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Earlimart Earth Eccentric Orbit Echoboy |
Edison Woods Taylor Eigsti Electric Music |
Electric Orange ElectroSquad Elektric Music |
Paul Ellis Caro Emerald Eminem |
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Treble & Tremble (2004, 42.38) ** |
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| Hold on, Slow Down First Instant/Last Report The Hidden Track Sounds The Valley People All They Ever Do is Talk A Bell and a Whistle |
Broke the Furniture Unintentional Tape Manipulations Heaven Adores You 808 Crickets Tell the Truth Parts 1 & 2 It's OK to Think About Ending |
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Earlimart (named for a small town in California) are a fairly typical US indie outfit of the 'massed strumming acoustics' variety, often compared, for reason, to Elliott Smith, although I'm having trouble spotting the similarities, apart from, er, the massed acoustics. Their fourth album, 2004's Treble & Tremble, is a pretty dreary effort all round, to be honest, not deserving of wiping Smith's... boots, the chief dissenter being the distorted drum loops and guitars of Unintentional Tape Manipulations, which isn't to say it's any good.
Someone plays sampled Mellotron strings on The Hidden Track and All They Ever Do Is Talk, with maybe the odd part hidden away elsewhere, too. You're not going to bother getting hold of this to hear it, though, I can guarantee you.
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Hibernaculum (2007, 36.45) ***½ |
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| Ouroboros is Broken Coda Maestoso in F (Flat) Minor Miami Morning Coming Down A Plague of Angels |
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Earth (cheekily named for Black Sabbath's original moniker, of course) have been around since 1990, purveying their own, unique brand of instrumental slowcore, generally known as drone doom. 2007's Hibernaculum consists of re-recordings of older material, one track dating right back to their first EP, in the style of 2005's Hex release. The new-look Earth have thrown off the shackles of unbridled distortion, using it more as an occasional effect than as their entire modus operandi, showing a remarkable willingness to progress from which many of their peers could learn. Who said their mates Sunn O)))?
Steve Moore is credited with Mellotron on the 16-minute A Plague Of Angels, but I'd love to know what he actually uses. Is that a vague string part towards the end? Muted brass, backing up his own (real) trombone? Difficult to say, but it isn't obviously audible and is almost certainly sampled anyway. So; a good album, perfect for background listening in the dark, even though I played it just before lunch.
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Attack of the Martians (2004, 45.49) **** |
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| Star Power Sputnik Attack of the Martians Part 1: Flying Saucers & Little Green Men Part 2: The Face on Mars Part 3: Martians Everywhere! Forbidden Planet Part 1: The Arrival (Innocence Lost) Part 2: The Intruder |
Part 3: The Krell Part 4: The Tempest/The Departure The Enemy of My Enemy |
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Attack of the Martians is a great little album I was introduced to earlier this year (2004), probably not long after its release. Instrumental progressive rock that pulls no punches, has integrity and refuses to compromise; why can't more bands be like this? The band consists of bassist Bill Noland, his wife Madeleine on wind-controller and keys, Derek Roebuck on more keys and drummer Mark Cella (from Pye Fyte), with no guitar. Five lengthy and involved compositions, with plenty of (remember this one?) MELODY, although there are a few moments where you think "Haven't I heard that bit somewhere before?" That's being churlish, though; this is an excellent album that I can recommend to anyone into inventive progressive rock.
A quick e-mail was enough to confirm that the album's 'Mellotron' use is definitely fake (OK, so that's one compromise), although the strings are extremely convincing. The album opens with a solo string part, reprised later in the track, and there are several male-voice choir interjections later in the album, although those samples are less successful. Bill tells me they're hoping to use a friend's 'Tron on the next album. Go on, you know you want to... Anyway; buy now.
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Giraffe (2003, 50.46) ** |
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| Automatic Eyes Don't Destroy Me Comfort of the Hum Summer Rhythm High Speed in Love Fun in You Lately Lonely Good on T.V. |
Wasted Spaces Nearly All the Time |
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Richard "Echoboy" Warren was one third of Britpop non-starters The Hybrids, before going solo in 1999, 2003's Giraffe being his fourth subsequent release. In a nod to his previous band, it's an uneasy hybrid of dance and rock styles, material such as Don't Destroy Me and Wasted Spaces being typical.
