BRIAN AUGER'S OBLIVION EXPRESS
A Better Land (Castle; CD)
     Rock? Prog? Americana? Soft-pop? Jazz? Music was a pervasive – no, persuasive – entity in '71. The cause or fault, depending which way you look at it, of the ever changing tastes of youth. Having returned to modern jazz after dabbling with pop/rock/psych with Jools, the young guns in Auger's Oblivion Express steered the seasoned old jazzer towards the rootsy American sounds of The Band and the laid back musings of the singer-songwriters, with an emphasis on lyrics and vocals. The mark of jazz still hangs over A Better Land with a funky sensibility, although a hippy back-to-the-country dope mellowed atmosphere swamps the album. It's all the better for it too.
     The best of Auger's early '70s efforts.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

CRESSIDA
Cressida/Asylum (Gott Discs; 2-CD)
     A Vertigo band almost forgotten, Cressida cut two albums in '70-'71. Angus Cullen's enunciated, polite vocals bring to mind the Englishness of Caravan, The Moody Blues, Fairfield Parlour and Nirvana. (Incidentally, Nirvana's Patrick Campbell-Lyons A&R'd for Vertigo and helped get the band signed). For the main part melodies stay close to pop, it's the jazz and classical flourishes which put them in the prog corner. And it's prog at its best: clever but not too pretentious. Musical but not too show off-ish.
     If you don't mind a few indulgences and like big melodic late '60s/early '70s productions Cressida deliver on all counts.
www.gottdiscs.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

BOBBY DARIN
Songs From Big Sur (Varese Sarabande; CD)
     I hope we have moved forward enough not to still be thinking of Bobby Darrin as merely a supper club crooner endlessly repeating his hit 'Mac The Knife'or indeed getting the jump on Tim Hardin by recording 'If I Were A Carpenter' before it's author did. The man was a walking jukebox. He represented and indeed 'was' American music every bit as much (but in very different ways) as Johnny Cash or Woody Guthrie for instance. Just listen to the kick off track, 'Baby May', a 1970 45 on his own Direction label. That's a singer-songwriter number if there ever was one (and Darrin was one). In 1968 following the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy (both idols for Darrin who campaigned on behalf of Kennedy), he ditched the toupee he always wore, retired to Big Sur and lived in a caravan writing his own material that went as much against the grain of his night club persona as is possible.
     He restyled himself 'Bob' Darrin and formed his own Direction label (listen to end track 'Monolog' in which he regales the audience with the story of how he came to form his own label). The end products were two socially probing albums 'Born Walden Robert Cassotto' (1968) and 'Commitment' (1969). Neither of these gems has ever been reissued and they deserve to be. What you get here are the highlights from both (especially 'Born...') plus eight previously unreleased tracks including live versions of 'Long-Line Rider' (about the disposal of dead convicts who were worked to death on the chain gangs in the deep south of the time). Then there are magic unreleased pop gems from the Atlantic vaults like 'My Baby Needs Me' (another Darrin original) and is every bit as soulful as any of his (perceivably) hipper peers. In short, this is I hope a primer for a more detailed reissue programme of unissued Darrin pop beauties from Atlantic's vaults and the proper reissuing of his entire Direction back catalogue, there is clearly some live material from the period available as well, so let's here it, the man deserves to have his music heard like this again.
www.varesesarabande.com
Paul Martin

DORIS DUKE
I'm A Loser: The Swamp Dogg Sessions… And More (Ace; CD)
     If you buy only one soul CD this year make sure that it's this.  The late soul champion Dave Godin claimed that Duke's '69 Swamp Dogg produced southern soul epic I'm A Loser was his favourite album! For someone as dedicated to the genre to make such a confession this has to be a seminal album. And it is. Duke, like many contemporaries from the Deep South, learnt her craft in the church; and her powerful performances echo this secular background. She's loud, expressive and above all soulful. What a voice! The ole Dogg's production and the playing from the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (including an explosive young Duane Allman on guitar) are also stupendous! Regaled with praise on it's release in '69, they knew it then and we know it now. This is a classic! (Duke's A Legend In Her Own Time ('71)is also included as a bonus and yes, it's good. But it's no I'm A Loser.)
     I'm A Loser is a soul album that everyone should have in his or her collection.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

