A Quick Update

Holidays and moving out of my apartment all at once! Although I might get inspired and make a December post, chances are that I won't be back until January.

Alan Watts - 1967 - The Sound of Hinduism

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.75 out of 5

On this album, spiritual scholar Alan Watts' limits his focus on Eastern religions to the sphere on Hinduism. To be perfectly honest, there's not a whole lot of music of note here. Basically the album features a drone in the right channel, Watts' spoken word in the left, and some percussion taking up the entire sound field here and there. I'm not sure how accurate or not Watts' thoughts about Hinduism are (I'm assuming that he is not full of poo), but these recordings are perfect to put your mind in a meditational state.

The first track, "Om," consists of Watts' treatise on the basic tenants of Hinduism. The man definitely has a fine way with words, and I'd say the artistic/poetic component here is several notches higher than your typical spoken word performance. "Readings From Hindu Scriptures" is pretty self-explanatory, but once again Watts' spoken word stands out. Sandwiched in between is an instrumental track where we get a touch of sitar melody. It's not up to the standards of Ravi Shankar or anything, but it serves its purpose in allowing the listener to zone out.

I suppose that this is one of those albums that I feel becomes more than the sum of its parts. There is some nice, if a bit light, Indian instrumentation for those of you that dig that, and I feel that Watts' presence is of significant note. It's a fine way to turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream with.

Alan Watts - 1962 - Is This It

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Alan Watts was a British proponent of Eastern religions, and not so much of a musician. He nevertheless managed to release a few albums of tripped out instrumentals and spoken word to try and increase awareness of Eastern traditions. This one is a pretty abstract affair of throat singing, chants, drones, and percussion. Only with Watts spaced out spoken words does the music peak out of the transcendental aether. Like some of Sun Ra's work from the early 60's, this music is true psychedelia years before popular music began to explore similar avenues. Unfortunately, some of this album also shares the questionable recording quality of some of Sun Ra's recordings. Still, it's perfectly listenable and a fine soundtrack for your backroom opium den.

The best place to start with this album is probably with the shorter tracks featuring spoken word. "Onion Chant" and "Fingernail Poem" both feature Watts' Eastern-tinged poetry. The former matches Watts with some percussion and fierce chanting while the latter includes some abstract jazz piano playing. Once you've acclimatized, take a plunge into the long-form freak-outs of the last three tracks. I've got a soft spot for "Metamatic Ritual," but the creepy laughing in "Umdagumsubudu" and speaking in tongues in "The End" is worth hearing if you're up for wild chanting. The end of "The End" kind of frightens me.

Although this music doesn't really fit into the realm of rock, the sounds are about as psychedelic as you're going to find. The crazed percussion definitely makes me thing of some of the stuff that Sun Ra was doing around the same time, but the manic chants, Eastern instrumentation, and Watts' poetry help to distinguish this as a wholly unique album.

Buy Me:
Alan Watts - 1962 - Is This It

Damaged Tape - 2009/2006 - The Erotic Couch/Cannibal Sisters Soundtrack

I occasionally do soundtracks for independent films makers, most often for my childhood friend Andrew Shearer who writes, directs, and produces films under the Gonzoriffic Films label. These two are probably the ones that I put the most work into (as opposed to Andrew simply using tracks from my albums). I'll write a bit about them separately.

"The Erotic Couch" is Andrew's most recent directoral effort. The idea was to model it after a sexploitation movie from the late 60's. There is no actual nipple footage in the film, distinguishing it from p*rn, but it is of course a sexy affair. Andrew's instructions for me were to make some pre-disco exploitation music. That said, "The Ravishing Recliner" and "The Lecherous Love Seat" have some serious dub leanings, and "The F**kin' Chair" and "Chair F**k" are based off of "Call of the Cosmic Tribe" from the Glaze of Cathexis disc, "The Golden Konbanwa" (although "Chair F**k" no longer contains any of the original track). I'll also note that "The Lecherous Love Seat" is a 'work-in-progress' preview of an upcoming Damaged Tape LP. You'll notice that I've added Moog noise to all of the tracks to approximate a crackly vinyl sound. This was done to match the intentional film defects of the movie itself.

