Slowdive- Slowdive (1990)

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

Slowdive was already a step or two behind the British shoegazing scene. Not creatively mind you. At their best, I'd take Slowdive over the more reknown My Bloody Valentine anyday. They never quite had the timing to make it though. While more successful competition like the aforementioned Valentines and Ride had already finished making their names through EPs and were preparing their big album statements, Slowdive stumbled in with their first EP in 1990.

The seeds of what would make Slowdive great can be deduced here, but the eponymous EP does not represent the band in full flower. Slowdive would eventually hit upon a vein of dream pop completely divorced from the blues basis of rock and even had little to do with punk. Listening to most of Slowdive's recordings is a narcotic in and of itself. Unfortunately the three songs (well, really two) here are lacking in a few areas.

The first area is production. After this album, the band's recordings would create an amazing, dreamy sheen. Even when blasting at top volume, they still seemed quiet. On the title track of this EP they are noticably loud. Also, while soon the band would master their guitar effects to the point that it's often impossible to tell quite what they're doing, it's a little too bare bones here.

Primary songwriter Neil Halstead hadn't quite found his songwriting groove either (for those keeping count, this would be area #2). While both "Slowdive" and "Avalyn 1" have cool riffs, the band basically just pummels them into the ground without much change. This is even more a problem as the third track here is "Avalyn 2," an eight minute instrumental take.

The Slowdive EP is basically the band's baby pictures. It's kind of cute, and we get an inkling of where the band is going, but it's definitely more of a starting point than a notable work. Hmm... I think I'm mixing and confusing my metaphors. I'll quit while I'm behind.

Buy Me:
Slowdive - Just For A Day (EP included on a bonus disc)

At This Date All Music Posts Should Be Working

Except for a few movies, you should be able to sample everything on this sight. Please leave a comment or two; I'm not sure if anyone other than me looks at this blog and I don't really need to download albums that I already own.

Syd Barrett- Opel (1989)

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.5 out of 5

This collection of unreleased songs and alternate takes from Syd Barrett's two 1970 albums appeared almost 20 years after Barrett jumped ship form the music world to lead a more reclusive life in Cambridge. It's safe to say that the man himself did not have a hand in this compilation. As such, this is basically a clearing house for Barrett's music, and not so much of an album. And the quality here ranges from completely spectacular to unlistenable.

The title track and "Swan Lee" are the major revelations here. Both of them could have easily replaced some lesser tracks on The Madcap Laughs (I'm looking at you, side two!). "Opel" has an unfinished feel as there are about two minutes of guitar chords just waiting for some overdubs. Still the melody and lyrics are so great that this doesn't detract at all from the song. Barrett's vocals really work here, and they tend to be extremely hit-or-miss on his solo performances. The abstract lyrics are some of his best ever, not at all succumbing to pretensions or silliness.

"Swan Lee" is a more finished product sounding like a submerged surf song, complete with a few Ventures'-like guitar fills. Actually except for the lead guitar and vocals, everything here sounds like it's been reversed, buried underground for 15 years, dug up, and then re-reversed. It's a strange, completely psychedelic sound that I haven't heard anywhere else. Other than the fact that the backing track occasionally threatens to fly off the rails and become completely un-synched (which I find charming), I have no idea why this one stayed in the vaults. The American Indian narrative that makes up the lyrics is fun too, although not on the order of "Opel."

Just a notch under these stellar tracks is "Milky Way." It's a great song with a fine demo-quality acoustic performance, but it really could have been fleshed out a little more with some overdubs. Barrett armed with only an acoustic guitar was a risky proposition in the late 60's.

It's not hard to see why "Birdie Hop," "Let's Split," "Dolly Rocker" and "Word Song" stayed unreleased. They aren't particularly well composed and the performances are unhinged in a bad way. Those of you who hang on every one of Barrett's words and fractured performances will probably love these. I just can't bring myself to do so. Well, I do have a strange affinity for "Dolly Rocker."

"Lanky, Pt. 1" is the last of the new tracks present here. I believe the idea here was to create something in the mold of the Barrett-led Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive." Unfortunately, by this time Barrett's mental state did afford him the attention needed to do this. This track is basically a five-and-a-half minute long mess. But it is almost the only glimmer of Barrett's signature lead Telecaster that we get in his solo career.

The rest of the tracks here are alternate takes. Many of them resemble the album versions, but simply without the overdubs. I tend to prefer the more complete versions on the albums. "Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)" is a little different as Barrett sings it in a much lower register, but I miss the singing in the shower quality of the Madcap version.

