The cover alone is a dead giveaway, echoing as it does the cover of Crocodiles, with what looks like a set of trees and a car in place of De Freitas. But that telling and unavoidable absence alone puts the promise and problem of Echo's comeback album in perspective -- McCulloch and Sergeant had been working together again and Pattinson returned to the fold, but without De Freitas something remained unavoidably absent. Replacement drummer Michael Lee fills in adequately but not completely, rendering what was a special group something less so. The remaining core three discharge their duties well enough, but the focus is unavoidably on McCulloch this time around, rendering Sergeant and Pattinson to the status of talented backing players and making Evergreen seem like an extension of McCulloch's solo career more than anything. While Sergeant in particular shows many flashes of the brilliance of Echo's first phase, his work is more conventional here, perhaps the result of his experimental tendencies with his solo project, Glide. As an album Evergreen is closest to Ocean Rain due to the liberal appearance of the London Symphony Orchestra throughout, sometimes with impressive results, though without achieving the total heights of artistry of that earlier collection. There's nothing quite like "The Killing Moon" or "Ocean Rain" itself this time around. For all that, when Evergreen shines at its best, it's still an attractive piece of work. The album's most successful number, the gently epic "Nothing Lasts Forever," gets an extra boost from an uncredited backing singer, Oasis' Liam Gallagher, while "I Want to Be There (When You Come)," the title track, and the moody "Just a Touch Away" kick up some smoke.
How can you not love an album with a cover as iconic as this? Introspective was the first Pet Shops Boys album (and 25 years later still one of the few) not to feature one of them in some shape or form on the cover, indicating that this was an altogether different proposition. And it was. Consisting of only 6 tracks it initially feels more like an EP, although as each track weighs in at at least 6 minutes, there is still plenty to enjoy. At the time, Neil Tennant marked Introspective as the end of their “Imperial Phase”, expressing disappointment when Domino Dancing, released shortly before the album, only charted at number seven while it’s two predecessors had managed to get to number one. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have worried, apparently Introspective is their second biggest selling album to date.For a brand new album, only two of the songs are original to it. I Want a Dog had already appeared as a b-side, It’s Alright and Always on My Mind were covers, while I’m Not Scared was originally written for Pasty Kensit’s Eighth Wonder. This left only Domino Dancing and Left to my Own Devices to be considered as new material.Introspective is the Pet Shops Boys at their widescreen best and it is my favourite of their albums. Although essentially a 12″ remix album the scope of the songs more than matches any of their more traditional efforts. There are two stand outs.Trevor Horn’s paws are all over opener Left To My Own Devices with it’s multi-layered orchestral sweeps and stabs, urgent bass line and insistent Italian House piano riff, while Neil’s interior monologue owes a debt to A Day in the Life. This song apparently took months to get right. It was time well spent.Always on My Mind/In My House is a rerecording of their contribution to an Elvis tribute tv programme in 1987 which became their best selling single to date and that year’s Christmas number 1. Compared to the earlier single release, this begins as a much starker affair, driven along by a bubbling, acid bass and house-y keyboard refrain missing from the original and giving more room for Neil’s vocals. However, just as the tracks begins to layer and you start to piece together the original, things get darker as the trance-y In My House appears,Introspective proudly sits alone in the PSB canon. It’s not a conventional studio album like Please, Very, Bilingual, et al. It’s not a remix album (the Disco series) nor a compilation (Discography, Alternative, PopArt, Format….) or a live set (Concrete, Pandemonium). It just is what it is. Take it or leave it. But take it. Obviously.
From 4AD to a celebration of Alan McGee's iconic Creation label..
1. Acquiesce - Oasis The band that saved Creation, Oasis were one of those rare bands that became so huge that their B sides often gained as much attention as their A Sides. This was perhaps their most famous example and the Acquiesce's status is now arguably greater than it's A Side, Some Might Say, which became the band's first #1 n 1995. Acquiesce was released as a promo single in anticipation of Oasis' B-Side compilation, The Masterplan, in 1998, and, confirming its classic status, was put out again as the lead single of the Stop The Clocks EP in 2006, a precursor to the collection of the same name. It seems Acquiesce was never destined to be a hit in its own right though; the length of the EP meant it was ineligible for the UK singles chart denying it a place in the Top 5.