"Cannibal Sisters" is loosely based on a criminal case in Atlanta from about 15 years ago. Since the movie is mostly based in an urban setting (er..., apartment), I tried to contrast it with as many tribal sorts of rhythms as I could. "Boneyard," which also appears on Damaged Tape's "Ship of Lights," was recorded earlier and served as my basic template for the soundtrack along with 70's Italian horror soundtracks (any Goblin fans out there?). I paid close attention to the drum programming, and I felt like the production of this soundtrack significantly improved my drum programming abilities.

To delve deeper into the world of Gonzoriffic, head on over to http://www.gonzoriffic.com. I'm sure Andrew has some DVDs he can set you up with. Check out "Psychovixens" for a glimpse of my own terrible acting as Oscar (the soundtrack for that one is on Damaged Tape's "Electric Ocean"). As a side note, I don't rate my own music, but most of this is probably not very high on the Trip-O-Meter. I think I back off on the psychedelia a bit when soundtracking films.

Listen to Me:
Damaged Tape - 2009/2006 - The Erotic Couch/Cannibal Sisters Soundtrackhttp://www.mediafire.com/?r0xn1vhfykg312p

Damaged Tape - 2005 - Futara

This music dates back to my first stint in Japan. You could see the back of the Futara Shrine in the city of Utsunomiya from my apartment, hence the name of this collection. This music was recorded from January to May 2005, which is the same period of time that I recorded the Glaze of Cathexis "Tokyo Rainbow Bridge" tracks. Although I was still at the beginning of the learning curve of laptop recording, and I only had a MicroKorg and Reason to work with, I'm still pretty happy with these tracks. For a while I had considered rerecording "Jakarta" and "The Flower of Darkness," but I doubt I'll get to that anytime soon, so the originals are here. You'll note that "Before the Flood" has a sample of Neville Chamberlain ranting about public heath. Being that I recorded it in 2005, this track is not meant as any commentary on the U.S. health care debate - I used the sample as it seemed absurd that this was Chamberlain's priority in 1939 as the Nazis were about to provoke World War II. "Chonk" and "Kung Fu Glue" reflect my bad habit of making up stupid file names so I can save my mixes, and then never renaming them (I also have songs like "Nork" and "Floob" hanging out on my hard drive). Musically, the band Air was certainly still at the forefront of my influences, as were Moby's more ambient tracks from the 1990's. I consider 'side two' of the album to have some sort of concept, although you'll have to work that one out on your own (although I did read Simon Winchester's book about Krakatoa while making the album). Enjoy and feel free to repost elsewhere.

Track List:
1. The Flower of Darkness
2. March to the Moon
3. Temple of Zoul
4. Titan
5. Kung Fu Glue
6. Chonk
7. Martian Cowboy
8. Before the Flood
9. Jakarta
10. Nightmare
11. Volcano Ballroom
12. A Meeting of Minds
13. Last Night

Listen to Me:
Damaged Tape - 2005 - Futara

Kim Fowley - 1967 - Love is Alive and Well

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.75 out of 5

I've sometimes heard Kim Fowley referred to as a psychedelic huckster, grasping at straws to churn out freakish records of bubblegum psych. This record will do nothing to dissuade that viewpoint, but I kind of like it anyway. There is a distinct cheezy charm as Fowley never quite hits the vocal mark even though he seems to be trying really hard, and the production pretty much throws out every psychedelic pop cliche that it can. It's very much a sell-out of its era, though, and this entertains me at least.

