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Highlighting in album tracklistings denotes 'contains Mellotron'. On 'multi-part' tracks I've tried to indicate which parts contain 'Tron, although this isn't always possible.
Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
The 'T' ('Tron, of course...) rating (0-5) is an only slightly more objective indicator of an album's Mellotronness.
By the way, if you know of any Mellotron albums that aren't listed here, please look at my albums page first! Thanks.
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The Armada (1975, 36.58) ****/TTTT | |
| The Darkness Motive Flourish Overture First Theme Second Theme Song Petworth House Song |
The Armada Scene at Sea Dominion Centuries Deep Bolero Last Picture |
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Fantasy of Horses (1976, 40.42) ****/TTTT | |
| Rebecca Dancer Staircase The Big Time Spin Theatre Farewell Caption for the City Night Life |
Fantasy of Horses Early Light Frolic Trappers Captives Frolic Escape Cliff Edge |
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Rainbow Theatre were a seriously obscure Australian progressive band, whose albums have never been (officially) released on CD, and are almost impossible to find on vinyl. I know very little about them, only that their keyboard player/mainman was one Julian Browning, and they are one of the few prog bands ever to have made decent use of a brass section. Their style was, er, difficult to describe, actually. It's almost a Broadway show/opera/prog crossover, but that (at least to my ears) suggests something fairly appalling, and these albums are anything but. The vocals are amusingly mannered, sung in an exaggeratedly English accent, and there's definitely bits of Genesis and Crimson in there somewhere, but they pretty much had a sound of their own; a rarity in any genre, after its 'first wave' of bands.
The Armada opens with solo brass section on the Flourish section of The Darkness Motive, but waits until part 3, First Theme before Browning's Mellotron strings come in. The Mellotron use here is excellent, right up in the front of the mix, and it really enhances the overall feel of the album. I'm reviewing these from tape copies, so some of the tracks may not be 100% accurate, but I think I've got them right. The Armada on side two is even further over the top and operatic, with the Bolero section sounding eerily similar to King Crimson's track of the same name on Lizard.
Their second and final album, Fantasy of Horses is probably an improvement on their debut, with the same mix of influences and similarly OTT vocals. I believe the band was a 14-piece by this time, with both brass and string sections, but without the vocal section used on The Armada. Side 2's title track is the one where I'm least sure I've got the tracks right on the Mellotron front; suffice to say, there's a lengthy 'Tron-free section in the middle, but the piece closes with more of those strings.
The far-Eastern Poorhouse label has 'reissued' both of these on CD, but they're apparently dubbed from vinyl and are almost certainly bootlegs, with none of the profits going to the band. Nonetheless, they're both well worth hearing, so let's hope they're given an official release at some point. Good music, great 'Tron. Beg, steal or borrow (or tape).
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Takin' My Time (1973, 37.34) ***½/T |
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| You've Been in Love Too Long I Gave My Love a Candle Let Me in Everybody's Cryin' Mercy Cry Like a Rainstorm Wah She Go Do I Feel the Same I Thought I Was a Child |
Write Me a Few of Your Lines/Kokomo Blues Guilty |
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Fundamental (1998, 44.04) ****/½ |
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| Fundamental Things Cure for Love Round & Round Spit of Love Lover's Will Blue for No Reason Meet Me Half Way I'm on Your Side |
Fearless Love I Need Love One Belief Away |
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Bonnie Raitt's third album, Takin' My Time, is less bluesy than I'd expected, with elements of funk, soul, rock'n'roll... You name it, really. And, of course, some blues. She's got a great voice, and is a talented guitarist to boot (listen to her acoustic slide work on Write Me A Few Of Your Lines/Kokomo Blues), although I'll be honest and say the album didn't really grab me. That's no excuse for giving it a bad review, though, so I haven't; if you like the various musics mentioned above, you stand a good chance of liking this album. Mellotron? Some orchestrally-arranged strings on the balladic I Gave My Love A Candle from John Hall, though it's halfway through the song before they stop sounding like a string section, which seems to be slightly missing the point, which makes for a rather generous one 'T'.
After heading down into the depths in the mid-'80s, then up into the stratosphere with 1989's glossy Nick of Time and its two successors, Raitt made the album she really wanted to make in '98's Fundamental. More down to earth than its predecessors, it has little in common with Takin' My Time, being more straightforward blues, and (to my ears, anyway) better for it. One classic song, in the beautiful Lovers Will, but there's nothing wrong with anything here, although th pseudo-reggae of I'm On Your Side was probably slightly unnecessary. A Mitchell Froom production, he gets the requisite bit of Chamberlin in, with a brass part on closer One Belief Away, although it's not exactly what you'd call essential.
So; two good albums, in their different ways, but absolutely no 'Tron/Chamby work of any consequence, to be honest. Buy according to taste.
