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New Views (1984, 46.35) ***½/TIcebreakerToo Much at One Time A New Morning Climbing to the Top Unknown Destination New Views |
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Sweden's Tribute had (have?) a rather odd sound; vaguely neo-proggy in places, although with a fusion element missing from all the UK bands of the era, and considerable use of mallet percussion, in line with their countrymen Isildurs Bane. I believe they even recorded with Pierre Moerlin, ex-Gong, at one stage, so percussion is obviously a major deal with them. I've heard a later album that I hated, but New Views is really rather good, with an unsurprising Gong influence on a few tracks. The album's quite varied, with the gentle, flute-led A New Morning bearing no relation to the rather cheesy Icebreaker whatsoever, and the highlight being its side-long title track, which opens with several minutes of an acoustic guitar duet, before moving into more familiar territory.
Now, there are track-by-track instrumental credits on the sleeve, with no mention of Mellotrons anywhere, so what's that I can hear on Unknown Destination? Actually, the credits seem to go a little awry at this stage, anyway; the track segues out of Climbing To The Top, and although there are only synths and bass credited, the drum part carries on from its predecessor. Anyway, Mellotron choirs underpin the chord sequence, credited or otherwise, although I've no idea if the band ever used one again. Incidentally, this is not to be confused with the credited 'choir' on most tracks, which was the group singing large harmony 'aahs'.
Going by my other Tribute experience, I'd advise caution with their catalogue, but apart from its opening track, I can recommend New Views to the slightly more discerning progressive fan, although I'd give it a miss for the 'Tron.
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Caronte (1971, 33.00) ***½/TCaronte ITwo Brothers Little Janie L'Ultima Ora e Ode a J.Hendrix Caronte II |
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The Trip were apparently a British band who made their way to Italy in the late '60s (there's a Ritchie Blackmore connection somewhere down the line), who took on a couple of Italian members, and are now known as one of the earliest Italian progressives. Unlike some of their more forward-looking contemporaries, though, it seems they never really escaped their beat/psych background. The Trip (***), from 1970, is a rather average organ-driven post-psych album, with little to recommend it to the prog fan, although it's perfectly good at what it does.
The following year's Caronte is only one rung up the ladder, to be honest; it isn't a bad album, by any means, but unlike, say, I GiGanti's fantastic Terra in Bocca, this is an album that's having trouble escaping from the previous decade. William Gray's guitar work is more '67 than '71, although their heartfelt Ode A J. Hendrix sounds a little more contemporary. Joe Vescovi sticks mainly to Hammond, although he smothers the rather ordinary Little Janie in 'Tron strings (Mark II?), although not nearly enough to consider this any sort of Mellotron Album.
There's no 'Tron on the following year's Atlantide, so I rather doubt if there's any on their final album, Time of Change, either. If you're into that late-'60s organ-heavy thing, you'll probably love The Trip, but for those of you discovering the '70s Italian progressive scene, I'd put this lot well down your list.
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Triple Cream (1980) **/½ |
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| The Chosen One Love is in the Air Honesty The Long and Winding Road 2001: Also Sprach Zarathusa December '63 I'm Stone in Love With You Zanzibar |
I'm Not in Love The Sideboard Song |
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Triple Cream appear to be that most wondrous of things, a cabaret band who release an album containing some of their doubtless vast repertoire (see: Candlewick Green). Of course, the elemental beauty of such records is their monumental cheesiness, as whoever heard of a cabaret act veering away even slightly from a diet of the blandest, most mainstream material possible? Like all such ventures, the Essex-based band's eponymous sole LP (it seems) is perfectly well-played, but anodyne, featuring rather perfunctory versions of The Stylistics' I'm Stone In Love With You and 10cc's I'm Not In Love, amongst others. The award for the most bizarre cover, however, goes to their take on Strauss' 2001: Also Sprach Zarathusa [sic], with the familiar melody played over a funk-lite backing (!) that really has to be heard to be believed.
Of course, one of the chief problems with/beauties of this kind of album is how most of the subtlety and nuances of the original tracks are squashed flat, no doubt due to the band's desperate attempt to get themselves heard over loud, drunken twats at whatever godforsaken function they're playing that weekend, and being unable to switch back into 'sensitive musician mode' in the studio. I'm Not In Love is a particular case in point here, with whichever member of the trio sings on it getting the phrasing horribly wrong, ruining the melancholy feel of Eric Stewart's vocal, not to mention their budget take on the original's expensive/expansive production. No 24 tracks of vocals 'played' from the mixing desk here, folks... Just a Rhodes, a string synth and the odd backing vocal, although Brian Greenaway's Graham Gouldman-channeling bass part almost makes the grade.
Vocals/keys man Dave Brock (not that one, fool) was obviously a bit of a keyboard nut, as he listed every instrument used; eight, in fact, which ain't bad for a functions band, even in those pre-digital synth days. Most of them are (relatively) easy to spot, but the last-named proves to be a bit of a mystery. Yup, it's the Mellotron. Maybe 2001? Nope, it's CS80. Orchestral stuff on The Long And Winding Road? Nope, CS80 again. Chas'n'Dave's The Sideboard Song? OK, I'll stop there. n.b. Dave's actually written to me, confirming it provides the reverbed choirs on I'm Not In Love, even though it sounds like it's all Elka strings. As he says, "I remember holding down handfuls of notes and having to take them off randomly 'cos the tape needed to rewind itself". Proof, if any were needed...