2. Star - Primal Scream Or not, as we'll see in a moment... Primal Scream released two singles in a month in May 1997 to promote their masterpiece Vanishing Point. Perversely the first release, the massively uncompromising electro-dub racket Kowalski fared better in the charts, hitting #8, than the more commercial, by the Scream's standards, Star, which stalled at #16 despite extra airplay and performances on TV. Hailed as a return to form after the Stones-aping Give Out But Don't Give Up, Vanishing Point charted, like its predecessor at #2. To this day, Primal Scream are defined by the pioneering Screamadelica, yet it's this album that remains their best and most satisfying release to date. Some months after Vanishing Point's release came Echo Dek, a dub overhaul of the entire album remixed by Adrian Sherwood. One of the tracks, Revolutionary, was a reworking of Star and it's this version that appears on this Free EP despite the credits suggesting it should be the original version.
3. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) - My Bloody Valentine Although the early 90s shoegazing movement took inspiration from early to mid 80s bands such as Cocteau Twins, Jesus & Mary Chain and This Mortal Coil, it's My Bloody Valentine, led by Kevin Shields, and their first album Isn't Anything, who are credited with kickstarting the movement. The album, kicking off with this track, with its droning, psychedelic trance-like take on indie rock, spent 17 weeks on top of the indie chart and spawned a myriad of copycat bands. Ironically, it was the band's second album, Loveless, that helped kill shoegaze. It was so good that it made the work of every other shoegaze band seem very old hat very quickly and the music press soon moved on to pastures new. Always destined to be a critical rather than a commercial success, the crazy amount of money spent on producing Loveless typifies the madness surrounding Creation at the time and, never mind shoegazing, the album nearly killed off the label.
4. Mellow Doubt - Teenage Fanclub Despite nearly going to the wall, 1991 was a good year for Creation Records Product. As well as Screamadelica and Loveless, there was Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub's third album, a massive crirtical and modest commercial success. After the relative of failure of the follow up Thirteen came Grand Prix in 1995 which became the band's biggest success to date hitting the Top 10. Although little to do with "Britpop", their chiming Big Star and Byrds-esque guitars and melodies sat well in the climate and the album spawned two Top 40 hits, Sparky's Dream and this, which hit #34. Despite achieving their greatest successes in this era, and referenced by many as influences, Teenage Fanclub were one of the era's great underachievers and despite further minor hits, never properly broke through unlike those they had influenced - see Travis. In a late twist, in 2004 an episode of The Bill aired on ITV and featured four characters - Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Paul Quinn and Gerard Love. Teenage Fanclub may not have sold a million in the UK, but several million probably watched this. Sadly, only about 7 people realised the scriptwriter's little in-joke...
5. Free Huey - The Boo Radleys Never has a band, with the possible exception of Cornershop, been so misunderstood by the mainstream media and general public than the Boo Radleys, forever associated with one piece of music. You know the one. Sadly, that track, despite hitting the Top 10, earning songwriter Martin Carr enough money to retire on and spawning a #1 album was a pyrrhic victory. By the time the band released the noisy, experimental and frankly brilliant follow up, C'Mon Kids a year later, the older fans who had been captivated by 1993's magnum opus Giant Steps and earlier feedback drenched noise rock classics had ungraciously moved on after their commercial success and the new fans just didn't get it expecting Wake Up Boo Mk2. The result was the biggest shame in 90s music as, despite three Top 40 hits, the album stalled at #20 and disappeared after only a couple of weeks in the chart. Knocked for six, the band recorded their sixth album Kingsize featuring less experimentation and more structure and melody. Told by Creation to record two commercial singles before the album could be released, Carr came up with the stellar title track and this, Free Huey, which was released as the album's lead single. A risky single incorporating big beats and a shouty chorus, which accounted for two thirds of the song, it bombed and charted at a lowly #54. After the album disastrously peaked at #62 a couple of weeks later, the band called it a day leaving the second single, the title track unreleased. A soaring, anthemic track, if this had been the lead single, it could have saved them. A lost classic indeed. A rare 5 track promo of what would have been the tracks spread across 2 CD singles does exist and this counts as the final Boo Radleys release in the band's lifetime.
