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Hampshire Jam Preserved (2002, 136.22) ***½/T½ |
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| Under the Dome: Launch Drift Hell (excerpt) Solar Gravity Free System Projekt: Siren Headshock: Phone Home Twilight |
Darkness Slow Bong Radio Massacre International: Pipe Let Me Hear You Say Yeah Roxette Lost in Liphook AirSculpture: Red Symmetry Machine |
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The Hampshire Jam is a roughly annual EM festival, held in the village of Liphook, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border. Why Liphook? Why not? I presume it has a suitable venue (it does: the Millennium Hall) and is convenient for the organisers. See: Lydney (Summer's End), Whitchurch (Whitchurch Festival) etc. 2002's double-disc Hampshire Jam Preserved features parts of five act's sets from the previous year, including Planet Mellotron (semi-) regulars Free System Projekt, AirSculpture and Radio Massacre International. Interestingly, though, Under the Dome's exceptionally powerful and melodic Solar Gravity just might be the lengthy set's highlight, over the better-known names here. Of the other four outfits, Free System Projekt provide a decent enough piece, Headshock are largely forgettable (sorry, guys), r.m.i. utilise guitar, bass and drums, sometimes all at once and AirSculpture provide the set's obligatory album-length track.
r.m.i. are the only band to use real Mellotron, with various flute and string parts on Pipe and the amusingly-titled Let Me Hear You Say Yeah, while Roxette Lost In Liphook is a brief space-rock jam, with no room for Mellotrons. Free System Projekt also use samples on their Siren. Do you buy this for its Mellotron use? No, not really. Do you buy it for the 'Berlin School' performances? If you just can't get enough burbling sequencers and the like, this is easily as good as any average single-artist EM album I could name, with the bonus of more artistic variety.
See: Radio Massacre International
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Hello Everyone: Popsike Sparks From Denmark Street 1968-1970 (2014, 79.51) ****/TT |
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| Sir Ching I: Hello Everyone Timothy Blue: Room at the Top of the Stairs A New Generation: Smokey Blue's Away John Carter & Russ Alquist: The Laughing Man Simon De Lacy: Baby Come Back to Me Fruit Machine: The Wall The Baby: Heartbreaker Just William: Cherrywood Green The Eggy: You're Still Mine |
A New Generation: Police is Here Fruit Machine: Follow Me Timothy Blue: She Won't See the Light Val McKenna: House for Sale The New Generation: Sadie and Her Magic Mr Galahad John Carter & Russ Alquist: Midsummer Dreaming The Eggy: Hookey Eartha Kitt: Wear Your Love Like Heaven The Baby: Michael Blues |
Sir Ching I: Hiawatha Mini Ha Ha Love Gene Latter: The Old Iron Bell Fruit Machine: Cuddly Toy A New Generation: Mr C Icarus: The Devil Rides Out Carlew Choir: Give a Hand to the Clown The New Generation: Digger Fruit Machine: I'm Alone Today Eartha Kitt: Hurdy Gurdy Man |
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Hello Everyone: Popsike Sparks From Denmark Street 1968-1970 collects the best of the Spark label's recordings made at Southern Studios in London's Denmark Street. I don't know what their lesser efforts sound like, but the twenty-seven tracks here are an impressive bunch, highlights including both sides of the lone Sir Ching I (ho ho) 7", Eartha Kitt's psychedelic soul takes on Donovan's Wear Your Love Like Heaven and Hurdy Gurdy Man (I'd love to know the story behind this session) and the Carlew Choir's deliberately Beach Boys-esque Give A Hand To The Clown. It wouldn't be an overstatement, though, to say that there isn't a single duffer here; even the highly variable John Carter's contributions are worth the price of entry.
Mellotronically speaking, things kick off nicely with Sir Ching I's Hello Everyone itself, with a nice chordal strings part, flutes on the intro to A New Generation's Smokey Blue's Away, flute notes on John Carter & Russ Alquist's The Laughing Man, chordal strings on Simon De Lacy's Baby Come Back To Me and radically pitchbent and volume-pedalled strings on Sir Ching I's Hiawatha Mini Ha Ha Love. Given that Southern apparently owned a MkII, the only surprise is that it wasn't used more often. This really is a rather excellent compilation, usefully mopping up a clutch of hard-to-find sides, not to mention introducing my good self to the Mellotronic delights of Sir Ching I. Buy.
