Images in Vogue  [EP]  (1983,  22.46)  ***½/½ Lust for Love Masks Just Like You For Germans Breaking Up

	Collection Version 2.0: Chronology  (2004,  76.25)  ***/½
	Travel Quiet Room Politics of Sound Anxiety Reaction Lust for Love Masks For Germans (mix 2) Breaking Up	Call it Love Save it Promised Land Holiday King's Service In the House Look Me in the Eye Someday	Piece of Your Heart (version 1) Everytime One Hand Cleanses ... the Other (Where's Kenny?)

Current availability:

• EP: out of print
• Collection: Carlos Monte

Mellotron used:

• Strange Advance's 4-Track?

Little-known outside Canada, Images in Vogue were the Canucks' joint answer to Britain's early '80s synthpop boom, alongside Strange Advance. As far as I can work out, their discography is now partially available, in a rather piecemeal kind of way, split into three volumes of Collection Version..., missing quite a few tracks in the process. Irritating.

1983's Images in Vogue was their third release and second EP; it would be another two years before they released an album. It's a pretty decent effort within its genre, its five tracks utilising drool-worthy Prophet 5s, Memorymoogs and Oberheims, amongst other now sought-after gear. Musically, it cements their reputation as the Canadian Ultravox, with all the right Bowie and Roxy influences, plus an unfortunate hint of Duran Duran in places, but we won't hold that against them. And as for, er, For Germans, shouldn't that be Four Germans. Eh? Eh? The EP contains what is likely to be their sole Mellotron track, Masks, with some background choirs (possibly from Strange Advance's elusive 4-Track) that add to the song without being overly blatant.

2004's Collection Version 2.0: Chronology covers four of the EP's five tracks; it's actually a very nice compilation of their work, previously unreleased instrumental opener Travel setting the scene nicely, followed by another 18 presumably typical IIV tracks. Moreover, it's the only place to easily find Masks, although you really shouldn't bother just to hear some distant Mellotron choir. Images in Vogue were good at what they did and still reform for occasional (apparently well-attended) gigs. A couple of their members went on to form or work with industrial pioneers Skinny Puppy, but we shouldn't hold that against them, either.

Official site

Imán, Califato Independiente  (Spain)

Imán, Califato Independiente  (1978,  42.11)  ***½/T Tarantos del Califato Independiente   Canto al Califa   Tarantos   Estate Quieto, Boabdil   Pasco por la Plaza   Cuarto Menguante Darshan Cerro Alegre Cancion de la Oruga

Current availability:

• Sony

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Imán, Califato Independiente were one of the all-too many obscure progressive bands from the '70s; Spain in this case, although they were on the local branch of CBS, giving them some local mainstream credibility. Like many Spanish bands from this era, they had a slightly jazzy touch and also brought in a flamenco influence; Imán, Califato Independiente is instrumental and a good example of its genre, particularly the side-long Tarantos Del Califato Independiente.

Marcos Mantero is credited with playing Mellotron on three out of four tracks, with strings under the Elka string synth on parts one and four of Tarantos del Califato Independiente, Canto Al Califa and Cuarto Menguante and album closer Cancion De La Oruga, plus a few seconds of choir and more of those mixed strings in Darshan. Confusingly, Mantero also plays a 'Farfisa Syntorchestra', as if the waters needed muddying further. So; a cool album, particularly the sort-of title track, but not really one for the Mellotron fan, I fear. There was a second album, 1980's Camino del Aguila, but it appears to be Mellotron-free.

Natalie Imbruglia  (Australia)  see: Samples

Improved Sound Limited  (Germany)

	Catch a Singing Bird on the Road  (1973,  37.32)  **½/T
	Humphrey Bogart The Dark Lord Barricade A Poet's Conversation Catch a Singing Bird on the Road Sunday Morning After Church Breed Mountain Moonshine	Rio Bravo 59 Hot Biscuit Slim

Current availability:

• Long Hair

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

As far as I can work out, Improved Sound Limited were a vaguely proggy outfit who went off the boil around 1973, producing what appears to be their tribute to the Americana of the day, Catch a Singing Bird on the Road. It opens well enough with the surprisingly proggish Humphrey Bogart, before turning up the blind alley of American-sounding soft rock, exemplified by the rest of the record. It's not awful, just rather dull, with the odd halfway decent song (the folky title track, Hot Biscuit Slim) to keep the listener from dozing off. And as for the bluesy, blatantly Lord of the Rings-influenced The Dark Lord, the less said the better...

Axel Linstädt plays Mellotron strings on opener Humphrey Bogart, as befits the nearest this album gets to 'prog', but it in no way makes this worth getting hold of, I'm afraid. One decent track, doubling as one passable 'Tron track. Maybe not.

In Lingua Mortua  (Norway)

Bellowing Sea - Racked By Tempest  (2007,  49.26)  ***½/TTTT Oceanus Procellarum Awe and Terror Mirage Relinquish Lacus Somniorum From Winsome to Bestial Sowers of Discord The Melancholy Surge

	Salon des Refusés  (2010,  44.48)  ***½/TTTT
	Full Fathom Five Existence Darkness Catharsis Like the Ocean Into the Mincer Open the Doors of Janus   (the Gates of War)	Electrocution Skjelvende av Angst A Force of Nature Cold Void Messiah

Current availability:

• Both titles: Termo

Mellotrons/Chamberlin used:

• Bellowing: one or more of Lars Fredrik Frøislie's M400s
• Salon: one or more of Lars Fredrik Frøislie's M400s/Chamberlin M1

At first glance, In Lingua Mortua look like just another one of the 17,532 Scandinavian black/death/whatever metal bands in existence and indeed, as soon as Bellowing Sea - Racked By Tempest kicks in properly, one feels one's hopes begin to fade. However... Unlike most of their contemporaries, In Lingua Mortua are actually pretty damn' progressive, knowing how to make an album that the non-faithful can actually have a stab at listening to without falling about laughing or bursting into tears. Why? I'm still trying to work it out. Probably because it's more a progressive album with death metal tropes than vice versa, modulating key all over the place and structuring songs in an almost (dare I say it?) Änglagård vein. It's pointless picking out individual tracks; the album's best listened to as a whole anyway, but despite the blastbeats and 'uurgh' vocals, this is remarkably listenable. Startling.

