Archive for the ‘ Psych ’ Category

Love “Forever Changes”

| Folk,Psych

Forever Changes

I think everybody must remember where they were the first time they heard Alone Again Or. For me it was a high school summer, driving my car, just marveling at the beautiful guitar line and mariachi rhythms, and the building drama of the chorus that goes so close to the top and never over. Any sucker riding shotgun over the next two months would be subjected to this powerhouse lead-off track from Love’s third record.

It’s important to not let Alone Again Or overshadow the rest of this classic disc. The masterful songs on Forever Changes manage to accept and transcend the sound of the era. In a Los Angeles scene where the Byrds were absent heroes and the Doors would shortly become immensely more popular, Love was and will remain the coolest, baddest group from this time and place.

Forever Changes is one of those albums where every moment of sound is as thoughtful as the last. The tunes are led with an acoustic rock combo and string orchestra with horns. Lyrically, the album represents both the light and dark sides of the 60s; these were reportedly Arthur Lee’s last words, as he believed he was soon going to die, and in reality his band was falling apart.

Tracks like Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale drive with a southern California sound forged by Love, part folk-psych and nearly part tropicalia. Lee’s voice is authoritative but welcoming on A House Is Not A Motel and lean electric guitar leads provide quintessential psych sounds. The poetry can get dark sometimes, in The Red Telephone with its suicidal hint, but it remains somewhat down-to-earth when “The snot has caked against my pants…” opens Live And Let Live.

I have read all manner of scandal from contemporaries of Love, including one wondering why the band hadn’t chosen Hate for their band name. Their story, revolving around the genius of Arthur Lee won’t equal the story told on this record; while not a concept album or rock opera, it gives an eerie glow of some tale, or lesson never learned. A beautiful, haunting suite.

“Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Rhino | Collectors Edition | buy from amazon ]
:) Vinyl | Elektra | search ebay ]

Embryo “We Keep On”

| Prog,Psych

We Keep On

Embryo are a brilliant Krautrock band that began in the late 60’s, creatively flourished throughout the 70’s and are still making great music today. While contemporaries the Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk pioneered electronic rock and Can were content exploring the avant garde fringe elements, Embryo favored a jazzy form of space rock with very strong elements of world music.

Christian Burchard has always remained the constant throughout Embryo’s long, varied career. On this recording he is the lead vocalist and also plays mellotron, vibraphone, percussion, drums, keyboards, marimba, mellophonium, bass, guitar, and saz. We Keep On is often regarded as Embryo’s masterpiece, an overwhelming lp mining West African rhythms that reach deep into unexplored regions of your mind. Burchard’s vocals are strange and unconventional in an almost proto new-wave way. The first song, Abdul Malek, sounds like nothing I have ever heard before and should really appeal to psych fans (take note of the acoustic raga riffs) even though this is a 1973 release. Don’t Come Tomorrow is another good trancey song with understated mellotron, piano, vibes, and interesting bamboo flute courtesy of Charlie Mariano.

The lp is divided evenly between instrumentals and vocal tracks (there are 6 songs in total and 2 extra on the recent reissue by Disconforme). No Place To Go features crazed Burchard vocals and some fabulous jazz guitar playing while other tracks like Hackbrett-Dance and Flute and Saz tap into something new and totally original. In 1975 Miles Davis had this to say about Embryo, “That German hippy group where Mal Waldron used to play; they are doing interesting things. You know, man? They are good musicians, just playing good shit!” This was the ultimate compliment coming from a jazz master and a good enough reason to check out this great, lost album.

“Abdul Malek”

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Spirit “The Family That Plays Together”

| Psych

The Family That Plays Together

Many of you are probably familiar with this great, underrated LA band that was started by drummer Ed Cassidy and guitarist Randy California in 1967. The roots of Spirit can be traced to prior groups the Rising Sons (who released one excellent blues rock single in the mid 60’s) and the Red Roosters. While Cassidy and California were the heart and soul of Spirit, Jay Ferguson handled lead vocals while Mark Andes and John Locke played bass and keyboards respectively.

Spirit crafted many fine albums in their day but most people cite this album along with Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus and Spirit of ’76 (double lp) as their masterpieces. The Family That Plays Together hit the record shelves in 1968 and featured a wild, young guitarist in Randy California. Cassidy was an excellent middle aged drummer and Ferguson was an outspoken, courageous lead singer. Spirit definitely stood out amongst a crowd and the different personalities within the group eventually tore them apart.

