|
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
Maritime (2005, 52.39) *** |
|
| Muesli (She's in) Dry Dock Now Vigo Bay Six Foolish Fishermen Hilly Twosley Somebody Once Told Me it Existed But They Never Found it |
Luck Shield Mistaken Tourist The Broads Four Magpies |
|
Current availability:
Bristol-based David Edwards' one-man-band project Minotaur Shock specialise in electronica, I suppose. His/their third album, Maritime, consists of a host of sampled instruments juxtaposed with considerable care and harmonic invention, although his use of percussion samples becomes wearing after a while (closer Four Magpies in particular). You've probably really got to be into this style to get very much out of this album, although parts of it could be considered restful, if that's what you're after.
Edwards plays 'Mellotron' on a couple of tracks, although I'm quite sure it's sampled, with flutes on Vigo Bay and strings, choirs and background flutes on (deep breath) Somebody Once Told Me It Existed But They Never Found It, although the cellos on Luck Shield sound like generic samples. So; British electronica on 4AD (home to the Cocteau Twins, amongst others), a couple of tracks of sampled 'Tron. Done deal.
 |
The Magician's Private Library (2010, 42.28) **½ |
|
| Forest Green, oh Forest Green Joints Waves No One Just is Slow Burn Treason Sweet Dreams Everytime I Go to Sleep |
High Tide Canvas Sleep on Fire |
|
Current availability:
Holly Miranda plays a kind of folky indie electronica, which sounds like several contradictions in terms, but is about the best description I can summon up. 2010's The Magician's Private Library (apparently her uncle's superb description of Dark Side of the Moon) is her third released album (her second on an actual label), although it seems there's an unreleased effort dating from her teens sitting in the BMG vaults. It's harmless enough, but rather drippy, to be honest. Let's face it, I'm not her target audience; wrong sex, wrong age. Shit, wrong generation. It has its moments, but production tricks like the irritating string-ish sound on No One Just Is really don't help.
Producer David Andrew (Dave) Sitek, of TV on the Radio, plays 'Mellotron', with distant choirs on Joints and less distant ones on Sweet Dreams, although Slow Burn Treason features a string note that holds for around a minute and is clearly nothing of the sort. I thought the string part on Everytime I Go To Sleep sounded wobbly enough to be genuine, especially at the end of the song, but it turns out to be real, which says something about how good the original Mellotron sounds were. Anyway, light years away from the commercial dross that clogs up the airwaves, but not something I'd want to hear too often.
 |
The Obliterati (2006, 51.41) *** |
|
| 2wice Spider's Web Donna Sumeria Let Yourself Go 1001 Pleasant Dreams Good, Not Great 13 Man in Decline |
Careening With Conviction Birthday The Mute Speaks Out Is This Where? Period Nancy Reagan's Head |
|
Current availability:
Mission of Burma formed in 1979, but only made one studio album before splitting four years later, two members going on to form Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Three of the four original members reformed nearly twenty years after the split, releasing another three albums to date, the second being 2006's The Obliterati. Staying true to their post-punk roots, better tracks include the wittily-titled Donna Sumeria, incorporating the band's mutation of I Feel Love, the dynamic Man In Decline and closer Nancy Reagan's Head.
It's difficult to say for certain, but the weird, solo male voice on Nancy Reagan's Head sounds an awful lot like the notorious Chamberlin sound, although it seems unlikely a real one was used on the recording. You're not going to buy this for its brief Chamby sample use, but anyone who liked the original band should be wary of dismissing their recent work.
 |
Mizukagami (2003, 48.06) ***SakuraHaru no Sono Suzukaze Shinato no Kaze Takamura Yukimushi |
Current availability:
As detailed in my review for their second album, Mizukagami are a decent enough modern Japanese progressive outfit with one fatal flaw: the singer's horrendous pitch. Their eponymous 2003 debut is ruined by the awful vocals (actually very pleasant, aside from her pitch issues), and while small doses of it are impressive, nearly fifty minutes is quite brain-deadening, I'm afraid to say.
