ANDWELLAS DREAM
Love And Poetry (Lightning Tree; CD)
Less than 18 months after Vinyl Japan's reissue of Love And Poetry
(see here) comes what must surely
be the definitive edition of this lauded Brit-psych artefact. Much of the interest here lies in the
first-time inclusion of two contemporary non-LP single sides, curiously neglected by previous compilers.
'Mister Sunshine (Junkie Woman Blues)' is, as the title suggests, a hard-edged blues-rock piece;
something akin to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac riffing on Canned Heat's 'Going Up The Country'.
'Mrs Man' is a more interesting proposition; a cousin of the softer album highlight 'Midday Sun',
complete with melodic double-tracked guitar lines and gospel-tinged female backing vocals.
Of the two alternate versions, 'Take My Road' is the same as the album track but with the jaunty instrumental
coda tacked on the beginning while 'Man Without A Name' appears virtually identical to these ears.
Still, it's a cracking song so I'm not complaining.
Dream fan and Pogue Phil Chevron contributes liners and there are a couple of
previously unseen photos, which ultimately make this the only edition of this essential album you need.
www.lightning-tree.com
Andy Morten
THE BEATLES
Love (EMI; CD/2-LP/DVD)
Before I even start this review it is only fair to warn readers that the Beatles
are my favourite band and have been since I can remember. So it was with trepidation that I approached
what was nominally touted as the "first new Beatles album in 40 years". I confess I was caught up
in the excitement – I remember walking down Tottenham Court Road, seeing the massive poster announcing
its release and immediately fantasizing that it was 1966 and I was an excited teenager running to
the record shop to buy their new LP. Sadly this daydream was where the excitement started and ended.
This is not a Beatles record it is Beatles product of the most mediocre kind. Billed as a mash up
it is, as my friend Roy Royston says, "a gentle stirring" at best and an extended medley at worst.
The respect and veneration for the material clearly clouded Messrs Martin's (father and son)
judgment almost completely. Furthermore they clearly have no clue how contemporary cut and paste jobs
work – it is not enough to overlay two songs and play things backwards - the Beatles' tape experiments
in the mid-sixties were far more revolutionary than anything on this record. In fact, the same result
could have been achieved by a fourteen year old with an Apple Mac and The Beatles Anthology CD.
We can only imagine the results had the vaults been opened to Danger Mouse who created the bootleg
Grey Album mashing up The Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's Black Album to occasionally
stunning effect. What I can say is that this record shows just how brilliant the songs are and how good
they still sound today. But let's face it there is no need for gimmickry with The Beatles' catalogue –
it stands on its own. So let's hope this is a cynical marketing ploy that precedes a comprehensive
Beatles reissue programme with proper sound quality and liner notes that does the band justice.
After all if a second division band like Slade can get a beautiful reissue treatment then surely EMI
can pull their finger out and do the same for the band that continues to line their coffers by having
created the most amazing pop music ever made.
www.thebeatles.com/hub/love/site/
Arthur Cravan
THE BEE GEES
The Studio Albums 1967-1968 (Warner/Reprise; 6-CD box)
Where to start? The long-overdue catalogue renovation?
The ear-popping remastering? The mind-blowing amount of extras? The superlative packaging?
Or simply the unabashed musical genius of three precocious young brothers from Manchester who found
themselves overflowing with creative power, were afforded every opportunity 
in the business and became
an enormous commercial and critical success at the very dawn of serious pop music before imploding
in a drugs- and booze-soaked clash of egos before the decade was out and any one of them was even
20 years old.
The Bee Gees' first internationally successful phase (their late '60s British
recordings - they'd already cut two long players and a pile of hit singles as nippers in Australia)
has always stood in the shadows of their routinely deified contemporaries. They should be put on
pedestals right up there alongside The Beatles, Stones, Kinks and Small Faces whereas their global
influence sadly now seems to hinge solely on their late '70s disco-era recordings - things of great
sophistication and musicality for sure – but lacking the originality, fun and youthful verve of that
first run of hits.
Their influence back in the day, however, was considerable. It's debatable
that we'd have had that movement of quintessentially English bands like Kaleidoscope and Procol Harum
if The Bee Gees hadn't scored with the truly progressive 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' in spring 1967.
Those early ballads like 'To Love Somebody' and 'Words' permeated the most diverse and eclectic
of pop's many strata to become instant standards, being recorded by everyone from Tom Jones
to The Flying Burrito Brothers to Frank Sinatra and down. Some misguided souls even thought they
could have a stab at cutting an oddity like 'Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Tell You'
or 'Red Chair Fadeaway', perverse and startling creations that fell flat on their faces without those
golden Gibb harmonies and expert Bill Shepherd arrangements to contain them. At the end of the '60s,
less than three years after they stepped off the SS Fairsky, they were second only to The Beatles
and Dylan in the pop cover version stakes.
The fact that they gave away so many great songs
('Only One Woman', 'Gilbert Green', 'Town Of Tuxley Toymaker', 'Garden Of My Home'
and 'Cowman Milk Your Cow' spring to mind) and are surrounded by tales of the kind of obsessive behaviour
that reportedly led Robin to be forcibly dragged from his piano after composing nine songs in a day
whilst neglecting to eat or drink or do anything else, knocks even John Lennon and Paul McCartney's
song writing output during those months into a big floppy hat.
This success placed The Bee Gees squarely on the pages of the weekly music
papers where they quickly became darlings, as well as on a thousand and one uniformly unflattering
full-colour Jackie pull-out posters. Perhaps it's this, coupled with their squeaky clean image
and unwaveringly professional attitude that contributed to them falling out of the cool box at such
an early stage while contemporaries such as The Move or The Zombies became cult heroes almost as soon
as they'd thrown in the towel. Either way, The Bee Gees' late '60s recordings - outside of those oldie
station favourites - has been ill-served. Until now.
The Studio Albums 1967-1968 does exactly what it says on the
(rather cute) box. It contains the first three international Bee Gees albums – Bee Gees 1st,
Horizontal and Idea - lovingly expanded (mono and stereo versions, a disc of out-takes,
non-album singles and previously unreleased tracks for each album) and intensified (photos, memorabilia,
new interview material with all the surviving players) in the style to which us discerning punters
have become accustomed. At last we can ditch those flat 15 year-old Polydor editions AND we get
'Barker Of The UFO' sounding like it was recorded yesterday into the bargain. Sweet.