Amazingly, Triple Cream are still going, with only one lineup change in the last 30+ years. According to their website, while they still do music (corporate functions and the like), they now specialise in stand-up comedy. Something for everyone, then. You can search the site all you like, too, but you won't find any mention whatsoever of this album. A Google search for a cover scan didn't seem to cough up any other releases, so it seems it was a one-off. I would imagine it was only ever produced as something to flog at gigs to up their earnings a little; a 'conversation' with a punter stuck at the end of the last track (which features a pub scene, being a good ol' cockernee knees-up an' all that) has said audience member asking the price, to be told, "Three quid", which is pretty blatant commercialism by anyone's standards. Then again, that's what function bands are for. It's easy to mock, but at the end of the day, this kind of band isn't about art, it's about making a living, and as you sit on your fat arse in your office, contemplating another 25 years before you can retire, just think about playing in a function band.
Cons:
As against... Pros:
OK, no-one ever said it was perfect, but nor's working in sales. Is it? Yes, you, reading this site when you should be doing some unutterably tedious work-related task. Anyway, you probably won't run into a copy of this at random, although I did (signed, too! Result!), and if you do, you don't really want it anyway, do you? Don't you? Or has the thought of 'Also Sprach Zarathusa' (idiots) whetted your taste buds? Just don't, take it from me. I know. And I haven't even mentioned the idiotic sleeve...
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Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb (1998, 57.05) ***½/T |
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| Field Day Jitters Waited a Light Year Sonic Bloom Bandaids for Hire Mechanical Breakdown Your Socks Have No Name Geeareohdoubleyou New Plains Medicine |
Our Drive to the Sun/Can a Man Mark it? Human Contact Pillar 8 Ladies About the Movies Tiny Men Indian Poker Parts 2 & 3 |
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Don't worry, it's not another God-bothering album, as the sleeve pic and title really should tell you. Tripping Daisy were a cross between modern psych and pop/punk, if you can imagine such a thing; they were certainly better than almost anything in the latter category, and as good as many in the former. Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb was their third album (of four), skipping between styles with aplomb, keeping the listener's interest up despite the album's length. Best tracks? Matter of opinion, as always, but opener Field Day Jitters sets out their stall admirably, while Your Socks Have No Name and Our Drive To The Sun/Can A Man Mark It? hold up the band's psych credentials in fine style.
Wes Berggren plays Mellotron on a couple of tracks, with a hesitant-sounding flute part opening Geeareohdoubleyou, reprising later in the song and buried-in-the-mix flutes at the end of 8 Ladies, and while it could be present elsewhere, chances are it's not. It sounds real, and given that the album's produced by noted 'Tronnist Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart), it could even be his old machine.
The band split in 1999, after Berggren's untimely death, several of them going on to form the strangely popular Polyphonic Spree. This is a much better album than I'd expected, if a little inconsistent, although not really enough Mellotron to make it worth it on that front.
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Tritonus (1975, 38.48) ***½/T½Escape and No Way OutSunday Waltz Lady Madonna Far in the Sky Gliding Lady Turk |
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Tritonus were another of those ELP-alikes that mainland Europe seemed to produce in great numbers in the '70s (and later), with non-'Tron users Triumvirat probably the worst offenders. Tritonus were a keys/bass/drums trio (no surprise there, then), and keyboard man Peter K. Seiler used the usual run of instruments, although unlike Emerson, he stuck some Mellotron in too, although only on Tritonus, their first album.
The music is perfectly competent prog, without being particularly exciting, and the same can be said of the 'Tron use. There seems to be an element of German electronic music creeping through in places, and to my ears, some of the material would've benefitted from being given a bit more room to breathe; just as the band hit a groove, they'd feel compelled to stop for an unaccompanied keyboard part, spoiling the flow. Or is that what prog's about? Anyway, both the lengthy Escape And No Way Out and Far In The Sky have little bursts of strings, leaving Gliding as the nearest the album gets to a 'Tron Track. Reasonable amounts of (again) strings, with some big block chords, but not the most exciting use you're ever going to hear.
So; passable album, OK 'Tron. I believe this is available on a 2-on-1 CD with the follow-up, Between the Universes, although Seiler had got rid of his Mellotron by then, assuming he ever actually owned one. Not bad, not great. Incidentally, flick over their hopeless version of Lady Madonna; it's an almost completely unrecognisable two-minute instrumental take on the song that seems to have lost the melody somewhere along the way.
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Rock & Roll Machine (original Canadian version) (1977, 39.53) ***½/T½ |
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| Takes Time Bringing it on Home Little Texas Shaker New York City Streets Part 1 Part 2 The City Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 |
Rocky Mountain Way Rock & Roll Machine |
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For some strange reason, Triumph often found themselves lumped in with Rush; like Mahogany Rush, they were a Canadian hard rock trio, and music journalists are a spectacularly unimaginative lot, so I suppose the connection was inevitable, really. Over the course of their first, self-titled effort and Rock & Roll Machine, Triumph wrote several fairly epic numbers, chiefly the excellent Blinding Light Show/Moonchild from their debut, but 
they only ever used a Mellotron on The City from this album. It's unclear from the sleevenotes whether it was played by bassist Mike Levine or extra keyboardist Mike Danna (a.k.a. Mychael Danna, of Elements non-fame), although the latter seems more likely, but there's some nice choirs and flutes on parts one and three of the track (part two is an acoustic guitar solo, like Moonchild).
Over their next couple of albums, Triumph moved firmly in the direction of Party Metal (sample song titles: American Girls; I Live For The Weekend; Tear The Roof Off Tonight. Say no more). The warning signs were there from the off; 24 Hours A Day from Triumph was firmly in that mould, and it didn't take them long to let it take over completely. I expect they made more money that way, but the world lost a good little band and gained a mediocre one. A word of warning; a UK release also called Rock & Roll Machine appeared in 1978, compiling tracks from their first two Canadian releases, so the one you want has the sleeve shown here, or the truly hideous effort pictured to the right to which the reissue was subjected that I couldn't bear to put next to the tracklisting. While the UK release is an excellent compilation, it doesn't include The City. Anyway; good album, but no 'Tron classic.