See: A New Generation | John Carter | Sir Ching I | Simon De Lacy
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I Killed the Monster: 21 Artists Performing the Songs of Daniel Johnston |
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| Dot Allison: Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances Daniel Smith & Sufjan Stevens: Worried Shoes Joy Zipper: Held the Hand Kramer: Bloody Rainbow R. Stevie Moore: Cathy Cline Kimya Dawson: Follow That Dream Lumberob: Honey I Sure Miss You |
Jad Fair & Kramer: True Love Will Find You in the End Rope, Inc: Tears Stupid Tears The Electric Ghosts: Blue Skies Will Haunt You From Now on Chris Harford: Going Down Mad Francis: Rowboat Jeffrey Lewis: The Adventures of God as a Young Boy Major Matt Mason USA: Mind Contorted |
Toby Goodshank: Now The Dick Panthers: Go Fast and Go Some More The Sutcliffe's: Foxy Girl Kickstand: Cosmic Kid Emily Zuzik: Love Wheel Mike Watt: Walking the Cow Tess: It's Over |
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2006's I Killed the Monster: 21 Artists Performing the Songs of Daniel Johnston, curated by his first real champion, Kramer, is pretty much what it says: twenty-one of Johnston's haunted, childlike compositions tackled by the good and the great, or, it would seem in most cases here, the relatively unknown. Better-known contributing names, aside from Kramer himself, include Dot Allison, the ubiquitous Sufjan Stevens, Joy Zipper and Minutemen/fIREHOSE (sic) alumni Mike Watt, but I'm afraid I know little about most of these artists. The material's pretty much what you'd expect if you've heard any of Johnston's work, Allison's opening Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Grievances being possibly the best thing here.
Our old pal Kramer plays Mellotron for four of the artists featured here, with nothing obvious on Dot Allison's contribution, faint flutes (and background choirs?) on Daniel Smith and Sufjan Stevens' Worried Shoes, muted choirs on Rope, Inc's Tears Stupid Tears, flutes and choirs again on The Electric Ghosts' Blue Skies Will Haunt You From Now On and uncredited strings on Tess' closing It's Over, the most overt use on the whole set. If you have any interest in Daniel Johnston's work, this is an essential adjunct to his extensive discography, although those into a more orthodox form of mainstream rawk'n'rawl may be less impressed. Not that much Mellotron either, to be honest, all things considered, but a decent enough collection.
See: Daniel Johnston | Kramer | Dot Allison
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Industrial Chaos (1990, 71.55) **½/½ |
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| Scott Campbell: Juggernaut Terminal White: Bed The Dark Theater: Undead Warworld: Vasst Waste Lab Animals: Whatever it Takes |
David Kane's Decay of Western Civilization: Immigrant Song Gadfly: Distant Ways Ble Nimbus: High Insight Double D: Would I Aural Sect: Testimony |
Skin Horse: Black Static Effect: Senselessly Beaten Fenceposts (edit) Jimmy Lifton: Of Mystics Wired for Sound Rubber: Hardlife |
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Industrial Chaos was a small-label compilation of no-hoper industrial acts of the late '80s, not one of whom went on to be notable in any way. It's vaguely interesting to hear what Americans made of European industrial music, although, after yet another metal-guitar-over-drum-machine workout, interest quickly wanes. Jimmy Lifton's oriental-sounding Of Mystics has next to nothing to do with anything industrial and, as such, is probably the most listenable thing here.
Scott Campbell is credited with Mellotron on his own Juggernaut, kicking proceedings off, the only possibility being the bass sound running through the tracks, which just could be cellos. Then again, it could be 'not a Mellotron', like several other mis-credits from the late '80s/early '90s. Either way, don't bother.
