The Folklords - Release The Sunshine (1969)

Firstly, upon embarking on this blogpost, I would like to apologise profusely for my lack of blogging, I have been exceptionally busy with a whole heap of things i.e. life, work, pleasure and pain.

I am going to try and blog about music more frequently and get back into a rhythm of things again.

Ok let the blog post begin...

The date is 1969, the place is Canada and the product, is possibly the finest Acid-Folk psych LP ever released; The Folklords' 'Release The Sunshine' album is one of those fine gem's which seemed to have gone astray in the corridors of time and is a work which is quite unlike anything that has been created.

This album has most definitely been a huge influence to me of late, not only has it become the soundtrack to my Autumn and Winter of 2011, it has also inspired my own new sounds even down to the style of the front cover, which I will be ripping off and borrowing heavily from when I shoot my own sleeve.

The Folklords were -

Paul Seip - Vocals and Guitar

Martha Johnson - Vocals and Autoharp

Tom Waschkowski - Bass and Vocals

With Craig Boswell - Drums

The resulting album is a product of beauty, down to the last note, mystical lyricism, psychedelic ambience, mind altering chiming via the sounds of Autoharp, tripped-out melancholy, blurry visioned hope and a wonderful array of rich and textured harmonies, complemented entirely by Martha Johnson who anchors the whole thing.

The album is one of my finds of 2011 and this album has been engrained into my emotional D.N.A and whenever I listen to it, it will remind me of this period of my life.

Please find below three of my favourite songs on the LP.

Jennifer Lee

Forty Second River

Unspoken Love (single version)

Enjoy

Paul Messis

The Bachs - Out Of The Bachs (1968)

The original post of this article was featured in Optical Sounds Fanzine and written by me originally sometime earlier this year, please support the fanzine by visiting their website here... http://opticalsoundsfanzine.bigcartel.com

In the year 1968, five teenagers got together and created what to me is the finest moment in psychedelic garage band history, the band; The Bachs. the album; the groups only recorded output. the aptly titled 'Out Of The Bachs'.

During the year 1968, the hippy era was thankfully dead, the teen-beat era was just a distant memory. 1968 was a musical wasteland and in this mystical of years five teenagers based in Illinois got together and crafted one of the finest albums of their generation.

The band formed in 1966 in the Chicago suburbs of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, the group were together for 3 years, mostly playing school dances and various other shows in their local area. In 1968 they self financed and put-out their LP privately, they managed to put their 'Out Of The Bachs' album out and pressed around 100-150 copies (exact amount is unknown to me and is debatable amongst collectors), this means original copies of this album are exceptionally rare and extremely expensive too.

The album was released as a means for the band to say 'goodbye' to their fans and also to document their time together as a band.

'Out of The Bachs' features twelve stunning, original penned tracks (which during the time was rare, as most albums usually featured a bunch of covers) written by band members Blake Allison and John Peterman.

The Bachs were -

Blake Allison - Bass Guitar and Lead Vocals.

John Peterman - Guitar and Lead Vocals

John Babicz - Drums and Percussion

Mike De Have - Rhythm Guitar

Ben Harrison - Lead Guitar

'Out of The Bachs' is one of if not, my all time favourite album within the garage genre, the songs fit the zeitgeist of the times and for me are a perfect insight into the mindset of a group of young men in 60s America.

The album opens with the triumphant and angst-ridden 'You're Mine', this is a song I totally relate to, the song opens with the desperate plea "You Better Listen To My Advice, He Don't Treat You Very Nice"... the song continues in a frantic manner akin to Arthur Lee and Love's debut; killer jangle and punk attitude.

Following on from this initial teen-punk explosion, the mood takes a turn and what proceeds is the wonderful moody monster which is the track 'Pleasure Of Your Company' which features haunting harmonies, mood altering melodies and heartfelt desperation in the lyrics, Innocent love torn confusion commited to tape.

