=  January 2010  =

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Written by:

Simon Lewis (Editor)

 Jeff Penczak

 Phil McMullen

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CIRCULATORY SYSTEM – SIGNAL MORNING

(CD  from www.cloudrecordings.com)

Seven years in the making, featuring all the members of Olivia tremor Control, Plus Members of Neutral Milk Hotel, this album could either have been a pile of over-indulgent nonsense or a rather wonderful modern psych classic. Well, as you can guess from its appearance in the reviews section, the latter is the case, the participants pulling out all the stops to produce a collection that is imaginative, infectious, surreal, dense and charged with lysergic atmosphere. Cramming seventeen songs onto the disc means that there is not excess, no long rambling pieces, instead, the music changes pace and identity with bewildering speed, reminding of the Beatles, Flaming Lips, Dukes of Stratosphear, The Monkees, the effect much the same as the first time I heard “A Wizard A True Star”, Todd Rundgren's Masterpiece, and one this album easily stands comparison with.

     With a disc as varied as this, it seems almost churlish to highlight individual tracks, but “This Morning (We Remembered Everything)” is a standout track, a swirling psychedelic epic, with strings and woodwind rattling through the mix, the whole thing sounding as though it would be right at home on “Sergeant Pepper”, whilst the following track “Tiny Concerts” slows things down, drifting idly across the room with perfumed ease. This is, indeed, one of the albums strengths, the fact that each track follows beautifully from the previous, each one engaging the listener completely, making this an album easy to get lost in especially when listening through headphones.

   Also worthy of note, the heavenly string, brass and quietly fuzzed guitar of “Solid Forms Dissolving”, are the sounds of Syd Barrett Playing modern jazz in 1972, with arrangements that have a touch of Ian Carr about them. Of Course, you may hear something completely different, as may I, next time I play this remarkable album, which may well be very soon as it gets better every time, a phenomenon that hopefully will not wear off until it becomes an old friend. (Simon Lewis)

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Christopher Hjort – So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day 1965-1973

(Book from Jawbone)

Retrospective diaries are nothing new – The Beatles, Jawbone’s own Velvet Underground tome, and The Monkees are just a few of the artists given this special treatment. Norwegian musicologist Hjort even used the format in his previous publications on the British Blues scene (Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and The British Blues Boom 1965-1970) and Jeff Beck (Jeff's Book: A Chronology of Jeff Beck's Career, 1965-1980: from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock). Until now, Johnny Rogan’s Timeless Flight books have been accepted as the definitive Byrds biographies, but completists and novitiates alike will still want to add this to their music library. It’s like reading half a dozen biographies at once, with extensive details on the early “pre-Flyte” careers of McGuinn (with the Chad Mitchell Trio and Bobby Darin), Clark (with The New Christy Minstrels with Barry McGuire), Hillman (Scottsville Squirrel Barkers), White (Kentucky Colonels and The Country Boys, who appeared on The Andy Griffith Show), Battin (Skip & Flip), Crosby (Les Baxter’s Balladeers), et. al.

While much has been written on the band – over 100 titles grace the bibliography, including (auto)biographies of Crosby, Clark, and Parsons, and dozens of contemporary articles and interviews, if it’s been published, Hjort no doubt consulted it and placed the facts and accounts into chronological order for you, so you don’t have to spend a fortune buying the other books or tracking down obscure, out-of-print magazines and newspaper clippings. I also like the way Hjort puts the band’s events into their proper cultural context by including details  of current events occurring around them. His detailed accounts transport you back in time so you actually feel like you’re there – it’s better than getting into Peabody and Sherman’s WABAC machine!

We sometimes forget The Byrds started as a dance band, packing the floors and honing their craft during residencies at nightclubs like Ciro’s Le Disc in Hollywood. It was their popularity here, playing upwards of five sets a night that drew rave reviews in the local press and attracted the attention of the Hollywood cognoscenti (including Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Sonny & Cher, Lenny Bruce, Kim Fowley, et.al.) as well as local impresario Lloyd Thaxton, who was so impressed he invited them onto his popular local program, which was syndicagted around the country in nearly 100 cities. This exposure surely helped break the band nationally only two weeks after their debut single, ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ was released on April 12, 1965. Even Dylan was impressed. “They do it well” was his typically terse response. This is only one of the thousands of tidbits that Hjort unveils in his meticulously researched diary of one of America’s best (and best-loved) bands. For example, Hjort reports that Jim Dickson, manager of the then-named Jet Set got his hands on an acetate of ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ back in August, 1964 and weighed his options of which of his charges he would offer it to. By deciding on the Jet Set, the Clarence White-led Kentucky Colonels missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime, but Mr. White’s career (and place in the Byrds’ tale) was by no means over!

