Copernicus - Worthless!

In the words of Alex DeLarge, “So What’s It Going to be then, eh?” before he starts his speech for the ultra-violence in A Clockwork Orange. But it’s quite an interesting experience when you have the combination of spoken-word dialogue of poetry, experimental music, and avant-rock madness that makes you wonder what is going on here. Well,, the ride that you are to embark on is from a man who knows his poetry and dialog very well by the name of Copernicus (Joseph Smalkowski)

Copernicus has been around since the mid ‘60s in the New York poetry scene and almost as if he’s following in the footsteps of Gil-Scott Heron, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsburg while performing in some of the clubs that were part of the punk scene including Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s to name a few and performed in Europe as well.  And while this is my introduction to his work in the sounds of poetry and music combined into one, this is something that is beyond the beyond of strange beauty.

Worthless! Has this weird combination of; Aphrodite’s Child’s 666-era, Captain Beefheart, The Last Poets, Amon Duul II, Faust, Gong, and Lol Coxhill. Plus it also goes alongside the avant-rock sounds by following into the minds of ‘70s Krautrock, Neo-Classical and Free Jazz where everyone goes haywire and do whatever it goes from various improvisations as Copernicus goes through a spiritual turned evil-minded views of the dystopian universe and he knows it very well and knows the atmosphere of the world very well.

And what he’s telling the listener is “this world that we’re living in, is not what you think. Everything is an illusion and when you go inside the darker hole, pull out one piece of the truth and shout to let everyone know that we are living in the massive crime of the century. And shout out for freedom to stop the machine!” You have to understand its opening the door and seeing what the massive corporations aren’t what they seem to be and it isn’t a pretty scene when you have it opened.

His voice goes through various improvisations when he speaks from wide ranges of soft, screaming, shouting, and calmness that he brings. The music at times in which helps Copernicus out, shifts from these laid-back into tension noises with psychedelia grooved out raga-rock movements (Quantum Mechanics, Everlasting Freedom), Rock in Opposition atmosphere’s with the forces of Zeuhl (You are not your Body), Jazz Rock chaotic structures with the bebop genre of Funk (You are the Subatomic), Country-Blues (What is Existence?), and Concerto Piano with uplifting surroundings of a ballad (You are the Illusion that I perceive).

Then, everything becomes twisted with the instruments now going into chaotic mode along with a horn section, background vocalizations, and instruments going haywire (A Hundred Trillion Years!) and then the calm after the storm where its almost a score to the ending of David Lynch’s Eraserhead on the closing 12-minute title track with a symphonic string quartet and sliding guitar as you can imagine the man giving the last rite to the listener as a tragic hero to give its final speech.

It’s not an easy album to listen to, but this is for me, one of the most strangest yet beautiful, darkness, and mind-boggling albums I’ve listened to. So if you admired the bands and poets I’ve mentioned, then check out Worthless! A must have, but be aware, once you’ve listened to it from start to finish, there’s no stop sign to embark on Copernicus roller-coaster ride.

Dialeto - The Last Tribe

Haunting and Improvising music can come at you out of nowhere as if it was to give you a big leap out of your comfy listener’s chair. And this Brazilian trio, know the sounds very well when it comes to Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion combined together like a steamroller as if it to take you into different areas for wonderous amazement for what you are about to sink your little ear buds in for a fantastic cosmic voyage to expect the unexpected.

With Dialeto’s music, you have this mixed bag of alongside the two genres, a dosage of experimental music, virtuosity which takes both the three instruments from various movements whether its Rock, Ambient, and Atmospheric music and not to mention the sounds of the Discipline-era from King Crimson’s peak where they moved from Prog into New Wave with unbelievable results. Guitarist Nelson Coelho, is perhaps one of the most mind-boggling guitarists I’ve heard. He has these influential sounds of Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, and Frank Zappa and takes his virtuosity with amazement as he would take the listener to killer results.

Then there’s Jorge Pescara who plays the Touch Guitar, which is a fret board tapping style of the instrument in the realms of the Chapman Stick and Warr Guitar. He plays in the style of Tony Levin and Trey Gunn and provides thumping bass work on the frets with fierce and blazing results during Nelson’s compositions. There are amazing compositions that he wrote, and not to mention with some of the most centerpieces of five of the tracks throughout The Last Tribe.

