Sad Lovers And Giants - Epic Garden Music (1982)

Sad Lovers & Giants are a rock band from Watford, England which formed in 1980. Their sound blends post-punk, atmospheric keyboards and psychedelia.

The original lineup included vocalist Garçe (Simon) Allard, guitarist Tristan Garel-Funk, bassist Cliff Silver, drummer Nigel Pollard and keyboardist/saxophonist David Wood.

Following their debut EP Clé and the "Colourless Dream" single, both issued in 1981, they released their debut studio album, Epic Garden Music in 1982.

It reached No. 21 in the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Working hard to further their penchant for hashing together paisley underground psychedelia and classic post-punk, Sad Lovers and Giants followed their first two acclaimed singles with the hefty EP Epic Garden Music in fall 1982. With a delicious blend of gloomy guitar and bass infused with punch and verve that recalls early Cure, and a sophisticated wordplay that was uniquely their own, the quintet split the songs between seaside and countryside, between earth and air, and inflected a little of each into the music. Absolutely cohesive and completely on track, the songs on this set are slick and smooth.

From the opening "Echoplay" and the foggy "Clocktower Lodge," which walk a quiet edge, to the pure pop of "Alice (Isn't Playing)" and the ominous closer "Far From the Sea," which sounds as if vocalist Garce Allard sang his part through a window outside the studio, each moment is a masterpiece.

And, though most of the songs maintain similar a tempo and intensity, "Clint" snaps heads around, while "Lope" features a sublimely off-kilter sax solo from David Wood. It's an addition that brings the closing dregs of a traveling circus to mind -- or, perhaps in a nod to the side's vibe, a closing seaside town that has turned a woolen shoulder to November wind and rain.

Sorely overlooked outside of England, Sad Lovers and Giants may have been lost in the wake of the post-punk generation's heroes, but they haven't been forgotten.

They remain a small pearl -- a gem of the ocean that birthed them.

All tracks written by Sad Lovers and Giants (Garce, Cliff Silver, Tristan Garel-Funk, David Wood, Nigel).

       Seaside  

A1. Echoplay - 2:55 

A2. Clocktower Lodge - 4:17 

A3. Clint - 3:27 

A4. Lope - 3:28 

       Countryside  

B1. Cloud 9 - 3:21 

B2. ART (By Me) - 3:04 

B3. Alice (Isn't Playing) - 3:44 

B4. Far From The Sea - 4:45 

Label - Midnight Music  pass: monomod

Buckwheat Zydeco - Buckwheat's Zydeco Party (1987)

Raucous, rowdy, and rambunctious in the best possible light, Buckwheat's Zydeco Party presents nimble-fingered, showstopping accordionist and band-leader Buckwheat Zydeco pulling the listener in for a Louisiana-styled throw down. 

The rhythms are hot and crazy, the band is tight, and the party is an explosion of two-steps and R&B flavored melodies. Included are the regional hit "Ya-Ya," a fiery take on Zydeco granddaddy Clifton Chenier's "Hot Tamale Baby," and a mix of traditional and original tunes. 

A smart, and with seventeen tracks, generous, collection culled from Buckwheat's two Rounder albums. ZYDECO PARTY includes a previously unreleased and absolutely blistering version of "Hot Tamale Baby" that's actually even more exciting than the slick remake done for Island the same year (1987).

As usual, Zydeco and his crack band avoid purism. There's lots of authentic zydeco ("Madame Pitre," "Lache Pas La Patate") to be sure, but there are also cover versions of two '50s rock standards (Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and Fats Domino's "Walking to New Orleans," both of which sound fresh as paint here), a pulsating big band blues ("Someone Else is Steppin' In"), and even a reggae version of Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya." Great stuff, brilliantly played.

1.  Hot Tamale Baby - 4:41  

2.  Ya Ya - 3:34  

3.  Someone Else Is Steppin' In - 3:58  

4.  Lache Pas La Patate - 2:53  

5.  Turning Point - 6:03  

6.  Walkin' To New Orleans - 4:35  

7.  Zydeco Boogaloo - 3:53  

8.  This Must Be Love - 4:04  

9.  Your Man Is Home Tonight - 5:04  

10.  Buck's Boogie - 3:05  

11.  Madame Pitre - 2:38  

12.  Help Me Understand You - 3:18  

13.  Tutti Frutti - 2:30  

14.  My Feet Can't Fail Me Now - 3:07  

15.  Tee Nah Nah - 4:44  

16.  Let The Good Times Roll - 4:59  

17.  Warm And Tender Love  - 5:01  

18.  Zydeco La Louisianne - 5:08 

Label -Rounder Records

Victor Brady - Brown Rain (1970)

At its core, New York City based Brady, an African-American, has created a seriously heavy psych album, with non stop fuzz and plenty of ranting ala Frankie Dymon or Gil Scott-Heron. Some of the material is more pop oriented, but still maintains the heavy fuzz throughout. 
But we haven't got to the weird part yet. The lead instrument? Caribbean steel drums! Unfortunately after awhile, it all starts to sound more like a gimmick rather than as accompaniment. 

Perhaps it's the association of the instrument with island vacations, but it doesn't give off the right feeling when compared with the rest of the instrumentation and atmosphere. I mean, I wouldn't want to hear someone wailing on harmonica through a similar set of tunes either. In any case, quite a find and definitely recommended for a couple of listens. Take it in small doses though. 

Victor Brady apparently was associated with the "Sound of Central Park" and, according to their website: "Victor Brady went on to cut a record deal with Polydor Records and released the album “Brown Rain”. 