The above record featured Spirit at an early peak, opening with their biggest radio hit I Got A Line On You. This was the most atypical song on the album but great guitar driven hard rock anyhow. California’s leads were fantastic and innovative and there is no doubt that he was one of LA’s top rock guitarists. Some of the songs such as the spacey It Shall Be or the heart wrenching Darlin’ If have beautiful string and horn charts that bring to mind Love’s classic Forever Changes album. The Grateful Dead-like It’s All The Same and the strange psych blowout Aren’t You Glad showed California’s mastery of the fuzztone.

He was clearly breaking new ground with tone and texture but for me the true masterpiece on this album is Dream Within A Dream. This song opens with some intense Hendrix influenced riffs which eventually drift into space, riding high on insane, droning bumble bee fuzz riffs that hit really hard. It’s one of the great slices of LA guitar psych and mandatory listening for any casual rock fan. For those who have not given this legendary band a chance, it is worth your while to do so.

“Dream Within A Dream”

Below is the great My Friend track from the Original Potato Land album. Potato Land was a weird science fiction rock opera/concept album recorded around 1971/1972. Some of the songs were later rerecorded (probably during the early 80’s) and released in 1981. At this stage in the game Spirit were basically cut down to the duo of Cassidy and California and would remain so for many years after. In early 2006 the original Potato Land album was released off the Acadia label. This cd reissue off Acadia is the album to get and not the 1981 vinyl version, as it presents the album in its original form (it’s full of great songs) and also contains more tracks. My Friend is one of the highlights off this great lost record, a fine slice of power pop.

“My Friend”

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The Holy Modal Rounders (self-titled)

| Pop,Psych

The Holy Modal Rounders

A damn fine record! For years, I’ve been trying to get my ears around The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders with limited success. It’s a totally weirded out record that kicks off with the If You Want To Be A Bird single famously featured on the Easy Rider soundtrack. The problem I had understanding Moray Eels was a lack of context – now that I’ve got my hands on this joyous and addictive little gem, I’m more anxious than ever to dive in deeper with the Rounders catalogue.

Bound To Lose: Documentary
Recently, I had the (spur-of-the-moment) opportunity to catch Peter Stampfel introduce a showing of the new documentary film chronicling his band, entitled Bound To Lose. Pete is a real eccentric with an amazing speaking and singing voice, tuneful and squawky like no other. The documentary was quite good and renewed my interest in the Rounders. Instead of uncovering many of the details surrounding the original Holy Modal Rounder recordings (1 & 2, Indian War Whoop, Moray Eels), the doc relied on footage and stories concerning the modern day Rounders. It’s hard to blame the filmmakers for this angle because they are such interesting characters and prolific artists. I highly recommend a rental for fans of the band or those looking for a pleasant introduction to this fascinating group.

You’ve got to start at the beginning, though. Their debut album, way ahead of its time, is one of the most fun records I’ve heard in a while and would spawn the genre of freak folk. The Rounders were heavy into the folk revival scene of the early 60s in NYC’s Greenwich Village and also heavy into drugs. Interestingly, their reworking of Hesitation Blues on this record featured the first recorded use of the term “psychedelic.” The tunes performed here on guitar and fiddle, or guitar and banjo, are essentially folk standards with new and often satirical lyrics. Stampfel confesses to this writing technique in the liners: “hear song, forget song, try to remember song while adding your personal wrinkles, bingo!”

There are traces of the less traditional and electric route the Rounders were headed down on originals like their “hit” song Euphoria and the catchy pop oddity, Mr. Spaceman. Most important to note, of course, are the voices. Sure to turn off casual listeners, but remarkably unique and strangely perfect. Something about their alien brand of harmony is indefinably great, and in brief little moments, truly beautiful. This record is a wonderful ride and an essential slice of music history.

“Euphoria”

Note: The debut record is packaged as a twofer including their 2nd record, pretty much every bit the equal of the first. Excellent deal ($9 digital download).

:D CD Reissue | 1999 | Fantasy | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1964 | Prestige | search ebay ]

Appletree Theatre “Playback”

| Baroque,Concept Albums,Pop,Psych

Playback

Playback was released in 1968 off the Verve label. Both John and Terrence Boylan were the brains behind this project that is divided into three acts. It’s an inventive pop album with great songs, strange sound effects, comedy bits and trippy dialogue in between some of the tracks. Fans of Friends era Beach Boys, Family Tree, the Smoke (Michael Lloyd’s band) and the Millennium will really love this record though it has more of a downbeat mood than the before mentioned sunshine pop classics.

