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7" (1973) ***/T Creepy Red Line |
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Dutch session bassist Jan Hollestelle's one solo release, the Creepy 7", is a strange little bass-led instrumental, more a '70s take on surf music than anything particularly contemporary, albeit not at all bad. I'll come clean and say I've never heard the flip, Red Line, so can't honestly comment on it. An unknown musician (who knows? Hollestelle himself?) plays a Mellotron string line, although, again, I can't comment on the flip.
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Confessions of the Mind (1970, 38.53) ***/½ |
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| Survival of the Fittest Man Without a Heart Little Girl Isn't it Nice? Perfect Lady Housewife Confessions of a Mind Lady Please Frightened Lady |
Too Young to Be Married Separated I Wanna Shout |
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Rarities (1988, recorded 1965-81, 50.41) **½/½ |
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| Carrie Mexico Gold If it Wasn't for the Reason That I Love You Louisiana Man She Looked My Way Eleanor's Castle Here in My Dreams Sanctuary Relax |
Tomorrow When it Comes Open Up Your Eyes The Times They Are a-Changin' Look Through Any Window (French) After the Fox Non Prego per Me Like Every Time Before Wings |
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1970 found The Hollies at a crossroads; Graham Nash had hopped off to Califor-ny-ay to be a hippy, play with his famous buddies and shag Joni Mitchell, leaving his bandmates to carry on singing songs about how shit life was in ol' Blighty. Confessions of the Mind finds them doing exactly that, via Little Girl (divorce through the eyes of a child), Confessions Of A Mind (playing away from home) and Too Young To Be Married (kitchen-sink drama), amongst others. Musically, it's all a bit unexciting, frankly, especially after their brief dalliance with psych-lite, but then, this was 1970, wasn't it? Some seriously schizophrenic production decisions don't help the album's cause, although overall, it's a perfectly competent pop/rock album of its type, albeit one lacking any real creative spark. An unknown musician (quite possibly bassist Bernie Calvert; Reg "Elton John" Dwight plays on the album, but not this track) plays MkII strings on Frightened Lady, complete with pitchbend, though not so's you'd particularly notice, to be honest, so, unlike some of their contemporaries, you can't even say this is their 'Mellotron album'.
1988's Rarities collection does exactly what it says on the tin, collating a selection of b-sides and other non-album tracks from 1965-81. Unsurprisingly, most of the '70s selections are exactly the kind of MOR pop you'd expect (a.k.a. inferior versions of The Air That I Breathe), while the '60s ones have slightly more life to them, although there's little here that even fans of the band would probably consider essential. Its sole point of interest, for us at least, is its closing number, Wings, originally donated for the semi-legendary World Wildlife Fund charity album (possibly the first of its type), No One's Gonna Change Our World, better known for being the first place anyone heard The Beatles' Across The Universe. It's a passable enough track, in a wussy ballad kind of way, but we're not exactly talking 'classic' here; someone (Graham Nash? Or had he gone by then?) plays tremulous Mellotron strings on the track, albeit to no great effect.
See: Allan Clarke
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The Time is Always Now (2016, 68.14) ****/TTTThe Belly of BeingThe Times They Are a-Taming Dancer in the Sky Falling Time to Go Two Grains of Sand The Time is Always Now A Drop of Me |
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Holon are vocalist/guitarist Ronny Pedersen's solo project, whose debut, 2016's The Time is Always Now, fuses such disparate styles as folk, psychedelia, metal, progressive rock, post-rock and even mainstream pop of various eras into a startling musical bouillabaisse, near-impossible to categorise. He brings in members of several Norwegian outfits, not least Rhys Marsh (the album was recorded at his studio, Autumnsongs), Wobbler's Lars Fredrik Frøislie, with a ripping Hammond solo on Time To Go, singer-songwriter Silje Leirvik and Jaga Jazzist's Ketil Vestrum Einarsen, although Marsh appears to be his chief collaborator. Highlights? Sections of tracks stand out, rather than whole ones, although opener The Belly Of Being, complete with sitar and intense closer A Drop Of Me might just tip the balance.
Marsh plays Mellotron (Frøislie's?) on all but two tracks, with flute and cello lines on The Times They Are A-Taming (ho ho), flutes and strings on Dancer In The Sky, cellos, strings and choirs on Falling, distant strings on Time To Go, a flute line on Two Grains Of Sand and chordal strings on the title track, finishing with distant, solo choirs. If this album has a fault, it's that it's possibly too diverse, leading to a situation where the listener may like aspects of most tracks, but struggle with the whole. Nonetheless, an artistic triumph. More, please.
