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November
= 2022 = |
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Rustic Hinge |
Plainsong
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James Waudby
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Custard Flux
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Paralyzed
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Dodson
& Fogg
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Tom Rapp
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Tony Hill
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the
Bevis Frond
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the
Mundaynes
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Michael
Cullen Murphy
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Sendelica
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Indigo
Sparke
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Sharron
Kraus
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Tom Dyer &
The True Olympians
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Thought
Bubble
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Spiral Wave
Nomads |
More Klementines |
Charles
O'Hegarty |
Steve Tibbetts |
Heavenly |
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Home |
RUSTIC
HINGE AND THE PROVINCIAL SWIMMERS - TEA ON THE
LAWN FOR THREE and FOUR
(2LP
+ 1LP set from Thylacine Records and High on the
Pig Track)
It
was always complicated, and I sometimes wondered
if the whole story behind events that took place
in Ilsington Farm, 5 miles west of Dorchester,
during 1970 would ever see the light of day.
Many’s the evening I sat listening to my good
friend (and near neighbour) ‘Rustic’ Rod Goodway
tell tales of psychedelic derring-do in the lush
Dorsetshire downlands; how he received a call to
join his former JP Sunshine bandmates, now the
Arthur-less remnants of the post-Crazy World
band the Puddletown Express – guitarist Andy
Rickell aka Android Funnel, drummer John
“Drachen” Theaker and bassist/driver Adrian
Shaw, plus former GPO engineer Ian Bowden, he of
the unfortunate nick-name (“Boob”), who looked
after the electronics and contributed some
strange spoken-word pieces – in the 17th century
farmhouse set in its own grounds near
Puddletown, Dorset to perform entirely new, and
quite extraordinary, music they’d been creating
which owed as much to the Goon Show as it did to
Beefheart, Bartok and Stockhausen. It’s over
half a century now since Rustic Hinge and the
Provincial Swimmers (a name conjured up, it
almost goes without saying, by Rustic Rod
himself, just prior to him and Adrian jumping
ship and running back to Bristol to form Magic
Muscle later that year) brought us the utterly
bonkers, discordant psychedelic splendour of ‘T
on the Lawn’. Rod performing ‘Lychee’ as the
band cavorted about on said lawn was somewhat
surprisingly caught on film by the BBC as part
of a series
they were making about Thomas Hardy, and was all
but forgotten until rediscovered in the mid-late
1980s and subsequently posted on YouTube -
around the same time in fact that I introduced
Rod and Ade to Nick Saloman with some vague idea
of Nick maybe helping the fulfil some Magic
Muscle dates following the sudden departure of
their guitarist Huw Gower, which in time led to
the Magic Muscle morphing into the Magic Bevis
Muscle Frond and eventually simply the Bevis
Frond live band and (to cut a very long story
short) Magic Muscle’s ‘Gulp’ LP and Rod’s
‘Ethereal Counterbalance’ LP appearing on Nick’s
Woronzow records label. So then Android and
Drachen passed away, the latter in 1992, but not
before Drachen got in touch with Rod and passed
him the tapes of all of the Hinge music, which
is what you get to hear here, in all its
original majesty: two sides of Rustic Hinge
material including the absolutely translucent
brilliance of ‘Lawnmower in D’ (which,
fittingly, is indeed on Side D) but not
overlooking for one moment the wondrous ‘Fly
Brothers’, ‘Lychee’,
and ‘The Coming of the Dawn’ over on Side
C.
Meanwhile
back in 1970 Puddletown, Funnel and Theaker
decided to delete Rod’s vocal contributions to
‘T on the Lawn 4 4’ in a fit of pique after Rod
and Ade hurried off into the sundown, and
planned instead for an entirely instrumental
piece which would be released on vinyl, and it
would play backwards
- from the middle out towards the edge. They
renamed it ’T on the Lawn 4 3’ to denote the
fact that it was sans-vocalist and there was
talk of it being put out by the Dandelion
Records label, though nothing ever came of that.
See also the Reckless Records release
‘Replicas’ by Rustic Hinge from 1988 on which ’T
on the Lawn For 3’ is credited to High Tide
(basically Android Funnel and friends) -
produced by Funnel and Theaker and engineered by
one Ian Bowden. I did warn you it was
complicated.
The
instrumental ‘T on the Lawn 4 3’ is included
here in its entirety as side A of this fabulous
double LP, as performed by Android Funnel
(guitars, organ, bass and ring modulator) and
Drachen Theaker (drums and percussion). But
that’s not all! The masterminds behind this set,
Messrs. Colin Hill and Nigel Cross, have seen
fit to make available 25
minutes worth of the original ’T on the Lawn
4 4’ which includes Rod Goodway’s vocals on
‘Fly Brothers’ and ‘Lychee’ (both of which
were subsequently wiped to form the
instrumental album that, those of you still
with me might recall, was considered for
release by John Peel’s Dandelion Records
label in 1970), on a separate
limited edition 12” “subscriber” disc which I
hardly need add is absolutely essential, despite
the fact that all of the music
is already included on the 2LP set,
though admittedly scattered around and in a
different order. Why "essential" then? Because
perfectly, beautifully and yet somewhat crazily,
this has been pressed in accordance with the
musicians’ original intention: the vinyl plays
from the middle outwards, ending in a closed
groove on the outer rim. I confess I tried it
first on the slightly less pedigree, perhaps a
little more forgiving, record deck here at
Terrascope Towers, but I can reveal that it does
work, and my stylus seems to have lived to tell
the tale. Who knows, perhaps repeated playing
may even re-sharpen the diamond....
All
of which discourse leaves only side B of the 2LP
set to be described, and that’s where things
gets even more interesting: sub-titled ‘Rustic
Odd Zen Ends’ it includes an J.P. Sunshine
out-take from 1967 which superbly pre-dates the
manic playfulness of Android’s Rustic Hinge
guitar work, Rod’s original solo demo version of
the Beefheartian ‘Fly Brothers’ from 1969
(written and recorded in his bathroom,
apparently) and another song from the same
session, ‘I Can Travel Anywhere’ (both of which
eventually got blended into the Magic Muscle
repertoire) and much, much more besides.
There
could really be no more fitting tribute to the
late, great Rod Goodway than this epic,
beautifully presented and fabulous sounding 3
record set. I’m especially pleased that he lived
long enough [Rod passed away in May 2022] to at
least be aware that the inside-out 12” was
finally being pressed; and including his own
sleeve notes for the release makes for a
wonderful, if somewhat poignant, accompaniment
(not to belittle Colin Hill and Nigel Cross’s
own excellent words too, of course).
Rod was a good friend to many, a fellow
traveller in every respect, and will be much
missed by all of his innumerable friends and
correspondents. The last time many of us got to
chat with him was at the Woolf II festival at
Cleeve House here in Wiltshire in June 2019, and
I have a sneaking suspicion that the last time
he performed in public was at the same venue a
year before that, at a surprise 60th birthday
party thrown for me by family and friends.
There’s a sobering thought. Shine on, the
Rodster.
(Phil
McMullen)
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PLAINSONG
- FOLLOWING AMELIA: THE 1972 RECORDINGS &
MORE
(Cherry
Red Records 6CD Box Set)
Cherry
Red commemorate the 50th anniversary
of Plainsong’s
In
Search Of Amelia Earhart with this mammoth
118 track, 6-disc set, featuring numerous BBC
sessions, the originally unreleased second
album, several reunion gigs, and remakes of
several “Amelia” songs commissioned in
conjunction with Ian Clayton’s biography from
earlier this year, In
Search Of Plainsong. While only true
Plainsong fanatics and/or musicologists may
enjoy listening to three or four different
versions of many of the album’s songs, the bonus
material reveals so much more at the heart of
the band, spearheaded by Iain Matthews (Fairport
Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort) and Andy
Roberts (Liverpool Scene, Grimms). Throughout
the BBC sessions and live material, the band
delivers exciting interpretations of songs by
Joni Mitchell, Richard & Mimi Fariña,
Incredible
String Band, Richard Thompson, Commander Cody,
and more that solidify their position as one of
the unsung giants of the British folk rock
scene.
Elektra released the album on 6
October, 1972 into the musical landscape that
included Foxtrot
by Genesis (released the same day!) as well as
stiff competition from recent releases by Sandy
Denny (Sandy),
Steeleye Span (Below
The Salt), Pentangle (Solomon’s
Seal) and Lal and Mike Waterson (Bright
Phoebus). With such well-known artists
jockeying for the public’s attention the album
unsurprisingly faded away with little fanfare.