Junya Anan's credited 'Mellotron' work is all over the album, although I'm pretty convinced it's fake, with upfront flutes and background strings on Sakura, choirs on Haru No Sono and strings and/or flutes across the rest of the album. OK, it might be real, but I wouldn't put any serious money on the possibility. Overall, then, not bad, not great, infuriatingly bad vocals, sampled Mellotron.
See: Mizukagami
 |
Tales From the Bone (1999, 28.13) ***½Walking LevelSure! Knowledge is Power Brother Can't Hurt Me Southpaw |
Current availability:
Mojobone are a Swedish stoner/trad hard rock outfit, who appear to be a side-project for most (or all) of the musicians concerned. Their debut recording, 1999's mini-album Tales From the Bone, is a prime example of how the Scandinavians in general and Swedes in particular have taken a genre regarded as outdated and given it a swift kick up the arse. Its six tracks all conform to the basic template: mid-paced, '70s-esque heavy rock played with enthusiasm and skill, although none of them really stand out compositionally.
The 'Mellotron' is played by one Wibärg, better-known as Per Wiberg of Spiritual Beggars, Opeth et al., with a background string part on Brother that doesn't particularly stand out. I believe this is now available in an expanded edition, so if you go for that retro hard rock thing, go for it.
See: Spiritual Beggars
 |
De l'Ombre à la Lumière (1998, 56.43) ***½Captif de la NuitL'Échiquier de la Vie Les Guerriers Passions Voyage Avec les Morts Souvenirs Quelque Part sur un Quai Les Noces de Cendre Comme un Songe |
Current availability:
To my total lack of surprise, Mona Lisa's 1998 reformation album appears to contain (at best) sampled Mellotron, which may actually only be decent string samples that have a 'Tronlike quality when un-stringlike block chords are played. Somewhat more to my surprise, De l'Ombre à la Lumière is actually passably good, albeit overlong (so what's new?) and with too much filler (ditto). Even more than on their '70s material, they sound like Ange here, although Dominique le Guennec's theatrical (French-language) vocal style makes for lazy comparisons. The material veers between the 'almost as good as they ever were' opener, Captif De La Nuit, through the 'better-than-you'd-expect' ten-minute Voyage Avec Les Morts, complete with lengthy guitar solo, to some more average fare towards the end of the disc. Fake 'Tron strings on several tracks, which never really convince, though you can see how they could deceive the ear in places.
So; nowhere near their classic, 1977's Le Petit Violon de Monsieur Grégoire (****½), but a respectable enough album from a reformed band, given some of the competition. Incidentally, it seems that the band is essentially Le Guennec backed by the members of '90s French act Versailles, so there's little musical connection with the old outfit.
See: Mona Lisa | Versailles
 |
You Are There (2006, 60.00) ***The Flames Beyond the Cold MountainA Heart Has Asked for the Pleasure Yearning Are You There? The Remains of the Day Moonlight |
Current availability:
Mono are a Japanese post-rock outfit who do that 'build, crescendo, fall' thing as well as any and better than many. I can see how they could grab prog fans with their lengthy atmospherics, although I suspect a chemically-altered state probably helps in their appreciation. There's nothing much to choose between the six pieces on 2006's You Are There, four long, two short; this is an album that really needs to be listened to as a whole, and singling out individual tracks is fairly futile, although, er, closer Moonlight stands out slightly from the pack. Actually, the best way to approach this music is to think of it as a soundtrack; amusingly, their website includes a small section aimed at directors looking to use the band's music in their films, which pretty much sums them up, albeit not in a bad way.