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Pause for a Hoarse Horse (1971, 39.14) ***/T |
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| Tramp Family Pause for a Hoarse Horse Red E Lewis and the Red Caps In My Time How Would it Feel? Bad Days Mother |
Moses Welwyn Garden City Blues You're No Good |
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The Alchemist (1973, 40.44) ***½/T |
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| Schooldays The Old Man Dying Time Passes By The Old Man Calling The Disaster The Sun's Revenge A Secret to Keep The Brass Band Played |
Rejoicing The Disaster Returns The Death of the Alchemist The Alchemist |
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Many years ago, I did a temporary job working for the Census Commission, doing my little bit to help compile the figures for that year's census (not to mention earn a bit of dosh); I met with a good deal of resistance from certain sectors of the public, one of whom subsequently mellowed when he found out I was also a musician. It turns out that he was Mick Cook, once drummer with Home, along with Cliff Williams, later of AC/DC and Laurie Wisefield, subsequently of Wishbone Ash. I was saddened to hear a few years later that he'd died; definitely one of the good guys.
His old band's first album, 1971's Pause for a Hoarse Horse, is perfectly pleasant but undemanding countryish rock, which finally tips over into full-blown country on the last couple of tracks. It's very well done, but hasn't dated terribly well and I'm not quite sure where this would fit in with modern listening tastes (not that that should necessarily be a problem, of course). The best tracks are probably Moses and the short country hoedown Welwyn Garden City Blues, but it's all a bit tame, really. Clive John plays Mellotron on two tracks, with melodic, largely single-note string parts on Red E Lewis And The Red Caps and Bad Days, but we're not talking a 'buy it now' album.
Home's third (and last) album, The Alchemist, was their only concept piece. The concept's as flaky as most from the era, although it does at least have some sort of narrative structure, concerning, er, an alchemist, although I'm not quite sure how his activities relate to alchemy, but there you go. The first few tracks come across as nothing special, with some of that Wishbone twin-guitar feel in places (appropriately) and rather ordinary songwriting. Guest keyboardist Jimmy Anderson seems so integral to the band's sound that I can't imagine how they performed live as a four-piece; maybe they didn't - Home are one of those bands about whom very little information seems to have survived. As the band slide into The Disaster, most of the way through side one, they suddenly come alive, producing a quite ferocious piece with excellent keyboard and guitar work, including a smattering of Mellotron strings buried in the mix, the intensity carried on through The Sun's Revenge. Side two again starts poorly, but picks up towards the end, The Disaster Returns being a highlight, with another handful of those string chords. The closing title track has a string arrangement that sounds real, rather than Mellotron, but there's no mention on the sleeve of 'orchestral arrangement' or similar, so it could be simply well-arranged keys.
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Kittycat (1989, 39.16) ***/T½ |
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| Walls Jax No Vacancy Gladiolus Banal Cut Picnic Like Lemmings |
Happy Long Time |
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Although Home's music is now available on all the 'major platforms' (as they say), they are thoroughly obscure, to the point where I know no more about them than the members' names and that they were American. Oh, and they released an EP the year before their lone album, 1989's Kittycat, a.k.a. Kittycat Caca Cave, that being the title on the spine. It's actually a pretty decent pop/rock effort, if a little of its time, upfront goth bass apparent on several tracks (see: Picnic), at its best on upbear opener Walls, Gladiolus and Happy, perhaps.
Bob Lukomski and Robert Seals both play Mellotron, with strings all over No Vacancy and distant choirs on Cut and Like Lemmings. Samples? Unlikely, given the time, while it sounds pretty real on the exposed choirs at the end of Like Lemmings. You can hear this online easily enough, which is a cautious recommendation.
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History & Geography (1984, 34.06) ***/TMarco Polo: The VoyageMarco Polo: The City of Kin-Sai Holiday Monkey Town Big Winter King Penguin Bells of Ever and Never From the Life of King John |
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Home & Garden coalesced after the dissolution of Cleveland's legendary Pere Ubu in 1982, the rhythm section going on to form the new outfit. Like their previous band, they were disinterested in following the well-worn path, finding a vocalist (Jeff Morrison) who tended to read his poetry over the music rather than actually 'sing', which fitted in pretty well with the band's ethos, by the sound of it. Their sole full LP, 1984's History & Geography, is part post-Ubu, part early indie, part avant-rock; you get the feeling this lot were a better live band than studio, although the album never fails to be interesting, at the very least.
