June 19 - 25, 2001
New Sound Review

7" / THE BEALE / The Beale vs Craig David AKA The John Morgan EP / Guided Missile Recordings

No idea who The Beale is, but if that is him on the cover he is an ugly sod. I was glad to cover him up with the "Property of WZBC" sticker I (usually sadly) plaster on the cover of all gullbuy adds. As for his (their?) music, it is pretty good. The guitars sound a lot like The Yummy Fur. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that The Beale was some kind of side project with a different vocalist. The Guided Missile advert which came inside the single describes this single as "Neo-Fall gobshites! Superb 2 track debut 7" not to be missed". Of course, their aim is to sell records, but the single IS good. The B-side sounds as much like John Cale's version of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" as it does the drawl of The Fall's Mark E. Smith. I like the A-side best as it is the more upbeat of the two tracks.
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---Carl

LP / various / CHOCOLATE SOUP FOR DIABETICS

Reissue of the 1980 compilation that was the mother of all subsequent post-Nuggets psyche comps. On this record you will find some songs that have since come out on far better mastered compilations (such as the recent Deram 'Psychedelic Scene' and 'Freakbeat Scene' discs) but you won't find a more (to quote Charlie Brown's description of the pumpkin patch) 'sincere' comp than Chocolate Soup For Diabetics. In this volume a few songs overlap with stuff on other comps. Tintern Abbey's "Vacuum Cleaner" (A3) also appears on The Psychedelic Scene compilation on Deram. Dantalian's Chariot "The Madman Running Through The Fields" (A6) can be heard (along with many other great songs from them) on the 'Chariot Rising' CD put out in 1996 by Wooden Hill. Andy Summers (eventual guitarist in The Police) was a key member of Dantalian's Chariot. The Flies tough version of "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" (B1) also appears on The Freakscene compilation, as does The Fire's "Father's Name Is Dad" (B3). Even so, "Father's Name Is Dad" is one of my favorites on this record. To me it sounds very much like an early Who song. As for the favorites that I had never heard before, The Misunderstood's "Children Of The Sun" (A5), One In A Million's "Fredereek Hernando" (B2), and The Fresh Window's "Fashion Concious" (A5) are incredible songs that are bright with ideas.
Faves: A5,B2,B3,B5 (top)

---Carl

LP / various / CHOCOLATE SOUP FOR DIABETICS, Volume 2

Reissue of Volume 2 of this series (Volume 3 is soon to come out). By now anyone who had listened to the first in this series knew that there were INCREDIBLE songs waiting to be discovered. This comp succeeded in bring a dozen or so more to the conciousness of a new generation. As with volume 1 there are a few overlaps to the recent Deram compilations. The Score's kicking version of the Beatles song "Please Please Me" is on The Freakbeat Scene comp, and Syn's incredible song "14 Hour Technicolor Dream" (B5) is on The Psychedelic Scene comp. This second volume has even more great songs that I had never heard than the first. Wimple Winch "Rumble on Mersey Square South" (A2), Apple "Buffalo Billy Can" (A5), Him & The Others "She's Got Eyes That Tell Lies" (B1), and The Hush's "Grey" (B3) are very Mod styled rockers that are just ultra cool songs.
Faves: A2,A5,B1,B3,B5. (top)

---Carl

CD / various / THE FREAKBEAT SCENE / Deram Records

once again carl has presented me with a cd compilation filled with British bands of the mid-sixties that i love! two weeks ago i got to review THE PSYCHEDELIC SCENE (see GULLBUY of june 5th, 2001) --this time it's a companion cd, THE FREAKBEAT SCENE!

the term "freakbeat" did not actually exist in the 60's, but was coined in the 80's, when this type of music was beginning to get rediscovered for the first time. freakbeat is a sound that exploded in Britain in the mid-sixties, sandwiched in between the beat sounds of the early r&b and mod groups and the psychedelia which came later, although most freakbeat songs incorporate both styles. to some ears freakbeat is english r&b with a bit more going on, to others it may sound like early psychedelia. freakbeat had a wilder, more menacing sound than the beat and r&b bands but not the all-out weirdness of the psychedelic sounds that would follow. while the heyday of the beat and r&b bands came in 1964 and 1965, and full-fledged psychedelia didn't spring up until 1967, 1966 was definitely the year for freakbeat, so it comes as no surprise that the majority of the songs compiled here were originally released in that year. some songs have a flavor that is more akin to what american garage bands such as the Electric Prunes were doing at the time, yet freakbeat was by and large a sound unique to Britain. when you get right down to it, in the simplest of terms, you really could define freakbeat as beat bands getting "freaky"! (after discovering effects pedals, more powerful amplifiers, and of course, drugs). and don't forget the beat, the beat, the BEAT!!! immediately noticeable in most, if not all, of these songs, is a POUNDING beat, never letting you forget where the second half of the term freakbeat comes from.

