Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia Advertisement

Advertisement for Screaming Trees' Uncle Anesthesia album from
Option: Music Alternatives magazine no. 37, Mar/Apr 1991.

I'm not posting this for any particular reason other than that it's cool.

Pure Joy

I first became aware of Pure Joy when they released their 1990 LP Carnivore on the Popllama label. Carnivore is a nice slab of power-pop with a healthy dose of Cheap Trick influence. Pure Joy leader Rusty Rusty Willoughby's subsequent band Flop also mined the power-pop vein and gained enough attention to land on a major label (who subsequently did nothing to support them). In my mind I very much slotted Pure Joy into the power-pop ghetto (and I mean that in both a good and bad way).

So when I borrowed their 1986 self-titled EP from my friend Adam, I was a little surprised at the sounds I heard as the diamond vibrated in sympathy with the record groove. I expected a rougher version of what the band delivered on Carnivore, and what I heard instead was a band that sounded much more like The Chameleons UK, Echo & The Bunnymen or The Mighty Lemon Drops than any of the usual power-pop touchstones. It was only after listening to this that it dawned on me that the band obviously took their name from a track on the second The Teardrop Explodes album, Wilder.

After this revelation, I went back and listened to their fantastic 1988 LP Unsung [buy it!] that was not widely distributed until it was reissued by Flydaddy in 1994.  The fixation with British neo-psychedelica is evident on this album, if not as obvious as it is on the EP, but since I approached the album from a power-pop frame when I listened to it previously, I hadn't noticed it before.

The other thing that surprised me about the EP was that despite the fact that it was self-released by the band, and predates their first widely distributed album by a good four years, the recording quality is very professional and the band's playing is polished. So not only does the EP not sound like a rougher version of Carnivore, it actually sounds slicker both in terms of production and performance than their later work. In fact, when I threw Carnivore on my turntable for the first time in many years, I was somewhat disappointed by the muffled sound of the recording which holds back the very energetic performances somewhat.

Pure Joy reunited for new albums in 1997 and 2003, and I plan on tracking those down soon. And if you ever come across a copy of this EP, pick it up!

The Moles - Untune The Sky

The Moles' Untune The Sky, one of the great lost albums of the 90s, has been reissued as a limited edition 2 LP set by Kill Shamen records. The set looks to be a straight reissue of the Flydaddy CD that was released back in 1999 that included the entire 1991 LP, plus the 2 X 7" single that was released on Ringers Lactate in 1992.

Untune The Sky was almost impossible to find in the U.S. upon its original release, and the Ringers Lactate single was not much easier to come by. I did find a copy of the single, but then I was working at Kim's Underground at the time, and I bought one of maybe three copies that came in (the other two no doubt also snagged by employees).

This is an essential release for fans of retro 60s psychedelic pop, as well as devotees of Kiwi pop (though the Moles hailed from Australia). Even at this early stage in his career, bandleader and primary songwriter Richard Davies had a sharp ear for melody. The production and arrangements are less elaborate than those of his seminal duo Cardinal or his solo work, but they have a certain ragged charm missing from his later work.

"Bury Me Happy" the lead off cut from the album (at least on the reissue) to my ears has much in common with the experimental indie-pop of New Zealanders like The Clean, while "What's The New Mary Jane" takes Davies' pop-psych songwriting to the next level. It takes cojones to nick a title from Lennon-McCartney, but The Moles pull it off. Great as this version is, it compares unfavorably to my memory of Davies performing the song live with the Flaming Lips as his backup band.

If you don't have a turntable, the Flydaddy CD can still be found used and I highly recommend it.

Love Lost (and Found)

I came across some exciting news for fans of Arthur Lee and Love. Sundazed is releasing a previously unissued Love album from 1971:

Sonic archaeology! In a move that defies rational belief, SUNDAZED has unearthed an unissued 1971 album by revered Los Angeles rock band Arthur Lee & Love, languishing in the Columbia Records tape vault.

I assume this is the album that Lee recorded for CBS--tentatively titled Dear You--after his deal with Blue Thumb expired. While I was aware of the existence of this album, I have never heard it, and am not aware of the tapes ever circulating in traders circles (although I am not really up on these things). Either way, this is a major find, and I'm glad this material will finally see the light of day through Sundazed.

But [think of a Ronco infomercial here] that's not all you get! According to Sundazed:

And that's not all! We've also uncovered a marvelous batch of acoustic demos for the ‘71 album, featuring just the magical voice of Arthur Lee and his acoustic guitar. It's a thrilling twin-discovery of ultra-important material that no one knew existed.

As a precursor to the release of this breath-taking Arthur Lee and Love material (to be called Love Lost), we've created a 7” single of two knockout tracks from the demo sides. “Love Jumped Through My Window” is cut from the same fine cloth as every heart-stopping Love track you've ever heard. And the flipside, “Sad Song,” — in alternate take form here — will appear only on seven-inch vinyl. The Love maestro is in superlative voice on both of these exquisite unheard sides.