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Altitude (1995, 48.26) **½/½ |
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| El Camino Howard is a Drag Salvation I'll Talk My Way Out of This One When I Kiss Her 2 Eggs Any Style I Hope You Miss Me Whatever |
Heart Full of Stuff Port au Prince Tourist Information Fingers in Your Ears Looks Like This Could Be the End Man Overboard |
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Named for Hogarth's series of engravings (hey! Intellectual cred!), Rake's Progress released an EP, Cheese Food Prostitute in '94, following it a year later with what appears to have been their only album, Altitude. And it's... slightly punky indie-pop, with the occasional decent lyric, but not an awful lot more to recommend it, to be honest. This sort of stuff needs to be heard in bursts of 35 minutes, tops, so at nearly 50, it long outstays its welcome, losing it a clear half star for its lack of much-needed brevity.
Producer Nicholas Sansano is credited with Mellotron, although, unlike all the other guest credits, without mentioning where. All I can hear is a faint cello line on closer Man Overboard, which isn't to say there isn't any more, just that I can't hear it. In all honesty, few of you actually need a copy of this album; I know I don't.
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Ramatam (1972, 40.12) ***/T½Whiskey PlaceHeart Song Ask Brother Ask What I Dream I am Wayso Changing Days Strange Place Wild Like Wine Can't Sit Still |
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Ramatam's chief claim to fame was in having a female lead guitarist, April Lawton, in the early '70s, especially as she was the only female member of the band. Well, it's not common now (sadly), so try to put yourself back in those days of unrestrained sexism to see how unusual this was. Of course, if you didn't know, you wouldn't know, as she was a competent rock guitarist in an era when you could find a competent rock guitarist on every corner, particularly in the States, where rock had more mainstream appeal than it ever managed in the UK. The rest of the band were far from slackers, too, with vocalist/guitarist Mike Pinera from Blues Image (themselves Chamberlin users) and none other than Mitch Mitchell on drums, the longest-surviving member of the Experience.
Ramatam is an album of unrestrained heavy rock, or is it? A couple of ballads are quite normal on this kind of album, but a brass-fuelled soul feel, as on Wayso, isn't, so maybe they were less 'standard' than you might think. It features the most unbelievable lyrics, mind; well, titles like Whiskey Place and Wild Like Wine tell their own story, I think. OK, it was 1972, and lyrical erudition was pretty thin on the ground, certainly in red-blooded rock circles, and it's not as if anything's improved, is it? Tommy Sullivan guests on Mellotron on two tracks, with grungy, almost distorted strings on the rocking Ask Brother Ask, and cleaner, higher ones on the surprisingly funky Wild Like Wine, but, as with so many others, nothing you can't live without.
So; unless you're very into third-division early '70s US hard rock, you probably won't be that fussed about Ramatam, although it does have its moments. I've heard a lot worse, but then, I've also heard much better, and if your resources are limited (and whose aren't?), you may wish to direct your hard-earned somewhere else. I suspect the usual maxim applies: 'pick it up if you see it cheap'.
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Hop Around (2000, 32.27) ***/TT |
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| I Don't Wanna Die in the Basement Mental Patient Now I Wanna Be Sedated Rock'n'Roll Vacation in L.A. Get Out of This House 38th and 8th Nothin' Hop Around |
What About Me I Saw a Skull Instead of My Face I Wanna You Master Plan Chinese Rocks Hurtin' Kind I'm Horrible |
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Douglas Colvin, a.k.a. Dee Dee left The Ramones in 1989, leaving Hop Around as his last solo album of (mostly) original material. And it... sounds like The Ramones. Only less good. Then again, The Ramones ended up sounding like The Ramones, only less good, too, didn't they? There's much reiteration of old triumphs here, but with less panache; 38th And 8th? Is that an iconic NYC street corner? 53rd And 3rd had a particular relevance to Dee Dee's life, but this one? Another attempt to wrest Chinese Rocks back from the long-dead Johnny Thunders and several close cousins to Ramones songs (I Don't Wanna Die In The Basement, Now I Wanna Be Sedated, Rock'n'Roll Vacation In L.A.) all give the no doubt correct impression of a burnt-out drug casualty living on past glories, and the band just can't get that Ramones sound right, with the occasional exception (I Don't Wanna Die In The Basement, the title track). Dee Dee's vocals are rough as arseholes, with none of Joey's superb Queens diction, and he only yells "Wun-Too-Chee-Faw!" once, but this is still recognisably Ramones-related, which is worth a couple of stars in itself.
So, er, Mellotron on a Ramones-related album? Yup, played by über-session dude Chris Spedding, with a weirdly out-of-place but quite upfront strings part on Mental Patient and what sounds like a high cello line on the oddly-titled I Wanna You and repeating flute melodies on Hurtin' Kind and closer I'm Horrible, with the former sounding like Manfred Mann's Pretty Flamingo, of all things.
For a band who formed 'only' 30-odd years ago, The Ramones must be almost unique in having three of their original four members playing in that great CBGBs in the sky. Dee Dee was the second of the trio to go, as his drug abuse finally caught up with him in 2002, preceded by Joey (2001, lymphoma) and followed by Johnny (2004, cancer), just in case you were hoping for a great reconciliation at some point. Hop Around is an album for old punks who have everything the band ever recorded and want more. It's certainly no worse than several later Ramones albums (after his departure, Dee Dee carried on contributing songs up until the end of their career), and probably better than some, which isn't any great recommendation, to be honest. One passable 'Tron track, which really isn't quite enough to make it worth bothering, I suspect.
