Things to Come...  (2000,  47.02)  ***/TT½ Two Fingers Interstellar Biplane Go Like This Est Mort
	Volume, Obliteration, Transcendence  (2004,  53.09)  ***/TT½ The Cusp of Something You Don't Understand Strangled By Light Blood Lotus Black Pills

Current availability:

• Things: Two Ohm Hop
• Volume: Life is Abuse

Mellotrons used:

• Things: Doug Ferguson's M400
• Volume: band's own M400? (Same machine?)

Texans Yeti coalesced in 1998 out of two existing bands, adding keyboard player Doug Ferguson from Ohm, with whom he played contemporaneously. Their sound is probably best described as a straight cross between instrumental progressive and space rock, with elements of electronic music thrown into the melting-pot and, er, a touch of Cardiacs, of all bands. Their first recorded work was a two-track CD-R demo, Demonstration CDR (reviewed here), containing early versions of two of the four tacks on their proper debut, 2000's Things to Come....

It's probably not the most impressive effort ever in the (admittedly small) field, being a bit heavy-handed (maybe that was the intention?), but it's not a bad piece of work, particularly opener Two Fingers. The album's chief problem lies in the rather subjective view that if the virtual needle is dropped at any random point over its length, it sounds fantastic, but listening to 47 minutes of it's a bit of a chore. You've got the sound spot-on, guys, now just write some tunes to fit into your format. Ferguson (who tragically died in early 2002) played Mellotron, amongst other keys, with occasional choirs on Interstellar Biplane and Go Like This, leaving the sixteen-minute Est Mort as the nearest the album gets to a full-on 'Tron track, with choirs, strings and flutes battling it out at different points of the 'song'. Tragically, Ferguson died in early 2002

After another demo set, er, Demonstration CDR II (reviewed on the same page as its predecessor), the post-Ferguson band released their second, and to date, latest 'regular' album, 2004's Volume, Obliteration, Transcendence. This is a noisier proposition than its predecessor, although it still features long passages of spacey electronics. I don't know whether the band's evident anger is related to Ferguson's untimely death or not, but the distorted, shouted vocals to be heard on a couple of tracks are clearly railing against something. Bassist Tommy Atkins takes over on the 'Tron (Ferguson's?), with choirs on The Cusp Of Something You Don't Understand, more of the same and strings on Strangled By Light, including an über-sustained note at the end, switching between octaves and choirs on (very) lengthy closer Black Pills.

So; while not the easiest listen ever, these should appeal to many space-rock types looking for something a bit darker and more structured than their usual fare. Passable amounts of Mellotron on both, but given Ferguson's posthumous reputation, I'd expected a little bit more. There are a couple more Yeti releases, 2000's Live at the Sockmonkey CD-R and 2004's Live DVD, er, DVD. I'd imagine they used Mellotron on both, so I'll come back to these should I track copies down.

See: Unreleased | Ohm

Yevgueni  (Belgium)

	Aan de Arbeid  (2007,  42.12)  **½/½
	Aan de Arbeid Robbie II Overal Schoonheid Tita Tovenaar Honger Manzijn Marcel Vergif	Morgen Komt ze Thuis Verloren Zoon Zo Donker

Current availability:

• Petrol

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Yevgueni play a kind of Flemish-language rootsyish pop/rock with a cabaret edge, seemingly named in honour of Serge Gainsbourg's Evgueni Sokolov. Their second album, 2007's Aan de Arbeid, is a perfectly acceptable effort, if somewhat unexciting; I'd imagine that an understanding of the lyrics is central to its appreciation, which leaves most of the world at something of a disadvantage.

Geert Noppe is credited with Mellotron flutes on Vergif, but his part is so low in the mix that it's as near-as-dammit inaudible, making half a T rather on the generous side. Let's face it: unless you're a) a fan of the band and b) Belgian, you're most unlikely to want to hear this anyway, making the whole business a tad redundant.