The standout alternate take here is "Clowns And Jugglers," a completely different version of "Octopus." Unlike "Octopus," Barrett is backed here by the Soft Machine. They struggle to follow Barrett even more than the cuts that they appear on on Madcap (which I guess is why it was unreleased), but it's still a lot of fun. I particularly love Robert Wyatt's drumming on this cut. Since he can't really stick with a beat as Barrett keeps changing it, he has to be particularly ingeneous.

There's enough here to warrant obtaining Opel, along with two of Barrett's very best songs, but it's definitely a mixed bag. This is a must for fans of Syd, but listening to Opel often feels more like an archeological exercise than an enjoyable listening experience. Also, the cover image creeps me the hell out.

Buy Me:
Syd Barrett - Opel

Tangerine Dream- Atem (1973)

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

Atem (German for "breath") is a transitional album in the best sense of the word. Having taking the minimalist concept to the extreme on Zeit, the Dream returns to somewhat of a space rock vibe. There actually is a fair amount of percussion here, especially the raging torrent of the first few minutes of the side long title track which excitingly builds until it crashes into an ambient soundscape, thus giving the ambience more context. It's also a lot less bleak sounding. "Fauna Gena" recalls the alien landscape imagery of "Alpha Centauri," although with some added bird-like noises.

So with the return of the space rock, and ingenious use of Zeit-like soundscapes, Froese, Franke, and Baumann managed their past work magnificently. Fortunately Atem looks toward the future too. Froese seems to barely pick up his guitar here, more often opting for mellotron. It'sa definite precursor to the entirely keyboard dominated sound that would mark some later albums. We also hear the first glimmers of sequencing at the ends of "Fauna Gena," and "A Circulation Of Events." This would become a Tangerine Dream staple starting on their next album (and Virgin Records debut).

There are only two things here that really hold Atem back a little. One is the closing track "Wahn." It's far from terrible, but the Ligeti-like voices and percussion recall the undisciplined din of Electronic Meditation a little more than I like. Fortunately, it's the shortest track here by far. A bigger problem is the production. By this time, Tangerine Dream were breaking serious new ground and I doubt there were many engineers who could really record them properly, especially without a state-of-the-art sudio. The opening of the title track loses a little majesty due to murkyness and I bet even "Wahn" would be better with more crystaline sound. Fortunately, the band would get top flight recording after this album with a jump to the majors.

It's really worth noting that the first four Tangerine Dream albums almost sound like the work of completely different bands. There are some stylistic similarities, especially one the line up stabilized, but each album is very much its own experience. Even when making a misstep, it's clear that the early Dream was an exceptionally pioneering band and their mistakes are usually interesting.

I'll be saying "goodbye" to my Tangerine Dream reviews here, as they become far less obscure starting with the next album. They managed some great major label albums like Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet, Stratosfear, Encore, Force Majeure, Tangram, and Logos, all of which I'd easily recommend. As the 80's wore on, they got a little too slick and new-agey for my tastes, but the four albums reviewed here really are but the tip of the iceburg.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes Atem)

Tangerine Dream- Zeit (1972)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Hmm... did I call Alpha Centauri minimal? It has nothing on Zeit, which is German for time. The concept here is very metaphysical, as the music here seems to warp the listener's definition of time. The instrumentation is almost exclusively synth and organ (with a few cellos on the first track), but they all blend in a way that it's often impossible to tell what is what. While Tangerine Dream previously working in a space rock genre, here they abandon any link to rock music or popular music in general.

In all honesty, this is really a love it or hate it album. Notes move very slowly and it's next to impossible to pay close attention to what's going on. In the Electronic Meditation review of spoke of the definition of music. Here there are no strong themes, but there's plenty of concept and I do have the impression that the players know what they're doing. It is the definition of "atmospheric."

The four side-long tracks vary mainly in tone, like different colored crayons. "Birth of Liquid Plejades" consists of long, drone out tones and changes very slowly. "Nebulous Dawn" shifts things with a light clopping rhythm which is mirrored by the bubbling synth on "Orgin Of Supernatural Probablilities." Things shift back to extreme darkness on side four's "Zeit."

Usually music this minimalistic has a meditative quality. Zeit's tones tend to be extremely dark and unsettling. It tends to create the bleak vibe of industrial without being industrial at all. I do put it on when I go to sleep sometimes, but I doubt everyone would want to do that as they might end up scared of the dark again.

