Psychedelia Album Club I - "Incense and Peppermints" - The Strawberry Alarm Clock

Trollheart · 10-19-2014, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Briks

Spotify link

If clicking it doesn't work, copy it and then paste it into the Spotify search field.

Oh, and I've listened to the album now.

That link will only give me access to two tracks, and it doesn't come up when I search in my Spotify Premium either... any other sources? Tried GS, no luck.

Edit: Never mind: I saw Psy-Fi's link to YouTube. Thanks man! Guess us Irish/UK proles don't get access to the album over here on Spotify!

ladyislingering · 10-19-2014, 03:56 PM

I have the album in full (plus loads more) on this playlist if anyone needs to get their SAC fix today.

Pet_Sounds · 10-19-2014, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyislingering

Maybe. I just don't have a lot of time on my hands on a regular basis these days.

Well, you're certainly welcome to drop in any time if you fancy as a part-timer. Let me know if you want your name added to the rotation.

Trollheart · 10-19-2014, 06:06 PM

Okay then, here we go. Am I first? Seriously? Wow. Well anyway...

Surprisingly --- for me at least, who expected to hear hippy-dippy **** mostly, shows what I know! --- there's some really quite heavy-ish guitar on this --- sounds like Carlos but I doubt it --- and I like the vibraphone in the first track. It's a bit repetitive but not necessarily in a bad way. The organ is kind of Doors-ish, not that I know too much of them really but that's what it puts me in mind of. I hope no tracks run together as I'm listening on YouTube, and won't be able to tell when one changes to another. Also my Wiki page does not give track times, which would be a way to separate what is essentially one long track here.

But at least "The world's on fire" has ended, and I do like the throaty organ in "Birds in my tree". Great melody, almost 70s in places, very uplifting and I like the chorus. Elements of the Fab Four in there? Aw. That was too short! Kind of a proggy/jazzy feeling to "Lose to live", reminds me of the Moodies a bit. Bit of a mad drum solo. Not mad about this one if I'm honest. Okay well that wasn't too long either, though I'm not so sad about that. Should I say "bummed"? It's psychedelia innit? Bummed? I'm not bummed? Do I need to add a "man"?

Seriously, "Strawberries mean love" is a nice gentle song with some great vocal harmonies and a good melody. Oh, and it's again too short. "Rainy day mushroom pillow" --- if ever a title exemplified everything I think about psych/hippies, this is it. Like the flute, decent song though the vocal is a little drony and boring to me. The harpischord, or whatever it is, is nice though, as is the organ. Hey! It IS a harpsichord! Nice!

The next track is nice too, but it's a little nondescript, though the interplay between guitar and organ is good. That takes us to "Hummin' happy", which is more uptempo and again recalls for me the Moody Blues. Also the Doors. And Windows. No, just kidding: this album doesn't crash my computer every time I --- DAMN!

Where was I before I had to reboot? Oh yeah. A harder, rockier song in "Pass time with the SAC", and one of my favourite instruments, the harmonica comes into play. Sweet. An instrumental, again too short, ands takes us into the title track. Yeah, I like this: it has just the right amount of weird in it to interest but not annoy me. The closer then is "Unwind with the clock", a sort of jazzy boogie that bumps along nicely on a sweet bassline and a great walking organ run. May be another instrumental? Is. Not. Singing came in very late indeed, and what's with this weird little bit at the end? Very pleasant though.

As everyone one knows, this is not the sort of music I tend to listen to, but after several months of listening to bands roar into battle, scream about gutting virgins and kicking the living **** out of each other (Wow! Christian Contemporary Rock Month is gonna be a doozy!)

it's nice to be able to kick back and just enjoy some, not quite bland but certainly happy music. This was not the limp, wimpy, hippy sort of thing I expected, and in general, yeah, I enjoyed it. Not gonna be at the top of any album lists I make, but a good album nonetheless.

Rating: 6/10

Pet_Sounds · 10-19-2014, 08:37 PM

Glad you enjoyed it, TH. I should have one of my patented point-form mini-reviews up tonight. Oh, and I had a thought. How about we all rate the album out of ten stars (round numbers only!), and I'll average out our ratings and create an RYM account for the club?

Mondo Bungle · 10-19-2014, 08:44 PM

I only do 10 stars, don't believe in that 5 star nonsense

Pet_Sounds · 10-19-2014, 09:07 PM

I think I've already stated that Incense and Peppermints is a favourite of mine. It's a desert island album for sure.