Warren supposedly plays Mellotron on closer Nearly All The Time, but the track's screechy string part sounds little like a real machine. So; dance/rock with fakeotron. I shan't be playing this again and I doubt whether you'll want to, either.
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Seven Principles of Leave No Trace (2003, 45.34) ***SecretsMuted Thunderstorms Rio Abajo Rio Like a Jewel Was He a Poet Shirts for Pennies Fiction Seven Principles of Leave No Trace Brooklyn Flowers |
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Edison Woods are probably best described as 'close neighbours of post-rock'; their drifting, melancholic material has things in common with that style, such as it is, but Julia Frodahl's vocals remind me more of a 'typical' 4AD band. 2003's Seven Principles of Leave No Trace is their second album; I've no idea how popular this was on its release, but I'm afraid I find it difficult to engage with this music. Online reviews use words like 'gorgeous' and 'rich', but all I hear is a rhythmless dirge, which probably says more about me than it does about the music.
Frodahl's credited with Mellotron, but the flutes on opener Secrets, alongside real cellos and the solo flute section that opens Was He A Poet sound terribly sampled to me; far too clean and precise for anything but a brand-new machine, and even then, I'd expect a bit more grit. So; one for miserable people with no friends who like to hear a bit of sampled Mellotron every now and again. Harsh? Moi?
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Daylight at Midnight (2010, 55.46) *** |
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| Daylight Magnolia The Art Teacher The Water Pink Moon Little Bird Secreto Chaos |
Between the Bars Speaking Song Midnight After Noon |
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Taylor Eigsti is a young American jazz pianist who, like some of his contemporaries, has taken to genre-busting of the highest order, his more recent work incorporating rock, funk and soul elements. 2010's Daylight at Midnight is a surprisingly listenable album for the non-jazzer, although its instrumental compositions work better for these ears than those featuring vocalist Becca Stevens. It turns out that its listenability is mainly due to its largely non-jazz source material, Eigsti making a decent job of tackling Coldplay (opener Daylight), Rufus Wainwright (The Art Teacher) Elliott Smith (Between The Bars) and Nick Drake (Pink Moon), amongst others.
Along with his expected grand piano, Eigsti plays Rhodes and credited Mellotron samples, with background flutes on The Art Teacher, Between The Bars and closer Midnight After Noon, all to little real effect, to be honest. I hope Eigsti carries on mining contemporary music in the future; his approach not only makes jazz more palatable to the non-jazzer, but opens his repertoire up hugely and breaks away from the tired old jazz songbook. Real Mellotron next time round, Mr. E?
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Psychics F.O. (1999, 13.22) ***Psychics F.O.Showstopper Let it Flow |
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The Resurrection Show [as Electric Music AKA] (2003, 40.09) ** |
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| Panning Out Something Up With the Stars The Slapback Sound The Resurrection Show Some Bright Shining Future Dumb Vertigo Lose Yourself in the Crowd No Darkness (to Blind My Eyes) |
Becoming Imitation All Comes Back to You |
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Electric Music were a London-based outfit, whose pre-first album EP, Psychics F.O., features (credited) 'Mellotron' on two tracks. Showstopper's strings sounds genuine enough, but the game's up on Let It Flow, where a repeating rising string line moves into munchkinned squeakiness by its final notes. Musically, the whole EP can probably best be described as 'wistful', which is a whole lot better than 'horrible indie', which is what they'd become by 2003's The Resurrection Show album. Actually, this EP's sample-exposure makes me wonder just how genuine the 'Tron is on said album... Probably no way of finding out, but it has to now be in doubt. As far as this is concerned, it's a pleasant enough listen, but really rather inessential.
The band became Electric Music AKA when ex-Kraftwerk man Karl Bartos threatened to sue. I'm not sure he needed to worry too much; they'd become turgid indie-schmindie by numbers by that point and that shouldn't really be much of a threat to anyone, although it never stopped Oasis selling billions, did it? Time and place, I think. Electric Music AKA are never going to sell that quantity of records, or indeed, that many at all, I suspect. I dunno - I'm sure they're perfectly good at what they do on The Resurrection Show, but it sets my teeth on edge and makes me repeatedly stab at the 'next' button on my remote. 'Mellotron' on the title track only, with some strings from Steve Aungle that don't even sound that much like a Mellotron at all until near the end of the song, when they suddenly come lurching out of the mix in a fairly obvious way, but are still almost certainly sampled.