Drummer, Miguel Angel who helps out with the rhythm stick on his drums, carries a lot of the energy and is the driving force to keep the train chugging with the beats he carries with the sounds on the percussion. Most of the time, his drumming reminds me of Bill Bruford and Billy Cobham with some thunderous, eruptive, and energetic forces to capture where his bandmates would go into a different time signature, he follows them wherever they go into.

The swirling Tarde Demais (Too Late) mixed with a flamenco bluesy guitar layered surroundings and featuring a grooved out exercise between the guitar and bass which it has a rhythm and lead upbeat for the first few minutes before the drums kick in and it becomes a whole new level to do the tango. More into the heavier side is Dorian Grey, featuring Jorge’s fretted bass work that goes into a fuzztone beat while Coelho goes into a vibrating mode and you could almost feel the reminiscent of Tool’s 10,000 Days period.

Vintitreis features a vibraphone introduction and then Jorge’s bass, crescendo introduction from Miguel and then going into a hyper mellowing ¾ time signature turned sinister with a heavy waltzy attitude featuring Nelson going to the core by doing some heavy power riffs as if he’s doing homages to the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) scene and John McLaughlin’s style as well while the opener, Windblaster has this very dreamland escapade that is daring, enthralling, and compelling that begins with an amazing adventure into different dimensions in our solar system.

Yet one of the most exhilarating of the music is the knock-out Sand Horses, which begins with a Stop-and-go movement from the instruments before it becomes a racing yet thunderous ambitious turned compelling piece as they go move from Jazz Fusion into a Heavy-Metal excitement as they challenge The Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Iron Maiden with an interesting and roaring results that would get you ready to headbang at the right moment at the right time.

I have listened to The Last Tribe about five times already and I’m getting hooked into see where they would go into next. Moonjune Records have scored big when it comes to Prog and Jazz. It is a knowledge, stunning album from start to finish and it’s a must have for this year. 

The Wrong Object - After the Exhibition

It’s been a good while since I’ve heard some materials from Belgian guitarist virtuoso, Michel Delville from his solo projects with Doubt and Machine Mass Trio to name and helping the tribute to Soft Machine's and Matching Mole's drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt with Comicoperando featuring two members from Henry Cow and a few members including; double bassist John Edwards, Keyboardist Karen Mantler, and Annie Whitehead on trombone to honor and respect Wyatt's music in Amsterdam on May 19, 2011. But its been six years since his group, The Wrong Object have released an album. And while this is my introduction to the band’s music, I have to tell you I’m completely hooked with their sound and surreal beauty they would come up with.

That and their new album, After the Exhibition, released this year by the good people at Moonjune Records, has come in full circle. It has this voyage of Jazz Rock, Free-Jazz, Avant-Rock, Ambient noises, Chamber Music, and bits of Rock in Opposition to fill in the influences of The Wrong Object’s inspiration. Originally, they started out as a Frank Zappa tribute band and performed in Zappanale, which is the festival and honor the genius of the composer and various Jazz Festivals in Europe as well.

But, let’s get straight to the music. The blistering Detox Gruel starts the album off with a bang featuring Francois Lourtie and Marti Melia’s Sax work and Michel’s guitar line that begins with a soothing race before going into uncharted nightmares as Antoine Guenet of SH.TG.N layers the fuzz keyboard sound as they resemble a heavier version of Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three meets Black Sabbath with a droning attitude and not to mention the stop-and-go reference from bassist Pierre Mottet.

But Pierre comes in shining with his Jazz Funk surroundings as he takes center stage on the wah-wah and Pastorious-lines on Spanish Fly as the band goes into an astonishing yet balls out time-changing experience as Yantra goes straight in the waters of middle-eastern late ‘60s early ‘70s vibe with the Saxes wailing through the beat and tempo to capture and raise the notes to see where both Lourtie and Melia go from their instruments.

Frank Nuts is heavy hard jazz-rock like no other. Featuring Michel and Pierre’s intro playing the melody between guitar and bass as Antoine goes into this Dave Stewart of Egg haywire effect on the organ as it go into this alarming effect that is almost post-apocalyptic and cooled down for the last few minutes. Then there’s the unthinkable 3-part suite of Jungle Cow.