Be careful with this album's volume too. Although the music seems to never rise above a murmur, it in fact gets quite loud at times, which accounts for some of it's unsettling nature. There is no percussion, so that loudness tends to be of a "screaming well of souls" quality.

As a fun fact, 70's Tangerine Dream mainstay Peter Baumann joined the band for this album. The bleakness and minimalistic nature here tends to obscure any distinct musical personalities, so Baumann presence isn't really noticable until the next album.

I think that if one is willing to "crack the code" on Zeit, it is a very rewarding album and creates a headspace that few other albums do. It is a bleak beauty, however, and probably isn't the best place to start. Here the Tangerine Dream becomes a slithering nightmare.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes Zeit)

Tangerine Dream- Alpha Centauri (1971)

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

Ok, let's try and assume Electronic Meditation never happened and consider this Tangerine Dream's debut. In a way it is since Edgar Froese is the only member remaining from the last album. Joining him is Chris Franke, who was hired as a drummer but would be the Dreamer to dive head first into the electronic waters and match Froese's influence in the band for the next 15 years. We also have organist Steve Schroyder who would vanish in a drug induced haze following this album.

The band's trademark sequencer patterns are still nowhere to be found here, and there is still plenty of conventional instrumentation. In fact, Alpha Centauri is very much a "space rock" album. But we do start to hear experimentation with electronics, particularly the VCS3 synth, which Pink Floyd would also use extensively (no Moogs yet though). The band was from a rock background, and didn't really know how to properly program the synth (although Brian Eno suggests that synth players throw away the manual anyway), but they still conjure up some awesome sounds here.

The band is a lot more mellow here. They occasionally whip up some noise, but it's much more controlled than on the last album, and performed with purpose. The players are actually playing off of each other here. Most of the music is minimalist, but arranged and playing with maximum effect.

Once again the band has a concept, which I think is a space voyage to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. Honestly, I'm not sure if that was the band's intention, but it's what I visualize and what's better than a concept conveyed completely instrumentally? There are only three tracks present here, and each of them create a ton of effective imagery. I see the album as such:

"Sunrise In The Third System" is shortly after takeoff, drifting around the earth. The organ tones have no trouble evoking an orbital sunrise. With the 13-minute long "Fly And Collision Of Cosmos Sola," we launch into hyperspace, with VCS3 patterns streaking by. Eventually we enter the Alpha Centauri system, and make a tricky landing through a turbulent atmosphere. The side long title track would be a tour of this distant planet.

Alpha Centauri is an early masterpiece by the Dream. In fact, they'd continue making stylistic changes, and never really return to this sound. There's a great mix of space rock and early avant garde electronics here in a perfect balance.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes Alpha Centauri)

Tangerine Dream- Electronic Meditation (1970)

Quality: 1.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 (but it's a bad trip)

The long and convoluted story of Tangerine Dream 70+album recorded output begins on this unfortunately disappointing disc. It's a shame as the personel present garners very high expectations. Of course mainstay Edgar Froese is here wailing away in his early psychedelic guitar mode. Soon-to-be electronic guru Klaus Schulze appears as the drummer and Ash Ra Tempel's Conrad Schnitzler complete this first version of the band. Even before the release of Electronic Meditation Tangerine Dream would fracture and only Edgar Froese made it to album #2.

The problem here is that Electronic Meditation is not a properly thought out or conceived album. There is some gobblygook about a "cycle of life" concept glueing the album together, but the fact is that this was basically a recorded rehearsal. None of the members ever thought of this as their first album. The tapes found their way to the brand new Ohr label, who wanted to put the recordings out as one of their first releases. Finding themselves in need of income, the Dream consented to this.

The cover art and title are extremely misleading. We see a heavily wired modular synth looking thing tied to a doll. Especially considering Tangerine Dream's (and Schulze's) later role as electronic pioneers it seems safe to expect that this is an album focused around electronic sounds. For better or for worse, this is really a very psychedelic guitar/bass/drums album with a touch of flute and just a few synthesized sounds basically functioning as sound effects.

Still, there are of course plenty of great albums with traditional instruments. The bigger problem is that there are no melodies here to speak of or any sort of forward motion. The band doesn't seem to have any purpose or goal. They're basically screwing around. In fact the only thing resembling a theme shows up in the only standout, "Journey Through A Burning Brain." Even here though, the theme explicitly recalls Pink Floyd's "Saucerful Of Secrets" and the revised version of Tangerine Dream would create a far superior track like this on their next album.

