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This page is an attempt to mop up various unreleased Mellotron recordings across the years, including artists who never released an album, unreleased soundtracks etc. It's not a page for bootleg recordings of otherwise released bands, which can be found either at the band's dedicated page (if they have one), or in Bootlegs.
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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Astra Charisma |
The Mynd OHO |
Systems Theory Wobbler |
Grizzly Adams Picnic at Hanging Rock |
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Demo (2007, 47.28) ****½/TTTTSilent SleepThe Rising of the Black Sun The Weirding... Cosmic Wind The Dawning of Ophiuchus Winter Witch |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Astra are the new incarnation of Planet Mellotron faves Silver Sunshine, and have taken the path more progressive, going by the three tracks on their MySpace site. Of course, this kind of 'availability' plays havoc with my nice, neat system, as it both is and isn't available in the 'real' world; you can't go and buy this from a shop, but anyone with a computer and a broadband connection can obtain the tracks, for free, in a matter of minutes. They aren't even necessarily in this order, but the kind man who sent me a CD-R of the tracks, who goes by the name 'Gandalf', it seems, burnt them in this order, so in this order they are. Maybe it's because they're (technically) alphabetical?
Anyway, what we're looking at here are six lengthy, prog/psych tracks, loaded with Mellotron, sounding like a vague cross between Crimson and Floyd's kid brother let loose in a studio. With a Mellotron. Or at least, that's the ten-minute Silent Sleep. The Rising Of The Black Sun is a lot darker, segueing into The Weirding..., a far heavier, jamming proposition, like Black Sabbath on (even more) drugs, or Crimso's Cirkus' bastard son. Since Gandalf sent me the CD, the band have added three tracks to their page (see, told you this download business made things awkward), with the 'Tron-free Cosmic Wind, the acoustic Winter Witch and another mighty prog piece, The Dawning Of Ophiuchus.
Mellotron all round from Conor Riley, with flutes and strings on Silent Sleep, The Weirding... The Dawning of Ophiuchus, with just strings on The Rising of the Black Sun and standalone flutes on Winter Witch. Listen, these tracks are MAGNIFICENT; mad, epic progressive hard rock that could actually do something for the band, if they can hitch a ride with Black Mountain's audience, say. Album, and soon! Er, that's actually an album's-worth, isn't it?
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Unreleased sessions (1973-6, 68.36) ***/TT |
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| Uh-oh (John Rinaldo) Soufflee Shuffle (live) Soufflee Shuffle (studio) Bread and Circus I Celebrate the Seconds The Sun is Always Out It's All the Same She's a Good Woman |
Do it Now Two Fly Lightfooted Fricassee |
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Current availability:
New England soul outfit The Mantiques became Charisma after signing with the obscure Roulette Records in 1969. They were effectively signed as a tax write-off, so it's hardly surprising that they were treated pretty much as you'd expect, not least with regard to their new name, which they hated. They released two albums, Charisma in 1969 and Beasts and Fiends the following year, then spent the first half of the '70s playing 'commercial' gigs for a living, while recording the material they really wanted to play. An unknown member of the band has put up a webpage (singular) detailing the band's history and providing free downloads of their entire oeuvre, including the unreleased material. Now, if only more little-known bands would do the same, the need for trading obscurities might recede a little, despite the crummy sound of MP3s...
And they sounded like...? Frank Zappa, basically. I'm sure they would never have been mistaken for The Mothers, but the bulk of Charisma's unreleased material has that jazzy, misplaced-humour thing out of which ol' Frank made a career, with ridiculous lyrics (Soufflee Shuffle) and bizarre vocal interjections (the lengthy Bread And Circus), though without the fiery musicianship of Zappa's various lineups. About the most straightforward thing here is a proposed single, She's A Good Woman (b/w Do It Now), which betrays their soul roots, and could even have been a hit had it been released.
Of course, there's only one reason this is here at all. Mike Reynolds spent most of his time on these recordings playing a rather cheesy organ, but gets a bit of 'Tron strings in on most tracks, though never for very long, reflected in the relatively low T rating. The aforementioned She's A Good Woman is the set's chief 'Tron track, where you get the feeling that they might've preferred to use real strings, but didn't have the budget. Given that this is freely available, you might as well download it to see what you think for yourself; I'm not blown away by the material, but that's merely my personal taste.