'Mellotron' strings (from ?) all over Yearning, fairly obviously sampled, although all other string sounds on the album are presumably generic samples. Overall, then, one of the better post-rock releases I've come across lately; these guys know how to handle dynamics better than almost anyone else I've heard in the field. It's still overlong, but it's post-rock; what did you expect?
 |
Unsupervised (1996, 33.32) *** |
|
| Guitar Was the Case Unsupervised, I Hit My Head Don't Break the Heart Distant Antenna The Devil Went Down to Newport (Totally Rocking) What Bothers the Spaceman Hello Hello |
Dr. Kildare So Long, Mockingbird Careless Santa Don't I Have a Right? To Serve Mankind Nixon's the One |
|
Current availability:
Mono Puff are essentially John Flansburgh's They Might Be Giants side-project, whose first album, 1996's Unsupervised, features a weird combination of influences, from the punk/surf crossover of opener Guitar Was The Case (ho ho) through the Spectoresque pop of Don't Break The Heart and punky hard rock of The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking), while Hello Hello is a suitably creepy version of the subsequently disgraced Gary Glitter's Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again. Unsurprisingly, we also get several They Might Be Giants-alikes, making this every bit as eclectic as you might expect from anything involving Flansburgh's fertile imagination.
The (obvious) tape-replay samples kick in straight away, with a brief, single-note Mellotron choir part on Guitar Was The Case, while To Serve Mankind is based around Chamberlin solo male and female voice samples, although the jury's out on the album's occasional brass parts. So; one for TMBG fans and anyone who appreciates the slightly weird, although full-on avant-gardists should probably go elsewhere.
See: Mono Puff | They Might Be Giants
 |
A Doorway to Summer (2005, 59.55) ***DoorwayDance Across the Ocean A Sun of Your Own We Spin the World Beyond the Door |
 |
Blomljud (2008, 103.46) **½ |
|
| Constant Bloom Methuselah's Children In the Countryside Moonwalk Bluebells The Ghost of Flowers Past Yasgur's Farm Lady of the Woodlands |
A Tale of Three and Tree Other Half of the Sky To Sail Beyond the Sunset |
|
 |
Lover's End (2010, 51.47) **Lover's End pt.IA Kid Called Panic Southern Belle The World's Best Dreamers New York City Summergirl Heartland Crossed the Rubicon Lover's End pt.II |
Current availability:
Moon Safari (clearly named for the Air album) have one major, major problem: within seconds of putting on their debut, A Doorway to Summer (Robert Heinlein quote, fact fans), it becomes apparent that, rather than listening to lots of music, then filtering out what appeals to them and writing in that style, they only actually seem to listen to one band: Spock's Beard. OK, fair enough, we can't all be super-original, but Spock's already exist and having them seen them live literally the day before listening to this, I can attest to the fact that they're alive and well, not to mention probably not that appreciative of being near-plagiarised. Interestingly, the band have a major Flower Kings connection, through producer Tomas Bodin, but sound little like them.
Moon Safari actually do a very good Spock's Beard, although they actually accentuate their sole influence's unfortunate Broadway-esque side, leading to the exceptionally cheesy a capella massed harmony section in the lengthy We Spin The World; shame: the track had started off so promisingly... It's difficult to know what to say about this: the album's highly competent - their competence isn't in question - but it's so derivative that you find yourself pulling a face every time they rip off another bit of Day for Night or something. You get the feeling that they're so in love with the grandiosity of it all, right down to the vocalist's fake American accent, that they forgot to be, you know, tasteful... Then again, I suppose prog doesn't have the greatest reputation in the world for good taste, does it? It should, but all the non-aficionado remembers is ELP's crassness or Yes' propensity for lengthy solo spots and overblown double concept albums. Of course, Moon Safari (actually Simon Åkesson) use Mellotron samples in exactly the same way Spock's (usually) use the real thing, so we get various flute, string and (especially) choir parts in all the right places, only... exactly as Spock's Beard would've used them. This gets three stars for the band's technical ability and way with a tune: pity it's someone else's way.
2008 brings Blomljud, or possibly [Blomljud], a sprawling two-disc set, including a Flower Kings-style half hour effort in Other Half Of The Sky. The band's style has shifted in the interim, now sounding like, er, a cross between Spock's and The Flower Kings, which isn't an improvement, frankly, their MOR side coming out more strongly on several tracks, not least closer To Sail Beyond The Sunset (another Heinlein quote there). All in all, this is vastly overlong, making the single full-length disc merchants look a bit, well, restrained. Get an editor, chaps. Åkesson's samplotron use is essentially the same as last time round, although their previous Spock's style can now be seen as a Spock's/Flower Kings one.