There is admittedly not a whole lot of originality here, but there is plenty of a fabricated Summer of Love sound. "Flower City" is an almost cringeworthy re-appropriation of "Ode to Joy," but it does feature a groovy beat and a short rave-up. "This Planet Love" manages to rip off "Who Do You Love?,' complete with a rabid Bo Diddley beat, and "Reincarnation" nicks the "Pushin' Too Hard" beat, which the Seeds themselves admittedly reused themselves about 57 times. "Super Flower" is a completely useless 'interview' section. You'd think that on a 21 minute album they would be able to avoid that sort of track. My favorite here is "War Game," which is a completely insane bit of orchestrated spoken word which would fit nicely on a 60's Zappa album. I will say that "See How the Other Half Love" is a fine psych-pop rocker that doesn't seem to have a specific antecedent (not that it brings anything particularly new to the table).

This isn't a good album, but it has a lot of charm. It's sort of like listening to a distorted, demented version of 1967 pop radio. If you aren't already familiar with cult stars like the Chocolate Watchband or the aforementioned Seeds, by all means explore that first. This odd Kim Fowley album is really just a little sugar for the already initiated. Half the fun is figuring out all of the things he's sonically stealing from elsewhere.

Dennis Olivieri - 1968 - Come to the Party

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5


It certainly is an odd party that Dennis Olivieri has invited us to. There are components of bad trip lyrics, jazz rock, blue eyed soul, and a touch of psych rock wafting around the grooves of this record. Olivieri's voice does tend to be somewhat warbling, but he keeps it under control just enough that it usually works in a 4am bar sort of way. This doesn't always add up to musical nirvana, but there are a few winners lurking about as well as a couple tunes that will leave your jaw hanging bemusedly.

The first couple tracks serve up some jazz rockers that chug along nicely. Although "Opportunity" has a jaunty, jazzy beat, Olivieri seems to be going on about something significantly more depressing. After a few minimalist tracks like "Mama's Funeral Song" and "Walk Rite Out," "I Cry in the Morning" gives us an eerie psych ballad. It's tremeloed organ is enticing, although the production does seem oddly muffled in this one. Olivieri seems to be trying to channel Astral Weeks period Van Morrison as much as he can on "Lady Fair" and the title track, while he comes across as drunker-than-hell on the closing "Yesterday Wan Nuthin' Like Today." I guess it's supposed to close the album in a similar manner to the Stones "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" on Between the Buttons, but Mr. Olivieri doesn't really have that level of songwriting chops.

This isn't the most wacked out thing that we've come across at the Psychedelic Garage, but there are a few oddball moments to be found. Dennis Olivieri's disc can be quite amusing should you have an affinity for jazz-rock and don't mind a few copied Van Morrison moves. That said, you won't quite get the psychedelic freak out by way of Kenneth Anger that the cover suggests.

Strangers Family Band - 2009 - Strangers Family Band

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

Strangers Family Band pretty much hit the nail on the head in term of psychedelic re-creationists. Other than a slight modern sheen in the recording quality, this is a pretty authentic sounding mix of the bad trip tone of the Doors mixed with some of the freaky garage rock punch of folks like the Chocolate Watchband and the Electric Prunes. I suppose they hit the Doors sound pretty hard, but when you get right down to it, not many bands really emulate the Doors, so I'll give the Strangers Family Band a pass (I really dig the Doors anyway). There are a few excursions into the twee-er sound of British psych as well, but that doesn't excite me quite as much.

Following an enjoyable ominous intro, "Girl I've Been Taken" serves up a slice of Nuggets-ready psych rock right from the outset with its groovy beat and chiming lead guitar. It's a fun example of 60's style 12-bar blues mangling. "Wooden Hands" goes straight for the Doors' sound, almost coming across like an unreleased track from "Morrison Hotel." For me, though, "Strange Transmission" and "Beware the Autumn People" are the main events. Both tracks use the Doors vibe once again as a basis, with "Strange Transmission" building into a fine freak-out jam, ad "Autumn Peopl" borrowing the "Five to One" stomp. "No One Sees Her" and "Tangerine" both have a 'Brian Jonestown Massacre getting really happy and going twee' sound. I'm not as enamored to those ditties, but they work well for what they are.