These two songs eventually appeared on Lee's 1972 solo debut, Vindicator. From the short 30 second clips Sundazed has made available these acoustic demos sound far better than the over-cooked hard rock of Vindicator, so this looks to be a very promising release. The single will be released August 25, and is available for pre-order from Sundazed now.

I don't have any information beyond that this at this point, but I have made an inquiry with Sundazed and will keep you updated as details emerge.

In other Lee/Love news, I noticed that a label called Friday Music has reissued a couple of Lee collectors items. The first is the Arthur Lee album that was first issued by Rhino back in the 80s that I reviewed a while back. The other is an album called Love Live featuring material Lee recorded with Bryan Maclean in 1978 (Rhino originally issued that one as a picture disc).

Lux Left Instructions

I wanna leave a happy memory when I go,
I wanna leave something to let the whole world know,
That the rock 'n' roll daddy has a done passed on,
But my bones will keep a rockin' long after I've gone...
Rock on...

Lux Interior left instructions as to what should happen in the event of his demise. We're supposed to rock on, which is exactly what I intend to do. But not before paying proper respect.

It's impossible to calculate the effect The Cramps' music has had on me personally. It was largely through The Cramps that I learned to appreciate the pleasures of junk culture--the stuff I had always been taught to look down on. More than any punk band, The Cramps taught me that rock'n'roll music is at its most powerful when it is at its simplest. More than any other band (with the possible exception of The Ramones) The Cramps taught me that rock'n'roll music should be fun. More than any other band The Cramps taught me not to eat stuff off the sidewalk (no matter how good it looks). I literally do not know what would have become of me without The Cramps.

I can't think of a better description of The Cramps' music than that provided on the back of their first EP, Gravest Hits, by Dr. J.H. Satisfy, Professor of Rockology, American Rock'n'Roll Institute, Washington D.C. U.S.A.:

In the Spring of 1976, The Cramps began to fester in a NYC apartment. Without fresh air or natural light, the group developed its uniquely mutant strain of rock'n'roll aided only by the sickly, blue rays of late night TV.

While the jackhammer rhythms of punk were proliferating in NYC, The Cramps dove into the deepest recesses of of the rock'n'roll psyche for the most primal of all rhythmic impulses - Rockabilly - the sound of Southern culture falling apart in a blaze of shudders and hiccups.

As late night Sci-Fi reruns coloured the room, The Cramps also picked and chose amongst the psychotic debris of previous rock eras - instrumental rock, surf, psychadelia, and sixties punk.

And then they added the junkiest element of all - Themselves.

Nick Knox, stoic drummer with the history of the big beat written in his left hand. Ivy Rorschach, Voodoo guitarist with the rhythm method down as pat as her blonde beauty. Bryan Gregory, flipping cigs and fractured guitar runs at the incredulous mob. And Lux Interior, the band's frontal lobe, wherein Elvis gets crossed with Vincent Price and decent folks ask, "What hath God wrought?"

The Cramps don't pummel and you won't pogo. They ooze, you'll throb.

The rock 'n' roll daddy has done passed on, but his bones will keep a rockin' long after he's gone.

I'm breaking my usual rule about not posting music that is commercially available because "Rockin' Bones" is available on the Psychedelic Jungle/Gravest Hits CD two-fer. And if you don't own--at the very least--The Cramps IRS records, go out and buy them right now, then work your way through the rest of their catalog. But this version is kind of special because it was transcribed directly from a vinyl copy of Psychedelic Jungle purchased by a genuine mutant teenager.

Next week: "Songs The Cramps Taught Us."

Buffalo Springfield

Just to give a heads-up, it looks to me like the Buffalo Springfield box set might be falling out-of-print. There are still some reasonably priced used copies available on Amazon, but prices appear to be creeping up. Then again maybe not, because it can still be ordered new directly from Rhino.

I only mention this because with Neil Young involved, you never know when a release is going to appear or disappear. Speaking of which, hardcore fans might be happy to know that his long-promised, massive Archives Volume One box set is now available for pre-order on DVD or Blu-Ray at Amazon. It has a current street date of January 27, 2009 (and with a little luck it just might actually be available for purchase for next year's holiday season).

I'd be shocked if the long-delayed archives set actually meets a January 27th release date, but in the meantime, those hoping to find a little Shakey in their stocking this year might consider adding Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968 to their wish list (this one is promised for December 2nd, and so far its release date has only been pushed back once).

Of course, if you don't already own it, you can't go wrong with the Buffalo Springfield Box Set. Even if you own all three albums, there's lots to be discovered in the box such as nice acoustic demos like this one for "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong."

There's also a wealth of previously unreleased material such as "Down, Down, Down," a Young-penned song that formed the basis for "Broken Arrow."