2010's Lover's End sounds even more like Elton John gone prog, or an anguished Elegant Simplicity-style breakup album, the vocal harmonies even more 'musical theatre' than before. Worst track? Probably the cheeso New York City Summergirl, complete with New York, New York piano quote at the end, although closer Lover's End Pt.II cuts it close. Ugh. Y'know, if this lot decided to drop the whole 'prog' thing, they could probably make a decent living writing slushy, 'adult contemporary' balladry, certainly going by the vocal melody on The World's Best Dreamers: ultra-cheesy, yet horribly memorable. Celine Dion awaits... Less of Åkesson's samplotron than before; maybe it's a bit too... eclectic for the band's hoped-for future audience.
When I sat down to listen to Moon Safari's albums, I was quite looking forward to them, after ploughing through several very tedious records from a genre on which I'm not over-keen. Sadly, I've been completely let down; A Doorway to Summer is just about passable, if you ignore the, er, 'heavy influence' (difficult, I know), but their two more recent efforts are almost unlistenable in their cheesy, mainstream-wannabee slickness. Do prog fans like this stuff? Probably; I know some who like Lloyd-Webber, too... Sorry, Moon Safari, I don't like your music, but I'm sure plenty of other people do.
 |
Brainstorm of Emptyness (1995, 71.07) **½ |
|
| Sea Memories Who's Wrong? Sonya in Search of the Moon: Silver Tears Gun Child Is He Mommy's Little Monster? Sonya in Search of the Moon: Alone in the Nightfield |
Chrome Heart Sonya in Search of the Moon: The Search Sherylin's Mistake Sonya in Search of the Moon: Moonman Return The Losing Dawn |
|
 |
The Gates of Omega (2001, 100.32) **Forever Chained5 Years The Gates of Omega Moonsong Home Sweet Home Castles of Sand Stars and Tears Moonsong - the Conclusion |
 |
RoundMidnight (2003, 52.31) **'RoundMidnight'Wounded Killing the Angel Lucifero Slowmotion Streets Learning to Live Under the Ground Coda: Psychedelic Subway Ride Nightmade Concrete Oh, By the Way, We're So Many in This City and So Damn Alone |
 |
Songs From the Lighthouse (2008, 71.06) **½ |
|
| My Darkside It's You Solaris - Part I, II, III, IV Emotionaut That Child Flesh Dreamlord Southampton Rail Road |
Sonya in the Search of the Moon - Part V The Lighthouse Song |
|
 |
A Vulgar Display of Prog (2009, 65.26) ***BoromirAesthetic Surgery MDMA After MDMA "From Lezooh to Miryydian" Wordz and Badge Demetrio and Magdalen Enter the Modem Hero Compression |
Current availability:
Moongarden's amusingly misspelt second effort, Brainstorm of Emptyness, starts off quite well, with a few minutes of laid-back progressiveness, until the whole band kicks in around the four-minute mark. Oh shit, it's Marillion. Actually, more IQ than Marillion, but poor neo-prog whichever way you look at it. To add insult to injury, the album is quite interminable, and would've been overlong at 40 minutes. It's not all bad; when the rhythm section quietens down and the guitarist picks up an acoustic, it's actually quite nice, as on the first two parts of Sonya In Search Of The Moon, but as soon as that herky-jerky bass riff starts again, my brain shuts down in a vain attempt not to be reminded of the horrors of the '80s. Cristiano Roversi plays a good bit of fake 'Tron, (he's admitted it's samples), even though '95 is a bit early for such things (Vintage Keys module, methinks). Flutes some minutes into opener Sea Memories, with a major string part on Who's Wrong?, whiile the strings on Gun Child rip off Yes' Heart Of The Sunrise quite effectively, although the rest of the album's string work is pretty decent. The choirs don't sound right at all, to be honest, which is hardly surprising, although there's a nice part in Sonya In Search Of The Moon: Moonman Return.