Official site

Yoko Absorbing  (Russia)  see: Samples

Yonin-Bayashi  (Japan)

	Ishoku-Sokuhatsu  (1974,  34.42/77.24)  ***½/T
	[Japanese text] Sky and Cloud Festival Dangerous Situation The Sadness of a Ping-Pong Ball [CD adds: Festival My Brother Flied With an UFO	Nakamura's Song Dangerous Situation]

Current availability:

• On CD, label unknown

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

I think Ishoku-Sokuhatsu was Yonin-Bayashi's second album, though mostly Japanese-language discographies (which is fair enough, really) cloud the issue for the average Englishman. Their sound, at least in the studio, fell somewhere between early-'70s hard rock and a sort of drifting post-psych stuff, laid-back but quite inventive; it hasn't dated fantastically well, but is far superior to some of their contemporaries, not least the very average Too Much. The album consists of a short burst of noise, title untranslated, followed by four pieces, two quite lengthy, including some jamming, although the energy level rarely picks up above 'sedate', which shouldn't be read as any sort of criticism.

Keyboard player Hidemi Sakashita plays mostly Hammond and Rhodes, although he turns to the Mellotron for both Sky And Cloud, with a high-end string line, and The Sadness Of A Ping-Pong Ball, with a more conventional part. Nothing outstanding, but always nice to hear. The CD adds four bonus live tracks, including the excellently-titled My Brother Flied With An UFO, that constitute another album in themselves, although there's no Mellotronic input - suspect a studio machine.

So; a decent enough album, though not especially exciting, with a little Mellotron. Interesting for those who want to hear what the '70s Japanese scene sounded like, and who have already heard the excellent Cosmos Factory, but not what you'd call essential.

Kate York  (US)  see: Samples

Pete Yorn  (US)

	Musicforthemorningafter  (2001,  57.31)  **/T½
	Life on a Chain Strange Condition Just Another Black Lose You For Nancy ('Cos it Already is) Murray June	Sense Closet On Your Side Sleep Better EZ Simonize A Girl Like You

	Day I Forgot  (2003,  42.49)  **/T½
	Intro Come Back Home Crystal Village Carlos (Don't Let it Go to Your Head) Pass Me By Committed Long Way Down When You See the Light	Turn of the Century Burrito Man in Uniform All at Once So Much Work

Current availability:

• Both titles: Columbia

Mellotrons used:

• Unknown

Pete Yorn rose to undeserved prominence at the beginning of the new millennium, largely by providing songs (note: not incidental music) for various Hollywood blockbusters, which probably tells you more about his music that I ever could. Bland, safe, predictable... I'll tell you who he reminds me of: a less offensive Daniel Powter. I keep expecting him to start whining 'You had a bad day...', although, luckily, he's not quite that bad. Not quite.

His 2001 debut, Musicforthemorningafter, features some of those songs and is every bit as tedious as you might imagine. Why does anyone buy this stuff? Because it's commercial, stoopid... I don't understand and nor do you, but people who don't actually like music do. R. Walt Vincent plays Mellotron, with background flutes on Murray and much more upfront ones on EZ ('easy', I suppose, not 'e zed'), plus faint strings on closer Simonize, although I can't say they actually improve the album to any great degree.

Yorn followed up in 2003 with Day I Forgot and it has to be said, it's pretty awful. More whining, more insipid songs, more mid-paced, dreary nonsense. I can't be arsed to even attempt to say anything nice about this, frankly. Drivel. Two obvious Mellotron tracks from Vincent again, with background strings on Committed and much more upfront ones on (at last!) closer So Much Work. No, you don't need to hear them.

Yorn? I almost dropped off. Dull, dull, dull. Not much Mellotron either. Avoid.