I teach English to Japanese students, and in my discussion class last week we tried to define the line between noise and music. I have a wide definition and would still classify this as music. One student thought that if the music is played by professionals, it is music, even if it is very avant-garde. So, that too would classify this as music. Other qualifiers included having a theme and/or concept. For the most part this album is lacking those (except for what seems to be a tacked on concept), and about half of my class probably would not call Electronic Meditation music.

I'm not here to slam Tangerine Dream. The 70's Dream in particular were certaintly one of the most ground breaking bands around, and second only to maybe Kraftwerk in terms of electronic music. But I highly recommend starting with the second album. Give this one a try if you're a completist and are already familiar with Tangerine Dream's later masterworks.

Buy Me:
Tangerine Dream- Nebulous Dawn (includes this album along with three far better ones)

The Seeds- Future (1967)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

First off, I think that I have to admit that this album is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. The Seeds, while a very distinctive band, did not possess the talent of the best, or even above average artists of 60's rock. On their psychedelic opus, Future, we hear the sound of a band that has a huge recording budget, but no clue what they're doing. Fortunately, what they ended up creating is a wild 60's pop art display, which contains little nuance, but tons of charm. Future is the sonic equivalent of a 60's cult film like The Trip.

The Seeds began life a few years prior to this recording as a prime garage/psych band out of LA. They'd already scored a few minor hits with "Pushin' Too Hard" and "Can't Seem To Make You Mine." They cashed in on their newfound clout to create this weird and freaky distorted mirror image of Sgt. Pepper's. The strange thing is, Future is arguably a more fun album than that Beatles classic.

Let's hit the bad points first. Sky Saxon was a notably crazed singer, but he didn't really have the focused punch of somewhat like the 13th Floor Elevator's Rocky Erickson. Without the sonic adornments on this album, his singing easily becomes tiresome after a few tracks.

The Seeds compositional skills were also far from enviable. The songwriting usually doesn't stand out much here, and when it does it's practically a rewrite as on the "Pushin' Too Hard" clone "The Flower Lady And Her Assistant."

What raises this album to classic status for me is in the execution. "The Flower Lady And Her Assistant" is a far from original composition, but the disorienting harps and strangely meandering clarinet takes song into a brand new realm. Something like "March Of The Flower Children" becomes a great song because it ends up pointlessly and manically orchestrated with blaring horns and a tuba replacing what would normally be the bass line. The album continues with other random kitchen sink productions culminating in the epic length and wildly strange "Fallin'."

Film director Ed Wood is often cited as the worst film director of all time, but I disagree with this sentiment. Although his technique is painfully inept, his love and joy of filmmaking shows through in something like Glen Or Glenda and makes his films incredibly entertaining. I think the same thing applies her. The Seeds sound like they're trying to convey what they believe is an important message and create high art, and they're having a blast doing it. It doesn't matter that they really didn't have the talent to create another Sgt. Peppers because they're having so much fun trying. Fortunately, they also had a lot of money to make this quixotic attempt, and that just makes Future all the more charming.

This is far from a masterpiece of psychedelia. It is, however, a lot more fun and entertaining that many of those classics. Future gives "guilty pleasure" a good name and inhabits a special goofy place in the pantheon of 60's rock.

Note: The buy me link below includes A Spoonful Of Seedy Blues on a two-fer. I find that album much more dull and ill-fitting with Future, but it is the best place to get Future on CD.

Buy Me:
The Seeds- The Future/A Spoonful Of Seedy Blues

Aphrodite's Child- It's Five O' Clock (1970)

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

Aphrodite's Child made a serious change of gears on their second long player, It's Five O' Clock. Whereas on their first disc they were firmly a strange psych-pop band, they try to adopt a more country-rock sort of vibe here with just a few hints of psychedelia. That's right, a Greek band playing country rock.

They really don't do a bad job of it at all. Unfortunately, the eccentricities that made the first album so interesting are mostly smoothed over here and the overall sound is much more bland and less distinctive. In fact, I had trouble believing thart this was the same band until the fourth track, "Annabella," where Roussos finally returns to his amusingly overly dramatic vocals. Some of the songs, while well written, don't really take off until the band gets onto more of a freaky jam mood as in the second half of "Let Me Love, Let Me Live."

