|
|
|
|
||
|
 |
Cause & Effect (2002, 62.13) **½/TT½ |
|
| I am Not Here Look at Me Now Quiet Desperation Imitation of... Goodnight Sweetheart Lonely Madame Hate's Mad Search for Love Bang the Drum Slowly |
The Mystery Cynthia's Journal The Battle About Michelle Dance Me to the End of Love |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron/Chamberlin used:
Although they've been releasing albums since the late '80s, I've somehow contrived never to've heard of L.A.'s Human Drama (originally The Models, from New Orleans). 2002's Cause & Effect is their eighth studio album, fitting the 'sort of goth' description that's usually levelled at them, mid-paced efforts occasionally giving way to piano numbers (no, not ballads) like Lonely or The Battle, while vocalist/mainman Johnny Indovina does his best Bowie impression.
Mellotron from Richard Ochoa and David R. Zimmerman, plus Chamberlin from the latter, with strings on opener I Am Not Here and Bang The Drum Slowly, strings and flutes on Imitation Of..., flutes and background strings on Madame Hate's Mad Search For Love, an upfront, chirpy flute part and cellos on The Mystery, background flutes on Cynthia's Journal and something not immediately identifiable on About Michelle, making for a surprisingly decent album on that front. Overall, a bit of a goth-lite effort, though, only really enlivened by some decent tape-replay work.
 |
Peg Leg (2002, recorded 1975, 50.11) ***½/TTTT½ |
|
| Freebird All Time Loser Find Your Heart Peg Leg For a Friend Pt.I For a Friend Pt.II Fallen Star Hey You |
Tight Rope Lover Instinct |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Human Instinct were one of the best known 'underground' bands in New Zealand in the '70s, releasing five albums across their career, including 1971's highly-rated Pins in it. Peg Leg was recorded in late '75, but by the time the band were presented with a rough mix, their style had changed and the decision was made the shelve the album. Vocalist/drummer Maurice Greer kickstarted the process of resurrecting it by approaching their old record company armed with a cassette of that rough mix, triggering a search for the original multitrack which, amazingly, was found in a warehouse. After a full remix, it appeared in 2002 on the Rajon label, letting the Kiwi buying public know what they'd been missing.
Unsurprisingly, like most NZ music of the time, Peg Leg now sounds a little dated, but stands up surprisingly well, in a prog-lite kind of way. I'm not sure that opening with a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's inimitable Freebird (pub circuit cover, no doubt) was the best idea the band ever had, although they have a fair crack at it, duelling guitars and all, even if their own slightly pedestrian material pales a little in comparison. Saying that, the two parts of For A Friend are pretty good and it's not as if there are any real stinkers, although the title track is probably slightly unnecessary.
Steve McDonald's Mellotron work is quite exemplary; and to think I was worried this one might be a dud... His string part on Freebird shits on the original's, which is, admittedly, notorious as one of the worst-recorded Mellotron parts ever. McDonald actually writes a completely different and vastly superior part, then carries on in a similar vein on most tracks, slapping strings all over the place, with choirs here and there (notably on For A Friend Pt.I), too, not to mention a high cello part on Fallen Star. Given how unexpected it is, this is a real Mellotron monster, although I'd imagine it's now long out of print. There's bound to be a few online, if you search hard enough; although the music is only slightly above average, the Mellotron work is excellent. Recommended.
See: Steve McDonald
 |
The Hungry Mind Review (2004, 55.29) ***½/TTTT |
|
| Anchor Saving Grace (Slight Return) Everything I Touch Pillow Vista Breathe What Do You See Barely Time to Run |
Fever Dream Sooner Than Later White Palace Skin So Fair Just as Well At Your Will Saving Grace |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron/Chamberlin used:
Named for the American bookshop/book review magazine of the same name (thanks for the confirmation, Holt), North Carolinans The Hungry Mind Review's eponymous 2004 release could loosely be described as powerpop, although much of the songwriting sits closer to 'classic' pop/rock stylings. Highlights? Despite the album's length, there's little here that could easily be left off (which is probably why they didn't), although Saving Grace (Slight Return)'s powerpop, Vista's gorgeous 12-string, Fever Dream and brief closer Saving Grace possibly have the edge.
