Wallace Collection, LAUGHING CAVALIER (Belgium, 1969) D:9. Odd to hear a bouncy, sunny psych-pop album this spot-on with accented English. On first listen nothing too distinctive; a broad sketch: part Zombies, part Mamas and the Papas, part Kinks. Some nice arrangements, melodies, and some novel period harmonic twists. The LP transfer CDR copy I have is quite brittle sounding, so that may be interfering with my enjoyment of the music.
Wizards from Kansas, WIZARDS FROM KANSAS (USA, 1970) D:10. First listen to this one as well; strong, very west-coast hippy rock, though these guys were from the midwest. Recorded in San Francisco. Definitely has that thick frontier atmosphere, some strong tracks, singing, and guitar work. Looking forward to a second listen.
Bob Drake, WHAT DAY IS IT? (USA, 1993) 11=11. I’m a big BD fan and a lot of what makes him great is present here. But it’s more self-conscious, slightly labored sounding compared to his later work. Makes sense, as it was his first solo release. My copy came from BD, with the color-copy cover and hand-stapled xerox booklet. In comparison to some of his other work may be more of a 10, but the 11 stands for now.
Deerhoof, GREEN COSMOS (USA, 2005) D:11. 2005 was a great year for the brilliant avant pop-rockers from San Francisco: releasing both this excellent EP and the equally good full-length THE RUNNERS FOUR. This stuff is real ‘progressive’, and even a little bit ‘prog’ too, if you cach the meaning of my distinction. One of those bands who would rate highly on Gnosis if they registered more on prog radar.
Dom Minasi, THE VAMPIRE’S REVENGE (USA, 2006) D:10. Absurdly ambitious (think: ESCALATOR OVER THE HILL) avant jazz 2 CD concept album about vampires. Creepy, dense and thorny music featuring Minasi’s half-speed shortwave radio jazz guitar and tons of guests, including heavies like Matt Shipp and Borah Bergman. Sort of along the lines of Mingus’ BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY, maybe, in terms of scope and the mixture of freedom and structure. Some of it is hard to get through, including a long piece on disc 2 with a crazy dramatic recitation badgering some poor vampire, for whom I felt sorry in the end. Overall fascinating.