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Unreleased Sessions (1972-78, 139.27) ***½/TTTTT |
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| The Spider Every Mushroom Cloud In Motion Disorientation Test Communicate Long Time No See/Checkmate I am a River At This Point in Time Lost in a City (live) |
The Sorcerer (live) Underwater (live) I am a River (live) Travelling Blind (live) No Way Out (live) Indian Giver Skinch Herman's Boys Maybe There's Somebody |
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Current availability:
The Mynd, from the North-East, were one of a host of British progressive bands in the '70s who, despite gigging around for years and working their arses off, never managed to get anywhere, eventually splitting when the Great Punk Purge hit at the end of the decade. The mainstays of the band were keyboard player Billy Surgeoner and his guitarist brother, Bob, who between them wrote and sang the band's largish repertoire of original material. The only reason they've suddenly found any sort of public platform is Billy's decision to post some of their material on the 'Net, following that by creating a MySpace page dedicated to the band (link above). He's provided me with three discs'-worth of live, studio and rehearsal stuff, most of which probably won't be made publicly available, but hopefully this review will give you some idea of their sound, and whether it's worth downloading whatever tracks Billy chooses to post.
The first two tracks here, The Spider and Every Mushroom Cloud, are studio recordings from the early '70s, prior to Billy's expensive purchase of a new M400, his chief keyboard for much of the band's career. In Motion, Disorientation Test and Communicate are from a rehearsal tape, and despite a slightly ropey sound (and believe me, I've heard worse), are a distinct improvement on the studio recordings. 
I'm not sure how to define their sound; maybe a bit of Barclay James Harvest crossed with the lighter end of King Crimson? They specialised in long, slowish songs, rather than risking falling flat on their faces going for 100 m.p.h. stuff, giving even their mid-'70s material a slight late-'60s ambience. After a live track, another two studio recordings complete the first disc, capturing the band's sound a good deal better than their earlier session. The live disc contains probably the band's best song, Lost In A City, with a marvellous dynamic guitar/Mellotron motif, although most of the material here is more memorable than on the studio disc. The last, shorter disc contains the band's last studio session, later in the decade, containing noticeably shorter (note: not short) and more high-energy material, with opening track Indian Giver having a more straightforward hard rock vibe about it, with a scorching Bob Surgeoner solo for good measure, and closer Maybe There's Somebody rocking out more than anything else on any of these discs.
On the (considerable) 'Tron front, there's a lengthy flute part on In Motion, followed by a string section (so to speak), with a heavily echoed flute part opening Disorientation Test. Actually, attempting to log Surgeoner's 'Tron use is difficult to nigh-on impossible, as there's so much of it. He tells me he only owned the 'Tron and a Hohner organ for a while, eventually adding a small Korg monosynth to his rig, but relying on his 'Tron more than anything. How did he afford such an outrageously expensive keyboard? The Mellotron was £1200 in the early '70s; to put that in context, you could buy a small house in a not-so-good area for the same. Apparently, he borrowed the money, then paid it off in a year or so by the band doubling as a presumably well-paid covers act, as so many had to at the time. Nice money if you can get it, I have to say... A quick note on Billy's 'Tron usage is that he used to stick it through a wah pedal (Disorientation Test and Lost In A City), which, to my knowledge, is unique, unless you know better...
Anyway, I don't know what you might be able to get out of Billy if you write to him, but if you want Mellotron overkill, you've got it here. I'll be honest enough to say that some songs are better than others, but there's enough quality stuff here to keep the committed prog fan (as in 'should be', if I'm anything to go by) happy for a while.
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Crucifixion Lust: The Basement Tapes (Recorded 1974-75, 71.29) ****/TTTT |
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| Naming OHO Here Come(s) the Oysters Cragwheel in Spain Horse Remorse Tinker's Damn Parade/Charade Lemon Flowers Seldom Bought |
Lois Jane Hogshead Hyphenate Ice-Less Fwombat Maiden Voyage No Fewer Days The Plague |
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Dream of the Ridiculous Band (Recorded 1976, 44.24) ****/TT½ |
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| Parade/Charade Lez Lee Hogshead (Slight Return) We'll Be Famous When We're Dead Albumblatt Miss Mouse Parties Snow Lady (Part II) |
I Crawled Back to Nothing When I Crawled Back to You Paint Can The Hand Over Isaac's Head |
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Current availability:
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OHO were not only one of Baltimore's, but one of America's oddest bands in the '70s, at least that I've heard. See their main review for a better description of their sound; suffice to say, their music is unlikely to appeal to those whose taste strays towards (or entirely inhabits) the mainstream. Crucifixion Lust: The Basement Tapes is an unreleased document of the band's four-track demos from 1974-5, in the days when 'four-track' meant reel-to-reel (often a Revox), not crummy cassette, meaning that they sound pretty good, if not actually studio standard (there are minor dropouts on a couple of tracks, as if to prove the point). Of course, most of these tracks are available in studio-recorded versions, but these are invaluable for hearing the uncluttered instrumental parts, should you feel so inclined. Mellotron on most tracks, from Mark O'Connor, with strings on Here Come(s) The Oysters and (very clearly) on Tinker's Damn, with choir and strings on Parade/Charade. Hogshead features a quite bizarre 'underwater' 'Tron choir (male voice?), with more strings and choir on the remaining highlighted tracks, usually far clearer than on their studio recordings.
