That 70's Thread - Anteater's Reviews Of Cool **** You Should Already Have

[boo boo]

Oh hey, glad to know I'm not the only fan of Something/Anything. That's an incredible pop record.

[Guybrush]

Got my hands on the Wombles and it's certainly a fun record! As far as curiosities go, this is definetly a good one! Brilliant as usual, antspants

edit :

Haha! Saw this on their wikipedia article, from Mike Batt, the guy behind the band :

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Batt remains sensitive about the legacy of the band. In a 2008 interview he said "It is hard to be taken seriously with the Wombles hanging around my neck like a furry anvil."

edit again ..

And the mountain hall womble was a brilliant take on the Edward Grieg classic I must say

[Anteater]

Simon Finn – Pass The Distance (1970)

"I saw a devil rise out of the water...and he looked so gentle."

1. Very Close Friend (1:19)
2. The Courtyard (5:43)
3. What A Day (3:16)
4. Fades [Pass The Distance] (3:39)
5. Jerusalem (6:44)
6. Where's Your Master Gone (3:13)
7. Laughing 'Til Tomorrow (2:54)
8. Hiawatha (4:58)
9. Patrice (2:49)
10. Big White Car (5:48)

Reclusive and mysterious even in his recording days some forty years ago, Simon Finn's stranger-than-strange brand of psychedelic folk is truly something to behold, coming across as the demon child of Bob Dylan and Comus circa 1971 that has spent its kindergarten years divided between Woodstock orgies and the occasional mudbath.

But have no fear of the image that such a makeup of sounds may bring to mind: his 1970 debut Pass The Distance is rather raw and compelling stuff given the right time and place, and quite listenable to boot.

First, however, a bit of background: Simon Finn was born in Surrey, England back in 1951 and made his debut as a musician as an opening act for Al Stewart in 1967 at the Marquee Club in Soho after he moved to London. Three years later, he got a record contract hand over fist and managed to cut the subject of this review in studio before vanishing off the face of the musical map when he suddenly moved to Canada, leaving many curious and turning the LPs that were produced into collector's items of near legendary status within half a decade.

So the real question to answer is thus: Is Pass The Distance worthy of the cult acclaim it has amassed over the decades, among such presumptions being that it is among the best psychedelic folk albums of all time?

For that answer, I'll let these two tracks speak for themselves.





These two standouts are highlights among these various pieces, most of which seem like strange, yet occasionally beautiful fragments of a mind not quite sane - the vaguely haunting instrumental backdrops to Simon's voice is in full force on White Car, but its his tortured screams on the latter half of Jerusalem that keep you draggin' you on til the inevitable collapse. It's not pleasant, but its so damn vivid and nightmarish that you want to drown in it until the bitter end.

So anyway, despite its dissonant nature and overt oddness, Pass The Distance has been steadily creeping its claws into me the last few months and I'm sure over time it'll wedge itself in my brain as surely as its gotten under my skin. I heartily give it two thumbs way way up, and hope you all come to feel the same one day.

[NumberNineDream]

I had forgotten how good your reviews are.
Will be downloading this one the minute I get home. Lovely.

[debaserr]

really great read so far. props!

[Anteater]

Magma – Kobaïa (1970)

Kobaian, motherfucker - DO YOU SPEAK IT??!

1. Kobaïa (10:09)
2. Aïna (6:16)
3. Malaria (3:30)
4. Sohïa (7:00)
5. Sckxyss (3:47)
6. Auraë (10:55)
7. Thaud Zaïa (7:00)
8. Nau Ektila (12:55)
9. Stoah (8:05)
10. Muh (11:13)

Ladies and gentlemen, how many albums can you count on one hand that literally redefined the way you look at music at one point in your life or another? And perhaps even more importantly, how many of those very same albums do you still listen through on a regular basis today?

In regards to that first question, my number is five. In regards to the second question, the answer is perhaps only one or two...and this divine 1970 debut from one of France's premiere experimental bands is one of 'em.

Defining this album can be a daunting task. The jazzy elements are well within the boundaries of what groups like Soft Machine or perhaps Miles Davis's elite circle were dabbling with during the same time frame. But in 1970, how many groups were simultaneously doing concept albums around interstellar odysseys using such elements? Furthermore, how many of those same groups created a unique language to tell such a story in lyrical form, rock and jazz elements in tow?

As a certain relatively famous meme goes-



Christian Vander, drummer extraordinaire and Magma's founder, created the Zeuhl language as a way for audiences to feel the music in a more phonetic sense rather than judging it on the merit of lyrical relevancy. The words and music, hence, are inexorably linked regardless of any meaning derived, hearkening back to an earlier time in human history when music was a touch more primal and less self-conscious. Unfortunately, me typing out all this sounds like a load of pretentious bull, so I'll let the opening title track, a 10-minute smorgasbord of brilliant ideas and swinging rhythms, speak for it's magnificent self instead.