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Live From Nowhere Near You Volume Two: Pacific Northwest [Disc 2] |
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| David Brown & Adrian McEldery: Loose Change The Ettes: Spend My Money The Upside Down/Pete Holmstrom: Light (Pete International Airport remix) Daniel Johnston: Grievances Dand Lee Strickland & Kevin Moyer: Holding Me Down Tyler Coyle: Scaffolding Nicholas Crosa/DJ Sirround: One Violin, One DJ Suckapunch: Moves |
Mic Crenshaw & Stic.man: Running Out of Time Lindsay Buckland & Carlos Vamos: Whirling Devas Thomas Lauderdale: The Overgrown Meadow Danny Seim as Lackthereof: The Columbia Carlos Vamos & Lindsay Buckland: Vigilante Kevin Moyer: Let's Make a Deal Courtney Taylor Taylor et al.: Gonna Be Your Santa Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: River Styx (demo) |
Station Zero/Kevin Moyer: Prone Logan Lynn: Movies Brant & Thomas: Nana Third Eye Blind/Arion Salazaar: There's No Hurry for Eternity Stone Gossard et al.: Shame on You Presidents of the United States of America: Love Everybody |
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Kevin Moyer's two Live From Nowhere Near You compilations are benefit sets, proceeds going to the Outside In charity, working with the homeless. Volume Two: Pacific Northwest gleefully combines names big (Bright Eyes, Dan Reed, Eddie Vedder, Daniel Johnston, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, many others) and obscure (Tyler Coyle, Logan Lynn, Faux Hoax), the end result being an eclectic mix of styles, as you might expect, better contributions including Tyler Coyle's Scaffolding, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's raucous River Styx demo and Brant & Thomas' piano/violin duet Nana.
Mellotronically speaking, I haven't bothered reviewing Disc 1, as Joe Purdy's credit on his own Troubadour is for no more than chordal samplotron flutes, but Marc Cappelle (or Capelle?) adds strings and cellos to Third Eye Blind (with Arion Salazaar)'s There's No Hurry For Eternity on Disc 2, sounding reasonably real.
See: Third Eye Blind
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Lovers From the Sky: Pop Psych Sounds From the Apple Era, 1968-1971 (2010, 53.49) ***/T½ |
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| Andy Ellison: Fool From Upper Eden Focal Point: Far Away From Forever Promise: Not Sarah The Fourmost: Do I Know You Moving Finger: Jeremy the Lamp Contact: Lovers From the Sky Brute Force: King of Fuh |
The Fourmost: Just Like Before Stefan Grossman: Not You, or I, My Dear Timon: Now She Says She's Young Promise: Where Love's Concerned Marilyn Powell: Something to Hold on to Focal Point: Lonely Woman Brute Force: Nobody Knows |
Contact: Round and Round Focal Point: Tales From the GPO Files The Fourmost: Rosetta Marzipan: Sweet Water Mary Lon & Derrek Van Eaton: Sweet Music |
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2010's Lovers From the Sky is RPM's fourth and last compilation of tracks recorded by artists signed to Apple Publishing, many previously unreleased. The quality of both material and recordings (some sourced from acetates) is variable, highlights including Focal Point's contributions, Moving Finger's Jeremy The Lamp and Contact's Lovers From The Sky itself, although their Round And Round is terrible. The most familiar thing here (especially if you're a regular reader of this site) is Stephen "Brute Force" Friedland's cruddy King Of Fuh, a mock-shock number that leaked out in a limited run when EMI refused to press it, written by Friedland in order for him to say 'fuck' on record. Shame, since the actual song's pretty decent, but its attempts to horrify the listening public fall terribly flat, all these years later.
What the sleevenotes claim to be 'The Beatles' Mellotron' turns up, although, to my knowledge, the band as an entity didn't own a machine (according to legend, all four members bought MkIIs), so it's hard to know what we're hearing. Both of Promise's contributions feature whatever it is; Not Sarah rides on a bed of lush Mellotron strings, topped with a super-clicky organ line, while Where Love's Concerned is carried by what sounds like one of the MkII accordion sounds playing a top line running through the song. King Of Fuh's strings are already well-documented, although the strings on Moving Finger's Jeremy The Lamp are real. I've heard far better compilations of psych-era material, I'll be honest, but genre completists should apply.