See: Mychael Danna
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True Myth (1979, 33.54) ****/TReach for the HeavensLight Years Before It's Got to Be Time and Time Again Space Promenade In the Mist Song of the World |
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True Myth, punningly named after mainman Tom Treumuth, have the (dubious?) distinction of having produced the world's second ever digitally-recorded album, the first being Stevie Wonder's rather more high-profile The Secret Life Of Plants. They were actually put together as a music school project, which probably explains the relatively late appearance of this very symphonic progressive release, especially in English-speaking Canada, where prog was about as ubiquitous as in the States. True Myth is typical American-sounding piano-driven progressive, and does most of the things you'd hope that such an album would do. There are hints of Gentle Giant about it, although an overriding vocal influence is the less-fashionable Styx. Individual highlights are difficult to pick out on a first listen; suffice to say the album's very consistent, if not quite a lost classic.
Treumuth's Mellotron work is quite limited, being restricted to a couple of background string chords on It's Got To Be (possibly), and an upfront string part on the excellent Time And Time Again; his use on this track is good enough that it's a bit of a shame he didn't stick a little more of it down. Oh well. Anyway, as I said, good album, but don't go paying a fortune for it; it's one of those things you can see no-one bothering to ever put out on CD, partly because it was (surprisingly) on Warner Bros, and major labels make it more difficult (and expensive) to license back-catalogue. Pity.
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Fast Stories... From Kid Coma (1995, 71.35) ***½/TTT½ |
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| Blue Flame Ford Four Girls If You Don't Let it Die Hot Summer 1991 Blues Lights Leslie's Coughing Up Blood Hurricane Dance Angelhead |
Tragic Telepathic (Soul Slasher) Virtually So Strange Strangling Chlorine |
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Feeling You Up (1997, 54.34) ***½/TTT½ |
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| (Intro) Public Access Girls Twilight Curtains Wait 'til the Night Air Raid It's on Your Face EM7 Come Hither |
Leatherette Tears The Possessions Repulsion [unlisted track] |
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Twilight Curtains (2000, recorded 1991-2000, 41.07) ***/TTT |
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| Twilight Curtains Leatherette Tears II Aliens on Alcohol Wait 'Til the Night I Hit Ignition Our Lips Are Sealed Girl Don't Tell Me You'll Write Queen of the Girls |
20th Century Voluntary Slaves Mellotronica Symphonica |
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Seattle's Truly were formed from ex-early grunge group members (Soundgarden, Screaming Trees), and after a couple of releases on the ubiquitous SubPop, signed to Capitol in '95, who reissued their debut, Fast Stories... From Kid Coma. Although overlong, it's a pretty monumental piece of work, tempering the heaviness with a kind of '90s psychedelia, breaking up tracks like the lengthy Hurricane Dance into digestible chunks.
Mainman Robert Roth contacted me a couple of years ago to confirm his ownership of an M400, and it's certainly very audible here. Opener Blue Flame Ford has some distant 'Tron on its ambient intro, plus faint flutes halfway through, but the album's first major Mellotron part appears at the end of If You Don't Let It Die, with a solo strings part to die for. More strings throughout Hot Summer 1991, then wonderfully out-of-tune church organ on Angelhead, alongside strings and flutes, making a nice change from the usual sounds. Full-on strings again on Virtually and the dying seconds of So Strange, with the 'Tron sliding in and out of the mix on 11-minute closer Chlorine. All in all, quite a 'Tron album.
'97's Feeling You Up is even more eclectic and less grungy, containing elements of pop, hard rock, psychedelia, electronica and several other genres, thrown together in an appealing pot-pourri that ends up sounding like no-one in particular, which has to be a good thing. Plenty of 'Tron again, largely strings, although the intro to Air Raid features a major flute part, reiterated on the final, unlisted (though thankfully not hidden) track. Good use all round, with an authentically wobbly part on Repulsion, the nearest the album gets to grunge, while Trish Scearce plays it on EM7, although there's no great stylistic change on the track.
2000's Twilight Curtains seems to be the band's swansong, although they gig sporadically to the present day. It's a collection of odds'n'sods, recorded between 1991 and 2000, only released in Europe, for some reason. Unsurprisingly, it's a bit of a mixed bag, highlights including the bottleneck frenzy of Aliens On Alcohol, I Hit Ignition and weird, instrumental closer Mellotronica Symphonica (of course). Roth adds Mellotron to several tracks, with string swells on the semi-electronica opening title track, background strings on Leatherette Tears II and Wait 'Til The Night, more upfront ones on Queen Of The Girls and an excellent strings/flute combo on Mellotronica Symphonica.
All of these are well worth hearing on both the musical and Mellotronic fronts, despite sounding rather different to each other. After the band's dissolution, Roth went on to play with Built to Spill, putting some 'Tron down on Perfect From Now on, also from '97.
See: Soundgarden | Screaming Trees | Built to Spill | Jim Carroll
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GRL-GRUP (1997, 11.36) ***½/TThen He Kissed MeBe My Baby To Know Him is to Love Him Da Doo Ron Ron |
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I'd put good money on none of the Velvet Underground having any idea that their anti-hippy/Summer of Love attitude would, fewer than twenty years later, become the template for a whole generation of musicians, not to mention Maureen "Moe" Tucker's über-basic drumming. With the benefit of hindsight, the Velvets can be seen as the anti-prog, before the genre even existed, which is probably why they were revered by the prog-hating music press from the late '70s onward. There's no denying that they were basic - that was the whole point - but I'd argue that you've got to have some musical knowledge, even if of an idiot savant variety, to be able to do something that simple.
