The Lavender Flu - 'Mow the Glass' (In the Red)

The sophomore effort from the Lavender Flu finds them congealing into a quartet (unlike the first double LP which is Chris Gunn + whomever) and tightening things up, while still leaving room for a ragged, open feel. This is heard right off the bat with 'Follow the Flowers', a total banger that provides the killer hook (something I felt was missing from Heavy Air) in its chorus. By also recording the whole thing in a proper studio, it's definitely a 'real' rock album, the product of a band that may be driven by Gunn's idiosyncratic vision, but remains sonically diverse. There's a haze that covers every track, or maybe it's more like a thin, wet film. Something, anyway, is coating the sound, and it's not lo-fi or murky, but rather a welcoming, comforting place that allows the shimmery guitar effects, background vocals, and guest pedal steel to combine for a maximally psychedelic effect. Yeah, there's that word again, so hard to avoid. Listen to the outro of 'Reverse Lives', where the song fades away into a pond of organic tones - it's electric, without being aggressive, and held in place by the really punchy bass playing. We get another Townes van Zandt cover ('Like a Summer Thursday', a song I always really loved), given a sprightly and optimistic injection, and an Eastern workout ('A Raga Called Erik') that perfectly segues into 'You Are the Prey', with the most shoegazery sound on the record in its intro. Gunn is still happy to hold his vocals back - the cohesive band feel doesn't like a blantant stab at commerciality, and by the end of it (a normal length, unlike Heavy Flu), Mow the Glass has picked up a melancholy, or perhaps an air of resignation. The other cover, Jackson C. Frank's 'Just Like Anything', contributes to this downer feel, despite the bouncy feel of the drumming. I am reminded again of Sic Alps and their West coast psych sound, which maybe was more influential than anyone would have guessed. Gunn's vocal delivery is similar to Mike Donovan and the guitar worship is of a similar ilk - fluttery, jangly, and affected. This builds to a crashing climax with 'Ignorance Restored', a track that could feel like a battle cry or summation except I'm already so satisfied by the rest of the record before it even gets there that I haven't even really digested that one yet. Mow the Glass was one of the high points of last year, a year in which I didn't buy too many records (couldn't afford to, really), and felt further away from 'new' music than ever. But now, if a proper band, that means Lavender Flu probably play concerts and I'd love to see them.

The Incredible String Band - 'The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' (Elektra)

Talk about a shift in marketing - the cover alone would suggest that Messrs Heron and Williamson, reduced to a duo here, majorly 'turned on' after their first album and in their cosmic dialogue with the universe decided to reinvent the Incredible String Band as a fully psychedelicised wonder. I don't know if the music carries through on this promise, though it's a huge step forward in confidence and originality, and furthermore the duo plays together as a band on almost every track, making this feel much more cohesive. I'd say its more a step towards pop accessibility than drugged out wonderbliss. One can hear this from the get-go, on 'Chinese White', where Williamson's bowed gimbri adds a thick drone behind the song, sounding a bit like a Dylanesque harmonica only with a fourth dimension added. That's maybe the psychedelic-influenced ISB in a nutshell - or maybe the confident production of Joe Boyd is to thank. Danny Thompson guests on a few tracks and hand drums are occasionally present, though it's hardly a rock and roll ensemble; the presence of sitar (or guitar affected to sound like a sitar) and flute, weaving through the melodies is a bigger presence throughout. Without any traditionals here, the songcraft feels more akin to the 60s Village scene than to Anne Briggs or Shirley Collins, with only their accent really linking things to any UK folk movement. There's a syncopated quirk to some of the tunes, like 'No Sleep Blues', others look to jazz and blues for direction. Heron's tunes in particular have the hooks, like the indefatigable 'Hedgehog Song' and 'Painting Box'. If I try to imagine this accompanying a late 60s psychedelic/mystical 'trip' I'm sure there's some great psychedelic value; 'Little Cloud' is whimsical and jaunty but lyrically about floating to distant lands; 'My Name is Death' can be the bummer note or the key to understanding the whole experience, perhaps. The closer, 'Way Back in the 1960s', takes a fun, tongue-in-cheek look back to this time, and holds up well as a quasi-novelty number. I realise that writing about so many records here runs the risk of being pointless or uninsightful, and I can't think of what I can personally add about these mega-famous ISB albums, since I have little personal connection to them beyond just enjoying them now and then. The best I can do is to try to relate it to other music experiences, but apart from the resurgence of interest in 60s folk in the 00s noise 'underground', I couldn't think of music further away from the current Now/zeitgeist than this. And even within that decade-past underground, ISB was way too well-known to be seen as cool, when there were an endless stream of obscure burnout loners to discover instead. Still, this album and their next one have gotten many a play, not just my beaten copy (whose lifespan was already worn down long before it entered my possession) but among people in general, as these records remain immensely popular for good reason.