See: Brute Force
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Lynne Me Your Ears: A Tribute To The Music of Jeff Lynne [Disc 1] (2004, 69.13) ***/T |
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| Mitch Easter: 10538 Overture Earl Slick: Ma Ma Ma Belle Jeffery Foskett: Telephone Line Jason Falkner: Do Ya Ben Lee: Sweet is the Night Pat Buchanan: Rockaria! |
Michael Carpenter: Every Little Thing Peter Holsapple: No Time Richard Barone: Showdown Jamie Hoover: Handle With Care Mark Helm: Strange Magic Ross Rice: Evil Woman |
Carl Wayne: Steppin' Out Swag: Don't Bring Me Down Prairie Sons & Daughters: One Summer Dream Doug Powell: Can't Get it Out of My Head |
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I suppose ELO are an obvious case for tributing, due to their massive late '70s popularity and influence, although I'm not sure if that makes 2004's appallingly-punning Lynne Me Your Ears: A Tribute To The Music of Jeff Lynne any more listenable. In fairness, it's not purely an ELO tribute, anything Lynne was involved with being fair game, including The Move and the dadrock of The Traveling Wilburys, although the bulk of its content is light, electrical and orchestral. Several of the artists involved twist the malleable material to suit their own style (Ross Rice, Tony Visconti, Todd Rundgren), highlights including Peter Holsapple's weird-folk take on No Time and Prairie Prince's Prairie Sons & Daughters' bonkers One Summer Dream. Probably unsurprisingly, quite a few power-popsters turn up (Mitch Easter, Jason Falkner, Jeremy), generally offering up fairly straight takes on the material, albeit usually less cheesy than the originals (you can tell I'm not a fan, can't you?). Other Planet Mellotronsters here include Richard Barone and the insipid Sixpence None the Richer, plus a couple of others waiting in the wings.
Several musicians are credited with various tape-replay devices, with Tony Visconti, Doug Powell and Scott Baggett (misspelled Bagget here) on Mellotron and Mitch Easter on Chamberlin, although going by his other recent 'Mellotron' credits, I think we have to take anything involving Tony Visconti and Mellotrons with a largish bucket of salt. Anyway, Easter adds occasional Chamby strings to the real cellos on his set opener, 10538 Overture and someone plays flutes on Jason Falkner's propulsive Do Ya. However, the 'Mellotron' choirs on Tony Visconti, Kristeen Young and Richard Barone's Mr. Blue Sky are quite clearly sampled and not very well at that (good version, though) and since Doug Powell's already had an album stuck in Samples etc., I'd imagine the flutes on Can't Get It Out Of My Head are, too, especially as they don't even sound much like a Mellotron, to which we can add the string chords on Michael Carpenter's Every Little Thing and flutes and choirs on The Balls of France's version of The Move's Message From The Country
All in all, then, another tribute album that Lynne/ELO fans will probably want, while the rest of us yawn and start fidgeting. A few surprise efforts, a few really good tracks that transcend the gloopy material and a whole load of clones. Pretty much as you'd expect, then. Not much tape-replay, either, so not really worth it on that front.