Anyway, after leaving the band in 1971, Moe left the business for some years, before being gently eased back into it in the '80s. She's released several albums and EPs since, including 1997's rather strange (not to mention strangely-titled) GRL-GRUP. As you can see, it's Moe does Spector, with fairly straight takes on four classic girl group songs, Moe's quite English-sounding vocals to the fore. Instrumentation is fairly basic (Moe doesn't touch the drums), with producer Phil Hadaway on Mellotron strings on Be My Baby, with a pseudo-real strings part that's nice, but inessential.
So; a quirky little release, with a sleeve design aping a US number (licence) plate, adding the witty 'Moetown, USA' above the title. Velvets fans will probably enjoy this, the rest of us know the songs anyway, but probably don't need to hear them in this form. One passable 'Tron track, that's it.
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The Space Around You (2000, 35.55) *½/½ |
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| Stop The Wishing Song Tell Me Love Helen of Troy Explanations More Off the Ground |
Away Don't Stop Holding Out Your Hands |
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Named for the 1930s film, Tugboat Annie were yer typical '90s indie band, upbeat, major-key songs with a hint of jangle, heartfelt, lovelorn lyrics... Horrible. Actually, although they don't appear to've had any obvious links with Christianity, their last album (hurrah!), 2000's The Space Around You, sounds like one of those vile, 'transcendent' CCM albums I've felt compelled to play for review rather too often. It has no, make that NO good points.
Jon Sulkow plays Mellotron, with a string part on Tell Me, although nothing you can't live without, unsurprisingly. Christ, this really is a dreadful record; why does/did anyone ever listen to this kind of tripe? Drivel, next to no Mellotron, 35 minutes out of my life. It felt longer.
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Boku ga Tsukutta Ai no Uta (1974) **½/½ |
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| Hitotsu no Hoshi Watashi no Idle Nakushita Kotoba Kono Kurayami no Naka Koko Ha Doko Odoriko Koushi no Row Cowgy Uncle Spaghetti (Sanmon Kashu) |
Hashire! Moon Gou Boku ga Tsukutta Ai no Uta (Itoshi no Emily) Mr. Press Man Uta Ha Ikiteiru Sekai no Hate De |
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One of my odder purchases, this... I knew I was after a few Tulip releases, so when I found a copy of 1974's Boku ga Tsukutta Ai no Uta for a whole £2.00 in a well-known London second-hand shop, I was in a slight quandary: do I buy this, not even being able to read the title, let alone being able to remember whether or not I needed it, had I been able to read it in the first place? The lush packaging (a large, illustrated booklet) decided me (I'm easily swayed), so I saw it as serendipity when it turned out to be one of the titles I was after.
And it is... A completely mainstream Japanese mid-'70s pop/rock album, apparently with some kind of environmental theme, as told in the accompanying booklet, almost entirely in Japanese (fair enough, really). It's completely harmless, but also really rather dull, especially when you're unable to understand the lyrics. The album was actually recorded in the UK, at Abbey Road and another London studio, one of which presumably either owned or hired in a Mellotron (it could even have been Abbey Road's MkII, although I've no way of knowing whether that machine still worked by this point). Anyway, someone, probably Kazuo Zaitsu, plays 'Tron flutes on Uncle Spaghetti (Sanmon Kashu), but it's not exactly enough to lift this album out of its slough of mediocrity.
Amazingly, this is available on CD (they're probably still popular back home), which shouldn't be taken as any sort of signal that you should buy this. Harmless, but most unexciting. Incidentally, there are several other relevant Tulip releases, including '73's Live!! Act Tulip, a '74 b-side (probably recorded at the same sessions as the above), September, and a '76 single, Kaze No Melody, which I may or may not ever get to hear for myself.
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Listen (1998, 44.54) */0 |
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| Listen Healing Waters Heaven Will Be Near Me Feel Christ of Hope My Constant One Untame Lion Rest My Soul |
Please Come Back Life is Beautiful He's Watching Over You |
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Michelle Tumes' debut album was called Listen. Listen. Yes, listen. Listen to me. Do. Not. Buy. This. Album. There, was that clear enough? Imagine an overtly Christian Enya. From Australia. Get the picture? This is really pretty horrible, though it would be less offensive without all the usual God-bothering claptrap. And she's wearing virginal white on the sleeve. Yuck.
So why am I even listening to the bloody thing? Usual reason, of course. Mellotron, from Charlie Peacock, and guess what? Nope, not 'Strawberry Fields' flutes. Nothing. Nothing audible, anyway. And I sat through this drivel for nothing? Piss off.
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Drastic Fantastic (2007, 39.20) **½/T |
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| Little Favours If Only White Bird Funnyman Hold on Hopeless I Don't Want You Now Saving My Face |
Beauty of Uncertainty Someday Soon Paper Aeroplane |
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Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter, whose sobriquet possibly refers to her known admiration for Kate Bush, being reminiscent of that artist's pre-fame KT Bush Band. Tunstall's second album, the appallingly-titled Drastic Fantastic (also let down by its terrible sleeve design) is an acceptable, if rather dull, indie singer-songwriter effort, passable for a few tracks, but quickly palling, despite its relatively short length. Best tracks? Probably Beauty Of Uncertainty and closer Paper Aeroplane, but that shouldn't be taken as any real recommendation.
Tunstall plays Mellotron herself on closer Paper Aeroplane, with a nice flute part on what sounds like a real 'Tron, although it's nowhere near enough to rescue this rather ordinary, mainstream album, currently available at a charity shop near you. Incidentally, top marks to Ms Tunstall for publicly disowning her stepfather after he opted to stand as a candidate for the odious BNP (far-right scum for non-Brits).
