly powerful Crazy Fool And Dreamer, and ignore the rest.
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Soulbait (1996, 40.07) **/½ |
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| Soulbait That Was Then Love Glory Shake Me Me, Myself, & I Brightside Free |
Good Things Echo Soulbait - Superfly Remix |
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Code of Ethics apparently started as a more techno-based proposition than we hear on '96's Soulbait, best described a pop/rock with an electronica edge (spot the Star Trek computer sample in the punky Brightside). They're apparently Christians, but les overtly than many, although that could say a lot about how little I listen to lyrics, I suppose. It's all pretty tedious stuff, to be honest, chuntering along to no particular purpose, switching between bright'n'breezy pop (Good Things) and darker material (most of the rest), seemingly designed to appeal solely to mildly disaffected (Christian) Young People, most of whom have probably grown out of it, 13 years on. Well, let's hope, anyway.
Mellotron from Tedd T (no, really) on Echo, with a 'yeah, whatever' cello part that could, frankly, have been played on almost anything that sounds slightly like a cello. All in all, then, a waste of time and plastic, unless you were a certain age in the mid-'90s, in which case this may well still be your favourite album, proof that you need to listen to more music. Oh, and the sleeve's shit, too.
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The Sons of Intemperance Offering (1996, 64.44) ***½/0 |
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| House of Lust Running Halfway Blown Stages Solana Beach Song Hats Off (to the Big Queen City) All the Way My Lover Leads Soldiers The Loneliest Girl in the World |
Straight to Hell A Soft Reply Scream at the Blackbirds Tighten Up Simpatico Blvd. Unmarried Ladies |
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Phil Cody is the kind of artist that America seems to roll out on a production line: slightly Dylanesque, Americana-toting, heartfelt singer-songwriters whose combination of influences is unique to that country. I believe The Sons of Intemperance Offering (a title bewilderingly described as 'almost unpronounceable' by one website) is his debut, although hard and fast information about the man isn't easy to find, even on his own MySpace page. It's an appealing combination of, well, Dylan and alt.country, often in the same song, with best tracks including Scream At The Blackbirds and the lengthy, jammed-out Simpatico Blvd.
One of the newer breed of tape-replay enthusiast sessioneers, Rami Jaffee, plays Mellotron, although I'll be stuffed if I can work out where. I suppose there could be some flutes hidden away here and there, but you'll need sharper ears than mine (not difficult, frankly) to hear them. Anyway, a good album of its type with one standout track, but no obvious Mellotron. Cody's 2000 release, Big Slow Mover has Jaffee on Chamberlin, but until I get hold of a copy, I've no idea if it's any more audible than on here.
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Adam Cohen (1998, 50.38) **/T |
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| Tell Me Everything Cry Ophelia Don't Mean Anything This Pain Quarterback Sister Beautiful as You How The Mighty Have Fallen |
Opposites Attract Down She Goes Amazing It's Alright |
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I've seen Adam 'son of Leonard' and ex-Mommyhead Cohen's debut, eponymous album described as 'adult contemporary'. Now, if the thought of that makes your blood run cold, you're absolutely right; I'm afraid to say that this is one of the dreariest set of songs it's been my misfortune to hear in a while, no matter who his dad is. Admittedly, there are some decent lyrics hidden away here and there, but the appallingly 'contemporary' production sheen (now, of course, sounding horrendously out of date) is physically painful to listen to, with absolutely none of his dad's OTT melancholy, not to mention sense of humour.
Mellotron on two tracks from Steve Lindsey, with regular strings on opener Tell Me Everything, and phased ones on Cry Ophelia, but we're not exactly talking essential listening here. Sadly, the same can be said for Adam Cohen as a whole; I do hope he's subsequently decided to produce something a little less 'of the moment'; nothing dates as quickly as the present day.
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Self-Indulgent Music (1998, 54.01) **½/T½ |
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| Seattle (Danny Cohen) Oroville (Danny Cohen) Concrete & Urine (Danny Cohen) Frat Fucks (Danny Cohen) Retirement Community (Danny Cohen) Human Mayonnaise (Mike Boner) Vacuum Cleaner (Mike Boner) My Tongue Knows More Than I Do (Mike Boner) |
Figure Skating Dog (Mike Boner) Don't Be Scared (Mike Boner) Sweatin' in Your Ass (Horse Cock Kids) Life After the Blowjob (Horse Cock Kids) Fuckin' Mississippi (Horse Cock Kids) |
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Museum of Dannys (1999, 70.44) ***/T½ |
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| Museum of Dannys Ranting in the Street Thin White Line New Mexico Basement Astral Rag Quiet Man Francis Blend |
Don't Remember In the Barrio Pentagram Eternal Night Los Angeles Justice Done The Desert Floozy |
I'm Not Me Rheeba's Canteena Suicide Judgement Day |
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Dannyland (2004, 48.25) ***/T |
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| The Devil and Danny Cohen Realm of Fantasy Motel Sex Enlightened Despondency (E.D.) El Niño Still Alive Lucy Lucifer Chinatown |
Sweltering Alamo Line Siberia False Spring Eye of the Beholder |
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We're All Gunna Die (2005, 57.54) ***½/½ |
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| As I Looked Down Among the Cows Pamela Rodgers Caffeine and Sunlight Film Noir Tongue Tied in Quicksand Magritte Cousin Guy |
Funeral in New Orleans Ghost Country Safari World of Holograms Serene Tanna Leaf Orgies (of the Living Dead) Coffee is Evil Mystery Man We're All Gunna Die |
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Shades of Dorian Gray (2007, 61.39) ***/T½ |
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| Prayer in the Black and White Avian Blues For George Bailey, LaPado and Bottom Vertigo Drawing in the Dark Devil Brat Cold Snap Conundrum Palm of My Hand |
The Prophecy Noah Blaine Confection of Bullshit The Fall Sunday in Richmond Death Waltz Rigormortis (on the Ridge) Beneath the Shroud |
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Danny Cohen, brother of Tom Waits' bassist Greg, is all too often described as an 'outsider' artist, i.e. a loony, which is both insulting and inaccurate. OK, he's a tad eccentric, but when was that ever a problem? Actually, Waits is not only a reference point, but he and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, are mentioned on Dannyland's thanks list as 'Tom and Kathleen'; one online enthusiast reckons Cohen's early, self-produced cassette releases probably influenced Waits, rather than vice versa. Who knows? Cohen's 'career' apparently kicked off as early as 1961 (!), but aside from an alleged handful of other artists' albums around the turn of the '70s, he did little publicly until he began releasing his own material in the late '90s.