See: ELO
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Music That Changes the World (2012, 144.08) **½/½ |
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| Peter Gabriel: Curtains Ozomatli: Monster Arrested Development: Let it Go Slightly Stoopid feat. Don Carlos: Wiseman (live) Iggy Pop: Milk Cow Blues Phil Soussan: Shot in the Dark Rodrigo y Gabriela: Satori (live) Band From T.V.: I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free Moby: The Poison Tree Ben Lee: Food for the Moon Alanis Morissette: 20/20 |
Heather Nova: Double Up (live) Amanda Palmer: In My Mind Nancy Sinatra: End of the World (remix) Tom Waits: Briar & the Rose (live) Au Revoir Simone: Boys of Summer Special Beat with Pauline Black: Night Club (live) Maroon 5: The Air I Breathe Pink, Jaffee with Daryl Hannah: Won't You Stay Emin: All I Need Tonight The Waterboys: In the Beginning Was Love Carmen Rizzo feat. Grant-Lee Phillips: Bring the Mountain Down |
The Charlatans: The Only One I Know (remix) Andy Summers with Geeta Novotny: Ave Maria The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger: Formica Dave Stewart: Man to Man Ben Folds: Wild Mountain Thyme Donovan: Listen Mary Hopkin: Gold and Silver Peter & Gordon: True Love Ways (live) Patricia Kaas: Addict Aux Heroines Neon Trees: Animal (remix) Salman Ahmad feat. Valerie Geffner: Nachoon GI |
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Music That Changes the World was released by the David Lynch Foundation to raise money for disadvantaged youths and others in need. Very worthy, but the bulk of its contents are pretty hard-going for those who prefer music outside the mainstream. Oh, hang on, it's not aimed at us, is it? What's more, I have tried, in vain, to ascertain what Lynch's remit was for the set's contents. Anything spare the artist might have lying around? Live tracks, studio tracks, originals, covers, rock, pop, folk, soul, reggae, electronica, dance... The compilers have almost gone out of their way to throw together thirty-odd tracks with absolutely no connection with each other, possibly in the hope that fans of ALL of them will buy it for a (presumably) exclusive track. Ah... Exclusivity? Possibly the connection.
The two hours-plus have their moments: Amanda Palmer's In My Mind, Tom Waits' live take of Briar & The Rose and Ben Folds' traditional Wild Mountain Thyme are all decent enough. At the 'oddball' end of the spectrum, Andy Summers' bizarre picked-electric-with operatic-vocal version of Ave Maria is, um, unique, while Phil Soussan's Shot In The Dark sounds like a hair-metal pastiche, until you realise it's an Ozzy Osbourne cover, from his cheeso period. Thought I recognised it. Although two tracks have Mellotron credits, neither Rami Jaffee on Pink's Won't You Stay or Delahaye on The Waterboys' In The Beginning Was Love seem to be using actual machines. However, someone plays what sounds like genuine tape-replay (Chamberlin?) on Sean Lennon's The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's Formica, with chordal flutes and choppy, real-sounding strings. Lennon himself? Anyway, such a mixed bag that it's impossible to recommend it to any but fanatics who have to have every release by their idols. Or, of course, those who wish to donate to Lynch's foundation, making them rather more honourable than me, listening to the album online.
See: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger
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Night Time Music: The BT Puppy Story (2004, recorded 1966-68, 48.09) **½/TT |
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| Sundae Train: Love Affair of Two Happy People Sing Sweet Barbara Scene: Scenes We Ugly Dogs: First Spring Rain Sundae Train: I Wanna Be Margo, Margo, Medress & Siegel: Mister Snail Sundae Train: Wake Up (Sleepy Girl) |
Canterbury Music Festival: Poor Man Amanda Ambrose: Amanda's Man Rock Garden: Sweet Pajamas Randy & the Rainbows: Oh to Get Away Steeple People: Green Plant Oh Kathy Bob Miranda: Girl on a Swing |
Majic Ship: Night Time Music The Tokens: I Could Be Beverly Warren: So Glad Randy & the Rainbows: I'll Be Seeing You Rock Garden: Perhaps the Joy of Giving Lollipop Tree: Peace |
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The B.T. Puppy label was owned by The Tokens, 2004's Night Time Music: The BT Puppy Story collecting together a run of 45s issued by them between 1966 and '68. Most of the material's in that awkward pre-psych mode, neither one thing nor the other, although I'm well aware that the style has its fans. The best things here are probably the acts (assuming any of them were proper bands, not just studio creations) that veer nearest to psych, Sundae Train and Majic Ship, although I can't honestly say there's anything too exciting to be found on the disc.