Even a cursory glance across these songs reveals a stylistic
diversity and artistic confidence virtually unparalleled in any other big hit act of the era.
'Birdie Told Me', 'Idea', 'Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy Of Arts', 'Please
Read Me', 'Sinking Ships', 'Kilburn Towers', 'In My Own Time', 'Harry Braff', 'When The Swallows Fly',
'Sir Geoffrey Saved The World'. Pure gold every one of 'em. And now, thanks to the amazing amount
of additions here, we can add 'Out Of Line', 'All Around My Clock', 'Deeply, Deeply Me', 'Ring My Bell',
'Chocolate Symphony', 'Gilbert Green' and 'All My Christmases Came At Once' to that list.
A staggering body of work, beautifully presented and worth every penny.
Roll on the quadruple disc edition of Odessa.
www.officialbeegees.com
Andy Morten
MARS BONFIRE
Faster Than The Speed Of Light (Fallout; CD)
After the demise of Jack London & The Sparrows
(later The Sparrow) Dennis Edmonton felt like he was being marginalized in his own bloody band,
so when the hopeful Canadians upped sticks and moved to California in 1967 as
Steppenwolf he quit, embarking upon a solo career under the psychedelic sobriquet of Mars Bonfire.
His solo debut initially appeared on the Uni label before being snatched up by Columbia in 1969,
where it failed to pick up any further sales. A poppier, garage/psych sound is prevalent, with a softer
reworking of 'Born To Be Wild' being particularly successful, whilst softer numbers like 'Sad Eyes'
and 'Lady Moon Water' reflect a softer Beatles influence. Not unlike Paul Revere & The Raiders foray
into bubblegum/psych territory it's pretty nice, but far from the garage/psych premiership league.
It does have more than enough justifiable moments though.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
BONNIE DOBSON
Bonnie Dobson (Rev-Ola; CD)
Have you heard the one about the cute little Canadian folk singer that penned a psychedelic classic?
It's a good one. A somewhat little known coffee house folk singer called Bonnie Dobson wrote
the oft-covered, hallowed classic, 'Morning Dew' in the protest era unaware that it would later become
somewhat of a staple number for the freak contingent. The first person to tackle it was Fred Neil.
On this, her 1969 comeback album, she performs a highly orchestrated and quite perfect version too –
and for that alone she has achieved godlike status in this house. But her lesser-known 1969 RCA album
is also rather cool.
The material on it is delicious; soft and cuddly rather like a pink marshmallow.
Folk-pop/groovily breakbeat heavy tunes/sweeping strings/a click bass laden production style… it's
all there. Sure, it may stink of aiming for contemporary acceptance, but the ornate production suits
Dobson's light voice. The sitar-laced psych-nicety 'Bird Of Space' is angelic.
Middle of the road hippy has rarely been so pleasurable.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
ELEPHANT'S MEMORY
Songs From Midnight Cowboy… Plus (Lemon; CD)
Elephant's Memory may be remembered for backing John Lennon, and perhaps
a little for their sterling contributions to the wonderful Midnight Cowboy film, but they
were also a rather imaginative and decent band in their own right. This, the album released
on the back of the film, veers from tough horn rock to moody psychedelia and jazz tinged epics.
Well worth investigating.
www.lemonrecordings.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE FIRE ESCAPE
Psychotic Reaction (Fallout; CD)
What happened when Sunset Strip Svengali Kim Fowley hooked up with happening
wonder child Michael Lloyd (West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Smoke, October Country etc)
to create the ultimate cash-in on the psychedelic scene in 1967? Answer: The Fire Escape - a put
together studio group who would perfectly encapsulate the current freaked-out teen punk scene that was
making waves across LA for a GNP Crescendo album suitably entitled Psychotic Reaction. Who knows?
Did Mars Bonfire and the major flower punk player Sky Saxon actually appear on the album,
or was it yet more Fowley myth making? Whatever, the sympathetic primal arrangements by Lloyd,
and Goldberg and Levine's dirty production, allow for such classics as The Seeds' 'Trip Maker',
The Music Machine's 'Talk Talk' and, of course, The Count V's demented
'Psychotic Reaction' to take on an even more ferocious tone than the originals.
The perfect garage punk exploitation album!
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
FOOD
Forever Is A Dream (Fallout; CD)
Combining searing acid punk with gentle orchestrated pop
Food almost reach David Axelrod proportions in places through heavy use of strings and brass whilst
the lost-little-boy vocals of Steve White convey an eerie stoned innocence. Maybe the songs don't
quite stick, but the production and performance create a lasting impression.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE GANTS
Introducing (Sundazed; CD)
This is an interesting artefact, the earliest recordings
of The Gants, a band who really should have been much better known. In Sid Herring they had a writer
of great talent. The opening two tracks are worth the price of admittance alone. 'Another Chance'
and 'What's Your name' were recorded in late'65 or early '66 in Muscle Shoals but were only released
in 1967 on the obscure Statue label after the group had broken up and are as good as anything they
ever recorded for Liberty.
Seven tracks (all previously unissued) are the results of the group's first
recordings in early 1965 at Sam Phillips recording studios in Memphis. They include enthusiastic versions
of The Beatles' 'Eight Days a Week' and 'Things We Said Today' as well as The Stones 'It's All Over Now'
and two early Sid Herring originals.
Three other unissued tracks are outtakes from their Roadrunner album
sessions and include a great version of Little Richard's 'Lucille', which should have made the final cut.
The CD finishes with an excerpt from a live radio broadcast in 1967 by KAAY Little Rock Arkansas
with one of the most annoying DJs you could hope to hear, but the group pull off an absolutely terrific
version of 'Hey Joe' as well as The Beatles' 'Taxman'. All in all a worthwhile release from Sundazed.
A must for fans of the group and a worthy addition to their pitifully short catalogue.
www.sundazed.com
Pat Curran
THE GUILLOTEENS
Action, Action Action (Breakaway; 2x CD)
The Guilloteens were a major Memphis band in the 1960s. They recorded a bunch
of 45 sides for Atco, HBR and Columbia, but none of them really broke through. That's a pity because
most of these are stone cold winners. Whether it be 'Hey You' with it's Kinksish 'Tired of Waiting'
and 'All Day And All of The Night' hybrid riff, or the soulful folk-rock of 'I Don't Believe'
and 'For My Own', or the great harmonised garage rockers 'I Sit and Cry' and 'Wild Child'.