Aphrodite's Child still maintains interest as a truly organ driven band on many of the tracks, but there are far more guitars present here. I guess you can't really do country rock like "Wake Up," "Take Your Time," "Marie Jolly," "Or Such A Funny Night" without some strummed acoustic guitars. For better or for worse, none of these tracks are embarrassing, but they do come off as uninspired. These are very much utilitarian compositions.

The band tries to reach out in a few different directions on "Funky Marie" and "Good Time So Fine." "Funky Marie" is certainly not funky in the traditional sense, but it is odd with its manic percussion including jazzy vibes and spastically hit bongos. Unfortunately, it's not very good either and is more of a overly stoned jam than anything else. The band fairs a little better trying to create a touch of dixieland on "Good Time So Fine" and mixing it with, uh, hoarse yelping. Still, I'd take, well anything from the first album over this.

The title track, which is also the opener, is sort of a rehash of "Rain And Tears" from the last album. It's not bad, but it does suffer from the law of diminishing returns. If I want to hear something like this I'd sooner put on "Rain And Tears."

The lyrics are far less noticable on It's Five O' Clock. I guess the singing is integrated in the mix a little more, but I didn't pick up on any of the demented psychedelic cliches which I enjoyed so much on the first album.

It's Five O' Clock is a pretty average album. There are a few successful country rock numbers which are worth a listen, but the experimentation often flies off the rails, and the album unfortunately pales in comparison with it's far more distinctive predecessor.

Apparently, Aphrodite's Child took a deep plunge into the weird on the next album, 666. I haven't been able to track that one down, but if someone out there can send some mp3s my way, I'd love to review it.

Buy Me:
Aphrodite's Child- It's Five O' Clock

Aphrodite's Child- End Of The World (1968)

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

Aphrodite's Child was a Greek band featuring several future musical luminaries. New age/electronica guru Vangelis (of "Blade Runner" fame) shows up here as a multi-instrumentalist and writes the bulk of the music. Demis Roussos, who apparently had a successful solo career in the 1970's is the lead vocalist. This album is their debut and feature some prime, if slightly-skewed, 1968 psychedelia.

You've perhaps heard "Rain And Tears," the closest thing to a hit on this album. It's a pleasant organ-led psych track in the "Whiter Shade Of Pale" mold. Fortunately, it's not the best song here as End Of The World turns out to be a very consistent album.

I've often heard the early "prog rock" tag thrown at this direction. Although there are a couple of slightly longer tracks (like six minutes) present, the modus operandi here is very much psychedelic pop. We're not looking at multi-part, constantly shifting songs here. I think the progressive elements apply more to the oddball elements of this band.

As Greek musicians (who also spent time in Paris), these guys were probably pretty disconnected from the British/American mainline of 60's pop. Demis Roussos seems like he's often horsely belting out the vocals without any restraint in a strange approximation of his counterparts. This often works to enjoyable effect as "Mister Thomas" comes of as much less twee as it would otherwise, and I always get an amusing image of Mr. Roussos blasting from the top of a windswept mountain on the sideways rocking "Don't Try To Catch A River."

This is also an early example of an almost guitar-less rock album, which would become a common progressive rock gimmick. Vangelis is quite a keyboard player, however, and I never found myself missing guitar tones. It fact, I really had to pay close attention to the album to notice the lack of guitars. As a warning to fans of Vangelis, the songs here little in common with his solo works, although you might be pleasantly surprised by his different, but great performance here.

Lyrically, this album gets a bit strange, perhaps due to the fact that English was not these guys first language. Things are pretty creepy on opening track "End Of The World" as Roussos suggests "You should come with me to the end of the world without telling your parents or your friends," and that he'll "give you anything that lives on earth." It's not an enticing offer from a hairy hippy. As the album continues, we hear plenty of other psychedelic cliches twisted into surreal shapes.

The longer tracks, "The Grass Is Not Green" and "Day Of The Fool," break from the basic psychedelic pop mold. Here Aphrodite's Child get a little more progressive, but it's much closer to Days Of Future Passed Moody Blues than "Karn Evil 9." They do manage to end the album on a very creepy, unsettling note filled with decaying organs and sputtering percussion with "Day Of The Fool." End of the World, indeed.

Buy Me:
Aphrodite's Child- End Of The World

Dungen- Ta Dent Lugnt (2004)

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

Dungen is a Swedish band which is more of less a monkier for multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes. Unlike many of the bands you read about on this site, Dungen is fully functioning in the present and in fact has a new album coming out in the next month. I don't think they quite fit the "obscure" tag, but I certainly wouldn't consider these folks mainstream either.