Fans of Matthews’ and Roberts’ earlier projects
may have been curious, but the subject matter
may have been a turnoff. Both Matthews and
Roberts were fascinated by a book they read
about Earhart’s disappearance and several songs
explored various potential outcomes, including
Dave McEnery’s ‘Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight’
(originally recorded by its author over 30 years
earlier) and Matthews’ companion piece ‘True
Story Of Amelia Earhart.’ Both songs are vintage
story songs in a mournful folk arrangement, yet
boasting an infectious country-rock vibe a la
Flying Burrito Brothers, New Riders Of The
Purple Sage, and Poco. Impeccable harmonies,
smooth melodies, and good time vibes (‘Yo Yo
Man’, ‘Diesel On My Tail’) are abundant, with
Albert Brumley’s 1929 gospel singalong ‘I’ll Fly
Away’ given a reverential treatment. Roberts’
tasteful solo flourishes are yet another
highlight.
The strolling minstrel groove of
‘Louise’ yields one of its finest
interpretations, ‘Even Thed Guiding Light’ is
one of Matthews’ more upbeat country rockers
with more stinging Roberts’ solos, and the
contemplative ‘Side Roads’ is one of Matthews’
more heart-wrenching songs from a songwriter
who’s not averse to a few tugs on the ol’
heartstrings. A strident march through Jerry
Yester and Judy Henske’s ‘Raider’ wraps up a
criminally ignored album that is more than worth
this super deluxe 6-disk memorial.
Bonus tracks on the first disc include
the original cover version of The Association’s
‘Along Comes Mary’ from 1971 that convinced the
band they were good enough to give it a go. It’s
a faithful run through highlighted by Roberts’
“where did that come from?” mid-song solo - not
very different from what many garage bands have
delivered over the years. ‘Even The Guiding
Light’ is different from the album version (it’s
acoustic and Roberts sings it) and comes from a
rare 3-track single. The disc concludes with one
of the original lineup’s final performances, a
well-received BBC2 In
Concert session from October.
Unfortunately, by the time it aired four months
later, the band was no more and Matthews was off
to America to pursue his solo career. The show
includes upbeat runs through ‘Amelia Earhart’s
Last Flight’ as well as downbeat intimate
renditions of ‘Any Day Woman’ (another Paul
Siebel cover - he of the aforementioned
‘Louise’) that segues perfectly into Nils
Lofgren’s ‘Take You To The Movies’ (from his
1971 Grin
debut). Richard Thompson’s ‘Poor Ditching Boy’
is a rousing singalong (minus the audience
singalong bit) with a lilting Irish delivery
from Matthews. A giddy intro to ‘Even The
Guiding Light’ suggests the lads were enjoying
backstage combustibles and the harmony here is
particularly strong. The band elect not to
string the two “Amelia” songs together, so the
“True Story” brings up the rear before ‘Raider’
and a rousing yodel-ady-oo ‘Miss The
Mississippi’ send the audience home on a high!
Disc
two features the proposed second album
(provisionally entitled III
to reflect the band’s new lineup of Matthews,
Roberts, and bassist Dave Richards; guitarist
Bobby Ronga and drummer Roger Swallow having
been dismissed). The Traditional opener ‘Old Man
At The Mill’ is a banjo/violin- accompanied
singalong with crystalline, three-part
harmonies. Roberts’ ‘Urban Cowboy’ benefits from
B.J. Cole’s weeping pedal steel serpentining
around customarily brilliant harmonies and the
saucer-eyed ‘All Around My Grandmother’s Floor’
with its Alice
In Wonderland references were both rescued
for his subsequent Urban
Cowboy album once the released was
shelved.
‘The Fault’ finds the band moving more
into “cosmic cowboy psychedelia’, but their
country roots are not jettisoned completely,
witness Merle Haggard’s ‘Swinging Doors’. I can
almost hear the “yee-hah” shout outs form the
peanut gallery! Cole returns on dobro for the
studio version of Jimmy Rogers’ ‘Miss The
Mississippi And You’ which featured prominently
in the In
Concert gig several months (on Disc 1).
Another sterling touch is Ray Warleigh’s
romantic tenor sax on “The Fault” and ‘Keep On
Sailing’, the latter also featuring Cole’s
distinctive pedal steel. Both, along with ‘Home’
(see below) would all feature on Matthews’ Some
Days
You Eat The Bear… album, with Lynn Dobson
playing alto sax.
The studio acoustics on several tracks
(c.f., ‘Home’) give the album a live feel, while
Harry Robinson’s string arrangements on John
Hartford’s ‘First Girl I Loved’ add to its
sentimental charm, delivered by Matthews in a
style similar to Harry Chapin’s best story
songs. Cole’s dobro is back on Hartford’s
‘Nobody Eats At Linebaugh’s Anymore’ (from his Morning
Bugle album released earlier that year),
another dip into the country folk stage
repertoire that is one of the album’s best-loved
track.
Bonus tracks include a rousing demo
version of live favourite ‘Bold Marauder’
(presented in three different live versions
throughout the box) and a half dozen live
performances (subtitled “The Dance Goes On”)
featuring Matthews and/or Plainsong between 1988
and 2016. Highlights include an intimate ‘Urban
Cowboy’ recorded in the XII century Gothic
basement of Saint Geneviève’s abbey at La Pomme
d’Eve in Paris in 2007 and credited to
“Plainsong Light” (perhaps just Andy and Iain?),
a solo acoustic rendition of ‘Nobody Eats At
Linebaugh’s Anymore’ recorded in Texas in 1993
and previously released in Iain’s Notebook
Series on Intimate
Wash, a brilliant ‘All Around My
Grandmother’s Floor’ from Germany in 2012
complete with the song’s circuitous backstory
(trivia: co-author Mike Evans was Roberts’
sax-playing bandmate in Liverpool Scene, not the
Action/Mighty Baby bassist!), and a unique
arrangement of Richard Farina’s ‘Bold Marauder’
from Netherlands in 2016 that’s even more
menacing than the original!
Disks
three and four present BBC Sessions
recorded for John Peel’s Top
Gear and “Whispering” Bob Harris on the Sounds
of
The 70s, Sounds
on Sunday, and The
Old Grey Whistle Test programmes. While
several songs get multiple airings as befits
their set list at the time, it is interesting to
hear variations in arrangement to suit the
circumstances (e.g., versions of ‘Louise’ are
typically a minute longer than the studio
recording) as well as the variety of songs added
and deleted from the set, showing what a vast
repertoire the band had developed in such a
short time. It is also a goldmine for fans and
completists, as many songs performed for the BBC
were not on their album, but were cover versions
of some of their favourite artists or songs that
would appear on subsequent solo albums (e.g.,
‘Tigers Will Survive’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Talk
About It’ from Matthews’ Tigers
Will Survive and Some
Days You Eat The Bear… albums
respectively).
Highlights include a longer, dreamier
‘Tigers Will Survive’, an appropriately
heartfelt ‘Seeds And Stems (Again)’, and early
versions of four songs from the debut album
which wouldn’t be released for another six
months, including a recitation of a story about
Amelia Earhart’s disappearance (which may be
from Fred Goerner’s 1966 book The
Search For Amelia Earhart which inspired
the album) before the band launch into ‘Amelia
Earhart’s Last Flight’. Controversial stuff for
a live BBC airing!
Another rare find (from Matthews’
personal archives) making its debut is the
original band’s final live performance, 29
December 1972 on Sounds
On Sunday. Matthews’ source CD quality
isn’t perfect, but completists will be swooning
over two songs never released until now: a
stomping country rocker ‘I Work For Jesus In The
Personal Department’ and a heart-stopping
reading of Danny Whitten’s ‘I Don’t Want To Talk
About It’, performed just a month after Whitten
ODd and never performed again by the band
(although Matthews’ would record it for his 1974
solo album as noted above). And perhaps the
set’s strangest offerings are two a
capella renditions of ‘I’ll Fly Away’ that
last only 40 seconds (each!) and serve mainly as
intros for the ensuing songs!
The versions of ‘Even The Guiding
Light’ and ‘Bold Marauder’ from the 17 October
1972 Old Grey
Whistle Test may be their most powerful
performances of these live favourites and
updated arrangements of ‘True Story Of Amelia
Earhart’ and ‘Yo Yo Man’ recorded for the 40th
anniversary of The Old Grey Whistle Test in 2011
wrap up disk four; the latter is exclusive to
this collection.
Disk
five (“Together Again”) features live
tracks from three reunion gigs, beginning with
their first performance together in 21 years in
Mayrhofen, Austria in 1993 with new additions
Julian Dawson and former Matthews Southern
Comfort guitarist Mark Griffiths. The sound is
pristine, the performances exquisite and
exciting, and all are in excellent voice and
jovial spirits. Beginning with ‘And Me’ from
Matthews Southern Comfort’s 1970 release Later
That Same Year the set list includes
rousing versions of half the tracks from
“Amelia” and several old live favourites.
The second reunion performances come
from Dutch radio sessions during their 1997
Netherlands tour and feature Clive Gregson
(Dawson having left to pursue his solo career)
alongside Matthews, Roberts, and Griffiths.