These are fabulous sides that deserved a wider hearing. Breakaway have, for the first time compiled
the band's full output of the ten sides of the five singles on disc one and added a second disc
of "odds and sods" from the pre-history of Guilloteens related bands, principally The Le Sabres
and Memphis Marks. The second disc is a largely instrumental affair featuring the greasy rock 'n'
roll of Le Sabres sax blowing, frat pleasing keg party style music along with mid paced ballads.
There's also the bagpipe led (!!) single accompanying Nino and April Stevens on a very nice folk rock
take of 'I Love You How You Love Me and the two more soulful Booker T &
The MG's like Memphis Marks sides. Finally there's a later re-recording of
'Hey You', retitled 'Girl' as Buddy Delaney And The Candy Soupe! Both discs contents could have easily
fitted one disc, but in the disciplined Breakaway fashion, each set being so different, it has been
allocated its own space. As usual Breakaway have supplied a decent booklet full of liners and period
photos and labels scans etc., which tells the story of the groups through the members themselves.
It's an attractive package and folk rock and garage fans will certainly find plenty to please.
www.break-a-way.de
Paul Martin
DALE HAWKINS
L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas (Rev-Ola; CD)
This port of call sees the swampy rockabilly of Mr Suzy Q gets a suitably late
'60s makeover with a few folk-rock moves stumbled upon. Reinvented looking like one of The Raiders he's
not quite Dylan or Glenn Campbell, and definitely not Elvis, but the newly, groovily attired Dale Hawkins
is enjoyably confused across this 1969 Bell return. The album sees him flit from blues to rock and roll,
soul and quasi hippy laced balladry. For all of its downfalls it's still quite a captivating set,
topped off by the seriously maladjusted take of The First Edition's 'Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town'.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
BILL HOLT
Dreamies: 2006 Special Edition (WS; CD)
Admirable, but ultimately a bit boring. Bill Holt jacked in his job
in 1972 and spent an entire year dedicating his life to this 50 min sound collage, inspired by The Beatles
similar cut ups. The central guitar riff goes around and around as sound effects and famous speeches
fade in and out of the mix, with occasional snatches of The Beatles, and a few Lennon inspired chain
of thought psychedelic acoustic pieces. With headphones on and eyes shut tuned into the ambience,
this can be quite invigorating, but it won't be something you reach for often. Still, I wonder how Holt
would have handled The Beatles' Love?
www.dreamies.com
Jon 'Mojo' Millls
H.P. LOVECRAFT
Dreams In The Witch House (Rev-Ola; CD)
Another better late than never review, and all I can say is sorry to
Rev-Ola for being so darned late and thank you for giving HP Lovecraft the reissue they deserve.
Will the wrongly maligned Valley Of The Moon follow? It'd be nice for the few of us who like it.
Nevertheless, on this well put together compendium you do get the two albums proper
(I and II) and a few nicely rounded bonus cuts in the form of non-album singles.
And what great music. Did genuine psychedelia ever get any better? The folksy singing of dual
frontmen George Edwards and Dave Michaels (whose four octave voice lifted the songs into the cosmos)
create a spooky, aural projection that few bands ever achieved – notably on the spine chilling
'The White Ship', an ethereal, trippy song that the Airplane could have only dreamt of writing. The eastern
keyboard motifs, horns, downbeat tempo and vocals… what an uncompromising blend of mind expansion.
With or without drugs! If the rest of the band's output never quite hits that high mark, it's still
pretty fantastic. Flawless in fact! Isn't 'Blue Jack Of Diamonds' quite possibly one of the finest
acid folk song ever recorded? This is an absolutely essential album from Chicago's most unsung band.
The wonderful notes and project co-ordination are by SD scribe Nick Warburton. Indispensable.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES
The Philadelphia Years (Varese Vintage; CD)
Stop sniggering please… Daryl Hall & John Oates have been around
for a long time, so forget that embarrassing cod soul the duo made millions of dollars from
in the 1980s. Featuring material cut between 1968 and 1971 this CD features an amazing
array of delicate ballads, folk rock, blue eyed soul and sunshine pop.
Some of the songs later appeared on their 1972 debut, but these early versions cut the mustard.
Totally fantastic stuff… Order now and then email me and say "Mr Mills you are the greatest!"
I'll happily accept the compliment.
www.varesevintage.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
JAMESON
Color Him In (Fallout; CD)
In their continuing laudable quest to reissue anything
touched by the hand of the great Curt Boettcher, Fallout follow
their Tommy Roe and Michele reissues with the second solo album by
the mysterious Bobby Jameson, (the first having been released under the name Chris Lucey). Bobby wrote
all the songs and the album was produced by Curt, Jim Bell and Steve Clark in 1967. In an interview
with Ray McCarthy in ZigZag ~48 Curt is fairly dismissive of his efforts
"I just lent myself here and there. The mix I thought was atrocious, it never really did come together.
I had already left by then, I had boycotted Our Productions." In retrospect
this seems a trifle harsh. The album is very interesting with enough in the arrangements and backing
vocals to suggest that Curt did more than just lend a hand.
Jameson doesn't have the greatest voice in the world but the songs are good,
varying from ballads to those with a folk rock feel, all given a sympathetic backing and with an
ethereal chorus in place at certain times. The album is a real grower. At times Bobby sounds like
Arthur Lee in his crooning mode especially on 'The New Age'. Highlights include 'Right By My Side'
with its underlying drone, 'Who's Putting Who On' with its eastern vibe and use of sitars, 'Do You Believe
in Yesterdays' and 'See Dawn'.
All in all a very worthwhile release and one definitely to track down.
Pat Curran
KANGAROO
Kangaroo (Fallout; CD)
Originally released in 1968 on the MGM label this
is a highly underrated album. Featuring Barbara Keith vocals, Ted Spelies lead guitar and vocals,
John Hall (later of Orleans) on bass, pedal steel and vocals and N. D. Smart
(formerly of The Remains) on drums and vocals, this album has mixed male and female lead vocals
(although unfortunately the wonderful Barbara Keith only sings lead on two songs) with backing vocals
akin to Spanky and Our Gang against an instrumental backing of spiky guitars reminiscent of Moby Grape
and Buffalo Springfield.
It's a pity that Barbara Keith only sang lead on two songs as both are superb.
