Balinese Dancer  (1993,  42.41)  ***/0
	Baton Rouge 110° in the Shade Savannah Balinese Dancer Starcrossed Misbegotten Love One Last Dance Who am I Foolin Heart Breaks Like the Dawn	Angel Somewhere Down the Road

Current availability:

• China (UK)/Dutch East (US)

Chuck Prophet (surely his real name?) used to lead Green on Red, '80s precursors of both the new psychedelia and Americana before either was fashionable, leading to their untimely demise in the early '90s. Prophet has gone on to release several solo albums, with the latest news (early 2006) being that Green on Red are having another go. Balinese Dancer was Prophet's second album, and doesn't sound a million miles away from his alma mater, with countryish material like 110° In The Shade and Starcrossed Misbegotten Love mixed with rockier propositions such as Savannah. I even detect echoes of legendary late-'70s Noo Yawkers Television in places, though that could be simply that distinctive Fender-through-Fender guitar sound.

Mellotron on one track, Somewhere Down The Road, from Prophet, although I have to say that's it's completely inaudible, presumably disappearing under esteemed guest Al Kooper's unusual Hammond B-2. So; one for hardened Americana devotees, mainly, but good at what it does. Ignore that 'Mellotron' credit, though. Incidentally, Prophet has used Mellotron at least once more, with a light string part on one track on 2000's The Hurting Business.

Official site

Prosper  (Germany)

Broken Door  (1975,  39.39)  ***½/T½ Beginning Burning in the Sun Broken Door Dance of an Angel Your Country Birds of Passage Master's Inspiration Where the Sun Touches the Water

Current availability:

• Garden of Delights (Germany)

Prosper pedalled a not-very Germanic kind of jazz-prog crossover, with English-language vocals and hints of King Crimson in places, not to mention the fairly ubiquitous Krautrock element that seemed almost obligatory in Germany at the time. Broken Door isn't the easiest listen ever, but it contains some sublime moments, and is the sort of album that rewards repeated listening.

There's only two obvious Mellotron tracks here, with slightly discordant strings on Beginning and Broken Door, matching the Frippian guitar work. As a result, I can't really recommend this on the Mellotron front, but if you like your jazz rock, you'll be in the proverbial seventh heaven.

Pugwash  (Ireland)

	Almanac  (2002,  48.05)  ****½/TTTTT
	Almanac Keep Movin' on Everything We Need Apples Sunrise Sunset The Season of Flowers & Leaves Monorail Anyone Who Asks	Element of Fear Following Down Omega Man Weaker Man Fix Me for Today Emily Regardless

	Jollity  (2005,  44.01)  ****/TTTT½
	It's Nice to Be Nice Black Dog A Rose in a Garden of Weeds I Want You Back in My Life This Could Be Good Poles Together Even I Something New	Waltz #714 Lullaby #1 Anchor

CDS  (2005,  8.27)  ****/TT½ This Could Be Good To My Maker Home to Me

	Eleven Modern Antiquities  (2008,  37.34)  ****/TTT½
	Take Me Away Cluster Bomb Here It's So Fine Song for You My Genius Limerance	Your Friend The Cannon and the Bell At the Sea Lansdowne Valley

Current availability:

• Almanac: Vélo
• Jollity/This Could Be Good/Eleven Modern Antiquities: 1969

Pugwash (named after the good captain, surely?) are the latest in a long and honourable line of 'intelligent pop' outfits, influenced by the 'B's - The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Big Star, The Byrds etc., not to mention later adherents such as XTC, Jellyfish and many others. Like most of the above (though not Badfinger, the other 'B'), Pugwash use tape-replay, though unlike the above, they stick Chamberlin or Mellotron/Novatron on all fourteen tracks of their second album, Almanac which, incidentally, is truly excellent, stuffed with great songs, indelible hooks and sublime harmony vocal work. So this stuff's unfashionable? And? Amongst the dreck of most contemporary music, Pugwash stand out like a diamond in the, er, dirt. With nary a bad track on the album, it's almost impossible to pick out highlights, although personal favourites include Monorail and Omega Man.