Ejstes whips up a heady acid rock groove on Ta Dent Lugnt, Dungen's third album. The band's sound is set pretty squarely in 1968, with the most obvious reference point being late-period Cream, albeit being sung in Swedish. There are lots of searing acid rock guitar leads, and the impressing drumming falls somewhere between Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell's brands of manic, swinging thumping. In fact, the only thing here that recalls the last 35 years of music is that Ejstes voice makes me think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kedis.

Yes, the lyrics here are entirely in Swedish, so this is not a good place to search for tripped out psyche poetry, unless you're fluent in Swedish. A band like Dungen is very much about it's sound, and Ejstes' voice, while not phenomenal, is certainly expressive enough that I get an idea of the meaning.

For better or for worse, Ta Dent Lugnt is frontloaded with its standout tracks. The album starts out in a poppier mode with the one-two-three punch of "Panda," "Gjort Bort Sig," and "Festival." "Panda's" drum intro is especially of note and "Gjort Bort Sig" has an awesome vocal echo effect adorning it's chorus. Apparently, Dungen live is more a balls-out jamming affair, and the next few songs, "Du E For Fin For Mig" and the title track, have more sprawling lengths. The former is textured with some string overdubs while the latter pounds it's central riff for several minutes until morphing into, uh, jazz.

The rest of the album doesn't have as obvious highlights (except for the closing, anthemic "Sluta Folja Efter") but the flow of the album follows this lead into jazz. There are a few song fragments and several jazzy instrumentals, the best of which is the Soft Machine-like "Om Du Vore En Vakthund." Breaking this up a bit is the very Beatlesque "Lipsill," and the sludgy loud "Bortglomd." This later part of the album recalls the flow of Olivia Tremor Control albums, although without all the tape splices.

Dungen's music basically amounts to a pristine recreation of psychedelia circa 1968 on Ta Dent Lugnt. They do a phenomenal job at this, however, and deserve a listen by any fans of acid rock.

Buy Me:
Dungen- Ta Dent Lugnt

Chrysalis- Definition (1967)

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

For those of us plunging through endless piles of esoterica, we often have to concentrate on the diamonds in the the rough found on otherwise unimpressive collections. With Chrysalis' Definition, however, we really do have a top-tier album of American psychedelia that has yet to recieve it's due.

Chrysalis was a university-incubated band hailing from Ithica, New York. They built up a local following, and armed with some praises from Frank Zappa's circle of cronies, set about making Definition in New York City. The making of the album was a rough road as the band went through several producers, including Zappa himself. Strangely enough the problem didn't reside with the typical "creative differences," but instead with the horribly abrasive attitude of the band's managers. Even with these issues, the finished album is a unified-sounding product.

The band's leader and almost exclusive songwriter was a strange fellow by the name of Spider Barbour. He is apparently best known as the subject of Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy, which is a shame as he was also an exceptional songwriter. The tracks on Definition create a very distinctive and detailed niche of psychedelic folk rock. Barbour references many different sounds, including San Francisco rock, British psych pop like Donovan and Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band and Zappa, while creating an extremely distinctive sound. I've heard this disc likened to Zappa a bit too much. There are a few dashes of Zappa's vocal approach and instrumental flourishes on the opening track "What Will Become Of The Morning," and the closing Dr. Root's Garden employs some Zappa-style humor, but 98% percent of the time the band is most certainly doing their own thing. The almost unbearable melencholy of "Cynthia Gerome" and complete insanity of the bouncing "Baby Let Me Show You Where I Live" are wholly original.

Barbour's work as a lyricist is also of note. Many of the songs are in the form of stories, but remain conscious of word placement and sound for maximum effect. The imagery is quite strong, but avoids pretty much every cliche of psychedelic rock in 1967. Plenty of snippets of lyrics will bounce in your head long after listening. Barbour's voice is also of note, often lilting like a troubadour, but intimating some kind of hidden madness. This isn't to say I think Barbour was some sort of acid casualty as he always sounds completely in control and has a strong vision for his band.

Part of that vision includes a intensely trippy undercurrent of insect references. In fact it seems that songs like the aforementioned "Baby Let Me Show You Where I Live" and "Dr. Root's Garden" are written from an insect's perspective. In fact Barbour apparently eventually entered a career as an entomologist. The words are often a little unsettling, but always fascinating.

Every great band needs a secret weapon, and Chrysalis has two. Vocal Nancy Nairn comes across like an institutionalized Grace Slick and really tears the roof off of tracks like "April Grove" and "30 Popular." It makes me think a little of the Fiery Furnaces work almost 40 years later.