1998's Self-Indulgent Music collects three outsider artists together (Cohen, Mike Boner and The Horse Cock Kids), Cohen getting the album's first five tracks. Having heard his later material before this EP's-worth, it's easy, with hindsight, to see the direction in which his career was heading; five fragile, haunted songs, only a hair's-breadth away from Daniel Johnston's impenetrable world, although Cohen seems slightly more rooted in what most of us laughably call 'reality'. Best track? Possibly the quietly terrifying Retirement Community, although all of his contributions are worth hearing for fans. As far as the other two artists involved are concerned, Boner (his real name, surely?) seems genuinely (mildly) deranged, if no Wild Man Fischer, but The Horse Cock Kids are as puerile as their name suggests and not so much 'outsider' as agents provocateur. Cohen plays Mellotron on three of his contributions, with flutes on opener Seattle and strings on Concrete & Urine and Retirement Community, all sounding reasonably real, for what it's worth.
His first solo album 'proper', 1999's Museum of Dannys, is an archival release, although I don't know over what period the tracks were recorded; there's certainly some variation in recording quality across the album's length and different supporting musicians are used. It's actually quite difficult to pigeonhole his material, which has to be a good thing. Low-fi? Weird folk? Acoustic Skip Spence-style psych? Hard to say. On the instrumental front, Cohen adds Mellotron flutes to Quiet Man and strings to Eternal Night, with more uncredited strings on closer Judgement Day, all sounding as real as you'd expect from such an artist.
It took Cohen another five years to release anything else, 2004's Dannyland being his first album of new material. It's almost as odd as its predecessor, to be honest; think: a cross between Waits and Daniel Johnston, and you won't be a million miles off. Mellotron on two tracks, with a wonky string part on opener The Devil And Danny Cohen from Cohen himself, and flutes from Dave Hurst on Still Alive, with its musical Beatles references, and while I don't think the uncredited cello on closer Eye Of The Beholder is 'Tron, nothing that could produce that sound is actually credited at all. So; odd, but not unpleasant.
2005's We're All Gunna Die is, just maybe, slightly more 'normal', whatever you take that to mean. The arrangements are less eccentric and the material's actually better, which means either a) Cohen's work is moving infinitesimally nearer the mainstream, or b) I'm getting more used to it. Magritte is actually pretty good, in a low-fi, slightly bleak kind of way, and while it's all endearingly bonkers, it's in a good kind of way. Just one 'Tron track, with Dave Hurst adding faint strings to Magritte, almost to the point where I'm not sure why they bothered. Given that these albums are all pretty lengthy, I wonder if Cohen's still dipping into a decades-long reservoir of material? Anyway, 2007's Shades of Dorian Gray isn't dissimilar to its predecessor, veering between gloomy but relatively normal material and complete nutsville, albeit quietly. Hurst on 'Tron again, with slightly atonal strings on Noah Blaine and a more upfront (and 'trad') part on closer Beneath The Shroud.
Danny Cohen's music certainly is very odd, though those of you who like something a little left-field may well go for it. None of these are 'Tron classics, but Museum of Dannys and Shades of Dorian Gray are the most worthwhile on that front.
See: Tom Waits
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The Future (1992, 59.41) ***½/½The FutureWaiting for the Miracle Be for Real Closing Time Anthem Democracy Light as the Breeze Always Has Always Will Tacoma Trailer |
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The Future was Leonard Cohen's only new album of the '90s, and is regarded by many as being over-produced, although the sheer quality of his writing shines through the excess instrumentation. Those of you who've only heard his early material will probably be shocked, but it's far less offensive than the concurrent work of many of his contemporaries, and the production should only really intrude for the most die-hard old-school Cohen watcher. His voice is even croakier than the last time you heard it; I mean, the man barely sings, more... intones. His lyrics are as devastatingly spot-on as ever, though, and give me this over Dylan any day, thanks.
Credited but almost inaudible Mellotron strings from Steve Lindsey on Be For Real, barely making for half a 'T', to be honest. So; unless you absolutely insist on nowt but acoustic guitar and voice, I can recommend this to the more open-minded of you, although it does slightly outstay its welcome. However, don't bother for its minimal 'Tron input.
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Join the Parade (2007, 47.04) ***½/TT½ |
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| Listening to Levon The Calling (Ghost of Charlie Christian) Dance Back From the Grave If I Were an Angel Let Me Be Your Witness Live Out the String Giving Up the Ghost |
Join the Parade My Sanctuary Life Goes on |
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Imagine if Tom Waits sang 'normally', wasn't quite so obsessed with sounding like a 1920s steam band and resided slightly nearer the mainstream and you might be getting somewhere vaguely close to Marc Cohn. He's been around for a while, making his first album in his early thirties and his fourth, 2007's Join the Parade, some sixteen years later. It's a pretty downbeat kind of album, but in a good way, channelling that Waits vibe through music that doesn't require the listener to be in an advanced state of inebriation/illness/death, which should (theoretically) make him more popular, although I don't think it has.