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Dark on Fire (2007, 48.44) *½/½ |
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| Last Chance Ghost Something in My Eye Stalker Other Side Dark on Fire Real Life For the Fire |
Timewaster Bye Pod Here Comes the Moon New Star |
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Turin Brakes are sometimes referred to as 'folk', which makes me wonder: just what kind of 'folk' do said referrers listen to themselves? 2007's Dark on Fire is the worst kind of dreary, self-obsessed, whiny British indie you can imagine, wussing along on a road of wuss, emoting frantically, just in case no-one had noticed how sensitive they are. Ugh.
Although Gale Paridjanian (one of the band's two full-time members) is credited with Mellotron, amongst many other things, about the only thing that even might be it is a short flute part at the end of Bye Pod, the kind of song that's so achingly contemporary that it'll sound obscenely dated in about two years. Oh, hang on, it's already two years since the album's release, isn't it? Point proven. This is unmitigated shite, with next to no Mellotron. Just don't.
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Searching for Melody (2003, 32.56) ***½/T |
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| The Idiot Blues Living Through the Mistakes Searching for Melody I Want You in My Arms Smart Operator Not Only You Sometimes I'm Wrong Nothing But the Blues |
You, My Girl I'm 37 Instro #1 New Years Day Take Care Last Call |
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Despite being a Texan, Steve Turner was intimately involved in the formation of various Seattle-area bands, notably Mudhoney. 2003's disingenuously-titled Searching for Melody sounds nothing like any of them, being Turner's take on traditional folk, unsurprisingly with a punk edge, particularly in the vocal department; think: 'modern Seattle Bob Dylan'. A very listenable album, its best tracks include Living Through The Mistakes, the title track, Smart Operator and a capella closer Last Call.
Johnny Sangster plays Mellotron on Instro #1, with a reverbed flute part dipping in and out of the mix, although that appears to be your lot. If you like the sound of raw, honest, folk-influenced songs sung by someone who sounds like he actually means it (a rare commodity these days), Searching for Melody might well be your bag, although it really isn't worth it for its minor Mellotron use.
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Twelfth Night [a.k.a. The Electra Tape] (1980, 32.12) ***½/T½The Cunning ManAfghan Red Abacus Keep the Aspidistra Flying |
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Live at the Target (1981, 45.42/73.12) ***½/½Für HéléneAfter the Eclipse East to West Sequences [CD adds: Afghan Red Freddie Hepburn Encore une Fois] |
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A Midsummer's Night Dream (2005, recorded 1980, 79.02) ****/T½Keep the Aspidistra FlyingAbacus Encore une Fois After Office Hours Für Helene I The Cunning Man Afghan Red Sequences |
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Twelfth Night were one of the first bands to emerge from the early-'80s UK progressive scene, having been around since 1978 in one form or another. After a couple of very limited-release cassettes, they put out a tape of no particular title, sometimes known as Twelfth Night or The Electra Tape, in homage to its rather dreadful American female vocalist, Electra McCloud (yes, really). The music is excellent, displaying their echo-drenched sound, lead bass and intricate arrangements to the full, but it could rather have done without the vocals. Well, the lyrics really. I mean, (from The Cunning Man):
| 'There he stands upon a stage, Calmly cool, guitar in hand, Is he Beck or is he Page? No! No! He's the Cunning Man'. |
Good God. I ask you... Anyway, no point holding that against it, though I think all concerned would now rather it had been fully instrumental. Afghan Red is precisely that, thankfully, starting with Clive Mitten's 6-string bass chords, before their trademark string synth arpeggios and their 'playing along with a delay' stuff cuts in. There's a little Mellotron strings towards the end of the track, but nothing to write home about, really. Abacus is another vocal track, and manages some choir under the vocals, but again, they don't really add very much to the track. I know there's a Twelfth Night reissue programme on the cards at the moment; the four tracks come in at about half an hour, and I'm sure with a few other recordings from that era they'd make a fine CD. (n.b. All four tracks are now available, with Afghan Red being a bonus track on the Live at the Target CD, and the other three turning up on Cyclops' 'vocalist' compilation, Voices in the Night).
By 1981 (well before Marillion, note), Twelfth Night put out their first album proper, Live at the Target. An all-instrumental affair, their sound is still based heavily on the delayed guitar/bass interplay (difficult to describe; you need to hear it, really), although Rick Battersby's keyboards cut through sometimes. Despite hauling an M400 about, it's only to be heard here on a few chords of Für Héléne; a quick burst of choir and it's gone. As indeed, it was from their setup. Battersby left for a while (I saw them in late '82 as a four-piece, desperately trying to cover the keyboard parts along with everything else) and on his return the 'Tron was no more. They'd got themselves a vocalist in the meantime, their old friend Geoff Mann, and they started shifting away from their old style, integrating his vocals to their new approach. They'd recorded the classic Fact and Fiction (****½) during Battersby's absence, following it with the even more classic Live and Let Live (*****), released in early '84, after Geoff's departure.
Twelfth Night carried on for a few more years before throwing in the towel after an abortive attempt to 'do a Marillion' and 'go commercial' (1986 style). Very nasty. They got their classic lineup back together in '88 to record a previously-unrecorded crowd favourite from their heyday, The Collector, subsequently released on the Collectors Item (****½) compilation. Tragically, Geoff Mann (by this time an ordained vicar) died of cancer in 1993, and unlike most of their contemporaries, Twelfth Night have never attempted to reform.
If you can find a copy of the cassette album, go for it, though not for the Mellotron use. Pretty much the same goes for Live at the Target, but I personally recommend the Geoff Mann LPs for the uninitiated.