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La Leyla (1976, 36.51) ***½/TTTDevil InsideLa Leyla Garden Noise Someone Like You American Dream |
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Eternity Rise (1978, 35.49) ***/TTCity LifeOnly Yesterday Time Windy Agitation Play Eternity Rise |
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Ramses (not to be confused with UK outfit Rameses, of Glass Top Coffin fame) are one of those late-'70s German prog bands that seemed to spring up from nowhere as the scene shifted from the more avant-garde stuff popular earlier in the decade. Like most of their contemporaries, Ramses are good without being anything spectacular; there's little genuine complexity in their music, with more emphasis on creating a mood than trying to be clever.
La Leyla's a good example of this style, with better-than-average songs, and some nice instrumental work. Winfried Langhorst's Mellotron use is the usual stuff; block chords on the strings, and single-note flute lines, but some of it is surprisingly effective, particularly on opener Devil Inside. Don't expect to be blown away by La Leyla, but you'll get a pleasant, if slightly undemanding listen.
Eternity Rise is in a similar vein to Ramses' debut, but with the addition of a string section, making it difficult to work out just how much Mellotron has actually been used on the album. Only Yesterday is a definite (average strings), but Windy may be the string section, as is opener City Life. Just to confuse the issue, a string synth is utilised in places, too, although the closing title track has some immediately identifiable choirs. So, to summarise, two reasonably good albums, but La Leyla's the only one worth it for the 'Tron.
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My Music Loves You (Even if I Don't) (2000, 39.09) **½/TT |
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| In My Heart Day in the Sun Danny McGough Flat By the Sea Island View Inn Ingrid Wrote This Just for You Out of My League |
Desert Waiting for the Rain My Music Loves You Summer Solstice Sky |
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I thought the sleeve of Randle's My Music Loves You (Even if I Don't) had an air of familiarity about it, as one of my college lecturers once said, upon perusing my purloined assignment; it spoofs Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man, as seen in a thousand second-hand shops over the years. It (Randle's album, not Smiling Len's) is reasonable enough in a laid-back, vaguely lounge/country vein, but little about it grabbed me in any way, robbing it of half a star. Opener In My Heart and closer Summer Solstice Sky are probably its best tracks, but the album constantly threatens to tip over into MOR territory, which is Not A Good Thing.
Eric Carter plays Mellotron, with a flute melody and strings on In My Heart, flutes on the title track and strings on Summer Solstice Sky, the latter being particularly effective. Sadly, the album's a bit of a dullard, although at least it didn't offend me, which is a bonus. Nice 'Tron work on a couple of tracks, but nothing to write home about. Incidentally, it seems Mike Randle is/was a member of Baby Lemonade, who were taken on hook, line and sinker by Arthur Lee to be his last lineup of the legendary Love before his death in August 2006, which is why I'm surprised not to like Randle's music more than I do.
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The Ruined Map (Film Music Volume 1) (2007, 39.30) ****½/TT½OnibabaBlast of Silence A Quiet Week in the House The Mascot Branded to Kill Confessions of an Opium Eater Lancelot du Lac Ruined Map |
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The Finishing Line (Film Music Volume 2) (2009, 45.25) ****½/TTTThe First Race (9 and Under Fence Breaking)The Second Race (12 and Under Stone Throwing) The Third Race (Last Across) The Fourth Race (All Ages Tunnel Walk) |
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Rashomon is a solo project from Matt Thompson, ex-Guapo and, incidentally, my brother. Essentially instrumental, although voices are used on occasion, The Ruined Map (Film Music Volume 1) isn't actually meant to sound like film music at all (although it still manages to in places). The tracks are all named for art-house films, with their accompanying pieces described as "companions to the psychic states invoked by the more bizarre outer reaches of narrative cinema", according to Matt's MySpace page. Despite being very different to Guapo, you can hear that the same compositional brain is involved, with his/their trademark dissonance cropping up on most tracks, although the musical palette is far broader, encompassing the weirder end of the progressive spectrum, avant-garde noise, Weimar Germany, various folk musics, insane metal and many other varieties of oddness. A track-by-track run-down probably isn't very constructive, but expect Slayer on acid (Branded To Kill), painful MiniMoog squeals (Confessions Of An Opium Eater), and very little drumming, although Paul Westwood (hi, Paul) plays on a few tracks.
You can also expect four out of eight tracks of Mellotron madness (mine, obviously, played by Matt, as is almost everything else), with dissonant string interjections on Onibaba, Blast Of Silence and Branded To Kill, and a brief burst of flutes on A Quiet Week In The House, alongside Sara Hubrich's violin. My MiniMoog turns up, too, as what appears to be the sole sound source on Confessions..., although as it makes my ears hurt, I'm not entirely sure I should've lent it out...