The box also features a number of previously unreleased songs recorded after the second album as the band was falling apart. Tracks like the Richie Furay sung "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night" prove that The Springfield's posthumous swan song, Last Time Around, could have been a much stronger album if it had been assembled more carefully.

Of course whenever Neil Young compiles something there are bound to be as many complaints about what's missing as excitement about what's there. A few tracks from Last Time Around are not represented, but the most common complaint is the absence of the nine-minute version of "Freebird" "Bluebird" that has only ever been available on a two LP compilation released in 1973 and has never been released on CD. The four and a half minute version of "Bluebird" that appeared on Buffalo Springfield Again (and the box) was edited down from this extended performance (with a different, banjo-fied, ending tacked on). An even shorter version of the song (sliced all the way down to 1:59) was released as a single and reached #58 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart in 1967. Amazingly, this was the only song from Buffalo Springfield Again to chart.

Legend has it that either Neil or Stephen Stills, or possibly both, never wanted the long version of "Bluebird" released in the first place. Despite their objections, once released the track became a minor staple of classic rock radio, and many fans of the band consider it the version of the song to hear. Whatever you think of the then ascendant tendency to turn pop songs into extended semi-improvisational rock jams, the long version of "Bluebird" holds an important place in the Springfield canon: the band was known to end their live sets with epic-length versions of the song. I imagine Stills and Young view this version as a poor substitute for the legendary live performances of the song. But since no quality Buffalo Springfield live recordings are known to exist, this is all we have.

As extended guitar epics go, I would rank this somewhere between Love's "Revelations" (tedious) and Television's "Marquee Moon" (sublime). There is some nice guitar interplay between Stills and Young, but at times Stills falls back on blues cliches that make the jamming sound predictable. Or perhaps it only sounds predictable in retrospect, this kind of thing probably sounded a lot fresher before the seventies happened. Maybe you had to be there.

Halloween A Go-Go

Speaking of Halloween compilations, the always-reliable Little Steven has released a pretty cool looking Halloween compilation, Little Steven's Underground Garage Presents Halloween A Go-Go.

Our first Halloween collection finds us probing the subconscious to confront our most persistent demons on Garage Rock's favorite holiday. We are visited by some of the usual cast of characters one would expect, Dracula, the Wolfman, Ghosts, Zombies, and Witches, but are far more horrified by that which cannot be touched, controlled, bargained with, or avoided. Our own dreams. During the course of these proceedings you will find yourself dancing with the Devil, laughing in the face of the apocalypse, transported to the mystic forests of your deepest darkest secrets and insatiable lusts, and shocked by the helplessness of your own confessions of the sacred and the profane. But afterward, if you live, one fact above all will remain clear. Now you will learn why you fear the night!

It looks like a good line up of songs, and Little Steven made the inspired decision to include Roky Erickson & the Aliens' classic "I Walked With A Zombie" from Roky's first solo album, The Evil One. He could just as easily have chosen "Two Headed Dog," "I Think Of Demons," "Don't Shake Me Lucifer," "Night Of The Vampire," "Creature With The Atom Brain," or "Stand For The Fire Demon" all from the same genuinely terrifying album.

I don't really mean to quibble with Little Steven's choices (who am I to quibble with Little Steven?), and it's good to see The Stems and The Fuzztones get a nod, but this album does not look 100% complete to me without a track from the Cramps. "I Was A Teenage Werewolf, "Zombie Dance," "Human Fly," "I Ain't Nuthin' But A Gorehound," or "Surfin' Dead" would have fit in nicely.

If I were putting together a Halloween compilation, here are a few other tracks I might consider for inclusion (other than what I've already posted):

The Flaming Lips - "Halloween On The Barbary Coast," or perhaps "Unconsciously Screamin'."

Mudhoney - "Halloween" (face it Mudhoney's version kicks butt over Sonic Youth's original).

Robyn Hitchcock - Lots of Hitchcock's music would be appropriate for Halloween (perhaps a legacy of his name). Likely suspects include, "Eaten By Her Own Dinner," "Let There Be More Darkness," "The Pit Of Souls," "Sleeping With Your Devil Mask," "The Ghost Ship," "The Man With The Lightbulb Head," "My Wife And My Dead Wife," "Demons And Fiends" and probably about a dozen other spooky Hitchcock tracks I'm forgetting about.

Brian Eno & David Byrne - "The Jezebel Spirit" What could be spookier than a genuine exorcism set to music?

Jonathan Richman - "Vampire Girl" Not really a scary song, but I do love Jonathan.

Bo Diddley - "Bo Meets The Monster" No purple people eater is going to mess with Bo Diddley. Bo Diddley is a gunslinger.

Aimee Mann - "Frankenstein" Mann's song is too much of a brainy allegory to be frightening, but it's a good song nevertheless.