KLAATU
Sir Army Suit/Endangered Species (BGO; CD)
     The mythology of "were they or weren't they The Beatles" had long been proven. By their third album in '78 Klaatu had punk and disco to contend with and needed to make a decision: were they a psychedelic Beatles parody or a contemporary '70s rock band? Sir Army Suit appears most uncertain. The ornate '67 orchestration, harpsichord and lilting harmonies of 'Chèrie' (absolutely wonderful as it is) makes a very strange bedfellow with the disco rock of 'Juicy Lucy' and more than one Spinal Tap-esque attempts at metal. Follow up, and final album, Endangered Species ('80) was even more uneven, featuring a convoluted mix of loud snare, active bass and funky pop-metal with sadly a paltry amount of the usual (and bloody decent) beautiful late '60s styled ballads. As great as they could be Klaatu just couldn't make the crossover. A schizophrenic, but at times thoroughly rewarding, ending.
     www.bgo-records.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mils

DENNIS MOST & AUDIOLOVE
Live At The El Cid, December 1976 (Captain Trip; CD)
     This set has been put out on the Japanese Captain Trip label and the insert comes with dual English/Japanese liner notes. The music has been licensed directly from Dennis Most and is an excellent example of a point in time. The El Cid is/was a restaurant/bar in Ludlow, Massachusetts. This seems to be a very good quality soundboard recording of a great piece of r'n'r. Remember this is the fag end of '76, just as punk was about to go national/international. The set you have here is what those bar bands who were not hip insiders but who had the taste to play carefully selected covers sounded like. American bands like this without changing a hair pretty soon changed audiences completely. Most recalls this occasion as a challenge the lame bar blues fare the small audience were used to. And you can hear why. Together with a clutch of originals, their immaculate choice of covers for late '76 speaks volumes Barrett's 'Lucifer Sam', The Stooges 'Down On The Street', Arthur Lee's 'Signed DC', The Standells 'Barracuda' and even a 1.52 version of 'Hot Smoke and Sassafras'. These are the kind of long-hairs that knew their music and knew their strengths. Great, strong throat shredding vocals and a kick-ass guitar player who could extemporise ad infinitum. A great set of period r'n'r, but also a snapshot of a moment pregnant with the musical promise of sub-cultural change. Strongly recommended.
www.captaintrip.co.jp
Paul Martin

THE NEWBEATS
Run Baby, Run (Ace; CD)
     The second volume in Ace's three volume set of Newbeats recordings pairs 1965's 'Run Baby Run' LP with a goodly collection of non-album 45s, all recorded between 1965 -1968. Unless you have a sentimental reason to enjoy it, I would not bother with the first 12 tracks that comprise the 1965 LP. They're all pedestrian covers 'Hang On Sloopy', 'Help', 'Satisfaction', 'Come See About Me', 'Oh! Pretty Woman' etc. The title track is its only redemption. However, tracks 13 to 27 feature a lot of great songs, despite Larry Henley's irritating squeaky falsetto lead vocal (on every single track! - he actually had a very rich baritone singing voice outside of this, a pity it wasn't utilised on any of their singles). The gems to listen for here are the 45 version of the title track, 'Crying My Heart Out', 'Evil Eva' (crap title, great song), 'Top Secret', 'Swinger' (as of '68 the songs got a little more edgy), 'Bad Dreams', 'Michelle De Anne', 'I've Been A Long Time Loving You' and 'The Girls And The Boys'. The Newbeats' style on the singles is one that straddles the white pop/blue-eyed soul crossover spectrum.
     Good tunes and great arrangements and if you can get beyond the unyielding falsetto you'll get a lot out of the singles if not the LP.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

