Love - Revelation

Love - Revelation

'Revelation' is a 19 minute psychedelic blues jam that hogs the whole of one side of the album 'Da Capo'. Some critics see it as a let down to the album - a kind of flabby afterthought compared to the focussed and territory staking songs of the first half. Be that as it may, this tune has a rolling charm of its own, punctuated by the agitated yelps of Arthur Lee, rousing harmonica parts and a low end that perseveres like a used car salesman on performance enhancing drugs.

Alternative Rock Routes - Mixtape

Alternative Rock Routes - Mixtape

To make up for a combination of lethargy, distraction, hangovers, love interests and other non-excuses for a lack of postings recently, here's over an hour's worth of rock-orientated fare cobbled together recently to form a mix. It comprises obscure re-edits from labels like Blackdisco, Messalina, History Clock and Mindless Boogie, as well as some gin-u-wine original tunes too!

Kak 'Trieulogy'

Kak 'Trieulogy'

The flying tambourine on the front cover of Kak's self-titled album appears to be in the ascendency, but according to the old adage (and basic laws of physics) "what goes up must come down." With a collection of tunes this strung-out its hardly surprising the band headed back towards pacha mama like a granite balloon. 'Trieulogy' is pretty dirgy West Coast rock for the first two thirds of the song - its only in the last third that the band really wake up and find a higher gear.

Joe Beck 'Ain't No Use In Talking'

Joe Beck 'Ain't No Use In Talking'

Whilst another Beck was hogging all the limelight in the late 60s and early 70s, this one was operating under the radar with his own take on folk rock incorporating a jazz guitar and soul seam. This number attends to the situation of his girlfriend being a slight pain in the arse at times.

Alexander Skip Spence 'Little Hands'

Alexander Skip Spence 'Little Hands'

Standout album opener from Alexander 'Skip' Spence's acid-fried solo LP 'Oar'. Often described as an American counterpart to Syd Barrett, Spence released this album in 1969 following a big meltdown that culminated in the sometime Jefferson Airplane drummer and member of Moby Grape venting his energy in a recording studio with a fire axe and being committed to New York's Bellevue Hospital as a result. 'Oar' is peppered with moments of brilliance and of nuttiness, but never indifference. 'Little Hands' is probably the most accessible and cogent song on there.

Relatively Clean Rivers 'Easy Ride'

Relatively Clean Rivers 'Easy Ride'


A tidy slice of west coast folk-rock psychedelia from one-album-wonders Relatively Clean Rivers. Their user friendly if somewhat derivative sound summons the spirit of Grateful Dead circa 'Workingman's Dead' if somewhat more constrained in tempo and expansiveness of composition. Other comparisons with Quicksilver and David Crosby's 'If I Could Only Remember My Name' might also be warranted. The whole LP coasts along at a scenic hog-ride pace.

The Zombies 'Time Of The Season'

The Zombies 'Time Of The Season'

It's the time of the season for loving. Amen to that. One of the great sunshine psychedelic pop songs of all time, layed down at the Abbey Road Studios a matter of months after 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' and 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' had been made there. Begs the question as to just what exactly was in the water at that studio in 1967?

Episode Six 'Jak D'Or'

Episode Six 'Jak D'Or'

Relatively obscure B-side from a band formed in Harrow (some members of whom would go on to play for dodgy prog outfit Deep Purple). This is a simple psych jam with seismic drum breaks that you could imagine being put to quite good use in a TV advert for a high-strength continental lager.

Jim Sullivan 'Plain As Your Eyes Can See'

Jim Sullivan 'Plain As Your Eyes Can See'

Came across a recent re-issue of this 'lost' classic album the other day and took a completely uninformed punt on it when the sleeve sticker mentioned a blend of "Memphis swamp-soul, L.A. sunshine pop and Southern California country-rock all filtered through a '60s acid hippy vibe" and wasn't disappointed. In addition to some beautiful, heart-wrenched music, the album comes with extensive sleeve notes about the strange makings of the album (which features members of Phil Spector's famous Wrecking Crew in the backing band) and the very mysterious disappearance and death of Jim Sullivan in the New Mexico desert, which you can read about here. It's an intriguing story.

Crosby, Stills & Nash 'Dark Star'

Crosby, Stills & Nash 'Dark Star'

Stand out track on CSN's album of the same name from 1977. Stills was the driving force behind this one. Voyage rock with a seam of understated organ and guitar parts that compliment the evocative vocal delivery like pickle does to cheese.

The Sopwith Camel 'Orange Peel'

The Sopwith Camel 'Orange Peel'

Named after the British World War 1 fighter plane, this San Francisco band's music is anything but confrontational. In fact it's all about the love, free love, humping if you will. Their fantastically named album from 1973 has been quite recently re-released on CD - you can get it here.