The album then tail spins into a psychedelic summer vibe with the stoned hay-fever like evocations of 'Free-Fall; which sends the mind into a dizzy ecstasy that makes the listener comfortably happy and numb at the same time.

'I See Her' turns the speed up a notch of which The Bachs turn the jangle button up and sing a track about one of those 'girls' that tend to ignore guy's like us (me and the Bachs), amazing guitar riffs and yet again harmonies which take the breath away.

Side 1 of the LP finishes on what can only be described as the best ending to a vinyl side ever!!!, side one ends with two amazing moody garage classics. 'My Independence Day' which is my favourite song on the album, features an amazing chord progression, fantastic instrumentation and an amazing dual vocal shared between Peterman and Allison, to top it off there is interweaving harmonies about finding and losing love. the song is so full of teen confusion and subsequently is one of my personal favourite songs recorded.

The final track on Side 2 is 'Minister To A Mind Disease', which breaks into the paranoia of psychedelia, here we have a track so rooted in being 'freaked out' that just by listening to it you'll suffer some anxiety induced panic attack, You only need to hear the ear-piercing fuzztone guitar solo to know that, that will clear any cobwebs that your mind holds within..."It's 6 o'Clock now and it's time to eat and rest your feet, of course you're hungry cos you eat to live or is it live to eat??"... mind boggling yet strangely wise??

Just before I begin to talk about Side 2, I want to remind the reader that this album was recorded by teenagers, yep!!! that's correct - young kids.

Their album during it's release was criminally unknown and I guess even to this day it is still considered an 'unknown' release even amongst garage and psych heads and collectors - which in my opinion is a real crying shame.

Side 2 kicks off with the total folk-psych dreaminess of 'Tables of Grass Fields' which sends the listener into more happy stoned vibes, imagine scenes of cornfields and walking hand in hand with that special girl (or guy) that you love in the summer sunshine is shining down and the world is perfect, well then this is the song for you, if you have that mindset currently going around your brain.

The next track 'Show Me That You Want To Go Home' is strangely contemporary sounding, again the lyrics point at love lost and the confusion of young love. Proceeding is the morbid 'Sitting' which instantly kicks in with minor chord 12 string jangle, this song is the tale of isolation, yearning and teenaged confusion and questioning.

This type of songwriting and subject matter and the total conviction with which The Bachs relay the message is a huge influence to me and my own music and well my life too. With regards to The Bachs you can't help but believe they lived the life they sung about - they were truly Outcasts amongst their peers and society, this is something I relate to, cos it's how I feel too.

After the misery-fest of the song above we drift back into hazy psychedelia with the track 'Nevermore' which is one of the stand-out tracks on the album for me, What I love is the call and response  in the vocals and I totally dig the desperation in the lyrics... The song moves along like a snake, amazing 12 string guitar jangle and extravagant songwriting craft and to top it off a ferocious fuzztone guitar solo that would have blown any of the guitar gods away!

The theme of teenage innocence continues on the next track 'Answer to Yesterday' which is a mournful heartbreak of a song and acts almost like an apology in record format, song such as this act as an anecdote to anyone who has lost someone in their lives.... these Guys REALLY understood the deal with things.

The album ends on a momentous high with the proto-grunge track 'I'm A Little Boy', the song is fantastically psychedelic and also highly mesmerising, I would classify this one of the finest endings to an album ever (just like side 1 ended hip too) and is a great swan-song for the band to end their short-lived career's on.

The Bach's were a tremendous group, their stand alone album is one of the hallmarks of 60s music for me and is also in my opinion one of the BEST albums out there.

Blake Allison and John Peterman were genius songwriters who wrote fantastic music and lyrics, the created the sound track soundtrack to my early to mid twenties and I still completely adore this album.

There have been many reissues of this album which sadly since the 80s have all been mastered wrongly at the wrong speed, Time-Lag records have recently reissued the album properly and it is almost as good as  original copies (apparently???, however it sounds great on my Hi-Fi).