Their harmonies haven’t skipped a beat in 25
years, and Gregson fits in perfectly for the a
capella ‘Souling Song’, and ‘Yo Yo Man’ is
particularly playful, the group obviously
enjoying the limelight and each other’s company.
The group also revisit their Amelia
Earhart theme by performing the a
capella ‘Sweet Amelia’ from Dark
Side
Of The Room (Mesa, 1993). Iain says it
“completes the story…sort of” and all three
line-ups play it as a medley with ‘True Story Of
Amelia Earhart’. The third reunion set (recorded
in 2012 in Norderstedt, Germany during their “40th
Anniversary Farewell Tour”) finally unites the
three “Amelia Earhart” songs to tell the
complete story.
The final
disk (“For The Second Time”) begins with
three songs that featured regularly in their
1972 sets but were never recorded by Plainsong.
The versions here are from Iain and Andy’s solo
recordings. Andy’s ‘Radio Lady’ from Andy
Roberts
with Everyone (Ampex, 1971) is a
melancholic ballad featuring Quiver’s Tim
Renwick on guitar; Iain’s ‘Me and Mr. Hohner’
(from his 2017 Dutch CD A
Baker’s Dozen) is a shuffling
finger-snapping Bobby Darin cover; and Andy’s
‘Poison Apple Lady’ (from Urban
Cowboy) is another dreamy, (true) story
song featuring Plainsong guitarist Bobby Ronga
and bassist Dave Richards.
Another rare treat for completists and
fans alike is the complete banter-filled, “warts
and all” 1972 Folk Fairport gig in Amsterdam.
Invited to open the club AFTER their Paradiso
performance ended(!), the owner hadn’t even
installed a PA system so they played a 40-minute
acoustic set in clogs they recently purchased in
a souvenir shop! The acoustics are fantastic,
the audience appreciative, and the recording
quality is exceptional for a 50-year old
reel-to-reel tape from Andy’s private
collection. The all-covers set includes live
favourites ‘Bold Marauder’, ‘Louise’, and
‘Raider’, and rare renditions of Richard
Thompson’s ‘The Poor Ditching Boy’ (sung by
bassist Dave Richards), a
capella ‘Lowlands Away’ and ‘Souling
Song’, a crowd-pleasing, near-sing-along ‘Tulips
Of Amsterdam’, and Richard Fariña’s
“strong American political song that we try to
relate to”, ‘House Un-American Blues Activity
Dream’.
The disk and box set ends with
selections from Andy and Iain’s aborted attempt
to remake In
Search Of Amelia Earhart at Andy’s home
studio in 2020. Scheduled to accompany Ian
Clayton’s In
Search Of Plainsong band biography
published earlier this year, the project was
sidelined by COVID restrictions, so these new
recordings have never been released until now.
The ensuing 50 years between recordings has been
very kind to their voices, which continue to
imbue the tracks with the sentimental melancholy
songs like ‘For The Second Time’, ‘Side Roads’,
and ‘Even The Guiding Light’ have always
imparted in this listener. The “old man looks
back on a lost love” deliberate (slow-motion)
reading of ‘Louise’ turns the Paul Siebel
classic into an entirely different song. And one
last airing of ‘Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight’
has been rearranged into a bit of an old salt
barbershop run through, as if the old friends
have finally tired of the umpteenth retelling of
“the woman they made a career out of.”
Ultimately, however, the acoustic, unplugged
setting does add the intimate ambience of a
personal front room performance in front of a
small circle of friends.
(Jeff
Penczak)
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JAMES
WAUDBY - ON THE BALLAST MILES
(LP
on East
Riding Acoustic)
James
Waudby is a new name to me, although presumably
not to himself. He does have previous courtesy
of the wistful indie-pop 90s band Salako and
latterly as guitarist in Marble Valley, the solo
project of Steve West of Pavement; although
neither (to my mind at least) hinted at his
innate skill as an acoustic finger-style
guitarist. Born in the East Riding of Yorkshire,
Waudby’s music evokes “a county of fading towns,
flat farmland and a brutal coastline … where
both the industry and the cliff edge has been
eroded leaving a battered, but beautiful place
where the people and the land persist despite
economic and environmental pressures” [his own
words, and difficult to improve upon, so I won’t
even try]
There’s
a line as distinct as Yorkshire’s own Tabular
Hills to be drawn between James Waudby and
Michael Chapman both in terms of playing and
vocal delivery; and yet Waudby is no
70s-folk-revivalist, his music has modern
influences as well. The closest I can get is the
earlier work of the late, great (and former
Terrascope contributor) Nick Talbot’s
Gravenhurst circa. ‘Flashlight
Seasons’
- although admittedly by the time ‘Fires
in Distant Buildings’
was released Nick was finding room between the
finger-picking for epic feedback noise
experimentations in the mould of Flying Saucer
Attack. Not that that’s any bad thing, of
course.
‘On
the Ballast Miles,’ a title that presumably
refers to railway lines and therefore gets a
further vote in favour of it from yours truly,
is a gorgeous collection of intimate,
seductively played yet occasionally gritty
guitar-based songs. It’s difficult to pick out a
favourite when the album as a whole is as
strong as this, however ‘The Last of Your
Kind’ is a simply outstanding example of
Waudby’s creativity and musicianship and just
about edges it on the strength of that alone;
and elsewhere ‘Call Back the Morning’ the
instrumental ‘Clear Stream Shuffle’ and ‘North
Landing’ are all brilliant, ’Double Dutch’ is
the most Chapman-esque, and arguably the most
accomplished of all is ‘Random Reigns’ which
closes Side 1.
There’s
a great deal to like about this album. The songs
are beautifully crafted, Waudby’s playing is
superb and the vocals fit the mood like a
mitten. Can’t wait to hear the next one!
(Phil
McMullen)
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CUSTARD
FLUX - PHOSPHORUS
(LP/CD/DL
Custard Flux (bandcamp.com)
After
spending 30 years as the main focus/songwriter
for Terrascope-favourites The Luck Of Eden Hall,
Gregory Curvey embarked on a new musical project
that focused on acoustic instruments ( with the
occasional electric embellishment), whilst
retaining the psychedelic ebb and flow, strong
melodies and excellent musicianship for which he
has become known. This album, the latest release
from the Custard Flux project, easily maintains
these standards and is a fabulous listen from
start to finish.
Beginning with energy and purpose, “The
Pretender/Memory Ends” is an inventive slice of
Neo-Psych that hits the spot straight away with
engaging riffs and a sense of adventure, you are
never sure which way the music will go, always a
good thing in my book. Even better is the title
track, some tight drumming allowing the music to
twinkle overhead, soothing saxophone gliding
overhead, the tension slowly rising until Prog
rhythms usher in Mr Curvey's guitar detonating
the tension and
taking for a trip around the sun, electricity
with purpose, Imagine Tangle Edge jamming with
The Rain Parade, play this one loud.
As we move through the album, the
interplay between Sxaophone and Guitar continues
to be an important pat of the puzzle, although
they are allowed to soar because of the
tightness of the rhythm section and accompanying
musicians, each playing their part in the
creation of the whole. All this can be heard to
wonderful effect on “Strawberry Squid” a
magnificent instrumental that caused my wife
Cara to enquire if it was Zappa, high praise
indeed. Elsewhere, “The Devil May Care/Sifting
the Stars” is nine minutes of high energy,
Swirling Psych with a sweet melodic coating,
whilst the epic “By Order of the Grand Vizier”
is another long instrumental with a gentle
heart, the music allowing you to drift away,
whilst the guitar in the final couple of minutes
will take you off for a quick tour of the
planets, could have gone on a lot longer.
Finally, “The Face of Mankind” is
nostalgic and emotional, a fine way to end the
album as it leads us delightfully home, a soft
flute lighting lamps in the distance.
One thing I love about this album is
the unity of sound, each track fitting perfectly
with the one before creating a memorable journey
each time it is played.
Highly recommended , especially as the
autumnal sun streams through the window.
(Simon
Lewis)
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PARALYZED
– HEAVY ROAD
(LP,
CD,
Digital on StoneFly
Records
and Bandcamp)
German
hard rock/heavy psych/proto metal band Paralyzed
plays a late 60s/early 70s style popular with
other current bands in Germany, as well as
Sweden, such as Sweden’s Graveyard and
lots of others.
However, for some reason the band they
most remind me of is Steppenwolf.
The choogling distorted guitars, the
organ, the sound, and especially the vocals –
all sound very Steppenwolphilian to me.
But of course, like any excelling band in
this realm, they make their own unique music out
of their influences.
Album #2 Heavy Road is a down and
dirty scuzzfest that we’re all the better for
having.
Singer
and
lead guitarist Michael Binder is like the
hellborn demonchild of John Kay, Jim Morrison
and Joe Cocker.