'Daydream Stallion' sounds like Judy Collins and 'The Only Thing I Ever Had' has a distinct country
feel with a fiddle underpinning her yearning vocal. In fact a couple of the songs have a country rock
feel with each writer tending to sing lead on their own songs. Other highlights include 'Frog Giggin'
with its weird spoken intro, 'I Never Tell Me Twice' with its tasteful acoustic guitar intro and
'Tweed's Chicken Inn' with its Lovin' Spoonful/Sopwith Camel goodtime vibe.
This is an excellent reissue and Fallout are to be congratulated
for making it available. Now if they'll only do the same for Barbara Keith's two solo albums from
1969 and 1972.
Pat Curran
SHELAGH McDONALD
Let No Man Steal Your Time (Sanctuary; 2CD)
Here's yet another female singer from the period that saw so many causalities.
Whether McDonald is/was an actual casualty or not is still in dispute as she disappeared off the face
of the earth immediately after the release of her second album, having not been seen or heard since.
Did the industry piss her off? Did something more sinister happen? Who knows? The reason of her vanishing
is somewhat strange too, as the two albums she released are impeccable, easily on par with her kindred
spirit Sandy Denny. But like Drake's they just did not sell. Even if both albums
The Shelagh McDonald Alum (1970) and Stargazer (1972) do use the "Joni Mitchell template" there's also
something beguilingly British within her performance. I hear a lost, disconnected loneliness that even
Mitchell at her glummest never quiet captured. And perhaps that's why McDonald left us. Nevertheless her
1970 and 1971 albums are solid pieces that deserve to be appreciated by the large audience she missed
out on. www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
VINCE MARTIN
If The Jasmine Don't Get You… The Bay Breeze Will (Rev-Ola; CD)
Yet another meisterwork brought to our ears by the handsome folks at Rev-Ola.
Martin was an old sparring partner of Fred Neil (the sound of the duo's mid-'60s Greenwich Village
shows was caught on the cool Tear Down The Walls album) and other than having a warmer vibe
than old Freddy, this 1969 solo effort has a similarly mournful folk/blues vibe to Neil and Buckley,
with perhaps a few more country flourishes. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Nick Venet with
the scene's top players, who were also used by a certain Bob Dylan, this is a fantastically laid back,
smoky affair. Exceptional.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE NATIONAL GALLERY
Performing Music Interpretations Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee (Fallout; CD)
So okay, the back cover did feature flaxen haired girls and academic
looking young men ala The Free Design, but this is in fact the work of producer Roger Karshner,
a Cleveland hit maker who had gained success with The Outsiders, and jazz musician Charles Mangione.
This eccentric project has elements of The Third Rail's ID Music and Appletree Theater,
and other purveyors of subject matter related experimental pop, and it's definitely amongst the best,
carried by elaborate arrangements, beautiful harmonies and just the right amount of freakout guitars.
Some may view this as pretentious drivel, but many will flip for its psychedelic choral overload.
Superb.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE PICADILLY LINE
The Huge World Of Emily Small (Lightning Tree; CD)
The Picadilly Line's (sic) 'At The Third Stroke' and 'Emily Small'
are exactly the kind of charming soft-pop singles that have found favour with aging psych fans and pop
collectors during what I hesitate to call the Fading Yellow years. The fact that this duo
of London folkies was privileged enough to cut an album for CBS during the summer of '67 before going
on to become the backbones of both Edwards Hand and folk-rock darlings Jade would suggest that this
long player would be something rather special.
The Huge World Of Emily Small certainly has its merits – the
aforementioned singles are delicious confections, the session players (Nicky Hopkins, Herbie Flowers,
Danny Thompson, Alan Hawkshaw, Harold McNair et al) and beautiful John Cameron arrangements
(fresh from shaping Donovan's startling Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow masterpieces)
make for a highly listenable experience.
The band were regulars at underground haunts like Middle Earth, yet give
or take the odd lyrical allusion, there is no psychedelia on offer here. Indeed the whole thing ends
up more reminiscent of Chad & Jeremy than The Pink Floyd… or even The Purple Gang. Perhaps this
is down to the overly twee original material coupled with an over-ambitious stab at 'Visions Of Johanna'
and an insipid run through of The Everly Brothers' 'Gone, Gone, Gone' that smacks of filler.
Post-album singles like 'Evenings With Corinna' and the Graham Nash-penned
'Yellow Rainbow' showed a dramatic improvement and the handful of tracks cut for an abandoned follow-up
album in 1968 are better still; 'My Best Friend' features a new organ-dominated sound and a ton
more pop savvy.
The packaging and liner notes are good and pave the way for the impending
Edwards Hand reissues from Lightning Tree.
www.lightning-tree.com
Andy Morten
THE STAIRS
Right In The Back Of Your Mind (Viper; CD)
I saw The Stairs a number of the times in the early 1990s. Not only
were they an incredible live band they were also one of the finest garage bands, of any time.
Rather than trying to get it right like so many American bands, or lacking in ability, like soooo
many bands, Edgar and his stoned scouser side kicks caught the essence of primal R&B,
garage and psych… coming off like Captain Beefheart jamming with The Standells, Pink Floyd and
The Kinks! Everything came out so naturally. And now in the mid –'07s I feel more than a little peeved
that Edgar Summertyme has been resigned to a mere footnote in the evolution of new school Liverpool bands
like The Coral and The Zutons. Man, those kids owe him everything, including their hefty pot intake!
Although Right In The Back Of Your Mind is only a raggle taggle bag of home demos for the album and
some rather tasty unreleased recordings, rather than undermining The Stairs importance, it strengthens it.
Especially the later unreleased material, notably the pop/beat Toe Rag recording 'It Was Alright'.
A 1960s smash hit that never was. Exceptional!
www.the-viper.label.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE RATS
First Long Player Record (RPM; CD)
Junk shop glamsters will be familiar already with The Rats Bolan-a-like
'Turtle Dove' single (comped on the RPM Boobs CD) which, along with Iron Virgin's 'Rebels Rule'
and Hector's 'Wired Up' are, as the liners note state, regarded as the definition of the Junk shop
glam idiom. The rest of this scarcely known about album, is perhaps not as well defined sham glam
as that particular beauty, but it is a very nice piece of period pop rock. Tracks like 'L.A. Highway'
and 'Nose Job' are very beefy street rock with melodic vocals. 'Glad You're Not Me' by contrast
begins with a spinet or Harpsichord sounding instrument and goes into a very attractive and gentle
kind of musical fairyland before filling out a bit more. 'Oxford Donna' juggles the stylistic
balls with a very Ziggy era Bowie-esque chorus and a much gentler verse. Overall, the album
is more involved and developed than basic glam bam-alam, but it sits right in that company as well.