Mellotron-player-to-the-Norwegian-metal-(and-prog)-community, Lars Fredrik Frøislie, does his usual thing here, sticking 'Tron all over the place, with strings on all highlighted tracks (the only 'Tron-free track, Lacus Somniorum, is under a minute long anyway), with flutes and choir on several and definite cellos on Relinquish, if not others. There are brass parts on the album, too, but with a credited saxophonist, they're more likely to be baritone sax than anything (no alto solos here, thanks).

The band followed up three years later with Salon des Refusés, essentially more of the same, although the sleeve notes say, "The songs were created and recorded between 2001 and 2008", presumably making much of the material predate that on Bellowing Sea. Like its predecessor, it contains a very workable form of death metal/prog crossover, acoustic interludes being shattered by mad guitar work, roaring vocals and blastbeats. The vocals are a bit hard to take in places, but that sort of goes with the territory... Lars plays not only all keys, but drums and some of the guitar and bass work, making this pretty much his solo project with guests, rather than a band as such.

Of course, he splatters one or more of his three M400s all over the album, with strings on most tracks, plus vibes (otherwise uncredited and therefore Mellotronic) on opener Full Fathom Five and Existence and cellos on Catharsis. We also get Lars' beloved new (well, to him) Chamberlin M1 on just one track (he only obtained it recently), presumably providing the massive strings on Like The Ocean, while the album's second instrumental, Electrocution, features a grungy mix of Mellotron cellos, violas and violins, making for another Mellotron Winner.

Overall, then, two really rather good extreme metal releases that stay true to their genre while taking other influences on board. I believe it's known as 'progressing' (ahem). Loads of Mellotron on both, too, so a cautious recommendation for those who think they can stand the heat.

Official site

In the Cage  (UK)  see: Samples

In the Labyrinth  (Sweden)

		Mysteriernas Trädgård  [a.k.a. The Garden of Mysteries]  (1994/96,  73.53)  ***½/TT
		Gates of Andorra Karakoram Pass Escape From Canaan Hiram Abiff Kekova (the Sunken City) Ali Hasan Aslan Meditating Minotauros	The Garden of Mysteries II Monsoon Andalucy Journey to Hel Moorish Rapsody Trans Turkish Express Aral	Moorish Waltz Desert Visions Ya Qader The Garden of Mysteries I La Dame Inconnue Almeria Palm-Cat

	Walking on Clouds  (1999,  56.35)  ***½/TTT½
	Kali Mahatma Over the Wall The Caravan From Sheeba Birka Lop Nor (the Wandering Lake) Dervish Dreams Golgonda	Gates of Oneiron Chandrika Walking on Clouds

	Dryad  (2002,  59.37)  ****/TTT
	Lost in the Woods Out of This Maze Catch a Cloud Nargal Dryad (the Spirit of the Woods) Trident Jabberwocky Muscarin Madness	Deep Saffron Night of the Baskerville Killer Farewell Little Brother

Rökstenen: A Tribute to Swedish Progressive Rock of the 70's  (2010)  ****/T [In the Labyrinth contribute] Worlds on Fire

Current availability:

• The Garden of Mysteries: CD-R only? Completely out of print?
• Walking on Clouds/Dryad: Record Heaven (Sweden)
• Rökstenen: Musea (France)

Mellotrons used:

• All titles: Peter Lindahl's M400

Peter Lindahl, born in 1951, formed the ethnic outfit Aladdin's Lantern in Stockholm in 1980, which (very) eventually morphed into Labyrint in the early '90s. After releasing the initially cassette-only Mysteriernas Trädgård, they changed their name to In the Labyrinth, and have been singlemindedly ploughing their world/prog crossover furrow ever since. The tape was reissued under their new name as The Garden of Mysteries in 1996, although, due to disagreements with ex-members, it has been officially unavailable for some years. The band actually make a pretty unique noise, with elements of various ethnic musics combining with a modern progressive style to create something new; surely what 'progressive' rock should be all about? About the only clear influence you could point to is that brand of krautrock acts who assimilated 'world' influences before there was such a term, particularly Embryo. Led by the multi-instrumentalist Lindahl, their lineup seems to be fairly fluid apart from his lieutenant, Håkan Almkvist, with other musicians obviously being brought in as and when needed.

The Garden of Mysteries sets out their stall quite unequivocally, opening with what sounds like plucked banjo, although it has to be something more exotic, going by the musicians' credits on their site. Their chief ethnic influence is definitely Middle Eastern, carrying on from their Aladdin's Lantern days, when they apparently worked backing belly dancers (!), among other gigs, although all sorts of stuff pops in and out of the mix. Most of the material is instrumental, which seems to work better to my ears than their actual songs. Not actually that much of Lindahl's Mellotron (yes, it's real), with quick flurries of echoed 'Tron flute on Karakoram Pass, a more 'standard' string part on Kekova (The Sunken City), and what sounds like tape-replay flutes, rather than the real thing, on Ali Hasan. I think the flute on Monsoon is real, but those are definite 'Tron strings on Moorish Rapsody [sic] and Moorish Waltz, although the flute on the latter is, again, inconclusive.

'99's Walking on Clouds carries on in similar vein, only maybe more focussed, being a real pot pourri of influences, often applied simultaneously. It's difficult to pick out highlights on a single listen, as I imagine this will take several plays to really appreciate, although the middle-eastern pipes on Golgonda are notable. Not so sure about the vocal tracks, though they're relatively few and far between. Lindahl plays Mellotron on several tracks, mostly strings, although some of the flute work is quite clearly 'Tron, too. The string parts are mostly upfront, if not actually solo, blending nicely with the more unusual instrumentation, at least to my ears. 'Tron highlight? Probably the end of Mahatma, although several similar parts could also qualify.