(Binder sings all the songs in English;
he created the album’s artwork, too).
The other members – Caterina Böhner on
rhythm guitar and organ, Florian Thiele on
drums, and Philipp Engelbrecht on bass – are as
tight an outfit as they come.
Lead-off
track
“Devil’s Bride” has pretty much everything
Paralyzed can throw at you – the growling
vocals, the crunchy, distorted and wah-wah
drenched guitars, and a lot of freak flag
flying, head-bobbing grooves.
Heading right into the grand guitar
boogieoso “Orange Carpet,” the rest of the album
falls into place perfectly from there.
I
think “Mayday” actually ups the raunchy guitar
quotient over the preceding tracks, which is
saying something.
“Black Trees Pt. 1” is a slow
blues-rocker. I
don’t know which Michael Binder shreds more of
in it – his guitar or his vocal cords.
Part 2 is more up-tempo and no less of a
guitar feast. “Pilgrim
Boots” answers that musical question of what
would happen if Jim Morrison had to step in for
Deep Purple if Ian Gillan missed the tour bus
that day.
“Coal
Mine”
shows Binder at his most like the Lizard King,
though the song is more like the slow, grimy,
dirty, heavy blues you might expect to find on Led
Zeppelin I.
There’s great musicianship from the
entire band on this track.
Closer “White Jar,” about a fast-fading
coke-addled Hollywood starlet, is the album’s
most concise track and rounds out things rather
suitably.
Paralyzed
makes
good old gut-wrenching, sweaty hair flying hard
rock. They’d
certainly be a great act to catch live.
Heavy Road is easily worth your time and
hard-earned sterling.
(Mark
Feingold)
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DODSON
AND FOGG - REFLECTIONS
Available
on Wisdom
Twins
The
prolific Chris Wade (aka Dodson and Fogg)’s
fifth release this year continues the blending
of music and poetry that surfaced on his
previous release, The
Sea Of The Night. Acoustic guitars,
keyboards, field recordings of birdsong and
gently rippling streams, and narration by
actress Valeria Cavalli and longtime
friend and collaborator Nigel Planer create a
beautiful sense of serenity and meditative
states. The title track’s Spanish-style
finger-picking creates an atmosphere suitable
for wandering through the forest or strolling
alongside reflecting pools. Thus an alternative,
contemplative interpretation of the album title
is offered: “reflections” as mirrors of the
world around us as well as looking inwardly for
self-exploration. ‘And The Water Flows (After
All)’ is an ecologically-minded appreciation of
a nature that will outlast whatever humanity
throws at her, set to a tasty electric guitar
backing.
‘Growing Tall’ is a snappy,
country-inflected instrumental that invites
multiple readings: an observation of trees
reaching skyward or a child aging right before
our eyes? ‘The Dead Tree’ (narrated by Planer)
describes an encounter between man and nature
that is all too common on a solo saunter through
the local park, the “dead beast” respectfully
mourned by a passing stranger, pondering its
transition to… a park bench? Paper? A bookcase?
Lastly, ‘The Walk Home’ wraps up our
theme of conversing with nature, perhaps
suggesting the encounters in the preceding songs
all occurred on a recent reflective walk, a la
Robert Frost on a snowy evening. Whatever your
interpretation, this is soothing headphone music
for your next commune with nature!
(Jeff
Penczak)
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TOM
RAPP - A JOURNAL OF THE
PLAGUE YEAR
TONY
HILL - INEXACTNESS
BEVIS
FROND - THE CLOCKS
THE
MUNDAYNES - LOVE IT
MICHAEL
CULLEN MURPHY - ALL
CHANGE AT THE 5 AND DIME
(LPs
from
Blue
Matter Records
)
There
can be few reading this who aren’t aware that Tom
Rapp
was the leading light behind Pearls Before
Swine, whose fragile psychedelic folk tapestries
enchanted a host of admirers in the late 60s.
Such revered classics as 'One Nation
Underground' and 'Balaklava' were never far from
any self-respecting freak's turntable. Tom went
on to record several solo albums, but as the 70s
progressed the scene changed, and Tom decided to
withdraw from the world of music, put himself
through law school and instead became a civil
rights lawyer. Twenty years later (in 1997) the
Ptolemaic Terrascope tracked him down through a
lucky chance and as we were about to stage the
first Terrastock festival a few months after our
first interview was published, we invited him
along. Tom Rapp’s performance in Providence,
Rhode Island - the first time he’d even picked
up a guitar in over 20 years - was, for many,
the highlight of those magical three days. Nick
Saloman was of course at that show, and his and
Tom’s paths crossed again the following
Christmas, when a stripped-down Frond consisting
of Nick Saloman and Adrian Shaw did an acoustic
show in Tom's hometown of Philadelphia. Tom and
his wife Lynn invited them to stay, a kindly
gesture that they repeated the following year
when the the band passed through once again.
This time Tom played them a selection of new
songs he’d been working on, and suitably
impressed Nick asked Tom if he'd consider
letting them release it on Woronzow Records. 'A
Journal Of The Plague Year' was at the time of
first release (2000) the first Tom Rapp album
for 25 years, and this welcome reissue on Nick’s
new label Blue Matter Records confirms what we
knew all along: that it counts amongst his very
best work. Recorded at Damon & Naomi's
studio, with contributions from them, and also
Prydwyn of Mourning Cloak as well as Nick and
Adrian, in many ways it’s the ultimate
“Terrascopic” record - a truly glorious set of
haunting, slightly surreal folk ballads
saturated with understated beauty, especially on
‘The Swimmer (For Kurt Cobain),’ which is
highlighted by Prydwyn’s harp which seems to
echo Rapp's fingerpicked guitar and harmonica,
and ‘Blind’ which has a distinctly Dylanesque
quality to it. Even if you have a copy already,
I’d urge you to buy this since if you’re
anything like me, it’ll be worn through with
playing.
Another
former Woronzow release that’s seen a reissue on
Blue Matter is Tony
Hill’s
‘Inexactness’. This one was only ever out on CD
originally (2001) (although I believe this CD
reissue contains a couple of extra tracks) and
like the Tom Rapp album from the year before,
celebrated the work of a genuine hero of the
Late 60s underground, in this instance Tony
Hill, formerly of high-octane jazz-psych rockers
High Tide and hereabouts at least, much revered
for having replaced Greg Treadway as guitarist
in the mighty Misunderstood, which was no mean
feat in itself. And it’s everything you imagine
it would be. It has to be confessed that vocals
aren’t Tony Hill’s strong suit, but when you can
play lacerating and instantly recognisable
electric lead guitar, write timeless songs and
get the best out of a group of accompanying
musicians as notable as former High Tide bassist
Pete Pavli who accompanies Hill on ‘Lineage’ and
‘But There Again’; Adrian Shaw who plays bass on
the remaining tracks, the Bevis Frond drummer of
the moment and of course a former Camel Andy
Ward, and violinist Matt Kelly who steps oh, so
ably into Simon House’s not inconsiderable shoes
(for what is a Tony Hill record without violin
accompaniment?), it matters not. The real
stand-out though is the fabulous ‘Six Million
Years’ with some sublime counterpoint soloing
from Nick Saloman himself.
Talking
of which, there can’t be many Bevis
Frond aficionados
who haven’t already heard ‘The Clocks’, given it
was originally released as a limited edition CDr
back in 2007 and has, rightly, been spoken of in
hushed whispers wherever fans gather ever since.
Far from sounding like the make-weight album of
out-takes and un-used overspill which in fact it
was, it always felt like a release that just
needed a gentle nudge to find itself counted
amongst the pantheon of the greatest Frond
albums of all - I won’t list them; you’ll all
have your own favourites, as indeed do I. Nick
Saloman made a wise decision therefore in my not
so humble opinion to revisit ’The Clocks’ when
launching (in partnership with Gary Urwin) his
new record label, Blue Matter Records, with an
expanded vinyl release of ‘The Clocks’. This
time there’s 400 copies, so four times the
original number are available, and it’s
presented as a double LP with a very different
track listing and track order than the 2007 CDr:
gone are ‘Antoinette’, ‘Her Song’, ‘Home On The
Moon’, and, unfortunately, ‘Now As Always’; but
thankfully the “new” numbers included more than
make up for that, and together give the album
that gentle nudge that I referred to above.
Indeed, the inclusion of ‘Devil Doll’,
’She's Taken It All’, ‘When I'm Gone’ and ‘You
Better Make Do’, ensure the album holds together
incredibly well - side 3 in particular contains
one cracker of a song after another, closing
with one of those newer numbers, an epic guitar
ride that we all know and love the band for,
‘She’s Taken It All’ - marginally my favourite
track of all. There’s another epic on Side 4 as
well, in the shape of ‘I’m Better Now’ (not one
of the new inclusions) - and it somehow feels
just right that the album closes with the
wonderfully Barrettesque ‘Shades’, a number
that’s almost as catchy in its own way as ‘World
is Older’ that opens the set. It’s one of those
archetypical Frond songs - ‘Anything You Say’
and ‘god’ over on Side 2 are two others in a
similar mould - which you will have waved and
swayed along to at innumerable live shows.