Strangers Family Band aren't particularly about innovations, but they are extremely accurate in appropriating the sounds of the 65-67 L.A. scene. I've always dug that meaty, produced sound (far more than the San Francisco bands of that era), so while the music here is a little derivative, it goes straight for my musical sweet spot. As a side note, this is technically an EP, but plenty of mid 60's L.A. bands put out 27 minute (or less) LPs, so this plays pretty well as a complete album.

http://strangersfamilyband.bandcamp.com/

Gas - 2000 - Pop

Quality: 4.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

The title of Gas' final album is probably about 90% ironic. I imagine that Wolfgang Voigt drove Gas in general with a very specific aesthetic in mind, and "Pop" does little to break that. We still get oceanic synths and orchestral samples with ghostly house drums blaring away somewhere in the distant background. Still, each of Gas' albums somehow succeed in creating an identity of their own within this seemingly limited framework. "Pop" is no exception to this rule.

Like the other Gas albums, "Pop" sports no actual track titles and is best experienced as a whole. It's the little details that distinguish it. The album opens with the first few tracks featuring almost easy-listening style orchestral samples. Perhaps this is meant to reference the title. Of course, these samples are all phased out and weird sounding, but still, the sentiment seems to come across. The fourth track is based on a surprisingly clear (for Gas) piano synth riff whose syncopated bounce also suggests that the "Pop" title is not intended to be completely ironic. It's after this track that the listened is thrown headfirst into swirling, beatless sound for twenty minutes (this is where your mind is supposed to drift somewhere just east of the Vega system). The final track throws all the pieces together for a definitive example of the Gas sound.

The music of Gas is very much something that can only be experienced. While Voigt's project inhabited a small area of music space, he really managed to artfully milk it to its full potential. While "Pop" doesn't quite inhabit the almost sacred ground that I feel "Zauberberg" did, it's a wonderful ambient album that is certainly near the top of its class.

Buy Me:
Gas - 2000 - Pop

Gas - 1999 - Oktember

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

This is an EP from ambient master Wolfgang Voigt. As far as I can tell it's practically impossible to find (my own search was quite exhaustive). The sound of the music is very much in the basic Gas mold: heartbeat percussion, endlessly repetitive musical motifs plowing through your braing as you're lifted up on a bed of ghostly samples and synths. Yet, it's amazing how much milage and textural variation Voigt gets out of this template, and there is a dark facet to the Gas ethos that is on display on "Oktember."

The first track here is actually from the contemporous album "Konigsforst." It was on the CD, but not the vinyl, although it is certainly a fine track that has a space lounge twist on the Gas sound. The main event, however, is the second track. This 15 minute epic has a very dark, almost-but-not-quite grinding sound that makes me imagine a tour of a post-apocalyptic industrial wasteland. I don't think it's the best place to begin with Gas, but if you're already familiar with some of the proper albums, it's absolutely necessary listening for a band that only has four album. It's sort of a missing puzzle piece.

Gas - 1998 - Zauberberg

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Back when Tower Records was still thriving in the US, they published Pulse Magazine, wherein folks would have their ten desert island discs posted every month. This album is a shoo-in for my personal ten desert island discs. Gas' music is formally described as 'minimalist techno,' but to me these ethereal loops and minimal, submerged-sounding percussion exist in their own netherworld which defies any easy classification. More than almost any other music (William Balinski excepted), Gas propels my mind somewhere else.

The tracks on this disc are all untitled, but it's probably best to consider the entire album as a single piece named "Zauberberg." We start upon an infinite ocean of sound, which ebbs and flows for several minutes. As the piece progresses, we start to move upon the surface, with beautiful, strange, and sometimes even disturbing images passing through our mind's eye. The tracks build upon a strengthening heartbeat. Maybe it's the sound of the abandoned lunar disko. Eventually we are returned to rest back in our infinite ocean. "Zauberberg" turns out to be a mystical musical pyramid. As listeners, we are allowed to explore the interior in all of its transcendent glory.

This is music that cannot be hummed while walking down the street, or chopped up into representative parts, but it is amazingly visceral. I imagine that if you're trawling around the Psychedelic Garage, you may be in the market for a musical trip. I don't think you'll find one much better than "Zauberberg."