ROGER NICHOLS & THE SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends (Rev-Ola; CD)
     The sweetest cherry pie and ice cream, this '67 pop confection conjures up a cool breeze of childhood memories, of summers past spent playing contentedly in meadows: a time filled with laughter and joy. If cinematic, it'd have been shot in bold Technicolor starring the little kid from Gentle Ben. It's the ultimate life-affirming feel-good album, embodying the harmonic clarity and clever arrangements of the soft-pop/sunshine pop movement. It might even be the sub-genre's finest achievement. Pet Sounds and The Beatles changed everything, and the stamps of both are all over this album (Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher co-wrote a number of songs, Nichols' melodic bass echoes Carol Kay's signature Pet Sounds approach and Macca's revolutionary '65-'67 lines, and The Beatles themselves are represented by the trio's gentle versions of     'With A Little Help From My Friends' and 'I'll Be Back') but Nichols had his own ideas too. Not as deep as Wilson. Not as rock as The Beatles. Not as MOR as Bacharach. You get the picture? This little artefact was as hip as it was square. As easy as it was psychedelic. The cover depicts hippy, but the hair was short. It crossed boundaries juxtaposing cultures and genres. Swinging bachelor dinner party freak-outs abounded.
     On a serious note, it really is mind blowing. Whereas cloying acid rock solos have dated badly (even if I do love 'em) The Small Circle Of Friends possesses so much more modernity. It's calculated and scored to mathematic precision – yet there wasn't a computer in sight! The vocals are angelic and the playing groovy in the best possible taste. Just have a listen to the semi-psych wonder 'Snow Queen'. Forgot the factual elements such as what Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks had to do with the project, just take my word for it, this is truly beautiful and at not cost should you pass it by.
     A sweet taste for the ears in a bitter world.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils / It'll Shine When It Shines (BGO; 2-CD)
     I was turned onto this fine A&M roster country-rock band last year after hearing Varese Vintage's 'early years' demos CD. Their subtle blend of goodtime country-rock and acoustic harmony laden balladry, all topped off with a radio friendly pop sensibility impressed me instantly. The first two albums The Ozark Mountain Daredevils ('73) and It'll Shine When It Shines ('74) have now also been packaged together: and they're essential listening for anyone partial to the mellow, rustic, hippy vibes of the early '70s. Produced by the legendary Glyn Johns the standards are as high as you'd expect. Although each album may lose pace with a few misplaced and pedestrian songs a skip and a jog will get you back on track. We just have to accept that even the best early '70s bands thought it was clever to add a few lumpen boogie tracks to their records… thankfully, in the wooden shacks of camp Ozark mistakes were rectified.
     Something for everyone… and a whole lot of beard.
www.bgo-records.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

PLASTIC CLOUD
Plastic Cloud (Pacemaker; CD)
     Long since one of Canada's well-known late 60s albums, The Plastic Cloud were a four-piece group of 20+ers who laid some pretty groovy psych sounds to wax. Period extemporised guitar parts ('Shadows of Your Mind', Civilization Machine') with occasionally harmonised vocal numbers ('Art's A Happy Man', 'Bridge Under The Sky') make it a classic of its time and place. Pacemaker have reissued it here with a 20 page booklet that reproduces the lyrics to all the album's songs, band biography and a few b/w photos (but no extra tracks alas). If you're a fan of both melodic and reflective late '60s sounds and like a well played bit of acid guitar in the mix, this should be your choice.
     A beautiful, self-contained album and all-too deserving of reissue.
lionproductions@earthlink.net
Paul Martin

KENNY ROGERS AND THE FIRST EDITION
Anthology (Redline; CD)
     The redneck Buffalo Springfield? Not quite. But The First edition (formed as a splinter from The New Christy Minstrels in early '67) did make a fair amount of decent pop records that embraced country-pop, folk-rock, soul and psychedelia. This bite sized anthology skims the surface, featuring album tracks recorded between '67 and '71, including the superb psych-rocker 'I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)'.
www.cherryredrecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE SEARCHERS
BBC Sessions (Sanctuary; 2-CD)
     For Unearthed Merseybeat fans, this double set will be a treasure trove of memories and discoveries. Culled from various editions of Saturday Clubbetween 1965 and 1967, the discs interweave BBC recorded sessions with vignette type interviews (mainly with Brian Matthews). You can chart the rise of the band through the Chris Curtis years (He does all the interviews to start with) and then hear discussion about his departure and move into the post Curtis years where Mike Pender and Frank Allen get to do the yak. Musically we move from American inspired folk music ('What Have They Done To The Rain') through the janglier pop and post Mersey beat stylings but never anything too adventurous. A pity their best later number 'Umbrella Man' isn't present but 'Popcorn Double Feature' is and that's my fave on this set. Overall, a rather flat sounding collection in the round to my ears although later numbers on disc two like 'Goodbye, So Long', 'I Don't Believe' and 'I'll Be Loving You' are somewhat better. Pity they peaked just when they started to get interesting.
     Anyway, for Mersey music historians and Searchers fans the set is a must, not least for the archive interview material. For the generalist though, there's not enough to lift it above the ordinary.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Paul Martin