Jim Jones plays Mellotron flutes, choir and strings on the fairly avant- Bells Of Ever And Never, probably sounding quite alien to the band's core audience, who may very well not have heard one since they were old enough to know what they were. This is now available in a vastly expanded edition and is heartily recommended to Pere Ubu fans and followers of '80s rock weirdness in general. Just for once, this is truly deserving of that single T, its one Mellotron track being a real killer.
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Homer [a.k.a. Grown in U.S.A.] (1972, 38.47) ***/TTT½Circles in the NorthTaking Me Home Dawson Creek Survivor In the Beginning Loves Coming Four Days and Nights Without You Cyrano in the Park Lonely Woman |
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Texans Homer released just the one, eponymous album, subsequently reissued as Grown in U.S.A. It's a slightly mixed bag, to be honest, fusing psych, hard rock and, er, country into a sort-of interesting stew that doesn't always work, if truth be told. After psychedelic hard rock opener Circles In The North, the pedal steel puts in an appearance on the next couple of tracks, particularly on Dawson Creek, almost a straight country rock song. The rest of the album veers between the rock and country sides of the band, often during the same song, twin guitar leads battling it out with pedal steel balladry in an almost unique mix of styles.
Rob Meurer (Christopher Cross' keyboard player, misspelled Meuer on the sleeve) plays Mellotron on most of the record, which must make this one of the earliest American Mellotron (as against Chamberlin) albums. Most of his use is nice, upfront strings, although flutes and even brass rear their misshapen heads occasionally. Meurer seems to use practically no other instrument, although the odd synth line puts in an appearance, sounding like an old Moog III. I'd give this a higher star rating if it wasn't for the country influence; OK, it makes for a more unusual album, though not always in a good way. Plenty of Mellotron, though, so worth it for that if you can track a copy down. Incidentally, according to guitarist Galen Niles, that MkII was apparently 'left in the studio in Austin where their bassist worked', after which the trail goes cold.
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Story (1970, 39.55) ***/T½ |
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| Story Black Mourning Band Scarlet Lady Fresher Than the Sweetness of Water He Was Columbus Ceilings No. 1 Under the Silent Tree She's Out There |
She Said Yes I Remember Caroline How Long Ceilings No. 2 |
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Honeybus were a London-based late '60s outfit, who neatly sidestepped the prevailing psychedelic ethos, preferring to update the mainstream pop of the era just prior to things getting interesting, in the manner of The Hollies or (The) Marmalade, maybe. They're remembered for their sole hit, '68's terrace-style singalong I Can't Let Maggie Go, also used for an iconic early '70s TV ad for slimming bread (no, I'm not making this up).
Despite their one-off success, the band only released one album in their lifetime, 1970's Story, a vaguely baroque pop concoction that has its moments, notably Under The Silent Tree and How Long, although its middle-of-the-road feel scuppers it from a viewpoint four decades ahead. Ray Cane plays Mellotron; Under The Silent Tree features the rarely-heard guitar plus pitchbent flutes, with quite distinct string stabs on She Said Yes in comparison to the track's real strings and another unusual sound, the fast-picking mandolin, taking a solo on I Remember Caroline, making a nice change from the usual strings and flutes hegemony.
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Here's Luck (2001, 46.27) ***/TTT |
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| Stonewall Sour Grapes Wilson Boulevard Pins in Dolls Red Dye #40 Hearts and Heads For the Tears Losing Transmissions |
The Crown Freakshow [Untitled] |
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The Honeydogs have been around since the mid-'90s, releasing their fourth album, Here's Luck, in 2001. Although their earlier work is apparently in an alt.country vein, as various online reviewers have pointed out, this release is slanted in a Beatles/powerpop direction, if you can imagine an alt.country American band trying to be The Fabs. By far from everything here grabs me, but Losing Transmissions and Freakshow are two of the better efforts.
Mellotron and/or Chamberlin on several tracks, probably from keys man Peter J. Sands, although it could be previous Mellotron user, producer Chuck Zwicky; without a specific credit it's hard to say. Anyway, strings and cellos on Stonewall, flutes on Sour Grapes and Wilson Boulevard, strings on For The Tears and Freakshow and finally, flutes and strings on Losing Transmissions, making for a fairly heavy tape-replay record. Assuming, of course, it's all real... So; a powerpop album for alt.country fans? Hard to say, but it's a reasonable record with plenty of tape-replay of one variety or another.