Please find below 5 tracks from the album posted below - Enjoy!!!

You're Mine

My Independence Day

Minister To A Mind Disease

Nevermore

I'm A Little Boy

Cheers

Paul Messis

Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn (1973)

In Germany during the years 1968 - 1978 a whole decade of music was forged which has never been heard or seen again since, the music coming out of Germany during this period was so unique, so spell binding and so raw. 'Krautrock' as it is now called was a scene of music made by a small and select grouping of people in Germany which was so out-there, so experimental, so spaced-out, so unlike any other western music's which were happening at the time.

I would even say that 'Krautrock' could quite possibly be the best thing happening in music during the early 70s. A great number of German groups who formed during this heyday period of 68-78 became highly regarded amongst critics, bands such as Neu, Can, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Ash Ra Tempel.

The story of 'Krautrock' is long and interesting, but what is often found when researching this music, is that fame, style, accolade and other exterior motives were not the goals of any of these musicians, the search from truth in sounds was!!! and just like the Heirophants of ancient Egypt and Greece, like the magi of ancient cultures, these long-haired proto-punk shaman's created musical alchemy in their studios, using warped guitar tones, synthesisers, pitch benders, ring modulators, oscillators, bass, guitar and drums... Some of the albums released by various 'Krautrock' groups are the trippiest recordings of the 20th century.

One of the most trippiest is Ash Ra Tempel's third studio album 1973's 'Join Inn'

'Join Inn' is a very very rare album to find and is extremely scarce, it is hard-to-find on both cd and vinyl and no modern labels have bothered to make a decent reissue of this album yet, I myself have been searching for 5 years or more for a copy to no avail and only have a cd-r copy which a friend did for me.

This was also the last Ash Ra Tempel LP which featured the electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze before he went onto a highly influential solo and production career.

The line up of the band during this album consisted of -

Harmut Enke - Bass

Klaus Schulze - Drums, Organ, Synthesisers

Manuel Gottsching - Guitar

Rosi Muller - vocals

'Join Inn' only consisted of two long pieces which each dominated a whole side of the vinyl.... please find below the tracks.

Freak'n' Roll

A guitar, drum and synthesiser crazed freak-out which attacks all senses leaving the listener somewhat reeling from the audio experience which they have just experienced, this is stoner orientated jazz rock of the highest order and is by no means phoney compared to it's American or British contemporaries, this is the real deal, these guys were head-loose in other realms and not really touching down on any real earth, raking in at just over 19 minutes long, it is a freak-out that must have induced panic based fear in the brains of the band members whilst recording.

Jenseit

This track is the reason I wished to write about 'Ash Ra Tempel' on the blog today, this 25 minute opus of pure cascading sounds, dream-like melancholy, spacey desperation and lunar longing has been constantly on repeat in my world for the last few days. With the autumn coming and my moods continually going up and down and finding no real solace or structure or no  real reason nor rhyme, musical oracle's like this one are the only things which have currently been keeping my mindset grounded whilst at the same time keeping me in starry-eyed oblivion undaunted by the harsh realities of the world around me, it is such a magical piece of moving music, I love everything about it, the organ drones, the tremolo guitar, the fluttering synths, the overall ambience and the cool German chicks strung-out and dreamy beatnik styled vocal lines which I have no real understanding of, the only line I get is when she sighs in gentle hushed-tones 'Eins, Zwei, Drier' half-way through the song.... A beautiful piece of electronic experimental music.

Don't get lost in the woods...

Paul Messis

My Bloody Valentine - Ecstasy & Wine (1987/1989)

The British musical landscape during the mid to late 80s was somewhat a sparse desolate mass of decay and bile, it was terrible, the so-called 'popular music' of the time was at best mediocre, the only real music which saved the small minority of the UK's music lovers at this time was the very anoraked world of Indie music (this was during a time when Indie music was still in essence D.I.Y and still held true to some Punk ethic and credentials, unlike today where the term 'Indie' is somewhat thought of as mainstream and something cool to be associated with).