ok, let me write about some of the songs now. the cd really kicks in for me with TRACK 7, the Syn, doing their arrogantly powerful "Grounded", a song covered by Boston's Lyres 20 years later. you may be interested to know that the Syn's bassist (Chris Squire) and guitarist (Peter Banks) later wound up in the band Yes. next up is Fire, with the sparkling "Father's Name is Dad" (TRACK 8). with it's frantic chord changes and catchy chorus, it is easily my favorite song on this disc. in my opinion, a perfect song which alone is worth the price of admission. TRACK 9 finds the Small Faces at the height of their power, with a 1966 b-side called "Understanding". at the time, nobody in Britain (with the possible exception of Stevie Winwood) came close to Steve Marriot's vocal prowess. his voice is unbelievable! the Birds come next (TRACK 10), with the energetic "No Good Without You Baby", in my mind their best song. you may have heard of their guitar player, a talented young lad called Ron Wood. bass player Kim Gardner later joined the Creation. TRACK 12 finds the Flies buzzing in with a fantastic version of the Boyce/Hart composition "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone", made famous by the Monkees. and lastly, Scotland's Poets weigh in with the utterly mesmerizing "Wooden Spoon" (TRACK 16)

overall, this is not as strong a collection as THE PSYCHEDELIC SCENE, but is still well worth picking up, especially for those who have yet to investigate these sounds. the only drawback to these compilations i feel that i should write about is the fact that since they are being put out on the deram label, they are limited to bands that had material originally on the decca/deram labels only, which inherently limits the scope of compilations such as these. having said that, this cd is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Faves: 7,8,9,10,12,16 (top)

---Pip

7" / MO*HO*BISH*O*PI / "Names (For Nameless Things)" b-w "Public Fox" & "Burn The Batteries" / V2 Records

The A-side was originally produced by Don Fleming. The version here is remixed by Jagz Kooner, who did such a great job with the remix of Electrelane's "Blue Straggler". I am not so crazy about the end result here. To me it sounds very much like The Flaming Lips. I liked them in the beginning of the 90's, but I don't really need this single right now. The two songs on the B-side have an indie sound and don't particularly strike me either. I had liked many of Mohobishopi's earlier singles, and am a bit surprised to find myself disliking all the songs here, but that is how it is. If you love The Flaming Lips you might like this single yourself.
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---Carl

CD / BATMAN AND ROBIN / The Sensational Guitarsof Dan & Dale (Sun Ra and The Blues Project Universe Records / Originally released in 1966 as a legitimate Batman release to cash in on the popularity of the show, this disc has now been rereleased to cash in on the popularity of it's hidden creator, Sun Ra. Originally released as 'The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale', the record was in fact recorded by Sun Ra (on Hammond B-3 organ) and The Blues Project. It's a pretty neat record. You could picture Batman doing the Batusi to some of the tracks on this record. Amongst my favorites "Batman's Batmorang" (#2) has brass and the 4/4 tambourine that makes you look for the go-go cage, "Flight Of the Batman" (#5) has a sax and a slide whistle in addition to it's go-go beat, and "Robin's Theme" (#7) has swinging female vocals. Nothing quite earth shattering here, but a fun record that at least can find it's proper audience this time (kids hated it).
Faves: 2,5,7(top)

---Carl

CD / BAD DREAM FANCY DRESS / Choirboys Gas / Richmond

Bad Dream Fancy Dress are Cally and Katz from Leigh-On-Sea in Essex. In the heyday of El Records they teamed with the King Of Luxembourg and put out three singles and one LP in 1988 on El. This CD contains them all. The sound of the band is like halfway between Helen Love and The Lorraine Bowen Experience. You could almost trace recent Siesta acts The Lollipop Train or Death By Chocolate right back to this band. Bad Dream Fancy Dress sing like characters from the chimney sweep world of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. The songs are super fun and catchy observances of anything that catches their eye. Sometimes they sound like mewling cats, but the music is always spot on due to Simon Fisher Turner. Songs they wriote themselves, ones with Simon Turner, and both sides of the single ("Flair" b-w "You Wind Me Up") they released with songs written and produced by Kieth West (Tomorrow) are here. It's amazing to me that this disc is not better known, as it is higher quality than 99% of the records on the rack at any store you know. I like all the songs for various reasons. Even though I have listened to my own copy of this for ages, it wasn't until studying it closely to write this review that I realized that the song "Discoteque" was actually saying "We loath disco, we love discoteque" instead of saying '...love disco...' as I had previously thought. You might recognize some of these songs from appearances on several different El Record compilations, but there will be treats uncounted for you if you listen nonetheless.
Faves: all (top)