Pink Floyd - "Scream Thy Last Scream" One of Syd Barrett's last recordings with the band he founded was rejected by his bandmates as being too disturbing. It's hard to argue with that assessment; forty years later it still has the power to disturb. Despite dozens of Pink Floyd reissues, neither this song nor "Vegetable Man" has ever seen official release.

Meat Puppets - "Attacked By Monsters" "Snakey is awakey and he wants a little piece of the pie." Lock up your daughters, this is scary stuff! "Vampires" isn't nearly as frightening, but it's a good rejoinder to anyone who claims the Meat Puppets didn't make any good music after leaving SST.

Meat Puppets - Vampires (Live)

This one sounds good anytime of the year.

Ben Vaughn - She's A Real Scream

I make a point of re-posting this Velvet Monkeys' rarity every Halloween.

Velvet Monkeys - Spooky

Anybody have other suggestions?

Robyn Hitchcock - Luminous Groove Box Set

Robyn Hitchcock has really opened the floodgates on his vaults the past couple of years. Hot on the heels of a collection of unreleased 90s demos, Yep Roc has released another box set, Luminous Groove that covers his work with the Egyptians. The three pre-major label Egyptians albums (Fegmania, Gotta Let This Hen Out and Element Of Light) are included, along with a collection of unreleased recordings, demos and live tracks.

Back when Yep Roc released the first Robyn Hitchcock box set, I Wanna Go Backwards, I tried to sort out what material would be new to those who already owned the Rhino reissues, and I want to do the same for Luminous Groove.

First of all, the 2 CDs of unreleased material, entitled A Bad Case Of History, are comprised almost entirely of unreleased material. However, many of the songs themselves will be familiar to even casual Hitchcock fans as a lot of them are demos or live recordings of previously released songs. Some choice cuts that have never been officially released in any form include "Surfer Ghost," "Evil Guy," and "Poisonous Angel." Hitchcock fans are also likely to enjoy the demo and live recordings of material that may have been a wee bit overproduced on his A&M albums such as "Arms Of Love" and "Wreck of the Arthur Lee."

As for the albums themselves, I believe the following bonus tracks should be new even to those who own all of the Rhino reissues:

Fegmania
The Drowning Church
The Man With The Lightbulb Head (instrumental)

Gotta Let This Hen Out
If You Were A Priest
I’m Only You
Unsettled
Freeze
Egyptian Cream #2

Element Of Light
Sprinkling Dots
Upside-Down Church Blues
Neck
Bass (demo)
Lady Waters & The Hooded One (demo)

You might consider holding on to your Rhino reissues if you are fond of any of the following tracks because they do not appear on either Yep Roc box set:

Fegmania
Dwarfbeat
Egyptian Cream (Demo)
Insect Mother (Smithsound Demo)
Egyptian Cream (Live)

Element Of Light
Can Opener
President (demo)
If You Were a Priest (demo)
Airscape (demo)
Leopard (demo)

Luminous Groove is available on 5 CDs, 8 LPs or as a download.

Fugi - Mary Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip

Fugi's 1969 single "Mary Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip" is what you might call a funky nugget. Funky, heavy, druggy and slightly paranoid, the song would have sounded right at home on Funkadelic's lysergic apex, Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow. Truth be told, it would have been a stand-out track on that album. But virtually nothing was heard from Fugi (aka Ellington Jordan) for years following the release of that one spectacular single on Chess subsidiary Cadet in 1969.

Information about Fugi and Jordan is scarce. Executives at Cadet purportedly passed on releasing a full length Fugi LP because they considered the music too "druggy." A full album worth of material recorded for Cadet around the same time as the single was finally issued by the Funky Delicacies label in 2005, but appears to have gone out-of-print on CD. At least some of the material on the album was recorded with fellow Detroit psychedelic funkateers Black Merda.

A couple more Fugi singles appeared in the early 70s, including "I'd Rather Be a Blind Man," a song co-written by Jordan that was recorded as "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Etta James, Clarence Carter, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Paul Weller, and literally dozens of others. Not much more was heard from Jordan until Shaak, a CD credited to Fugi, was released on the Bogalusa label in 2003. Almost Home, credited to Ellington Jordan, appeared in 2005. I can't tell you any more than that, but I'm guessing there's much, much more to the story (Jordan discusses some drug issues in the reissue liners). Talent like this doesn't just disappear for such an extended period without there being a story there.

This version of "Mary" is what appeared on the a-side of the original single, and was also included on the spectacular Rhino Compilation, In Yo' Face!: The Roots of Funk, Vol. 1/2. The single was originally issued as one of those "pt.1/pt.2" deals (so this is "pt. 1"). To my ears this edited version sounds harder and funkier than the extended version that appears on the Funky Delicacies album. I suspect it's a result of a punchier, more compressed mix. It's killer.

Opal - Hear The Wind Blow

It's a fine line between dreamy and narcoleptic.