The flute, as I've remarked before, is one of the most underused instruments in rock music. I absolutely love the flute playing on here.
Lyrically, this is as close to perfection as any album I've heard, especially the opening lines to the title track. They're weird enough to let you escape, but not weird enough to detract from the music.
I love the vocals as well, the delivery and tone gives some the album a certain urgency.
The organ is also very well-played.
As Trollheart already mentioned, most of the songs are quite short, but I find that adds to my enjoyment of the album and creates a constantly-shifting musical landscape.

Standout tracks: Birds in My Tree, Strawberries Mean Love, Incense and Peppermints

Overall, I find that this album manages to be both a great collection of individual songs and a unified whole, which is a rarity. It gets a

9/10

**Frownland** · 10-19-2014, 10:04 PM

When I first listened to this album it was the version that they had on Spotify, but looking around on Youtube shows that the Spotify version is untrue to the original. This is unfortunate because it turns out that my favourite track on the album, Sit With the Guru, was actually on Wake Up...It's Tomorrow, but it also means that my least favourite tracks, "Barefoot in Baltimore", "Birdman of Alkatrash", and "Starting Out the Day" aren't actually on this album.

With that said and a proper listen to the record courtesy of Youtube, I think this is a great album. I think my favourite moment on the album is the drum solo from "Lose to Live", great stuff. There's a lot of fantastic organ and flute on here as Pet Sounds mentioned, and the organ is my favourite element of the album, especially with the title track (one of the most notable hippy tracks out there as it's constantly used in flashback scenes and such, it creates an image of the movement whenever I listen to it because of this) and the closer, "Unwind With the Clock". The closer track also has some fantastic marimba (I believe, actually listening closer I think it's a vibraphone) jumping in on the fun. "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" is a fantastic track as well, one that's actually served as part of the soundtrack to one of my rainy mushroom days

. One thing that somewhat deters from the album, but not to a great degree, is the repetition of the vocals. A lot of the same intervals and melodic lines are used as well as the "oo-oo"s in the background vocals and the "la la la"s prevalent throughout the album. Nothing big, but it's prominent enough to note.

Overall a fantastic album, I was originally going to give it a lower rating based on the Spotify version, but I'm glad that I did a little more research because I would have missed out on some extra tracks that are pretty great too. 8/10

Josef K · 10-19-2014, 10:36 PM

There are two albums called the same thing on Spotify - Incense and Peppermints is the album, whereas Incense & Peppermints is a later compilation.

I'll have a review up tomorrow morning, as the only person here who didn't enjoy the album.

Trollheart · 10-20-2014, 10:56 AM

I've updated my post to show a rating. I've only rated it so relatively low as this is not the sort of music I'm used to, and though I enjoyed it it's not an album I would really go out of my way to listen to.

10-19-2014, 03:56 PM	#22 (permalink)
ladyislingering Maelian Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Seattle Posts: 695	I have the album in full (plus loads more) on this playlist if anyone needs to get their SAC fix today. __________________ You and I, We were born to die.

10-19-2014, 06:06 PM	#24 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Okay then, here we go. Am I first? Seriously? Wow. Well anyway... Surprisingly --- for me at least, who expected to hear hippy-dippy ** mostly, shows what I know! --- there's some really quite heavy-ish guitar on this --- sounds like Carlos but I doubt it --- and I like the vibraphone in the first track. It's a bit repetitive but not necessarily in a bad way. The organ is kind of Doors-ish, not that I know too much of them really but that's what it puts me in mind of. I hope no tracks run together as I'm listening on YouTube, and won't be able to tell when one changes to another. Also my Wiki page does not give track times, which would be a way to separate what is essentially one long track here. But at least "The world's on fire" has ended, and I do like the throaty organ in "Birds in my tree". Great melody, almost 70s in places, very uplifting and I like the chorus. Elements of the Fab Four in there? Aw. That was too short! Kind of a proggy/jazzy feeling to "Lose to live", reminds me of the Moodies a bit. Bit of a mad drum solo. Not mad about this one if I'm honest. Okay well that wasn't too long either, though I'm not so sad about that. Should I say "bummed"? It's psychedelia innit? Bummed? I'm not bummed? Do I need to add a "man"? Seriously, "Strawberries mean love" is a nice gentle song with some great vocal harmonies and a good melody. Oh, and it's again too short. "Rainy day mushroom pillow" --- if ever a title exemplified everything I think about psych/hippies, this is it. Like the flute, decent song though the vocal is a little drony and boring to me. The harpischord, or whatever it is, is nice though, as is the organ. Hey! It IS a harpsichord! Nice! The next track is nice too, but it's a little nondescript, though the interplay between guitar and organ is good. That takes us to "Hummin' happy", which is more uptempo and again recalls for me the Moody Blues. Also the Doors. And Windows. No, just kidding: this album doesn't crash my computer every time I --- DAMN! Where was I before I had to reboot? Oh yeah. A harder, rockier song in "Pass time with the SAC", and one of my favourite instruments, the harmonica comes into play. Sweet. An instrumental, again too short, ands takes us into the title track. Yeah, I like this: it has just the right amount of weird in it to interest but not annoy me. The closer then is "Unwind with the clock", a sort of jazzy boogie that bumps along nicely on a sweet bassline and a great walking organ run. May be another instrumental? Is. Not. Singing came in very late indeed, and what's with this weird little bit at the end? Very pleasant though. As everyone one knows, this is not the sort of music I tend to listen to, but after several months of listening to bands roar into battle, scream about gutting virgins and kicking the living out of each other (Wow! Christian Contemporary Rock Month is gonna be a doozy!) it's nice to be able to kick back and just enjoy some, not quite bland but certainly happy music. This was not the limp, wimpy, hippy sort of thing I expected, and in general, yeah, I enjoyed it. Not gonna be at the top of any album lists I make, but a good album nonetheless. Rating: 6/10** __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-20-2014 at 10:55 AM.