Whether one gives a damn about the dramatic lyrical content in question is of no consequence however. Kobaia's instrumentation is splendily rich and varied from track to track - highlights include the curiously loungish 'Aïna', which waltzes to a post-bop kick whilst still giving itself a quirky sense of identity all the while..as well as the the surreal 'Naü Ektila', a 12 minute excursion into Neptunian psychedelic folk performed by that world's otherworldly equivalent to the Mahavishnu Orchestra...and we can't imagine what they might look like. Seeing them might give us nightmares.



So as some of you might have guessed by this point, this is the album that started the Zeuhl genre as its practitioners know it, from France to Japan to the U.K...to pretty much everywhere. Although Magma would begin setting new standards with the inclusion of a more operatic approach on coming works, this zany initial recording set the bar quite high at the time of its release, and even today serves as inspiration for those wanting to wet their chops on the avant-garde...or for those who just want to play weird, complicated music to wow their friends and family. Either way, the influence is a positive one.

This, Romans and countrymen, was the album that introduced me to a lot of experimental (and generally jazz oriented) music about seven years ago when I was a weeee lad in a ginormous high school of failure, and in retrospect did a swell job back then at opening my ears to new possibilities instead of fostering an attitude of spitting on anything that couldn't make girls dance around in stupid ways.

In short, I fucking love this album and everything it represents. It won't hit you immediately, but when it does you'll be glad you were letting it play in the background for the last hour and a half. Hell, it may even change your life.

Good night mates, and bon appétit!!

[dankrsta]

I recently heard Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh and judging by these two songs, this album seems to be very different from that one. Anyway, ever since then, I've been very intrigued by Magma, but haven't yet gotten around to submerge myself into their sound. So, it's great that you indirectly reminded me.

[Anteater]

Hey everyone, I'm still planning on doing new reviews and such on this particular thread, but I just wanted to take a post to show off a blog that I've started in order to share interesting music dear to my heart in high quality. If you've enjoyed the reviews you've seen on this thread, then this blog shall be just as, if not more so, entertaining. ^_^

The uploads (so far and also from this point on) shall be quite eclectic and different from what you might have seen on some of the more specialized or popular music blogs. I'm also inclined to take contributors if you are willing to help spread the word and aid me in creating a music-hungry following!

Without further ado, here's The Widening Eye. Hope you enjoy what you hear!

The Widening Eye

Thanks!

[Dr_Rez]

Keep up the reviews Ant. Im glad you put effort into them, because a lot on this forum are dreadful.

[Anteater]

Linda Perhacs – Parallelograms (1970)

Better late than never!!

1. Chimacum Rain (3:33)
2. Paper Mountain Man (3:13)
3. Dolphin (2:56)
4. Call Of The River (3:51)
5. Sandy Toes (3:00)
6. Parallelograms (4:36)
7. Hey, Who Really Cares? (2:44)
8. Moons And Cattails (4:09)
9. Morning Colors (4:48)
10. Porcelain Baked-Over Cast-Iron Wedding (4:01)
11. Delicious (4:08)
12. If You Were My Man (2:59)
13. I Would Rather Love (3:06)

So yeah, I'm kicking my 70's thread back off with a dizzyingly good one-shot from that ever musically fertile land of California. Linda Perhacs is often said to be the "Joni Mitchell who never was", and that's about as true a statement as one I've ever run across.

To elaborate: Parallelograms, this obscure woman's one and only record that hit shelves in 1970 and was subsequently ignored, is a psychedelic folk masterpiece that is heads and shoulders above even some of the best records in the genre. Why, you may ask? Well, for starters, Linda's voice is one of those short-lived epitomes of esoteric beauty, an arcane instrument that seems hardwired to carry forlorn abstractions into the minds of those who let it in.

Most importantly however, although a gripping stripped down experience in fragility for the most part where an acoustic guitar, some light percussion and Linda's voice reign supreme, there is an occasionally noticeable streak of impenetrable experimental ebony that leers in the hollows of a number of these arrangements, such as the Brainticket-esque title track and its followup, a harbinger of endless isolation locked in two and a half minutes called 'Hey, Who Really Cares?'.




For me, these two tracks are the heart and soul of Linda's languid songwriting, and that's saying quite a bit considering how strong all thirteen songs are across the board. In particular, compositions such as 'Morning Colors' and 'Chimacum Rain' are toe-to-toe with the best of Mitchell's infamous Blue, and that's about as high a praise as I could give anything from 1970. Because if you weren't Joni Mitchell or Karen Carpenter in 1970, you were going to have a helluva hard time making it as a successful songstress in an industry that was ultimately male-dominated.

Unlike a lot of people across the Interwebz, I don't throw around the term "masterpiece" too often when it comes to psychedelic music...party because so much of the stuff that came out throughout the late 60's sounded very derivative of one another and partly because I have an ear for something that nails that hard-to-scratch sweet spot in terms of atmosphere.

Parallelograms, at least to these ears, is everything a real psychedelic fanatic should be looking for: spacey arrangements, led by Linda's monstrously beautiful set of pipes, and held together at the end of the day by an honest, sparse...yet rich production to make the whole shebang shine like something Van Gogh might have painted.