There's supposed to be some samplotron on the band's debut, 2000's North London Spiritualist Church, too; I shall report back should I find a copy cheaply enough. The band's official site no longer seems to exist, and it's been nearly four years since this album, so it may be safe to assume they've gone the way of all things. Anyway; very average indie, with next to no 'Mellotron'. Just don't.
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Electric Orange (1993, 71.58) ***½Reflections of 2072 and EverywhereSysyphus's Revenge Parts I-X Journey Through Weird Science Featuring Cows in Space The Return of Eugene, Be Careful! Electripity Chapter XVI Baby Cake Walk Soul Shadows Back in Strangeworld |
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Cyberdelic (1997, 73.10) *** |
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| Cyberdelic/Unaffected Fruit A Vaporized Dance Funny in the Bathroom Kirschen Sweet Absurd B Movie Steal No Egg Mothers Cake |
Tartisma Zemini She Wah More End/Cyberdelic |
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Abgelaufen! (2001, 72.03) ***OffDym Zwiestück Band eins Swingklar Golden Lake Gruff Hydrat Ganus Abgelaufen |
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Platte (2003, 38.17) ***KwarkHolzbock Columb |
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Morbus (2007, 77.43) *** |
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| Einwahn Rote Flocken Span 5 Morbus Errorman Flohfunknest Traumama Krautschock |
Wald Reaching Schöhl 2 Sarau |
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Krautrock From Hell (2009, 78.20) ***BandwurmSun Dos Chorg (Cpt. Gyrok's) Hers Kunstkopf Neuronomicon Wurmloch |
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Netto (2011, 79.44) ***PolyzystenBasslochner Fluff Perpetuum Mobiliar Netto Supptruppen Auslauf Zeitheiser Raumschaf |
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How do you describe Electric Orange? 'Psychedelic', I suppose, but that doesn't really tell you very much. 'Modern psych'? There's certainly some contemporary stuff going on, not least the programming, but throw in rock guitars, vintage (and pseudo-vintage) keyboards and other odd shit, and you've got a band doing something a bit different, although it doesn't seem to've brought them fame and fortune yet. These have resided amongst the 'regular' reviews up until now (spring 2011), but mainman Dirk Jan Müller has just written to tell me the band have always used Mellotron samples from one source or another, although they own a good few genuine vintage 'boards.
1993's Electric Orange is a little overlong, but is otherwise a strong debut, especially when you consider it's effectively a Dirk Jan Müller solo project, with various friends helping out on guitar, drums, vocals etc. Müller plays Mellotron samples from an old Akai 700, which makes me wonder why I ever thought they sounded real... Authentically low-fi, maybe? Anyway, strings all round, with some beautifully upfront stuff on Sysyphus's Revenge and Journey Through Weird Science, though lesser use on The Return Of Eugene. Müller released a remix album, Orange Commutation, next, so it ended up being four years between albums proper, with Cyberdelic (the ideal description for his music?) appearing in '97. By now, 'he' had become 'they', with the addition of vocalist/guitarist Dirk Bittner, the obvious difference being that there's, er, more vocals. The album is noticeably different and I'm afraid to say that whatever made their debut quite interesting seems to have gone the way of all things; I found this rather dull, especially at over an hour. Far less 'Mellotron' too, unfortunately, with naught but strings at the end of A Vaporized Dance, plus non-Mellotronic flutes.
2001's Abgelaufen! (by which time they'd become a 'proper' four-piece band) starts off in a vaguely dance-oriented direction, before several forays into avant-jazz (Band Eins Swingklar) and, er, the avant-garde (most of the latter half of the album). Yet again, it goes on far too long for its own good, although I'm aware that the effect is meant to be trancelike rather than chin-stroking. Müller used Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock's Mellotron sample CD this time round, with choir chords on Dym that give the game away by sustaining for far too long, flutes on Band Eins Swingklar and strings and cellos on Golden Lake. Opener Off and Ganus Abgelaufen also feature Mellotron FX, most noticeable on the latter: spot the church bell. 2003's Platte (appropriately, 'record' in German, as it was originally released only on vinyl) is classed as an EP by Electric Orange standards, although it's the same length as a typical '70s album. Just three tracks, all lengthy, organ-led jams, none of them that interesting, to be brutally honest. Literally only a few seconds of 'Mellotron', with a couple of volume-pedalled choir chords on Columb, although Dirk tells me there's more of the same on Dedicated To MK on the CD reissue. Incidentally, the samples were temporarily retired for 2005's Fleischwerk.