Mellotron from David Barrett and Chamberlin from Patrick Warren, with what sounds like Mellotron cellos on If I Were An Angel, cellos and Chamby strings on The Calling (Ghost Of Charlie Christian) and Giving Up The Ghost, 'Tron flutes and Chamby strings on closer Life Goes On and more strings on My Sanctuary. I may've missed something, but it's fairly hard to tell... Overall, then, one for Waits fans looking for a bit of normality, or tape-replay obsessives looking for a late-nite drinking den fix.
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Astral Disaster (1999, 72.19) ***/TThe AvatarsThe Mothership & the Fatherland 2nd Sun Syndrome The Sea Priestess I Don't Want to Be the One MU-UR |
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Coil began as a Psychic TV offshoot in the early '80s, going on to influence various 'industrial' groups (most of whom weren't actually especially industrial) and becoming acid house innovators before shifting into a kind of neo-folk/drone crossover area. Astral Disaster was their seventh album, originally released as a limited-edition LP, later remixed and expanded into the CD version reviewed here. The album splits neatly into a three short/three long format, with both The Mothership & the Fatherland and MU-UR topping twenty minutes, the latter being the record's major drone-fest and probably one of its more listenable tracks for the uninitiated.
Spiritualized member and sometime Julian Cope collaborator Thighpaulsandra plays Hammond, Mellotron and synths on the album, with some particularly nice organ work in places. Two presumed 'Tron tracks, with some string notes on The Sea Priestess, although the choirs throughout the piece are either real or sampled, while the cellos on I Don't Want To Be The One are more likely to be Mellotron than real.
Tragically, co-founder John Balance died in 2004, effectively ending the band, although the other founding member, 'Sleazy' Peter Christopherson, continues to release various recordings made during Balance's lifetime. Astral Disaster is a pretty strange album, to be honest, although Coil fans probably find it a bit safe and mainstream. If you don't have a problem with lengthy drones, you may well go for this, but it isn't for everyone. Not that much 'Tron either, so not really worth it on that account.
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Loyalty to Loyalty (2008, 45.30) **½/½ |
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| Against Privacy Mexican Dogs Every Valley is Not a Lake Something is Not Right With Me Welcome to the Occupation Golden Gate Jumpers Avalanche in B I've Seen Enough |
Every Man I Fall for Dreams Old Men Dream On the Night My Love Broke Through Relief Cryptomnesia |
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The Cold War Kids' rise to (relative) fame is very much a story of the modern world; they apparently caught the attention of the blogging community, picking up a worldwide audience via the 'Net, although how that translates into actual record sales is unknown. Their second album, 2008's Loyalty to Loyalty, is titled after an anti-Nietzschean concept, which is a) admirable and b) probably far too brainy for many of their fans. It's difficult to know how to describe its contents: late-nite indie? Sparse jazz? Mostly, it consists of piano-driven dirges and erratic percussion overlaid with Nathan Willett's mournful wailing; Willett badly wants to be Television's Tom Verlaine, which is only acceptable if you actually are Tom Verlaine. Sorry, pal.
Zac Rae plays Chamberlin, with background strings on I've Seen Enough, in a 'why did they bother?' kind of way. Fans of downbeat indie may go for this, but I can't imagine anyone else holding its overwroughtness to their collective hearts. Good at what it does (he said, grudgingly), but next to no Chamberlin, so, y'know, don't bother.
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Cold Water Flat (1995, 42.12) **/½ |
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| Virus Road King of the Underground Numb Magnetic North Pole Mistaken Beautiful Rescue Lights It's Over |
All I Had She is Hold My Head |
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Cold Water Flat, fronted by the better-known Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz' brother Paul (got that?), were a typical East Coast 'alternative' band of the early '90s, who were picked up (as they say) by MCA for their 1995 eponymous second (and last) album. It's... It's an entirely average 'alt.' record, 'featuring' lots of quiet/loud, sounding like it could only aspire to be the runt of the grunge litter; sorry if that sounds harsh, but I generally say it as I see it and I see it like that. Best track? Well, closer Hold My Head, despite its excess length, is possibly the least bad, but that's about the best I can do.
Someone calling himself Rabbi Suede, most likely producer Sean Slade (Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh) plays Mellotron, with distant strings on the first two tracks, Virus Road and King Of The Underground, giving the (almost certainly false) impression that the band tired of it quickly, unless they recorded the album in its running order. Unlikely. I'm afraid to say that, to the non-fan, Cold Water Flat is the dullest of dull genre albums, entirely indistinguishable from a thousand similar, or so it feels, so with so little Mellotronic involvement, this has to be a big, fat 'no'.
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Parachutes (2000, 41.50) ***/T |
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| Don't Panic Shiver Spies Sparks Yellow Trouble Parachutes High Speed |
We Never Change Everything's Not Lost |
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I've seen Coldplay described as 'Radiohead-lite', although the comparison could be seen as insulting; it's not that Coldplay are actively offensive, just terribly, terribly bland, a criticism I hope you'd have trouble levelling at Radiohead. Parachutes rarely picks up speed at all, being mainly a collection of dull, mid-paced ballads with a faint 'indie' feel about them. There's nothing wrong with slow material - Low are marvellous, for example, but to my ears this album all sounds much of a muchness. There's Mellotron on one track, although I've no idea who plays it; Yellow has cellos, flutes and strings dotted about, though more as background colouring than anything else. Definitely not worth it on those grounds.
2002's A Rush of Blood to the Head is supposed to have some 'Tron on it too, but I'll be buggered if I can hear it, although major hit In My Place has some cello-like sound, but it could be just about anything. Incidentally, although I wouldn't go as far as to say I liked the track, when I kept hearing In My Place on the radio in the late summer of that year, it was the first thing I'd heard like that in a long time that actually grabbed my attention; great melody, but just far too wussy.