Various tape-replay machines (where the HELL did they find a Chamberlin in Dublin?) were played by main man Thomas Walsh, Keith Farrell and occasionally Duncan Maitland, often layering two sounds from the Chamby and the 'Tron, with strings (from both), Chamby brass and 'Tron flutes and vibes splattered all over the album, not to mention the credited Mark II rhythm samples on Monorail. They manage a serious coup by getting Jason Falkner (ex-Jellyfish and a host of cool sessions) to play on several tracks, although he resists the temptation to play anything crankier than a Vox Continental.

Ignoring 2003's Earworm, a compilation from Pugwash's first two albums, it was three years before Walsh produced his next effort, 2005's Jollity. What can I say? More of the same: more gorgeous '60s-influenced material, more beautiful vintage keyboards, more melodies to die for. Opener It's Nice To Be Nice is the Beach Boys, complete with patented piano and banjo (!) parts - I kept expecting to hear Carl's high harmony line coming through. The rest of the album carries on in a similar vein, though mostly less overtly any one particular band; as I said, more of that Almanac stuff. Gorgeous.

As for the album's Mellotronic input, nine of the eleven tracks are stuffed with the thing; mainly strings, plus flutes here and there (alongside real strings on A Rose In A Garden Of Weeds), and even brass and guitar tapes on Anchor. Most of the 'Tron is played by Thomas Walsh and Duncan Maitland again, although Walsh has managed a real coup by getting Dave Gregory (XTC/Dukes of Stratosphear) to play on a few tracks, including his own Mellotron on a couple - he's actually credited as 'The "Duke" of Mellotrons' on Lullaby #1. Once again, this is a Mellotron Monster of an album, although I've docked a whole half T (a whole half?) for leaving two tracks unTronned. What, you couldn't squeeze any on anywhere? I dunno...

One of the 'Tronless tracks, This Could Be Good, has actually been released as a single, with another two 'Tron tracks on the, er, b-side (so to speak). To My Maker has a vague Dylan vibe about it, while Home to Me's distorted vocal and generally rockness stands out as a rarity in the all-too-small Pugwash catalogue, although someone (Walsh?) still manages a beautiful Mellotron part in the middle, complete with pitchbend, and is that choirs I hear at one point? If you're going to buy the album, make sure you get this, too.

Three years on, and the pen of Thomas Walsh has written enough beautiful three-minute vignettes for another album. Eleven Modern Antiquities is every bit as good as you'd hope, with an even heavier XTC influence this time, although when you consider that Andy Partridge co-writes two songs, playing on one of them, that's hardly surprising. The most XTC-alike, Here, isn't one of his, either. I think it's the vocal melodies; Walsh seems to drop to the major seventh a lot (please excuse the technicality), in true late-period Partridge style. As with any album, there are stronger and weaker tracks here, although 'weaker' is a rather relative term, as nothing here makes you wish it hadn't been written, which is more than you can say for most singer-songwriter efforts.

Slightly less Mellotron than on its two predecessors, sadly, although it's still on eight songs out of the eleven. Mostly strings, mostly played by Walsh, although Daragh Bohan plays on closer Lansdowne Valley, and Partridge plays 'Tron brass on his circus-like co-write At The Sea, along with acoustic guitar, kazoo and Swanee whistle (!). Strangely, some songs credit 'Novatron' instead of (or as well as) 'Mellotron', with The Cannon And The Bell presumably featuring cellos from the Mellotron, and regular (specifically credited) strings from the Novatron. All in all, another triumph, Mr. Walsh. Now, how can we get more people to buy your wondrous records?

Anyway, if you listen to the above-named bands, or even if you don't, I really can't recommend all of these highly enough, to be honest; it's not every day that albums of this quality come along. Buy.