Maybe it's the difference between Hope Seconal Sandoval and Kendra Smith's voices, but while I always found Opal's music beautiful and hypnotic, I thought Mazzy Star (essentially the same band with a different singer) were pretty dull.

Actually, truth be told, Opal's lone LP, Happy Nightmare Baby, was a little too "weird scenes inside the goldmine" for my taste. It has some good tracks to be sure, but much of it meanders. In my opinion, the band's really killer stuff can be found on the Early Recordings LP that was released by Rough Trade after they broke up. Some of the key tracks on the album had previously been released on singles and EPs, but they were all new to me when the LP was released in 1989.

I recently picked up a couple used Mazzy Star CDs (unlike Opal's albums, which are rarer than hen's teeth, Mazzy Star CDs can be found cheap). I thought I might find more about them to appreciate now. Not really. "Fade Into You" and "Five String Serenade" are nice enough, but I still find them hard to take on the whole. Something about their music brings the lingering stench of patchouli and incense to my mind. Those are smells I would prefer to forget. I could never stand those and other odors associated with hippies, which is one of many reasons I was never a Deadhead. That's just not my trip, man.

But for some reason, despite being concocted from the same essential ingredients, Opal are a different story for me. The lovely "Hear The Wind Blow" was covered to great effect by Dean & Britta, and was originally released as a bonus-track on the CD issue of Early Recordings. I have feeling there are a lot more potential "bonus-tracks" that could have been included. Hopefully on some future reissue they will be.

Free Love! This Week Only!

Rock's Back Pages is a subscription service that archives a huge amount rock music interviews and criticism that are unavailable elsewhere. This week they have made some articles on Love and Arthur Lee available for free.

Lenny Kaye makes a valiant attempt to interview Arthur Lee, while Lee sets the record for saying "trip" the most times in one interview (Jazz & Pop, 1970):

LK: Have you always desired to be put in the role of leader?

AL: Leader? Well, it's like I don't know what you mean by leader. You have to explain what a leader is and I can tell you if I want to be one or if I think I'm on that trip.

LK: Well, how you related to the people in the group. When you sat down at a practice to arrange to do a song, were you the one who used to take the initiative?

AL: Right, I'm the leader. I was the leader.

John Tobler talks to Jerry Hopkins about what it was like to manage Love during their early days (ZigZag, 1973):

The troubles started almost immediately; every time a record company executive came down, someone in the band wouldn't show up – even though we took great pains to explain the importance of their all being there. We were getting nowhere fast; all we were doing was running out of record companies who were getting fed up having their time wasted by unknown groups who didn't even turn up to play.... it was just a waste of time for everybody concerned.

Max Bell reports on yet another new version of Love's 1975 tour of England with George Suranovich back behind the drums and John Sterling on guitar (NME, 1975):

At this Lyceum gig audiences were really on the ball, but the rest of Love's tour lies in tattered shreds – quarter full halls and dance band status allegations. Apparently as some kind of snub to their record company, they only did one genuinely new number, the Curtis flavoured "Who Are You," Lee hitting exact high notes; a voice of our time, his, and in perfect trim. There's a tremendous presence too, making it virtually impossible to shift one's gaze.

Jon Savage digs Rhino's 2001 Forever Changes reissue (Mojo, 2001):

Nearly 34 years after its recording, Forever Changes remains a key, perhaps the key '60s album: a perfect fusion of form and function that both defines and elegantly steps out of its time. Its ambition and scope make it representative of the principal cultural and perceptual challenge of the hippie period (Does life have to be like this?) that remains powerful because it has never been adequately addressed.

Paul Lester talks to Arthur Lee about putting his life back together after getting out of prison (The Guardian, 2002):

Now he just wants to get on with his life. "I don't intend to get into any trouble. Breaking any law is the furthest thing from my mind." Suddenly, he brightens. "Speaking of that, do you know where I can get some weed?"

Rainy Day

I'll be the first to admit that not everything I feature here is some lost masterpiece. And I don't know if this 1984 album by the one-off "Paisley Underground" super-group Rainy Day is a masterpiece either. Masterpiece seems like too pompous a word to describe something so unaffected and charming.

Rainy Day was a project headed by David Roback (Rain Parade, Opal) with contributions from Kendra Smith (Dream Syndicate, Opal), Michael Quercio (The Three O'Clock), Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) and other Paisley Underground luminaries. Much like the more recent Hoffs/Matthew Sweet collaboration, Under The Covers, it's an unpretentious, heartfelt tribute to the music of the 60s that had the most obvious impact on these musicians. Buffalo Springfield, The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Who, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Big Star are all covered.

As Kendra Smith's minimalist cover art suggests, in creating this album the group seems to have followed Einstein's dictum that "things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler." Most of the songs sound like they were done in one take, the arrangements are sparse, and the instrumentation is mostly acoustic. But a few subtle touches keep things from getting too simple: some violin or viola by Will Glenn on "I'll Keep It With Mine," "John Riley," and "Holacaust," some reverb around the vocals on "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong." Only the lengthy cover of Hendrix's "Rainy Day, Dream Away" that ends the album falls relatively flat.