Victor subsequently released a classical album called “Classical Soul” and later appeared in Las Vegas with Charo, on PBS’s Sesame Street, wrote a book about the steel drum, and performed and lectured at the Smithsonian Institute". Sounds like a true Renaissance man!

1.  Glass House (7:35)

2.  Hallucinodream (2:52)

3.  Soul Fungi (2:26)

4.  Once Upon a Candle (6:39)

5.  Brown Rain (11:30)

6.  It's a Good World Outside (6:51)

Label -Polydor Records

Blondie Chaplin - Blondie Chaplin (1977)

Terence William "Blondie" Chaplin (born 7 July 1951) is a singer and guitarist from Durban, South Africa, where he played in the band The Flames in the mid-to late-1960s. He became known to international audiences in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys. 

He is a long-term backing vocalist, percussionist, and acoustic rhythm guitarist for English band The Rolling Stones on their recordings and tours over a 15-year period, starting in 1997. To date he has released two solo studio albums.

"Rock and roll" is scrawled across of the front of this late-'70s album, but it appears to be simply some well-chosen graffiti in the photograph and not the actual album title. It would have been both generic and appropriate if that had been the choice rather than simply Blondie Chaplin as a title for the debut solo effort from an artist better known for his collaborative efforts with such large-scale cheeses as the Rolling Stones. 

"It's only rock & roll but I like it," was one of the latter band's mantras. Such is the nature of this walloping musical style that listeners could have completely missed out on Chaplin -- indeed, many did -- and really not have missed a thing. At least in terms of this album: although certainly groovy, it doesn't contain a lick that any amount of exposure to '60s and '70s rock wouldn't have already served up. 

These would be many of the stylistic trademarks of this era, particularly the later years and the temporarily hip Asylum label, aspects that will evoke smiles or fits of vomiting depending on the audience's aesthetic. 

To continue the crude comparison to digestive processes, this menu highlights tight arrangements, what they used to call "chick singers" (think "Hummingbird," meticulous horn sections, and a mixture of soul and pop flavors that was only possible in an era when these dishes were constantly served back to back on radio stations). 

Often, however, when a song seems like it is over or an instrumental break not really necessary, here comes the waiter with a dessert tray featuring an assortment of sweet lead guitar solos. One reason this record sounds like so many others is that the people that played on those other records are on this one, too. 

That includes Dave Mason of Traffic fame, Garth Hudson of the Band, and legendary session keyboardist Richard Tee. The South African Chaplin seems obsessed not with sounding different than the heroes of the day, but rather with being able to duplicate any of them at will, a talent that deserves plenty of praise. He can sing like John Fogerty or Spencer Davis yet also shines on complex copies of the Beatles. 

In light of what was happening on the music scene in the '70s, Chaplin must have just seemed like someone whose performances were fun but who never established a sound that he could call his own. Future hitmakers who relentlessly plunder the '60s and '70s make him look good in retrospective -- his tracks sound just as good, if not better, than anything recorded in 2004. 

Note: the title "For Your Love" is a Chaplin original, like everything else on the album, not a cover of the great song by the Yardbirds. 

1.  Bye Bye Babe - 3:22  

2.  Can You Hear Me - 4:18  

3.  Crazy Love - 3:23  

4.  Woman Don't Cry - 3:09  

5.  Loose Lady - 3:32  

6.  Be My Love - 3:51  

7.  Lonely Traveler - 3:15  

8.  Riverboat Queen - 5:48  

9.  Say You Need Me - 5:01  

10.  For Your Love - 2:21  

11.  Gimme More Rock 'N' Roll - 4:15  

Label - Asylum Records

John The Revelator - Wild Blues (1970)

John the Revelator is een bluesband uit Haarlem, vernoemd naar een a capella uitgevoerde bluestraditional van Son House. In 2013 viert de band het 45-jarig bestaan.

 Tijdens een bezoek aan Londen in 1966 ontmoet bassist/zanger Tom Huissen de Britse bluesmuzikant Peter Green. In 1968 sluit hij zich aan bij John the Revelator, de bluesband van onder meer pianist Charles van den Heuvel en slidegitarist Jos de Wilde, die is geïnspireerd door Peter Greens band Fleetwood Mac.

 De band wint de Loosdrecht Jazz Award en brengt bij Phonogram het eerste album Wild Blues uit.

 Op de plaat staan drie eigen nummers, met naast het titelnummer ook Charlie's Drive-In en No Woman, plus nummers van onder meer Albert King, B.B. King en Elmore James. De bezetting op de plaat bestaat in deze periode naast Van den Heuvel, Huissen en De Wilde uit Frans ten Kleij (gitaar, mondharmonica), Henno van Donselaar (altsaxofoon), Charles van der Steeg (baritonsaxofoon, tenorsaxofoon) en Fred Huissen (drums). Er volgen intensieve tournees door Nederland, België, Duitsland en Zwitserland.

1.   John the Revelator  (0:46)

2.   I Can't Stop Lovin' You  (3:02)

3.   Worried Dreams  (5:41)

4.   Charlie's Drive-In  (1:39)

5.   Talk to Me Baby  (5:01)

6.   Personal Manager  (4:35)

7.   Wild Blues  (1:37)

8.   Bleeding Heart  (4:42)

9.   No Woman  (3:12)

10.   Homework  (3:05)

11.   Yeah  (3:03)

12.   Rockin' Squirrel  (3:34)

13.   One Track Mind  (4:44)

14.   I Can't Stop Lovin' You  (3:22)

15.   Little Red Rooster  (4:17)

16.   Worried Dreams (Domi Overveen)  (4:51)

Label - Decca Records