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I Don't Know Why I Act This Way (1995, 41.37) **½/TT |
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| Speed of Life Believe in You Move if You're Goin' Lowlife Joe Sheila Don't Remember Take the Reins Madison |
Hole at the Top of the World Heaven's Last Attempt |
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Falling Home (2000, 46.32) **½/T |
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| My Friend Stan (Intro) I Won't Bleed Braking Wheels Leave Me Alone Falling Home Any Dark Day More Than a Breakup Song Somewhere |
Raining on the Moon You Make it Easy Inhale Peaceful in Mine |
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Although his first band were Brits The Records (one eponymous album, 1980), it seems Jude Cole's American, moving back to his homeland in the '80s, beginning his sporadic solo career with 1987's Jude Cole. 1995's I Don't Know Why I Act This Way is his fourth such, consisting of singer-songwriterly material, unfortunately tainted with a mainstream '90s production (infinitely preferable to a mainstream '80s one, mind), better tracks including Lowlife and Joe. Jon Brion plays Chamberlin (well, it makes a change from Patrick Warren), with flutes on opener Speed Of Life, unidentified woodwind on Move If You're Goin', flutes and cello (despite a real one being used elsewhere) on Lowlife and what sounds like brass mixed in with other instruments on Madison.
Cole's follow-up (and last album to date), 2000's Falling Home, was released independently, a not dissimilar record to its predecessor, its best track probably being the energetic Inhale. Aaron Embry is credited with 'Chamberlin orchestra', a multi-overdubbed concoction of pre-war woodwinds on swing era-style ballad You Make It Easy, sounding real enough to fool the ear. Overall, then, really not that interesting, although some of Cole's lyrics bear repetition. Decent levels of tape-replay use on I Don't Know Why..., though less so on Falling Home, which is nice, but really not enough to make these worth a purchase, I fear.
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Pretty & Unsafe (2007, 33.01) ***/½ |
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| Little Gods He's Tellin' Me All Mavy Sad Faded Bloom A Motel Song Great View That's Peter Window Pretty and Unsafe |
F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Umpteenth Blue |
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Marta Collica isn't signed to 4AD, but you feel she should be; her work with John Parish (Eels/P.J. Harvey) partly explains her sound. Her debut album, 2007's Pretty & Unsafe, is a haunted, folk-inspired singer-songwriter effort, several tracks consisting of no more than Collica's voice and piano and/or Parish's guitar; trying to pick out 'best tracks' is slightly futile, as they're pretty much all on a level.
Hugo Race and Parish are both credited with Mellotron, with Race adding a string part to He's Tellin' Me All that doesn't actually sound particularly Mellotronic, while Parish is credited on the seemingly Mellotron-free F.R.I.E.N.D.S., although there's no mention of the strings on the title track. Is any of the Mellotron real? I have considerable doubts, but given that it's not 'obviously' sampled, I'll have to leave this here until/if etc. As far the album itself's concerned, 4AD/P.J. Harvey fans might well be interested, though Mellotron spotters should probably go elsewhere.
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Hellbent on Compromise (1990, 51.06) ***/½ |
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| Means to an End You Poor Deluded Fool It Might as Well Be You Take Care of Yourself Graciously Someone Else Besides My Girl Has Gone Now That it's Love |
Everything and More What's the Big Idea Time of the Preacher/Long Time Gone |
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I'm Not Following You (1997, 55.10) ***/½ |
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| It's a Steal The Magic Piper Seventies Night No One Waved Goodbye Downer Who is it? Running Away With Myself Country Rock |
For the Rest of My Life Superficial Cat Adidas World I'm Not Following You |
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Ex-leader of Orange Juice, Edwyn Collins' second solo album, 1990's Hellbent on Compromise, is apparently viewed as a poor relation in comparison to its rated predecessor, the previous year's Hope and Despair and its successor, '94's Gorgeous George, home to major hit A Girl Like You. In truth, the album's not bad, but the songwriting isn't outstanding and the arrangements seem a bit studio-heavy. Best track? For some reason, Someone Else Besides strikes a chord with me, as it's barely distinguishable from the rest of the album, although nothing here actually offends. Collins plays Mellotron himself, in an unusually early 'second wind' setting, after its '80s pariah status, with something on Take Care Of Yourself; my guess is the otherwise uncredited vibes, but it's hard to tell.
'97's I'm Not Following You is another album for Edwyn's fans and why not? The material skips between styles with his usual aplomb, making him as difficult to categorise as ever, better tracks including Seventies Night and the driving Adidas World, replete with ripping monosynth part. Collins plays Mellotron again, with a brief 'noodly' horn part (credited as such) on No One Waved Goodbye, which, to be honest, would've passed me by had I not known.
So; a pair of inbetweenies, really, neither one thing nor the other, with next to no 'Tron on either. Buy Gorgeous George instead. Incidentally, best wishes to Collins on his long-term stroke recovery.
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Sings Lennon & McCartney (2007, 34.50) ***/½ |
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| And I Love Her Blackbird Golden Slumbers Penny Lane Norwegian Wood When I'm Sixty-Four Good Day Sunshine Hey Jude |
We Can Work it Out Yesterday I'll Follow the Sun Long and Winding Road |
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Like a handful of her folk scene contemporaries, Judy Collins is fully deserving of the epithet 'legend in her own lifetime'; singer, musician, songwriter, activist, survivor of several traumatic episodes, not least the tragic suicide of her only son, she remains musically active in her early seventies. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she's never had a purple patch, either, still producing albums every three years or so and still writing.
Having previously covered Beatles songs (notably her 1966 take on In My Life), 2007's Sings Lennon & McCartney makes a kind of sense. Collins tackles the material with a certain reverence, rarely straying too far from the original arrangements, although she cheekily changes the last chorus of When I'm Sixty-Four to, "...when I'm eighty-four", in acknowledgement of having already passed that milestone (as, indeed, has its slightly younger author). Not sure about the children's chorus on Hey Jude, mind, but there you go...