Stephan Bayley and Stephanie Wallace play samplotron and Chamberlin in a complete tape-replay frenzy, presumably those belonging to producer Mitch Easter, with strings, flutes and cellos all over opener Anchor, clicky Mellotron choirs on Saving Grace (Slight Return), Chamby male voice and Mellotron strings and choirs on Everything I Touch and Mellotron strings and Chamby male voice on Vista. Breathe opens with a solo flute part, with more flutes on What Do You See and Just As Well, background strings on Barely Time To Run, more upfront ones on Fever Dream and Sooner Than Later, flutes and strings on Skin So Fair and Chamby strings on At Your Will. Whew! Given how many albums of this type feature the odd tape-replay track, to hear such a magnificent piece of overuse as this is an absolute joy. And the songs are great. Win/win.
 |
Back on the Hunt (1980, 37.39/75.09) ***½/TT (TTT) |
||
| Standing in the Road She Flew Freely Heart Bender Little Bit of Love If Only We Had Tried Ain't Got You It's All Too Much What Good is Love |
Back on the Hunt Tell Me Why [CD adds: Fantasy Mansion She Opens My Eyes Mexican Gimme Some Loving Yesterday's Hero |
Love is a Happy Song I've Been Waiting for So Long It's My Life Take a Piece of My Life] |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
The Hunt formed from the ashes of Canadians proggers Dillinger, recording an apparently excellent debut in The Hunt in 1977. After multiple lineup changes, vocalist/bassist Brian Gagnon regrouped the band as a power trio for 1980's Back on the Hunt, bringing in guitarist Paul Dickinson and their old drummer, ex-Max Webster man Paul Kersey. To be brutally honest, this isn't that exciting, chiefly typical hard rock of the period, rather too plodding in rather too many places to be afforded any kind of 'classic' tag; it's by no means bad, but there are better albums from the era you'd be advised to sample first. Gagnon also plays all the keyboards on the album, including Mellotron on three tracks. A string part on She Flew Freely and strings and choir on Little Bit Of Love are quite overshadowed by the full-on, upfront choir on What Good Is Love, alongside real strings. Closing ballad Tell Me Why seems like it should have been a perfect Mellotronnish ending to the album, but Gagnon resisted the temptation and stuck the string section on again.
The CD reissue adds a whopping ten bonus tracks, doubling its length, while irritatingly completely changing the track order of the original album. They're a slightly mixed bag, although the first few are excellent (if shortish) progressive tracks, making me wonder if that's how their first album sounds. It all goes a bit downhill after their workaday cover of Spencer Davis' Gimme Some Loving, although nothing really stinks, I'm glad to say. Three extra Mellotron tracks: She Opens My Eyes has a fair helping of (quietish) choirs, while I've Been Waiting For So Long's 'are they/aren't they?' strings are completely overshadowed by the definite Mellotron on It's My Life.
See: Dillinger
 |
Van Hunt (2004, 54.53) **½/T |
|
| Dust Seconds of Pleasure Hello, Goodbye Down Here in Hell (With You) What Can I Say (for Millicent) Anything (to Get Your Attention) Highlights Precious |
Her December Hold My Hand Who Will Love Me in Winter Out of the Sky |
|
 |
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume 1 (2008)[Van contributes]Something to Believe in |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Van Hunt has had a varied musical career, working with rock bands, producing hip-hop artists and recording his own, slightly skewed R&B, unbelievably covering The Stooges on his second album and working with Cree Summer, amongst others. It's his first, eponymous effort that concerns us here, though. Van Hunt was apparently largely recorded in 2000, but didn't see the light of day until 2004, which must have been torture for the man. Although more inventive than most of the bland nonsense this deservedly-maligned genre puts out, I wouldn't say it's exactly groundbreaking, in the grand scheme of things. Tracks like What Can I Say (For Millicent) and Who Will Love Me In Winter help to keep things uninteresting, although I'm sure they helped sell the album.