I put the six-year gap between Brainstorm... and 2001's The Gates of Omega down to Roversi being busy with other projects, although I may well be wrong. I'd read that their albums improve as they go along: wrong. OK, I suppose it has its moments, but the hubris of such an average band releasing a hundred-minute, double-disc effort is considerable. To think that the mighty Änglagård titled their glorious debut the Swedish form of that word... The bulk of this album is tediously bland neo-prog, with little harmonic invention and much emoting vocalising; in other words, all the things that make your average neo- effort so unpalatable to more discerning progressive fans. If you actually need an example, disc one's opener, Forever Chained, is absolutely typical, almost the only dissent coming in disc two's closer, Moonsong - The Conclusion, with a very Fripp-ish guitar solo, but it's far too little, far too late. Samplotron strings, choirs and flutes on a few tracks, not that I, or probably you, cares.
Two years on and RoundMidnight is, at least, a sensible length, although that doesn't actually improve the album in any other meaningful way. The bulk of it is the usual neo- nonsense, while Learning To Live Under The Ground throws a new influence into the lukewarm melting-pot: prog-metal. Is this a welcome addition? Not especially, no, although it succeeds in making the track the album's least boring. Any other interesting points? the backwards piano used on one track is reasonably inventive, but that's probably your lot, the standard samplotron interjections being the same old same old.
A five-year gap this time, with 2008's Songs From the Lighthouse being a minor improvement on its predecessors, about its most interesting track being the violin solo over piano and vibes of Flesh. More metallic prog influences, which at least help to banish the sub-Marillionisms of old. The following year's crummily-titled A Vulgar Display of Prog (v.funny, guys) is a genuine improvement, just pulling the band out of the **½ ghetto. The chief cause is seventeen-minute closer Compression, a genuinely dynamic effort featuring the 'outside influence' of several ghetto rap sections, presumably used to illustrate the storyline. Occasional heavy samplotron use on both releases, but you're hardly going to bother on its account, I'd imagine.
These really are only worth the effort for the dedicated neo-progger, I suspect, although there's a fair bit of sampled Mellotron across their career. Sorry chaps, unoriginal, overlong and boring. Incidentally, Roversi's other main project is Submarine Silence, whose eponymous 2002 album is a rather better effort, although given that its 'Mellotron' has also been found to be fake...
See: Cristiano Roversi | Submarine Silence
 |
Big Echo (2010, 38.54) **½ |
|
| Excuses Promises Wet Cement Cold War Pleasure Sighs Hand Me Downs Mason Jar All Day Daylight |
Stitches Sleeping in |
|
Current availability:
The Brooklyn-based Mornings Benders are a fairly typical US indie outfit, going by their second full-lengther, 2010's Big Echo, which is a nice way of saying that it's a pretty dull affair, largely bereft of melodies that fall outside the modern conception of 'commercial'. If you excised most of the vocal parts from the album and looped a few of the better instrumental sections, it might be more listenable, but as it is...
Christopher Chu is credited with Mellotron on three tracks, with strings under the programmed ones on opener Excuses, faint strings on closer Sleeping In and nothing obvious on All Day Daylight, but what little can be heard sounds fairly fake to my ears, so this goes here until/if I should discover otherwise. So; another drippy indie album. Why? Why?
 |
Four O'Clock & Hysteria (2007, 63.58) *** |
|
| Cold Fusion Return to Whatever Drive in Shuffle R Bluz First Funk Dschungel Cruz The Rite of Left Chroma |
Spanish Steppes Track 3 Major Buzz Home |
|
Current availability:
Spock's Beard's guitarist, Alan Morse, always seems overshadowed by his prolific, extroverted brother Neal (below), although he's a very talented chap in his own right. 2007's fully-instrumental Four O'Clock & Hysteria is his sole solo release to date, displaying a previously-hidden love of (and talent for) fusion, for better or worse. Although the bulk of the album concentrates on jazz-rock in many of its countless attributes, Morse does veer off-piste here and there; The Rite Of Left's a much rockier proposition than most of the material here, while Major Buzz is slightly closer to standard Spock's, if you ignore the fusion violin/guitar duel...