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First Rodeo (2008, 34.04) ***½/TT½ |
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| Black Crows Little Toy Gun Sugarcane Not For Long Bouncing Ball Come on Home Give Yourself to Me David |
Slow Brains Under the Willow Tree Oh Mama |
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HoneyHoney are the LA-based duo of Suzanne Santo and Benjamin Jaffe, who play a kind of indie/Americana hybrid on their debut, 2008's First Rodeo, thankfully more Americana than indie. Highlights? Possibly opener Black Crows, the downtuned slide blues of Come On Home, the piano-driven David and the gentle Under The Willow Tree, but nothing here offends.
Patrick Warren plays uncredited Chamberlin, with flutes and strings all over Black Crows, flutes on Little Toy Gun, Sugarcane and Not For Long (but - ha ha - not for long) and strings on David, although the violin on Not For Long is real. Given that I didn't like their third album, 2015's, er, 3 (see: Samples etc.), this comes as a pleasant surprise.
See: Samples etc.
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Armageddon (1979, recorded 1974, 39.01) ***½/TTT½HelloThis Moment Free Winter This Thing A Tormented Heart Kamala Armageddon |
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Donald R. Hooker II's (1949-2009) rather limited fame is based on the impeccable late-period psych credentials of his 1972 debut, The Truth, reviewers tending to be a bit sniffy about its follow-up, Armageddon. Although recorded in '74, the album only saw the light of day, in a very different musical climate, in '79, where it must've really sounded like a fish out of water (so what does a fish out of water sound like, anyway?). It's actually a pretty decent prog/hard rock/psych effort, many of the tracks running into each other, highlights including the epic Winter and the closing title track, although, truth be told, there's nothing here that made me reach for the 'skip' button.
Bob Reardon plays Mellotron, This Moment opening with a lovely flute part, string swells on Free, strings all over the first part of Winter and on A Tormented Heart, strings and very upfront flutes on Kamala, finishing with more strings on Armageddon itself. An excellent effort, then, proof positive that there are almost certainly many more great obscure albums languishing on mouldy old master tapes, just waiting to be hauled, kicking and screaming, back out into the light. Loads of Mellotron, too, unexpectedly. Irritatingly, although this is now available again, it's only on 180gm vinyl (blah blah blah), so much as I applaud any labels' efforts to keep the old black stuff alive, it'd be quite nice to be able to get this on CD...
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Dan Andersson på Vårt Sätt (1973, 38.49) **/T |
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| Per Ols Per Erik Vårkänning Sizzi Till Min Syster Avskedssång till Finnmarksskalden Broder Joachim Julvisa i Finnmarken Heldagskvåll in Timmerkojan |
Brooklandsvågen Spelmannen Om Aftonen Jag Våntar Omkring Tiggarn Från Luossa |
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The Hootenanny Singers were a Swedish 'folk-schlager' group, chiefly known for Abba's Björn Ulvaeus' youthful membership, active from the early '60s to mid-'70s. Their penultimate album, 1973's Dan Andersson på Vårt Sätt, saw the band setting the late Swedish poet's work to music; sadly, the end result is the kind of cheesy 'folk' that you can hear in German beerhalls to this day, should you ever be tempted. Highlights? Er, not really, no, although the less jaunty likes of Till Min Syster and Julvisa I Finnmarken are slightly less offensive than their neighbours.
Although the bulk of the album features real strings, those are definitely the Mellotronic variety on closer Omkring Tiggarn Från Luossa, uncredited, but more than likely played by Benny Andersson, he and Ulvaeus having worked together for years. Of course, Abba's first album, Ring Ring, appeared the same year, so the writing was on the wall for the Hootenanny Singers. They shall not be mourned.
See: Abba
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Musical Chairs (1998, 48.31) **½/½ |
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| I Will Wait Wishing Las Vegas Nights Only Lonely Answer Man Michelle Post Bluesy Revolution Home Again |
One By One Desert Mountain Showdown What's Going on Here What Do You Want From Me Now Closet Full of Fear |
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I'd never actually heard Hootie & the Blowfish (named for two old college friends) before encountering 1998's Musical Chairs; while I can't say I'm particularly blown away, they're less offensive than I'd expected. They sound like... I dunno. College rock? Springsteen? Less unpleasant Bon Jovi? Mainstream pop/rock by any other name? Purpose-built for arena shows, lightweight 'rock' with all the rock removed, I suppose. Standout tracks? None.