It's appropriate that Buffalo Springfield would get two tracks dedicated to them, because it's clear they were a huge influence on the Paisley Underground scene in general, and on Roback in particular. I've been mesmerized by "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong" since I first heard Buffalo Springfield's version on the radio when I was in high school. It's possible I find the song intriguing because I've never been certain precisely what it is about. Is it a love song? A drug song? It's probably both, and possibly neither. But both the lyrics and the melody are haunting and evocative, and Kendra Smith brings those qualities to the fore with her languid vocals. "On Your Way Home" is the simplest song on the album, with just Roback accompanying his vocals on acoustic guitar. But the simplicity allows the beauty of the melody to shine through in a way that it doesn't on the possibly over-arranged original version from Last Time Around. Maybe masterpiece is not too pompous to describe this low-key gem of an album after all.

Judging by the prices the CD fetches, Rainy Day is crying out for a proper reissue. Dare we hope for bonus tracks, or might they break the album's considerable spell?

Love Reissues

I also wanted to mention a bit of news on the Love reissue front. First the bad news: the limited edition Hip-O Blue Thumb Recordings box I reviewed last year has gone out-of-print. Used copies are currently changing hands for reasonable prices (for now). If you think you want this, I advise you to act quickly. However, if you're not interested in the live bonus CD included with the box, you might consider the fact Collector's Choice has reissued the two Blue Thumb studio albums, Out Here and False Start. Additionally, Arthur Lee's solo album, Vindicator, has been reissued by Britian's BGO Records, so it is once again possible to hear this recording without paying insane prices.

Finally, on April 22, Rhino will release a two disc "Collector's Edition" of Forever Changes, which will include a full-length "alternate mix" of the 1967 classic. It's hard to know what to think about that. The value of such a set will depend very much on just how interesting and/or different the "alternate mix" is, but I will never complain about any of Love's music being reissued. I also hear rumors of a Rhino box set, but don't know any details.

In the meantime, I am still waiting for a proper reissue of Reel To Real. Collector's Choice, are you listening?

Though out-of-print on CD, The Blue Thumb Recordings is now available for download from iTunes at a budget price.

Close Lobsters - What Is There To Smile About?

Native to Scotland, the Close Lobster is considered a delicacy among connoisseurs of melodic, neo-psychedelic, jangle-pop. Unfortunately, the lifespan of a Close Lobster is known to be quite short, typically on the order of three to four years. Close Lobsters were thought to have gone extinct sometime around 1989, but there were reported sightings as late as 1991.

Several ethnographic field recordings of Close Lobsters are known to exist, but most of them are out-of-print. The first full-length recording, called Foxheads Stalk This Land, is no longer available on the format known as the compact disc, but can be downloaded in the MP3 format. A subsequent EP, What Is There To Smile About, and final album, Headache Rhetoric, are more difficult to locate at the moment.

Sky "Sunlight" Saxon

While Roky Erickson is enjoying some rightly deserved revitalization in the wake of the 2005 career spanning documentary You're Gonna Miss Me, playing to capacity crowds at London's Royal Festival Hall and reportedly working with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on a new record, another 60s psychedelic pioneer has yet to enjoy such renewed fame.

Sky Saxon's contributions to garage rock and psychedelia are arguably just as important and influential as his Texas counterpart, and his band The Seeds produced some great albums from the psychedelic era. Singles such as "Can’t Seem to Make You Mine", "Mr. Farmer" and the classic "Pushin’ Too Hard" combined garage punk with a slightly off kilter and at times almost childlike sound that distinguished them from the typical 1966 fare. Keyboardist Daryl Hooper played a huge role in creating their unique sound as well, which favored the use of organ over an electric bass, which would be part of the formula that would propel another L.A. act--The Doors--up the charts during the same time period.

Much of this period of The Seeds career has been well documented. However, not much attention has been given to Saxon's post-Seeds career, including his time in the Ya Ho Wha 13 music collective during the 70s, most likely due to the absence of a cohesive story line. The Ya Ho Wha 13 have garnered considerable interest as of late and are now regarded by some as the greatest American psychedelic band that just so happened to go virtually unacknowledged during their time. I suppose stranger things have happened.

For those interested in the Father Yod story, you could check out this informative site here or this excellent interview here or go whole hog, no, sorry whole vegetable and dive right into the massive 13 disc document of the entire Ya Ho Wha recorded output from the Japanese label Captain Tripp. It's not entirely clear which of these recordings Sky Saxon appears on but he did lead the Ya Ho Wha 13 on the album Golden Sunrise after leader Father Yod passed away following a hang gliding accident. There is also a book and a DVD documentary on the 140+ member family, which looks interesting, to say the least.