From around 1983 through to 1989 following on and rising forth out of  Punk and New Wave, many bands all throughout the UK formed and recorded music which was often put-out on tiny independent record labels, some of these groups even self-funded and released records themselves. 

The crux of it however was that not a great deal of money was made during these times for either band or label alike, however a tremendous wealth of stunning 7" singles, EP's and albums were released under the 'Indie' moniker.

One such band who were of great importance during this malaise in UK music from between 85-91 were  Dublin's My Bloody Valentine.

My Bloody Valentine were - 

Kevin Shields - Guitar, Vocals

Colm O Coisiog - Drums

Belinda Butcher - Guitar and Vocals (Joined in 1987)

Debbie Googe - Bass

Dave Conway - vocals up until 1987 (To give Conway credit he did record on MBV's classic Sunny Sundae Smile EP)

My Bloody Valentine put in the leg-work having toured as a band since forming in 1983 and had a handful of releases on small labels, unfortunately the band never really took off in their early days, by 1987 shortly after the departure of singer Dave Conway, the band really came into their own and began to get noticed by a wider audience.

During 1987 My Bloody Valentine released their dreamy noise-pop in the form of two releases on Lazy Records, these were the mini album 'Ecstasy' and EP 'Strawberry Wine', these two records were compiled into one and released in 1989 as 'Ecstasy Wine'.

This period of MBV see's the beginning of what would make the group the cult band that they became.

What I enjoy about these 'earlier' recordings before the band went into interstellar overdrive and headed spacewards in developing their signature shoegaze noise experimentalism, was that the birth of that sound was in its embryonic stages on these two 1987 releases and also on these records were a great pop song structure and I feel the songs on these releases are fantastic pieces of dream laden pop music.

During my school years, from the ages of 12 till 15 I was obsessed with 80s indie music and still love to revisit it from time to time. The bands that did it for me were Spacemen 3, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, I even tried to mimic these groups with a dodgy pudding bowl hair style, I grew my hair to such a state and managed to pull-off a bowl-cut for about a week until the natural curl in my hair took over, regardless I looked mentally ill.

The thing with a great deal of the 'indie' bands of the 80s UK music scene were that these bands are what got me into the rarer 60s music and elements of that 60s groups sound and mentality can be heard in a lot of the records these types of bands produced.

Being a kid listening to this sorta thing particularly in the area I grew up, instantly made me an outcast, my peers were all listening to the horrible sounds from dodgy dance based music which came under the aforementioned headings 'House and Garage' and 'Two-Step' and here I was in my own dreamy oblivion searching out the most obscure 60s, punk, old blues, krautrock and indie music I could find and get my hands on. I wanted to be different and found music which aligned perfectly with this train of thought and what a pleasure it is and has been. I'd say I was pretty fortunate when I was younger in having this love of music , cos although I got a huge amount of stick for being me at least I wasn't one of "them" y'know??

I aim to write more about this 'lost' decade of cool music, in order to spread the word a little, because there are many pieces of absolute genius which were released during this time that not a great deal of people (even those who dig this stuff know about) and for that reason I feel these deserve to be known, heard and talked about.

Below are a few songs from Ecstasy and Wine which I really dig and I hope you do too.

Strawberry Wine 

Never Say Goodbye

She Loves You No Less

Clair

(Please) Lose Yourself In Me

If you enjoyed the sounds above, please search out the record or cd and buy it, the original 7" EP and Mini-LP of the tracks on this LP are pretty hard to come by these days and often cost a pretty penny, likewise the Ecstasy and Wine LP itself can go for up to £50. My own copy cost me around the £20 mark... so you just have to search and you'll find it affordably, it's worth having because it's the birth of a band which later on changed the rules in music and become a pretty important group.