2007's Morbus, sounds almost as if it's by a different band. This is psychedelic space rock, though not of the Hawkwind variety, more, as Jim Morrison might've had it, music for the immaculately stoned, to the point where you begin to wonder whether you'll actually get through the enormously lengthy disc without putting yourself in the same mental state as the band almost certainly were while recording. Sadly, the end result lacks charm, committing the cardinal sin (who he?) of being... boring. Space rock is supposed to drift, but it's not supposed to make you begin to fidget. Two 'Mellotron' tracks from Müller, by now using the M-Tron plugin, with various string and brass parts on Errorman, huge, lush strings and rather lesser choirs on Reaching and vibes on Wald. 2009's self-deprecatory Krautrock From Hell carries on in a similar vein to Morbus and at similar length. I'd be quite happy to split this album into two around-forty-minute efforts, one of short(er) tracks, one of longer, as 78 minutes of this stuff is, frankly, a real grind. Funnily enough, its longest track, the 25-minute Neuronomicon, actually works best, possibly because the band don't hold back in any way, but nothing here's exactly what you'd call essential. Just one M-Tron track, with a heavy string part plus cellos on Neuronomicon, with choirs later on.
2011's Netto (why have they named an album after a bucket-brigade supermarket chain?) is similar to its two predecessors, that clearly being the direction in which the band are currently headed. Saying that, while I frequently found myself not actually listening to it, at no point did it actually bore me, either; have they hit the psychedelic nail on its patchouli-smelling head? While not necessarily a good listen, per se, hearing this album is a perfectly pleasant experience. More samplotron than on its immediate predecessors, with strings on Fluff and Auslauf and choirs on the title track and Raumschaf.
I've clearly found Electric Orange to tbe the band's most interesting album, but apart from the simple boredom factor, I can't even really tell you why. There's certainly more 'Mellotron' on their debut, but it also has far more... life, I suppose. Oh well, one man's opinion...
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Operation: K (2001, 47.35) **½ |
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| Kylie Cowgirl in My Mind Cowboy Hats Killing Me Alone on the Prairie Head (Mellotron Mix) Girl With the Gun in Her Hand Moment of Truth |
Talking to Myself Solitaire March to Destruction |
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The Sydney-based ElectroSquad were the duo of Peter Cooper and Craig Simmons, who were actually a lot less 'electro' than their name and reputation might have you believe. Their second (and last) album, 2001's Operation: K, is essentially a mainstream pop album with an electro feel, better tracks including opener Kylie, Cowboy Hats and pseudo-orchestral closer March To Destruction.
Mellotron use is rumoured, but turns out to be sampled, with choirs on Kylie, strings on Cowgirl In My Mind and a big burst of choirs on Talking To Myself, although, oddly, nothing on Head (Mellotron Mix) actually sounds particularly Mellotronic. I can't honestly imagine that you'll be very interested in this, but I review everything I hear with a Mellotronic connection, so it's here anyway.
Elegant Simplicity (UK) see: |
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Esperanto (1993, 43.37) ***TVShow Business Kissing the Machine Lifestyle Crosstalk Information Esperanto Overdrive |
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CDS (1993) *** TV Television |
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Karl Bartos left Kraftwerk in 1991, after nearly twenty years' service, apparently due to frustration at their 'geological epoch' workrate, immediately beginning work as Elektric Music. His/their full-length debut, Esperanto (entirely solo apart from OMD's Andy McCluskey's lead vocal on Kissing The Machine), appeared in '93, sounding pretty much as you'd expect: dance scene-influenced techno-pop in a late-period Kraftwerk vein, better tracks including opener TV, the bonkers sampler-fest of Information and the truly deranged techno-via-Kraftwerk madness of closer Overdrive.
Bartos plays (badly) sampled Mellotron strings and choir on TV, most likely from eMu's then-new Vintage Keys module, containing some of the crummiest Mellotron samples around, plus choirs on the album's first single, Crosstalk, to reasonable effect, all things considered. Incidentally, TV was released as a single edit, its b-side, Television, featuring more of those sampled strings. So; not as Kraftwerkian as Bartos' later solo work, but still worth hearing for the dedicated synth-pop enthusiast.