THE STALK FORREST GROUP
St Cecilia: The Californian Album (Radioactive Records; CD)
     Man, do I love this. The whole talented teenage band on a trip shaboom.
     Having fooled around with a few names before settling on this sobriquet it wasn't long until they landed some demo sessions that were recorded for Elektra in late '69/'70. Unfortunately these quality recordings didn't result in a release, but with a name change to The Blue Oyster Cult success was only around the corner.
     The Stalk Forrest Group's influences are clear – The Byrds, The Who, the guitar duels of Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Grateful Dead and the pop tone of The Beatles – but the manner in which they sung and structured their unique psych rock pieces are perhaps more comparable to Nazz and Powder – two other US bands indebted to The Who and mod anglo psych-pop. At times the brilliantly played guitar solos are truly overdone – great nevertheless – and there are a few too many clever key changes; but then, this was the late '60s! Acid rock was in full bloom. Yet The Stalk Forrest Group were far from a standard acid rock band. Their lyrics are playful, melodies wonderful… and I for one just adore the wise, arrogant, UK psych styled vocals.
     This gem has been on rotation for months at SD towers, and I designate it as the album of the month. Essential psych rock. Not to be missed.
www.radioactiverecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

TEDDY & THE PANDAS
Once Upon A Time (North Shore Soundworks; 2CD)
     New England based teen-band Teddy & The Pandas played alongside The Beach Boys and Dave Clark Five. They released the Basic Magnetism album on Tower, going against the grain of their contemporaneous Bosstown bands. And over a two year period grew from Brit wannabe mop tops and blue eyed soulsters to groovy psych-bubblegum comic endorsed hopefuls.
     This, as do all of the North Shore non-profit releases, gathers together each and everything that the band recorded.     So okay, the art may be substantial and the packaging basic, but you can't complain about the wealth of music (in this instance, an extra CD of unheard demos and alt takes is even included) and the in depth liner notes by SD staff writer Mike Dugo.
     If the early 45s appropriate the melodic end of the Brit Invasion in a pleasant but unrewarding manner the Basic Magnetism album displays a commercially confident band, that like The Monkees and Raiders, embraced garage/psych fuzz with toothy smiles destined to win over the teenage audience's mothers. A couple of years made all the difference in the late '60s. It's a great album too and it deserves a proper reissue. Perhaps too saccharine with ball sacks close too the body for the "real" garage crowd (whoever they may be), but we at Shindig! are suckers for a big pop element. You do of course realise that McFly will inevitably grace Pebbles #101?
www.NorthShoreSoundworks.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THREE DOG NIGHT
Three Dog Night/Suitable For Framing (Gott Discs; CD)
     'One' really is a superb album opener. And having three powerful front men another plus. The catch is: Three Dog Night weren't writers and however blindingly cool their heavy-pop arrangements of 'Heaven In Your Mind' and 'The Loner' are, you wish for more. Even if the Hammond and fuzz (supplied by the band that backed Kim Fowley on the superb Outrageous album) and Hutton's, Negron's and Wells' voices add up to a winning formula, there was nothing new. A lack of songs didn't stop them conquering American though! Second album Suitable For Framing offers more variation in tempo: Elton John's 'Lady Samantha' is a highlight, as is a moody take on the Hair tune 'Easy To Be Hard'. Danny Hutton even got an original on the album too, and 'Dreaming Isn't Good For You' is a delicious bubbly pop-psych stomp!    
     Some truly great performances and grooves throughout, only let down by the wannabe soul men stance and reliance on outside material.
www.gottdiscs.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 4 (Kent; CD)