Many, many years later... Suddenly, as if from nowhere, in 2005 Twelfth Night released a series of 'official bootlegs' (you know, live albums of a quality too poor for full commercial release). Quality be damned; these are excellent documents of the various stages of 'Night activity, making several of my actual bootlegs redundant in the process. The only one which concerns us here is A Midsummer's Night Dream (nice turnaround, there), a soundboard tape of a gig at Reading University in June 1980, before the recording of The Electra Tape above. Recording quality is reasonable, although there's a little distortion in places, and the odd drop-out. Given that this has doubtless been lying around on cassette for 25 years, it sounds remarkably good, to be honest. It contains the first CD release of any sort for Encore Une Fois (originally on their First Tape Album), and instrumental versions of a couple of tracks better-known as vocal ones; After Office Hours is an early version of East To West, in case anyone's watching that closely. You can see Rick's 'Tron clearly in one sleeve pic, and indistinctly on another two and indeed, there it is, with some very audible choirs on Abacus and Encore Une Fois. Although I've highlighted opener Keep The Aspidistra Flying, I'm not entirely convinced that's Mellotron strings we're hearing at the end, but since his Vox String Thing couldn't make that sound on its own, I have to assume that it's a composite of the two.
n.b. In late 2007, Twelfth Night did indeed reform, with 4/5ths of their later recording lineup, the only absence being Rick Battersby. Were they good? Yes they were, pretty much avoiding material from their horrible last album. Roll on more action, chaps...
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Reflections! (1994, recorded 1972, 73.56) ****/T½At My HomeAutumn Butterking Reflections on the Future The Way That I Feel Today Spring I Wanna Stay Time Can't Take it Away |
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Before I begin, I only own the CD reissue of Twenty Sixty Six & Then's Reflections on the Future, titled Reflections! It appears that this is actually a completely different album to the original, comprising various pre-album tapes, with several extra tracks and longer takes. It seems the album tapes are long gone, so instead of mastering a copy from vinyl, the Second Battle label utilised this approach. I don't know if the 'original' album is doing the rounds on CD-R, but I'll review it separately should I get to hear a copy.
Now I've got that out of the way, I was very pleasantly surprised by the music on Reflections! I'd expected another stoned-out hippy jam like Emtidi's Saat or Witthüser & Westrupp's Der Jesuspilz/Musik Vom Evangelium, but actually got a very good psychedelic hard rock album from a band who knew how to keep a jam interesting. To be honest, it does flag a little towards the end, but given that the CD must be the better part of double the length of the original album, there's at least an hour of excellent music here. Highlights for me are the opening tracks, At My Home and Autumn, but most of it's worth hearing; certainly enough to make it worth buying, anyway.
The Mellotron was apparently played by Steve Robinson (a.k.a. Rainer Geyer) and Veit Marvos, although it's not really that prevalent. Strings, brass and flutes on Autumn, with some brass on Butterking, but it's not exactly the heaviest use you're ever going to hear, to be honest. I'm now keen to hear the original version of this album, but if you're finding it as difficult to source as I am, this version will certainly suffice. Buy.
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Highway Prayer (2008, 63.01) ***/T |
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| Viva la Vinyl No Place for a Woman Impatient Love Highway Prayer Slumber Queen Iowalta Morningside The Ballad of Salvador and Isabelle |
Shadow of a Man The Critic If it Won't Kill You Sometimes I Get a Little Lonely Sand in Your Eyes Best Buds |
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After a 2004 release under their own names, Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury became Twilight Hotel, 2008's Highway Prayer being their second album under their joint moniker. It artfully combines traditional folk with a modern sensibility, particularly in the lyric department, better tracks including rock'n'roll opener Viva La Vinyl, the title track, Shadow Of A Man and The Critic.
Richard Bell on Mellotron, with more Chamberlin-sounding (mixed?) string parts on If It Won't Kill You and an instrumental take on the same track, closer Best Buds, which I take to be real, not least due to the unusual sound used and the improbability of a band like Twilight Hotel using anything bogus. He said, hopefully. Anyway, a very good album of its type from a duo committed to keeping it real.
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Twilight as Played By the Twilight Singers (2000, 46.59) **½/T½ |
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| The Twilite Kid That's Just How That Bird Sings Clyde King Only Love Annie Mae Verti-Marte Last Temptation |
Railroad Lullaby East 17th Into the Street Twilight |
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Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair EP (2003, 13.13) ***/TTBlack is the Color of My True Love's HairDomani Son of the Morning Star |
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Blackberry Belle (2003, 44.45) ***/TT |
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| Martin Eden Esta Noche Teenage Wristband St. Gregory The Killer Decatur St. Papillon Follow You Down |
Feathers Fat City (Slight Return) Number Nine |
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Powder Burns (2006, 48.46) **½/T½ |
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| Toward the Waves I'm Ready There's Been an Accident Bonnie Brae Forty Dollars Candy Cane Crawl Underneath the Waves My Time (Has Come) |
Dead to Rights The Conversation Powder Burns I Wish I Was |
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A Stitch in Time (2006, 23.05) ***/TLive With MeSublime Flashback They Ride The Lure Would Prove Too Much |
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Dynamite Steps (2011, 43.02) ***/T |
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| Last Night in Town Be Invited Waves Get Lucky On the Corner Gunshots She Was Stolen Blackbird and the Fox |
Never Seen No Devil The Beginning of the End Dynamite Steps |
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The oddly-named Twilight Singers are Greg (Afghan Whigs) Dulli's new band, specialising in laid-back melancholia, although, to my ears, too 'indie' to be especially interesting. I've seen a reference to trip-hop in a review of Twilight as Played By the Twilight Singers, and I can see where the reviewer's coming from, although I'll stick with 'slightly miserablist indie', I think. I'm finding it difficult to come up with anything constructive to say about this album, and I'm sure there's plenty of online reviews from people who know what they're talking about, so maybe I'll just stick to commenting on its Mellotron use. Dulli plays all the 'Tron here, with strings all round, pretty upfront on The Twilite Kid and a short part at the end of Love that slips into the next track. More strings on Last Temptation and Railroad Lullaby, but nothing really that major.