The
fourth release on the new label is ‘Love It’ by
The
Mundaynes,
an album’s worth of vintage garage punk rawk
from the guv’nor himself.
Nick Saloman wrote most of the songs for
this during the Covid lockdown, and his
frustration at the situation shines through from
the opening (and standout) title track right
through to the fab last track, ‘Teenage
Grandad’s Back Story’, which is a song about
having a punk band and trying to make it, but
failing miserably. A nod perhaps to Nick’s own
early 80s band Von Trap Family who released a
couple of singles and got played on John Peel,
but somehow never quite made it. The material
was in fact originally intended for the next
Frond album (indeed, a couple of contenders did
find their way onto ‘Little Eden’) but being
overwhelmingly punky, it was decided to record
the songs separately with long-time
guitar-slinger pard’ner Paul Simmons and
vocalist Tony Page, the latter of whom also gave
the band its name.
The
most recent Blue Matter release to date, Michael
Cullen Murphy’s
‘All Change at the 5 and Dime’, is a bit of an
outlier, insofar as it doesn’t feature any of
the other Blue Matter stable of musicians as
accompanists. That’s not to say American
country-folk singer-songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist (and reggae expert in
another life!) Mike Murphy performs solo; these
nine songs of love and loss and yearning all
feature contributions from Andy Stokes and Grant
Allerdyce on drums and percussion, Orlando
Shearer on double bass, Kirsten Hammond on
violin, Jules Lawrence on musical saw and Tom
Walker on pedal steel guitar, the latter of
which elevates songs such as ‘The Best Thing I
Ever Did (Was Leaving You)’ above the notable to
the utterly brilliant. The stand-out track
however has to be the fabulous ‘The Day That We
Have Here’ which features guitar played in the
Nick Drake style underpinned by distinctly
psychedelic backing. ‘Been Here and Gone’ which
closes the side is also a bit of a stand-out by
dint of the fact that it features some gorgeous,
albeit unidentified, background ambience
(keyboards, perhaps?) and closes with the
traditional sound of English church bells, which
isn’t something you hear every day on either a
Country or a Western record. If ever you’ve dug
a Bruce Cockburn LP, then I would heartily
recommend this album. And if you haven’t, well
you have a double treat in store: buy this, and
then go find ‘Sunwheel Dance’.
(Phil
McMullen)
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SENDELICA
– ONE MAN’S MAN
(2LP
from Fruits De Mer http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com
)
Welsh
band Sendelica, belong in that small group of
bands who seemingly release a record every week,
think Acid Mother’s or King Gizzard. They have
been steadily building a huge, labyrinthine
discography and to be honest they have proved to
be a completist’s nightmare. They are certainly
the house band for Fruits De Mer even to the
point of putting on a yearly festival over in
Cardigan Bay in Wales.
For
this outing it is Pete Bingham playing guitars,
bass synth, Mellotron guitar and field
recordings, with Colin Consterdine Keyboards and
beats, Lee Ralfe Saxophone and Glenda Pescado
bass, along with a couple of guests Rhiannon
Jones viola and Mika Laakso synths. It is
a four sided double album of instrumentals,
which takes as its concept the evolution of man,
and follows on from the critically acclaimed And
Man Created God, from a couple of years ago,
which dealt with man’s relationship with
religion.
The
album consists of four side long tracks with
album opener ‘The Dawn Of Man – Homo Habilis and
Homo Rudolfensis’, announcing itself with the
ominous tolling of a village bell, before
developing into a monumental slab of questing,
instrumental space rock, built on a mega riff.
Things progress with second track ‘Homo Erectus
and Denisovans’, which sees man setting out to
explore new horizons. It starts of peacefully
enough, with long passages of drifting sax and
dubby bass before an itchy, clattering drum
pattern is laid down and Pete’s sky scraping
guitar passages elevate it to another level.
Side
three, is dedicated to the exploratory
‘Neanderthal And Homo Sapien’, which has a lazy
opening of lightly billowing sax and a minimal
beat, with what sounds like fretless bass, but
in essence is bass synth, it also has a light,
tabla accompaniment, it’s a real shape shifter
of a track, slowing down and morphing
throughout. Side four ‘Future Man – Homo
Superior’, is for me the finest thing on the
album and worth the price of admission. It is
built upon a simple two note melody which
remains a near consistent feature. Synths bubble
and squiggle about the place, a cool drum beat
arrives and the track heads off into the
stratosphere. Another sure fire winner from
Fruits De Mer.
(Andrew
Young)
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INDIGO
SPARKE - HYSTERIA
(LP,
CD,
Digital on Sacred
Bones Records)
If
you find almost any photo of Australian/now New
York-based folkie singer-songwriter Indigo
Sparke, you’ll see an image of a serious, lovely
young woman. But
on the cover of this, her second album, you see
a portrait of the same lady in a state of acute
distress. And
that’s a primary ingredient that makes up much
of the complex tangle of emotions, traumas,
contradictions and ideas that is Hysteria.
Her
first
album, 2021’s Echo, played it real
simple with the instrumentation, mainly Sparke’s
vocals, her guitar and some light accompaniment.
For Hysteria, Sparke engaged
in-demand producer Aaron Dessner (and founding
member of The National).
Dessner still manages to keep the
production fairly spare, but it sounds more
polished the further into the album you get;
after all, this is a guy who’s produced Taylor
Swift. The
result reminds me a little of Sarah McLachlan –
but if you’re not a fan of hers, don’t let that
push you away, there’s a lot to love about
Indigo Sparke.
Sparke
writes
instantly appealing melodies and has a pretty
voice. Sometimes
it’s double-tracked, sometimes it has an
overdubbed harmony, other times she sings a
counterpoint in the background.
But that pretty voice can be deceptive
given the heavy subjects she writes and sings
about.
Opener
“Blue”
includes themes of relationships falling apart,
domestic conflict, death, suicidal thoughts and
madness. That’s
just the first song.
And it’s beautiful.
“Pressure In My Chest” offers recurring
themes that pop up elsewhere, the idea of an
inner pain causing her to gasp for breath, and
choruses that sometimes consist of repeating a
phrase over and over.
“Why
Do You Lie,” about frustration with a lover
who’s more intimately honest with strangers than
with her, has a gorgeous melody, with
fingerpicked guitar and tasteful accents.
“Golden Ribbons” and “Real” are troubled
relationship songs full of abstract lyrical
imagery and have tunes that naturally flow just
perfectly. I
feel that many will be drawn to Sparke’s stark
and oft-times cathartic lyrics and not credit
her enough for being a terrific tunesmith.
“Time
Gets
Eaten” has another of those perfectly flowing
melodies, with some terrific swampy electric
piano. But
the words are disturbingly honest, about the
aggravations of love driving one to thoughts of
suicide. Closer
“Burn” is a bookend in style and content to the
opener “Blue.” It
touches upon themes of sexual and emotional
abuse (with the recurring line “don’t wanna talk
about it”). Sparke
looks back on the 17-year old version of
herself, encased in amber, wanting to escape,
and to dream in peace.
At
14 tracks and 55 minutes, the album runs a bit
long for its raw emotional material, and could
have used some editing (I’m looking at you, Mr
Dessner). But
there’s no question of Sparke’s massive talent
as a confessional songwriter and singer.
She gets it right by drawing you in with
great melodies and a beguiling voice, then
delivering hard-hitting lyrics from the depths
of her soul. I
don’t think anyone who heard her sublime first
album Echo saw this colossal emotional
upheaval of a record coming.
Superb.
(Mark
Feingold)
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SHARRON
KRAUS - KIN
Available
on Nightshade
Records
I
first met Sharron at Terrastock 6 in Providence
in 2006, her delicate, frail disposition
perfectly mirroring her calm, soothing folk
catalogue. Kin
marks the 20th anniversary since her
debut release, Beautiful
Twisted for Tony Dale’s Camera Obscura
imprint. She has traversed myriad styles and
collaborated with numerous like-minded souls
since then, including The Iditarod, United Bible
Studies, former Camera Obscura label mate
Christian Keifer, Meg Baird and Helena Espvall
(from Espers), and Tara Burke (Fursaxa). She has
also expanded her palette into providing music
to accompany spoken word releases by Justin
Hopper (Swift
Wings, Chanctonbury
Rings) and contributed to the Terrastock
25th Anniversary celebratory release
25
Years Of Good Clean Fun….
Her latest reflects upon the isolation imposed
upon us all by the pandemic; indeed some of it
was recorded in her home.