Matt's second solo effort, The Finishing Line (Film Music Volume 2), will probably be mostly listed as a 2010 release, although copies actually came off the press in December '09. He utilises a very different approach this time round, the entire album being inspired by just one film, the deeply disturbing The Finishing Line, a British 'public information'-style film from the '70s, designed to dissuade children from playing on railway lines. It illustrated the dangers so graphically that it had to be withdrawn, although I imagine any youngsters who encountered its horrors never went anywhere near the tracks (it worked for Matt), the price paid being their recurring nightmares for years to come. This immensely hard-hitting document makes for a fascinating period piece, a victim of its own success, ripe for rediscovery by fans of the weird.
The album's four long tracks are about as ominous as you'd expect, given their inspiration, with The First Race featuring a series of languid, yet strangely threatening tremoloed guitar chords (reiterated on The Fourth Race), while the pulsing bassline conjures up the menace of the approaching train (and is the only part of the album that actually works as a soundtrack). The most disturbing track has to be The Third Race, largely consisting of the dissonance and squealing guitar that are a feature of Matt's work, perfectly illustrating the film's grotesque images of children playing tag across the tracks. Matt tells me that his intention was to revisit the horror he felt on seeing the film on holiday as a child (oddly, I have no memory of this event, although I must've been there) and the bulk of the album was written from his fragmented memory of seeing it, not actually encountering the film again until the album was partially recorded.
Mellotronically speaking, the major parts are the string and flute parts on The Second Race, with more strings on The Fourth Race, plus high-end cellos and vibes on The First Race. Less obviously, Matt makes heavy use of my percussion set, with tubular bells, slowed-down gongs, timps and snare rolls all over the place, many of them mutated almost out of all recognition. I believe he actually 'sampled' them into ProTools then manipulated them as need be, but given that the technique barely differs from recording them onto quarter-inch then slowing them down or putting them through external effects, as he would have had to thirty years ago, it all counts.
All in all, these are not albums for Marillion fans, although you'd probably guessed that already. Anyone who liked/likes Guapo should investigate, though don't go expecting more of the same, and anyone else who enjoys stepping outside the boundaries of 'conventional' progressive music (how did it ever become 'conventional', eh?) should seriously think about giving these a go.
See: Guapo
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Side 3 (1973, 35.56) ****/½TonightLast Dance Making it Easy On the Beach Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak I'm a Rocker Should I Wait Ecstasy Money Down |
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The Raspberries coalesced out of two rival Cleveland bands of the late '60s, singer Eric Carmen soon gaining dominance in the group. Much like Memphis' Big Star, though far more successfully, The Raspberries ignored the various directions in which rock and pop had gone over the previous few years, opting to play 'British invasion'-style melodic rock, heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Who etc. Maybe surprisingly, for a band out of time, they had a couple of major US hits, Go All The Way (from their eponymous debut) going to No.5, although in the UK, the BBC, in their infinite wisdom, banned it for its spurious lyrical content. Auntie Beeb, eh?
Side 3 was, would'ja believe, their third album, chock full of the kind of material that helped to kickstart the powerpop revolution at the end of the decade, notably opener and minor hit Tonight. OK, these guys don't have the caché of Big Star, but melodically, they're every bit as strong. They're rated more now than at the end of the '70s, but why were they seen as second-rate compared to, say, Badfinger? Eric Carmen's subsequent career probably didn't help; his first solo hit was the mawkish All By Myself, the kind of song played obsessively by lonely young women in bedsitters (sexist clichés? Moi?), while the rest of us vomit behind the sofa. None of which should, in an ideal world, subtract from The Raspberries' wondrous pre-powerpop creations.
Side 3 wanders between the jangly end of the spectrum (On The Beach, Should I Wait) and rock'n'roll (I'm A Rocker, Money Down), but every track's a gem, really, and I can see this getting extensive play in a mythical future when I have loads of free time. Carmen plays Mellotron on one track, with a few string chords on the atmospheric On The Beach, but if you blinked, you'd miss it. Apparently, the band used not one, but two live, one on either side of the stage, presumably played by sidemen, largely to recreate their earlier albums' string parts. Any chance of a live album from the era? Anyone?
The rumoured 'Tron use on The Raspberries' fourth and last album, Starting Over (****), are greatly exaggerated, with nowt but real strings on a couple of tracks. I haven't heard their first two, but going by the quality of their later work, they're likely to be excellent, too. In fairness, Side 3 isn't an album you'll buy to hear some great Mellotron work, but if you have any interest in wonderful, melodic pop/rock and you don't already worship at their altar, buy these albums now.
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LP3 (2008, 42.24) ***½/TTT |
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| Shiller Falcon Jab Mi Viejo Mirando Flynn Bird-Priest Shempi Imperials |
Dura Bruleé Mumtaz Khan Gipsy Threat Black Heroes |
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Ratatat are the duo of Mike Stroud and Evan Mast, who mix electronica with '60s- and '70s-inspired pop, if you can imagine that combination played instrumentally. Sometimes, musical categorisation isn't so easy... Their imaginatively-titled third album, LP3, throws all kinds of stuff into the mix, no one track sounding anything much like any other, which is quite a feat. 10cc guitar lines duke it out with Spectoresque pianos, harpsichords and laptop electronica declare an honourable draw, and then there's the Mellotron...