Unusually for him, Patrick Warren plays Mellotron, rather than Chamberlin, on the album, with an orchestrated string part on Seconds Of Pleasure that makes a welcome change from the standard string section. However, it's the record's chief point of interest for most of us and hardly makes it worth buying for that alone. Slightly quirky R&B, sir? I don't think so, no.
See: Randy Jackson's Music Club
 |
Altitude (2007, 97.46) ***/TT |
||
| Taipei 101 Pyramid of Giza Everest Seoul Tower Kingda Ka Warsaw Radio Mast Empire State Three Haikus |
Death Valley Salt Lake Dead Sea Submarine Canyon Subduction Zone Evaporites Forearc Cold Seep |
Downwelling Decollement Sea Floor Spreading Hypothesis Turbidite Bathymetric Expression Tectonic Revolution Mariana Trench |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Altitude is apparently the final instalment in a trilogy by Charlie Hunter and Bobby Previte, recording as Groundtruther. Both musicians are generally thought of as 'jazz', although this album slides between styles like a greased pig, falling, more often than not, into that specifically NYC avant-garde scene defined by Medeski Martin & Wood. Fittingly, since John Medeski is a guest player here, to the point where he actually gets a 'special guest' mention on the cover. It's (obviously) a two-CD set, disc one electric and two acoustic, the mostly lengthy tracks on the electric disc being named after some of the world's tallest structures, while many of the mostly very short acoustic ones have something to do with underwater goings-on. There's no getting away from the fact that most of the set is highly experimental, some of the acoustic disc crossing over into modern atonal classical, which you will either like or... you won't. It's difficult to fault the concept and impossible to fault the playing, but I'd be lying if I said this was an album for everyman.
On the Mellotron front, Medeski only uses it on disc one (well, is a Mellotron acoustic? No), with a string part on Pyramid Of Giza, bassoon and strings on Everest and more bassoon on the lengthy Empire State, with flutes (?) and wildly pitchbent strings later on. Good to hear such an under-used sound, actually, although whether Medeski had to change frames to use it or he has it alongside strings and flute on one frame is unknown. So; a fairly out-there release, delving into the further reaches of modern jazz, but a nice bit of Medeskitron for those who can't get enough of his uniquely skronky style.
See: Medeski Martin & Wood | Bobby Previte
 |
Ian Hunter (1975, 40.38) ***/T½Once Bitten Twice ShyWho Do You Love Lounge Lizard Boy 3,000 Miles From Here The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin' But the Truth It Ain't Easy When You Fall Shades Off I Get So Excited |
 |
 |
All-American Alien Boy (1976, 41.20) ***½/TLetter to Brittania From the Union JackAll American Alien Boy Irene Wilde Restless Youth Rape You Nearly Did Me in Apathy 83 God (Take 1) |
 |
Rant (2001, 56.58) ***½/T |
|
| Ripoff Good Samaritan Death of a Nation Purgatory American Spy Dead Man Walkin' (Eastenders) Wash Us Away Morons |
Soap'n'Water Knees of My Heart No One Still Love Rock and Roll |
|
 |
Man Overboard (2009, 47.22) ***½/½ |
|
| The Great Escape Arms & Legs Up and Running Man Overboard Babylon Blues The Girl From the Office Flowers These Feelings |
Win it All Way With Words The River of Tears |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons/Chamberlins used:
Ian 'Unter's something of a long-term fixture on the UK scene and good luck to him; he joined Mott the Hoople in 1969 and is still touring and recording over five decades later. Ian Hunter was his solid solo debut after leaving Mott, featuring the same mixture of, er, 'rockers and ballads' as his alma mater, plenty of his signature-type songs thrown in, particularly hit single Once Bitten Twice Shy, covered by a whole slew of rock acts since. One track of Mick Ronson's Mellotron, with a fair bit of strings on the lengthy Boy, a typical Hunter-style power ballad building to a crescendo of wailing guitars, etc.