Only Lonely has Chamberlin strings and cellos from the ubiquitous Patrick Warren, but they're almost indistinguishable from real strings, to be honest, which seems slightly pointless to me. Plenty of Hammond spread across the album, but that's it on the tape-replay front.
See: Samples etc.
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The President of the L.S.D. Golf Club (2007, 41.20) ***/TTT½ |
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| Stranger 50 Watt Expedition Impossible Circles Gentle Storm The Eclipse Song Billie Black Marble Tiles |
Strictly Out of Phase Bohemian Laughter |
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Belgian indie/trip-hop outfit Hooverphonic's sixth studio album, the marvellously-named The President of the L.S.D. Golf Club, is best described as a cross between indie and trip-hop, not necessarily within songs. The overall mood is 'down' rather than 'up', although the band do pick up the pace here and there, notably on Expedition Impossible and Circles, although you'd hardly call them cheerful. Er, is this a problem?
Cédric Murrath plays keys, including a real Mellotron (thanks for the confirmation, Dieter), with strings on 50 Watt, background flutes on Expedition Impossible, major string and flute parts on Gentle Storm (the album's Mellotron classic), more flutes and strings on The Eclipse Song... Basically, this album is smothered in Mellotron strings and flutes, which is a serious bonus. So; passable gloomy record, plenty of great Mellotron.
See: Samples etc.
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A Remark Hugh Made (1994, 44.17) ***½/TT |
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| Free Will & Testament A Streetcar Named Desire We Can Work it Out The Twelve Chairs This Island Earth Superthunderstingercar John Milton is Dead All in My Head |
Sliding Dogs His Wife for a Hat Lenny Bruce Sings His Hat for a Wife Our Final Remark |
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Hugh Hopper was, of course, one of the Canterbury Scene's most fêted alumni, playing on the first six Soft Machine LPs before going on to work with almost everyone of note from the scene and a myriad others before his untimely death in 2009. One of his more unexpected collaborations came in 1994 with American alt.god (Mark) Kramer, the end result being an album with that most whimsical and Canterburyesque of titles, A Remark Hugh Made. In many ways, it has a most Canterburyesque sound, too, comprising a bewildering variety of styles, many, but not all, jazz-related, all squashed into forty-four minutes, shifting between suitably whimsical opener Free Will & Testament, the duo's wonderfully Indian take on The Beatles' We Can Work It Out, the heavily psychedelic The Twelve Chairs and Hopper's outrageous fuzz/wah bass work on Sliding Dogs, to name but four examples.
Kramer plays Mellotron, with strings all over We Can Work It Out and Sliding Dogs, plus chordal flutes and strings on His Hat For A Wife (although not on His Wife For A Hat - spot the Oliver Sacks reference). Fans of straight-down-the-line, 'normal' music are fairly unlikely to like A Remark Hugh Made, but anyone who ever cocked an ear when the needle hit the vinyl on a copy of Soft Machine's Third, or even realised that listening to music some distance from the mainstream frequently brings unexpected results may very well get something out of this, its Mellotron usage merely a bonus.
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Calypso (2012, 43.49) ***/TTFront FormingNearly Broke Your Heart One Wheel Random Hearts Keep Coming Over Older Speeder Aeons Young and Sweet Calypso |
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Going by their third album, 2012's Calypso, The Horse Company are a superior Dutch indie/Americana outfit (their debut was apparently more in a transatlantic direction), with a detailed, quite intricate sound, only lost on its rockier tracks (notably One Wheel). Highlights? Opener Front Forming (one of the album's least 'indie' sounding tracks), Young And Sweet and 'epic country/indie' closer Calypso itself, while Aeons is possibly the most successful of the 'mainstream indie' material, although I have trouble with the more laid-back tracks, particularly Keep Coming Over and Older Speeder.
Matthijs Herder (Black Atlantic, Oceana Company) plays all keys, including his own Mellotron, with a flute melody and string chords on Nearly Broke Your Heart, exceedingly background choirs on One Wheel, far more upfront ones on Aeons and major flute and string parts on the lengthy title track. Parts of this album will appeal to fans of the more psychedelic end of things (although parts of it won't); get to hear the title track, at least.