Also taking Chrysalis' music to the next level is percussionist Dahaud Shaar. His beats bring a lot of color and variety to the songs present here. While nothing here classifies as world music, Shaar seems to understand plenty of world rhythms and brings a touch of that to highlight, but not overwhelm the tracks.

The CD reissue includes eight bonus tracks, including six that don't appear on the album proper. The sound quality is a step down from the album, but seeing as such a great band has no other releases to their name, these still great tracks are invaluable. The writing and playing maintains the same amazing level of quality, even if thing get a little more hissy. According to the liner notes, Rev-Ola has plans to secure and release demo recordings for an aborted second album. I hope that these soon see the light of day.

Definition is truly a psychedelic classic. I would easily rate this with a "pick-up-as-soon-as-possible" status. Chrysalis were a completely original band with new ideas that still sounds innovative today.

Buy Me:
Chrysalis- Definition

Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends (1968)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 1.5 out of 5

Sunshine pop does not necessarily equate to psychedelic as this 1968 release attests. It's an odd disc that often earns favorable comparisons to Pet Sounds but in the end remains pretty square. If Laurence Welk ever tried to bring out a rockin' group to show he was "hep and with it," these folks must have been on the top of his list. And if my grandmother could still hear, I'd have no problem playing this one for her. This is not the place to look for anything that would be considered experimentation, but the sound is as sundrenched as anything you'd expect from A&M Records and Herb Alpert's guidance in the 60's.

Even without any particularly new sounds, Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is a high quality product that takes more attitude from the Sinatra dominated era of pop than the rock age. The arrangements here use a little bit of electricity and occasionally louder drums, but once the tight harmonies are in full effect, the songs tend to resemble a really good toothpaste commercial. The production is top flight and often has a dreamy sheen (hence the 1.5 on the Trip-O-Meter).

Roger Nichols carved out most of his career as a songwriter, penning Carpenters' hits such as "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days And Sundays." For a few years in the 60's he teamed with siblings Murray and Melinda MacLeod for a vocal duo that must have been in it's element in a slightly more upscale Holiday Inn lounge.

Fortunately on this album he cowrote four songs with Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher and the songs have a little more depth than I usually associate with such breezy pop. Still, don't expect anything close to the emotional whallop of Pet Sounds. There are a few more original numbers present, along with a slew of covers, including two Lennon/McCartney songs, two Lovin' Spoonful tracks, and one composition each from Burt Bacharach and Goffin/King. They do a pretty good job fitting all these songs into their signature sound, and I don't come off wishing that they'd included more original material. The Beatles songs in particular include a fine version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" (I certainly enjoy it more than Joe Cocker's version) and a rendition of "I'll Be Back" which includes and original and unexpected tag at the tail end of the song. In fact, it's my favorite moment on the album.

The Rev-Ola reissue includes 8 bonus tracks and makes a pretty nice addition to the set. We get two mono single versions of songs on the proper album while the other tracks are proper outtakes and obscure tracks. They maintain the consistancy of the album with the exception of the completely stupid "St. Bernie The Sno-Dog." But can one really expect much from a song with that title?

This is properly acknowledged as a sunshine pop classic, but don't expect any psychedelia here. The 5th Dimension sound like Captain Beefheart compared to these folks. But Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends is immaculately produced, almost sickeningly consistent, and is a good place to seek out the breezy A&M sound of the 60's.

Buy Me:
Roger Nichols And The Small Circle Of Friends

The Electric Prunes- Underground (1967)

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

The Electric Prunes second long player is a significant improvement over their first. It's lacking the instant punch of their first disc's amazing singles, but makes up for that with consistency. Here the band seems much more in control of their fate and firmly in the driver's seat. There are still some stylistic excursions, and they do not always work, but they don't jettison the Prunes' signature heavy reverb and tremelo sound as several tracks do on the first album. The band also takes on much more of a songwriting presence on Underground. Scribes Mantz and Tucker still contribute with three songs, but they don't have the massive presence that they did before.

Underground is bookended with it's best tracks. "The Great Banana Hoax," which was written by singer James Lowe and bassist Mark Tulin, starts the album off with a psychedelic tour-de-force. The band follows an awesome tom drum driven groove through several eerie and pleasingly disjointed sections of music. Although the strange structure wouldn't have earmarked this one as a single, for those willing to follow "The Great Banana Hoax" is just as rewarding as the first album's classic singles. More immediate is the closing track "A Long Day's Flight." This relatively simple garage rocker is performed with maximum impact and should have been the breakthrough single from the album (I don't believe it was ever released as a single).