Fotheringay (A&M)

My copy of this is so beat-to-shit that it's buried in surface noise, and skips a good it bit too. I actually fear for the safety of my stylus and thus rarely listen to it. Also, despite being a pretty solid record, I never get any craving to hear it. This picks up where you'd expect it to - taking the Fairport sound but bringing in a stronger Dylan/Band influence, most obvious in the cover of 'Too Much of Nothing but also on 'Winter Winds', a less languid but otherwise derivative take on the 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere' vibe. Co-lead vocalist (and Denny's husband) Trevor Lucas sounds pretty good against Denny; the timbre of his voice isn't a million kilometres away from Richard Thompson's, though, so this feels precisely like the second act it is. Additionally, naming your band after one of your iconic songs from your last band can't help but cast a cloud over whatever you do next. Through all the static I can hear how nicely this is produced; a good drum sound, lots of reverb on the guitar lines, and the voices soaring above it all. I think they only ever made this one record; Denny went solo with the excellent The North Star Grassman and the Ravens and I don't know whatever happened to Lucas. It's all what one might expect from a Fairport Convention spinoff, and that's perfectly OK. Denny's perfect touch is why this is remarkable; the Lucas-led songs barely stand out. There's some nice electric guitar leads, but it's the wispy, rolling Fairport sound that I like the most; Denny's 'The Pond and the Stream' being a great example of this. The cover art is pretty bonkers when you stop to actually look at it; on my beaten, faded copy it feels strangely, I dunno, authoritative.

Le Drapeau Noir (Chironex)

The new wave of free British music is here! I gravitated around these circles for a few years so I saw a lot of interesting stuff happening in the UK, which was music being made by young, dedicated musicians with strong roots in the free/jazz antecedents of the 60s and 70s, a strong influence of punk/hardcore/indie, and a willingness to tie up all these strands into something strong and personal. Chora, from Sheffield, are leaders among that and this one-off project, Le Drapeau Noir, features some of them (I think) and maybe some people from the Hunter Gracchus (also from Sheffield) and most certainly Pascal Nichols from Part Wild Horses Mane on Both Sides, as his drumming style is inimitable. The label says it's all three bands together, which if you think about it, should be a cacophonous mess - but instead we get a cacophonous bucket of beauty. This above-mentioned druming style anchors the three jams on this self-titled LP, allowing harmonium, flute, and what sounds even like a tamboura to weave in and out of the order/chaos edge. While made only a few years ago, it dowses into the more floral currents of 1960's jazz, yet updates it with a communicative sense of collective joy. By the end, the explorations are tonal, as a thick blanket of drones comes together with each member confident, listening, yet free. It's a remarkable coming together of minds, perhaps meant only as a one-off thing, but thankfully having made this document. Which is great, because these things are lovely to listen to!

Alternative TV - 'The Image Has Cracked' (Deptford Test Company)

Source: Ross.

One of the all-time great albums I'd say, for it opens with 'Alternatives', probably the most gestalt side 1 track 1 of the punk era. Making their arguments, armed with Situationism Xeroxes and jagged biros, the 'movement' is intellectualised --- or is it just wryly shown to be another simulacra? Then the rock kicks in and the three-chord truth is taken to extremes, with a certain shifting riff making itself felt on almost every song. Mark Perry shows his roots in the back cover with Zappa, Forever Changes, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and my favorite - Van Dyke Parks' Clang of the Yankee Reaper. The jammier rock parts, especially on side 2, actually anticipate stuff like Bitch Magnet and Tar, though maybe this is just coincidence. The kids should have all been singing 'Action Time Vision' in the streets instead of whatever Sham 69's latest single was. I thought the guy from Psychic TV was on this record but I think he joined for Vibing up the Senile Man, an LP I thought that I owned but apparently don't.

Byron Allen Trio (ESP)

Source: Jerry's, 4 May 2002, priced at $7 but discounted to $6. Thanks, Jerry!

I'll let you in on a secret about Dislocated Underbite Spinal Alphabetical Encourager Templates: those images you see on every post, of the album under discussion, are mostly stolen from elsewhere on the Internet. I only bother to snap a photo if I can't find an existing image that matches my album cover. So this pristine b&w jpg to the left is actually from Amazon and probably represents the CD issue. My LP, an original on ESP from '65, has this image on a yellowing piece of paper pasted on a thick warped black cardboard sleeve. The vinyl itself is in terrible condition -- probably rated "poor" if I was a collecting type -- and sounds accordingly fucked. The surface noise actually overpowers the music, and let's be honest - this wouldn't be anyone's favorite ESP record anyway. Though that may be because the Byron Allen Trio are a bit overshadowed by some of the label's other big names. I don't know any of these guys but they play well, finding a post-Ornette vibe that keeps taking three steps forward and then two steps to the side. Drummer Theo Robinson plays like a trappier Sunny Murray, and Allen's alto is a sneaky one. Maceo Gilchrist is the bassist but like many of these early ESP sides, the recording doesn't do any favors to the low end so there's points where I have to strain to hear. During his solos the surface noise destroys any hope of understanding but it's cool - it's like hearing a record from 100 years ago. The cover art is actually pretty cool in an introspective/freaky way.