The set opens with a reflective old
style English ballad of love and loss ‘Tell Me,
Death’, co-written with and featuring fellow
Terrastock 6 performer Pat Gubler (P.G. Six).
Her angelic lilt recalls Shirley Collins, and
the song itself is a mournful dialogue with
Death. Sinewy synths serpentine around the
ghostly ‘The World Within The World’, but ‘Do It
Yourself’ opts for a funkier groove, as Kraus
duets on percussive pipe-banging with Neal
Heppleston’s throbbing bass lines and some
Laurie Anderson-styled breathing/singing
exercises! There’s a motoric dance groove a la
Neu! to complete this agreeable left-turn.
Sharron’s recorder adds another eerie
aura to ‘The Trees Keep On Growing’, with
weeping lapsteel flourishes from Nick Jonah
Davis cementing the contemplative ambiance. And
the synth foundation on ‘The Locked Garden’
bears a pleasant reminder of Human League and
Ultravox, her fluttering recorder and spooky,
witchy vocal utterances lending a haunted forest
atmosphere. ‘Weft and Warp’ is a dainty ballad
of synth swashes and gently-plucked guitar notes
sending us on a dreamy, reflective excursion
into the depths of our souls and our journey
ends with ‘A Kind Kind (Of Human)’, a
celebration of all the kind people out there who
make life better (and easier) to experience in
these trying, occasionally desperate times.
We’ve all got to pull together, and a warm and
cozy KIN
listening party is a great place to start.
(Jeff
Penczak)
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TOM
DYER & THE TRUE
OLYMPIANS - OLYMPIA: A TRUE STORY
Available
on Green
Monkey
Tom
Dyer is a third generation Olympian, a
multi-talented and multifarious musician, and
the head honcho behind Green Monkey Records
which has released most of his various musical
projects’ albums, along with many releases from
The Green Pajamas and Jeff Kelly. This 3CD,
40-song, 47 track box set is his loving tribute
to the city of his youth, a city he recently
returned to 45 years after graduating from
Olympia High School in 1971. Four years in the
making (with assistance from his band The True
Olympians and over 100 local musicians,
including his Alma Mater’s Olympia High School
Choir), the project covers over two million
years of Olympia’s geological, social, and
biographical history set to Dyer’s idiosyncratic
musical lens of “non-mainstream” pop and rock. A
lavishly illustrated 80-page book allows you to
follow Oly’s history via Dyer’s quirky and
occasionally self-deprecating track annotations.
‘It’s The Capital’ sets the stage with
a jaunty singalong exploring Oly’s battle with
numerous other towns to remain the capital of
Washington State and ‘The Land And The Water
(Welcome To Olympia!)’ is a topographical
journey across several million years, from the
Cordilleran Ice Sheet and the creation of Puget
Sound to the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges
and the infamous Mount Saint Helens volcano,
which “blew its top in 1980.” Holly Graham sings
the details with assistance from Dyer and
assorted True Olympians. Lisa Ceazan sings
‘People Of The Water’, a tribute to the
indigenous Squaxin Island Tribe played with a
groovy, ska-like shuffle.
‘The Founding’ is a litany of Founding
Fathers set to a fuzzy garage march, and if all
you knew about Olympia was packaged in a 6-pack
of Oly beer, ‘Beer Town’ will fill in the
details. ‘Joseph Wohleb, Architect/Empty
Buildings’ pays tribute to the city’s legendary
architect with a laundry list of some of his
more famous landmarks. All sung by a rousing
chorus who may have had a few too many Olys!
‘Mill Town’ honours Olympia’s early heritage
from a century ago, ‘It’s Mud’ sounds like
Captain Beefheart learning free jazz from
Pharaoh Saunders and trying to define “sludge’
to the Magic Band, and the first disc ends with
‘Exactly Eight Minutes of Olympic Rain and Frogs
at Tom’s House.’ Southing sounds of nature to
prepare you for Disc B.
The good Captain returns (after a
fashion) for the jollity farm good time ‘Let’s
Have A Parade’, a rollicking good show featuring
nothing less than a real marching band (well,
the Artesian Rumble Arkestra’s close
approximation thereof) arriving mid-march to
run, er march through ‘Van Vleet Street’ (an ’83
Dyer composition) in Dyer’s driveway,
culminating in (presumably Dyer’s) stab at
Hendrix’s ‘Star Spangled Banner’ (Jimi being a
Washington lad, don’t you know). The Oly
Mountain Boys lay down some good timey music
with their banjo, fiddle, and mandolin backing
to the true story of the time Dyer’s
grandparents caught “the biggest shark the Puget
Sound had ever seen” (albeit a toothless one)!
You can get the sense of Tom-(Dyer)-foolery at
play here!
‘The Evergreen Ballroom’ is a legendary
roadhouse that featured jazz, rock, country,
soul, and pop acts whenever they toured through
Olympia. It’s basically a list song of some of
the famous clientele that graced its stages, but
any song that manages to incorporate one of my
childhood fantasies into its lyrics is A#1 with
me, so here’s a tip of the dome to the lovely
Merilee Rush, a native of nearby Seattle.
‘Everybody Needs A Home’ pays tribute to
Olympia’s underprivileged and displaced with a
beautiful collection of field recordings and
synth embellishments courtesy Peter Randlette.
It’s the True Olympians most overtly political
song in the set, but it’s all in pursuit of a
good cause. ‘Olympia Oysters’ is another novelty
vaudevillian knockabout and ‘The Ballad Of
Margaret McKenny’ lauds the conservation work of
mycologist McKenny who once took Helen Keller on
a mushroom hunt!
Lisa Ceasan returns to the mic for the
tale of ‘The Null Set’, a folk coffee house that
encouraged conversations about Vietnam, Selma,
and civil rights in general and pissed off the
city fathers in particular. ‘Jazz In Olympia’ is
a snappy little toetapper performed by genuine
Olympia jazz musicians
reading
from a chart prepared by no less a jazz legend
himself, Bill “Zoot Horn Rollo” Harkleroad.
Another Magic Band member puts in an appearance!
‘A Deadly Wind’ is the true story of “the
mightiest non-tropical storm to strike the West
Coast’ 60 years ago on Columbus Day (12
October). Jason Homewood plays the paint-peeling
guitar solos and the whole thing comes off like
a hurricane (see what I did there!?). Musically
reminiscent of Cheech & Chong’s ‘Earache My
Eye’ - a real barn burner, this one! As with
Disk A, we end with another capture call:
‘Exactly Eight Minutes of Olympia Birds at Tom’s
House.’ After that deadly wind, it’s a welcome
respite that might even help you sleep (better)
at night!
But wait! There’s more! Disk C begins
with ‘A Bucketful of Weird (TESC)’, a proud
tribute to the Commie instructors, environmental
treehuggers, ecologists and students who
designed their own curriculum, and didn’t get
graded for their work - The Evergreen State
College, a bucketful of weird(oes). Matt
Groening graduated and created The
Simpsons; alumna Lynda Barry invented the
underground comic Ernie
Pook’s
Comeek; Bruce Pavitt attended TESC and
founded the Sub Pop indie label. Like the song
says: weird. ’Clammin’ (A Mediation)’ is what
one does on Mud Bay to relax and its
presentation is pure Mothers shambles. Frank
would be proud.
‘Arts Walk (Mossy Bottom)’ pays twin
tribute to a record store that puts on shows by
local acts (Tom and the Olympians played a
benefit there for Arts Walk three years ago) and
the selfsame local event where businesses hang
local art on their walls. Win-win for artists
and musicans. Fifty years ago the Rock Festival
came to Olympia thanks to the Gronk! Club. You
signed up, got a membership card and could rock
out with the bands that performed at Dinosaur!
(the festival) on one of the founders’
undeveloped properties. Lots of dope smokin’
fiends signed up and it got bigger every year
until bikers showed up and “changed the whole
vibe” and the owner shut it down. ‘Gronk! (If
You Love Dinosaur)’ was a popular bumper sticker
while it lasted. Now it’s a song that tells the
backstory.
‘Death At Mounts Road II’ is a new
countrified version of a tune Dyer and Amy Denio
released online about four years ago. It tells
the tale of the Amtrak 501 train that left the
tracks, flew across the freeway at Mounts Road,
leaving a trail of dead and injured in its wake.
The True Olympians gussy it up in true Johnny
Cash & The Tennessee Three style and Amy
duets with K Records founder Calvin Johnson.
(More about him in a minute.) True Olympian
keyboardist Joe Cason serves tears in his beers
for a rare slow blues entry from the TOs ‘Puget
Sound Flatland Blues’ and we’ll just have to
take his word(s) for it -“Is it as bad as they
say on the news?”
‘Love Rock Revolution’ reveals the
beginnings of K Records, legendary indie label
started by Olympia favourite son Calvin Johnson.