Main member and writer Dave Kubinec had been a key member of popsike combo World Of Oz whose 1969 Deram
album has long since been adored by fans of the genre. Essentially "The Rats" were Kubinec along with
a hard rock band appropriated for the recording but who never played live. The LP was released in 1974
on the Goodear label but sank quickly and undeservedly. It stands up very well by today's standards,
which is a testimony to Kubinec's songwriting (if not, by implication in the notes at least) his ego.
A pity this isn't getting a vinyl repress, which is what it really deserves. No doubt more people will
get to hear it in this format anyway. Kubinec went on to record The Day of The Madman album,
also up for reissue by RPM, before finally hitting paydirt with The Babys (reissued on Ork records).
First Long Player Record is a fine rediscovery and well worth your money and ear time.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Paul Martin
STRAY
Stray
Suicide
Saturday Morning Pictures
Mundanzas (all Sanctuary; CD)
Including the rousing 1972 b side 'Mama's Coming Home' on our
Shindig!: We Set The Scene compilation album is ample proof of the respect we have
for the brilliant Stray. For a lengthy review/summary of their career, please read our review
(see here) of the comprehensive
2-CD Time Machine: Anthology 1970-1977. Those wanting more after buying
this introductory best of will be happy to know that Sanctuary have now reissued the group's
first four albumson expanded CDs with informative notes from the always knowing David Wells.
Stray encapsulated everything great about the period, steering clear of anything
too over wrought, bombastic or clever. Their classic debut, made when they were
just 17/18,
is a wilfully excitable effort which embraces the final throes of psychedelia with a bluesy hard
rock stance. The vocals at this point had somewhat of an adolescent lisp and Del Bromham's
guitar parts certainly made up for in spirit what they lacked in technique: facets which,
oddly enough, add rather than diminish. The bonus cuts, which are well worth the admission
price alone, particularly the 1968 demo of Fever Tree's 'The Man Who Paints The Pictures'
make this post-mod, school boy dream even more essential. The Stray (as they were first known)
give the Texan hippies' rousing song a very British feel: part sexualised Phil May, part football
terrace yob.
After the delirious debut Stray quickly matured. The far more progressive
Suicide appeared in March 1971. Opener 'Son Of The Father' infused with piping melotron,
feral guitar riffing, pounding bass and a wonderful vocal is quite simply stunning, and showed just
what Stray were capable of. Suicide rocks with the power of The Who ('Run Mister Run'),
displays a gentler side in the form of a few ballads (the brilliant 'Dear Eloise' which isn't unlike
Space Oddity era Bowie) and ends with the bludgeoning freak rock of title track 'Suicide':
the nasty bastard offspring of The Deviants, Edgar Broughton and Beefheart. Foundations were well
and truly being built upon.
With third album Saturday Morning Pictures (Feb 1972)
Stray entered a bigger and better studio and once again furthered their sound with a firmer musicality,
and a newfound rural Americana sound not unlike that of The Stones and Faces. 'Our Song'
is a laid back, Bourbon laced swagger with the newly added female backing vocals of PP Arnold et al
adding a soulful feel. Stray were finally becoming seasoned pros, and sounded
none the worse for it. 'Sister Mary' employs a fuzz laden bass and some primo keys, giving it a really
odd feel, not unlike The White Stripes, before morphing into the kind of melody Arthur Lee favoured
on Four Sail. The end result: a very late slice of UK psych-pop.
And even if some of the Zep numbers aren't wholly inspired, the moody 'How Could I Forget You?'
is whilst 'Mr Hobo' comes off like a punk rock Stealers Wheel. 'Queen Of The Sea'
closes the album on an excellent note with electric 12-string and some Pretty Things SF Sorrow
like moves. Bonus cuts included the SD favoured snotty teen rocker
'Mama's Coming Home' and two album out takes.
The final album to get the reissue treatment is the ambitious Mundazas,
an excellent album that with 'Come On Over' invented the Oasis template in 1973!!! Really, it's quite
incredible how much it sounds like them, or rather how much they sound like it. And I bet they have
never even heard Stray. Anyway, let's not lower the tone whilst talking about a brilliant band.
Although Mundazas still contains all of the snot, swagger and Who-like tendencies
that these Shepherd's Bush boys possessed, the Olympic Sound studio production is heightened
by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, mostly so on the epic 'I Believe It';
a beautiful song that hits the same buttons as Steve Ellis' similarly proportioned 'Evie'. But it
wasn't all strings and soulful. Balladeering. The aptly titled 'Pretty Things' sounds somewhat
like Mr May and crew in their Electric Banana '70s era: snotty, sexy and horn laden rock.
Fuck yeah!
Stray may be more known for being one of Iron Maidens favourite bands
(and sadly their career highlight has been recently supporting their junior fans on their comeback tour).
Receiving a little positive press they were never to achieve the success of their peers, but as one
time Stray follower SD writer Phil Suggitt has said, "They were an amazing live band and very cool!"
I love Stray with a passion, so be wise and check 'em out.
www.sanctuarygroup.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
VARIOUS ARTISTS
From Burbank To The Bay Area (Warner Strategic Marketing; CD/2-LP)
Scorched Earth: Rock Grooves 1969-1975 (EMI; CD)
Two rather old releases, which are well worth mentioning, especially considering
the freezing weather and snow. From Burbank… is essentially a cursory glance back at the long haired
and bearded afro and man made fabric period when California was enthralled by everything Latin and jazzy.
On the back of Santana, Blood, Sweat And Tears everything went brassy and tropical, including the
reinvented Ides Of March who open the show with the suitably Chicago-styled horn rock spectacle,
their mega hit 'Vehicle'. Focusing on Reprise and Warner Bros output from the early/mid '70s the rest
of the compilation follows with jazz taking on a hippy hue, soul going rock and funk being bleached
a whiter shade. Particular note must be made of Jo Mama's sumptuous 'Love'll Get You High',
featuring the bubblicious guitar grooves of Danny Kortchmar (whose 1973 solo soul piece
'For Sentimental Reasons' is also recommended). Mystic Moods' OTT easy listening, porno funk 'Cosmic Sea'
is a gem, Seatrain's delicate 'Flute Thing' breezy, Bamboo's stoned 'Girl Of The Seasons' chilled and
Maria Muldaur's guiltlessly intoxicating FM fave 'Midnight At The Oasis' representative of late night sin.