Playback was released in two different album covers (both covers are great) and was supposedly one of John Lennon’s favorites from 1968. Some of the tracks, such as I Wonder If Louise Is Home suggest the boys may have indulged in too many psychedelic drugs, with its distorted megaphone vocals and soaring horns. The album opener, Hightower Square, and Nevertheless It Was Italy are strong hallucinary floaters that play it straight, with light psychedelic arrangements. There’s even a beautiful 52 second acoustic track with gorgeous strings and downer vocals called Saturday Morning.

The real meat of this jaded pop album lies within it’s best 3 tracks: Brother Speed, You’re The Biggest Thing In My Life, and the wonderful What A Way To Go. Brother Speed is a great blue-eyed soul drug number with stax-like horn arrangements, pounding drums, stoned vocals, and a loud guitar psych solo. It’s a good one for sure but You’re The Biggest Thing In My Life is superb as well with tons of guitar feedback within the confines of a creepy but pretty conventional pop song. The album comes to a close with the outstanding What A Way To Go. This is one of the great introspective acid folk-rock songs that hits a downer psych nerve that few can equal. It’s a good one to play for square friends as the track has beautifully spaced out vocals and crazed, nonsensical lyrics.

In 1969 Terrence Boylan returned with a solo psych pop album credited to Alias Boona which I have never seen or heard. Just recently the Appletree Theatre’s Playback was reissued but can only be bought off Terrence Boylan’s homepage (The Official Terence Boylan Website). Highly recommended!

“What A Way To Go”

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Sagittarius “Present Tense”

| Baroque,Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Present Tense

Sagittarius is the project (and zodiac sign) of one Gary Usher, collaborator and friend to Brian Wilson and producer of Notorious Byrds, and the ambitious Curt Boettcher, another Beach Boys coconspirator and genius behind the legendary Begin album by The Millennium.

Basically, they are companion albums, released in the same month in 1968, where most recommend starting with Begin and expanding into Present Tense. Some will find this album a bit twee for their tastes, and it is very hard to take seriously on first listen. But a little effort in putting it on, and it won’t take long before the album reveals itself to you. I find Present Tense to be almost a little better put-together than Begin. Realize though, that you’re not going to win points pumping this album full blast; maybe this is an album for headphones on the train, or a light rainy day.

Usually, I would balk at posting a track called “Song To The Magic Frog;” I have to though as it well represents the album. The instruments are eq’d with fairy dust it seems, and nice orchestral touches. “Will you ever, will you ever know” sounds to me like a classic Curt Boettcher melody, and though this is a Gary Usher project, Curt’s prevailing influence is unmistakable. The vocals soar on “Another Time” and it’s near the top, but I promise you that it is worth growing with Present Tense and all of its loveliness.

It’s only a matter of time before some director includes some of this Curt Boettcher madness in a popular film and all this soft California sike blows up. Included here from the bonus selections is the single version of My World Fell Down, with the preserved musique concrete bridge that Clive Davis urged removed from the album version.

“My World Fell Down”

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Maitreya Kali “Inca”

| Country Rock,Garage,Psych

Satya Sai Maitreya Kali

Despite reading the occasional negative review, I think Inca by Maitreya Kali is a good one. Maitreya Kali is actually Craig Smith who was one of the key members of California folk-rock band the Penny Arkade. Theirs was a sound influenced by mystical psychedelia but also grounded in American roots and C&W.

Chris Ducey along with Craig Smith were the creative architects of this hardluck outfit and many of their songs employed guitar distortion, plenty of Californian harmonies and jangly, amplified country folk twang. Some of the Penny Arkade tracks appeared on Inca when it was released in 1972. Apache, Smith’s debut, had appeared earlier that year and also featured a handful of Penny Arkade leftovers from 1966-1968. Both albums feature Craig Smith solo tracks and while both records are solid, Inca may have a slight edge in terms of quality.

In his earlier years, Craig Smith had written songs for the Monkees, Andy Williams and Glen Campbell. With these songwriting royalties Smith traveled the world and financed the release of the Apache and Inca albums. Solo tracks such as Sam Pan Boat are very sensitive and fragile acid folk with pretty vocals and a beautiful burned out ambience. The Penny Arkade tracks have a sound that has often been compared to a garage version of Buffalo Springfield. Their most popular song, included on this album was the 12 and a half minute Knot the Freeze. This psychedelic folk-rock opus is a must for 60’s fans and strongly resembles Buffalo Springfield’s Broken Arrow in it’s suite-like structure. Knot the Freeze reportedly received some local airplay when Inca was released but it is by no means the only highlight on this private release. There are other good Arkade tracks like the tuneful garage folk-rocker Lights of Dawn and the confused acid folk philosophy of Thesis. Country Girl was one of their unqualified triumphs as a band, a prehistoric shimmering country rock number with carefree lyrics and an honesty that is rare in much music.