There are surroundings as I’ve mentioned, Chamber Music, Ambient-noises, animal-like effect noises, Atmospheric effects, and a dramatic RIO fast-driven turned dooming finale that comes with unbelievable results by nodding to Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma-era, Tangerine Dream, Magma, Univers Zero, King Crimson, and the Pawn Hearts-era of Van Der Graaf Generator.

The 8-minute Glass Cubes featuring Susan Clynes and Antoine Guenet, which is the only track to feature vocals, goes through a concerto into various moods and soars into the sky. It has elements of early Gentle Giant as Antoine’s voice resembles Paul Shulman as Susan herself cools it down to share her voice with Guenet before he goes into this wonderful improvisation on the piano.

Then it’s back into the Jazz-Rock vibe on Wrong But Not False where Michel discovers his influential guitar sound as he takes it into different worlds with his solo with going into different frets on the instrument. At times it’s very bluesy, hard, and fusion to the core while Flashlight into Black Hole is a calm turned into a hypnotic ecstatic workout.

The closer, Stammtisch (Regulars’ Table), features Benoit Moerlen going into wonderous momentum on the vibraphone as he pays homage to Ruth Underwood as it becomes this wonderful tribute not just to Frank Zappa, but the way he would take a different approach into something humorous and fun in a dance-like way before Antoine and Michel go into this waltz-like beauty to close the album off for the curtain to drop.

After The Exhibition is a welcoming handshake for The Wrong Object’s return. This is a wacky, joyous, and ready to enjoy the rollercoaster ride to have fun. The band is in full swing to see what they had up their sleeves.

Pinnick Gales Pridgen - Pinnick Gales Pridgen

When you think of a supergroup, you think of; ELP, Bad Company, Cream, CSNY, and Ginger Baker’s Air Force, you know you are going into some amazing music that will take you by surprise from artists who had been in various bands whom people known and love. But if it’s an African-American power trio that are in the realms of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, there is absolute magic coming from three members who really take the score of Blues, Prog, and Hard Rock into a different area in a whole new level.

Pinnick Gales Pridgen (PGP to be more precise) is bassist dUg Pinnick of King’s X, guitarist Eric Gales of the Eric Gales Band and worked with Lauryn Hill, and drummer Thomas Pridgen of The Mars Volta, have released their first sole self-titled debut album, three musicians have released a powerful yet volcanic eruption and its worth the trip to unbelievable results. You have Pinnick with a thunderous bass work and takes it to the street while Eric Gales who had been around since the ‘80s as a child prodigy, he is an outstanding guitarist by taking the blues and metal in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kirk Hammett, and his hero Jimi Hendrix into a wowing reception.

Then, there’s Thomas Pridgen, whose drumming is a wildly improvisation with a fast and killing tempo that almost sounds like a machine gun reigning rapid fire, he knows the score with Jazz and Harder edge to it in the realms of Keith Moon, Lars Ulrich, and Billy Cobham. There are thirteen tracks on the album and right from the beginning, middle, and the end, you begin to realize that this is a roller-coaster ride that you’ll never forget and enduring six centerpieces here.

Opener, Collateral Damage, is a crunchy and explosive starter to kick the album off. Featuring heavy riffs and lead guitar driven lines along with energetic drum work and Pinnick and Gales vocals taking center as they share the microphone on the chorus before Gales himself goes into a punchy yet dazzling guitar solo and at times it feels like something straight out of the sessions for Lenny Kravitz’s Let Love Rule, but it has a real eruptive introduction that could be used to start the NASCAR race.

The tuned-down cover version of Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love has this haunting yet punchy doom metal vibe as if Black Sabbath had covered it back in 1970, but what PGP has done, is they stay true to the original version that it was meant to be with attitude, fierce, and in your face while they show how much PGP admired the trio that have carried the influential sounds in their blood of the Heavy Blues sound. Hang On, Big Brother is a driven adventure as the band goes straight into town with ‘70s Soul and Metal with a hard-hitting roar thanks Gales and Pridgen going almost like a duel between Guitar solo and drum work while the moody and sinister attitude on Black Jeans has this tour de force unique homage of Tool’s Undertow-era meets King Crimson’s Red-era.