These smooth sounds stink of reefer, yet somehow sound acceptably tame; which is no bad thing….
Confusing the masses is always wise.
Scorched Earth culled from exactly the same era focuses on an array of
similarly inclined artists from around the World, rocking and sweating a bit harder.
Harvey Mandel takes Brother Ray's 'I Don't Need No Doctor' into funky long haired territory.
Terry Reid, the guy that should have been in Led Zep, breathes even more sex into
Donovan's 'Superlungs My Supergirl' and Alexis Korner and his CCS get hot under the collar on the swampy
and comical 'Primitive Love'. Hank Marvin gets the 1969 update, Ike & Tina Turner, Ashton Gardner &
Dyke and Quicksilver Messenger Service cook up some funky rock and the Japanese Sadistic Mika Band
get weird and sexy.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
VARIOUS
Ballroom Beat Vol. 1: I Walk The Lonely Night (Psychic Circle; CD)
Whilst the New Rubble series is seemingly in ambience with no word
on the last two volumes that were due out a while back, compiler Nick Salaoman has, put together
a different and new series. Titled Ballroom Beat , it introduces a whole bevy of beat gems
from the British '60s. I adore this comp. The Im-Pacts' 'If I Were The Only One' is a corking melodic
beater as is the Farfisa sounding organ led 'Love Of My Eyes' by Karl Stuart & The Profiles.
Elsewhere West Five's 'She's Mine' is a mod club classic whilst The Midnights' 'Show Me Around' is a classic
beat number with a nice harmonised male vocal. The Jinx's 'Do What They Don't Say' is one of those nice
melodic beat numbers with an R&B guitar just aching to be set free whilst Pete Best's take on 'Boys'
actually does let the guitar rip. There's a useful accompanying booklet that provides basic information
on the acts and the songs and this time even includes artist pics which helps break up the text.
Definitely worth a tenner of anyone's money. There seems to be no end to uncomped 60s Brit beat 45s
and this selection is a fine example of exactly that.
Paul Martin
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Fuzzy Felt Folk (Trunk; CD)
Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word 2 (Delay 68; CD)
It never fails to astound me how the once derided and maligned folk genre
- and it's myriad newly-minted offshoots, sub-genres and acid-friendly pseudonyms - have become
the apogee of hipness within certain DJ, collector and media circles who barely seem old enough to grow
the beards they proudly sport to the Green Man festival where they presumably text each other on their
Vashti Bunyan-endorsed MP3 shaver phones about that Hungarian acoustic jazz fusion private pressing
they just traded for their house. Or am I missing the point?
Here are two more comps with immaculate pedigrees but more obscurity value
than yer average episode of Celebrity Neighbours From Hell.
Fuzzy Felt Folk, I have to admit, managed to reduce me to a blubbering wreck
before I'd even put the CD on. Yes, I had the Fuzzy Felt fantasy set when I was a lad and Johnny Trunk
and his cohorts knew exactly which buttons to press when they packaged this collection of '60s/'70s
library music and lost singles especially for me and every other desperately nostalgic thirty-something
with a fondness for the theme from Follyfoot and a copy of Children Of The Stones on DVD.
By the time I'd heard the likes of Basil Kirchin's 'I Start Counting',
Orriel Smith's 'Tiffany Glass' and Arthur Birkby's 'Cuckoo' (gulp, there I go again) I was in a state
of immense and profound happiness which funnily enough had little to do with being reminded of some
long-lost memories of a childhood I never even had, but a lot to do with the fact that music this beautiful,
fragile and intelligent isn't being made anymore. If it is, then I'd like somebody to tell me about it
'cos quite frankly Iron & Wine just ain't cutting the mustard.
If Fuzzy Felt Folk is all about feeling good then
Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word 2 is its withered twin, emerging from the cellar with a clutch
of folk-rock records in one hand and a ton of nightmares in the other. While Naomi's 'How Do?'
is as "straight" as this stuff gets and a truly spellbinding creation and Midwinter's 'Maids And Gentlemen'
is much more in line with the accepted sound of provincial British boy-girl folk-rock, 'Of Broken Links'
by the distinctly Kate Bush-esque These Trails is cold and unsettling and 'Number 33' by Jan &
Lorraine just plain gives me the willies, as much as anything sung by a six year old girl can.
FINAFLW 2's scales are certainly tipped in favour of the international
avant-garde and nowhere is this better illustrated than the closing pair of recordings from Swedish singer
Turid on which tabla, gentle wah-wah guitar, upright bass and flute weave their way around her intoxicating
multi-tracked voice to chilling effect. FFF ends with a rendition of 'Teddy Bears Picnic'
by The Piggleswick Folk.
Need I say more?
Get them both but only let your kids listen to Fuzzy Felt Folk before
bedtime.
www.trunkrecords.com
www.delay68records.co.uk
Andy Morten
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Gaiety Records Story Vol. 2 (Pacemaker; CD)
Some years back, a very enjoyable and entertaining Gaiety Records Story CD
came my way. It's taken a long time to generate a Vol.2 but here it finally is. Don Grashey's Thunder Bay
based Canadian label (transplanted for some years to California before returning in 1969)
recorded like his peers, the teen talent of the day. Unlike many labels however, more recordings
ended up on other labels through licensing them out than were released on the label proper.
The disc is a snapshot of the local purveyors of the changing times. You have the earlier '60s chirpy,
optimistic innocence of The Plague's 'Only In America' followed by a much later psych '60s, 'Lies'
by Solid Reputation (a great band judging from their two tracks here). The bands featured are mainly
the same as on Vol.1, Checkerlads, Plague, Solid Reputation etc and spans the decade's changing musical
styles very well in good sound quality, from master tapes by the sound of it. The only bummer comes in
shape of a bad digital transfer on one track where a high pitched signal cuts into it for a few seconds.