Not much is known about Craig Smith’s whereabouts today, although it’s been said that after these lps were released he suffered a mental breakdown possibly due to drug intake. Both albums are really good listening and well worth a spin for fans of psychedelia and roots music. Sundazed recently released all of the Penny Arkade’s recordings, including 16 unreleased tracks from the vaults. This disc is also highly recommended to fans of folk-rock, psychedelia or anyone wanting to delve a little deeper into the world of 60’s underground rock.

Craig Smith solo:

“Sam Pan Boat”

The Penny Arkade:

“Country Girl”

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The Family Tree “Miss Butters”

| Concept Albums,Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Miss Butters

It’s great to see an album like Miss Butters finally getting the reissue treatment it deserves. The Family Tree was the product of the genius of Bob Segarini, and their only album is a fantastic and interesting conceptual piece with tunes as memorable as any Broadway musical (only really cool).

This record is a must for any Nilsson fan, not alone for some of the similar feels, it was recorded at the same studio as Aerial Ballet, using the same arranger for orchestra parts, same producer, and Harry even wrote a track. A Nilsson album in spirit, but unlike anything he was capable of creating. The Miss Butters recording is superb in its production, the equal of any Beatles record, and soars with string arrangement, backing vocal, and complex song structure.

Previously, Miss Butters was presented in an unapproved stereo mix on vinyl. The CD reissue has remastered audio from the master tapes presented in original mono (and really, really nice sounding). This is a masterful reissue from Revola for a record that truly deserves it. Bravo.

“Any Other Baby”

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Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath”

| Prog,Psych,Punk

Black Sabbath

“In the beginning, there was nothing. And then Black Sabbath said “LET THERE BE METAL!” (had to quote this guy). But considering, before this self-titled destroyer was unleashed, the closest things we call metal are a handful of Yardbirds and Zeppelin tracks and Iron Butterfly, Sabbath really did spawn a whole new genre, in Satan’s name.

Just imagine as a kid in 1970, heavy into tracks with overdrive guitars, you put this on the record player, we hear burning leaves, a distant church bell, a rising storm, the ungodly slow crunch from the band kicks in with scary timing, a whole new sound. We’ve just spun Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath from Black Sabbath. Sick.

The album is rooted in hard rock and the blues still, of course. The Wizard is a smokin’ workout with a harmonica lead and Ozzy’s characteristic vocals. N.I.B. is easily another defining track for early metal. There are some more period piece numbers too, such as Evil Woman. It’s still got the heavy detuned power chords and shredding, but there is a bluesy beat to it with a poppy chorus. They take it down almost all the way to folk on the intro to Sleeping Village, before their instrumental assault extending into the 10-minute Warning.

Black Sabbath would go on to release a solid string of excellent records (their first four the best), including the tour-de-force, Paranoid. I chose to review this one today because it has the scariest cover. Happy Halloween!

“Black Sabbath”

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The Smoke (self-titled)

| Pop,Psych

Smoke

This was a Michael Lloyd studio band that released just one album which mysteriously appeared in 1968. The Smoke’s self-titled album is a much better soft popsike record than Lloyd’s earlier release, the October Country LP (which is also worth seeking out).

The above record was created while Lloyd was in between stints with the crazed, ill-fated West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The Smoke dedicated this obscure release to Stuart Sutcliffe and the band cannot help but pay homage to their obsessions, the Beatles and the Beach Boys. There are no duff tracks on this soft pop masterpiece which was housed in a beautiful white jacket that recalled the Beatle’s Yellow Submarine album artwork. Cowboys and Indians led off the program with buzzing organ and a nice brief guitar solo. It’s been suggested that this was Lloyd paying tribute to his idols The Beach Boys and their legendary Heroes and Villians single.

Self-Analysis is really weird in a British psych pop sort of way with lite orchestration, perplexing lyrics, probing John Lennon-like vocals, and some beautifully sharp melodies. One song, Fogbound, even had commercial potential, with a to-the-fore horn arrangement and “Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds” quotes during the fade out. Two other masterpieces on this album are October Country and Odyssey. October Country is driven by harpsichord flourishes and a peculiar intensity while Odyssey is suite-like and full of beautiful, complex passages.

Fans of the Left Banke, Millennium, and Sagittarius really need to own this lost classic.

“October Country”

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