His follow-up, All-American Alien Boy, is more of the same, standout tracks including Irene Wild and Rape, with its bleak refrain of "And justice was seen to be done". Chris Stainton on Mellotron this time round, with flutes on the misspelled Letter To Brittania From The Union Jack, making this even less of a Mellotron album than its predecessor. 'Unter's third album, '77's Overnight Angels, might just feature Peter Oxendale (Sparks, Jet)'s Mellotron strings on the superb Shallow Crystals, but it could just as easily be multiply-overdubbed guitars, in a cheapo-Brian May fashion. Various flutey sounds and choral things also apparent, none actually that Mellotronic.
Twenty-five years on... 2001's Rant proves that Hunter's new stuff sounds just like his old stuff and why not? Not one duffer here; top tracks include opener Ripoff, the acoustic Death Of A Nation, the superb Morons and statement-of-intent closer Still Love Rock And Roll. Andy York on (real?) Chamberlin, with background string stabs on Dead Man Walkin' (Eastenders), that suddenly swell into an in-your-face chord and a regular chordal part, plus a less-obviously Chamberlinic part on No One.
2009's Man Overboard is another damn' good album of well-crafted, memorable songs of the kind that no-one under forty (fifty? Sixty?) seems to be writing any more. You know, great tunes, great lyrics, a bit of humour... Best tracks? Opener The Great Escape and (particularly) The Girl From The Office ("Everybody says/What's she like/What's she like/What's she like/What's she like in bed?"), although it all gets a little countryish towards the end. Listen, Hunter's over eighty now; how many other artists of his age are doing anything worthwhile, or, for that matter, anything at all? York plays Chamberlin on the title track, with a faint string part that doesn't especially enhance the track, to be honest, as the sound could've come from almost anything, but it's hardly central to the album's considerable appeal.
See: Samples etc.
 |
Celebration Moderation (2014, 42.13) **/½ |
|
| Night With the Wolf Don't Break the Boy Pur Gris Close Dog Faced Girl Heroin Rigor Mortis Trip the Light Fantastic |
In the Morning North Sea Jam Day in the Whale |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hunting the Robot's sound sits somewhere in between mainstream indie, afrobeat (both rhythmically and in their use of that plinky guitar tone) and a kind of faux-'80s thing on their debut, 2014's Celebration Moderation. You won't be surprised to hear that I really don't like the end result, at its least infuriating on the doomy Heroin.
Producer Matthijs Herder adds occasional Mellotron, with sparse strings on Pur Gris and what sounds like very background choirs on closer Day In The Whale, although, with no fewer than five musicians (including Herder) playing synth and/or sampler, it's often difficult to tell what's what. Anyway, unless you're a dedicated indie type, you're really not going to want to hear this either way.
 |
Hurricane #1 (1997, 47.53) ***/T½ |
|
| Just Another Illusion Faces in a Dream Step Into My World Mother Superior Let Go of the Dream Chain Reaction Lucky Man Strange Meeting |
Monday Afternoon Stand in Line |
|
 |
Only the Strongest Will Survive (1999, 71.47) **½/½ |
|
| Intro N.Y.C. The Greatest High Remote Control The Price That We Pay Separation Sunday Rising Sign Only the Strongest Will Survive |
Long Way Down Twilight World Come Alive What Do I Know? Afterhours Outro/N.Y.C.2 [Hidden track] |
|
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Hurricane #1 were Britpop Johnny-come-latelys, formed by Andy Bell, after the Oxford-based Ride bit the dust. Although they took Oasis as their rather unfortunate collective muse, they couldn't stoop that low, partly because Bell's voice is considerably better than the estimable (?) Mr. Gallagher's. In fact, the music on their eponymous debut is better all round, with some fairly inventive riffs (Step Into My World, Stand In Line) and a less whiny vibe about the whole thing, which has to be good. Bell's Mellotron is mostly in the background, to the point where I'm not 100% sure it's there at all on some tracks, with vague flutes and strings on Just Another Illusion, Faces In A Dream and Mother Superior, the only upfront use being on closer Stand In Line's Beatles-esque flutes and maybe a little strings. As a result I really couldn't recommend this as a Mellotron Album, although if you're into that UK indie sound, you could do an awful lot worse. Like Oasis. Talking of which, in a supreme irony, after Hurricane #1's split, Andy Bell has joined Oasis as a full partner, apparently. Good luck, mate...