Official site

Pulp  (UK)

	Different Class  (1995,  52.06)  ****/½
	Mis-Shapes Pencil Skirt Common People I Spy Disco 2000 Live Bed Show Something Changed Sorted for E's & Wizz	F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. Underwear Monday Morning Bar Italia

	This is Hardcore  (1998,  69.57)  ****/TT
	The Fear Dishes Party Hard Help the Aged This is Hardcore TV Movie A Little Soul I'm a Man	Seductive Barry Sylvia Glory Days The Day After the Revolution

	We Love Life  (2001,  54.02)  ****/T
	Weeds Weeds II (the Origin of the Species) The Night That Minnie Timperley Died The Trees Wickerman I Love Life The Birds in Your Garden Bob Lind (the Only Way is Down)	Bad Cover Version Roadkill Sunrise

Current availability:

• All titles: Island

Sheffield-based Pulp had been around for a good ten years before they finally broke through, proving that sometimes persistence does pay off. With geeky but charismatic frontman Jarvis Cocker leading from the front, the excellent Different Class showed the rest of the so-called Britpop movement how it should be done, combining the band's '60s influences with a modern sensibility to superb effect, particularly on deserved smash Common People, a Cocker rumination on class difference, written from (bitter) experience. It has to be mentioned at this point that Jarvis is the best lyricist Britain has coughed up in the last decade or two, with his pointed observations on what it means to come from a working-class northern town; ironic, given the band's (eventual) considerable success, but it's impossible to hold that against the band, given their continued excellence, especially in the face of their less-talented contemporaries. You know who they are.

Different Class is the only one of these three albums to specifically credit the Mellotron (played by Jarvis, along with a raft of other eclectic vintage gear), but the sound is such a mélange that it's rather difficult to pick out exactly where the 'Tron might have been used. It sounds like an ascending string line on driving opener Mis-Shapes and some backing chords on Live Bed Show, but it's really quite hard to tell. The album's strengths, though, aren't anything to do with its Mellotron content, but the incredible strength of the songwriting; Common People, Sorted For E's And Wizz, Mis-Shapes and F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. are all abiding classics, holding up just as well six years and another two albums later.

This is Hardcore was a fine, if slightly belated follow-up, opening with one of the darkest songs to have been written by a so-called 'pop group' well, ever, really; The deep melancholy of The Fear sums up single life with a quite devastating accuracy, as against the laddish idiocy of many of their peers - "The sound of loneliness turned up to ten" indeed. With no Mellotron credited and a similar mixture of sounds to its predecessor, I'm rather guessing here as to which tracks (if any) contain the mighty 'Tron, especially given the string section on four tracks. I'm certain the pitchbends on the excellent Help The Aged are Mellotron, and the chord work on TV Movie sounds like it should be, too. There's an interesting mix of potentially-Mellotronic sounds on I'm A Man, including what may very well be brass on the key-clicky intro; the cheesy overlaid strings are definitely (?!) 'Tron. Sylvia's strings may well be, but the choir chord at the end is another definite. The rather extreme length of the album, by the way, is mainly due to the ten or so minutes of unadulterated one-chord solo string synth at the end of The Day After The Revolution, punctuated only by Jarvis intoning 'Goodbye' somewhere in the middle. Odd.

It took Pulp three years to come up with We Love Life, and it was (mostly) worth the wait. Several new classics, including The Night That Minnie Timperley Died, The Birds In Your Garden and the excellent Sunrise, although like so many modern albums, they could probably have trimmed a couple of tracks along the way. I wouldn't absolutely swear blind that there's any Mellotron on the record, but it sounds like 'Tron strings and flutes on The Birds In Your Garden to me, so it's staying here until proven otherwise.

So; three great albums, in the '60s/'90s pop crossover Pulp have made their own. None of these are the greatest Mellotron albums ever, but you should own 'em all anyway.