Christian Lohr plays Mellotron, with background strings on Golden Slumbers, although all other strings appear to be real. This isn't really an album for Beatles fans, who have a plethora of covers of their heroes' work to choose from, in almost every style imaginable, more one for those who've followed Judy Collins' career over the decades. Recommended for fans of a certain era, though not for those wishing to hear a well-recorded Mellotron.
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Let it Go (2005, 45.58) *½/T |
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| Gloria (All God's Children) The One Thing Holding Onto You Always (Forever) Sweet River I'm Coming Home Last Night in America I Owe it All |
Nothing Without You Symphony of the Redeemed My Brother Jack |
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Paul Colman is ex-vocalist with crummy Aussies-turned-Yanks Christians The Newsboys, so it comes as no surprise to discover that 2005's Let it Go is a shockingly limp effort. It opens with the horrible Gloria, a particularly bad take on U2's schtick, appropriately enough, given that they wrote a (vastly superior) song of the same name. Nothing Without You is the least offensive thing here, but that isn't saying much when it's put up against CCM horrors like The One Thing, I'm Coming Home or I Owe It All.
Jeff Roach plays Mellotron, with enough flutes on Symphony Of The Redeemed to gain the album a whole T, which isn't to be in taken in any way, shape or form, as a recommendation of any kind. Bloody rubbish.
See: Newsboys
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Color (1978, 42.08/54.06) ****/T |
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| Álmatlanul Hárommilliárd Év A Nap Siet Kölcsön Ikaruszi Zuhanás Elképzelt Világ Jó Lenne Tudni Panoptikum a) Belépés |
b) Előtér c) Barlang d) Gyilkosok e) Férj, Feleség f) Császár g) Udvaron [CD adds: Vallomás Fényes Kövek A Bohóc] |
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Color were a hitherto-obscure progressive outfit from Hungary, whose eponymous 1978 debut is, in places, a startling good piece of work, top tracks including Hárommilliárd Év, with its inventive synth arrangements, the slightly fusion-esque Ikaruszi Zuhanás and excellent fourteen-minute closer Panoptikum. The musicianship's top-notch throughout, while much of the material sounds like Color and Color only, although there's a terrible cop from Genesis' Robbery, Assault & Battery on bonus track no.2, Fényes Kövek, while no.3, A Bohóc, leans towards their second album, 1982's far more commercial Új Színek.
Bassist Bokor Tibor plays Mellotron alongside brother Gyula's ubiquitous string synth, with strings on opener Álmatlanul and Elképzelt Világ, although, for some strange reason, it's always kept in the background. As you can see, this is on CD, two of the three bonus tracks being well worth hearing, as is the album as a whole. Not much Mellotron, but recommended anyway.
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The Grass is Greener (1970, 38.59) ***½/TJumping Off the SunLost Angeles Elegy Butty's Blues Rope Ladder to the Moon Bolero The Machine Demands a Sacrifice The Grass is Greener |
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Colosseum's The Grass is Greener is an odd, US-only compilation of odds'n'sods, replicating their best-known work, The Valentyne Suite's sleeve design, for no apparently good reason. Record company laziness, I expect. It actually works quite nicely as a sort of overview of their style, and although the unavailable-elsewhere tracks are apparently now included on the band's official albums as bonuses, this is worth hearing in its own right. There isn't a bad track on the album, but highlights are probably opener Jumping Off The Sun, their version of Ravel's Bolero (probably the earliest rock adaptation) and, after a slow start, the cataclysmic closing title track, with some seriously ripping Hendrix/Blackmore-esque guitar work.
Keys man Dave Greenslade, who tended to stick with organ and piano at this stage in his career, plays Mellotron on the band's version of Jack Bruce's Rope Ladder To The Moon, with some fairly ordinary string chords on a MkII, more audible towards the end of the song. That appears to be it for Colosseum's Mellotron use; it's possibly more surprising that they used one at all than that they didn't use it more, as it probably wouldn't have fitted their soulful style that well. So; think of this as a decent compilation including some hard-to-find tracks, and it works pretty well, but you really shouldn't include it on your 'Mellotron must-haves' list.
See: Greenslade | Dave Greenslade
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Drive (2004, 43.20) **/½ |
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| Don't Give Up on Me Since You Broke it First Week Morning Light Sending a Note Cigarette Killing Me How Low (Breakdown) |
Cut South All the World Tonight |
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Graham Colton is a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, who's had his songs featured on various popular US TV shows and has toured with the likes of John Mayer, Dave Matthews and, above all, Counting Crows, with whom Colton is reasonably comparable. 2004's Drive (his only album crediting his band) is his second release, a rather drippy, mainstream kind of pop/rock record, overlaid with Colton's bland, not especially tuneful voice, full of cheery, upbeat material like opener Don't Give Up On Me and Cigarette.
Producer Brendan O'Brien plays various instruments, including (his own?) Mellotron, with distant strings on Morning Light, although the strings on Killing Me are real. All in all, then, Tom Petty-lite for the modern age. Oh joy. No, this is not worth hearing for any reason.
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A Few Small Repairs (1996, 54.39) ***/½ |
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| Sunny Came Home Get Out of This House The Facts About Jimmy You and the Mona Lisa Trouble I Want it Back If I Were Brave Wichita Skyline |
84,000 Different Delusions Suicide Alley What I Get Paid for New Thing Now Nothin' on Me |
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Shawn Colvin's a bit of a late starter, not releasing her first album until she was in her thirties, and around forty when she finally broke through with 1996's 'divorce album' A Few Small Repairs. It's pretty much as you'd expect from a big-selling mid-'90s female singer-songwriter effort, to be honest; good at what it does, but you've really got to be into this stuff to get much from it. She may be influenced by Joni Mitchell, but that's where the resemblance ends. I suppose I should listen to the lyrics more closely, but when the music's perfectly pleasant but unengaging, I sort of lose concentration...