This fun and informative read will fill all you “Byrdmaniax” with giddy nostalgia as they read about contemporary releases and concert bills, noting that The Byrds shared stages with the cream of the rock world, from The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones, to The Kinks, Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Van-era Them, Butterfield Blues Band, and many other bands that would weave their way into the Byrds story, such as Buffalo Springfield. Definitive gig listings and recording session information puts you onstage with the band and in the studio where you can experience first-hand, how the albums and singles came together. Contemporary gig reviews (some from such scarce sources as local college newspapers) put you right in the club where you can practically smell the perspiration…and herbal supplements!

Some tasty tidbits scattered throughout: their debut gig (4/2/65) was booked by Lenny Bruce’s mother as part of orientation services at East Los Angeles College – their next gig was at a bowling alley in front of 20 people; The Byrds were the first rock band to record in Nashville and play the Grand Ole Opry (March, 1968) and the first rock band to play at NYC’s esteemed jazz club, The Village Gate (October, 1966); Bryan MacLean served as the roadie on their first Midwestern tour before joining Arthurly in Love after  the band left for their first (albeit disastrous) UK tour; the band drove to their first out-of-town gig (S.F.) in a ’56 Ford station wagon they bought from Odetta; The Byrds were one of the first bands to have their music played during a Catholic “rock and roll mass” (1967); Donovan wrote ‘Breezes of Patchulie’ “as a tribute to The Byrds’ style of singing”; George Harrison copped McGuinn’s guitar riff on ‘Bells of Rhymney’ for ‘If I Needed Someone’; the audience screams on ‘So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’ were dubbed by Derek Taylor at a gig in Bournemouth, where the band played two shows (with support from Van and Them) on the same day The Beatles played Shea Stadium (15/8/56); Chris Hillman passed out from an acute asthma/bronchitis attack backstage at the band’s first British performance (in Nelson, Lancashire) and needed a shot of penicillin to go on; you’ll also get Gary Usher’s official explanation for why Gram Parsons original vocals were excised from Sweetheart of The Rodeo, who inspired McGuinn’s trademark granny glasses, why he changed his name, and much more.

You’ll also get an inside peek at the horrible, ego-maniacal backstabbing, buttkissing and general petty bickering between the SF and LA factions that threatened to derail the Monterey International Pop Festival before it began, as well as a very interesting account of the pissing contest between the US Musicians Union and their UK counterparts over the Americans’ jealousy that their charts were flooded with UK acts. This causes quite a few difficulties for the band’s initial August ’65 UK visit and demonstrates the spoiled brat immaturity of these so-called unions that shamelessly claim they’re aiding the musicians!

The book is presented mostly as a chronological compendium of facts, although there is little critical analysis. This is not really a critical survey of their career, rather more of a “who,” “what,” “when,” and “where” with very little “why.” Another pet peeve is that Hjort didn’t talk with any of the band members, relying on second- and third-hand interviews and articles. The complete gigography is helpfully listed alphabetically by country/city, so if you remember where you saw them, but can’t remember when, you’ll have no trouble tracking down a specific concert. However, I think that the absence of a discography (and Skip Battin’s exclusion from the Index) is inexcusable, as is any discussion of unofficial, “bootleg” recordings made at the various gigs, particularly during their early UK tour or during their formative years as the house band at Ciro’s.  While numerous reviews (both domestic and overseas) criticise the band’s live performances, claiming they can’t match their studio output, they always seem bored and lazy onstage, they don’t communicate with the audience, they often arrive late and play short sets and, in general, are “pathetic…dull…definitely a miss…”, it would have been nice to be directed to audience recordings from some of these shows so we can decide for ourselves (admittedly in the basking sunlight of 20/20 ears) just how “bad” they were.

So while much of this material may be available elsewhere, it’s to Hjort’s credit that he compiles such a seemless accumulation of details into chronological order – again, you’d have to scour half a dozen books or more to get all this info and now you can have it all at your fingertips.

The only other minor reservation I have is that there is a sterile, anticeptic vibe to the book, as Hjort relates The Byrds’ history through contemporary articles, newspaper reviews, and subsequently published biographies. It’s all fascinating (and intricately detailed), but it lacks the warmth and personal touches that individual interviews with the surviving Byrds would have added. So, while it may read like a doctoral thesis, for all you “Byrdmaniax” out there, and anyone fascinated by the vibrant and ever-changing music scene of the 60’s, it’s still recommended reading that belongs right up there alongside Johnny Rogan’s biographies and Ritchie Unterberger’s two-volume overview of the folk-rock scene. (Jeff Penczak)

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THE BIG EYES FAMILY PLAYERS – WARM ROOM

(CD from www.pickled-egg.co.uk)

TELLING THE BEES – AN ENGLISH ARCANIUM CD

(CD from www.tellingthebees.co.uk)

PRYDWYN (WITH QUICKTHORN) – SOLITUDE OWES ME A SMILE

(CD from www.darkhollerarts.com)

    The church of folk music is a wide church indeed, with these three discs each worshipping at their own altar whilst praying to the same muse, the rich heritage and ever expanding soundscape of the genre meaning that there is plenty of room for experimentation amongst the established traditions.