2003's Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair EP appeared the week before their next album, featuring a reworking of the old folk tune via Nina Simone. The EP's other two tracks, Domani and Son Of The Morning Star both have a reasonable Mellotronic presence, presumably from Dulli, with string parts on both. It's also definitely on said album, Blackberry Belle, which isn't dissimilar to its predecessor, although the songs seem more... focussed, somehow. Less irritating, anyway. Better 'Tron use, too, from Dulli and Mathias Schneeberger this time, with pretty upfront strings on The Killer, Decatur St. and Papillon, although not so much on Fat City (Slight Return).
I'm afraid to say that after two plays, 2006's Powder Burns just ended up irritating me. I really don't get this 'overwrought indie' thing, I suppose, and that describes the Twilight Singers to a T. Speaking of Ts, the Mellotron's only actually properly audible on half its credited tracks, with Dulli playing strings on brief opening instrumental Toward The Waves, strings that could have come from almost anything on Bonnie Brae, possibly flutes on The Conversation (not very audible here) and strings (alongside real ones) on the title track. Pete Adams plays the album's most audible 'Tron part on My Time (Has Come), with a string part that actually stands out from the morass of instrumentation, but nothing here makes you go, "Wow! Mellotron!" (should you be prone to making such announcements). Funnily enough, the same year's A Stitch in Time EP is a far more listenable proposition all round, condensing everything the band do best into twenty-odd minutes, particularly on the incandescent They Ride. One 'Tron track, with a rather unexciting background string part on closer The Lure Would Prove Too Much, proving that actually, you can't have it all.
After a lengthy break, 2011's Dynamite Steps is their best album since Blackberry Belle, with the proviso that if you can't enter Greg Dulli's world, you're probably not going to get it. Like me. Anyway, better material than on Powder Burns, if less Mellotron, with a mere two tracks this time round. Opener Last Night In Town builds up to a crescendo, strings bursting in at the peak, while On The Corner features background string stabs, both from Dulli, although several other instrumental parts on the album sound like they could be tape-replay-generated.
Well, you may like these if miserable indie is up your street; I like a lot of miserable music, but somehow, this lot (generally) just don't really float my boat. Passable Mellotron on their first, fairly good on their second and not so hot on the latest, though I'm not sure I should say 'buy for the 'Tron', to be honest.
See: Afghan Whigs
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Think Pink (1969, 38.07) ***/½ |
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| Coming of the One Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box Dawn of Majic Tiptoe on the Highest Hill Fluid Mexican Grass War Rock and Roll the Joint |
Suicide Three Little Piggies Sparrow is a Sign |
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Twink, or John Alder to his mum, worked his way through a series of '60s outfits as drummer, joining the band that became Tomorrow, with Steve Howe, before moving on to the Pretty Things. Think Pink was his first solo album, released either late '69 or early '70, made with the help of various Deviants (in any sense of the word you care to use), before all and sundry went on to form the Pink Fairies, and it's... a product of its time. A very trippy album, full of psychedelic guitar workouts like Tiptoe On The Highest Hill and Rock And Roll The Joint, or stoned weirdness like opener Coming Of The One, but very little actually resembling a song per se. Am I missing the point?
A little Mellotron (played by the Pretties' John Povey), with a faint string part on Tiptoe On The Highest Hill, very faint brass, strings and flute in Suicide (real vibes, though) and even fainter strings on Ten Thousand Words In A Cardboard Box (thanks, Johannes). Well, this just scrapes three stars, but is really only for nostalgists, or those who want to hear what hippies really listened to. Minimal 'Tron, too.
See: Pretty Things
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Alpha Jerk (1979, 37.44) ***/T |
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| Aliens in Our Midst Tonight Again Sweet Nothing 1,000 Reasons Cartoon Land E.S.P. Twinkeyz Theme That's the Way it Goes |
Alpha Jerk Strange Feelings Wild Love |
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The Sacramento-based Twinkeyz (apparently an 'offhand tribute' to Twink, above) were one of California's first DIY outfits of the late '70s, assaulting all and sundry with their 'sci-fi punk', recording a handful of singles and a lone album in the process. 1979's Alpha Jerk was only released in the Netherlands, for some reason, replete with a crummy pressing and production; containing four previously-released tracks, it unsurprisingly sank without trace until reissued as part of 1998's Aliens in Our Midst set (right). Influence-wise, artists springing immediately to mind include The Velvets/solo Lou and Bowie, with a dash of contemporary punk thrown in for good measure, better tracks including the mock-paranoia of Aliens In Our Midst, Twinkeyz Theme (like a darker, less manic Devo) and the strange title track.
Dave Houston plays a strained, clearly deliberately off-key Mellotron string part on Alpha Jerk, although I've no idea how they came to use what must by that point have been seen as a shockingly reactionary, prog-referencing instrument. Subversion? Reverse subversion? For the hell of it? Who knows? Anyway, the whole album comprises the first eleven tracks of Aliens in Our Midst, so it's easy to find should you so desire, although it honestly isn't worth it for its minor Mellotron use.