Before said split, Hurricane #1 managed one more long player, '99's Only the Strongest Will Survive, near-as-dammit identical to their debut, only even less good, not to mention horrendously overlong. And they did a bunch of otherwise unreleased b-side tracks... No outstanding tracks in any area and only one with any Mellotron, with faint flutes on Afterhours, although I believe the phased strings are regular samples. They've used that grotesquely clichéd 'gap with a hidden track' technique, too, said track being an interminable instrumental jam loaded with synth bleeps, but it only knocks three or so minutes off the album's ridiculous length.
See: Oasis
 |
Day of All Days (2011, 54.26) ***/T½ |
|
| Set Me Free Lost in Munich Hurricane Party Dollars Drip Blood Take Your Time My Destiny The Angels |
Have it All Your Eyes I Have Changed Dreamy Days Heaven's Mist Mixed Feelings |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Something of a goth chanteuse, Anne Marie Hurst sang with both Skeletal Family and Ghost Dance in the '80s. Her solo debut, 2011's Day of All Days, unsurprisingly, has a kind of updated goth sound in its raucous, two-guitar pop/rock, reminding one of All About Eve's later albums. Better tracks include Dollars Drip Blood, Have It All and Your Eyes, but trimming ten-to-fifteen minutes'-worth of lesser material could only improve matters.
Paul Weller plays (his?) Mellotron, with chordal strings on Your Eyes, sounding rather like a first (and only) take, given the eccentric harmonies and severe tape-wobbles that made it to the final mix. Perhaps all concerned liked it that way? More of the same on Dreamy Days, sounding rather more stable. Hmmm. Could've been worse, but (you guessed it) could've been better.
 |
A Parallax I (2009, 37.38) ***/T½ |
|
| Little Thrills A Grave in the Gravel Gray Scale Elephant Alibi Take the Train! No No Baby While the Boys Went Down Under Window |
Waiting on Rayne Driving Around The Darkestness The Great-Grandghosts of Buena Vista, GA |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
James "Husband" Huggins III used to play with sometime-sample users of Montreal, which hasn't stopped me from putting his fourth album, 2009's A Parallax I into the main part of the site. It's a pretty mainstream, indie pop/rock kind of record, albeit one with fairly decent songs, which makes a nice change, which isn't to say I'm going to want to hear it again for a while. Possibly ever.
Co-producer Tom(as) Hakava (Ben's Diapers, Witchcraft, loads of others) adds (presumably his own) Mellotron to a couple of tracks, with a flute line and a major string part on Waiting On Rayne and flutes and cellos on The Great-Grandghosts of Buena Vista, GA. More would've been nice, but it'd be churlish to complain, wouldn't it? Overall, something of an indie pop effort, but better than most of the competition, with one great Mellotron track.
 |
Unpopular Flips (1996, 46.17) ***/½ |
|
| Roy Spoon Wheels of Justice Headlock Wolfy and Tara God's Car Mutilated Blood, Bones and Pain Thing |
Couldn't Be Better The Station Anwar Zukar Scratch |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
As far as I can ascertain, The Husbians hailed from Boone, N. Carolina, made one (?) album, 1996's Unpopular Flips, then split, an all-too-familiar tale. Said album is what Americans think is 'punk rock', a welcome change from the indie slop to which I've subjected myself lately, if not exactly classic, at its best on opener Roy Spoon, Wolfy And Tara and the slowburn Thing, perhaps.
Rick McCollum plays Mellotron strings on Blood, Bones, And Pain. Real? I think so, although you wouldn't describe it as being at the top of the mix. Benefit of the doubt, I think. Anyway, Heard better, heard worse. Damning with faint praise?
 |
Hush (1979, 38.19) ***½/TTWho Holds the LightEver Since the Beginning The Journey Rock and Roll Babies Got to Keep the Music Alive Lies Words Hollywood |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
 |
Hush were Robert "Bob" Berry's first recording outfit, before he moved on to multiple other projects, not least 3, with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer. Hush, copyrighted 1977, often quoted as a '78 release, actually appearing in February '79 (!), sits in that uneasy area somewhere between hard- and pop/rock, better material including Got To Keep The Music Alive and obvious 'best track', thirteen-minute pomp epic Hollywood; think: a budget Ambrosia (with whom Berry also later worked) and you won't be too far off the mark.