Three years on, Dryad is actually slightly less 'world' than its predecessor, although sitars, darboukas, tablas and the like still proliferate. The vocal tracks here seem better integrated into the album as a whole; in fact, 'well-integrated' is a phrase that sums the record up in general. Lindahl's diverse influences come together more smoothly here, at least to my ears, making for a more satisfying listen all round. Marginally less Mellotron than on Walking on Clouds, with a similar mixture of about 90% strings to 10% flutes, with Muscarin Madness only featuring a few seconds of the latter. Overall, a slightly better album than its predecessor, but a little less 'Tron.

So; if you're intrigued by this description of In the Labyrinth, either of the easily-available albums is worth a shot. Decent Mellotron work on both, too, though if you're offended by the sound of 'ethnic' instrumentation, you may wish to go elsewhere.

Official site

Yasuo Inada & Bemi Family  (Japan)

Kankaku Shikou  (1974,  36.02)  ***½/T½ Original #1 Claude Debussy Original #2 L. van Beethoven Original #3 L. van Beethoven

Current availability:

• Due on CD any time?

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

According to the estimable folk at the ProgNotFrog blog (try saying that quickly), a Japanese quartet confusingly called ARP released a single in 1974, the band name mysteriously changing to Yasuo Inada & Bemi Family somewhere along the line. After some fury and a lineup change, they recorded an album, Kankaku Shikou, consisting of contemporary reworkings of classical pieces and featuring Inada rather heavily on the sleeve. Can you spot the originals? Some of the piano (acoustic and electric) parts are familiar, but when the other keys lurch over the horizon, any pretence at attempting to copy the originals disappears. The Debussy and first Beethoven are marvellous, worth the price of admission alone, although the (relatively) brief second Beethoven is awful, a vocal number that sounds nothing like any Ludwig van B. that I've ever heard. Stylewise, the two good tracks (between them, 5/6ths of the album's length) alternate solo piano and band arrangements, Inada blasting away on Hammond, Solina and at least two different synths, in proper full-on prog style.

Inada also plays Mellotron, of course (look closely: it's behind the Rhodes on the sleeve), with massive, albeit rather brief choir parts on the Debussy and first Beethoven pieces, although it really isn't enough to make it worth hearing for that alone. According to a recent post on the CD Reissue Wish List blog (two blogs in one review!), this is lined up for a Bridge label reissue in 2013. Here's hoping...

Incredible Moses Leroy  (US)  see: Samples

Incognito  (UK)

	Tales From the Beach  (2008,  74.16)  **½/T
	Love, Joy, Understanding I've Been Waiting When the Sun Comes Down Step Aside N.O.T. Happy People I Come Alive (Rimshots & Basses) Freedom to Love	I Remember a Time It May Rain Sometime Never Look Back When Words Are Just Words Feel the Pressure Silence of My Mind Tales From the Beach

Current availability:

• Dome

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Incognito (alumni include Carleen Anderson) grew out of late '70s Brit-jazz-funksters Light of the World, releasing their debut album, the 'does what it says on the tin' Jazz Funk, in 1981, although the band effectively split up for a decade, until '91's Inside Life . Although I've seen them described as 'acid jazz', their sound on 2008's Tales From the Beach is essentially smooth soul/funk, professional in the extreme, while complete anathema to anyone whose booty isn't in the mood to be funked, or something. Part of the album's problem is its sheer length; not just as a whole, but individual tracks. I mean, six tracks over six minutes? Are you sure? Like many musical forms, danceable stuff of most types doesn't work well in this long-form setting, particularly when you don't like it...

Dominic "Ski" Oakenfull plays Mellotron, with strings throughout N.O.T. and a few seconds on Never Look Back, assuming it's real. This album gets a relatively high rating for its sheer professionalism and exuberance, although I hate it with a passion; the band really sound like they're enjoying themselves, even if I'm not. Then again, they didn't make it for me, did they? Great playing from all concerned, too, particularly on the mercifully brief closing title track.

Official site

Incubus  (US)  see: Samples

Indescribably Delicious  (US)

	Good Enough to Eat!  (1999, recorded 1969,  27.10)  ***/TT
	It's Been a Hard Hard Day Big Ben Is it Love The Kids Are Alright Baby I Love You Brother Where Are You I Gotta Love You Again Take a Little Bit of Lovin'	The Rest of My Life Take Me for One Last Ride In Too Deep The World is Ended Right Now

Current availability:

• Akarma (Italy)

Chamberlin used:

• Studio machine?

Several years after originally writing this review, I received an e-mail from Indescribably Delicious (known universally as I.D.)'s vocalist, Jim Conroy, giving me the true story of the band and 1999's cobbled-together Good Enough to Eat! They were an L.A. Bay Area beat group who formed in the early '60s and released one single on a local label, also home to the iconic Strawberry Alarm Clock. After the band split, their ex-manager, Gary Solo(mon), got Jim to sing on some demos he was recording with Greg Munford, who sang on the Clock's iconic Incense And Peppermints. Jim wasn't over-keen on the material, but was eventually sent an acetate of the rather amateurish sessions, with the three I.D. tracks added. About a decade later, Jim was persuaded to part with a copy of the acetate to a record-collector friend. Fast-forward a decade or two...