I noticed the same thing happened on a track on one the New Rubble volumes a while back,
better quality control please chaps. Other than that, this is a very pleasing collection of pop,
garage, a bit of psych rock. If you liked Vol.1, expect more of the same.
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Listen To The Sky: The Others, Sands, Sun Dragon (Revola; CD)
This is another in the series predicated on the useful idea that you bunch
together everything that specific musicians did in different guises during the golden decade on one disc.
The recent Octopus CD for instance, Fallout's Tim Rice That's My Story worked
amazingly well. This one is rather more patchy, but nonetheless does its job.
The key musicians and songwriters here are Bob Freeman and Ian McLintock who began recording in a beat
group called The Others. Of the four tracks included, only 'I'm Taking Her Home' is an original
or draws the ear's attention (ED: What about 'Oh Yeah'????). As The Sands, they recorded four tracks.
Two of these are Rubble stalwarts in the form of their £245+ rated single, an excellent take
of the Brothers Gibb's 'Mrs Gillespie's Refrigerator' and the freak pop classic 'Listen To The Sky'.
The remaining two tracks are a lame version of 'River Deep, Mountain High' and the utterly brilliant
'Weddings Make Me Cry' which should have been a 45. It's a belter and one of the standout tracks
on the disc, just as popworthy as 'Mrs G's fridge'. Then when Freeman and McLintock started trading
as Sundragon, they got signed by the UK wing of MGM. This resulted in an LP
and a couple of singles, none of which did much. The Sundragon album, which forms the core of the CD
is a patchy affair which has me often pressing the skip button. It's nice to have an official
and well mastered version of the album available at last as it's considered a classic in some circles
and a pricey one as well. It upgrades my scratchy old CDR dub very nicely anyway. It's a pop duo
record not unlike The Young Idea's With A Little Help From My Friends album. The real keepers
are 'Peacock Dress', 'Far Away Mountain', 'Five White Horses', The Lemon Pipers' 'Blueberry Blue'
and 'Look At The Sun'. Their take on The Lemon Pipers' 'Green Tambourine' was released before
the Piper's own version in this country, but due to a strike at EMI's pressing
plant, it didn't make the shops before the original got out, which must have been galling. Of the others,
two more standouts for me are the two B sides issued on CBS in 1970 as High Noon 'Drivin', Drivin'
and 'Bring Back That Love Again' (the A Sides which aren't mentioned are 'Old Fashioned Feeling
and 'Dragonfly' respectively, in case you go single hunting). These are full, confident and solid rock
pop numbers with great melodies and vocals and really stand out. Stefan Granados as usual has written
some useful liners that sketched out the duo's (and their fellow musicians) career trajectory very well
and there's plenty of period pics and ephemera of course. Overall, a good package and well presented.
Musically patchy but there's certainly enough of quality to justify purchase. These sort of collections
work especially well for those with an insider's interest in writers as well as performers and should
be regarded as a historical documentary as much as a listening experience.
www.revola.co.uk
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Scream Loud!!!: The Fenton Story (Wayback; 3xLP / 2-CD)
A year or so ago, a collaboration of garage fanatics and owners of original Fenton
label 45s got together and compiled on two CD-Rs the bulk of their respective collections Fenton 45s content.
After a limited trading period on these (and with some of the most involved downloadable cover art ever
put together in this respect), it has now officially re-appeared on the garage reissuer, Wayback label.
I have the 3 x LP set and it's nothing short of stunning. Most of the songs here have appeared on
compilations before. If you own any of the Back From The Grave or probably one in any three of US
bands garage reissue comps, chances are you'll have Fenton singles on them. Fenton was a vanity label.
It offered its recording services to anyone who needed them and a custom pressing deal in the cost.
Usually these would be 100-200 copies, sold at gis or sent to radio stations, venues for gig getting etc.
This collection brings together virtually all of those and then some,
in excellent sound from what sound like ultra-clean copies of the 45s, not a crackle or a pop in earshot!
Both CD and vinyl editions feature exactly the same tracks, no short changing on the vinyl edition
which is to Wayback's credit. They have really done justice to these discs. Even if you know
many of the titles here, you haven't heard them sounds so good as this and all in one place.
The LP edition features the 61 tracks (by 32 bands) over 3 x180 grm LPs. Each LP ha sits own b/w picture
sleeve with detailed liner notes on the back which in turn are cased in a LP sized (obviously!) lidded box.
There's also a LP size print of label scans of all the 45s featured. If you're used to squinting
at grainy old b/w photos of long gone garage bands in tiny corners of CD booklets, then seeing them
enlarged to LP sleeve size is an almost moving experience. For me it entirely alters the listening
experience to have the music in its almost original medium with big photos that really lift
the detail for the eye. But CD only collectors will not be disappointed.
Even if the pictures are smaller, the info is all still there inside big fat booklets. So whose on
this then? The names tell their own story to the long of tooth in garageland; The Quests, Tonto &
The Renegades, The Jujus, Mussies, Aardvarks, Plagues, Fugitives, Beaux Jens, Jades, they're all here.
If you're a novice garage fan, you won't be sorry if you splash out on this set. The grave stricken
won't need prompting twice, go fetch! Wolfgang Voelkel's mailorder in Germany is probably the cheapest
place to source the vinyl edition at least and you can feast your easy on the packaging and check
the tracklisting at the web page below
http://www.rimpo.de/fenton.htm
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Sensacional Soul (Vampi Soul; 2-CD / 2-LP)
This one's great news for all fans of the El Soul Es Una Droga
or Blow Up series. Both CD and LP editions have the same track listing and the vinyl is 180
grm in a thick stiff gatefold sleeve. The set kicks off with Los Buenos's 'Groovy Woovy', which is
indicative of the contents as a whole, a very late mod period focused collection, every one a groover.
A sample of artists included are Los Pekeniques ('Tabasco'), Manuel Gas, Eurogroup, Jesse &
James, Grupo Anonimo, El Fin, Los Impala, Los Gritos, Z-66 and Los Hurricanes. You won't stop dancing
'til the needle lifts or your autochanger conks out!
www.vampisoul.com
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Sitar Beat: Indian Style Heavy Funk Vol.1 (Guerilla Reissues; CD)
Apparently, in its original vinyl format, this series ran to 28 volumes!