To say that 1976's unreleased Dream of the Ridiculous Band is more 'mainstream' than the band's previous work is rather irrelevant; everything's relative, and this album is only 'relatively' normal. It's certainly an easier listen than their work from a couple of years earlier, although not actually better for it, merely different. A couple of diversions from their standard ensemble playing are the under-a-minute snippet, Hogshead (Slight Return) and acoustic guitar solo Albumblatt, although most of the material fits their usual remit. Mellotron on Parade/Charade, Lez Lee, Miss Mouse, Paint Can and The Hand Over Isaac's Head, with chiefly fairly background strings and choir use. Given that it could be a good entrée to the band's oeuvre (enough French already), it's a shame Dream of the Ridiculous Band isn't commercially available, although every track on it has been commercially released at some point on one format or another. The easiest way to hear half of the album is to get the Recollections (1974-1976) compilation, with most of the remainder on 2003's Best of Baltimore's Buried Bands II.
So; I can't tell you where you can find these, but you can compile most of Dream of the Ridiculous Band from existing sources and who knows, they may appear officially at some point. It's always down to money in the end... Anyway, the demos are far more 'Tron-heavy than the 'produced' tracks, which probably isn't so surprising.
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Demos 1999-2000 (2000, 42.52) ****/TTTUnder Oriental SkiesBreakdance in Hell Where Titans Sleep Strange Obsession The Boy Who Gazed at Stars |
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Demos 2001-2002 (2002, 55.34) ****/TTTT½Silent ServiceOne Step to Freefall Serengeti Surprise The Cool Vibe of Asia C (I am) the Reluctant Plumber Red Sun Fading |
Current availability:
Systems Theory describe themselves as an 'Internet project', and given that two members live in southern California and the third in Scotland, you can see why. Although they describe themselves as a 'progressive electronic/world music/prog-rock/fusion hybrid', it's fairly safe to say that they effectively fall under the banner of 'electronic music', with other bits thrown in. It seems that British ex-pat Steven Davies-Morris and Greg Amov met at high school in the late '70s, working together on and off over the years, before coalescing into Systems Theory in the late '90s. Mellotron owner Mike Dickson (scourge, or 'official cynic' of Streetly Electronics) came aboard initially as a collaborator, becoming a full member later.
Demos 1999-2000 is exactly what it says on the box, although the hoped-for album following their recording didn't happen. Five instrumental pieces, although I believe some of them were originally intended to be vocal numbers (can't work out how, but there you go). Different feels on each track, with the laid-back yet oddly insistent Under Oriental Skies in stark contrast to the rhythmic Breakdance In Hell, with the highlight possibly being The Boy Who Gazed At Stars. Mike's Mellotron work only features on three tracks, with two being recorded before his involvement in the project, but what he's done reaches far further than the 'usual suspect' sounds. Incidentally, his actual working methods involve 'doodling' onto tape, which is then sampled and layered onto the tracks where suitable by Steven, although given that the parts were played on a real 'Tron, this shouldn't be regarded as using samples. Anyway, while Breakdance In Hell features some string work, it's mainly characterised by its choirs, while there are more strings on Where Titans Sleep, and 'Tron 'Ian McDonald' flutes at the beginning of Strange Obsession.
The craftily-titled Demos 2001-2002 also has no cause to worry the trades description people and, if anything, improves on their first demo collection (which is as it should be, really). More of Mike's 'Tron, of course: Silent Service has some distant choirs early on, shifting into an upfront string part, with some pipe organ later on. One Step To Freefall opens with the infamous 'Dickstrings', while after a regular string part, Serengeti Surprise doubles up one of the 'Tron brass sounds with flanged 'Steve Hackett' 'Tron guitar, before slipping back into a faintly disturbing string part over a vaguely African rhythm, then more of that brass/guitar duetting. The Cool Vibe Of Asia C has much string/choir doubling, with occasional counterpoint, while (I Am) The Reluctant Plumber doubles the standard 8-choir with more of that Hackett guitar and the next-to-never heard 'Tron Fairlight (yes, really...). Finally, Red Sun Fading has what I presume to be Mellotron oboes, along with the 8-choir again, not to mention even more of that Hackett guitar and brass.