Enjoy

Paul

The Summer Sounds - Up Down (1969)

People come and some of them go, this is what the album pictured above is all about, the coming to a harsh understanding that a person you've loved has gone, a person who you loved deeply has lost the very same love you had towards them and all is now over, this album is an album about the inner warfare of love, be it with a lover, friend or even a foe.

It's a confusing mass of feelings, the only real way to deal with a broken heart is to sacrifice something. Music is at times a means of dealing and in turn justifying this initial sacrifice.... for myself music is a medium in which I can relay to a listener the inner world of me and hope that someone else out there gets where I am coming from and hopefully they too can take something from my music. The Summer Sounds album is precisely this and for me is a piece of emotional therapy. 

In my own personal life's case my sacrifice has come at a cost, I have had to cease ties with someone I will always hold in the highest esteem, however the sacrifice is required in order for the both of us to progress in life without the turmoil of a broken heart or the slandering which has manifested since the decline.

Music is for me, the very soul and life force which is in essence the internal emotions of a human being, music can at times portray a very brief but powerful moment in time which is like a snapshot, a moment in time, a feeling or even a person.

The 'Summer Sounds' album is an album I have been listening non-stop since making a sacrifice to leave a person I held dear in order to fix myself... The Summer Sounds' lone recording 'Up Down' is for the band all of  what I have written about above, to them this LP must be a moment in time, youth and possibly for the songwriters concerned the very same memories and trauma that I've recently felt and undergone in my own life, has appeared to them and they wrote songs about it, which thankfully stand the test of time.

The Summer Sounds were a New England group whose origin is a mystery, the one interesting fact is this album was released in 1969 and yet still has a 1965-66 garage sounds, the album is moody to its core and possibly is one of the finest moody garage albums to ever exist, It is fascinating to me that these kids were still playing a very melancholy and beautiful type of music in 69' when by this time bands were either going down the heavy psychedelic rock route or going the polar opposite and being utterly wussed out folk styled singer-songwriters with no real backbone of emotions.

The Summer Sounds kept it real and in doing so kept their music was raw and alive, their sole album aptly named 'Up Down' is a complete unknown garage classic and anyone who loves this type of music (in particular the moody and subdued side of the genre) MUST own this album (Thankfully Radioactive Records have reissued the album on CD - originals will cost an arm and a leg these days)

'Up Down' has ten amazingly wonderful Vox Continental organ led pop songs, eight of the tracks are delightful originals penned by band members themselves and also featured are two exquisite cover versions of The Spencer Davis Groups' - Gimme Some Lovin' and The Zombies' classic 'I Love You'.

The Summer Sounds sleeve is as illusive as the band themselves and so I will honour the group by naming the band members according to the album sleeve (If you know the band members' sirnames please contact me so I can edit below and at least give proper credit to the band)

Paul - Bass and Vocals

Joe - Organ, Songwriter, Backing Vocals

Dave - Guitar

Ralph - Sax (no Sax on LP - meaning Ralph was likely involved in the live line-up of the group)

Roy - Drums 

I wish to include four tracks from the album for your listening pleasure (please support the band by purchasing the album yourself - Do Not Download - You may as well own this cool album)... These Four are my favourites.

Small World - A wonderful opening track to any album, 'Small World' just tells it like it is.... the teen trauma in the chorus is something to behold "Why Did We Break-Up? I really Don't Know...I sit here thinking of things long ago"..... This kid is hurting and the listener knows it, Anyone can relate to these types of emotions.... surely??

Lonely Beach - This track is my favourite on the album, I don't know why really? However I feel it is because it kind of relates to my own strange situation, I live fairly close to the beach and I guess I wander around a certain place at times and that very beach is my own 'Lonely Beach'.... I love the haunting organ chords, the deep bass line and  the mournful lyrics full of abandon and despair.... I TOTALLY 'get' this song, as it is a mirror reflection of my current circumstance.... an amazing track!!!