Berry plays Mellotron, amongst other keys, with rather boxy-sounding cello and chordal choirs and strings on The Journey, strings on Words and major choir and lesser string parts on Hollywood, although the strings on Lies are real. Hush would go on to record a Mellotron-free album in 1979, which finally crept out on CD in 1998 as Hush Featuring Robert Berry (***½), then a full-blown AOR effort in '83, Hot Tonight, which is every bit as bad as it sounds. Hush were terribly unlucky, but then, so were a million other bands, admittedly, mostly lesser talents; it's a shame that no-one's seen fit to reissue this album, even in downloadable form.
 |
A Lifetime (2004, 45.18) **½/T |
|
| If You Go Breaking My Heart Say a Little Prayer That Don't Make it Right Lovestruck A Lifetime Sometimes Come to My Rescue To a Better Place |
For How Long Why You Fly If I Was Drown |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hush are the Danish duo of Dorthe Gerlach (vocals) and Michael Hartmann (guitars/programming) and, going by the evidence on their debut album, A Lifetime, are heavily committed to producing rather dull, maudlin ballads, making the occasional more upbeat track (Why You Fly, If I Was) sound good in comparison. Is this stuff popular? They've on Universal, so I'd imagine someone thinks so. Not round here, though.
String arranger Ole Hansen also plays Mellotron, with flutes on Come To My Rescue and strings, as against the ubiquitous real ones, on closer Drown, with an interesting 'choke-off' at the end, as the tape runs out. You know, you really don't need to own this album or, for that matter, even hear it. There's good maudlin and bad maudlin and this is the latter. Avoid.
 |
Yankee Reality (2009, 40.41) ***/T |
|
| Day Before Lisbon Fast Asleep So They Say One Way Ticket Coming Home Sun Shall Take it Easy |
For While You Slept Devil Made You High |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hush Arbors are effectively Keith Wood's solo project; Wood is also a member of Current 93, which probably gives you some idea where he's coming from. Yankee Reality features elements of 'wyrd folk', current indie and that early '70s brand of fuzz-guitar psych that never really quite broke into the mainstream at the time. For all that, there's a fair bit of stylistic variety across the album's forty minutes, from the almost Byrdsian So They Say through the twisted country of Coming Home and Take It Easy to the full-on psych guitar-fest of closer Devil Made You High.
Producer J. Mascis plays (presumably his own) Mellotron on Coming Home, with a string part than enhances the song nicely without being intrusive, making it a shame it wasn't used slightly more. Yankee Reality is irritatingly inconsistent, which is why it doesn't get a higher rating, although its good bits are very good indeed. Lysergonauts should probably give this a go for its best bits.
 |
Goodbye Blues (2008, 40.04) ***/TT½ |
|
| Intro Honey Medicine Man The Boys Are Too Refined Hurricane As You Cry Six Molasses |
That's Okay Not Your Concern Love You Much Better Hospital Bed Crawl Break the Sky |
|
Current availability:
Chamberlin used:
The Hush Sound play a kind of jaunty-yet-melancholic, early '60s-influenced indie, at least on their third album, 2008's Goodbye Blues. It's not so much the kind of album where you can pick out 'best tracks' (although I rather like The Boys Are Too Refined, in its own way), as the kind which should be listened to as a whole, its strength being in its cohesion rather than in individual highlights.
Zac Rae plays Chamberlin, nicely audible for once, with strings on Honey, Medicine Man, Six and Molasses, with strings and flutes on Break The Sky. This certainly isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it sit well above your 'typical' indie album in both concept and execution, with some decent Chamberlin use as a bonus.
 |
Lipchitz (1998, 43.43) ***/T |
|
| Millennium Dad Sold His Sax You're So Basic Juan Campoverde How Can You Say There's No God When the World is So Bent? Suburbilly Office Work Theme for Lee |
Tire Tool Braying Mantis Whaliens Opus/So What Rockin' at a Hyde Park Party Use Your Head Go |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
John Huss' Moderate Combo freely mix folk stylings with country, rock'n'roll, blues, jazz and other indigenous American musics with Huss' sense of the absurd, the end result, on 1998's Lipchitz, sounding not unlike a slightly less wacky They Might Be Giants. Highlights? The potty Dad Sold His Sax, Braying Mantis and Whaliens, maybe, although Huss' offbeat lyrics become slightly wearing after a while.