The album was record at Old Soul Studio, up in the Catskills in New York State, which I presume to be the same place that Grizzly Bear used on 2009's Veckatimest. I expect to be hearing more about this place in the future... It apparently hosts a goldmine of old gear, including an Optigan and a Mellotron, pictured on the sleeve, in case there were any doubt. It's used all over the place here, with flutes, strings and cellos on opener Shiller, strings on Falcon Jab, flutes and cellos on Mirando, flutes on Bird-Priest, strings and cellos on Imperials and finally, all three sounds again on closer Black Heroes. There's Optigan on a few tracks for optical disc fans, too, notably Gipsy Threat and Mi Viejo (used backwards).
If there's one criticism I could level at this album, it's the duo's habit of finding a musical idea, then beating it to death over the course of a 'song'. In fairness, though, none of them are that long, and isn't that really, at heart, how most bands work? It's only the variety here that makes it more apparent, I suspect. Anyway, an intriguing, original album, with loads of Mellotron. Well worth hearing.
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Raw Material (1970, 31.50) ***½/TTime and IllusionI'd Be Delighted Fighting Cocks Pear on an Apple Tree Future Recollections Traveller Man Destruction of America |
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Raw Material were a typical UK proto-prog outfit, with that '1970 sound' beloved of bands like Cressida, Indian Summer and Spring, playing lengthy, organ-driven workouts in a post-psychedelic kind of way. This isn't to criticise; the material (ho ho) on Raw Material's pretty good, although they were never going to be front-runners, to be honest. Colin Catt plays lush Mellotron strings and flutes on album closer Destruction Of America, a short piece with either Catt or Mike Fletcher intoning a poem which is, sadly, as relevant now as then.
Their second, and last release, Time is (***½), is supposed to have Mellotron all over it, but upon actually hearing the album (which, incidentally, is an improvement on their debut), all I can hear is an early string synth (an Eminent?), disqualifying it from this site. Sorry. So; Raw Material: not bad, not brilliant, might be worth it if you like the style anyway. One beautiful Mellotron piece, but a minute of 'Tron isn't that big a deal. Up to you.
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Didn't it Feel Kinder (2008, 38.50) ***/½ |
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| Birds of a Feather She's Got to Be Bus Bus Cold Shoulder Who Sold the Gun Out on the Farm SLC Radio |
Blame is a Killer Stand and Deliver Rabbit Foot |
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Amy Ray is best known as half of The Indigo Girls, so it's no great surprise that her fourth solo album, 2008's Didn't it Feel Kinder (a quote from closer Rabbit Foot), contains a similar variety of impassioned indie singer-songwriter material, for better or worse. I can't say I overly identify with her style, although better tracks (at least to my ears) include opener Birds Of A Feather and SLC Radio.
Zac Rae plays Mellotron, rather than his usual Chamberlin, with background strings on Who Sold The Gun and what sounds like a single string note on SLC Radio, so we're not talking the heaviest use ever. Indigo Girls fans will lap this up, the rest of us will probably remain nonplussed, no-one's going to buy it for its Mellotron use. Good at what it does, with the usual proviso.
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CDS (2005) **/½ Somewhere Else Keep the Right Profile |
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Razorlight seem to be the Great White Hope for UK indie in 2005, which can only mean that we really have disappeared up our own fundament without even noticing. They're truly dreadful, from their pseudo-New Wave posturing, bad Tom Verlaine vocals and 'we're as gritty as Squeeze' namechecking of London districts (notably Dalston). Somewhere Else is included as a bonus track on later versions of their debut album, Up All Night (**), but the album's so awful I just can't be arsed to review the whole thing, especially as there's no Mellotron on the regular version.
Anyway, to no surprise at all, it's a tedious little pop song, typical indie-schmindie, and quite clearly wants to be the Libertines, for God alone knows what reason. Mellotron cellos in the background make it sound like a poor man's Wonderwall, which is no recommendation at all. About the only thing for which this is genuinely notable is the band's appearance at Live8, for which they wheeled out an M400, played by bassist Carl Dalemo. I believe they're touring with it as well, which is pretty cool; shame they're so crap, really.
So; don't buy this. You have been warned.
Typically infuriating official site (KILL those popups!)
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Reale Accademia di Musica (1972, 40.17) ***½/TFavolaIl Mattino Ognuno Sa Padre Lavono in Città Vertigine |
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The slightly ponderously-named Reale Accademia di Musica specialised in that strain of gentle, pastoral prog that the Italians were so good at in the '70s, with the beautiful Favola getting things off to a good start. They did pick up the pace here and there, and allowed the occasional lapse of taste (the honky-tonk piano in Ognuno Sa, for example), but overall, their self-titled sole album is well worth the effort.
I've been reading for some time now that there's Mellotron all over closing track Vertigine. Well, there isn't; not that I can hear anyway. There is, however, a 'Tron string part on Favola from Federico Troiani, but that's as far as Reale Accademia di Musica goes on the Mellotron front. So; a good album, if not a great one. Worth hearing (it's on CD), but don't pay a fortune.