Studio 'West Coast'

Studio 'West Coast'

Quality business from Studio - a Swedish outfit who released 'West Coast' in 2006 to almost unanimous critical acclaim. Coming on like some long lost Madchester band way ahead of their time, the album draws on a wide array of styles from balearic beats, to psychedelia, pop and dub, whilst maintaining a unique and coherent set of production values throughout its duration. If the Happy Mondays had holidayed in Scandinavia, had more hot tubs and taken less drugs, they may have sounded more like this.

Buffalo Springfield 'Special Care'

Buffalo Springfield 'Special Care'

Rasping guitar and organ duel taken from Buffalo Springfield's last album released in 1968. Stephen Stills was doing most of the work at this point after numerous line-up changes and itchy feet amongst the ranks. The album cover sort of says it all really, with Neil Young collaged on to the photo and looking in completely the opposite direction. They all look bloody miserable, but the songs carry some weight as a result.

Del Shannon 'Gemini' (Pilooski edit)

Del Shannon 'Gemini' (Pilooski edit)

One of the standout cuts from Del Shannon's 'lost' psychedelic album 'The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover' goes under the quivering scalpel of Gallic edit maestro Pilooski. This tune comes from one of the limited run Dark & Lovely releases, sharing vinyl space with re-rubs of the Pointer Sisters and Danny Gold. The original is given extra ballast in the form of added kick drum, enhanced handclaps and other dancefloor-friendly sprinkles of magic. Gemini sounds like a total babe.

David Crosby 'Cowboy Movie'

David Crosby 'Cowboy Movie'

Crosby's first solo album featured contributions from an all-star cast including Jerry Garcia, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Phil Lesh and Paul Kantner - filling the famous Topanga Canyon with cosmic vibes and orgiastic sighs. Trying to think of an equivalent geographical hub of American creativity nowadays and the only thing that springs to mind is Silicon Valley - just up the road in California state. Big Dave was more into microdots than microchips at the time, as the album title suggests.

D.R. Hooker 'Forge Your Own Chains'

D.R. Hooker 'Forge Your Own Chains'

Psychedelic, self-help, lounge-jazz invented and laid to rest in the duration of one song. D.R. Hooker rocks a brave look post-Manson that is half cultish troubadour, half prophet. Hard to tell whether he's addressing himself or someone else in this song. They're selling hippie wigs in Woolworths man.

Chocolate Watchband 'Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love-In)'

Chocolate Watchband 'Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love-In)'

Well are you? Or were you? More west coast psych/garage rock fare from the preposterously named Chocolate Watchband, which can't help but stir memories of Spinal Tap during their Flower People phase. CW's 'No Way Out' album is full of good flavours though - lots of bluesy psychedelia in songs like 'Milk Cow Blues' and 'Gone And Passes By'. The mind boggles as to the scenes that might've taken place at the 'love-in' - there's probably reams of footage of it on a super-8 camera in the attic of a hippie-turned-goat farmer in Cornwall somewhere. 

801 'TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows)'

801 'TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows)'

Unusual take on the Beatles' original acid anthem 'Tomorrow Never Knows' by this fleeting supergroup comprised of Eno, Phil Manzanera and others. The band only played 3 live gigs in total and its a real bonus that the bassist Bill MacCormick had the foresight to bring a tape recorder to one of the rehearsals. The results are a 'live album' including this cover which craps all over anything Roxy Music happened to be spewing out at a similar time. Also of interest might be Dweezil Zappa's cover of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' which takes things into cosmic, ambient techno territories!? What won't be of interest (except for poor comedy value) is the Phil Collins cover, which is total bilge.

13th Floor Elevators 'Street Song'

13th Floor Elevators 'Street Song'

Disorientating, fuzzed-out rock from one of the original psychedelic bands of the West Coast scene. Primal Scream covered the 13th's song 'Slip Inside This House' on the seminal 'Screamadelica' album, whilst other bands as diverse as Spacemen 3 and ZZ Top have acknowledged the Elevators' influence. This tune is a mumbling, wrangling lick-fest topped with lyrics about escaping to the country (or something like that) all wrapped up in a metallic cloud of reverb and general garage juice. Unleash the freaks.

Stephen Stills 'Go Back Home'

Stephen Stills 'Go Back Home'

In the wake of moderate and stratospheric success with Buffalo Springfield and CSNY respectively, came this brilliant solo album from Stills in 1970. The pink giraffe on the cover might be seen as a surreal nod towards the degeneration that was to come, like some foreboding projection of Stills' coked-up subconscious. Just at that moment though, he remained in control of all his faculties - most notably his guitar playing finesse, which has always been right up there in people's estimations.