Bro' Neal plays keys on the album, making it quite certain that the 'Mellotron' choirs on The Rite Of Left are sampled, not that there's much doubt in the matter anyway. Overall, this is less an album for Spock's fans and more one for fusioneers, with top-notch playing all round, although too much of the material is rather by-numbers, losing the album a good half star.
See: Spock's Beard | Neal Morse
Neal Morse (US) see: |
 |
|
 |
Prince des Hauteurs (2004, 46.33) **** |
|
| Roman de Renard Chanson à Boire Prince des Hauteurs Sorcellerie Le Rire et l'Épée Le Temps, la Terre, et l'Homme Les Damnés Dans Dix Jours, un An, ou Six Mois |
Les Sirènes L'Éveil des Gargouilles Cornemuse |
|
 |
L'Homme-Loup (2007, 53.54) **** |
|
| Isengrin P'tit Louis L'Ermite La Dame et le Dragon Les Normands La Trahison L'Enchanteur Allons Mes Compagnons |
L'Artaban Madrigal L'Homme-Loup |
|
Current availability:
Motis were originally a one-man band, consisting of Emmanuel 'Motis' Tissot on all instruments, before expanding to a trio in 2004. Unlike so many other Continental prog outfits of the last couple of decades, we're not looking at tired, rehashed neo-prog drivel here, but inventive progressive rock that references both the genre's forbears, including the ubiquitous Ange and the more worthwhile Gallic acts of recent years, not least Halloween and Minimum Vital. Another obvious comparison are unsung French medieval folk-rock heroes Malicorne, whose catalogue's general unavailability is an ongoing travesty.
According to their website, Motis released two studio and three live albums under their own steam before hooking up with Musea for 2004's Prince des Hauteurs, loosely comparable to the first Willowglass album, although, unlike them, Motis were no longer a solo project by this point. Its content strays interestingly and welcomingly from prog orthodoxy in places, not least Le Rire Et L'Épée's chanson moments and the 'none more Celtic' bagpipes on closer Cornemuse. Sampled Mellotron throughout, with choirs on Chanson à Boire and Sorcellerie, strings on the title track, Le Rire Et L'Épée and Les Damnés, with more of the same on a few other tracks. Little of the use is anything other than standard background chordal work, but it all adds to the overall effect. What a shame it isn't real...
They followed up in 2007 with L'Homme-Loup, featuring a slightly more 'rock' sound in places, possibly due to better integration of the new members. It's hard to say if this is a 'better' work than its predecessor; despite having much in common with it, it's a different album, and doesn't bear direct comparison. Again, some welcome 'non-standard' parts, not least the raucous, jazzy trumpet solo on Madrigal. 'Mellotron' on most tracks again, with choirs on Isengrin, strings and choirs on P'tit Louis, then, unusually, rather murky mixed brass on L'Ermite, with more strings, flutes (notably on the title track) and choirs throughout.
I don't know what the first two Motis albums sound like; folkier, I suspect. These two records are really very good, even if you're not quite so into the folk end of things, as there's plenty of crossover with more 'mainstream' prog (is that an oxymoron these days?). Plenty of sampled 'Tron, not all 'standard' use, either, which makes a nice change. Recommended. Incidentally, although various older bits of kit are credited, I'd take all of them with a pinch of salt; all the live albums credit 'Taurus', yet all that's visible in the live pics on their site is a set of Roland MIDI pedals. So much for that, then.
Motorpsycho (Norway) see: |
 |
|
 |
Celestial King for a Year (2011, 34.10) ***Part IPart II Part III |
Current availability:
Richard Moult is apparently a poet and artist as well as musician; unsurprisingly, upon hearing his work, he has a Current 93/neofolk connection. I believe 2011's Celestial King for a Year is his second full-length album, consisting of three lengthy tracks of droning strings and ethereal vocals, the 'side-long' Part III being the most dissonant of the three.