Buy Me:
Gas - 1998 - Zauberberg

Malachi - 1966 - Holy Music

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Here's an early example of an album attempting to run the ambient music sweepstakes. Malachi is a droning, acoustic affair that does manage to break some ground that groups like Arica would
later cultivate, but they unfortunately do it without much of a pulse. Still, there are some interesting musical moments and interestingly oddball instrumentation. To me this is basically a bunch of burnt-out, yet sometimes amusing beatniks trying to approximate the sounds heard from the temple stairs. If nothing else, it's a record that functions well as background music.

All of the tracks are entitled "Wednesday," followed by an ordinal numeral. The sound of the tracks tend to belay that uniform system of titling. We get a great deal of texture amongst the tracks, but not much of a sense of flow or discernible melodies. The music here is kind of static. The "Fourth" and "Fifth" compositions (confusingly tracks three and four on the album) almost dissolve into silence, with very minimal instrumentation defining them.

I keep trying to get myself to like this album, but I just feel like there's not quite enough there. There is the foundation for an awesome album present here, but to me it seems annoyingly incomplete. It's like the group laid out their building blocks, but neglected to actually do anything with them. Give it a listen and you may find some inspiration in the grooves that simply alludes me.

Buy Me:
Malachi - 1966 - Holy Music

Research 1-6-12 - 1968 - In Research

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5

Here's a pretty schizophrenic band for your consideration. At times, they go for the full-on biking hard rock sound, yet then stick in spacey folk-rock songs or honky-tonk songs in between. They certainly get an "A" for diversity. They get a "C-" for album sequencing, however. Unlike the common flaw of front-loading an album, somehow Research managed to stick all of their better songs on side two, with the opening tracks being a little underwhelming. Maybe that's supposed to leave you with a good impression should you make it through the first half without turning it off. Just as a side note, the stereo separation here is particularly annoying, with the drums often hanging out isolated in the left channel. At least it's a pet peeve for me.

On side one we get the balls-out, biker schlock of "Can You Baby" and "Juicy." Those don't particularly manage to keep my attention, but. Neither does the 'old-timey' sounds of "Highway Song" and "The Grass is Greener." I'm down with older styles, and I still love to occasionally put on my Roots and Blues box set, but most of the 60's bands trying to go down that road made a grave mistake. Research is no exception. Fortunately, the side two tunes almost seem to be a completely different, and much better band. "Lip Smakin' Good" comes across like a hairy, freaky, and entertaining Rolling Stones parody. "Omar" is one of those minimalist, reverbed folk-rock tunes. It's like one of the quieter songs from the Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow" with a touch of Donovan thrown in. "The Feeling" is a fun acid rock anthem, and "I Don't Walk There No More" is a more straight faced Stones interpolation.

Do yourself a favor and skip straight to track five or six to give yourself a good impression of these guys. Then decide on your own what to make of side one. This is far from essential, but you never know when music grabs you the right way, and Research gets at least a sporting chance at doing so for you.

Mars Bonfire - 1968 - Faster Than the Speed of Life

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

Mars Bonfire is not the name of the band, but rather the pseudonym of Dennis Edmonton, who played with an embryonic version of Steppenwolf. As soon as you take a glance at the track listing, you'll note the presence of "Born to Be Wild." The version here is in fact the original. As with the rest of Mars Bonfire's album, the hard edge rock is blunted, for a slightly more wacked-out, psychedelic rock vibe. Obviously the connection to Steppenwolf is going to stand out, and the music here doesn't have the thick crunch of that band, but opts for a thinner, yet phased and sometimes sleeker sound. There is a little more instrumentation present here as well, but like the more famous band, rock organ remains in its position of primacy. Really, I prefer the Mars Bonfire vibe and find the version of "Born to Be Wild" here to be superior. It helps that Mars Bonfire is generally a fine songwriter.