It’s sorta like Tom and the True Olympians’
‘Walk On The Wild Side’ with name droppings and
dirty laundry, but it birthed the International
Pop Underground Convention, Kill Rock Stars
(original home of Terrastocker Mary Lou Lord),
the Riot grrrl movement, and the punk scene in
Olympia and the Pacific Northwest. And, as Tom
says, “Calvin - he ain’t done yet!” ‘Lacey’s Now
The Biggest’ is the True Olympians’ municipal
cheerleader song: rival towns kickin’ ass and
taking names as to who’s the best. In true True
Olympian style, the point is: we all have our
own qualities to be proud of, so let’s all make
up and be friendly (hopefully Tom and the crew
will get the Bonzos reference, as their project
feels like it owes some of its laissez-faire
attitude to Viv and the Doo Dahs.)
The Pacific Northwest is known for its
rainy season, which is sort of all the time and
Olympia has more rainy days than any other US
city (tied with Rochester, NY). So ‘Let It Rain’
is the perfect ending to this musical travelogue
- lots of wet, steamy guitar soloing,
raspy-throated childhood recollections of
delivering newspapers in the rain, and a
finger-shredding guitar onslaught that’ll have
Neil and Crazy Horse fans freaking out. Next
stop: Broadway and Olympia:
The Musical!
(Jeff
Penczak)
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THOUGHT
BUBBLE – NOWHERE
LP/DL
www.echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com
Thought
Bubble is a two piece band comprising of
percussionist Nick Raybould and keyboardist
Chris Cordwell, operating out of Shropshire,
England. They create improvised electronica with
analogue percussion; this is their third full
length album following on from ‘Around’ which
was self released last year.
The
album starts with ‘Now Boarding’, where
grinding, squelchy fat beats meet haunting
synths, it’s a great start. This is followed by
‘Superficial’, this track features spoken word
vocals by Pablo Raybould, and is a rumination on
vacuousness, intoned over a busy, lively rhythm.
‘Distraction Engine’, is a bit like the musical
manifestation of ADHD, it’s all over the place
but in a good way, folding and dissolving upon
itself. This first side ends with ‘Neon Garden’,
a motorik beat is established, over which
shimmering synth melodies are dropped.
Side
two begins with ‘Response’ which also features
Monkey Trials guitarist and friend Shaun Bailey.
This track builds to an epic crescendo and is
most inventive. ‘Control Your Own Story’ sits
well on the album, where taut wiry keyboards are
sprinkled over a steady beat; it also features a
spoken word intonation. The next track
‘Propulsion’ features guitar from guest Rob
Williams of Babal and as the title suggests it
has a fair deal of motion as it morphs and
changes as it progresses. The final track on the
album is ‘Cloudbursting’, which features guest
vocals by Laura Pickering. The record is fairly
accessible, even for those whose tolerance for
electronic dance music is low; they somehow
manage to fuse the street smarts of bands like
Suicide, with the likes of Krautrock bands like
Can, yet still sound contemporary.
(Andrew
Young)
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SPIRAL
WAVE NOMADS – MAGNETIC
SKY
LP
Limited
to 250 copies www.twinlakesrecords.com
This
is the third album from the Spiral Wave Nomads.
The band consists of Michael Kiefer playing
drums and keyboards and Eric Hardiman playing
guitar, bass and electronics. Their first, self
titled album, was released in 2019, with ‘First
Encounters’ released in 2021 (this release in
fact contained the duo’s first formative
recordings). Michael also plays in More
Klementines, Rivener and Drifting North, plus he
also finds time to run Twin Lakes Records and
Eric along with being one half of the Spiral
Wave Nomads plays with Sky Furrows, Burnt Hills,
Century Plants and Tape Drift amongst others.
Adding to their usual instruments they also
flesh out this album utilising shahi baaja,
Mellotron, synths and keyboards.
The
album starts with ‘Dissolving Into Shape’, the
pair gelling instantly, driving the song along
nicely, the use of keyboards is instantly heard
and over a cool bass and drum pattern, Eric
plays some molten guitar lines. An exploratory
‘Carrier Signals’ follows, sending musical notes
out into the ether to see what may coalesce, it
is invested with a beautiful, lazy bass melody.
The first side ends with the great ‘Under A
Magnetic Sky’, heavily treated, almost
Frippesque lead guitar and inventive drums
patterns are the order of the day with the
keyboards providing an additional layer.
Side
two kicks off with the wah wah drenched
‘Pharoah’s Lament’, a great, slightly Middle
Eastern sounding song, achieved via its
structure rather than instrumentation, it also
has a slightly forlorn quality to it, but still
questing, which is what I like about this band.
‘Rogue Wave’, arrives next, all slack key guitar
notes and exploratory drums. The album ends with
‘Lurking Madness’, where they head out to space,
building to a solid wig out, after skirting
around the perimeter for a good while, again
questing and feeling each other out, it’s a
great psych track to end a fine album with.
(Andrew
Young)
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MORE
KLEMENTINES – WHO
REMEMBERS LIGHT
LP
Limited to 340 copies www.twinlakesrecords.com
More
Klementines have released a new album; following
on from their debut album released a couple of
years ago in 2018. The band for this outing
consists of Michael Kiefer – drums with Jon
Schlesinger – guitar, lap steel and vocals plus
Steubs- mandolin, guitar, bass and electronics.
It
is made up of four tracks with opener ‘Hot
Peace’, being almost side-long, it sets out
their stall quite nicely, it’s a lengthy,
intense instrumental which after a slow start
builds into a frenetic piece of music, the
antithesis of easy listening, it slows down for
a bit about two thirds in when the instruments
seemingly play at half speed, it’s a trippy,
interesting opening song, the band make music
which is not planned, playing a free form kind
of thing, with the instruments intuitively
playing off each other. This is followed by the
short and sweet ‘In The Key Of Caeser’ ( see
what they did there) which has vocals and is
sung by Jon, this song is definitely not like
the others, achieving a kind of 90’s indie feel.
The
exploratory title track ‘Who Remembers Light’,
kicks off side two, another slightly free-form,
lengthy piece, taken at an all together slower
pace, echoing, flanged guitar tones with
inventive drums drift all over the place, the
album ends with another instrumental, the slowly
unfurling, pastoral in feel ‘Ascension’, which
has plenty of space left for the instruments to
fill and for us listeners to catch our breath.
(Andrew
Young)
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CHARLES
O’HEGARTY - THE MORE I TRAVEL
(LP
& CD from The
Lollipoppe Shoppe)
The
peripatetic Charlie Hegarty was born a Cockney
on the Isle of Dogs in the east end of London in
1937. He travelled extensively through Europe
and the middle-east and lived for a number of
years in Sweden, which is where he met his wife,
Anna. A talented folk guitarist with a strong
melodic voice and reputedly a fantastic
entertainer (indeed, there’s a very Robyn
Hitchcock-eque rap about a pot of green paint
included here on the intro to the ‘Cosher
Bailey’s Engine’), in the early 1960s he became
spellbound by the folk boom in North America,
added an O’ onto his name for reasons lost in
the mists of time and travelled initially to
Canada, thence to the USA where he made
something of a hit on the west coast folk
circuit. Tom Paxton introduced him to a number
of venues, Charles going on to sing at The
Hollywood Bowl, The Berkley Folk Festival, The
Ice House, The Ash Grove, The Jabberwok and
others. Sometime in the early 1970s he moved to
NYC, lived on the lower east side with Anna and
his daughter Marika, became a regular at The
Gaslight in Greenwich Village and sang at South
Street Seaport with The X-Seamans Institute.
Subsequently he moved to New England where he
sang with The Starboard List and for the rich
and famous on Nantucket Island. Sadly, drink was
his enemy and towards the end of his life he
became reclusive, eventually passing away back
“home” in the east of London in January 2010.
Unfortunately however very few recordings remain
of O’Hegarty, beyond a solitary folk-rock single
recorded for the Verve-Folkways label featuring
the marvellous, self-penned ‘Body in the Bag’
with ‘What A Mouth’ on the flip.
The
Lollipoppe Shoppe label is to be applauded for
having spent years collecting together enough
material for an LP+CD set from six different
sources, all recorded between 1964 and 1970. On
a few tracks the recording quality is a little
bit indifferent, having been recorded live in
folk clubs across Canada and the USA; but
somehow that only adds to the atmosphere - but
elsewhere it’s studio quality, including on the
aforementioned single ‘Body in the Bag’ where
the contemporary late 60s “pop” drums and
keyboard accompaniment adds a certain je
ne sai qua.
A live version of the B side of that single, the
singalongaCockney refrain ‘What A Mouth’, is
featured on the extended CD version of the LP
along with six other unreleased tracks. Ten
songs are either trad.arrs. or covers, including
a remarkable version of the Stones’ ‘Play With
Fire’, but the majority of the 23 songs featured
are his own compositions, although some with new
words set to familiar tunes. Foremost amongst
these are the opening ‘Morning Shadow’,
'Marika's Lullaby' (written for his daughter),
‘Love Poem’ which has some fine fiddle
accompaniment, and ‘The More I Travel’ which is
such a great song that I had to double check to
see if it was a cover - it’s not, and thankfully
there’s a second, live version on the bonus CD
which serves to underline what a great song it
is, and indeed what a fine guitar player
O’Hegarty was.