Angels and Aliens becomes this hypnotic spacey adventure as Gales gets a moment to shine in which he Pinnick and Pridge help him out as he goes from rhythm into lead guitar work from solar system voyage to a soaring tempo to get the juice flowing with a psychedelia-metallic feel. The Greatest Love has a catchy funk-rock vibe between the riff mode, Pinnick/Gales vocals, and the quirky upbeat touches with a stop-and-go moment that Eric does as he challenges Frank Zappa on his instrument that at times is layered and back into the groove.

This is a really interesting debut for dUg Pinnick, Eric Gales, and Thomas Pridgen to release a debut album. However, there is a lot of energy and spirit between the three of the members who came from various bands and they kicked it up a notch. This is a must have album for 2013 and it’s a highly recommended album for anyone who’s into Funk, Prog, Heavy Soul, Jazz and Hard Rock.

MoeTar - From These Small Seeds

The Sound of Avant-Prog and Progressive Pop may be an awkward crossover. Let’s say for example if Gentle Giant had teamed up with Supertramp, 10cc, and went on the road with Frank Zappa and the early Genesis period, it would have been an interesting tour. But, when you have a band coming out with one of the most electrifying debuts to come out last year, it is definitely worth listening to and that band is MoeTar and their debut album, From These Small Seeds.

Featuring Moorea Dickason’s soothing and strange yet amazing vocals that are a jaw-dropping reaction along with Charles Heulitt’s virtuosity guitar work that captures the essence of Zappa and Steve Hackett as he goes through various movement and melodic structures to capture Moorea’s voice. Meanwhile, you have the pounding drum work and keyboard surroundings of the Rhodes, Piano, and Organ work between David Flores and Matt Lebofsky while bassist Traik Ragab comes up with these jazzy fusion lines on his bass is a predicting experience to carry the torch of Jaco Pastorious and Chris Squire.

Imagine a groovy boundary with some soul and psych, and it becomes a blistering yet exhilarating difficult time-changing sing-along song on Butchers of Baghdad, it has a lot of catchy melodies as vocals/guitar sing the parts as Moorea sings her heart out to give the band a chance to get train rolling. Meanwhile, Random Tandem has this late ‘70s Pronk (Prog-Punk) sound between the combinations of New Traditionalists-era of Devo meets the Cardiacs as if to pay tribute to the great Tim Smith.

Opener, Dichotomy has this soaring and dancing upbeat tempo. Featuring Concerto-like piano introduction along with a laid-back groove evolves into bits of a symphonic movement. Coming out with Fender Rhodes and Moog-like fusion-like exercise, thumping bass, and guitars doing a stop-and-go by going through the clouds into unbelievable worlds that the listener goes into different dimensions.

As catchy as their third track, Infinitesimal Sky, they dive into the deeper waters of Genesis’ Selling England By The Pound-era. With heavy power chord and Hackett-like guitar lines, Charlie just goes at it by going through hard and prog combining into one as Moorea sings it out while Flores creates some synth-like work capturing the essence of Tony Banks.

The haunting militant yet marching beauty on Ist Or An Ism is very wacky and fun before it becomes a calming yet relaxing before getting back into the heavy mode for the ending while Morning Person and the title track is back into the difficult time changes resembling the sounds of Roxy Music’s 2HB and Frank Zappa’s The Dog Breath Variations. New World Chaos carries the marching sounds on the fifth composition, but it has this dreamy yet adventurous soaring story featuring crazy guitar work and the double-tracking vocalizations of Moorea as she takes your hand into this amazing fairy-tale surroundings.

The haunting Screed, possesses of taking a magic carpet ride off into the clouds and encountering thunderstorms before going into a day-like mode. There’s a lot of dramatic structures that is very much like a mini rock opera with pounding piano chords, dazzling drum work, and emotional structures between the vocals and guitar lines while the lyrics deals with a person struggling to breakthrough his past by suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and getting away to find out who they really are by moving forward into the future.