      Exploring, not only songs, but mood and textures as well, The Big Eyes Family Players have created a haunting and beautiful collection on their fourth album “Warm Room”. Opening with the slow and aching “Worries Go”, the listener is soon immersed in the sounds of strings, harmonium and percussion that drift across a frozen landscape in slow-motion, a mood of sadness wonderfully portrayed. On “Striptease”, the Guitar skills of James Green are brought to the fore, the piece a gently wistful instrumental that is pure pleasure for the ears, the mood changed again by the more abstract “Woodenwheel”, a piano now taking centre stage dancing with rattling bells and subtle drones.

     With a raga-esque, psych feel, the rambling sounds of “A Lick and a Promise” will melt around, the track conjuring images in your head as the music spins through the air with mellow intensity. More traditional in structure, “White Bones” is a gorgeous song as fragile as a dream, the vocals buried in the mix so you have to strain to hear the words. To re-affirm the tradition, a cover of “False True Love”, is a lesson in simplicity, the exquisite arrangements bringing out the sorrow in the song.

    Over ten songs, this album displays a maturity and emotional content that gives it depth and longevity. Add to this the variety of sounds and textures and you have an album that demonstrate clearly that folk is a living, breathing and ever changing form.

   Equally as good, Telling the Bees, have a more traditional song based approach on their second album, drawing inspiration from folklore, legend and the landscape around them. Gentle and mainly acoustic, “Saddle the Hare” is a fine opener, the very English lyrics perfectly reflected in the arrangement and instrumentation, whilst some lilting strings add much atmosphere to “The Language of Birds”, another well-crafted song. Possessing a rich and easily recognised voice, your enjoyment of this album will depend on whether the vocals of Andy Letcher are to your taste, they are to mine, and sounding not unlike Kevin Ayers mixed with Nick Drake, certainly containing that sense of softness displayed by those singers.

   On “Gallina”, English border bagpipes are used, the swirling sound provoking images of open spaces (and very likely making a certain Mr McMullen wince..), the addition of some lovely violin playing creating a very pastoral sound on this instrumental piece, a very soothing ambience created by the sympathetic playing. With double bass and percussion to the fore, “Otmoor Forever” has the feel of “Solid Air” about it, fans of John Martyn would find much to enjoy in this traditional sounding track, the lyrics dealing with theft of common land, depriving working men their livelihood.

   Over 11 tracks, the band weave a magical charm, with the beautiful and haunting “Apple”, closing the album with quiet grace, I can’t help feeling though, that this will sound even better when spring blesses the land and the snow is but a memory.

   Finally for this trio of folk loveliness, the gentle and mellow voice of Prydwyn is captured live, performing a selection of covers/traditional songs in the intimate surroundings of Sodding Chipbury village hall. Including tracks written by Tim Booth, Peter Green, Roger Waters and Clive Palmer, each song is sung so beautifully that they become owned by the singer, at least for the duration of the tune. Opening with the wistful “Ashling” (Tim Booth), a single instrument accompanies the singing, along with sparse and effective backing vocals, the songs haunting refrain sparkling across the room filled with soft light. Adding some bass, percussion and gentle strings, a cover of “Shotgun down the Avalanche” (Shawn Colvin), seems to have been recorded elsewhere, although it sits beautifully in the running order. With a wonderful collection of stringed instruments working in harmony, the cover of “Granchester Meadows”, slows down the song, bringing out every nuance of the lyrics, those familiar with the tune will add the sound effects from memory.

    Throughout the disc, the relaxed and gentle atmosphere is retained, making an excellent late-night listen as you slowly drift off into the twilight world of dreams. By the time you get to Peter Greens’, “Closing My Eyes” you will have forgotten your cares and worries, so delicate and wonderful is the reading of the song. To round off, the traditional “Darkling Maid” has a droning undercoat and mournful whistle playing, creating a mystical fog shrouded ambience perfect for the song.