Official site

You  (Germany)

	Electric Day  (1980,  41.05/74.14)  ***½/T
	Electric Day Magooba Son of a True Star Sequential Spectrums Part 1 Sequential Spectrums Part 2 Slow Go Zero-Eighty-Four	[CD adds: E-Night H. Rays Identity Hallucination Engine Yousless]

	Time Code  (1983,  41.29/51.42)  ****/TTT½ (TTTT)
	Time Code Future/Past 20/11/28 Deep Range Taurus-Fantasia Metallique Live Line Bluewater Dream	Mission: Possible [CD adds: Controlled Demolition Zone Black]

	Wonders From the Genetic Factory  (1984,  46.40/71.08)  ***½/TT Axis Isotopic Moments Europe Transfer Future Generation Sampling Dance Yourovision [CD adds: Koyaanisqatsi Xmas]
	Laserscape  (1986,  51.35/73.00)  ***½/TTT Passing Landscapes Can You Tell Me Where I am Changing Rooms Travelling Hologram Scanned Noises Curious Phenomena Part I Curious Phenomena Part II [CD adds: Laserscape/Live]
	[00:19:96:00] Electric Images Revisited  (1996,  57.27)  ***½/T Fire Walk Tomorrow Belongs to Those Who Can Hear it Digging in the Universe Dune Voices Alpha Message Strange Invaders Beyond the Sound Barrier Immortal Course

Current availability:

• All titles: Era box set, Cue (Germany)

Mellotrons used:

• Electric Day: studio MkII
• All other titles: band's own Novatron M400

You were (and still are) the German electronic duo of Udo Hanten and Albin Meskes, who first collaborated in late 1978, recording their first album, Electric Day, in 1979, releasing it the following year. The album's far more aggressive than anything the Tangs could deliver,

	photo: Albin Meskes

most tracks being energetic sequencer workouts topped with loud, sometimes discordant synths and Ulrich Weber's distorted guitar lines, underpinned by Lhan Gopal's thunderous percussion, something heard relatively rarely in the electronic scene. The one track that stands out for this listener is Slow Go, mostly due to its being the only Mellotron track on the album. Interestingly, it was a studio MkII (right), with Albin and Meskes apparently taking one keyboard each of the two-manual machine, although I'll admit to being unable to hear any rhythm tapes. Maybe it was fitted with two sets of lead tapes? Anyway, it's used extensively near the beginning of the lengthy track, with a few chords finishing the piece off. This means... (quick (Mellotron?) trumpet voluntary) You take over from England as the last-known MkII users before a handful of albums made with refurbished machines in recent years.

You's next release was 1981's Mellotron-free, guitar-heavy Scanner EP, although by '83's Time Code, they'd bought a Novatron that they immediately de-badged, finding the original Mellotron nameplate underneath. The album, while still fairly full-on, is less abrasive than its predecessor, but hardly an easy listen, with tracks like the synthpop-influenced opening title track, the relatively laid-back Future/Past and the heavily sequenced Taurus-Fantasia all rubbing shoulders and getting on amicably enough. Plenty of Mellotron this time round, with insanely upfront choirs on the opening title track, just as upfront strings on Future/Past and church organ (their tape-frame's third sound) on 20/11/28, while Metallique goes for strings and choir, with more strings on closer Mission: Possible. It also turns up on both the CD's bonus tracks, with choirs on Controlled Demolition and strings and choir on Zone Black, making this pretty essential for those who wish to wallow in bubbling mudpits of Mellotron.

Picking up their workrate, You produced another album in '84, Wonders From the Genetic Factory. Despite still largely using analogue equipment, it has a 'pretty contemporary for the time' sound to it, and not in a bad way; if anything it's even more upbeat than Time Code, while still having its darker moments. It also features the band's only truly long-form studio piece, the side-long Yourovision, the track that was to re-name the band at a later date. Not so much Mellotron this time round, with a major string part on Europe Transfer and choirs and strings on Yourovision. CD bonus track Koyaanisqatsi Xmas also briefly features a tape-loop of the band's own machine's choir sound, which just about counts for our purposes.