The band released their only 'proper' CD in 2004, Soundtracks for Imaginary Movies, followed by a final downloadable release (uncompressed!), Codetalkers, in 2008, although it seems likely, sadly, that we shan't be hearing any more from Systems Theory. Both collections of demos would stand up perfectly well as albums 'proper', but are seriously outclassed by Soundtracks for Imaginary Movies itself, so spend your hard-earned on the album.
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Demos (2003, 28.12) ****½/TTTTImperial Winter White DwarfLeprechaun Behind the Door |
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There's a full write-up of Wobbler's conception and history to date at their regular review; suffice to say, they're the latest entrant in the 'Scandinavian Änglagård replacement' stakes, at which they do a passable job, despite lacking originality (sorry, guys). Their early demo tracks didn't find their way onto their debut album, 2005's Hinterland, and while their website says that they're 'going to be released, expanded', it seems more likely, going by their MySpace page, that they'll re-record the tracks, adding two more, for their second album proper.
As a result, it seems as if this page is the proper place for their two downloadable demos from 2003. They make a near-half hour mini-album in themselves, and the compositional quality is easily high enough for official release. One caveat, however: do you like Änglagård? If not, you're probably unlikely to find much to praise in Wobbler's demos. There's no getting around it; these two tracks sound like Hybris offcuts, pure and simple. There are dissimilarities: Änglagård never sang in English, or very much at all (not that Wobbler exactly overburden themselves with lyrics), and there's more (mono-, of course) synth work, although they're better than the not-quite-as-good-as-they-should've-been Sinkadus. Both tracks follow the now-tried and tested formula of 'play one bit, play another, play a third etc., occasionally harking back to an earlier bit for continuity', which seems to be the one thing that puts some prog fans off Änglagård, but works perfectly well for many of us. The material is a little unoriginal, but after a few plays, many of the themes begin to stick, unlike the bulk of Sinkadus' output. What's more, all the analogue keys are genuine, with an excellent 'hold the chord until the tapes grind to a halt' Mellotron bit in Leprechaun Behind The Door.
Anyway, these tracks are no longer available for download from the band's site, but are floating around the trading circuit, and shouldn't be too hard to find. I actually rate them higher than anything on Hinterland, I'm afraid, so here's hoping they get a proper release at some stage, re-recorded or otherwise. Worth your time.
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The Life & Times of Grizzly Adams (1974) ***/TTTTMain ThemeVarious untitled tracks |
Current availability:
Not to be confused with the later TV series, this cheapie film's budget obviously didn't run to an orchestra, so the bulk of the soundtrack is played on a Mellotron, loaded with the 'standard' strings/flutes/cellos frame. And very nice it is, too; several excellent themes, including a very impressive 'Indian falls down a cliff' sequence. No, really. Shame about the ultra-cheeso title theme, but there you go. Like so many similar, it doesn't seem likely that anyone's going to bother putting the soundtrack out in its own right, which is a shame, as there are some lovely Mellotronic moments contained therein. I've compiled a half hour or so from a crummy old VHS of the film, but now that it's out on DVD, even if only in the States, hopefully I'll get a chance to upgrade my recording at some point.
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Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) ***½/T½Main ThemeVarious untitled tracks |
Current availability:
Picnic at Hanging Rock is the extraordinary film of a bizarre multiple disappearance in turn of the century Australia, beautifully directed by Peter Weir. Strangely, for such an iconic film, the soundtrack remains unavailable, although its noted pan-pipe player, Gheorghe Zamfir, recreated two of its themes a year later on his A Theme From "Picnic at Hanging Rock". The soundtrack budget obviously didn't run to orchestras and the like, making the unknown composer work with whatever he could find, namely, a mid-'70s synth (ARP 2600, maybe?) and a Mellotron, on top of the ubiquitous piano and pan-pipes.
The Mellotron is used solely for its choirs, and not that much, really, with a recurring theme that can only be described as 'soundtrack-like' in its use of multiple minor chords modulating between keys with abandon. It's a shame it wasn't used more, but, of course, the soundtrack is subservient to the action, so it only crops up when needed, helping to create the film's eerie atmosphere.