6. This Is My Hollywood - 3 Colours Red 3CR were much derided, mostly thanks to Alan McGee's over the top hyperbole when he announced that they were the most exciting band since the Sex Pistols. What he failed to mention was that 3CR were a pretty perfunctory punk rock band. Still, McGee's hype helped them achieve 4 Top 40 hits from their debut album Pure. This Is My Hollywood was the band's first release on the Fierce Panda label in 1996 and was re-released as the fifth single from the debut album in 1997 where it stalled at #48.
7. Love Is Blue - Edward Ball Former Television Personalities frontman Ed Ball must have been a good friend of Alan McGee who let him release a bunch of albums as Love Corporation on the imprint throughout the 90s. When it was finally decided that Ball should trade on his own name, all the stops were pulled to make sure he finally achieved the success McGee felt he deserved. Despite much promotion including saturation on the ITV Chart Show with videos featuring the likes of Anna Friel and Noel Gallagher, the campaign failed. Four singles were released from the album Catholic Guilt, only two of which reached the Top 100 including Love Is Blue which hit #59. The album failed to scrape the Top 200 and Ed stopped trying to be famous.
8. JC Auto - Sugar Following the break up of the hugely influential Husker Du, frontman Bob Mould formed Sugar and had immediate success with their classic debut Copper Blue which hit the UK Top 10. Not all the tracks recorded for the Copper Blue sessions were included on the album, the heavier material held back for an EP release the following year. The EP, Beaster, did even better reaching #3 in 1993. The album being loosely based on religious imagery, JC Auto is short for Jesus Christ Autobiography. Sugar recorded one more album, File Under Easy Listening before Mould went solo.
9. Cracking Up - The Jesus & Mary Chain JAMC were among the first signings to Creation and in 1984 released their infamous debut single Upside Down. The sound of this, and their debut album Psychocandy, set a new template for a new generation of indie bands where feedback and noise were of equal importance to the tune - this manifested itself in the shoegaze movement kickstarted by My Bloody Valentine. Despite not charting, Upside Down sold consistently and was a major success story for Creation. On the back of this, the band were signed to blanco y negro where the band stayed for the next decade. Always on the brink of implosion, the band had one more album left in them before they would self destruct and who better to pick it up than Creation where it all started. The writing was on the wall though. Cracking Up was the comeback and the album's lead single and hit #35. The poppier I Love Rock N Roll similarly only scraped the Top 40 and the album Munki only scraped the chart at #47. A decade later, they'd be back....
10. Gathering Moss - Super Furry Animals The last great band to sign to Creation, SFA released their debut album Fuzzy Logic in 1996 featuring this track. Never a band to be categorised, SFA started life as a techno band - roots which have never gone away - before picking up their guitars and releasing two effervescent EPs on the Ankst label before releasing their debut single Hometown Unicorn on Creation. Although this just missed the Top 40, they'd have no trouble with their next 19 proper single releases which all charted in the 40. Trouble is, they also set themselves an unwanted record; SFA became the band to have the most Top 40 singles - twenty - without ever reaching the Top 10. The closest they got was their 1999 single Northern Lites which reached #11 and they've also hit #s 12, 13, 14, 16 and 18.
Artist: Various Title: Priceless Creation Format: CD5 Label: New Musical Express Catalog Number: NME-CRE 1999 Date Recorded: Jan-Feb 1992 Release Date: 25 Sep 1999 Notes: Giveaway with NME.
Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in. Cpt Peter Hook - dogged bass renegade, part-time New Orderly and stubblesome leader of the indie-pop resistance - was never one for easy surrender. A lesser man would've crumbled under the weight of appalling circumstance that has plagued his 'pet' project Monaco. The sniffy reviews, the threat of mutiny (his singing/strumming foil David Potts auditioned for a role in the post-Guigsy Oasis) and the ultimate humiliation of being dropped by his record label never exactly bade well for the long-term. Yet against all odds, here they are again, brandishing the weapons of indignation and clinging like lichen to that stratum forever marked 'indie lite'. But things have changed round Monaco's way. Where their 1997 debut 'Music For Pleasure' revelled in its post-Britpop earnestness, 'Monaco' is simply an album of and about Pop. And, disengaged from the suffocatingly self-conscious 'indie' supply that rendered 'Music...' so trying, it's a truly lovely thing to behold; a pretence-free, summery shimmy through pop's enchanted garden, with tear-tugging Bacharachy bits and choruses of angels and everything. From the swaying, early Pulp-ish Cinemascope of 'End Of The World' to the Motown matinie heartbreak of 'Ballroom', there's little here we haven't heard before. Even breezy drum'n'bass (drum'n'bass!) closer 'Marine' sounds like Erasure. Yet, crucially, 'Monaco' is both immaculately conceived and perfectly, almost indecently sincere; an album that's happy - not gormlessly, but quietly and assuredly happy - with its lot. What's more, 'Monaco' harnesses brilliantly the universal power of the platitude - a force only operable in the very best pop music that renders lines like, "The only thing I care about/Never will come true" (from single 'I've Got A Feeling') sweet and sad and infinitely more affecting than any amount of pseudo-profound art-rock blubbery. And throughout it all, there's that bass, catching everything in its undulating undertow and sweeping us back to a time when all pop music was this heartfelt, this honest. It's not about progression, after all, it's about doing what you want to do. It's about taking a stand as they say,
Definition of Alien:
Foreigner: a person who comes from a foreign country.
Stranger: anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found.
Extraterrestrial being: a form of life assumed to exist outside the Earth or its atmosphere.
I would argue that 'The Aliens' fall under all three variations of the definition. The Aliens, former Beta Band members Gordon Anderson, John Maclean, and Robin Jones, all hail from Scotland. Their outlandish sound makes it difficult to place them today's music scene, essentially making them a stranger to the industry. And their sound is so unique and 'out of this world' that one has to question as to whether or not they are actually from this planet.
In 'The Aliens' sophomore effort 'Luna', the album opens with the track:
Bobby's Song
A harmonica lays down the feel for the song and is soon accompanied by a melodic guitar riff. Soothing vocals ease in to take turns with the harmonica singing "Come sing along now it's the bobby's song / Something that I want to say / I'll never let you walk away / I'm gonna to write you a song today." The verse is repeated once more followed by an electronic breakdown into more guitar licks. These licks are strummed out while Gordon Anderson backs with harmonious vocals. The song continues to digress into a slightly more electronic direction when suddenly at the 4:18 mark it transforms into a Polka dance. Rapid fire lyrics bounce with the the beat of the song. Transition after transition, the song finally climaxes at the 8:50 mark and slowly fades away for the next 2 minutes.
Originally this track was said to be a mashup of many tracks they had written. They decided to combine them all together which resulted in a 30 minute song. Obviously the final version was cut down to 10:26.(4,5/5)
Amen
Organs seep in for the next track. Chanting vocals boom as you faintly hear a cassette tape being loaded. The transition is ready. A short but sweet track that paves way for the next. (5/5)
Theremin
The cassette plays. An almost oriental sound is paired with strings as vocals sing "Theremin / She was a big heartbreaker / Theremin / Knew in the end he'd take her / Theremin / Why did I make and break her / Theremin / Nobody could remake her." The tape is removed. You hear walking and cars passing by. You enter a vehicle and the tape is placed into the car. Theremin is played but much more simplistic. All you hear are the sounds of passing cars along with a lone piano. A truly unique and beautiful track.(5/5)
Everyone
Bursting into the airwaves is a much more upbeat piano. Build up to vocal harmonies saying "Everyone / They're in the sunshine / Everyone / Go get the sunrise in the morning." A very happy track, acting as a counter to the sad sounding Theremin.(4.5/5)
Magic Man
Mellowed out power-chords methodically burst in and a keyboard bounces along. The lyrics "I just want to take you to the sun / Gonna get out of here / Gonna take you where you want to go / You can follow the sun" are delivered sing-along style. Eventually we are led to the chorus "Magic / Magic / Magic Man / Watching the space wherever you can go / Bake me a cake and I'll do a handstand / Anywhere you want to go you can come and let me know". Spritz in a nice solo halfway through it becomes clear that this track is supposed to be the single. A very easy listen at first but in the end I find this to be the most shallow track on the album.(3.5/5)