The soothing Never Home is a love-letter to New York City that has some cool Rhodes-like work and Piano surroundings as Lebofsky challenges Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock. Closer, Friction captivates the climatic climax as it kicks into full gear with soaring turned gentle into a fast-driven complex. As the lyrics, “Flawed with contradiction/Pass along the friction/Villains are Altrustic/Heroes Narcisstic.” You can tell that Moorea was almost challenging the mind of Peter Hammill with a view on how the heroes and villains are what you think from the TV, News, and Comics.

I have listened to From These Small Seeds about 13 times and I just couldn’t get enough of this fine album. I can’t wait to see what MoeTar will have tricks up their sleeves for the follow-up and the group is one of the most daring bands I’ve listened to. So if you admire the bands and artists like; Gentle Giant, 10cc, Supertramp, Genesis, Yugen, Hamster Theatre, Frank Zappa, and Thinking Plague, this is one of the them.

Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time

It is considered one of Hawkwind’s finest albums in the history of their career and in the genre of the Space Rock sound in 1975. Through countless bootlegs that have not been done in good conditions and through getting the rights the way the album was meant to be, was almost a struggle. But when Atomhenge announced back in February of this year that they were going to reissue the album during Memorial Day, it was a joy to celebrate into the outer limits. So, let’s have a huge round of applause for Mark Powell to work tooth and nail to give it the fully restored treatment it finally deserves.

Originally released in 1975 on the United Artists label, Warrior on the Edge of Time, Hawkwind’s fifth album is staggering, powerful, sinister, eruptive, and cosmic. It showed the band going through changes from their follow up to previous work; In Search of Space, Doremi Fasol Latido, the live work of Space Ritual, and Hall of the Mountain Grill. They received cult status and word of mouth from the fans and the UK press during their heyday.

The band decided to team up with Sci-Fi writer Michael Moorcock, who’s best known for his work with The Elric Saga and The Eternal Champion, because Dave Brock was a huge fan of his work and it was a match made in heaven and was Robert Calvert’s stand in because Rob was at the time suffering from Bipolar Disorder causing tensions between the members and was placed in a Mental Hospital. Michael came to Hawkwind’s rescue to work on the Warrior sessions and some of the live performances he did for them.

Some of the songs in the album are based on The Eternal Champion which is about a man named John Daker who escapes from the real world and into a different universe by becoming Erekose, and he is send to this planet to lead the human warriors against the aliens called, Eldrien. While the character has attacked them previously, Daker himself is also not on this journey for survival, but to find out whom he really is whether he’s John Daker or the tragic hero, Erekose and whether is the magic real as well.

So, let’s get to the music. Starting the album off is the driven yet electrical thunderstorm 10-minute epic, Assault & Battery /The Golden Void. The lyrics are straight from 19^th century American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but the composition is a mind-boggling experience. Featuring Lemmy’s bass intro and Simon House’s (High Tide) mellotronic introduction before becoming a harder metallic liftoff between Dave’s vocals and Nik’s eerie Sax work, it shows how much they were ahead of their time before it becomes a doomier view of the future on someone going insane through the corridors as Simon takes the keyboards help throughout the atmosphere.

The Spoken Tracks (The Wizard Blew His Horn, Standing at the Edge, and Warriors) that Nik Turner and Michael Moorcock help out on give a nightmarish detail on the stories. And at times, it very poetic with a dystopian universe as the other pieces have these Dalek like voices that you can imagine being used during the Tom Baker years for Doctor Who. It has some shrieking and asylum-like surroundings behind the pieces and giving the detail of the adventures for the Warrior himself.

Opa-Loka is a thumping atmospheric bass-driven done by Dave Brock, psychedelia with organ-like surroundings with virtuosity on the guitar creating these mysterious hypnotic beauty while Spiral Galaxy 28948 is Simon House’s moment to shine as he takes the keyboards on the synths into uncharted worlds as it resembles this combination of Amon Duul II meets Tangerine Dream meets Devo as it goes through this surrealism waltz-like dance in our solar systems that is mad yet strange composition that Simon just nails it to be the next commander in the Starship Enterprise.

The Demented Man is a calming yet gothic-acid-ambient-space folk rock sound as Brock sings with a gentle relaxation between acoustic guitar, seagulls calling, and the backing mellotron sets the tone of the piece as it resembles an earlier version of Ash Ra Tempel. Then, everything becomes a dangerous combination of protopunk, fiddle, danger, and soaring punches on Magnu with fummeling guitar and bass work, Simon King’s heavy duty drum lines, and House’s sinister violin work with a screeching tone.