As such, there are some other standout songs here as well. The first three tracks really would fit right into your acid rockin' AM playlist. Sure, Mars Bonfire's voice is a little ragged and spazzy, but it gives the impression that he's really trying. I think "Sad Eyes" is a particular winner, splitting the difference between hard rock and AM sunshine pop. As the album moves on, that smaltzy AM pop sound does work its way in. "How Much Older We Will Grow" encroaches on Procol Harum's territory and "Sad" and "Tenderness" sound like something you'd program in to follow the Grass Roots. Still, you get "So Alive With Love" and "The Night Time's For You," which are both basically the same song but at least share the same groovy beat.

If you have any interest in Steppenwolf, it's a no-brainer that this deserves your attention. For the rest of us, there is some enjoyable, single-like material to wrap our ears around. This album may be chock-full of filler, but the highlights really are highlights and nothing here is so bad that I feel compelled to move on to the next track.

The Beatles Remasters - Stereo vs. Mono

Note: I made revisions to this review on Sept. 12th, having spent more time with the mono box.
Obviously the Beatles are not particularly obscure, but these patron saints of psychedelia deserve at least a little monkey luv at the Psychedelic Garage with their remasters. We'll focus our psychedelic lens starting with "Rubber Soul" and continue through to "Abbey Road," bypassing "Yellow Submarine" because it's not worth it, and "Let It Be" simply because I don't like that album. I've heard most of the stereo remasters at this point, and the sound is quite sterling (I'm patiently waiting for my mono box to show up in the mail, but I have heard them all in Ebbett's form). All the bass missing from the 87' discs have returned, sometimes with a vengeance. I had to flat line the bass listening to "Abbey Road" in my Volkswagen Beetle, whose sound system usually annoys me due to lack of bass. There is some grunge back in the voices, which helps McCartney sound a little more human in those cheeseball moments of his ("Your Mother Should Know," "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da," and the list disturbingly goes on), makes Lennon sound more awesome, and Harrison spacier. Of course in the stereo versions allow for greater clarity in the instrumentation and allows the listener to have greater appreciation for the arrangements. Still, the Beatles were mostly involved with the mono mixes up until around the "White Album," and I'm greatly looking forward to the denser, but in my opinion generally more interesting mono mixes.

The mono set finally came in the mail, and sounds quite phenomenal. They didn't compress and limit and throw all the sound into the red, so it has a very smooth, quarter inch tape sound that the stereo remasters lack (and makes it sound firmly of 60's vintage). The liner notes for the mono are pretty impressive as well, even more so than the stereo version, whch I still enjoyed. Rubber Soul and Help! also include the 1965 stereo mixes. They're not too far off from Martin's 87' mixes, but they do benefit from the more appropriate remastering.

For those of you still stewing over which mix to go for, here are a few of my album-by-album notes:

Rubber Soul
The rockers like "Drive My Car" and "Run For Your Life" end up with a much sharper edge in the mono mix. Still, this album tends to be known for its folk rock cuts (especially in the U.S. version, which isn't part of either set). The stereo gives them a little more of an open, 'playing folk in the field' sort of sound, which is likely appealing for many of you. I still have to give my vote to the mono, which has a more claustrophobic, darker sound. I like my folk-rock a little hairier. Anyway, those of you sticking with the mono disc still get the 65' stereo mix, which is pretty oddball, but not as different from the 87' mix as some would have you believe. both of them feature hard stereo separation, which is a major pet peeve of mine.