10-19-2014, 08:37 PM	#25 (permalink)
Pet_Sounds Remember the underscore Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The other side Posts: 2,488	Glad you enjoyed it, TH. I should have one of my patented point-form mini-reviews up tonight. Oh, and I had a thought. How about we all rate the album out of ten stars (round numbers only!), and I'll average out our ratings and create an RYM account for the club? __________________ Everybody's dying just to get the disease

10-19-2014, 09:07 PM	#27 (permalink)
Pet_Sounds Remember the underscore Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The other side Posts: 2,488	I think I've already stated that Incense and Peppermints is a favourite of mine. It's a desert island album for sure. The flute, as I've remarked before, is one of the most underused instruments in rock music. I absolutely love the flute playing on here. Lyrically, this is as close to perfection as any album I've heard, especially the opening lines to the title track. They're weird enough to let you escape, but not weird enough to detract from the music. I love the vocals as well, the delivery and tone gives some the album a certain urgency. The organ is also very well-played. As Trollheart already mentioned, most of the songs are quite short, but I find that adds to my enjoyment of the album and creates a constantly-shifting musical landscape. Standout tracks: Birds in My Tree, Strawberries Mean Love, Incense and Peppermints Overall, I find that this album manages to be both a great collection of individual songs and a unified whole, which is a rarity. It gets a 9/10 __________________ Everybody's dying just to get the disease

10-19-2014, 10:04 PM	#28 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	When I first listened to this album it was the version that they had on Spotify, but looking around on Youtube shows that the Spotify version is untrue to the original. This is unfortunate because it turns out that my favourite track on the album, Sit With the Guru, was actually on Wake Up...It's Tomorrow, but it also means that my least favourite tracks, "Barefoot in Baltimore", "Birdman of Alkatrash", and "Starting Out the Day" aren't actually on this album. With that said and a proper listen to the record courtesy of Youtube, I think this is a great album. I think my favourite moment on the album is the drum solo from "Lose to Live", great stuff. There's a lot of fantastic organ and flute on here as Pet Sounds mentioned, and the organ is my favourite element of the album, especially with the title track (one of the most notable hippy tracks out there as it's constantly used in flashback scenes and such, it creates an image of the movement whenever I listen to it because of this) and the closer, "Unwind With the Clock". The closer track also has some fantastic marimba (I believe, actually listening closer I think it's a vibraphone) jumping in on the fun. "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" is a fantastic track as well, one that's actually served as part of the soundtrack to one of my rainy mushroom days . One thing that somewhat deters from the album, but not to a great degree, is the repetition of the vocals. A lot of the same intervals and melodic lines are used as well as the "oo-oo"s in the background vocals and the "la la la"s prevalent throughout the album. Nothing big, but it's prominent enough to note. Overall a fantastic album, I was originally going to give it a lower rating based on the Spotify version, but I'm glad that I did a little more research because I would have missed out on some extra tracks that are pretty great too. 8/10 __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

10-19-2014, 10:36 PM	#29 (permalink)
Josef K A Jew on a motorbike! Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 800	There are two albums called the same thing on Spotify - Incense and Peppermints is the album, whereas Incense & Peppermints is a later compilation. I'll have a review up tomorrow morning, as the only person here who didn't enjoy the album.

10-20-2014, 10:56 AM	#30 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	I've updated my post to show a rating. I've only rated it so relatively low as this is not the sort of music I'm used to, and though I enjoyed it it's not an album I would really go out of my way to listen to. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018