Billy Jack
In comes a rock ballad. This track is really an epic journey through social rejection and the eventual fighting escape from insanity. "Lost inside chasms of my mind / They go on / They go on / Forever". A crowd cheers, the ballad has begun. "Tell me when your gonna rest with your mind". Epic. Words do this song no justice. Melodies, harmonies, lyrics, emotion, solos, and just plain rockin' parts.(5/5)
Luna
Spacey sounds. This track really fails to even sound like it is song. It seems to be more of an interlude or intermission for the album. Somewhat interesting of a listen. Similar concept to the track "On the Run" by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon.(2/5)
Dove Returning
A slightly sad, mostly indifferent soundscape is laid out before us. Vocals barely stand out from the instrumentals. Then kicks in the best solo on the album. Something about this solo seems to be dripping with emotion. A very bittersweet track which is made by the second half.(4/5)
Sunlamp Show
Another happy go-lucky song kicks in. A poignant piano jumps across our ears as the bassline bumbles alongside. Gordon Anderson sings "I tried to be there / I tried to be everywhere" as he infects our ears with pure, unadulterated optimism. Midway through the song breaks down into a jig and the vocals go "I let you go / Now I feel the show / Everyone now / Gonna get down / To the Sunlamp Show". The song slowly but surely plays itself out.(4.5/5)
Smoggy Bog
A fast paced and chaotic song. I didn't enjoy this track and thought it didn't fit at all.(1.5/5)
Daffodils
A keyboard creates a texture of sound that sets a very serious mood. The guitar slowly strums out a melody that is a near perfect match. In roll the vocals that only add to this dream we are in. As the song progresses, strings and chanting come in to amplify the mood. As the all the instruments begin to fade, the strings stay strong to finish out.(5/5)
Boats
The guitars on this track forever compliment the spacey lyrics "You think only boats can sink but you can't get in the harbor". Guitars layered on guitars layered on guitars to fabricate the most elaborate of songs. A true gem.(5/5)
Blue Mantle
Strings sadly sing as you hear over a communication device "Space calling fighter X / If you look inside your suitcase / You will find your magic tie". In comes Anderson's prominent vocals "I lived in a house on the other side of the moon / Where the people drive in the greenest life / In the greenest life / I sailed in a boat / To the other side of the sun / The people were pleasant there too / I swam the milk / On the way I drank a star / I could not find a place to stay". The spacey backdrop to the vocals creates a pure and awesome atmosphere. The song provides a sweet ending to the album with a reprise of 'Bobby's Song' in the closing minutes. Couldn't have imagined a better way to close out the album.(5/5)
When you combine the myriad of strange and foreign sounds on this album, you can conclude that it is beyond unique. As the album progresses and your ears peel back layer upon layer it is revealed that there is something of true substance. These former Beta-Band members have crafted something beyond it's time and place. So give this album a spin and remember, The Aliens have landed.
After a lengthy break that made some wonder if the band still existed, Drugstore returned with a new lineup, adding cellist Ian Burdge, and a great second album, White Magic for Lovers. The bulk of attention toward the release came due to the duet on lead single "El President," in that Monteiro's singing partner was Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. With piano-tinged drama straight out of a Morricone-scored Western making for a great overall motif, Yorke and Monteiro combine wonderfully, the former's high, hurt approach astonishingly suitable for the acoustic guitar/strings drive of the song. As for the album in general, Yorke may well have been a touchstone, as White Magic has more of an upfront kick to it quite reminiscent of Radiohead's brilliant art rock dynamics. There's still the sense of dreamy psych/rock flow at many points -- "Song for Pessoa" is a grand voice/guitar (acoustic) highlight -- but everything's been spiked with quicker tempos, cutting arrangements, and greater overall variety. "Mondo Cane" begins with a brawling punk-level punch, for instance, while "Sober" could have appeared on The Bends without anyone blinking an eye -- and yet it sounds like a Drugstore song in the end instead of a simple cloning. It's a grand balance, and Monteiro's often-biting but equally empathetic lyrics are delivered with her usual panache and even more fire. Robinson, meanwhile, is revelatory on guitar, adding in strange, out-of-nowhere overdubs and turning into something of a new guitar god without showing off about it, even taking whispery lead vocals on the anthemic late-'60s punch "Never Come Down." The overall guest list on the album, meanwhile, ranges from a mariachi band on the anthem-for-the-dispossessed "Say Hello," a fierce and fine opener, to other string and horn players throughout, including drummer Chylinski's sister Kathleen on "Tips for Travelling." An underrated triumph, White Magic for Lovers shows Drugstore giving rock a well-deserved blast of new energy and passion.