Charles
O’Hegarty wrote some great songs, and could
obviously hold an audience in the palm of his
hand. It’s so sad to think he’s been all but
forgotten for the past 50 years, and this
excellent collection is both long overdue and a
record to treasure.
(Phil
McMullen)
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STEVE
TIBBETTS – HELLBOUND TRAIN:
AN ANTHOLOGY
(2-CD
on ECM)
Minnesota
guitarist Steve Tibbetts has released this
career retrospective spanning forty years of
work with ECM Records.
Full disclosure, despite his not
being a household name, Tibbetts has been a
personal favorite of mine for decades, so I
feel as if I’ve been waiting years to write
this review.
Steve and his guitar-driven sound
collages are most assuredly headphone music.
Impossible to categorize, you could
file his melting pot under rock, jazz, world
music, minimalist, ambient, or space music,
and still you’d get it wrong.
Curating
the collection himself, Tibbetts chose to
make Disc 1 showcase his electric side
(though there’s plenty of acoustic playing
here as well), and Disc 2 with all acoustic
tracks. His
albums aren’t evenly represented or in
chronological order, but Steve went for what
he felt would flow best through the set.
Most noticeably absent is anything
from his brilliant Yr, recorded in
1980 but released by ECM in 1988.
Tibbetts felt it was a standalone
album that wouldn’t blend in well with the
rest of the set.
This is a pity, as it’s a favorite of
many fans, myself included (I still remember
the sticker on the plastic wrapping
promising “A Guitar Freak’s Dream!”), but
Steve gets to make that call.
Together
with his long-time partner-in-crime,
percussionist Marc Anderson, Tibbetts
creates whole sonic worlds unto themselves.
His music conjures images of nature
in my mind.
On electric guitar, he features a
biting attack of distortion, and it makes me
think of volcanos hurling lava skyward or
snaking their way down a mountain.
He’s not a shredder, he goes for
feeling. His
acoustic playing is marked by techniques he
learned by watching another Minnesota
guitarist named Dean McGraw.
It’s bendy, rings in a unique way,
and captures resonances and modalities not
unlike a sitar.
It often makes me think of cold
winter scenes, with leafless branches
bristling in the wind.
He tops this off with other-wordly
electronic soundscapes; an early adopter of
sampling technology, he uses his guitar to
trigger any number of electronically warped
Tibetan long horns, Indonesian gongs or an
unlimited number of other manipulated
sounds.
Then
there’s the highly underrated Marc Anderson.
Few percussionists harness such a
wide array of things to bang on, from a
standard drum kit to congas, steel drums,
gongs, and a myriad of hand played items.
Whatever Tibbetts is playing, whether
loud or quiet, Anderson knows instinctively
the right rhythm and device to complement
it.
In
addition to leaving off the great album Yr,
Tibbetts also left off my favorite track,
which is “Test” from 1984’s Safe Journey
(he’s forgiven).
“Test” puts together all the best
elements of Tibbetts’ work, in ultra-dynamic
fashion. I
urge you to seek the song (and the album)
out. However,
he did include the similar “Vision,” from
the same album, so I’ll use that for my
leading example.
Starting with Anderson’s congas and
shaker, we then get the melody line via a
kalimba. This
leads to some outrageous distorted guitar
from Tibbetts, bending, squeezing, pulling
feedback and generally throttling every last
ounce of sound from his guitar, over the top
of a Mellotron-ish soundscape and Anderson’s
the-natives-are-restless percussion.
It’s exquisite beyond belief.
The
collection’s title track “Hellbound Train”
from 1994’s The Fall of Us All, is
another standout.
(Steve took it from a Savoy Brown
record). He
toys with us on acoustic guitar and an
electronic theme, while Anderson is playing
percussion as if his life depended on it.
When Tibbetts finally picks up his
electric guitar and plays, things go off the
rails. It’s
a perfectly chosen title, because it’s a
white knuckle ride all the way, and in the
latter part, Anderson’s drumming sounds like
he’s in the grip of demonic possession.
Next
track “Nyemma,” also from The Fall of Us
All, features some impassioned
wordless tribal-style vocals from Claudia
Schmidt and Rhea Valentine, while Tibbetts’
scorching guitar weaves in and out over more
of Anderson’s astonishing, breakneck
percussion.
On
the quiet, acoustic second disk, a good
example of Steve’s work is “Night Again.”
The nocturnal piece features some
hypnotic guitar work, reminding one of a
clock ticking on a wall in the darkness or a
faucet dripping, backed by an eerie
electronic soundscape.
“My Last Chance” has a similar
late-night feel, especially a guitar section
that reminds me of somnambulant breathing
culminating in a heavy exhalation.
Steve
Tibbetts has traveled the world in search of
new sounds, styles and rhythms to put on his
albums, and his is music of everywhere and
nowhere at the same time.
It can be exhilarating, send your
pulse racing, or hypnotic and mesmerizing.
Hellbound Train:
An Anthology is a good entry
point. I
also recommend the albums Yr, Safe
Journey, The Fall of Us All,
and his hard-to-find self-titled first album
from 1977.
(Mark
Feingold)
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HEAVENLY
- HEAVENLY VS. SATAN
Available
on Skep
Wax
Heavenly
formed in 1989 from the ashes of Talulah Gosh, a
much-loved but little-recorded jangly pop band
who left behind but a few singles (later
collected on the Rock
Legends:
Volume 69 compilation album). Continuing
in a similar C-86/twee pop vein, the band
released four albums throughout the ‘90s before
morphing into Marine Research following the
suicide of drummer Matthew Fletcher. Guitarist
Amelia Fletcher (Matthew’s sister) and bassist
Rob Pursey currently record as The Catenary
Wires and Swansea Sound and run the Skep Wax
label, who begin the Heavenly vinyl-only reissue
campaign with their debut album, originally
released on Sarah Records in 1990. It’s a snappy
collection of fluffy pop that perfectly captures
Nick Lowe’s “pure pop for now people”
description of his own early toe-tappers.
Amelia
Fletcher’s winsome, girl-next-door vocals are a
delightful breath of fresh air in a world
deluged with angry, post-punk pranksters and
Grunge-y ne’er-do-wells. Heavenly’s music is the
sound of musicians having fun, lyrics that
explore the intricacies of (usually broken)
relationships, and infectious (but not
lightweight) pop tunes that you can actually hum
along with. ‘Boyfriend Stays The Same’ rues a
relationship with a partner who won’t commit and
coming to terms with the unfortunate fact that
it’s time to move on. ‘Lemonhead Boy’ speeds up
the tempo for some Ramones-y bubblegum punk, and
fan favourite ‘Shallow’ is one of the C-86
scene’s all-time great confections (although it
occasionally sounds like Fletcher is singing the
praises of the gelatin dessert “JELL-O”!)
‘Wish Me Gone’ is delicious girl group
goodness featuring perfect harmonies from “The
Catherines Of Arrogance” (Fletcher and Talulah
Gosh mates Eithne Farry and Elizabeth Price) and
‘Don’t Be Fooled’ is a warning to every girl
who’s fallen in love with the dream instead of
the actual boy she’s attracted to. This is a
recurring theme in Fletcher’s lyrics that
occasionally veer toward frustrated diary
entries, yet accurately reflect the dreams and
regrets of the young lasses looking for love in
all the wrong guys.
The reissue includes a colour booklet
with lyrics, photos, and liners by the band and
supplements the eight-track original with both
sides of their pre-LP Sarah singles. ‘I Fell In
Love Last Night’ introduces Fletcher’s
self-deprecatingly frustrated lyrics of lost
love and “wrong guy syndrome” that permeates the
subsequent album and will resonate with
brokenhearted coeds everywhere. ‘Over And Over’
is a musical re-enactment of “ping went the
strings of my broken heart.” Follow up ‘Our Love
Is Heavenly’ is an eponymous tour de force - “I
love you…Goodbye.” Has Fletcher finally gotten
the upper hand? Perhaps not, as the flip, ‘Wrap
My Arms Around Him’ relates the tale of another
broken relationship: “I have no excuse I was so
seduced by his charms/Call me gullible but I'd
still believe his smiles.” Oh, will she ever
learn? Stay tuned. The sophomore album Le
Jardin De Heavenly will be reissued next
Summer. The story continues…. Until then, enjoy
this fizzy funfest of unrequited love set to
earwig melodies and Fletcher’s “why me” regrets.
Heartbreak never sounded this effervescent!
Jeff
Penczak
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