The Leaves Are Turning Brown - Another moody classic, this one has been comped on a couple of 'garage comps' over the years.... The vibe of the song again is full of reflection, rejection and yearning and again the lyrics hit you in the guts with powerful lyricism such as that which is in the chorus "I was a fool to waste my time with you".... total awe inspiring realism.... the song's writing craft is something to uphold, the chord changes are simply beautiful and it is just a great magical track, The Summer Sounds were amazing song writers.

Summer Girl - Just a beautiful song, I can't write anything except a small personal message .... If you are (you know who you are) reading this, this one is for you... take it easy and I hope you're keeping well, maybe time will make us see each other again one day?"

SO folks that is the Summer Sounds, they released possibly the greatest break-up LP ever released and faded into obscurity, thankfully they released this amazing album for people like me to enjoy and listen to.... I suggest if you dig the songs above, to buy the album.... it's all very great throughout!

Thanks

Paul Messis

The Rising Storm - Calm Before (1967)

Currently one of my favourite albums which is constantly spinning on my record deck and also on cd in my car is the album pictured above; The Rising Storm's delightful and landmark release in 1967 'Calm Before...'

The album is possibly one of the highlight LP's in the garage genre in my opinion and is to me ranked equally alongside other great lost albums within the genre such as Illinois' The Bachs' - Out of The Bachs or Florida's The Nightcrawlers with their cult classic album 'Little Black Egg' LP.... The Rising Storms' album is a classic and a totally unique gem full of genius song writing craft and original material (which was pretty uncommon for a band like this in 1967) and a couple of really cool cover versions

'Calm Before' played a huge influence on my own album and was sort of was the mold of which inspired the concept of my own album, the album has twelve songs (so does mine), the album has a couple of cover versions of the groups favourite tunes of the day (so does mine - however I only have two), the album is pretty melancholic and moody yet has a strong sense of song-writing style and flare (so does mine) and I guess it was one of the most unique albums of it's kind at it's time (just like mine hehehe)

The Rising Storm formed at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and were active between the years 1965 -1967, the band would essentially have been the Universities house group and would probably have played local frat parties playing the usual standards of the day to rowdy teenage boys and girls, however as is the case with the bands sole release 'Calm Before...' you know that there was much more depth to this band and the album is a first hand experience of this.

The Rising Storm were (in order of the pic above) Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Tony Thompson, Richard Weinberg & Charlie Rockwell.

The album is a great insight into a 60s group, in particular one who were a 'university/school group', the album is like a time capsule to a time-gone-by and I am sure the LP acts as a great momento to the memories of each band member.

Likewise with my own LP, I have it as a document to my own life now and hold the memories dear to me, mainly as a reminder of the people in my life who shared the period of creating the album within and I am sure The Rising Storm have a similar thing going on with their release.

When I first purchased The Rising Storm's album I didn't get it if truth be told, but after repeated listens the genius of the album consumes the listener and you slowly enter the innocent and dreamy psychedelic world of a band who were young and clearly had great minds on their shoulders.

There is a moodiness and melancholy all over 'Calm Before..' and this is what I really dig and relate too, especially as I have been absorbing this album almost every day for two weeks now, it  seems to fit my mood perfectly, the album is folk-tinged and beautifully psychedelic in it's presentations.

'Calm Before...' has a bunch of really cool cover versions of tracks by other New England Garage bands such as The Remains, The Rockin'Ramrods amongst a host of other hits of the day, However it is the bands moody and sombre originals that make this album a masterpiece, the cover versions of other band's songs are genius and The Rising Storm totally make them their own but there is something truly mystical about the band's original tracks.

See below a few links of the tracks off the album, please take a listen

The Cover of the Remains' - Don't Look Back, The Rockin' Ramrods' - Mr Wind and a few of the band's own magical original tracks.