  As with so many CD’s these days, there is a bonus track not listed. Unlike so many though, this one is worth hearing, a jaunty riff, leaving you with a jig in your step and a smile in your heart. (Simon Lewis)

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WOLF PEOPLE – TIDINGS

(LP/download from Jagjaguwar www.jagjaguwar.com )

It’s no great secret that Wolf People have long been heralded, lauded and had praise heaped upon them by everyone involved here at the Terrascope, though in particular it has to be said by myself and Nigel Cross – I acclaimed last year’s EP that collected together various long sold-out singles as “one of those once a year debuts that spin your head around and put a smile on your chops, at one and the same time restoring your faith in music and renewing hope for the future of psychedelic rock”, and Nigel went one further in breathlessly exclaiming that he’d “staggered home from their shows more than once recently thinking we’ve finally found the true heirs to the early Man legacy!” All of which is, one way and another, quite something to live up to; and it was perhaps unfair of us to dump quite so much responsibility on a band at such an early stage in their career. Goodness knows they deserve it though... listening to these songs once again still sends shivers up my spine even now.

The reason I say “once again” is that the bulk of the material on show here should really be already familiar, or at least to anyone who’s been paying attention to date. There’s five complete songs –  ‘Black Water’, ‘Cotton Strands’, ‘Storm Cloud’, Empty Heart’ and ‘October Fires’ – which each run to around four or five minutes (or around one side of an LP in terms of running time), four of which were previously released on singles on the Battered Ornaments label. Of these, the previously unreleased ‘Empty Heart’, plus ‘October Fires’ and ‘Black Water’, both well established songs in the Wolf People canon by now, each owe more than a nod of acknowledgment to innumerable lost hours spent listening appreciatively to the mighty ‘The Spotlight Kid’. On ‘Black Water’, the band – which it’s fair to say on these recordings at least is primarily the work of Jack Sharp, with the help of “friends, family and old tapes found in a garage” (as the LP liner notes helpfully advise) - lay down a Beefheartian stomp rhythm, sing gorgeous harmonies worthy of Moby Grape over the top and then have the audacity to play a superbly crafted backwards guitar solo. ‘Cotton Strands’ is pure Merrell Fankhauser's Mu, with (but of course!) Jeff Cotton on guitar. The song comes billowing out of your speakers with the most overtly west-coast psych feel of all Wolf People songs to date, the harmony singing and twanging guitars transporting you straight to the Golden Gate Bridge. The real stand-out for me though remains the song which was originally the B side of ‘Cotton Strands’, ‘Storm Cloud’ – truly extraordinary stuff when you consider this is beaming out from 21st Century Bedfordshire; an absolute gemstone of gorgeous acid guitar harmony vocal interplay. Imagine Mad River’s lead guitarist David Robinson jamming with Country Joe and the Fish and you won’t go far wrong!

Woven in through, between, around and all about the five complete songs are recordings which will be new to even the most avid Wolf People fan: fragments, interludes, segments or scraps of music or found sounds of varying length, stitched together in a style reminiscent of early Mothers Of Invention, leaving the songs themselves to stand alone amongst the snatches of field recordings, tape rewinds, feedback, studio outtakes and the voices of dead relatives.  Some, like ‘April’ which is a minute-long dirty blues-harp bash with stuttering Magic Band rhythms, and ‘Season Part 2’ which is a backwards guitar-led rave-up, sound like the studio outtakes or works-in-progress which they undoubtedly were. ‘Interlude Mercy Fragment’ is, as the title suggests, a reworked fragment of ‘Mercy II’ which was the AA side of a 2009 single (reviewed here) , while ‘Cotton Fragment’ originated, at a guess, at the recording sessions which eventually produced ‘Cotton Strands’. Then there’s longer pieces, like ‘Untitled’, which is a three minute piece sounding like an unfinished outtake from the band’s ‘Tiny Circle’ sessions (the A side to Mercy II) which will again immediately transport you back a few decades and put you in mind of vintage Black Widow or Gravy Train (during their Vertigo period), and all four minutes of ‘Interlude – Circle/Viking/Colours’ which goes where few others since the Olivia Tremor Control have feared to tread, and yet remains recognisably of the Wolf People, which is a considerable achievement in itself.

Though the band themselves are eager to stress that this isn’t in fact their debut album (which is in fact due later this year), but rather a collection of recordings made by Jack Sharp between 2005 and 2007 and therefore mostly before the band as it exists now was formed, to many it will be seen as such. I envy those people, particularly anyone who has yet to hear anything by Wolf People, as to them this record will sound like the extraordinary masterpiece of latterday English psychedelic underground rock which it undoubtedly is. To the rest of us, it’s both a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes and a great chance to hear all those songs again, in an album format where they always belonged. (Phil McMullen) (Postcript: Forgot to mention, this release is in vinyl only format, and buying it allows you a free download of the album in digital format. A nice touch.)

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