Then, everything becomes climatic and cosmic-rock with a vibrating beat on Dying Seas.  This time its Simon House’s moment to shine as he takes his violin into darker territories while the tension level increases to give it a whirling yet terrifying exploration. The closing track, Kings of Speed, goes back into the Spacey mode, but its into the Punk-Rock mode with a shuffling twist not to mention the keyboards and guitar go into overdrive to setting a course back to earth to close the album off with a bang.

The bonus tracks are a real gem that feature different versions of the two spoken word dialog along with a Bob Dylan-sque turned bluesy harmonic jingle on On The Road, but it’s the real attitude with a balls-out touch of early Thrash on Motorhead. Featuring Lemmy’s double-tracking voice and his pummeling bass work, heavy rhythm guitar line, sax, and Simon’s Irish Jig-like sound on the violin, makes it a killer to get you ready for the speed freak to go on an adventure.

There’s also Dave Brock’s version along with and instrumental version on Kings of Speed, but the real fun has only begun. On the second CD, is the 2013 new stereo mix done by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree has done a superb job on the remix for the 5.1 sound and I can hear some of the keyboards and drums in the front of the compositions along with Nik’s woodwind instruments. As I’ve mentioned before Steven has done an incredible job on the reissue for the mixes along hearing the mellotron again on Spiral Galaxy being in front as well.

Dawn is more of a jam session that as the lost live sounds that were performed at the Watchfield Free Festival on August 23^rd, 1975. Watchfield is a village located as a Civil Parish in the Vale of White Horse and these rare recordings see the band going into hypnotic mode. The Watchfield Festival Jam is actually a 15-minute freak out touch on You Shouldn’t Do That as the spiraling Circles and I Am the Eye, shows the band giving the audience a spiritual yet uplifting experience they’ll never forget.

Even though its not in the best condition, you can tell how much exciting they were having at the Festival and the Audience were cheering them on as they were promoting the album. Atomhenge have scored a knockout with the Deluxe Edition and it’s a home-run. Now if you fancy the Super Deluxe Edition which features the poster and Vinyl, it’s a must have for anybody who admires the music of Hawkwind.

String Driven Thing - String Driven Thing / The Machine That Cried

When people think of Folk, they think of: Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan. And their names have been explained over and over again, but there is one band from Scotland that always had a touch of the coolness, darkness, and powerful experiences that you’ve never heard before. That group is String Driven Thing. Since their formation in 1967, they started out as a trio with two guitars and a tambourine founded by husband and wife duo Chris and Pauline Adams and John Manion, they moved away from the folky sound into something as I’ve mentioned before into darker territories and surreal beauty that has never been done before.

Their two albums (String Driven Thing & The Machine That Cried) are a mind-blowing experience from start to finish. Originally released in the Charisma label in 1972 and 1973, and reissued by the good people from Esoteric Recordings, this is a special treat if you want to go inside the different Progressive Folk scene and shows that the Folk genre is not just a four letter word. Alongside the Adams family (no pun intended), it considers Graham Smith on violin and Colin Wilson on Bass along with Bill “The Kid” Fairley who played drums on their third album.

Beginning in 1972 with the release of their second sole self-titled debut album in which they brought along Shel Talmy, who’s known for his work with The Kinks, The Who, and Pentangle to name a few as a producer, it was a match made in heaven. What really surprise me away about String Driven Thing, is how Chris Adams can really sing very well and a good screamer as well by belting it out while Graham comes up with these shrieking yet calm-like moods on his violin and Pauline helps his husband out by singing along by giving him a helping hand.

Songs like the shuffling funk yet bluesy rocking out powder keg with a lot of force on My Real Hero as they go into town by dealing with how God doesn’t play in a Rock & Roll band as the balls-out intro Circus that features a heavy guitar driven riff, pummeling tambourine, and a cool bass line, the lyrics dealing with the childhood memories inside the Tent and seeing the dangerous animals, clowns, and the dangerous stunts that the performers have to do on the tightrope, you can tell how this is a good way to start the album off with a bang.