The song above; 'Frozen Laughter' influenced the track called 'Why?' on my own LP, as a homage to 'The Rising Storm' I too placed my song as track 6 to end side 1 of the vinyl.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM, I REALLY DO!!!

Mr Wind, don't laugh as I begin to cry.... GENIUS!!!

Enjoy

Paul Messis

Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains (1984)

Yesterday I went to London with a friend and we were wandering around Soho, I went to a record shop and was looking at the records through the window when all of a sudden Robyn Hitchcock comes up beside me to also have a look at the records in the shop window, I was a little surprised and caught off guard, but I did stop and say "hi" and tell him I was a fan of his music. 

The reason I was a little shocked was, during this week, I've been listening constantly to Robyn Hitchcock's seminal solo album 'I Often Dream Of Trains' from 1984.

'I Often Dream of Train's' is a pretty important album to me, it was one of the LP's which I listened to a great deal during my formative years. I particularly listened to this album when I was briefly doing a college course in Guildford way back in 2003. I spent a number of moments wandering around the Guildford area (still do to this day) trying to go into the past via my imagination. It is great and was a fab time doing all of that in my mid-teens however all I can remember of that time in 2003 was how it was bitterly cold all the time and how it was constantly raining and grey.

I also remember I used to listen to a bunch of albums over and over back then, such albums include Love's  'Forever Changes', The Kaleidoscope's 'Tangerine Dream' and this album, 'I Often Dream Of Trains' by Robyn Hitchcock.

As someone who has been a huge fan of Syd Barrett, British History and the British Sense of Humour, not too mention being a slightly Melancholic, Eccentric and Strange kinda guy myself, 'I Often Dream Of Trains' was sure to make some sense to me as a slightly psychedelic 16 year old suburbanite.

As mentioned during the time I was heavily influenced by this LP, I was based in Guildford and spending a great deal of time there, alone and socially, this album seems to make even more sense as there is reference to nearby things including a 'Cathedral', which in Guildford overshadows the town and is constantly there as a kind of weird pain-in-the-arse, it's both beautiful and ugly. Also on the title track of the album there is reference to catching a train to Basingstoke or Reading, Guildford being in between these two towns.... It kinda all seemed very apt to me and my life at that moment in time.

The Album is a great continuous piece and is honest and brilliant, the album has a strange trippy melancholic feel throughout and this is extenuated by Hitchcock's tender vocal and a lovely array of acoustic guitars, electric guitar and piano, it's a minimal album but is genius because of the song writing.

Please dig my 3 favourite tracks from the album below...

Cathedral - As mentioned above, whilst I was in Guildford, the prominance of the town's Cathedral leaves you with a static feeling that it's always there and consuming your energy, I actually feel it's a bit of an albatross around the town's neck. For people who live in Guildford, it's part of the furniture so to speak, but for me it's a great energetic and mental annoyance. So I used to always listen to this song whilst walking up the Town's Cobbled Street and think to myself "I can barely understand myself, what the hell is the meaning of this world and why is it such a messy place??? and when I got to the top of 'The Cobbled Street', I would look out over the valley and there it was, the bloody Cathedral making a mockery of me and my head space... "Cathedral Of The Mind'... I think Robyn Hitchcock kinda got what I was feeling.

Trams Of Old London - I just love this song because it is a wonderful song and I love the song writing.  I am also a history nerd and am interested in historical things especially things in London and the Tram system of Victorian -1920s London does interest me. Such a song is a good example of the true essence of 'Folk-Music' and I dig that about Robyn Hitchcock's song writing.

I Often Dream Of Trains - This track is simply sublime, it's a great piece of lyrical and song writing genius, I have always loved this song, it resonates highly with me and my mindset. It's totally psychedelic and I guess I have a trippy head space, I love the ironic sense of humour in this song and the weirdly melancholic feel of the song. Once again this song reminds me a great deal of Guildford and my time spent there.