Guest woodwind player Rick DePofi plays Mellotron, though not a lot, with only a faint flute line on You And The Mona Lisa being at all apparent. So; quite mainstream but perfectly respectable, A Few Small Repairs will appeal to a certain audience, although I can't honestly say that includes me. Next to no Mellotron, either.
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Flying Dreams (1978, 33.32) ***/T |
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| Thank You, Lone Ranger Cry Baby Cry He's in Love (He's in Trouble) Life is a Carnival Talent Night at the Nashville Inn Flying Dreams Dreams of Barbarella Vampira |
Take the Fifth Amendment Stranger in a Strange Land My Day |
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Pianist George "Commander Cody" (mis-named for '50s SF serial character Commando Cody) and his Lost Planet Airmen (another era reference) were a country-rock band who shunned the more obvious Nashville route, veering towards rockabilly and western swing as a welcome alternative. I think 1978's Flying Dreams (the sleeve continuing the 1950s science fiction theme) was Frayne's first album sans the Airmen, a pleasant, if undemanding set of country, blues and boogie, sometimes all at once, top tracks including the Flying Dreams/Dreams Of Barbarella segue and the eerie Vampira.
Neil Larsen plays Mellotron, with a chordal flute part on Cry Baby Cry, although the string parts on a couple of tracks sound real. This has only recently been reissued, but at least it's available again. Frayne/Cody is still playing today; he'll probably never support artists of the stature of The Grateful Dead or Led Zeppelin again, but I'm sure he'll carry on ploughing his furrow for as long as he's able.
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Skywire (1996, 49.50) **/T |
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| Throw Me Over Wishing Well Drought Skywire Dual Lens Man Hate Treasure |
Domesticity Drown Broken Smile Last Time Out |
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Common Children were a CCM trio operating at the 'alternative' end of the spectrum, i.e. rather outdated grunge crossed with syrupy pop with a Christian bent. Their debut album, 1996's Skywire, is a fairly tedious proposition, although it beats most CCM hands-down simply by not being appalling, treacly rubbish with vomit-inducing lyrics. I'd be lying if I said the album had any noticeable highpoints, but at least most of it's relatively inoffensive, in a loud-guitars kind of way.
Phil Madeira does his usual God-bothering Mellotron thing, although were he not credited, I would probably have chucked this into 'samples', or possibly straight into the bin, as the cello and string parts on Broken Smile really don't sound much like a Mellotron, although they clearly are. Although less atrocious than many, I really couldn't, in all conscience, recommend this.
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Harmony (1973, 35.19) ***/THarmonyDon't Cry Hello My Friend Our Music Summer Day Concierto Uno |
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Harmony were Spain's entrant in the brass-rock stakes, their answer to Blood, Sweat & Tears, maybe, who released several singles and an album, 1973's Harmony. It's a decent enough effort of its type, although they were unlikely ever to worry Chicago overmuch. Aside from the rather cheesy title track/single, the rest of the material is in the jazz/rock vein, veering between the funky Hello My Friend, the doomy Don't Cry and Concierto Uno, a side-long fusion epic, no less.
Saxophonist Luis Cobos doubled on Mellotron, mostly on Don't Cry, which begins with a murky cello part, with chordal strings and a flute melody later in the decidedly Mellotron-heavy track, with the tiniest smattering of strings buried in the mix on Summer Day for good measure. The whole album, plus loads of singles and other stuff, is available on Reves' two-disc Todas Sus Grabaciones en Sonoplay y Movieplay (1969-1974), which is good news for brass fans, although I couldn't honestly recommend it for the Mellotron.
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Conjure One (2002, 54.50) ***/½ |
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| Damascus Center of the Sun Tears From the Moon Tidal Pool Manic Star Redemption Years Make a Wish |
Pandora Sleep Premonition (Reprise) |
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Conjure One are an off/on so-called 'electronic' project from Rhys Fulber, better known for his membership of both Front Line Assembly and Delerium. I suppose their 2002 debut, Conjure One, is loosely 'electronic', in that it's based around programmed beats and the like; actually, it seems to be a straight mix of Fulber's other two bands, with the electronica from FLA and Delerium's 'world' stuff combining in a commercially potent brew. The Arabic-esque vocals from various mostly female guest vocalists (Sinéad O'Connor, Mel Garside, whom I used to know slightly, for my sins, even The Tea Party's Jeff Martin) work pretty well, I'll admit, but the album loses me when the rhythms kick in.
Rick Nowels (Melanie C, Dido, Ronan Keating) plays Chamberlin on Tears From The Moon, but given that the track also contains other keyboards and a violin, it's pretty hard to tell what it's doing; presumably the string pad in the background. If I hadn't known, I'd have said it was the blocky-sounding strings on Pandora, so what do I know? Anyway, mainstream stuff that won't trouble most of you; heard worse, but shan't be playing again for a while, if ever.
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King for a Day (2007, 52.02) ***/½ |
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| Vanitas When the Money's Gone King for a Day A Glimpse of Paradise Love Let Me Down Sinking Ship Twenty-One Punch the Sky! |
Anybody (I'm Through With) My Ego Mr. Lucky Things |
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Jeffrey "Bobby Conn" Stafford has had quite a career since the late '80s, shifting from hardcore through prog and 'alternative', all presumably used as vehicles for his songwriting. 2007's King for a Day fits loosely into the last-named genre, such as it is, although elements of his previous styles have clearly rubbed off, as Sinking Ship is a distinctly proggy effort (in a Crimson-esque vein), while several other tracks are more instrumentally complex than anything you'd care to name by most of Conn's contemporaries.