Then, there’s the catchy melodies including Hooked on the Road & Fairground in which they capture the beauty of Graham’s violin in which he goes from this country-tinged sound into an upbeat surrounding that would become the String Driven Thing sound as Pauline goes into this soothing calm-like vocals on the second track as Graham and Chris come up with down-home driven beats on their instruments.  The waltzy ¾ time signature on the ballad, The Last Blue Yodel, has this wonderful homage to Fairfield Parlour as Chris’ voice reminisces of Peter Daltrey while they go back into a psychedelia blues shuffle into the heavy rock mode on Let Me Down as the violin becomes a Hendrix-like wah-wah solo.

The closer, There You Are, has this whimsical yet romantic dance-like number as the band dealing with a song about a man’s love toward this girl who has dreams and can’t stop taking their eyes on the person he loves so much. It’s a beautiful track and a great way to close the album off with a wonderful tribute to Harry Nilsson’s earlier days in the late ‘60s.

The follow up, The Machine That Cried, released in 1973 is where everything comes at the right time at the right place. Even though it received mixed reviews at the time of its release, it is now considered a lost classic as they went into a heavier and evil mode and Chris was suffering through depression and had a collapsed lung at the time of the recording sessions were made of their third album, and still after 40 years after its official release, the album deserves recognition.

Opener, Heartfeeder, starts off with Graham’s nightmarish violin intro as it goes through a set of motions before Chris’ voice kicks in and then it becomes a whole new level. His terrifying vocals sends shivers down my spine as you can imagine the band going into this sinister upbeat tempo  as Colin Wilson creates some evil walking bass lines to set the mood before going back into the climatic finale with a silent dramatic ending.

To See You has this Dylanesque beauty as it almost was recorded during the Nashville Skyline sessions while they go back into full gear with harder edge into the shuffling rock mode in the groove on Night Club. Then Chris shines again with his vocals as Graham and Pauline help out with the eruptive yet evocative touches on Sold Down the River. Listening to this, you can feel his pain from his singing as the violin sets the atmosphere and the drumming helps the powerful touches to get the scenery and it’s a shrieking and touching moment on the composition.

Then, it’s a revisit to the ‘60s with a Hendrix-like sound as Pauline takes over on vocals with Two Timin’ Mama. It has these touches along with Hendrix that Chris does on the guitar and bits of Richard Thompson’ work as a bit of a tribute to the man from Fairport Convention and it is a very moody piece on being lost now in the future and not thinking about the past. The calm after the storm becomes a lukewarm sunny afternoon as they take a break from the electricity into acoustic ballads on The House, Travelling and the vivid People on the Street.

And its back into the haunting mode again with the title track, which almost sounds like something straight out of a Ray Bradbury short story, but it’s the dramatic level that really kicks in as both Chris and Pauline sing together as like a duet on the piece while Graham just goes to town to give it a huge notch and the rest is a pure adventure. The closing 11-minute epic, River of Sleep, is a spiritual yet disturbing composition.

There are movements that are; soft, evil, experimental, spacey, dreamy, and terrifying. And what they do is a spellbinding twist to come up with various genres to give you the chills as they Graham Smith himself a chance to shine to improvise as he challenges Darryl Way for the tension level to set up the variations for someone by going through a nervous breakdown. And it’s a perfect closing piece to close the album and the curtains to go down for a thunderous applause.

The bonus tracks are singles that appeared at the time they were promoting the album. You have the uplifting song on how everything’s stage for lovers and fools on It’s a Game, then it’s a roaring volcanic stomping on becoming famous and the price that comes with it by remembering the past on the ‘50s and ‘60s with Are You a Rock ‘N’ Roller? Not to mention a powerful organ sound while they go into  the Prog Rock sound and bits of Glam Rock in there with the stomping I’ll Sing This One For You by challenging Slade and Pavlov’s Dog.

The liner notes are spot on as they are done by Sid Smith who’s best known for his writing on King Crimson and this one features an interview that he did with Chris Adams. It’s a history on how the band came to be and during the making of the albums and he has done one hell of a job researching and for Chris remembering the good old days on String Driven Thing. Ahead of their time, the band is one of the most true and underrated pioneers in the history of Progressive Folk.