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Perché si Uccidono (1976, 31.55) ***/TT½ |
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| Epopea Ammoniaca Kalu' Edda Epopea (reprise) My Damned Shit Dodici e un Quarto Block |
R.I.B. Apotheke Distrazione |
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Il Reale Impero Britannico were basically Goblin by any other name; the nom de plume may have been used because some of the tracks were written with Fabio Frizzi, and therefore stand slightly outside the rest of the band's catalogue. A film soundtrack again, most of the music on Perché si Uccidono is instrumental, with few tracks longer than four minutes. Unsurprisingly, it sounds quite like Goblin, although it has a side that the parent band lacked, with a slightly more mainstream sound. Actually, to be brutally honest, some of the material slips into Pat Metheny fuzak territory, and the three 'songs' are all a bit grim, including the ludicrously-titled My Damned Shit, while Epopea cuts George Martin/Van der Graaf's Theme One very closely indeed.
Anyway, Claudio Simonetti probably plays more Mellotron here than on anything else in the Goblin/related catalogue, with quite overt string and flute parts on Edda, plus flutes on Epopea, with strings on the other highlighted tracks. I have to be honest and say this isn't the greatest album Goblin etc. ever made, but it does have some reasonable 'Tron work here and there.
See: Goblin
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Free Fall (1974, 40.26) ***/T |
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| The Naked Truth Song for the New Man Let Me Know In a Melancholy Funk Free Fall Monday's Something/Love-Happy (Medley) Pastorale The Beautiful Bend Ahead |
Violet Don't Be Blue Rumanian Folk Dance |
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Session keyboard player Pat Rebillot has worked with many top names, not least Hall & Oates and Steely Dan, although he's probably best known for his long-term collaboration with Herbie Mann. 1974's Free Fall seems to be his only solo album, produced by Mann and featuring ninja drummer Steve Gadd and the not-yet-famous Tony Levin on bass, amongst other luminaries. It's largely a jazz record, unsurprisingly, although it shifts between the funk of opener The Naked Truth and the title track and gentle solo piano pieces like In A Melancholy Funk (ironically) and Monday's Something/Love-Happy.
Rebillot plays Mellotron himself, with a harmonising flute part on Let Me Know, although it's difficult to know whether or not the background cello on Violet Don't Be Blue is Mellotron or not. It's a shame this appears never to've appeared on CD, as it's a far better and more accomplished record than many easily-available fusion efforts of the period. Very little Mellotron, though, which is pretty consistent with Rebillot's other relevant work with Mann and Roy Ayers.
See: Herbie Mann | Roy Ayers
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Wicked Twisted Road (2005, 47.45) ****/½ |
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| Wicked Twisted Road Dogtown Seven Nights in Eire A Lot to Ask Motel Cowboy Show These Tears Sixgun Nobody Haunts Me Like You |
Wretched Again Broken Heart Stick Around Baby's Got a Whole Lot More Wicked Twisted Road (Reprise) |
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Reckless Kelly, named in honour of Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly, almost define alt.country, shifting between acoustic American folk, balls-out (country-) rock and all points in between. Their fourth studio album, Wicked Twisted Road, showcases their talents to perfection, with barely any material dropping below their high standards, and several numbers moving this reviewer to stop what he's doing and actually listen. Willy Braun's voice is almost elemental in places, notably on the title track, a.k.a. a case study in how to play country-influenced material without going all Nashville on our arses, while Nobody Haunts Me Like You and Wretched Again rock like bastards.
Mellotron from Braun, with some near-inaudible flute chording on the excellent Seven Nights In Eire, although, sadly, that appears to be it on the tape-replay front. If you're hankering after a bit of Americana, but can't bring yourself to listen to Ryan Adams and his like, do yourself a favour and buy this album.
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Red Dirt... Plus (1970, 41.37/60.49) **½/T |
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| Memories Death Letter Problems Song for Pauline Ten Seconds to Go In the Morning Maybe I'm Right Summer Madness Laced With Newbald Gold |
Death of a Dream Gimme a Shot Brain Worker I've Been Down So Long [CD adds: Mixed Blessing Wilting Tree Three Fair Maidens Back Alley Sally |
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Red Dirt were a British heavy blues-rock band, whose sole eponymous album appeared and disappeared again in 1970, leaving little impression on the record-buying public. The reason for this, unlike some other unfairly obscure efforts, is that it's dull and generic and completely unable to provide anything not already catered for by many far better bands. Surprisingly, there's Mellotron (player unknown) on opener Memories (also the album's least generic track), with fairly heavy MkII strings, although that appears to be it.
Oddly, the bonus tracks on Audio Archives' CD issue, Red Dirt... Plus, are more interesting then the contents of the album itself. The first two, Mixed Blessing and Wilting Tree, are long, slow, dark pieces, a long way from the blues, while Three Fair Maidens and Back Alley Sally are fiddle-driven country hoedowns. So; you're only really going to like Red Dirt if you're into early, grungy blues-rock, but the opening track and at least the first two bonus ones are worth hearing, though not necessarily buying.