If this volume's anything to go by, I want the other 27 right now please! This is a set of songs,
tunes and edits that should appeal to all you La Beat Bespoke fans. It's eminently danceable
and it's groovy baby! The most well known thing on here is probably Anada Shanker's 'Dancing Drums'
from his 1974 Anandar Shankar and His Music LP (check it out on CD as well, it's just been reissued,
I've got an Indian Regal Zonophone vinyl reissue from years back) and maybe Klaus Dioldinger's 'Sitar Beat'.
All the tunes and grooves herein are '60s and '70s. Some are straight songs, others are Bollywood
film music edits but all of them have in common a groovy east meets west rhythm and beat.
This is an excellent collection of kickin' grooves which the subtitle
is not wholly incorrect in pigeonholing, but they are a great deal more than that as well.
Fascinating, enchanting and above all fresh in the ear (to me at least). It's a US product and I got
mine cheap from Caimen in California via Amazon UK (market place trader). It's well worth a punt
I tell's ya.
Paul Martin
VARIOUS
Tales From The Australian Underground Vol.2: 1977-1990 (Feelpresents; 2-CD)
This is a most welcome follow up to the double CD Vol.1 of a year or so ago.
Like its predecessor, Vol. 2 is choc full of the intriguing and arcane of a post punk, power pop and general
indie nature. Disc 1 kicks off with the bedrocks of Australian neo garage, Radio Birdman and The Saints.
There's no real reason to do this anymore, it's not as if they're unkown outside their own country!
I suppose it's a sense of homage or even guilt if not including them. Anyway, 'New Race' and 'Know
Your Product' start things off nicely. Next up is The Teenage Radio Stars' 'Wanna Be Your Baby' which is
essentially a reworking of The Vibrators' 'Baby, Baby'. The Thought Criminals' 'More Suicides Please'
sees more emulation, this time (to my ears anyway) of Howard Devoto era Buzzcocks, and none the worse
for that! The Singles' 'Love of Loves' is a corker that sounds not too dissimilar to the early Sunnyboys
(that's a big compliment), a strong rhythm guitar a good melody and a punky edge, cool stuff.
Amongst a host of largely great guitar led singles, there lurks the occasional synth protagonist.
I find this sort of thing irritatingly unwanted, but that's purely subjective and it is to compiler /
researcher Tim Pittman's credit that he has included some early and experimental electronic 45s such
as Severed Heads 'Dead Eyes Open' that help broaden the depth and pallet of the Ozzie underground in the
period identified. Moving to Disc 2 now and Salamandar Jim's 'Hot Cakes For Daddy' is a great favourite
of mine, kind of Cramps meet The Jesus and Mary Chain via Tom Waits and Hasil Adkins!!! Probably though,
like Primitive Calculators' 'Pumping Ugly Muscle' it owes more to The Birthday Party than anything
(they're here as well of course). My heart belongs to the biggest sounding guitar tracks however
and Proton Energy Pills' 'Less Than I Spend' really are all that. Excellent inclusion also of
Kim Salmon's 'Lightning Scary' which sports a chorus (if not the rapping verses) that will refuse to leave
your brain for days! The disc ends anticlimactically with Ed Kuepper's 'Everything I've Got'. Perhaps it
is a deliberate warm down, but that seems rather a timid end to such a high-energy collection overall.
In the round however, this is a cracking collection of high octane 45s ranging from the obscuros as mentioned
already through to the relative greats (Lime Spiders, Stems, Died Pretty, Saints, Radio Birdman).
There is also like Vol.1, a truly excellent 36 page book let packed with band biogs, recording info
and loads of colour and b/w pics of artists and record sleeves. Tim Pittman has produced another highly
successful labour of love and kudos to him and Feelpresents for getting this into the public domain.
It is a grade A example of a really intelligent archiving use of the digital medium.
www.feelpresents.com
Paul Martin
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Vanguard Folk Rock Album (Big Beat; CD)
Country & West Coast: The Birth Of Country Rock (Big Beat; CD)
Our friend Alec at Big Beat has assembled two comps of cool as heck folk and
country rock. Both are highly advised. As the title clearly suggests the first is a solid 22-track survey
of the legendary Vanguard's hipper roster: Patrick Sky, The Vagrants, Circus Maximus, Eric Anderson etc.
Highlights include the unreleased fuzz bass groove of Mimi Farina's 'Morgan The Pirate',
the primal 'You'll Never Know What It's In My Heart' (The Hi-Five), Circus Maximus's chiming
'Lost Sea Shanty' and 'Oops I Can Dance', Ian & Sylvia's solid 'January Morning', the fragile
'Up & Down' (The Serpent Power), Mimi & Richard Farina's classic 'Reno Nevada' and the
mystical reading of Phil Och's 'Changes' by Jonathan & Leigh. If Vanguard didn't quite achieve
the eclecticism of Elektra this CD alone is a testament to their ability at releasing some rather
good folk-rock and jangle.
Country & West Coast is an altogether more ambitious project,
as rather than pay tribute to a label it attempts to trace the emergence of a genre: country rock… and
it succeeds. Earlier sides by The Lovin' Spoonful ('Butchie's Tune'), The International Submarine Band
('Luxury Liner'), Gene Clark ('Tried So Hard') and The Byrds ('Time Between') set the scene whilst
slightly later cuts from everyone from The Everly Brothers to Poco and Michael Nesmith to Gram Parsons
show how country music had well and truly become part of rock's zeitgeist.
Some choices aren't obvious, but boy does it work. Along with enjoying faves old and new you'll
also get to discover The Corvettes "The Great Lost Country Rock combo". Finished off with a brilliant
essay this daring set has come up trumps! Undisputable.
www.ace.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Welsh Rarebeat (Finders Keepers; CD/LP)
Good on him. Gruff Rhys (lead singer of the amazing Super Furry Animals)
has done a lot for his nation and their unique tongue--Gruff has recorded two albums entirely in Welsh
and never hides his proud patriotism. As a result of his prominence, and taste, his passion for the Welsh
language Sain label has spread like an infection, being picked up by a number of hip music archaeologist
and vinyl vultures, resulting in these hand picked 25 cuts of the label's prog and folk 1970's heyday.
Compiled by Andy Votel, Dominic Thomas and the main man in question Gruff Rhys, it's a sometimes spooky,
occasionally plain weird and more often than not beautiful trawl through Wales' mystical musical legacy.
Great notes and a rather harrowing essay by Gruff make this one of the past few years most educational
and interesting compilations.
www.finderskeepersrecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
