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)

PLAINSONG - FOLLOWING AMELIA: THE 1972 RECORDINGS & MORE

(Cherry Red Records 6CD Box Set)

Cherry Red commemorate the 50^th 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 40^th 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 “40^th 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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

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)

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 20^th 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 25^th 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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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