Revolver
I'm pretty split over which mix of this I prefer. In the column for stereo is "She Said She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows." The mono mix of "She Said She Said" annoyingly brings down the instruments when the vocals come in. Maybe I'm too OCD, but this almost ruins the mono album for me. "Tomorrow Never Knows" works pretty well either way, but I can't deny that the swirling sound effects in stereo is a major plus. Mono manages to add focus and aggression to rockers like "Taxman" and even "Doctor Robert" that the stereo lacks. "Eleanor Rigby" works a lot better when Paul and the strings are not in separate channels as they are in stereo, and in general George's Indian excursions, like "Love to You" here, work much better in mono. Sitar and tabla work much better when not spread out.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Y'know, I always thought that this album was waaay overrated until I heard the mono mix. Now it stays in contention for my favorite Beatles album. I will give that "A Day in the Life" works better in kaleidoscopic stereo, but the rest of it deserves to be heard in mono. The title tracks rock much harder in mono, as do "Getting Better" and "Lovely Rita." "She's Leaving Home" runs a touch faster and mono, giving it a grace completely lacking in stereo, the version on which I always found the track a drag. Paul knew what he was doing here- it just doesn't sound like that in stereo. Well, almost. I have trouble dealing with "When I'm Sixty-Four" in either mix. Lennon fares well in mono as "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" becomes, like, eight times more psychedelic and "Mr. Kite" is much groovier as well. "Within You Without You" is far more focused in mono, and I no longer consider it a dull excursion as I did with the stereo version. All in all, I'd call the mono a psychedelic masterpiece while the stereo strikes me as a mere shadow.

Magical Mystery Tour
I guess that the EMI engineers had figured out the whole psychedelic mixing thing by this time as the stereo version is generally listenable. The only major flaws are that "I Am the Walrus" infamously switches to mono since the "King Lear" broadcast at the end would otherwise be impossible, and "Baby You're a Rich Man" sounds pretty thin to my ears. Still, I feel like the mono has a groovier vibe - especially for the actual soundtrack songs and "Penny Lane," which comes across too cutesy for me in stereo. Although "Blue Jay Way" loses some elements in the mono, the mysterious vibe comes across just as well, if not better than the stereo track. There is something to be said for the wide open instrumentation of "Strawberry Fields Forever," but in the end I still prefer mono. Basically, this album is a toss-up in the sound debate. Oh yeah, I know the picture cover is incorrect; I just like the EP version better.

The Beatles
By this time the Beatles were taking more of an interest in the stereo mixes, and some of those were even created before the mono mix. In fact "Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9" (the latter of which I actually LOVE) never saw mono mixes and the ones on the mono album are simply fold-downs of the stereo (meaning both tracks are simply shoved together). The mono mix does sound more like a cohesive band than the stereo mix, which led most listeners to assume that the songs were basically solo pieces. There are many differences in the mix, for examples the extra bit at the end of "Helter Skelter" is missing in mono (including the famous shout of "I've got blisters on me fingers!"), and the mono "Good Night" goes straight into the orchestration, while the stereo fades it in. In general, I feel that Lennon's and Harrison's tracks, especially "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "I'm So Tired," "Happiness is a Warm Gun," and "Cry Baby Cry," tend to have superior mono mixes, while McCartney's and the sole Ringo track are better in stereo. Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By" is sped up and mono and it sounds like he's been snorting helium. In general, the stereo is perfect for cruising in your car or listening on the hi-fi, while the mono is great for a different perspective and headphone listening. For this one, you may very well need both.

Abbey Road
This album never had a proper mono mix (there are a few rare fold-down mono mixes), so at least there's no problem deciding which one to go for. I will say that I never really 'got' this album with my 87' CD, but with the improved sound I totally dig it. The fantastic arranging of the side two suite comes to light, and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" becomes dynamic proto-metal as opposed to the monolithic slab of dung I always took it for. I've also found myself listening to "Mean Mr. Mustard" repeatedly, which could cause insanity since it's only one minute long.

Past/Mono Masters
I'm totally biased here. Since these are the singles, it seems to me that the mono tracks are the definitive ones simply as AM radio stations in the 60's could only play mono. Of course, with the mono edition you miss out on the great "Ballad of John & Yoko/Old Brown Shoe Single," as well as the superior single version of "Let It Be," which only saw stereo mixes, but you do get the Beatles' tracks from "Yellow Submarine" in never released mono mixes. Harrison's tracks there really flower in mono, and "It's All Too Much" strangely comes across a little more like the Steve Hillage cover from 1976. That's pretty groovy. Meanwhile, "Don't Let Me Down" has a lot more power with the stereo version. With either edition, you get my sentimental favorite Beatles song in mono, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."