Unknown studio musicians added Chamberlin to (surprise, surprise) the Sundae Train and Majic Ship tracks, with flutes on the former's Love Affair Of Two Happy People and I Wanna Be, plus strings on Sing Sweet Barbara (although the flutes on Wake Up (Sleepy Girl) sound real) and cellos, flutes and strings on Magic Ship's Night Time Music. So; one for 'sunshine pop' and early US psych/pop fans, though I'm not sure there's much here for the rest of us, a handful of Chamby tracks notwithstanding.
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No-One Can Do it All Alone: Big River Miscellany: A Collection of Original Music By Local |
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| Betty Parsons: No One Can Do it All Alone Mike Coultas & Quick Change: Solitary Lover Ernie Nowlin: You Just Couldn't Live a Lie Jerry Lemmon: Another Side of Love Silver Spur: I Still Need Someone to Hold Me Sonja Bonness: Give Him a Chance to Love |
Kevin Kull: Our Love Has Grown Betty Parsons & the Uptown Strings: Old Fashioned Waltz L. Tyler: I Stopped to Love Love Red Hibbert: Older in My Prime Leo C. Shirley & Ted Rosen: My Ever Livin Doll |
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1980's (deep breath) No-One Can Do it All Alone: Big River Miscellany: A Collection of Original Music By Local Artists to Benefit the Fight Against Muscular Dystrophy was an Illinois area collection of (chiefly) country artists. Whether it actually raised any money for the fight against the condition is unknown; we still don't have a cure, so it can't have been that much. Most of the album's contents are pretty anodyne, good cause or no, at its least dull on Jerry Lemmon's upbeat Another Side Of Love and Kevin Kull's Our Love Has Grown, with its cool (if brief) synth solo (you can see I'm clutching at straws here), although the likes of Sonja Bonness' Give Him A Chance To Love and Leo C. Shirley & Ted Rosen's dreadful My Ever Livin Doll were a generation out of date even then.
Andrew Frye plays 'orchestral replacement' Mellotron strings on L. Tyler's cheesy I Stopped To Love Love, complete with outrageous glissando; at least he didn't try to actually play that run... This is another Mark Medley special, folks - don't even try looking for it, on the remote offchance that you might.
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Omaggio al Maestro Ennio Morricone (2017, 61.48) ****/T |
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| Zoltan: Pazuzu Videogram: The Thing Orgasmo Sonore vs. Sospetto: Adonai Rashomon: Stress Infinito Oscillotron: La Lucertola Leonard/Wank: Sentenza di Morte |
Orgasmo Sonore: Matto, Caldo... Girotondo Luigi Porto feat. Fromwood: Strana Bambina Thelema: Die Ballade von Präfekt Mori Sospetto: Inseguimento No. 2 & 3 Leonard/Wank: Revolver |
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The concept for Omaggio al Maestro Ennio Morricone developed from several ideas being thrown around Alex Wank's Vienna-based Cineploit label, the contributing artists even being asked for their thoughts on the topic. The end result is, I have to say, a triumph of the tribute album genre, all nine contributing artists (including a couple of collaborations) tackling their chosen Morricone piece (from the obscure to the household name) with aplomb. Highlights? Well, it's all good, frankly, but standouts include Orgasmo Sonore vs. Sospetto's Adonai (Il Giardino delle Delizie), Matt "Rashomon" Thompson's Stress Infinito (Spasmo), David Johansson's (hi, David) La Lucertola (Una Lucertola Con la Pelle di Donna) and Alain Leonard and Alex's epic, thirteen-minute Revolver (from the Ollie Reed-starring '73 copsploitation flick of the same name). So, is it all synth-led instrumental stuff, then? Not entirely, oddball entrants including Luigi Porto's Strana Bambina (La Piovra), which uses dialogue samples and Thelema's Die Ballade Von Präfekt Mori (Il Prefetto di Ferro), which features vocals (surely that isn't you, Hans Jürgen?).
I try not to review my own work here, but, for simplicity's sake, I'll relax the rule for a single compilation track. Zoltan's Pazuzu (from the apparently deservedly-reviled Exorcist 2) sees us relax another rule, Matt playing electric guitar on the propulsive track, while Matt and myself shared the Mellotron duties, replacing the original's deranged children's choir with Mellotron ones (me), plus Matt's string line. And yes, the tinkly synth (Jupiter-8) was played (by me), as against sequenced, albeit in manageable chunks. And yes, it was difficult to both work out and play. Any samples? Yup, Sweden's Oscillotron use choirs and strings on La Lucertola.