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Red Favorite (2006, recorded 1996-2003, 47.23) ****/TT½ |
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| Starry Sky First The Storm Witch Routine Green Hill Beach Flight Agrippina Taken in |
Cistern Wingshot Pallid Untitled |
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Red Favorite are basically Jeremy Pisani's solo weird-folk project, existing as no more than a basement band for years. His/their eponymous 2006 debut was actually recorded between 1996 to 2003 and sounds about as low-fi as you can go and still get a professional release, albeit one originally only on CD-R. It's actually quite wonderful; its understated acoustic work and mumbled vocals are worth a million big-name no-talents, which almost certainly means Mr Pisani will never become a household name (excepting my own). Think: Bert Jansch and Nick Drake filtered through an old four-track and you might be getting close, although ultimately, Pisani sounds like no-one but himself.
I presume the Mellotron on several tracks is real, although whether Pisani owns/owned one or borrowed it is unknown; I'd like to think it isn't samples, anyway. He plays flutes on First and Taken In, flutes and strings on Routine, flutes, possible cellos and definite choirs on Flight and something that may be a flute/strings mix on Cistern. Overall, then, a beautiful album, filled with ghostly melodies and light, not to mention Mellotron. I'm not sure if this is even currently available, but if it is, please make the effort to support this music.
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Mother's Milk (1989, 44.55) ***/TT | |
| Good Time Boys Higher Ground Subway to Venus Magic Johnson Nobody Weird Like Me Knock Me Down Taste the Pain Stone Cold Bush |
Fire Pretty Little Ditty Punk Rock Classic Sexy Mexican Maid Johnny, Kick a Hole in the Sky |
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Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991, 73.58) ***/T½ | |
| The Power of Equality If You Have to Ask Breaking the Girl Funky Monks Suck My Kiss I Could Have Lied Mellowship Slinky in B Major The Righteous and the Wicked Give it Away |
Blood Sugar Sex Magik Under the Bridge Naked in the Rain Apache Rose Peacock The Greeting Song My Lovely Man Sir Psycho Sexy They're Red Hot |
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One Hot Minute (1995, 61.06) ***/T | |
| Warped Aeroplane Deep Kick My Friends Coffee Shop Pea One Big Mob Walkabout |
Tearjerker One Hot Minute Falling Into Grace Shallow Be Thy Game Transcending |
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Californication (1999, 56.26) ***/T | |
| Around the World Parallel Universe Scar Tissue Otherside Get on Top Californication Easily Porcelain |
Emit Remmus I Like Dirt This Velvet Glove Savior Purple Stain Right on Time Road Trippin' |
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By the Way (2002, 68.48) ***½/½ |
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| By the Way Universally Speaking This is the Place Dosed Don't Forget Me The Zephyr Song Can't Stop I Could Die for You |
Midnight Throw Away Your Television Cabron Tear On Mercury Minor Thing Warm Tape Venice Queen |
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Stadium Arcadium (2006, 122.17) **½/T |
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| Dani California Snow ((Hey Oh)) Charlie Stadium Arcadium Hump de Bump She's Only 18 Slow Cheetah Torture Me |
Strip My Mind Especially in Michigan Warlocks C'mon Girl Wet Sand Hey Desecration Smile Tell Me Baby |
Hard to Concentrate 21st Century She Looks to Me Readymade If Make You Feel Better Animal Bar So Much I |
Storm in a Teacup We Believe Turn it Again Death of a Martian |
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Since their mid-'80s inception, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have become fantastically popular, chiefly, it seems, with the musclebound 'jock' type of American concert-goer/record-buyer who likes nothing better than some good ol' macho funk metal and no gurlz. Homoeroticism aside, the Chilis have done little to quench the flames of rampant misogyny that have surrounded them for many years, although Californication, despite its title, may have finally broken the back of their all-too warranted reputation. I can't say I'm wildly enamoured with their music, to be honest, but I'll try to review these albums as fairly as possible.
Well, you certainly can't fault 'em on energy grounds; Mother's Milk kicks, er, 'ass' (so what's that poor donkey done to anybody?) in a funk/rap/metal hybrid driven along by Flea's pyrotechnic funk bass licks and John Frusciante's ripping guitar, replacing the recently deceased Hillel Slovak (heroin, death fans). Despite fairly detailed instrumental credits, there's no mention of keyboards anywhere, including the organ on the fairly reprehensible Sexy Mexican Maid, but given that it's produced by noted Mellotron fan Michael Beinhorn, it's probably safe to assume it's his playing that can be heard on three tracks. Nobody Weird Like Me is layered with strings, although it's one of the heavier tracks on offer here, ditto Knock Me Down. Taste The Pain, however, is slower, with some reggaeish guitar, and 'Tron choir and string parts that, strangely, don't really seem to add anything much to the song. In fact, none of the 'Tron parts are that relevant to the music, leaving one to wonder why Beinhorn actually bothered at all, though it's difficult to knock anyone who puts the Sacred Keyboard onto anything. Track nine is the Hendrix song, incidentally, which I remember seeing them play on TV with Flea playing the entire song hanging upside down from the lighting rig.