Official site

Pulsar  (France)

	The Strands of the Future  (1976)  ****½/TTTT The Strands of the Future Flight Windows Fool's Failure
	Halloween  (1977,  39.10)  ****½/TTT Halloween Song Tired Answers Colours of Childhood Sorrow in My Dreams Lone Fantasy Dawn Over Darkness Misty Garden of Passion Fear of Frost Time

Current availability:

• Both titles: Musea (France)

Pulsar were one of the best-known French progressives, actually having their first two albums released in the UK. Pollen (****) is pretty good, but its follow-up, The Strands of the Future is great, operating in the prog/space crossover area, complete with a side-long title suite; imagine symphonic prog with Hawkwind-style synths laid over the top, although they tone them down somewhat on side two. Jacques Roman's Mellotron use is pretty cool, too, with loads of strings and choir, plus Roland Richard's Solina, with the different string sounds complementing each other rather well, each being used where it sounds best. For strings, listen to Flight and Fool's Failure, with choirs on all three noted tracks, particularly The Strands Of The Future itself. Fabulous stuff.

Album no.3, Halloween, drops all the odd synthy stuff, going straight for the jugular with an all-out concept symphonic prog classic; certainly one of the best of its kind ever to issue from France. My Musea LP only reproduces the original story in French, although I think the CD version translates it, so I can't actually work out what it's about, but the music's fantastic, so I'm really not that bothered. After the odd 80-second Halloween Song, they launch straight into the killer Tired Answers, with a lengthy 'Tron flute piece, before one of the best Mellotron string parts, well, ever, to be honest. Unbeatable. Sadly, the rest of the album is largely 'Tron-free, although there's a few seconds of strings on Colours Of Childhood, and I still can't decide whether it's 'Tron or not on Dawn Over Darkness, so I've given it the benefit of the doubt.

So; great band, great Mellotron, although I don't believe anything they did after Halloween is really worth the effort. The wonderful Musea people have reissued their entire back catalogue, so these should both be easily available from the usual sources.

Pussy  (UK)

Pussy Plays  (1969,  35.53)  ***½/½ Come Back June All of My Life We Built the Sun Comets Tragedy in F Minor The Open Ground Everybody's Song G.E.A.B.

Current availability:

• Demon (UK)

Pussy are yet another 'can't say I know a lot about them' band, especially since the demise of the online Borderline Books site (grrr). What I can tell you is that Pussy Plays is a rather good late-period psych album, almost crossing over into prog in places; the only comparison I can come up with (and it isn't that close) is early Yes in their Peter Banks/Tony Kaye first album phase, although the vocals are (unsurprisingly) far more mainstream. Hints of early Floyd, too, though these really are only the vaguest of pointers. Not a bad track on the album, with Comets being the most oft-quoted fave, with its bonkers Theremin work, leading one to opine, "Why didn't they make it?". Who knows? There are always dozens of factors in a band's success or otherwise, musical quality usually coming fairly low on the list.

On the Mellotron front, ignore any overenthusiastic reviewers who use phrases such as 'Mellotron-soaked' or similar; Tragedy In F Minor features some very upfront MkII 'Tron saxes at the beginning and end of the song, key-click and all, but that is absolutely your lot. So; an unfairly obscure album from a fascinating period, well worth hearing, but, despite its good use of an unusual sound, not a Mellotron Album in any way.

Pye Fyte  (US)

The Gathering of the Krums  (1998,  42.11)  ****/TTTTT Invitation Pitch the Wort The Return Leaves The Party The Gathering Fields Depth of Time

Current availability:

• M & M

Pye Fyte are a rather odd proposition; extremely retro-prog from the States, with more than a nod towards late-'60s psychedelia, with none of the more contemporary influences of most current US outfits. Despite only being available on CD, The Gathering of the Krums is LP-length, and I wouldn't mind betting it wasn't just because the band only had 42 minutes'-worth of material. The songs are excellent, too, so don't think this is just some exercise in 'retro for the sake of it'. Most of the tracks are relatively short, leaving the album's two closers, Fields and Depth Of Time clocking up well over 20 minutes between them, allowing the band to stretch out compositionally, particularly with the repeated phrase that closes the record.