     Tragically, this will be the final instalment in this highly praised series as Dave Godin died not long after this volume was completed. Godin's impact on soul music in Britain is summed up by Kevin McCardle's introduction to this volume: "Dave Godin changed my life". You can't get more straight forward than that. The four volumes in this series straddle the divide between the well known and the rare and obscure. This fourth volume on first sight of the track lists might seem a little surprising. Why do we need Irma Thomas's 'Time Is On My Side', The Miracles' 'The Tracks of My Tears', Clarence Carter's 'Dark End Of The Street' or Garnet Mimms' 'My Baby' here? Aren't these over compiled and well known enough? Isn't this about rare soul for specialists? Well, perhaps Kent are playing on the success of the series to attract a wider audience base by including overly familiar tunes. However, that would be a cynical view. Godin did not make those kinds of distinctions. And he was probably right not to. In the company they're given, the tracks mentioned above are paired back to what they essentially are, deep soul songs and they sound right at home. It serves to illustrate how when de-contextualised and repeatedly inserted into 'hits of the 60s' type affairs, such songs lose their roots through commercial over use. Here they are heard for what they are and all the better for it.
     On the rarity side, there are two key finds in unissued sides by Jaibi, one of Godin's faves. Her duet with 'Lawrence' is pleasant enough, but it is her solo 'It Was Like A Nightmare' that really hits home, what a beauty. Speaking of which, The Webbs 'It's So hard To Break A Habit' has to be my favourite track of the comp, a beautiful vocal group deep soul affecter that will leave you weak. Elsewhere Black Velvet's 'Is it Me You Really Love?' and the gritty, tough hard-life, hard-woman lyric of Doris Duke's 'I Don't Care Anymore' remind us that deep soul is essentially an adult musical idiom, it's a music you need to have lived a while to understand as it maps the emotional depths of our innermost feelings. In which vein Gladys Knight & The Pips offer up what must be the absolute pinnacle of their early career in 'Giving Up'. You find yourself begging her not to.
     In the round then, another winner of a compilation and a fitting epitaph to the taste and emotional musical connectedness of Godin himself. Rather like John Peel, in his own sphere, we shall not see his like again. But he has at least left us important and worthwhile lessons to learn and pass on. Amen.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word (Delay 68; CD)
     "Folk-Funk? Electric Folk? Hippy-Rock? Acid Folk? Sunshine-Pop? Folk-Fusion? Folksploitation?" This compilation, the first release from Delay 68 Records, seems be coining genres just to knock 'em down. Essentially what we've got here is a pretty wide sweep through the world of late '60s/early '70s obscure and underground folk rock – an international Rubble album of strange folk if you like – with only a couple of familiar names to help point this listener in the right direction.
     If those acts, The Poppy Family and Wendy & Bonnie (with their Super Furry Animals sampled 'By The Sea'), represent the "Sunshine-Pop" element then at the other end of the spectrum, Spanish collective Musica Dispersa's ramshackle 'Cefalea' comes on like a tranced-out campfire sing-song - you can almost see the sprites dancing in the flames. For pure girl-on-guitar thrills things don't get much more sublime than Linda Perhacs' crystalline '(Hey Now) Who Really Cares?' though Bonnie Koloc's spirited 'My Aunt Edna' comes close. The obligatory funky drummers make themselves known on Kathy Smith's 'It's Taking So Long' and Sidan's 'Ar Goll' which also boast electric piano and wah-wah guitar respectively and come about as close to regular rock arrangements as you'll find here. Heaven & Earth's 'Jenny' may just be the highlight of the set though - the achingly beautiful female harmonies and subtly psychedelized backing track are a marriage made in heaven.
     And finally we have The Roundtable's 'Scarborough Fair', an unashamedly gonzoid slice of instrumental high-jinks that seems to have been the result of a team of crack jazz session men stumbling back into the studio after a liquid lunch to cut an exploitation album of folk standards. With drum solos. Lord alone knows what we can expect from Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word. Sabbath on dulcimers?
     Thrilling stuff.
www.delay68records.co.uk
Andy Morten