Producer Pete Weiss plays Mellotron on Whaliens, with chordal strings and flute stabs throughout. They Might Be Giants too wacky? Jonathan Richman too fey? Try The John Huss Moderate Combo.
 |
Hydravion (1977, 31.13) ***½/T½MetroSad Ending Silver Seaplane Étude en Do I Don't Have the Time |
 |
Stratos Airlines (1979, 35.11) ***/T½Passadena AirportTélécom Singaraja Ligne Équateur Carolyn Sud Santander L'Amour Charter |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hydravion (named for a famous French seaplane) were essentially the duo of guitarist Cooky Rhinoceros and our old friend Philippe Besombes, allegedly having a stab at doing something at least vaguely commercial. I wouldn't actually call 1977's Hydravion commercial, as it resembles a cross between the more obtuse end of the Jean Michel Jarre canon and Heldon, to pick two better-known French synthesists, although it has an infectious energy missing from M. Jarre's work and an innate tunefulness missing from Heldon's. Best track? Maybe Étude En Do, though nothing here makes you reach for the 'next' button. Besombes plays Mellotron, with heavily-reverbed choirs on Metro and Sad Ending and church organ on Silver Seaplane and Étude En Do, if barely on the former.
The duo followed up with their second and last album in 1979, Stratos Airlines, which turns out to be no more poptastic than their debut, although opener Passadena Airport has a certain Jarre-ness about it and Ligne Équateur is bouncy enough, in an odd kind of way. Besombes gets some phased Mellotron strings on opener Passadena Airport and choirs on Carolyn Sud, though that would appear to be it. I don't think either of these has ever been available on CD individually, although they can both be found on Purple Pyramid's Besombes 4-disc set Anthology 1975-1979 (2016). If you just can't get enough of that French electronic avant/pop crossover, you'll probably want to add these to your other various Besombes releases, but they're not essential listening for the rest of us.
See: Philippe Besombes | Besombes-Rizet
 |
Stockholm (2014, 37.51) ***/T |
|
| You or No One Dark Sunglasses Like in the Movies Down the Wrong Way You're the One A Plan Too Far In a Miracle House of Cards |
Tourniquet (Cynthia Ann) Sweet Nuthin' Adding the Blue |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
I can't imagine Chrissie Hynde needs much introduction: moved to the UK from her native Akron, Ohio, in the early '70s, formed The Pretenders a few years later, became deservedly rich and famous. I presume she's spent over thirty years working pretty much exclusively with her band, as 2014's Stockholm (guess where it was recorded?) is her first solo album. Does it sound like The Pretenders? Not especially, no, although her distinctive voice makes comparisons unavoidable. Amongst a cast of (mostly Swedish) thousands, Neil Young and John McEnroe (yes, that one) play guitar; Neil's contributions to Down The Wrong Way are completely unmistakable. Top tracks? Dark Sunglasses, the rolling Down The Wrong Way, the acoustic Tourniquet and Sweet Nuthin', maybe.
Hynde's go-to man on the session, Björn Yttling, gets a Mellotron credit. A quote from an online interview: "We also used a Mellotron, both the analog and digital models." So what are we hearing and where? I'll put my neck on the line and say that, despite it being an unusual sound, I think the muted brass (French horns?) on In A Miracle is genuine, ditto the high strings on closer Adding The Blue, with at least one other track featuring the sampled strings. Not a Pretenders album, then, this is Chrissie Hynde letting herself off the leash and doing exactly what she wants.