In the late '90s, Jim got a call from the Strawberry Alarm Clock's old manager, Bill Holmes, whingeing about a European bootleg of songs that he 'owned'; turns out some chancers have put the acetate out as a CD, crediting it to Indescribably Delicious. Holmes sued and got the rights back to the recordings, subsequently licencing them out himself, getting material from Jim for the package. It crept out some months later as Good Enough to Eat!; Holmes has evaded any tedious financial responsibilities, meaning Jim won't get any royalties from the release, despite having sung on the whole thing. It's the same old, same old story, isn't it? Anyway, to the actual album:

It's (unsurprisingly, all things considered) a bit of a mish-mash of styles, with the three tracks from their lone single session (The Kids Are Alright/Baby I Love You/Brother Where Are You) rubbing shoulders with the demos, which are of a rather dated psychedelic bent. Their version of The Who's The Kids Are Alright has a wrong chord, which can apparently be blamed on Solo's rearrangement of the song, much of the rest being OK, but really nothing special. In 1969, the Mellotron had barely had any impact in the States at all, although, of course, the originator of the tape-replay concept, Harry Chamberlin, had been building his machines in California since the early '50s. As a result, the 'is it/isn't it?' dilemma hovering over this album is resolved by its final track, The World Is Ended Right Now, which is smothered in that weird Chamberlin solo male voice, proving beyond a doubt that the Chamby had vocal tapes several years before the 'Tron. Anyway, keyboards were played by both Munford and Jack Bielan, so I've no idea which one plays the Chamby, but there's also strings on Big Ben, one of the album's more psychedelically-inclined numbers, and on the more straightforward The Rest Of My Life.

So; a rather ordinary album, probably best described as a 'curio', to be honest. Three Chamberlin tracks, but apart from the male vocal (which may just possibly crop up elsewhere, too), it's all rather run-of-the-mill. Jim Conroy's clearly fairly unhappy about the whole business, though also fairly sanguine, and who can blame him? As he says, he's still playing today and has never had to do the crapulent 'oldies' circuit, like so many one-hit wonders. To sum up, this album is NOT the original I.D., except for three tracks, and they aren't especially representative of the band's garage glory.

Official Jim Conroy site

Indian Summer  (UK)

Indian Summer  (1971,  49.50)  ***½/TT God is the Dog Emotions of Man Glimpse Half Changed Again Black Sunshine From the Film of the Same Name Secrets Reflected Another Tree will Grow

Current availability:

• Repertoire (Germany)

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Indian Summer fall fairly and squarely into the 'UK proto-prog' category, along with Spring, Beggars Opera, Gracious! and many others; think 'late-'60s feel in the early '70s' and you're getting near. This isn't a criticism by any means; many of these bands were excellent, but had the misfortune to head up one of music's blind alleys. Pink Floyd aside (who were always completely a law unto themselves, anyway), the progressive bands who 'made it' were mostly those who had the courage to really push at the boundaries, and leave the '60s behind.

Indian Summer's a good album, though, with several lengthy Hammond workouts, but it fails to transcend its influences and create anything genuinely new. Opener God Is The Dog is one of the best tracks, with Bob Jackson's Mellotron lifting it towards its conclusion. The 'Tron is used sparingly and tastefully throughout, in fact, although you sometimes feel they could've used a little more without spoiling the pudding.

So; a good psych/prog crossover album, and a few nice 'Tron bits. One for enthusiasts, but by no means a bad record. Recommended for fans of the genre.

Indians  (US)

	Indianism  (1993,  46.00)  **½/TT
	Bed of Roses Love A-I-A-O Look Up to the Sky The Key Caught a Rainbow Believe I Love the World	Head in the Clouds If the Children Ask Why

Current availability:

• Polydor

Mellotron used:

• Jon Brion's M400?

It's not easy to track down information on a band called The Indians, even when they have the good grace not to name their (probably) sole album eponymously. 1993's Indianism has its moments, in a pop/rock kind of way, but by and large is a bit too wishy-washy to make any great impression, despite a handful of decent tracks, notably opener Bed Of Roses and the heavier The Key.

'John Brian' plays Mellotron; quite certainly our old friend Jon Brion, before he acquired enough of a name to get his name spelled properly. It could be on most tracks, but I'm of the opinion that you'll only hear distant flutes on opener Bed Of Roses, strings and flutes on Look Up To The Sky and Caught A Rainbow and strings on If The Children Ask Why, all excellently-played and not too low in the mix. Overall, powerpop aficionados may find parts of the album palatable, but it didn't grab this particular listener. Not bad 'Tron use, though, especially for the early '90s.

MySpace

Inner Circle  (Jamaica)

		Rock the Boat  [a.k.a. Dread Reggay Hits]  (1974,  46.37)  ***/TT½
		You Make Me Feel Brand New I'm Going Home Here I am Baby Westbound Train Duppy Gunman Book of Rules Homely Girl Rock the Boat	Some Guys Have All the Luck Everything I Own None Shall Escape the Judgement Curfew Have Some Mercy T.S.O.P.

Current availability:

• Not on CD

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Unusually for a reggae outfit, Inner Circle (still active today) are a proper band, as against a featured singer with backing musicians. Their debut, 1974's Rock the Boat (issued in Jamaica with two tracks cut as Dread Reggay Hits), combines covers of US soul hits with a handful of originals, more recognisable numbers including You Make Me Feel Brand New (The Stylistics), Rock The Boat (Hues Corporation) and Everything I Own (Bread/Ken Boothe). This is mainstream reggae, with nary a hint of revolutionary activity about it, but then, so was most reggae, contrary to contemporary popular opinion.

Charlie Roberts plays Mellotron, with strings all over opener You Make Me Feel Brand New, I'm Going Home, Some Guys Have All The Luck and closer T.S.O.P., plus choirs on the last-named. Unless you're already a fan of pop-reggae, you're really not going to go for this at all, but it's perfectly good at what it does, with the added bonus of four decent Mellotron tracks.

Official site

Yōsui Inoue  (Japan)

	Kōri no Sekai  (1973,  37.31)  **½/T
	Akazu no Fumikiri Hajimari Kaerenai Futari Chie-Chan Kōri no Sekai Shiroi Ichinichi Jiko Ken'o Kokoro Moyou	Machibouke Sakura Sangatsu Sanpomichi Fun Koharu Obasan Oyasumi

Current availability:

• Polydor Japan

Mellotron used:

• British studio M400?