Moult is credited with Mellotron, but I'd be surprised if the distant, reverbed-to-death choirs on Part III were played on a real machine. Then again... To be honest, it's difficult to know what else to say about this; it's full of string drones, it's ethereal... I've said all that already, haven't I? Anyway, one for the Coil fan in your life.
 |
Hold This Ghost (2008, 44.56) **½ |
|
| Like Home Two Friends Like Us The Propellors The Things That I Know Fits and Starts Somehow Bound Under Glass Sleeping In Our Clothes |
Nothing Glorious Our Changing Skins |
|
Current availability:
Portland's Musée Mécanique (named in honour of a San Franciscan museum) are generally referred to as 'indie folk'; in other words, musicians who would like to play folk, but are too steeped in indie ineptitude to do so properly. They debuted with 2008's Hold This Ghost, an album that almost manages to do something interesting, but falls at the last hurdle, better tracks including The Things That I Know and Under Glass, worser ones being Fits And Starts, a rather pointless country ballad that goes nowhere and the tiresome, over-arranged Nothing Glorious, for what it's worth.
The album opens with samplotron flutes and strings over an acoustic backing, with many more sounds involved, not least female choirs and vibes, to the point where they lose any of the 'specialness' they should be able to invoke. Musée Mécanique try hard, but will have to kick out many musical misnomers they clearly hold dear if they're to improve.
 |
Hydrogen Jukebox (1999, 56.42) ***Elliott SmithWhen the Shit Gets Tough to Face - The Tough Get Shit Faced McDonald and Giles That Was When I Started Liking it Still Waiting Persona Non Grata Elliott Smith Reprise |
 |
Analog Hi-Fi Surprise (1999, 57.01) ***The Magic of MichaelRackets October 1970 Our Buddy Miles A Song of Remembrance for a Time When Wife Swapping Was Considered Politically Correct The Evolution of Smells in an Underground Parking Garage After an All Night Rave Abbie Hoffman |
 |
Leni Riefenstahl (2000, 40.09) ***½Leni RiefenstahlA Violin Bow in Curved Air A Tribute to Eddie Harris Dig My Mood |
Current availability:
I've given Mushroom's career the usual abstract in the reviews of their 'real Mellotron albums'; suffice to say, they might just be present-day San Francisco's premier exponents of jammed-out psych, while never once slipping into tedious jamband territory. 1999's Hydrogen Jukebox is excerpted from a session recorded the previous year, featuring all the band's usual influences, puns and pop culture (and pop) references, the titles referencing Elliott Smith and the ex-King Crimson duo of (Ian) McDonald and (Mike) Giles, while punning appallingly on When the Shit Gets Tough To Face - The Tough Get Shit Faced. I hate to say this, but musically, the album seems to lack something, at least to my ears, the jams being too aimless (stoned?) for their own good. Sorry to say this, guys, but this is, er, rather boring. Dave Weller's excellent fan site informs us that 'Mellotron sounds' were used at the session; indeed, Michael Holt's flutes on Elliott Smith, McDonald And Giles and Elliott Smith Reprise don't sound particularly authentic, although it's the easiest sound to sample accurately.
Analog Hi-Fi Surprise, from the same year, was recorded at the same session and indeed, picks up exactly where Hydrogen Jukebox ends, the fade-out at the end of that album becoming the fade-in on this one. I get the feeling that the band were less inspired at this session than at subsequent ones (although they may well disagree), as this isn't really any more interesting than its predecessor, sadly. Don't get me wrong; it's a respectable enough listen, but overlong and noodly, although I realise that's probably the point. Title references this time round include The Magic Of Michael (Magic Michael (Cousins), an early '70s London scenester featured on the original Greasy Truckers album), the fusionesque Our Buddy Miles (groan) and the non-punning Abbie Hoffman, in honour of the original yippie. We get more samplotron flutes on October 1970, although it's difficult to say whether there's any other obvious use.
The following year's Leni Riefenstahl (for the notorious brilliant-yet-Nazi-apologist groundbreaking female German filmmaker, then still alive) is taken from sessions recorded only a few months later, but is a very different proposition all round, the band far more inspired, for who knows what reasons. The album's improved by its shorter length, too, although two of its four tracks are in the quarter-hour range, the title track and (relatively) brief piano solo closer Dig My Mood probably being its highlights. Holt plays samplotron flutes on Leni Riefenstahl itself, but they don't really add significantly to the album's overall appeal.