This is the period that found Sky adding "Sunlight" to his name, but it's just one more chapter in the career of Richard Marsh, which began in the early 60s. He continued recording throughout the 80s and 90s, and recently released a new record offering fans distribution rights for a select number of CDs, so long as they create the artwork, and promise NOT to use jewel cases. I’m down with that.

The paisley underground of the 80s saw Sky emerge on the L.A. scene once again and recording with some of the mainstay groups of the time such as The Dream Syndicate, The Church, The Three O'Clock, The Rain Parade and The Plimsouls. He recorded a live album with members of Redd Kross and The Primates for the Voxx label called Private Party. One of my all time favorite psychedelic tracks by any artist has to be "The Flower Lady and Her Assistant" from the 1967 LP Future (which I remember made Rick Rubin’s top 10 list years ago) and here is covered by the band with plenty of overdriven guitars and Sky's impassioned vocals. It takes just three lines before he starts improvising and singing about the grim reaper and something or other that’s in 126 countries. "I smell the perfuuuahhhhoooohhh...." Yeah.

Masters of Psychedelia released on New Rose in 1985 seems to be from sessions dating from an earlier period, but there's just not much information available on this record. "Silver Leaves" is the standout track for me, even though I freely admit that I'm not sure exactly what he's singing about. But that doesn't stop it from being a great slice psychedelia. Listen and see if silver leaves are falling down where you live.

And hey, how about a Sky Sunlight Saxon documentary already?

Robyn Hitchcock - I Wanna Go Backwards Box Set

The upcoming Robyn Hitchcock box set I Wanna Go Backwards is now available for pre-order and has streaming audio on Yep Roc's website. The release date is set for October 16, 2007 AD. The box covers the Hitchcock solo albums Black Snake Dîamond Röle (1981), I Often Dream Of Trains (1984) and Eye (1990) in their entirety. It also includes a two disc set called While Thatcher Mauled Britain Part 1 & 2 that includes some previously unreleased rarities, as well as some tracks that previously appeared on the Invisible Hitchcock and You & Oblivion rarities collections.

If you are an obsessive Hitchcock collector like I am (and if you're not, what's wrong with you?) you are likely wondering two things: What material here is genuinely new to me, and what is missing from the albums I already own? Good news! I've already done the research for you and created to this handy guide:

What's new?
Previously unreleased material on I Often Dream Of Trains:
Chant/Aether (different from You & Oblivion version)
Heart Full Of Leaves (alternate)
I Often Dream Of Trains (demo)
Not Even A Nurse
Slow Chant/That's Fantastic Mother Church
Traveller's Fare

Previously unreleased material on While Thatcher Mauled Britain Part 1 & 2:
Century
Shimmering Distant Love
Lovers Turn To Skulls
The Beauty Of Earl's Court
Flesh Number 1 (different from Globe of Frogs version)
Parachutes & Jellyfish
Melting Arthur
You're So Repulsive
Opiatrescence
Lovely Golden Villains
Dr Sticky (live) (different from Invisible Hitchcock version)
Toadboy
Lightplug
I Wanna Go Backwards
Update:
The Abandoned Brain (different from Invisible Hitchcock version)

While the three proper albums will be available separately, the rarities discs are only available as part of the box set, so if you want them you'll have to spring for the whole thing.

What's Missing?
The most obvious omission is the mess that emerged from the sessions for Hitchcock's second solo LP, 1982's Groovy Decay. Yep Roc has promised Groovy Decay as a download-only release. No word on whether it will contain all the material from both Groovy Decay and Groovy Decoy, as the Rhino reissue Gravy Deco did.

Personally, I think it is kind of a shame that Groovy Decoy/Decay is not getting a proper reissue. True, Hitchcock (and many of his fans) hold these albums in low regard. And I admit the albums are partly spoiled by over-production, inappropriate arrangements and some weaker songs. But on the whole I think they're under-rated. The dance floors of the world will likely survive without the disco versions of "Kingdom Of Love" and "Night Ride To Trinidad" that showed up as bonus tracks on Gravy Deco, but "The Cars She Used To Drive," "Fifty Two Stations," "America," "The Rain" and several other songs hold up quite well.

Certainly it's better the material be available for download than completely unavailable (and all of these albums have been out-of-print for the better part of a decade). But perhaps I am old-fashioned in my belief that an album isn't really in print unless it is distributed for purchase on some physical media in stores that actually exist in the material world.

Missing from the original version of Black Snake Dîamond Röle:
"The Man Who Invented Himself" [This probably requires some explanation: as was the case with the Rhino reissue, the version of "The Man Who Invented Himself" that originally appeared on the Black Snake Dîamond Röle LP has been replaced with the Zinc Pear version. That probably requires some explanation too, but I'm not going to give it to you.]

Missing from the Rhino version of Black Snake Dîamond Röle:
Dancing On God's Thumb

Missing from the Rhino version of I Often Dream of Trains:
Mellow Together [In my opinion, this is no great loss. I always hated this song.]
Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl (demo)
Cathedral (demo)
Mellow Together (demo)
The Bones In The Ground (demo)

Missing from the Rhino version of Eye:
Agony Of Pleasure (demo)

Missing from the Rhino version Invisible Hitchcock:
Falling Leaves
Eaten By Her Own Dinner
Star Of Hairs
Messages Of Dark
Blues In A
Dr. Sticky (studio version)
Update:
The Abandoned Brain (a different version is featured on the new set)

Missing from You & Oblivion:
Don't You
Mr. Rock 'n' Roll
The Dust
Polly On The Shore
Aether
Into It
Keeping Still
Ghost Ship
You & Me

I imagine it is possible that some of this material might surface on the next Hitchcock box set from YepRoc, but that seems unlikely given that the next box will focus on Robyn's work with the Egyptians. In the meantime, don't sell your Rhino Hitchcock CDs.

I've only listened to a bit of the streaming material, but much of the stuff I hadn't heard before sounds quite good. If you don't already own these albums, purchasing this set is a no brainer. If you do own them, hopefully my breakdown has made your decision whether to purchase or not an easier one. As for myself, the only decision I have to make is whether to spring for the vinyl or not.

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth EP

Uncut magazine wants to know if you have a question for Julian Cope. But hurry because submissions are due tomorrow, July 26th. I probably haven't kept up with Julian Cope's career as much as I should have, so I'm not sure what I'd ask him. But I noticed that while UMG has released a deluxe 2-Disc edition of 1992's Jehovahkill, Cope's initial Island solo releases, the World Shut Your Mouth EP and Saint Julian are out-of-print. Considering Saint Julian looks to be fetching good money on Amazon.com's marketplace, perhaps a deluxe edition of Saint Julian is in order as well.

I think this EP was my first exposure to Cope's music, although I may have heard one of the Teardrop Explodes' albums first. It's hard to be sure. When this came out in 1986, I was a junior in high school and discovering new music at a fast and furious pace; this was around the time I discovered both the Velvet Underground and Love, as well as many later day acts that were producing music under those band's influence. It seemed like every week I brought home a new record that blew my mind, whether it was by the Dream Syndicate, Robyn Hitchcock/The Soft Boys, any number of SST acts, Echo & the Bunnymen, or Julian Cope.

When I first heard "Umpteenth Unnatural Blues" I thought it sounded like a long-lost outtake from Love's Forever Changes. I still do. The guitar break distinctly recalls "A House Is Not A Motel" and Cope's lyrics wishing a violent death unto himself ("I want to die in solitude, I want to die in pain, I want to see my rotting body swept out in the rain") recall Arthur Lee's dark vision. "Levitation" is a rocking cover of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators' classic, and is probably what led me to discover that band.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Julian Cope has a robust web presence.

Love - Blue Thumb Recordings Review on Pitchfork

Pitchfork has a review of the Love Blue Thumb Recordings box set up today. It's a good review and worth a read.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock

When I was in high school I picked up a cassette compilation by The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Never having heard "Incense and Peppermints," I was expecting something similar to the proto-punk garage rock of The Chocolate Watchband. I was not prepared for music that sounded like a light psychedelic version of the Four Freshman. The cassette never got much play, and eventually got sold or lost. So when I came across a copy of the band's second LP, Wake Up. . . It's Tomorrow in a pile of unwanted records given to my Dad by a friend, I figured what the heck.

The pile was filled with a lot of 70s rock of little interest to me (the good stuff I already owned). Most of the stuff was pretty beat up too, so it was slim pickin's. In addition to the Strawberry Alarm Clock album, I took a signed Howard Stern album from his days as a DJ at DC 101 (I thought I might make some money on eBay on that one, but didn't), and a still sealed Tammy Faye Baker album.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock album was a pleasant surprise. I found I had a much greater tolerance for the band's easy-listening variant of psychedelia than I did as a kid, and could now admire the relatively intricate arrangements. The lyrics to "Sit With The Guru" still kinda crack me up, but It sure is catchy.

As for the Tammy Faye Baker album, it is still sealed and shall remain so eternally. I consider it a kind of allegory for temptation itself, and am determined not to give in.

Big Day In Rock Music History

As many of you probably know, today is a big day in rock music history. Yes, that's right, we are only 191 days away from the 40th anniversary of the release of The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request (original release date: December 8, 1967). It's hard to believe it's almost been forty years since this album was released. I'm only 37, but I remember well the many celebrations, speeches, dedications, and all around pandemonium that marked the occasion of its 20th anniversary release.

I personally plan to celebrate the 40th anniversary in a manner so depraved that it is too shocking to post on the internet. Have you made plans for December 8, 2007 yet?