Yōsui Inoue is famous in his home country for being the first artist to sell over a million copies of one album, 1973's Kōri no Sekai (World of Ice). The album was partially recorded in the UK, contributing musicians including Peter Robinson and John Gustafson from Quatermass, Ann Odell (Shawn Phillips) and arranger Nick Harrison (Rolling Stones). The material is pretty much what you'd expect of an album that sold so well; mainstream pop/rock with a Japanese folk influence on some tracks, all pretty unexciting, to be honest, although better tracks include sort-of rocking opener Akazu No Fumikiri and the memorable Machibouke.

Mellotron duties are split between Robinson and Jun Fukamachi, with a lush string part on Kaerenai Futari and flute on Chie-Chan (under real strings), with real strings on several other tracks, too. Overall, far too mainstream to be of any real interest to all but early J-pop aficionados, with one decent 'Tron track. Maybe not.

Official Japanese-language site

Instant Flight  (UK)

	Colours & Lights  (2004,  51.56)  ****/TT½
	Running Around Colours & Lights Top of the Mountain Her Mystery Under the Moonlight She Passes By Freeway Flowers on My Grave	Tarantula Kites Such a Slow Way Home Will You Think of Me?

Current availability:

• Beard of Stars

Mellotron used:

• Sundial's M400??

London-based Instant Flight incorporate members from all over Europe, proving the city's unasked-for role as the continent's music capital (go on, prove me wrong). Their Hammond-heavy psych comes as welcome relief to these jaded ears, proving themselves true scholars of the era with Freeway, a classic slice of (the retrospectively-dubbed) freakbeat, a sub-genre usually passed over by modern psychonauts. In truth, there isn't a bad track here, other highlights including opener Running Around (great organ solo), the proto-prog of Top Of The Mountain (even greater organ intro) and their fab cover of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound's fab Kites, with none other than Arthur Brown on vocals (he also sings on Freeway, while Sundial's Gary Ramon guests on Under The Moonlight).

Lucie Rejchrtova plays Mellotron, sounding really quite real, with Arabic-esque strings on Top Of The Mountain, flutes on Her Mystery, complete with a solo and Kites, although the background strings on Under The Moonlight and She Passes By sound rather less authentic and I haven't even highlighted Will You Think Of Me? All in all, then, a fine album, previously criminally unbeknownst to me, well worth shelling out for on musical grounds, never mind several good 'Tron tracks. Excellent. Incidentally, their follo-up, 2008's Endless Journey, appears to use samples and is reviewed here.

MySpace

See: Samples | Arthur Brown

Instruments  (US)  see: Samples

Intergalactic Touring Band  (UK)

	Intergalactic Touring Band  (1977,  47.18)  */T½
	Approach (Overture) Silver Lady Universal Zoo/Why Starship Jingle Heartbreaker Reaching Out First Landing Space Commando	Robot Salesman Love Station A Planet Called Monday/Epilogue Keeper Keep Us

Current availability:

• Voiceprint (UK)

Mellotron used:

• Larry Fast's M400?

The Intergalactic Touring Band were, ironically, a studio outfit put together in 1976 consisting of a couple of members of US progressives Fireballet, synth whizz Larry Fast (a.k.a. Synergy) and a cast of thousands. The concept appears to be a science-fictional band zooming around the galaxy playing to the music-starved masses of Ursa Minor or wherever. Sadly, this has all the hallmarks of a 'vanity project', funded by a record company too out of touch to realise the futility of the whole affair; by the time of its release it was hopelessly outdated, with Wil Malone's rather cheesy orchestral arrangements dating from an earlier (and by no means better) age. I'm afraid to say that it's difficult to recommend this in any meaningful way; vocalists such as Rod Argent, Annie Haslam, Dave Cousins, Arthur Brown, Meatloaf and even Rossi and Parfitt from Status Quo (!), along with instrumentalists of the calibre of Anthony Phillips, Percy Jones and Clarence Clemons were unable to drag the leaden material up to a listenable level. Sorry to be so harsh, but Intergalactic Touring Band was not a very pleasurable listening experience. This is why punk happened.

Larry Fast's Mellotron? Flutes and choirs on album opener Approach, then choirs on Silver Lady and Robot Salesman, though it's hardly the most audible 'Tron you'll ever hear. There's a 'thanks' in the album's expensive-looking booklet to US Mellotron distributors 'Bill Eberline and Sound Sales Inc. for use of their Mellotron tape library', too. Surprising they didn't use it a little more.

See: Fireballet | Synergy | Rod Argent | Annie Haslam | Arthur Brown | Dave Cousins | Anthony Phillips

Internal Tulips  (US)

	Mislead Into a Field By a Deformed Deer  (2010,  39.00)  **½/TTT
	½ Retarded Tuner of Hurricanes Bee Calmed 9 Tomorrows Arlie Dead Arm Blues #B510 Talking Hoshizaki Blues Mr. Baby Songbird	Parasol Fixed Confidence Long Thin Heart Invalid Terrace We Breathe

Current availability:

• Planet Mu

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

The duo that comprises Internal Tulips, Brad Laner and Alex Graham, both have previous with the Planet Mu label, although their current collaboration (2010's oddly-titled Mislead Into a Field By a Deformed Deer is their debut) owes as much to classic '60s pop as modern indie electronica, although there's a good dose of the latter to be heard on the album. My overall impression is of an earnest, melancholy pair in thrall to The Beach Boys and sampling technology who've made an album full of momentary glitches, deliberately OTT Autotune and surprisingly sparse arrangements. But does it work? If you listen to their influences, then maybe, but to the ear unaccustomed to their particular brand of digital manipulation, the more electronically-inclined tracks quickly begin to drag.