See: Karl Bartos | Kraftwerk
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The Infinity Room (2006, 60.00) ***½Tick TockThe Realms of the Unreal Forever Endeavor Flesh and Blood The Unveiling Moment MirrororriM |
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Paul Ellis (ex-Dweller at the Threshold, not to be confused with Ellis Paul, mentioned elsewhere on this site) is an American synthesist, or EM artist, whose third album, 2006's The Infinity Room, stands out from the mass of identi-Tangs bands, relying less on the sequencers (although niftily-titled closer MirrororriM (work it out) particularly lets rip on that front) and more on atmospherics. Several of its exactly ten minute-long tracks concentrate (if that's the right word) on drifting ambience, The Unveiling Moment possibly being the best example, although MirrororriM's delayed, sequenced runs are probably the most original thing here.
Ellis adds Mellotron samples to several tracks, with a brief string part on Tick Tock, cello and flutes on The Realms Of The Unreal, with choirs, strings and flutes cropping up elsewhere. I get the feeling that (rather like the progressive genre), were any EM artist to come up with anything genuinely original, it would probably remove itself from the field altogether, which is a rather searing indictment, but Ellis comes as close as any I've heard to doing something at least slightly different with a well-worn set of parameters. This album isn't about Mellotron samples - in fact, I'm not even sure why he bothered with them - but about his relatively innovative synthesizer use. Worth hearing.
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Deleted Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor (2010, 46.32) *** |
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| That Man Just One Dance Riviera Life Back it Up The Other Woman Absolutely Me You Dont Love Me Dr. Wanna Do |
Stuck I Know That He's Mine A Night Like This The Lipstick on His Collar |
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Caroline Esmeralda "Caro Emerald" van der Leeuw is a new Dutch singer, whose debut, 2010's Deleted Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor, is a refreshing blend of swing and modern production techniques, programmed drums and turntables sitting surprisingly well alongside sleazy brass and Caro's '40s vocal aesthetic. The album is actually a very listenable affair, although not something I'll probably revisit that often, if truth be told; most of the material's much of a muchness, although opener That Man and Dr. Wanna Do stand slightly out from the pack.
David Schreurs and Jan van Wieringen are both credited with Mellotron, but it seems highly likely that it emanates from the M-Tron, given the MkII rhythms (and string stabs) on Stuck. We also get strings on the intro and its reiterations on Just One Dance, although I can't say there's anything especially obvious on Riviera Life or A Night Like This (maybe the vibes?), despite the strings on the latter. So; one to be played in the kind of smoky bar that seems to have been thankfully consigned to history.
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Recovery (2010, 77.00) * |
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| Cold Wind Blows Talkin' 2 Myself On Fire Won't Back Down W.T.P. Going Through Changes Not Afraid Seduction No Love |
Space Bound Cinderella Man 25 to Life So Bad Almost Famous Love the Way You Lie You're Never Over Untitled |
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I'm sure you all know exactly as much as you want to concerning the life and works of Marshall "Eminem" Mathers; suffice to say, 2010's Recovery is his seventh album and sounds exactly as you'd expect. And why is it on Planet Mellotron? Despite supposed 'Mellotron' sounds being used on a couple of tracks, it's essentially here due to track six, Going Through Changes. Sound familiar? Yup, it's based around large chunks of Black Sabbath's Mellotron classic Changes (from 1972's Volume 4). OK, here I will really, really (and unashamedly) show my age: what the fuck is 'creative' about taking a chunk of someone else's original recording and trashing it? Fuck-all, that's what. Yep, I'm an old git.
The rest of the album is largely mainstream hip-hop, with the occasional distorted guitar (or sample), possibly to add a bit of 'rock' credibility, possibly because he enjoys playing with sound, with which I actually have no problem. Cinderella Man is based around the rhythm track from Queen's We Will Rock You (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), but I didn't spot anything else, probably because he and I largely listen to different music. The album 'features' a panoply of tedious guest stars, who add to its appeal not one jot. Unless you're desperate to hear what Mathers has done to Changes (incidentally making this my first sample review that features a sample of a Mellotron track, rather than actual sample use), you really aren't going to want to hear this. Are you?