To be honest, the best Mushroom album I've heard is 2004's Glazed Popems, but of these three, I'd say Leni Riefenstahl's the one to hear. Limited quantities of sampled Mellotron on all concerned, but they're not something that's likely to increase their chances of your buying them, I suspect.
See: Mushroom
 |
It Still Moves (2003, 71.50) ***½ |
|
| Mahgeeta Dancefloors Golden Masterplan One Big Holiday I Will Sing You Songs Easy Morning Rebel Run Thru |
Rollin' Back Just One Thing Steam Engine One in the Same |
|
 |
Z (2005, 45.49) *** |
|
| Wordless Chorus It Beats 4 U Gideon What a Wonderful Man Off the Record Into the Woods Anytime Lay Low |
Knot Comes Loose Dondante |
|
Current availability:
Appropriately enough, as I listen to My Morning Jacket's third album, It Still Moves, I'm reading an interview with Neil Young, one of the artists with whom they are constantly compared, not least due to mainman Jim James' voice, although he lacks Neil's fragility, for better or worse. This is music that belongs in the '70s, channelling the songwriting values of the time, which means NO INDIE WHINING! It's so nice to hear a new band (from anywhere) who don't have some dreadful whingeing bore on vocals and don't feel the need to chuck in a bunch of 'contemporary' production tricks (remember the story about the Doors and the wah-wah pedal?). I've seen them described as Americana and while there's some truth in that, this lot have a lot more rock'n'roll in their collective souls than that description would indicate.
Not that My Morning Jacket are perfect; the album is overlong, with almost every track outstaying its welcome, even if only slightly. I mean, after seven minutes or so, I Will Sing You Songs shifts pointlessly into a gentle reggae groove for another two minutes, rather trying the listener's patience, although after the coruscating Run Thru, you'll forgive them almost anything. Subsequently departed keyboard player Danny Cash presumably plays what I very strongly suspect are sampled Mellotron strings on I Will Sing You Songs and Just One Thing, although the strings running right through Steam Engine just don't even have that Mellotron ring about them.
Two years on, MMJ released their follow-up, probably the shortest album title on this site, Z. That'll be 'Zee', of course, not 'Zed'. I wonder how many Brits reading this remember Billy Gibbons' bunch being referred to as 'Zed Zed Top' on UK radio when they first made it over the pond? Anyway, while not a bad album (and a damn' sight shorter than its predecessor), it's also rather less exciting, although it certainly has its moments. 'Mellotron' on one track, presumably from new Keys man Bo Koster, with strings and flutes on Off The Record.
So; It Still Moves is a fine album, while Z isn't at all bad, thankfully bereft of anything resembling a contemporary influence. Hurrah! Not much (presumed) samplotron, but worth picking up anyway.
 |
Bleeder (2002, 46.05) **½ |
|
| Song 37 Independence Day Misfortune #1 Theme From Disconnect Superwannabe Kane Wasn't Able Too Many People Orange Shirt |
Horn Interlude Wasted Nation's Out They Hear Broken Roller Coaster Minimum Mary |
|
Current availability:
The irritatingly-named Myracle Brah (joke names, eh?) are Baltimore-based Andy Bopp's powerpop project, whose fifth album, 2002's Bleeder, is passable enough, although not even close to the quality of the genre's prime practitioners, not helped by Bopp's rather strained vocals throughout. Better tracks include Independence Day and Nation's Out, although Too Many People has more than a hint of Helter Skelter about it and the overall vibe is, oddly, one of defeatism.
Paul Krysiak is credited with Mellotron, but if the strings on opener Song 37 are supposed to have anything to do with a tape-replay-based keyboard... The flutes on Wasted are slightly better, but only because they're easier to sample, while the strings on the same track and Broken are terrible. Sorry to be so down on this, but powerpop albums really should be either uplifting or melancholy; this is neither, succeeding merely in triggering this listener's finger-drumming and watch-checking urges.