Graham plays Mellotron, with occasional strings on Bee Calmed, flutes and strings on 9 Tomorrows, cellos and flutes on Arlie, flutes on Dead Arm Blues #B510 and Talking Hoshizaki Blues, with an authentic-sounding pitchbend on the latter, strings on Mr. Baby, what sounds like bits of everything on Songbird, flute on Invalid Terrace (InVALid or InvaLID?) and stabbed flute chords on closer We Breathe. But is it real? That pitchbend suggests yes, but several other moments point to the opposite. As with so many releases, hard and fast information is hard to come by, so this stays here until or if I should find out that they used samples. As to whether or not it's any good, you're probably better off asking someone who understands where they're coming from.

Official site

Interpose+  (Japan)

Interpose+  (2005,  47.30)  ***½/½ Aircon Dayflower Zitensia Koibumi Last Sign

Current availability:

• Poseidon/Musea (France)

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Interpose formed in the mid-'80s, and after two turbulent decades of lineup changes, splits and reformations, finally regrouped as Interpose+ in 2003. Their eponymous debut starts badly, with Aircon sounding just like every neo-prog horror you've ever encountered, but more so, making their abrupt shift in direction on Dayflower towards more 'standard' female-fronted '80s Japanese prog all the more surprising, not to mention welcome. Zitensia is a bonkers, full-on Japanese fusion workout, while Koibumi shifts back towards Dayflower territory, and Last Sign sits somewhere between the album's better tracks, being a good prog/fusion crossover, making the bulk of the album well worth a listen.

I really don't know whether Ryuji Yonekura's Mellotron is real or not; they don't use one live, but nor do many bands who use one for recording. Basically, all you get are a short string part at the beginning of Dayflower and a few chords in Koibumi, and I'm not convinced about the latter. Interpose+ would have got four stars were it not for that appalling opening track; I can only urge you to start playing the album at track two, should you buy a copy. The rest of the album ranges from 'good' to 'excellent', but that opener is truly horrible.

Official site

Into the Abyss  (Greece/Germany)  see: Samples

Iraklis  (Greece)

	Se Allous Kosmous  (1976,  62.09)  ***½/TT
	Eisagogi Mia Fylaki To Dentro Solo Piano Thelo Na Taxidevo Magiki Apoklisi Dyo Parallages Na Ha Ftera	Taxidi Kalesma To Panigyri Se Allous Kosmous Anazitisi Tha Rthei Vrohi Poios Xerei Xekinisame	Ehoume Fotia Gia Polemo Finale Chorodiako

Current availability:

• Polyavlos

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Iraklis Triantafylidis' Iraklis (sometimes referred to as Hiraklis, due to an anomaly in transliteration) were a Greek progressive outfit, seemingly an offshoot of the more commercial Iraklis & Lernaia Hydra, whose 1976 double concept effort, Se Allous Kosmous ('In Other Worlds'), was reissued as a single disc in the States in 1981, making it difficult, until recently, to source the original recording. The full album is a wildly ambitious, folk-influenced effort, whose chief thrust (the concept) is entirely lost on non-Greek speakers, which shouldn't preclude most of us from enjoying the music for what is, particularly when (as on To Panigyri or Xekinisame) it heads off into skirling fiddle territory. The album's lack of overall focus can be irritating, though, as in the shift from the full-on prog of Anazitisi to the rock'n'roll of the first half of Tha Rthei Vrohi.

Someone (Nikos Sakelis?) plays Mellotron on several tracks, with strings on To Dentro, Kalesma and in the background on the title track, strings and choir on Anazitisi and more strings on Tha Rthei Vrohi, Poios Xerei and finally, Finale Chorodiako, although the use is rarely upfront, to be honest. So; do you buy this record? Probably not for the Mellotron, but to hear a unique specimen of mid-'70s Greek folk/psych/prog, that's a yes.

Irish Brigade  (Ireland)

	The Pair of Us  (1977,  32.11)  ***/TT½
	Jamboree Carrigfergus Kilfenora James Connelly Greenflag Old Brigade Rivers Cuanla	Mermaid Glenside

Current availability:

• On CD, label unknown

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

The Irish Brigade (unfortunate name, carrying a whiff of violent republicanism about it) were the ex-pat Limerick duo of Gerry Goodwin and Mike Wallace, who relocated to the States in the mid-'70s, finding a ready audience for their entirely authentic repertoire amongst the descendants of the nineteenth-century diaspora. 1977's The Pair of Us, recorded at a studio in Illinois, is pretty much what you'd expect: an all-acoustic combination of traditional Irish ballads (Carrigfergus, Cuanla) and rebel songs (James Connelly, Old Brigade), indistinguishable from anything you'd hear in a Shannon pub of a Friday night. Do they do it well? As far as I can hear, although I could've done without the IRA references, being old enough to remember their mainland (i.e. UK) bombing campaigns. I'm not sure what's going on with the titles, either; the ones above, from the rear sleeve, appear to be edited versions, so Jamboree is actually Whip Jamboree, Greenflag is Wrap The Green Flag Round Me etc.

Stephen G. Wilcox plays Mellotron, with what sounds like high-end cellos and definite strings on Carrigfergus, lush strings on James Connelly and Rivers and a string part on closer Glenside that actually rides over the guitar and vocals. The band (now based in St Paul, Minnesota, the late Goodwin replaced by Joe Smith) are still going strong, which explains this album's availability on CD, although their website gives no more info. Do you need to hear it? Only if you go for Irish folk without the fiddles and uilleann pipes; perfectly competent, doubtless amazing in a packed Irish pub, but a bit cold on vinyl. Nice Mellotron use, though.

Official site

Iron Butterfly  (US)

Sun & Steel  (1975,  36.26)  ***/TT½ Sun and Steel Lightnin' Beyond the Milky Way Free Scion Get it Out I'm Right, I'm Wrong Watch the World Going By Scorching Beauty

Current availability:

• Edsel

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Iron Butterfly reformed in the mid-'70s, having initially split a few years after 1968's groundbreaking In-a-Gadda-da-Vida album and single. By 1975's Sun & Steel, however, they were on an unstoppable downwards trajectory, which was a shame, as instead of the washed-up career-end effort you might expect, it's actually a passable mid-'70s hard rock record. Stronger tracks included the title track, Get It Out and I'm Right, I'm Wrong, although wussy ballads like Beyond The Milky Way tended to let the side down somewhat.