In between these psychedelic masterpieces is a pretty good, if not great, album. The band seems to function best when they're riding a bubbling groove as on "The Great Banana Hoax." They manage to maintain a chill, almost San Francisco rock type of groove for five minutes on Tucker and Mantz's "I." "Children Of Rain" is a cool mid-tempo psych track and the band logs in another top flight rocker with the Lowe and Tulin written "Hideaway."

There are still a few questionable style changes on somewhat cheesy "Antique Doll" and the excursion into sunshine pop on the Goffin/King composition "I Happen To Love You." Fortunately this is not at the expense of the Prunes' trademarks, and thus are far more successful than certain tracks on the debut album.

Although lacking their best known songs, Underground is the most accurate representation of the Electric Prunes released in the 1960's, and more than deserves the ear of discerning psych rock fans.

The recent reissue includes a few non-album singles, plus a few mono mixes of the proper album tracks. Both the new remastering and the liner notes are superior and marginalize the previous CD releases of the album.

Buy Me:
Too Much To Dream: The Original Group Recordings

The Electric Prunes- I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (1967)

Quality: 3.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5 (5 for the singles)

The Electric Prunes debut album is a sometimes amazing, but all too often frustrating hodge podge of several different styles. While the band is rightfully revered as one of the best psychedelic garage bands to appear in the 60's, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) doesn't always play to the band's strengths. Along with some amazing psyche rockers, we get unfortunate attempts to include pop stylings and balladry that would at best be considered novelty numbers, and many could consider embarrassingly unlistenable.

But let's focus on the good news first. This LP is home to two of the best psychedelic singles ever released. The title track actually managed to make it to #11 on the charts and is a swirling buzz of garage perfection. Every instrument is utilized to amazing effect and the mood shifts between dreamy and a full-tilt fuzzy rocker effortlessly. If I had to explain psychedelic rock to an Neptunian, this would be one of my first plays. It's quintessential.

The follow-up single, "Get Me To The World On Time," is almost as good. While the track lacks the groovy mood shifts of the title tracks, it compensates with a gloriously twisted and distorted Bo Diddley beat. I have to admit that I think that this particular beat is generally overused, but here it works with the space-time ripping guitars and powerful vocals.

Actually the first side of the album holds up pretty well. There are a few lesser, but enjoyable rockers in "Bangles" and "Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)". "Onie" is a slight almost bubblegum ballad, but is far from an embarrassment. Only "Sold To The Highest Bidder," featuring some out of place world-folky string instruments, bogs this side down. Unfortunately it's a masterpiece compared with some of the horrors on the second side.

Of course things start well with "Get Me To The World On Time," but then the band tries on some ill-fitting psychedelic pop affectations on the pop standard, "About A Quarter To Nine," and "The King Is In The Counting House," which is most notable for some wretch-inducing lyrics. Things get a little better on "Try Me On For Size," which is a little more of a rocker, but then the bottom falls out completely on "The Toonerville Trolley." It's one of those ultra twee vaudeville things, and really strokes your gag reflex. It's the aural equivilent of a train wreck. Anyone scouting this album out might want to stop the disc a track early.

The band is not completely to blame. Producer Dave Hasslinger, while proving to be quite a boon on the singles, was not nearly as adept at guiding the boys into genre other than nut-busting psychedelic garage rock. A similar gift and curse are the songs of Annette Tucker and Nancie Muntz. With Tucker co-writing six songs with Muntz (including the title track), and another two with Jill Jones (including the second single), their presence here is more than notable. Unfortunately, this team is also responsible for "The Tunerville Trolley." The band only logs in with two songs of their own, so they didn't seem to have their hand completely on the tiller at this point. Although very talented, The Electric Prunes are a band much better left in their garage psyche niche. They weren't really equipped for genre hopping.

While very far from a perfect set, I Had To Much To Dream (Last Night) is still an essential purchase for the psych fan. Although you'll probably want to avoid some of the dangerous water present here, you will be rewarded with two top-notch singles and several solid album tracks.

The recent reissue includes a few non-album singles, plus a few mono mixes of the proper album tracks. Both the new remastering and the liner notes are superior and marginalize the previous CD releases of the album.

Buy Me:
Too Much To Dream: The Original Group Recordings