---Carl

12" / various / KLEIN RECORDS, SINCERELY YOURS / Klein Records

Klein Records is a label from Austria which has released great records by Sofa Surfers, Seelenluft, Lichtenberg, and (the Austrian) Mum. Problem is, I had never heard the Austrian band Mum. There is a band from Iceland with the same name who I am very familiar with. This 12" has 3 mixes of the Mum song "Miss Defied". The first is by Baby Mammoth, the second by Dzihan & Kamien, and the last by Senior Piccolino's Choice (whatever or whoever that is!). There is also a new song by Mum themselves called "Adlib" (A1). This Mum's sound is a funky downbeat style. Those words do little to really communicate the sound, as they could be applied to a zillion bands. What I can say with more meaning is that the tracks sound really good and have strong percussive centers. My fave is the Senior Piccolino's Choice mix, though any of the tracks stand fine on their own.
Faves: A1,B2 (top)

---Carl

CD / various / PUNCH THE MONKEY! / Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd.

Lupin the 3rd was a Japanese cartoon from the 60's about a cunning thief, Lupin the 3rd. This CD celebrates the 30th anniversary of the show. The most famous Lupin the 3rd soundtracks are remixed in J-Pop fashion on this comp on Readymade Records, the label run by Yasuharu Konishi (Pizzicato 5). You can learn more about Lupin here. As for the music, wow! The disc starts off with a mix by Masanori Ikeda (Mansfield). United Futuire Organization is next (#2), then Masashi Naki (Losfeld) & Gakuji Matsuda (Cubismo Grafico) teaming up as Escalator Team (#3), Tomoyuki Tanaka (Fantastic Plastic Machine), Yasuharu Konishi (#5), Blender Fuzita (don't quite know who he is), Yaegashi Comoesta (Comoesta) (#7), Fantastic Explosion, Peace Force, Tatsuo Sunaga, and Izuru Utsumi to complete the list. I like it all, but my faves are the Mansfield mix (#1) which sounds like a 70's TV chase theme, the UFO mix which sounds bossa like Mansfield or Comoesta, the Gakuji Matsuda/Masaschi Naka mix (#3) which has guitars and rocks like Deep Purple 'Machine Head', the Yasuharu Konishi mix (#5) which I loved on the La Generation compilation on Readymade. His mix at first sounds repetitive but later cannot leave your head.
Faves: 1,2,3,5,7 (top)

---Carl

CD / WOULD-BE-GOODS / The Camera Loves Me / Richmond

Jessica Griffin created the would-be-goods around the same time and on the same label as Bad Dream Fancy Dress, but her approach was almost polar opposite to that of Cally and Katz. Jessica had the refinement on an Oxford education, and the wit to create lyrics and tunes that are as fulfilling as a good short story. I know that I could not think of anyone putting out records as good as this today. I can comfortably say that this disc is essential listening for you if you read and enjoy the gullbuy. I know that I write about many styles and genres of music, but almost all the good parts of any one of them can be found in this record. 'The Camera Loves Me' was her first record. It was followed by 'Mondo', produced by Bid from The Monochrome Set. A few months ago my inbox was graced by a message from Jessica Griffin (now Arah) herself, correcting a review I had written on 'Mondo'. She made it clear that the Monochrome Set were the backing musicians on her first two records and were not involved in the songwriting itself. She also told me that she has a new record 'Brief Lives' that will be coming out this year, and has even played an odd show here and there. There is also a single, 'Sugar Mummy', coming out on Fortuna Pop, and an ep, 'Emmanuelle Beart', on Matinee Records. This is exciting news! Meanwhile, listen to this record with such classics as "Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook", "Pinstriped Rebel", "Young Man From Caracas", "Motorbike Girl", and my current favorites "Velasquez and I", "Amaretto" & "Wrong Way Round".
Faves: all (top)

---Carl

7" / THE BEE MEN / "Tango Western" & "Braindrop" b-w "King Of Caravans" & "Goodnight Birmingham" / Hotel Records

A change in sound from the first single, though nothing to be frightened of: both singles sound great. Where the first 7" (see last weeks gullbuy http://www.gullbuy.com/buy/01/6_12.cfm) was very cinematic, this EP is vocal and song based. The sound is not miles away from The Beale and other Guided Missile acts (particularly the guitar), just more fleshed out with trumpet and such. The new sound is very busy, slightly dissonant and psychedelic. "Braindrop" reminds me of the early Zoo Records sound: bands like The Expelaires, or The Teardrop Explodes "Sleeping Gas" single. "Goodnight Birmingham" reminds me of Turkish Delight with the prominent clarinet part. If the Bee Men can record a full length that grows out of the best parts of both singles we will all have something new to look out for from Birmingham.
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---Carl