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Instrumental Explosion (BGP; CD)
     Rudland does it again. And boy oh boy, am I grateful. Opening with Detroit City Limits' '98 Cents Plus Tax', an old fave from my teenage mod years, this 20 track set keeps moving until the last cut. Featuring admired classics and obscurities galore it's more of a superb early hour's deejay set than a CD compilation. Defining drum breaks, slinky Hammond, jazzy horns, gritty R&B and sexy funk grooves are guaranteed.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Renfro Soul Story: Priceless Los Angeles Northern Soul (Kent; CD)
     And judging by the array of talent on this shiny five incher, it certainly is. Anthony Renfro was a budding singer but on advice from Little Richard and Sam Cooke no less, took to initiating his own label instead. And thanks be to them for that advice as this disc contains some stunning soul vibes. All recorded in 1966 and '67, these are all class recordings and acts. Helen Moore's haunting 'Get Away Blues' or big windy city type numbers like 'Bobby Wisdom's 'Handwriting On The Wall' are wonderful to hear. The Attractions' 'Why Shouldn't A Man Cry' is a brilliant Motown-like dancer but so much more polished than many of that labels imitators of the time. Similarly Morris Chestnut's 'You Don't Love Me No More' hits that same beloved spot. Carl Henderson's 'See What You've Done' is a funky broadway type mover and The Stunners 'Nobody But Me' is a lovely mid-paced glider. Horns to the fore and quality song writing and artists make this an absolute must have soul collection, I can't stop playing it!
www.acerecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shindig!…We Set The Scene (Sanctuary CD)
     Indeed we do! Shindig's very own Messrs Mills and Morten got their sweaty mitts on Sanctuary's archive and this is what they surfaced with. It's a sometimes eclectic but always big sounding collection of songs from 1966-'74 which mirror the wide range of musical interests of Shindig! Magazine's readers, e-group members and website visitors themselves. Not a niche so much as a gully!
     So here you will make exciting discoveries such as the (just) pre-Status Quo Traffic Jam's garage intense take on 'I Don't Want You' (more famously rendered by The Anteeeks) from a Brian Matthew Top of The Pops radio show rubbing shoulders with Colosseum's 'The Kettle'. There's stuff you might know already such as Guy Darrell's 'Evil Woman' (recently comped on Volume 3 of Past & Present's New Directions series) and the enigmatic Tuesday's 'Sewing Machine' (from Fading Yellow 5), but here they're all in top-notch sound direct from the master tapes. Indeed it's intriguing to learn from the useful bite-size entries on each act that comprise the liner notes that the top side of Tuesday's charmer is a full-on boogie rocker. With such disparate styles on just two sides of their one 7", I'm more than curious to hear what the other 20 odd tracks by them currently hibernating in Sanctuary's vaults might sound like. Conversely, Stray's contribution is a beautiful almost pop flavoured number in 'Mama's Coming Home', not at all like the sluggish churnings of their revamp of 'Move It' that I remember as a pre-punk teen and it sounds earlier than its 1972 vintage.
     There's a very full and flavoursome aural texture weaving its way throughout this bubbly disc. Toytown tastes like Sounds Around's 'Red, White And You' and 1984's 'This Little Boy' bounce along more than nicely with day-glow harmony pleasers like the obscure Strangers' take on The Hollies' 'Step Inside', replete with fuzz guitar break. Then there's the funk-rock soul sirens in the form of Blue Mink's Madeline Bell on their 'Jubilation' and the seductive vocalising of Ruth Copeland backed by an early and well cooking Funkadelic on 'Your Love Been So Good To Me' from her 1969 Self Portrait album. Orch-pop and popsike fans will rejoice in Julian Brooks's (formally half of the Julian Kirsch) 'Justine' and prog-sike cusp riders will go over the top for Spice's pre-Uriah Heep 'Celebrate'.
     It's a big rainbow to ride and it's a wild trip as well. In summation, I can only paraphrase a famous 70s TV ad: "It's ass-kicking, finger-licking, hip-hugging, hair tugging, freak-dancing, power prancing, poptastic, gymnastic, ear alluring, long enduring, time tripping, beat flipping, pepper-hot Shindig!" Buy it and have a party of your own in your headphones!
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Top Of The Dial: A Swingin' Trip Through 60s Kiwi Radio (EMI NZ; CD)
     Another great CD reissue from EMI New Zealand aimed squarely at the domestic market. This little beauty collects in its 49 tracks, 22 (mainly) great pop and beat 45s from the masters and intersperses them with jingles by and interviews withleading New Zealand pop talent of the day. Thus you can hear an irate Alison Durbin take a side swipe at her NZ record label for not releasing her Australian hit 'He's Bad, Bad, Bad' 45 at the same time in NZ, opting as they did instead for a cover of 'Sha La La La Lee' – "It's an album track" she opines. The radio station concerned was Radio Hauraki which, judging by the photos on the inlay, broadcast offshore from a ship (sound familiar?) beginning in November 1966 (the CD kicks off with a test transmission) and ends rather ignomiously by floundering on the rocks - the CD ends with the abandoning of the ship as we here it breaking up on the rocks (a photo shows the crew awaiting rescue the following day), in January 1968. This would mean the station lasted for the duration of 1967, from which year presumably most of the DJ soundbites and radio spots are taken. The total absence of any history of the station in the liners however makes this a pure guess. Being a purely domestic product there is an assumed prior knowledge or at least a passing one of the station's existence let alone importance which leaves non Kiwis at a loss! The station's Keith Richardson seems to have been big in the iced tea scene, at least judging by the number of ads he made about it, perhaps Liptons was a major sponsor?? An afterthought type of blurb in the liners notes that: "For details on A Fresh Pacific Wind: The Radio Hauraki Story CD, contact Dave Miller". Whether this is the same Dave Miller of 'Mr Guy Fawkes' fame is not stated, nor is any kind of contact address for him that is a shame as I am quite sure the Radio Hauraki story is one worth knowing.
     Musically, you get a good range of period pop, much of which will be relatively new even to those with a sizable welter of 60s Kiwi sounds on their shelves. Troubled Mind's 'Under My Thumb' is a great re-working of the Stones' paean to sexism, no slavish copy this; likewise The Dallas Four's 'Sitting In The Park' is not just another pretty cover of the Billy Stewart song but has a foreboding undertow that makes it something else entirely. In a similar vein Classic Affair's take on Love's 'My Little Red Book' adds a distinctly disorienting musical sub rhythm that gives it a new twist. The Surfires' 'Flying Saucers' is not the novelty tune that you might think it to be (although Sandy Edmonds's 'I Like Onions' most certainly is). There are also covers such as The Action's 'Try A Little Tenderness' though their take on 'Hound Dog' is not conventional.
     In general, this is fascinating stuff both musically and culturally. Both a self-contained spotlight on a moment in time and yet frustratingly devoid of history and context of the station and staff themselves. Therefore if you seek this one out, you're just going to have to track down Dave Miller for that 'history of the station' CD as well, why didn't they release this as a double CD set? Happy hunting!
www.eminzmusic.co.nz
Paul Martin