Keys man Bill DeMartines (replacing Howard Reitzes, who played on the previous year's Scorching Beauty) got some Mellotron on the album, with a brief burst of flutes on the opening title track, while I'm Right, I'm Wrong has a scorching strings intro, with more flutes later in the track, oddly alongside real strings. More strings and choir on Watch The World Going By, with a final flurry of strings on what should've been the title track to their previous release, Scorching Beauty, although the strings on Beyond The Milky Way are real.

Well, while no classic, parts of Sun & Steel are fairly decent, with a surprising amount of Mellotron work, largely towards the end of the record. Could've been far worse.

Official site

Iron Claw  (UK)

	Dismorphophobia  (1996, recorded 1971-73,  55.36)  ***½/T½
	Claustrophobia Let it Grow Gonna Be Free Lightning Pavement Artist Loving You All I Really Need Take Me Back	Knock 'em Dead Winter Strait-Jacket Rock Band Blues Real Mean Rocker Spider's Web

Current availability:

• Audio Archives (UK)

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

I can't say I know an awful lot about Iron Claw; it seems they were a very early-'70s Scottish hard rock band, with Black Sabbath influences, among others, although they also had an unfortunate penchant for 'good-time boogie', or whatever you care to call it. Although they never released anything at the time, they laid down a whole load of tracks; now, this has always confused me. How is it that obscure, penniless bands can record so much material that an hour-long CD can be compiled thirty years hence, when I never managed more than a three-song demo with any of my old bands? How did they afford it in those 'studio or nothing' days?

They did, however, and those excellent Audio Archives folks have given us 55 minutes of Iron Claw at various levels of clarity, with some tracks featuring fairly untenable levels of hiss, although I suppose you take what you can get, really. Incidentally, I've no idea how much say the band had in the title, but Dismorphophobia means 'a disorder where the sufferer is unhappy with aspects of their own body', or somesuch; sounds like a wider-reaching version of anorexia to me, and I've zero idea what relevance it had to their music. Anyway, for the record, track 1 is from 1970, 2-9 from '71 (an aborted album project?), 11-14 from '72 and 10 from '73, although it has to be said that the first half of the album fares better than the second, with disposable efforts such as Rock Band Blues and Real Mean Rocker (ugh!) serving only to dilute the power of Claustrophobia or the Stray-like Let It Grow, although I accept that if you're going to clean up a bunch of old tapes, you should be pretty completist about it.

It's difficult to work out whether the band were a four-piece who added keyboards where necessary, or whether Billy Lyall was a full member who wasn't used on every track, as he adds sax and percussion to some of the keyboardless numbers. Anyway, on the Mellotron front, he provides a strings intro on Pavement Artist, but goes for it properly on All I Really Need, with a strings part throughout, with a cello and strings intro on Take Me Back. Three tracks, all dating from the same period looks like a studio machine to me, although given his cello use, it must've been a new M400, which only came out the previous year.

So; a very archive recording of a primitive hard rock band from the early days of the genre; probably one for completists rather than the casual listener, and not as good as Audio Archives' usual hype would lead you to believe, but also nowhere near as bad as many similar efforts. Three 'Tron tracks, only one of which is at all essential, so you know the drill: pick it up if you see it cheap...

n.b. A very odd piece of information has cropped up regarding Iron Claw... Another early-'70s bunch whose work has appeared on CD in recent years, Antrobus (quite possibly named in honour of the first man to restrict access to Stonehenge, fact fans), are no more or less than the same band! Their CD, Buried Together, includes the four surviving tracks by the Flying Hat Band, who included a pre-Judas Priest Glenn Tipton amongst their ranks. Irritatingly, although fewer Iron Claw/Antrobus tracks are included on this version, they're better quality than on Dismorphophobia. Your choice, I suppose.

Ironweed  (US)  see: Samples

Kenneth Ishak  (Norway)

	Silver Lightning From a Black Sky  (2007,  40.39)  *½/½
	The Passionate New Rising Sun A Tall Companion Snakes in the Grass Anytime, Kid Hell Misfits in Love SÖS	Don't Touch My Brother Bright Time Highway of Madness The Sword

Current availability:

• SellOut!/Division

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Kenneth Ishak used to sing with supposed Norwegian Mellotron users Beezewax, his style apparently changing little for his solo debut, 2007's Silver Lightning From a Black Sky. And that style is...? Insipid indie singer-songwriter guff, frankly. Ishak's at his least bad when crooning mournful ballads (opener Passionate, closer The Sword) and when he approaches Americana (A Tall Companion, Hell), but his toneless voice ruins everything he touches, like King Midas in reverse, to, er, coin a phrase.

Ishak plays Mellotron (as so often, difficult to tell whether or not it's real) with a flute line on A Tall Companion, although that would appear to be your lot. To be honest, this is quite awful; a handful of passable musical ideas are strangled at birth by Ishak's dulcet tones in a way that could only ever be pleasing to those brought up on a diet of utter mediocrity. Avoid.

Official site

Isildurs Bane  (Sweden)

Isildurs Bane  [a.k.a. Sagan om den Irländska Älgen]  (1982,  37.17)  ***½/½ Sagan om den Irländska Älgen   Overtyr   Saga Eller Verklighet   Ove P.   Sex Minuter   En Vilja Att Leva   Evighetens Visdom Marlboro Blues Fredrik

Sea Reflections  (1985,  39.25)  ***/½ Blizzard Batseba Sea Reflections Part I Sea Reflections Part II Poseidon Bilbo Top Secret - UFO The Story of Chester & Sylvester

Current availability:

• Both titles: Svenska Unikum (Sweden)

Mellotrons used:

• Unknown

Isildurs Bane are a decidedly strange sort of band, spending their first decade constantly changing styles, doubtless confusing the small number of people who knew who they were anyway. Of course, CDs and the Internet have made their music, like so many others', widely available, but it's difficult to know what to recommend, as they've taken several different paths in their career already. The one thing that seems to tie all their different incarnations together is their use of mallet instruments. I saw them in late '98, and they had no less than three different sets of mallets up there (presumably vibraphone, xylophone and marimba), helping to make them one of the most impressive bands of the festival.