 |
The Intrige of Perception (2004, 48.22) ***½/TTThe Endless VoidGood Sinner - Bad Saint Third Nature Twisting the Knife The Intrigue of Perception I Islands in the Sun II The Next Level III A Castle in the Sky IV Islands (Reprise) Absent Friends |
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hypnos 69 grew out of an earlier, '70s-inspired outfit, Starfall. Although they changed their name in 1995, their first release (an EP) was in 2000 and their first album in 2002. The Intrigue of Perception is their third full-lengther, sounding almost exactly like the kind of band who'd be on about mid-afternoon at one of those early-'70s festivals, just when you'd given in and joined the three-hour queue for an overpriced, half-cooked dogburger. But better. There's something to be said from having the ability to learn from your predecessors' mistakes, you know... It's a pretty varied effort - you can't fault the band for their eclecticism; opener The Endless Void is mad psych/prog, while Good Sinner - Bad Saint is an electric blues jam, the title track falls halfway between CSN&Y and Earthbound-era King Crimson, maybe and closer Absent Friends is all '68-era Floyd.
Steven Marx is credited with Mellotron and we get pretty authentic-sounding strings on The Endless Void, with flutes on parts I and III of the title track and background strings on part IV. Not the most jaw-dropping use ever, but the strings sound wobbly enough to be real. This album beats a lot of the competition by dint of its variation and overall sound, even if the material isn't that outstanding. Worth hearing. Incidentally, there's supposed to be more Mellotron on their follow-up, 2006's The Eclectic Measure, but it sounds seriously sampled to my ears.
See: Samples etc.
 |
Apple 13 (2003, 43.48) ***/T |
|
| Stargazer Boat Keep Sailing Apple 13 Shivering Sands In a Silver Room Do You Love The World Spits Out a Lover Headspace Detonates |
Hush Little Children Over and Over Saviour Time Find Another Clown |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Hypnosis coalesced in the late '90s, releasing their debut, Medicine Works Like Magic, in 2000 (review to follow when I track a copy down). Three years on, Apple 13 appeared, sounding precisely like a recently-unearthed late-period psych album from 1969, round about the time the brown acid kicked in. While not a bad record, I've found it difficult to engage with this; I think I prefer my psych either short and poppy or drawn-out and jamming and this is short but jamming, which is almost as bad as long and poppy. Opener Stargazer's pretty good, ditto Shivering Sands, but most of the rest just drifts along in a fog of third-rate Pretty Things copyist accusations and badly-recorded Farfisa.
Produced by Sun Dial's Gary Ramon and recorded at his studio, I presume keys man Darren McFerran played Ramon's Mellotron, although it's possible Ramon did the honours himself, I suppose. Anyway, we get spitty brass on In A Silver Room and solo trumpet (same sound?) on closer Find Another Clown; oh well, I suppose at least they aren't the usual Mellotron clichés... I'm sorry to be so down on this; UK psych's pretty thin on the ground and I'd love to be able to be more positive about it, but... I can't. Has its moments, but they're not Mellotronic ones.
See: Sun Dial
 |
Kvinnor och Barn (2016, 46.37) ***/T |
|
| Sjön Imponera på Mig Balkongmannen Förlorat Dig Alla Vet Att det Är Vackert i Paris Vänner i Vardagen Kommer Du? |
Drömmen om Dig Min Stad Kvinnor och Barn Fredag Morgon Amors Förkastliga Pilar |
|
Current availability:
Mellotron used:
Frida Hyvönen is a singer-songwriter of the 'piano and voice' persuasion, 2016's Kvinnor och Barn (women and children) being her sixth album, including two soundtracks, one of which is effectively an EP. This sits firmly in the 'slightly quirky, mournful, heartfelt' camp; a working knowledge of Swedish would quite certainly help in its appreciation. Highlights? Difficult to say, as there's little stylistic variation across its length, although the seven-minute Fredag Morgon possibly has the edge.
Hyvönen plays RMV Studios' M400, which may well be Abba's old machine, with largely background flutes on Vänner I Vardagen, more upfront ones on Drömmen Om Dig and Min Stad and a high, orchestralish string line on closer Amors Förkastliga Pilar. Good at what it does, then, but probably rather unnecessary for anyone not already a fan of Swedish singer-songwriters, while its Mellotron use is rather unexciting.