John McNamara's Mellotron work is extensive and excellent; every track is soaked in the thing, right at the front of the mix, even above the vocals at points. The bulk of the use is the ubiquitous strings, but flute melodies crop up here and there (particularly on Fields), and opener Invitation is loaded with choir. I can hear the odd bit of modern synth/sample-playback here and there, but against the Mellotronic onslaught, they don't stand a chance. Plenty of 'solo spots' ensure that this is one of the most full-on modern 'Tron recordings around. Quite superb.

The Gathering of the Krums is another of those 'because we can!' albums, akin to Norwegians The Smell of Incense's Through the Gates of Deeper Slumber, where the Mellotron use is completely gratuitous, and all the better for it. Buy.

Official site

Pyramid  (Germany)

	Pyramid  (1976/1996?,  33.13)  ***½/TT½ Dawn Defender

Current availability:

• Psi-Fi (UK)

The Pyramid album is one of three concurrent re-releases from the British Psi-Fi label, all apparently originally released in tiny numbers on the German Pyramid label in the mid-'70s. It has been suggested by one or two spoilsports that they are '90s fakes, but this one sounds far too authentic for that; what is possible is that it was recorded by stoned session men on their day off, supposedly in 1975/76, with the band name tacked on later. It's basically a half-hour jam, played by musicians who knew what they were doing, ebbing and flowing in all the right places. Tension and release, I believe it's called...

It sounds like two guitarists, bass, drums and keys, including our beloved Mellotron, which drifts in and out of the album's single track in best space-rock style. There's a short choir section at around five minutes, then some strings at ten, more choirs at 18 etc., with a particularly nice (and decidedly authentic) string part starting at around the half-hour mark, lasting until the end of the piece. This is yer typical stoned, trippy sort of mid-'70s stuff, but it's pretty good at it, and the Mellotron work is nice, if slightly sparse. Recommended for all spaceheads.

Pythagoras  (Netherlands)

	After the Silence  (1981,  40.47)  ***½/TTTT
	After the Silence I   1st Movement: Introduction   2nd Movement     Opus I: Diabolus in Musica     Opus II: Étude for Flying V     Opus III: Scherzo   3rd Movement: Endless Hymn After the Silence II   4th Movement     Opus I: Turn    Opus II: Return	5th Movement   Opus I: Caprice   Opus II: Interludium   Opus III: Reprice 6th Movement: Scherzo Reprice 7th Movement: Grand Finale

Current availability:

• Not on CD

I don't honestly know a lot about Pythagoras; they were a Dutch duo who released two or three albums in the early '80s; René de Haan played keyboards, while Bob de Jong played drums and more keys, and future Ayreon supremo Arjen Lucassen guested on at least one album, but that's about it. The music on After the Silence (their second?) is instrumental symphonic prog, although there are too many moments of 'let's just let this one drift for a few minutes, shall we?' for it to be any real sort of classic. Saying that, there are also several sublime moments, not least (and I'm guessing here) 5th Movement Opus II, where a string synth provides the fast string part, the Mellotron the chords, with the whole thing underpinned by Taurus pedals. Nice (as they say).

De Haan's Mellotron isn't actually overused, with much of side one being 'Tron-free; much of his use is rather murky choirs, although the strings appear here and there. Michel van Wassem guests on Novatron on 4th Movement Opus I, which may or may not explain the sustained choir chord (easily played on two 'Trons), although the effect is relatively easy to produce using one M400 loaded with 8-choir. Essentially, although what appears to be the album's longest track, side one's 3rd Movement: Endless Hymn is fairly 'Tron-heavy, it's side two's After The Silence II where you'll find most of the 'Tron action.

Anyway, while this isn't the greatest album you'll ever hear, being rather short on ideas in places, it's not at all bad, and features some great Mellotron work, not to mention bass pedals so high in the mix that they almost drown everything else out. Don't pay a fortune, but don't turn your nose up either.

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