Isildurs Bane (later available, retitled Sagan om den Irländska Älgen with Sagan om Ringen on one CD) is a neo-proggish effort, but ends up being better than that sounds. Some of it is quite pastoral, some a little jazzy (not least because of the vibes), and it ends up being really quite listenable, if not exactly wildly exciting. A little Mellotron choir, probably played by Mats Johansson, at the end of Sagen... part 3, Ove P., but not nearly enough to make it worth buying on those grounds alone.

As far as I can work out, despite recording four of Sagan om Ringen's tracks right back in '81, the next album the band actually released was '85's Sea Reflections, and it's immediately obvious they'd moved in a jazzier direction, with much sax and those mallets to the fore again. A couple of 'Tron tracks this time round (I've no idea whether or not the band actually owned a Mellotron, but I rather doubt it); Batseba and Sea Reflections Part II have some faint choirs, but there's only a few seconds in each song. Barely worth mentioning, to be honest.

Isildurs Bane settled down after their mid-'80s jazz period, and are still going now. If you like the sound of their jazz stuff, Sea Reflections and the album with which it's doubled-up on CD, Eight Moments of Eternity, might be your thing, but the rest of you might be better off going for some of their later stuff (Cheval: Volonté de Rocher is particularly good), or maybe the first CD. I wouldn't bother for their minimal 'Tron use, though.

Official site

Islands  (Canada)

	Vapours  (2009,  42.23)  **½/½
	Switched on No You Don't Vapours Devout Disarming the Car Bomb Tender Torture Shining On Foreigner	Heartbeat The Drums Eol Everything is Under Control

Current availability:

• Anti-

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Islands formed in Montréal in 2005, working hard and releasing three albums in the space of four years. 2009's Vapours is the latest of these, a pretty ordinary indie/pop effort (actually, all indie is, at heart, pop, isn't it?), albeit with an electronica influence missing from its predecessors, enlivening a few tracks slightly, though unable to lift its overall mood of ennui and torpor.

Nick "Diamonds" Thorburn adds Mellotron flutes to the unpleasantly Autotune-ruined Heartbeat, nowhere near enough to improve the album overall, I'm afraid. So; drippy indie with one (real?) 'Tron track. Maybe not, eh?

Official site

See: Samples

Isley Brothers  (US)

Go All the Way  (1980,  34.56)  ***/T Go All the Way (Parts 1 & 2) Say You Will (Parts 1 & 2) Pass it on (Parts 1 & 2) Here We Go Again (Parts 1 & 2) Don't Say Goodnight (it's Time for Love) (Parts 1 & 2) The Belly Dancer (Parts 1 & 2)

Current availability:

• Epic

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

The Isleys were well over twenty years into their career by the time they released 1980's Go All the Way; like almost every other soul/r'n'b record of the time, it largely sits in the Disco camp (and I mean camp), every one of its six tracks having two sections, a vocal part (editable into single form) and an instrumental outro (presumably for b-sides). The end result is completely flawless, perfectly-executed dance music, useless to anyone looking for genuine musical content, although I'm sure aficionados would argue that one at length.

Chris Jasper (an Isley brother-in-law) plays keys, presumably including the album's Mellotron work, with pseudo-orchestral strings right through the album's ballad, Don't Say Goodnight (it's Time for Love), although it's hardly worth getting hot'n'bothered about. So; a decent album of its type with one reasonable 'Tron track, assuming that's what you're after.

MySpace

Iviron  (Austria)

Iviron  (1981,  35.56)  ***½/TT After the Push Bernie the Faust Bhairava Wings of Perception   Part II   Part III Irish "Madley" Sister Magic Tales of Iviron Ode

Current availability:

• Not on CD

Mellotron used:

• Ex-Kyrie Eleison M400?

Do you want obscure? Well, do ya, punk? Iviron are about as unknown as it gets, it seems. I'm only aware of their existence due to the kindness of one of my correspondents (thank you, Wolfgang!) - in fact, I can find precisely two 'Net mentions of it, one of which is an expired auction on Belgian eBay... I think you get the picture. So, what are they like? Well, Iviron is definitely 'progressive' - more so than a great many later 'prog' albums, as the band experiment extensively, no one track on the album really sounding like any other, which is something that just doesn't seem to happen any more. After The Push is a classical guitar/flute duet that turns into a Spanish-sounding piece with tabla backing and the occasional soprano voice, Bernie The Faust is a fiddly unison guitar/bass and vocal thing that picks up the pace halfway through, with operatic interjections, Bhairava is as Indian-influenced as you'd expect, Wings Of Perception is a slower prog thing on Part II (whither Part I?) that turns into jazz on Part III... Get the idea? And I haven't even mentioned the bonkers Irish "Madley" or Sister Magic's sad tale of a transsexual pickup...

Ingo Schleicher-Atanasov plays various guitars, sings and adds Mellotron to a handful of tracks, the only keyboard on the album aside from Robert Säbel's piano, fact fans. It's not over-used, but works well where it is heard, with distant strings on Bernie The Faust, a quiet church organ part on Wings Of Perception, Part II and string chords running right through Ode. To be honest, you're probably not going to find this very easily, unless someone does the decent thing and reissues it at some point, but if you want to hear a rare and unusual prog album with enormously diverse influences, you've come to the right place. Of course, Austria in 1981 probably wasn't a hotbed of progressive activity, so this obscure album is even more to be treasured. I'm not saying it's a classic, but it's very much worth hearing for the progressive aficionado, with some nice Mellotron work to boot.

See: Exciting Café

Ixion  (Netherlands)  see: Samples

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