ROBIN WILLIAMSON
Myrrh (Beat Goes On; CD)
     Released in '72 Myrrh was Williamson's first solo album. Cut at the same time as musical partner's Mike Heron's commercial pop rock album Smiling Men With Bad Reputations Williamson's effort was much more in keeping with The Incredible String Band mould of old. In fact, Myrrh was more ISB than the band's own recent albums, which had steadily been progressing toward an acceptable rock format. Eschewing electric instrumentation in favour of ancient Celtic and Middle Eastern stringed instruments, pipes, whistles, pump organ and piano, the singer's trademark vocal gymnastics sore above the spooky arrangements alternating between folk, country, blues and Arabic phrasing. It's not an easy listen, especially for the uninitiated, and the mystical/literary lyrics fry the mind. But hey, what were you expecting? Elton John?
     You'll either love or hate this, depending on how you feel about the ISB, but whichever viewpoint you take there's no denying its cerebral acid-folk qualities.
www.bgo-records.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

CAMILLE YARBROUGH
The Iron Pot Cooker (Vanguard Masters; CD)
     Fatboy Slim's recent sample of 'Take Yo' Praise' has gained poet and singer, amongst other things, Camille Yarbough a new lease of life. The Iron Pot Cooker ('75) is a highly politicised product, and very much of its time. Although in all honesty the things she sings of haven't greatly changed. Mainly spoken word backed by atmospheric avant garde funky blues folk it makes for an invigorating and poignant half hour listening experience.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE YOUNGBLOODS
Beautiful! Live In San Francisco, 1971 (Sundazed; CD)
     The Youngbloods were still riding high on the belated chart success of their 1966 interpretation of 'Get Together' when they cut this live-in-the-studio set for San Francisco Bay Area station KSAN at the tail end of 1971. Of their last three albums, Rock Festival and Ride The Wind had been live efforts which largely disowned the blissed-out sunshine pop of 1968's exquisite Elephant Mountain in favour of meandering jazz-tinged workouts and traditional folk and blues standards while Good And Dusty's reliance on uninspired cover versions failed to show the band in the kind of light they so plainly deserved.
     It's therefore all the more refreshing to hear this newly unearthed recording which catches the legendary S F foursome in an altogether more exuberant mood, firing on all cylinders as they tackle a dozen selections opening with the recent country smash 'Six Days On The Road' and closing with an impassioned 'Get Together'. Fortunately, head 'blood Jesse Colin Young's songs dominate with the funky 'Dreamboat', the delicious 'Josianne' and the self-explanatory 'Country Home' all rendered light-as-air by Young's sun-kissed vocals and Lowell 'Banana' Levinger's Wurlitzer electric piano. Banana's companion instrumental pieces 'On Sir Francis Drake' and 'On Beautiful Lake Spenard' evoke those balmy early 70s Marin County evenings perfectly. Only the central pairing of banjo showcase 'Interlude' and a ragged 'Old Dan Tucker' lacks focus, interrupting the flow of this fascinating and enjoyable document.
www.sundazed.com
Andy Morten