1986's Laserscape carries on in reasonably similar vein to its predecessor, adding Jaime M. Zenamon's classical guitar parts to two tracks, in an unusual move for an electronic outfit. Sounding less and less like the then-current EM orthodoxy has worked in the band's favour with hindsight, allowing them to stand out from the pack, particularly when compared to most of the current crop of 'Berlin School' copycats. More 'Tron than on ...Genetic Factory, with strings, choirs and church organ on opener Passing Landscapes, with more of those 'front of the mix' strings on Can You Tell Me Where I Am and Curious Phenomena Part I, with all three sounds on Part II, although the choirs on Changing Rooms are samples. The CD's bonus track, Laserscape/Live, gets some more (proper M400) strings in, though not enough to bump up the album's T rating.

You mutated into Central Europe Performance in the late '80s, reverting to their original name for 1996's [00:19:96:00] Electric Images Revisited, a compilation of music recorded between 1992-95. The album's equipment list still contains several Oberheims, a MemoryMoog and a Prophet 5, although I suspect a lot of its content is produced by the Korg Wavestation, particularly the more 'ethnic' sounds. Stylewise, this is still quite an in-yer-face kind of electronic album, which makes a welcome change from the kind of new age gloop which is so often served us as 'EM' these days. As You's first (and to date, only) CD-era album, its hour-long, er, length is unadorned with any bonus tracks, but it's pretty complete in itself, really. Just two 'Tron tracks, with a mere handful of string chords on Strange Invaders and rather more of the same on Beyond The Sound Barrier (from guest Ralf Vissers), though hardly their top 'Tron album.

Overall, then, a fine electronic outfit, some distance from the mainstream, with a fair bit of Mellotron use across their five releases. All five are available in the Era box, from 1996, which is probably the easiest way to find them. The band began operating under the name YOUrovision (ho ho) in 2000, but reverted to You (again) in 2009. They're still performing, and what's more, are still using their Novatron M400. Hurrah! They keep it maintained via the legendary Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock of Mind Over Matter and Cosmic Hoffmann, so fingers crossed for some new, Mellotron-using You material sometime soon.

Official site

See: Central Europe Performance

You am I  (Australia)

	Hi Fi Way  (1995,  41.42)  ***½/TT½
	Ain't Gone and Open Minor Byrd She Digs Her Cathy's Clown Jewels and Bullets Purple Sneakers Pizza Guy The Applecross Wing Commander	Stray Handwasher Punkarella Ken (the Mother Nature's Son) Gray How Much is Enough?

	Hourly, Daily  (1997,  51.50)  ***½/T
	Hourly, Daily Good Mornin' Mr. Milk Soldiers Trike Tuesday Opportunities If We Can't Get it Together	Flag Fall $1.80 Wally Raffles Heavy Comfort Dead Letter Chorus Baby Clothes Please Don't Ask Me to Smile Who Takes Who Home Forget it Sister

Current availability:

• Both titles: Warners

Mellotrons used:

• Unknown

On my first trip to New Zealand, in 1999, I was rifling through the CDs in a record shop in Dunedin (as you do), when my ear was suddenly caught by the unmistakable tones of a Mellotron (flutes, I think). Upon asking what we were hearing, I was told, "You am I" and I added them to my list of (then) potential website entries. It seems the Sydney-based band formed in 1989, originally as a rather grungier proposition than their eventual direction, apparently showcased on their '93 debut, Sound as Ever.

Two years later, they released their second effort, Hi Fi Way, having shifted more into the powerpop area, with the occasional rockier number thrown in for good measure. It's actually a damn' good record, full of tracks of the quality of Cathy's Clown (not that one), Jewels And Bullets and Ken (The Mother Nature's Son), with Beatles references both in its title and opening Hard Day's Night chord. Mainman Tim Rogers plays quite a bit of (clearly real) Mellotron on the album, with queasy strings and cellos on opener Ain't Gone And Open, heard warming up at the beginning of the song and very clearly at the end. There's strings towards the end of She Digs Her, complete with unfakeable tape-slip, upfront flutes and background strings on the semi-balladic Purple Sneakers (was this the track I heard in that shop?) and, to finish off, separate string and flute parts on Handwasher.

Another two years on, and Hourly, Daily appeared, in a similar vein to its immediate predecessor, with the added bonus that it seems to be a Kinksian concept album about Australian life. Top tracks include the Byrdsian Mr. Milk, Trike and the jaunty Please Don't Ask Me To Smile (is that an uncredited Clavinet I hear?), but again, no actual clunkers. Mind you, the band could be accused of having got slightly too big for their boots, releasing a nearly hour-long album of the kind of material that rarely works well at that length, although its concept format may well be its get-out clause. Like its predecessor, the album opens with a bit of 'Tron, with very audible flutes on the title track, although it's far less evident over the album as a whole, probably partly due to the real strings to be heard on a few tracks. In fact, flutes on last (listed) track, the grammatically-challenged Who Takes Who Home are the only other obvious sighting, the two tracks Mellotronically bookending the record, assuming you ignore the actual last track, the unlisted Forget It Sister.

So; two good powerpop albums, with more Mellotron on the former than the latter. I don't know what the rest of the band's catalogue is like (they're still in existence at the time of writing), or whether they used a Mellotron again, but these two are worth a punt.

Official site

Fan site

Cathy Young  (Canada)

	Travel Stained  (1973,  33.47)  **½/T½
	Intro Cocaine I'm Happy Life in the City Set Me Free I Really Needed Me Eagle Maggie May	Coming Home Midnight Hour

Current availability:

• Big Pink

Mellotron used:

• Pete Csanky's M300

Cathy Young's best known for her debut, 1969's A Spoonful of Cathy Young, but her only Mellotronic release is its follow-up, 1973's Travel Stained. It's a pretty typical singer-songwriter effort of the era, with occasional forays into a rather lacklustre kind of rock'n'roll (Eagle), finishing with a suitably brassy version of Wilson Pickett's (In The) Midnight Hour, none of which makes for particularly essential listening the better part of forty years later.

Fludd's Pete Csanky (later, briefly, of the mighty Saga) plays his rare M300 on the album, with strings all over Maggie May and less of the same on Coming Home. Now that this is actually available again, do you bother? Probably not, frankly, unless you're one of those souls who's captivated by voices, as Cathy Young had a pretty good one. The album's a dullard, though, without enough Mellotron to make it worth the effort.

Paul Young  (UK)

	The Crossing  (1993,  49.39)  **/½
	Hope in a Hopeless World Now I Know What Made Otis Blue Bring Me Home The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Won't Look Back The Only Game in Town Love Has No Pride Down in Chinatown	Half a Step Away Follow on It Will Be You

Current availability:

• Columbia

Mellotron used:

• Unknown

Paul Young's name will always be synonymous with his biggest hit, his take on Marvin Gaye's Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home), with Pino Palladino's irritating, albeit super-distinctive fretless bass line. By the time that appeared, he'd already worked his way through several pro or semi-pro bands, and the hit was clearly a surprise to his record company, as it was the third release, after two flops, from its parent album, No Parlez. Incidentally, said album is not only a charity-shop fave, but also 'featured' a mind-numbingly awful version of Joy Division's iconic Love Will Tear Us Apart, a mere three years after Ian Curtis' tragic death.

The Crossing (sorry, but Big Country's debut of the same title knocks the shit out of this) was Young's sixth solo album, and consists of eleven tracks of contemporary pop, helmed by Young's admittedly fairly soulful voice. This isn't, by the way, any sort of recommendation; it's dull as ditchwater, with not a single outstanding feature, let alone something as memorable as Wherever... It's perfection itself on the playing front, of course, produced by Don Was and featuring stacks of session guys, but I suspect all that only adds to the record's air of parched professionalism and the sight of Young's not-so-distant career doldrums, a.k.a. Eighties package tours. Was is credited with Mellotron, but all I can hear for definite is a brief flute part on Won't Look Back, although it's possible there's more of the same on Follow On.

So; ultra-professional, ultra-tedious. Just don't.

Official site

Mary Youngblood  (US)

	Beneath the Raven Moon  (2002,  46.20)  ***/½
	Cama-i Walk With Me Beneath the Raven Moon And We Shall Dance Laugh With Me Caress the Smile Within My Heart And We Can Love	Dream With Me Above the Mother Earth And We Will Fly Ipiluni

	Dance With the Wind  (2006,  51.45)  ***/T
	Misty Rain Wind Whispers My Gypsy Soul Play With Me Dance With Me Find the Song Lost Long Ago Make an Offering	Reach for the Sky Blood of My Blood On Our Journey Dance With the Wind

Current availability:

• Both titles: Silver Wave

Chamberlins used:

• Unknown

Mary "Youngblood" Edwards is a native American flautist from Northern California, whose second studio album, 2002's Beneath the Raven Moon, combines her highly competent traditional playing with a rather new-agey setting, the end result being the kind of album you'll find in gift shops at the Grand Canyon. It's at its best when she plays unaccompanied (Within My Heart, the lengthy Dream With Me) and at its worst when singing enters the equation (Walk With Me) or it all gets rhythmically inappropriate (the reggae-ish And We Shall Dance). Chief musician Tom Wasinger plays Chamberlin (source unknown), although it's near-impossible to tell where, despite the sparseness of the mix. Backing up the real violin, viola and cello on Dream With Me? Best I can do, I'm afraid.

Two albums on, 2006's Dance With the Wind is another perfectly pleasant, if slightly unengaging release, slotting all too well into the 'new age' format. Youngblood's flute playing is magnificent, in fairness, evoking the Irish whistle and other non-orchestral flute types, although, once again, the album's vocal tracks are rather less necessary than its instrumentals. More Wasinger Chamby, with string parts on opener Misty Rain and On Our Journey that actually sound very little like a Mellotron and quite a lot like a string section. That'll be Chamberlins for you, then. Actually, there are a real violin and viola on the album, so who knows what we're actually hearing? Again.

Anyway, two pleasant, restful albums that require no energy input from the listener whatsoever, for better or worse, with no especially overt Chamberlin on either.

Official site

Yugen  (Italy)  see: Samples

Yum-Yum (Chris Holmes)  (US)

	Dan Loves Patti  (1996,  42.18)  ***/T
	I'm Not Telling Apiary Dan Loves Patti Doot-Doot Train of Thought Sister Cross My Heart Ring	Jealous of the Stars Uneasy Words Will Fail Lament

Current availability:

• TAG/Atlantic (may be out of print)

Mellotron/Chamberlin used:

• Unknown

When I found a copy of Dan loves Patti by Chris Holmes (not to be confused with the wholly cretinous ex-WASP guitarist), both author and title looked familiar, but it wasn't until I did a 'Net search on the man that I realised that he and Yum-Yum were one and the same. Apparently, a UK band had already used the moniker (why?), and objected strongly enough to get TAG/Atlantic to release it under Holmes' own name. I've seen his/their 'chamber pop' compared to both Bacharach and the Beach Boys, but without the complexity of either. One odd story that did the rounds was that Holmes' sincerity was somewhat questionable, to the extent that Yum-Yum were nothing more than a cynical attempt to sell records, and he actually held the music in some contempt. OK, I know this is often the case, but you don't take this amount of care over something in which you don't believe; the lyrics in the CD booklet are even annotated with the guitar chords, for Chrissake!

Anyway, the music is perfectly good in that vein, although by and large it's not really my bowl of gruel, to be honest, although I do quite like opener I'm Not Telling. Maybe I need to listen to it some more. Whatever, Holmes plays Mellotron and/or Chamberlin on three tracks, although the only one with any really overt use is the flutes on (you guessed it) I'm Not Telling, with a block chord held on at the end of the song. The string trio (a quartet with just one violin) used right across the album confuses the issue, but I really can't hear much evidence of the 'Tron and Chamby on Cross My Heart and the Chamby on Words Will Fail, but at least there's one full-on 'Tron track.

So; recommended if you're into the style, but not really for the 'Tron enthusiast.

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