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Two Fires (2000, 63.30) **/½ |
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| My Love Will Be There I Won't Give Up on Us Piece of My Heart When Love is Gone Summer of Love Surrender A Man's Gotta Do (What a Man's Gotta Do) Remember |
Never Stop Loving You Alyssia I Believe in You I Can See You River of Destiny |
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Two Fires. What kind of band would use a name like that? I genuinely didn't have a clue until I pressed 'play', only to hear a '70s-ish hard rock guitar intro that didn't sound too unpleasant. Until... 30 seconds in, the drums kick in and... it's AOR. No! Not a modern AOR album! Please! Not another grab-bag collection of glossy 'commercial' rock clichés thrown together willy-nilly! Please! What is the fascination with this stuff? Given that Aussie AOR god Jimmy Barnes (wasn't he good in the '70s? Maybe not) made an album called Two Fires in 1990, I think we have to assume that this lot are named in honour of.
To recap for a moment... As I'm sure you know, the once-behemoth of AOR has contracted to a worldwide huddle of enthusiasts, tied together by the proverbial World Wide Web. The genre always had a plethora of small-time bands hoping to break through from the mid-'70s on, the difference now being that, apart from the handful of giants still left touring the world's arenas, the little guys are all that's left. Sound familiar? Exactly the same thing as progressive rock, of course, although its era was over a decade earlier. Despite the glut of pointless copycat prog (South Americans are particularly culpable here), there is one important difference between the genres: prog was always supposed to be about innovation, and some modern practitioners still adhere to this principle; AOR was about producing the most commercial rock possible, without tipping over into pop, although, of course, there was always a huge crossover. So; some modern prog still strives to do something new. No AOR, new or otherwise, does anything but copy its predecessors, leaving new AOR albums sounding like nothing more than a pale copy of Foreigner, Journey, et al. and believe me, Two Fires are no exception.
It turns out they actually have a Journey connection, although the band that springs to mind first is the underrated New England, without their high points. The sense of despair that crept over me as the album progressed (term used very loosely) would have been palpable had anyone else been unlucky enough to be in the room at the same time; this is glossy, superficial fluff of the highest/lowest order. And these qualities are highly regarded in the genre? It's a sick world, brothers and sisters... As if their forbears' albums weren't bad enough, this drivel also goes on seemingly forever, as the band attempts to fill the entire disc up with aural candyfloss, finally grinding to a halt at slightly over an hour.
But is there any Mellotron, I hear you cry? Joe Marquez is credited and indeed, there are some distant flutes to be heard on I Believe In You, one of the album's slushier ballads. Is it real? Fucked if I know, and I've no idea how I might find out. Suffice to say, if you love AOR and don't already own Two Fires, you'll go ga-ga over this. As for the rest of us... Avoid. Please.
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I Fell in Love With an Ocean (2006, 44.00) ****/TTT½ |
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| I Fell in Love With an Ocean A Little Sign If You Ever A Song My Love Freak Show Some Things Don't Show Until it's Time Darkness My Dearest In Your Eyes |
3 a.m. Your Ghost A Song for a Tiger |
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Two Times the Trauma are a duo of Mattias Eriksson from Celestine and the inimitable Mattias Olsson (Änglagård, AK-Momo, Nanook of the North etc.etc.), with help from a bevy of friends and acquaintances. I Fell in Love With an Ocean is, of course, somewhat on the melancholy side, but Pineforest Crunch aside, so is every project in which Olsson has ever had his fingers, it seems. Do you have a problem with that? I hope not. This is quietly beautiful music, although I wouldn't exactly recommend it as something to make the party go with a swing. While there's not a bad track on the album, it's difficult to pick out highlights on only a couple of listens, although the opening title track is just possibly the best thing here.
Copious amounts of Mellotron, of course, variously played by Olsson, Tobias Ljungkvist and Linus Kåse, with plenty of your standard fallbacks, strings (actually three violins, of course) and flutes, although there are plenty of lesser-known sounds, including the striking wineglasses on In Your Eyes, and the Chamberlin harp glissandos on several tracks. However, the jewel in this album's Mellotronic crown are the 'Gaby Stenberg bees'. The WHAT, I hear you cry? Unbelievably, these are a set of Mellotron tapes made from (naturally) pitched bumblebees, which sound a lot like... bees. The estimable Ms.Stenberg recorded what must have been an awful lot of bees in order to get nearly three octaves, but she did it, and this legendary tape set now belongs to Mattias Olsson, which means we haven't heard the last of them, by a very long way...
So; the usual caveat: do you like Mattias Olsson's Roth-Händle productions? If so, you'll like this, if not, you probably won't. As always, shedloads of Mellotron, plus the usual Orchestron and Optigan, not to mention loads of other obscure old pieces of shit vintage equipment. Recommended.
See: Celestine | Änglagård | AK-Momo | Molesome | Nanook of the North
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Three's Co. (2006, 36.31) ***/T½ |
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| Do it Again Again Brock Landers Separate Cars Too Many Kims Glassbottom Lights The Lamest Shows Ltd. Appeal County Line |
Aloha Breeze The Pilot Don't Need a Leash |
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The Tyde grew out of the excellent Beachwood Sparks eventually outliving them. Less alt.country, more surf/psych, after 2001's Once and '03's Twice, Three's Co. is their best yet, although its stylistic conformity makes the album drag after a while, as it does on its predecessors. Best tracks? Probably openers Do It Again Again and Brock Landers and the powerpop of Too Many Kims. Worst? The pseudo-country of Aloha Breeze.
Mellotron from Ann Do (a.k.a. Ann Do Rademaker, vocalist/guitarist Darren Rademaker's wife) on two tracks, with a little flute melody on Separate Cars, sounding authentically out of tune, with a 'Strawberry Fields flutes' string part on The Lamest Shows, with the tapes almost choking to a halt at the end. Real, surely? Anyway, a reasonable if slightly unexciting album with a couple of nice 'Tron tracks. Yup, another one.
See: Beachwood Sparks