SHORT CUTS
     El Hombre Trajeado'sShlapis a faboroonie. 12 tracks in 28 minutes of progressive jazz rock into kraut rock instrumentalism. All counter rhythms and fat percussion with occasional half mumbled lyrics. Great stuff, for some reason I could listen to this sort of thing all day. Meanwhile Jersey's The Cryptics want you to get into a Mexican dance of the dead mode with theirReturn of The Magnificent Four album. Skulls in hats and suits on the front and empty tequila bottles on the back adequately summarise the Texicana road house band feel of their music (see their track also on the Bompilation comp reviewed elsewhere). Hardest hitters are 'Who I Am' and 'Pretty Face' www.bareknucklerecords.com.
     Butterscott's Throwing Meatloaf At The Sun is one of Rev-Ola's more 'outsider' sets. The best number is the kick off which Alan McGee was interested in putting out as a 45, 'Bubblegum Man', a very catchy tune indeed. However a lot of the rest of this set treads rather too navel gazing a path. Sounds like it was made for the pleasure of it rather than with an audience in mind. No doubt Brute Force fans will fins something of sustenance in it though. Respect to Mark Wirtz for all his past glories, but alas Love Is Eggshaped - The Soundtrack does not conform to those heady days. Unless it's for some other specific reason, it just sounds cheap, all parping synths and syn-drums. Maybe I'm missing something and apologies if I am, but it just didn't register. . www.revola.co.uk
     Originally issued on Fountain of Youth records, The Crippled Pilgrims'Down Here: Collected Recordings 1983-1985 (Reaction; CD) is straight indie pop, no 60s references at all. Sounds reminiscent of the early Cure in parts 'Down Here' and 'So Clean' in particular are pretty good, but most of this goes under my radar which, as arch CP fanatics Geoff Merrit and Rick Menck will tell you in the liners, is what happened to them (unjustly in their opinion) the first time round. Good period indie pop to be sure, anything more? You decide. www.parasol.com/labels/reaction/reactcd004.asp
     Lou Christie's recordings for MGM in 1965-'66 are collected on RPM's new CD Original Sinner. Not as interesting as his earlier recordings with the Tammys (I love them! And also on RPM), it nevertheless puts everything in one place from the period. It kicks off (don't all his anthologies?) with 'Lightnin' Strikes' and just covers the ground form then on. Useful for Christie fans probably less than essential for anyone else. Kenny Lynch finally gets the anthology treatment onNothing But The Real Thing: The Best of 1960-69. Now Kenny was a prime mover in the UK '60s music biz and has still to garner the full kudos he deserves for that. However, his strength lay in his song writing ability rather than his singing. Not that he has a bad voice, he doesn't at all. It's just that all the songs here make you think, if only Sharon Tandy or Wayne Fontana or whoever were singing that. They all sound like they have been written for someone else and Kenny's just dubbing a guide vocal on for reference. A shame really as there are many fine soul-pop numbers like 'Harlem Library' and 'My Own Two Feet' not to mention quirky novelty numbers like 'Puff (Up In Smoke)'. A lot of good songs if others had recorded them. Nonetheless, good production makes the disc your own reference for the songs, think who you'd like to hear singing them! www.rpmrecords.co.uk
     Finally, Sanctuary have reissued Marianne Faithfull's '75 country ballad album Dreamin' My Dreams. Probably not to the taste of Shindig! Readers per se, but for Faithfull fans a welcome disc. The songs are slow and languid, full of country piano and wistful vocals. www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk.