Bridge Of Sighs - ROBIN TROWER

 

Robin Trower never really got the accolades due to him at the time when he was at his peak. It is only now that he is really recognised as one of the true greats of the guitar. Part of this is down to the negative impressions he created in the mind of many. Criticism that he imitated Hendrix is largely unfair – Trower played blues rock with a force and style that he made his own. And even so, he always admitted his debt to Hendrix, though that admission is regarded by some as a heresy rather than adopting the old maxim that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Yet scant mention is ever made of the enormous contribution Trower made to the sound of Procul Harum, his former band

 

Assisted by former Harum bandmate, Matthew Fisher, as producer and with Beatle's engineer Geoff Emerick also assisting, this is THE finest guitar album of the Seventies

 

Too Rolling Stoned

 

 

 

 

Little Bit of Sympathy

 

 

 

 

In This Place

 

 

 

and, of course, the brilliantly chilling title track

 

 

Bridge of Sighs

 

 

 

Death By Misadventure - THE GREEN PAJAMAS

 

At the outset, I am quite prepared to accept that this band is an acquired taste, but it is a taste I came to love fairly quickly.  When sorting this into my collection (for, as a true geek, I categorise all of my albums), I decided after much thought to file it in the section marked "The Decemberists meet The Flaming Lips in a Rumanian tavern" - a little-used category, it has to be said .... indeed, this is the only album in it so far!

 

 

This, in itself, is a surprise, as this is the THIRTIETH (yep!) album by the band under this and other guises. Hailing from Seatlle, Washington, Death By Misadventure, is built around the epic song cycle, starting with The Fall of the Queen Bee. This peculiar assortment of songs  takes place in her colony and includes the ultimate death of The Queen and her court by decadent misadventure. This is, of course, a fictional work, and any resemblance to real people living, dead or otherwise, is completely intentional.

 

 

As I said, an album you have to live with a while, but one that pays real dividends with repeated listens

 

 

The Spell

 

 

 

 

The Queen's Last Tango

 

 

 

 

The Queen Bee Is Dead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilder - THE TEARDROP EXPLODES

The Teardrop Explodes' debut album, 'Kilimanjaro' had set out their stall very nicely, trading in skewed pop and gently swirling psychedelia. Generally accepted as their best work, for me it features a slew of absolute classics ('Reward', 'Treason', 'When I Dream', 'Poppies') but also a handful of tracks which haven't dated terribly well. It's a great album (perhaps even a better starting point?), but still i find myself thinking its darker, and less commercially successful, follow-up a much more accomplished album.

 

You wouldn't necessarily notice this at first, since it would be quite easy to give 'Wilder' a passing listen and file it away in your brain as a perky, diverse period piece of oddball post-punk. Listen closer, though, and you'll discover the murky undercurrents behind Julian Cope's lyrics. He may tend to deliver them in innocent, very English tones, but on closer inspection they're informed by his chaotic life situation at the time (divorce, out-of-control drug use) as well as the bizarre, even disturbing, imagery used by Arthur Lee on Love's finest work.

Musically, this album is more diverse than the mission-statement debut, still recognisable as 'psychedelic pop' but taking in a much greater variety of textures. 'Passionate Friend' sounds like THE great lost sunshine pop single, whilst 'Colours Fly Away' brings a lysergic twist to the brassy formula that dominated the first album. The biggest departures come in the form of the exhilirating, even funky groove of 'The Culture Bunker' (which was sent into the stratosphere when performed live) and the three quieter tracks, 'Tiny Children', '...And The Fighting Takes Over' and 'The Great Dominions' which have a spectral, almost hymnal quality suggesting an 80's equivalent of Scott Walker

Bent Out Of Shape

 

 

 

 

Colours Fly Away

 

 

 

 

Tiny Children

 

 

 

 

The Great Dominions