Go and buy some Robyn Hitchcock albums or even go and check out his band prior to becoming a solo recording artist, 'The Soft Boys' (who pretty much invented the neo-Psychedelic Paisley Underground scene here in the UK)

Enjoy folks.

Paul 

The Jacks - Vacant World (1968)

Sometimes in the world of music there are bands that just exude cool without even trying, they simply are just beyond what might be deemed cool and be pioneers of what they do... Japan's The Jacks are one such group.

Recently I have been totally obsessed with Japanese music and culture, I have been getting heavily into the 'Group Sounds' scene which came out of Japan during the mid to late 60s.

There was a number of groups who were really fantastic which came forth from the typically Anglo influence of popular culture, however for me The Jacks were the most interesting band from this scene who remained totally Japanese in their songs and personality as a band.

Their debut long-player 'Vacant World' arrived on my doorstep on the weekend and has been continuously getting spun on my record player, it's just a far out album which is totally blowing my mind even though I can't understand a word which is sung, the album powerfully gives off the vibe that the cats who recorded the album were fed-up, frustrated and moody guys.

The band were -

Yoshio Hayakawa - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar

Haruo Mizuhashi - Lead Guitar/Vocals

Hiroshi Tanino - Electric and Upright Bass

Takasuke Kida - Drums, Flute and Percussion.

'Vacant World' is a cult classic album, although ignored totally by the rest of the world, it is considered one of the great albums of the 6os in Japan, the album was highly political and the band themselves were true outcasts of their society and were nothing like their contemporaries in the "Group Sounds' scene.

The band were totally non conformist, they were totally true to their music and themselves, they hardly engaged in the social spectre of the times by doing interviews and not playing shows which they ultimately had a great deal of control over. They played their own original songs and didn't play any covers which all the other Group Sounds band's did and the band also wrote highly political songs, the title track off 'Vacant World' was banned in Japan for overly critical lyrics towards the Japanese culture, the main insult being the song was so goddamn nihilistic that it offended the system.

The album as a whole has a real nihilistic vibe to it, it is scary doom-laden folk rock throughout.

In the various times the ultra hip ray-banned figure of Jack's leader Yoshio Hayakawa gave interviews, what he'd have to say was often controversial and snotty -

"We are not Underground, that's just an idea created by the media. We became outsiders from the folk jamboree as we don't have the goal to be famous, so it's difficult for people to understand and define us.. it's a dirty world, you gotta go in there yourself and find out" ..... Taken from Julian Cope's book Japrocksampler.

Saying such a thing back in 1968 was a really big thing to do.... to openly turn your back on such a thing was criminal.... you'd never have seen people like The Troggs or even The Beatles say such things in public, yet a real hip Japanese guy in the coolest group in the world was screaming it, yet his group was not known as much as they should have been.... Imagine if they did sing in English, what a war they would have created, I actually feel had they sung this album in English it would be more known to the whole world, it pisses on a great deal of other psychedelic albums of the time.... Lyrically too it is considered to be way out there and pointing out the darkness in the world, once again not many bands were doing this in 1968.... The Jacks however were telling it straight!!!

Even in it's native Japanese this album is killer and for me it makes it that bit more potent and real, I suggest anyone who consider's themselves a fan of 60s psychedelic music to go and buy this album immediately.... it's a real moody killer LP.

Youtube doesn't have much Jacks on it, but here are a couple of tracks to become acquainted...

Their free-jazz styled folk rock freak out Marianne, is a piece of crazy psychedelic madness about a strange female creature who comes from the storm ridden seas to consume the protagonist.

It's a mad fuzzy punk track.

I also love the moodiness in this following song 'In The Broken Mirror'....I love the mad moody vibe, I'm not gonna lie I really dig the savagery in this song, in fact the whole album is erratic and downtrodden, it's such a great album. The vocals are desperate and you can hear that Yoshio Hayakawa means every word he is singing.

Enjoy

Paul