The Aliens is 50% Beta Band, 25% Lone Pigeon, and the remainder a bubbling pot of wild invention and eccentric psychedelia. Over the 72 minute span of their debut “Astronomy For Dogs” the threesome encapsulate all the necessary highlights from left field music circa 1967 – 1992 in an album that highlights creative enthusiasm, genuine ebullience, and a hint of ironic humour. Following his well chronicled health issues, fully fit front man Gordon Anderson sounds reinvigorated by the project, and supported by former Beta Band Keyboardist John Maclean and drummer Robin Jones they weave imaginative trips through 60s West Coast melodies, 70s prog, and 90s indie dance. In theory the amalgam of all these influences leads one to think that such a vast sonic proposition shouldn’t work, and yet there’s something for everyone to dip into and enjoy. This is partly due to the fact that the band have simply filtered what’s good from each particular genre right down to the bones, and generated by top class song writing enhanced these basics to illuminating musical spontaneity. There’s hardly a glitch in the proceedings and right from the opening 60s psych/pop of “Setting Sun” to the sweeping stoned exploration of the closer (“Caravan”) the album is a joyous retro ride to the stars.For all its lyrical love lost narrative, “Setting Sun” swings via Jones’s powerful rhythms and MacLean’s stirring keyboard riff, subsiding at the fade out as the ethereal harmonies gently chant “We are The Aliens” in a humorous effort to hypnotise the listener. Playful fun is interlaced through much of the album, culminating in the lovingly bonkers pop jam “The Happy Song”, a song so unerringly simple, it sends all life’s traumas into astronomical orbit. I’ve heard that “Robot Man” was written in response to a particular incident where Anderson, bored, waiting in a line for a bus, decided on an instantaneous bout of bizarre robot dancing to entertain himself, and the song carries the funky 90s rhythms as he maintains his assertions that he is undoubtedly “the Robot Man”. “Caravan” is a tripped out Pink Floyd styled epic, full of experimental synth loops and massively multi tracked instrumentals serving up a complicated soundscape that requires your deepest concentration. The beautiful harmonies on the 70s styled ballad “She Don’t Love Me” fit perfectly to a long, meandering drive down narrow lanes through hazy summer sunshine. The clearest descendent to a direct musical strategy comes via “Rox”, which is a carbon copy of Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica” material, but hey, if you’re going to be derivative make sure you pick something hot? And it is.
After a slew of singles that won praise for their smoky and sweet feelings of Jesus and Mary Chain/Mazzy Star strung-out psych-and-bliss late-night atmosphere, Drugstore went ahead and created an album that lived up to those expectations. But that's a too simplistic comparison in some ways, thanks largely to the inspired singing from bassist Isabel Monteiro. A just-confrontational-enough character in interviews, that quality carries over to her recorded work as well, able to hit aggressive points more than Hope Sandoval ever could and unafraid of not always being cool like the Reid brothers. No trace of her Brazilian accent surfaces -- if anything she sounds like she could be a cross between Patsy Cline and Marianne Faithfull, with all the ability and control that implies. Consider "Alive" as a particularly fine example, her simple conclusion of "I am burning" suiting the circular feedback loop and hint of violin that concludes the track, or the low-key backing vocals overdubs on the hushed "Saturday Sunset." As a group, Drugstore clearly has its inspirations, but the result is thoroughly attractive while retaining a strong sense of individual drama. Guitarist/keyboardist Daron Robinson knows how to crank it up and keep it calm, and while it becomes something of a formula by the end of the disc, it still works very well. Call it a sense of loud/soft dynamics in a different setting, rather than repeating the obvious Pixies/Nirvana conclusions so many other '90s bands ground into the dust. "Favorite Sinner" is a fantastic example of same, with a soft sense of building threat as Chris Isaak-styled reverb twang turns into a slow burning feedback frazz and retreating again before an abrupt ending. "Solitary Party Groover" and the wonderful "Starcrossed" received the most attention due to their appearance as singles, but this whole album is an excellent, quietly enveloping treat.