I've seen Blood Sugar Sex Magik written as the rather indigestible Bloodsugarsexmagik, but I think I'll stick with the readable version. For some reason, the Chilis opted to put out over 70 minutes' worth of music, which to be quite honest, is absolutely interminable. This is the sort of music that should rush in, mug you when you're not looking and be out again before you've noticed; 50 minutes would be overlong. Anyway, the album follows its predecessor's template fairly closely, although the band veer away from their chosen path in a few places, particularly on the acoustic Breaking The Girl and I Could Have Lied. This time round there's Mellotron credited on a couple of tracks, played by engineer Brendan O'Brien; Breaking The Girl has 'Tron flutes a-plenty, plus a little burst of strings somewhere along the line, while the utterly reprehensible Sir Psycho Sexy has cello and string parts towards the end. Shame about the lyrics, 'cos it's not a bad song.
One Hot Minute, 1995's belated follow-up, shows a few signs of maturity, with a couple of decent songs in Tearjerker and the title track. I believe it's regarded as a bit of a stopgap album, but it doesn't sound that dissimilar to the rest of their catalogue to my ears. I've no idea who plays the 'Tron on this one, but there's quite a bit to be heard on Tearjerker, with a few choir and flute chords before a full-on strings part at the end. After another several-year gap, the Chilis released Californication, and their emotional and musical maturity seems to have come on apace, although lead-off track Around The World gives the temporary impression that it's No Change on the Chilis front. The rest of the album is (relatively) more laid-back, in fact, almost mellow in places. Parallel Universe and Road Trippin' are genuinely good songs, although most of the rest have trouble rising above average. Patrick Warren was brought in to play Chamberlin (bizarrely credited as 'Chamberlin organ' - at least they spelt 'Chamberlin' correctly...) on Road Trippin', and succeeds in lifting what was already a good song with some well-placed cellos, strings and flutes.
With By the Way, the Chilis have continued their unstoppable march towards the mainstream while, to be fair, keeping something of themselves about it. Best song is probably the opening title track, with the proverbial chorus to die for, but overall, the quality of the material is pretty high, although it does sound like a watered-down version of their previous funk/metal crossover. I'm sure they've made many more fans than they've lost, though. Just a couple. There are strings on a few tracks, and uncredited keyboards, so I've bugger-all idea who plays the Mellotron strings on This Is The Place, consisting of some block chords over the drumless mid-section of the song. There are several other moments on the album that could be 'Tron, but somehow, none of them ring true, so I'm leaving it at this, at least without any more information.
2006's Stadium Arcadium has to be one of the most flaccidly overlong albums I've had the displeasure of hearing recently; I mean, two hours of this stuff? 50 minutes, maybe... Apparently, vocalist Anthony Kiedis has stated that the album was supposed to be 'a trilogy of albums released six months apart', but was condensed to a double disc. CONDENSED?? There's more of this? OK, although some tracks are clearly better than others, the mind-numbing effect of playing the whole bloody thing in one sitting tends to render every track effectively the same; do I notice that one's more acoustic and melodic, while another's more electric and raucous? I do not. It gets **½ for not being completely horrible; after all, a handful of tracks taken at random sound OK, at least by Chili Peppers standards, but their cumulative effect is dire, not helped by not just too many tracks, but too many tracks that are too long. Mellotron from the seemingly usual uncredited player on opener Dani California (strings), with very real-sounding flutes on Snow ((Hey Oh)), which cops the (admittedly very common) chord sequence from Iggy Pop's The Passenger.
None of these albums is exactly a Mellotron Classic, to be honest, but then you knew that already, right? If you like the Chilis' sound, you've probably already got these, and you'll like 'em if you haven't. The 'Tron/Chamby parts aren't bad, by any means, but certainly not worth buying on those grounds alone. Borrow the albums and compile the relevant tracks, and you'll have an OK, if shortish album.
See: John Frusciante
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Cycles (1977, 40.20) **½/TCyclesOpen (Give it Back to Me) Gamble (Take a Chance on Me) Ooh Give Our Love Another Try Dancing Bones Checkin' it Out Funky Silk Don't Say No |
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Redbone were formed in the late '60s by Native American brothers Pat and Lolly "Vegas" Vasquez, hitting gold with two major hits in the early '70s, Maggie and The Witch Queen Of New Orleans. However, by 1977, it seems their star was firmly on the wane, especially after (temporarily) losing long-term guitarist Tony Bellamy, and Cycles was their last album for many years. By this point, the band had slipped sharply from their original Native American take on Santana to a rather gloopy soul/funk direction, although I've heard far worse in this field. The first two tracks are fairly affable soul/funk things, but by track three, Gamble (Take A Chance On Me), the band delve into the murky waters of... well, what was the biggest-selling genre in the States in the late '70s? You got it... Four to the floor, Saturday Night Fever, Yowzah! Yowzah! Yowzah! Yup, it's essentially disco, although the rest of the album manages to skirt the issue without doing the full Rose Royce.
The only band member not called 'Vegas' by this point was keyboard player Aloisio Aguiar, who, along with the ever-present Rhodes and string synth, is credited with Chamberlin; great Chamby strings intro on the title track, with a flute part on Open (Give It Back To Me) and more strings on Funky Silk, although all other string parts appear to be string synth. Anyway, despite its first 20 seconds or so, you really don't need a copy of this album, although I suspect their earlier work may be worth hearing.