Conn plays Chamberlin on the title track, with what sounds like some variety of woodwind chords on the chorus, although you'd have little idea they were tape-replay-produced, were they not credited. Overall, then, far better than your average 'alt.' album, yet curiously unfulfilling at the same time. Conn's unusual combination of genres, while both brave and potentially interesting, rarely actually works in practice, Sinking Ship being the chief exception. Sort-of worthwhile, though not for the Chamberlin.
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7" (1999) ***½/TTT Grasshopper's Daydream Behind the Smile |
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Gary Lee Conner was guitarist with The Screaming Trees, going solo after their split in 2000. After 1990's solo album The Purple Outside-Mystery Lane, his only other release during the life of the band was '99's Grasshopper's Daydream, on Sub Pop. This early Floyd-channelling effort sounds like what it is, a decent piece of reconstituted psych squished through grunge, which is actually rather better than it sounds.
The flip, Behind The Smile, a dark, acoustic number, is awash with clearly very real Mellotron strings, wobbling all over the place in fine style, making for a pretty decent twofer. Let's face it, reconstituted psych still beats most modern styles hands down... Worth hearing.
See: Screaming Trees
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Wildflowers (2004, 46.25) ***/T |
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| Sticks & Stones Sucker Punch Western Champion The Buzzard Tall Dry Grass The Shadows of Leaves Fuzz and Them Double Dutch |
Wildflowers Get Thy Bearings |
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Sticks & Stones (2005, 16.19) ***/TSticks & StonesSticks Dub I'm Inside Out Raga Doll Afro Som |
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So why is Connie Price listed under 'C', then? Although a Connie Price is credited on their debut, 2004's Wildflowers (er, on drums), she is naught but a nom de plume for LA producer Dan Ubick, who seems to play most of the instruments on the band's infrequent, mostly instrumental releases. The term 'deep funk' (as in 'deep soul') has been coined to describe their particular brand of groove; as you might expect from a seasoned crew of studio hacks, every track illustrates a different facet of the style, from brass-driven vibes-fest opener Sticks & Stones through the country/funk (I kid you not) of Tall Dry Grass to the carnivalesque title track. Jeremy Ruzumna (of 'whatever happened to' Macy Gray fame) plays uncredited Chamberlin, with strings on Sticks & Stones, although all other string parts emanate from a Solina string synth.
The following year's Sticks & Stones EP builds on their album, repeating the title track, adding a dub version and some live material to tempt waverers. Ruzumna's actually credited on Chamby this time round, with a reiteration of his part on Sticks & Stones and more of the same (as in, the same recording) on Sticks Dub. So; are these any good? At what they do (funk/soul/dub), yes. Will you like them? Depends on you, really.
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Plateau (1977, 35.21) ***½/TTPlateau of NaskaA Close Encounter Power of Giza The Battle of Gomorrah Journey The Oracle |
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I don't know an awful lot about Robert Connolly, but assuming he's the same guy mentioned on a site dedicated to strange human remains in Peru, he's a bit of an expert in the prehistory of the area. Plateau opens with a rather cheesy spoken-word part explaining something about the Plains of Nazca and aliens, but I'm afraid my attention had already wandered by then. Connolly gets in a female vocalist for A Close Encounter, before more intoned nonsense on Power Of Giza and Journey, although he sings on the latter, too. The music is reasonable late-'70s progressive, with a noticeably American sound, despite his actually being Canadian. Plenty of good Hammond and synth work, although many of the melodies are rather lightweight, making it a bit of a non-essential purchase, especially considering its rarity.
As far as the Mellotron's concerned (played by Connolly), there are a few string chords on Plateau Of Naska, and the lengthy Journey has a more overt strings part plus largish helpings of choir, but that appears to be it, though as I'm reviewing this from a tape copy, I may be wrong. So; an OK album, a bit of 'Tron, but nothing outstanding in either department, to be honest.
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Mediamente Isterica (1998, 46.11/118.53) **½/0 (½) |
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| Bésame Giuda Bésame Mucho Puramente Casuale Sentivo l'Odore Autunno Dolciastro Ennesima Eclisse In Funzione di Nessuna Logica Geisha Eco di Sirene |
Quattordici Luglio Anello Mancante Contessa Miseria L'Ultima Preghiera [Expanded ed. adds: L'Uomo Meschino Besame Giuda Besame Mucho |
Puramente Casuale Sentivo l'Odore Autunno Dolciastro Ennesima Eclisse In Funzione di Nessuna Logica Geisha Eco di Sirene Quatordici Luglio |
Anello Mancante Contessa Miseria L'Ultima Preghiera Besame Giuda In Funzione di Nessuna Logica Contessa Miseria Autunno Dolciastro Eco di Sirene] |
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Carmen Consoli is a slightly alternative Italian singer-songwriter, with a sound vaguely comparable to P.J. Harvey in places. Her third album, 1998's Mediamente Isterica, is apparently harder-hitting than its predecessors; it certainly has some of that late '90s 'guitar band' vibe about it, making it far more listenable than many superficially similar artists. Nothing especially leaps out at me, but when an album plays itself out without actively offending me, I consider it a success of sorts.
Roberto Baldi is credited with Mellotron on Contessa Miseria, although whatever he contributes is effectively inaudible. However, someone (Baldi again?) plays 'Tron strings on the expanded edition's second version of Ennesima Eclisse, which absolutely does not make this worth obtaining on the Mellotron front. Frankly, you'll have to be into Italian alt.rock to want to hear it at all, but it could've been so, so much worse.