Do you buy this? I'm unashamedly biased, but if you have any interest whatsoever in either giallo soundtracks or Morricone, or, for that matter, synth music, you really can't go wrong here. Alex is running one of the world's many, many shoestring labels and deserves your patronage. Buy.
See: Zoltan
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Out of the Fog: The Halifax Underground 1986 (1986, 43.54) ***/T |
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| Basic English: Love Don't Wait Mark Wellner: Who's That Jerk She's With Jellyfishbabies: Running Out of Time False Security: Vietnam Karma Wolves: Break the Silence Dogfood: Let it Go Ridge of Tears: Antigone |
The Misery Goats: Back to the Fall The October Game: Grind Roland Blinn & the Fishermen: Flamingoes My Love I Want: Losing You The Killer Klamz: The Boviner's Song The Lonestars: Dying Town |
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According to its sleevenotes, Out of the Fog: The Halifax Underground 1986 was 'the first compilation of Halifax underground bands ever recorded', a varied set of material, veering between New Brunswick's Basic English's roots rock, Jellyfishbabies' well-ahead-of-their-time ambient metal, False Security's full-on punk and as many other styles as there are tracks. Any highlights? Probably Basic English's Love Don't Wait and I Want's noo-wavey Losing You.
One credited Mellotron track, from Ridge of Tears, with occasional background strings from Chris Logan, although Basic English also use strings on their Love Don't Wait, played by John Davis, while the strings on The Lonestars' Dying Town are inconclusive. Not something you're going to find easily, either way.
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Past, Present, Future (1990, 85.58) ****½/T½ |
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| Lift: Perspectives Happy the Man: Leave That Kitten Alone, Armone Yezda Urfa: The Basis Of Dubenglazy (While Dirk Does the Dance) Netherworld: Cumulo Nimbus Part I - The Approaching Storm Part II - In the Mist Part III - Among the Clouds |
Djam Karet: Swamp of Dreams Episode: Edge of the Sky Now: Shroomer Consumer Kalaban: Sleepless |
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Although now seemingly largely forgotten, Syn-phonic's Past, Present, Future compilation was instrumental in helping to kickstart the '90s resurgence in progressive rock, distinctly different from the '80s resurgence in its two-pronged attack: new releases, sometimes even by genuinely good bands and CD issues of lost classics from around the world, making many titles available internationally for the first time. The double album covers these bases admirably, disc one consisting of unheard masters from (mostly) little-known US bands from the '70s (Happy the Man being the exception, having released two albums on a major), while disc two features then-unavailable tracks by current bands signed to the label, although Kalaban's Sleepless turned up (in the same version?) on their last album, 1993's Resistance is Useless and Episode's Edge Of The Sky similarly appeared on their lone CD release, 1993's Starlight Tales.
It's a sad fact (OK, OK, opinion) that the '70s material outweighs the late '80s, Lift's fabulous Perspectives (now available on their Moments of Hearing archive disc) and Netherworld's three-part Cumulo Nimbus (now available on the expanded version of their In the Following Half-Light) being particular highlights, although, in truth, there's nothing here that isn't worth hearing for the dedicated proghead, Kalaban's Sleepless being an unexpected gem. Upon researching the matter, it would seem that a good five of the set's eight tracks are now available elsewhere, although, as mentioned above, some could be in re-recorded form.
Mellotronically speaking, Lift's track seems to be Mellotron-free, although Yezda Urfa's, surprisingly, has choir, church organ and strings all over it, given that there isn't a jot to be heard on either of their albums, while Netherworld's Cumulo Nimbus features choirs all over its last part, Among The Clouds. To my knowledge, this is still available from Syn-phonic (presumably, the original pressing never sold out), although I can't see it ever being reissued on CD for several reasons, including copyright and expense, as it would have to be a double.
See: Netherworld