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Consonant (2002, 49.03) ***/½ |
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| Blissful Call it L--- Buckets of Flowers, Porno Mags Who Touches You Now? John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" Not Like Them Post-Pathetic |
That Boston Life 3 A.M. The Kiss Details of Attraction What a Body Could Do Perfect |
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Despite leader Clint Conley's illustrious past (he was mainman of the influential Mission of Burma), Consonant are in many ways a typical American indie outfit of their day (nearly ten years ago now, shockingly); given that the Internet was approaching ubiquity even then, self-titling an album when you have such an already unsearchable name is rather dim, but there you go. Consonant starts off as no more than a passable enough album within its limitations, oddly getting better as it progresses, with hints of The Who (Who Touches You Now?) and touches of psych (Not Like Them, Details Of Attraction) improving things no end.
Matt Kadane plays Chamberlin on Not Like Them, with a quiet, yet welcome flute part that sounds wobbly enough to be real. Overall, then, a rather overlong album that might've worked better as a 33-minute blast, winnowing the weaker material and making for a more varied end result in the process.
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Why Wait (2008, 35.52) *½/T |
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| 15 Minutes of Shame Why Wait Like My Mother Does Hoping to Find Baby Believe Not Tonight Plant the Seed I Think Too Much |
Homesick God Bless the USA |
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Kristy Lee Cook released her first album in 2005, although she's best-known for her participation in the 2007 American Idol (why is it that every other country calls it 'Pop Idol', yet America has to get all patriotic on our arses? Again?). She scraped her way through to the top seven, apparently (isn't Wikipedia useful?) before being booted out, despite this notorious horse-lover (so to speak) famously having sold her favourite nag to raise the funds to compete.
2008's Why Wait (a statement? A question?) is exactly the kind of drivelly, half-arsed country nonsense you'd expect from someone with Kristy's obvious lust for fame; faceless, ultra-commercial crud designed solely to sell as many copies as possible, although, amusingly, it only managed 30,000-odd copies, which for someone with as (fleetingly) high a public profile as hers is pretty dismal. It's difficult to comment on most of its contents, as they glide by on a sheen of glossy production, making little impact on the way (thankfully), although crass opener 15 Minutes Of Shame (surely a resumé of Kristy's career?) is notably horrible, while the shamelessly, fatuously jingoistic flag-waving of God Bless The USA (why?) causes bile to rise in anyone not in thrall to the US cult of patriotism. The nearest this gets to a 'high point' is the mildly witty lyrics on I Think Too Much, but it's too little, too late.
Randy Cantor (Alejandra Guzmán, Psycho Realm) plays Mellotron, with what I take to be strings on God Bless The USA, although they don't really sound that Mellotronic, frankly. This is drivel; playing it may well be injurious to your health. Consider yourself warned.
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Billion Dollar Babies (1973, 41.05/98.58) ****/T½ (TTT) |
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| Hello Hooray Raped and Freezin' Elected Billion Dollar Babies Unfinished Sweet No More Mr Nice Guy Generation Landslide Sick Things Mary-Ann |
I Love the Dead [expanded ed. adds: Hello Hooray Billion Dollar Babies Elected Eighteen Raped and Freezin' No More Mr Nice Guy |
My Stars Unfinished Sweet Sick Things Dead Babies I Love the Dead Coal Black Model T Son of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) Slick Black Limousine] |
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Alice Cooper, king of shock rock, enemy of society, crown prince of darkness (1973 version) blah blah blah... Alice, née Vince Furnier, was always a nice boy really, and has ended up one of 'rock's elder statesmen' (horrible phrase!) whose opinion always seems to be sought on those TV programmes about 'heavy metal' or 'glam rock' or whatever, mainly because he can a) always be relied upon to be intelligent and witty at the drop of a hat and b) still be alive. It was not always thus... In 1973, Alice was in the throes of a serious alcohol problem, with the so-called moral majority coming down on him like a ton of bricks wherever he went, seemingly due to their lack of understanding of the (major) theatrical element in what he was doing.
Billion Dollar Babies was his (or their, depending on exactly whom you consider 'Alice' to be) sixth album proper, but only the fourth of any real lasting value. Love it to Death (1970, ****), Killer (1971, ****½) and the overrated School's Out (1972, ***) are all good, particularly Killer, but Billion Dollar Babies took the whole 'Alice' concept to another place, with several of its tracks still being performed live to this day, notably Elected, No More Mr Nice Guy and the title track. What's really noticeable, upon replaying the album, is how... Broadway it is. Not as much as the excellent (if campy) Welcome to My Nightmare (****), two years down the line, but Alice's brand of theatricality owed as much to Rogers & Hammerstein as, er, Roger Corman (he said, stretching an analogy beyond breaking point), with many of the arrangements having musical 'spaces' built into them for Alice's onstage theatrics. There's some great material here (other classics include Sick Things and the wonderfully depraved I Love The Dead), but it's got less rock credibility than Killer, and has actually lost half a star upon re-reviewal.
The 2001 remaster added a second disc to the album, containing a chunk of a live set from the era and a handful of outtakes. The live material's excellent, although it's noticeable that much of the new album was played in semi-medley form, with several tracks segueing into each other after a couple of verses. The three studio tracks tacked on the end are a New Musical Express (UK music rag) flexidisc track, Slick Black Limousine, a demo version of the same track, Coal Black Model T and an early version of the album's Generation Landslide, Son Of Billion Dollar Babies, all worth hearing, but slightly inessential.
On the Mellotron front, producer Bob Ezrin (a bit of a Mellotron fan on the quiet) got a bit of 'Tron in on a couple of tracks, with strings and a bit of flute on opener Hello Hooray, and some strings and choir on Unfinished Sweet (ha ha). Bob Dolin plays piano and Mellotron on the live tracks on the expanded version, with the string parts from Hello Hooray (though not the flutes) and Unfinished Sweet present and correct, plus string and cello parts on Sick Things and strings on I Love The Dead, both of which work really nicely. I'm not sure the original album's really worth it for the Mellotron fan, but the expanded version just might be.
