Welcome to our DJs' playground. This page will be evolving over time to include record and concert reviews, photos, Top 5 "now playing" lists, and anything else our wacky air staff can dream up. It'll give us an opportunity to share some of our outside interests with you and hopefully give you a better insight into what we like to do in our spare time when we're "Off the Air."

One of the most popular and controversial features of our "Off The Air" reviews page was last year's wrap-up of our DJ's favorite releases of the year. We at HGRNJ always aim to please, so enjoy our list of some of the

Best Releases of 2006

There's sure to be some conversation starters amongst the following selections. And it also gives you a few ideas of where to spend your holiday booty!

Sher’s Top Ten CD’s of 2006

The Guggenheim Grotto - “Waltzing Alone” (UFO Music)
This is one of my favourite bands of all time. Exquisite folk pop with the most gorgeous acoustic arrangements. These three guys really know how to make music together.
 
Lily Allen - “Alright Still” (EMI)
I couldn’t stop playing this CD.  She has the best voice and her lyrics are fantastic. What she is saying is relevant! She is addicting.

Psapp - “The Only Thing I Ever Wanted” (Domino)
They are Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant. To make their music they have a veritable junkshop heaven of arcane musical instruments and sound emitters that range from gleaming pianos and pot bellied ouds to children’s xylophones, dusty retro guitars, farmyard noise makers, mechanical ashtrays and squeaky rubber poultry. They are fantastic to see perform live where they throw yarn cats into the audience!

The Pipettes - “We Are The Pipettes” (Memphis Industries)
Classic pop girl group with clever updated post feminist lyrics that are cool. Voices like angels, great harmonies, great music to move your body to.

David Ford - “I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I’ve Caused” (Independiente)
"I will love this record to my dying day," David Ford says about his arresting debut album, I Sincerely Apologise for All the Trouble I've Caused. "It's so liberating to make a record when there's no label involved, when there's no pressure to reach any commercial points, when there's no producer, saying, ‘Well, if we edit that to three and a half minutes, we can get it on the radio.' There's no compromise on this record. Every second of every song is there entirely because I wanted it there." He is so good, I love this guy. He has a fantastic voice and great lyrics.

Paolo Nutini - “These Streets” (Atlantic)
Born and raised in Paisley, Scotland this is a 19 year old singer songwriter with a soulful, passionate voice and the natural gift of being able to tell a story in his songs. I just put it on repeat and let it play and play.
 
Duels - “The Bright Lights and What I Should Have Learned” (Nude)
Sparkling glam pop from one of the best bands of the year. Great melody, observation and a gritty populist realism. Anthemic.
 
James Dean Bradfield - “The Great Western” (Columbia)
Bradfield is the voice of the Manic Street Preachers and The Great Western is his belated statement of intent, a heroic pop-rock memoir statement that combines the sweeping flourishes of Everything Must Go; the airtight punk of The Holy Bible and Generation Terrorist's wide-eyed lust for life, and vacuum packs it all into 11 raw, unfussed and passionate modern rock tracks. “I deliberately did most of it in The Square Studio in Hoxton and Stir Studios in Cardiff (where the band famously made The Holy Bible), "and they’re really small studios; when you’re actually playing in there they don’t sound like big rooms. I like the idea of stuff being a bit more cloaked; more murky and '70s-esque.” This is a great CD!
 
Jim Noir - “Tower of Love” (Barsuk)
A psychedelic explosion of colour and sound. His CD is fun and happy.

Beck - “The Information” (Interscope)
Pop junk culture collage of musical styles, oblique, ironic lyrics and post modern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and heady sound effects.  I love it!  He and his band play silverware in their live shows, what more can you ask for?

Sher Delight airs Tuesdays, Noon-3pm

Hello music lovers....   Okay...here's my list. I know I missed a lot...however..these were the first 50 or so that came to mind. There may be more than 50 on the list...does it matter? I enjoyed them all at various times during the year...still do. Enjoy and feel free to share with anyone you feel is appropriate...

And...the recording of the year?....mmmm....you'll have to listen to the "Sound In The Head" program on Wednesday, December 27 from 9-midnight to find out. We will indeed try to squeeze in as much as possible off this list...   More importantly, all the best during this holiday season to you...your family... your friends. That is what this season...and everyday...is all about.   Peter

Suzanne Abbuehl - Compass (ECM)
Joseph Arthur - Nuclear Daydream (Lonely Astronaut)
Patricia Barber - Mythologies (Blue Note)
Beatles - LOVE (Capitol)
David Binney - Out Of Airplanes (Mythology)
Bonnie Prince Billy - The Letting Go ( Drag City)
Mari Boine - Idjagiedas (Universal)
Camille - Le Fil (Narada)
Johnny Clegg - One Life (Marabi)
Bruce Cockburn - Life Short, Call Now (Rounder)
David Crosby - If Only I Could Remember My Name [Reissue] ( Atlantic)
Ani DiFranco - Reprieve (Righteous Babe)
Donald Fagan - Morph The Cat (Reprise)
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - The Hidden Land ( Columbia)
Dominic Frasca - Deviations (Serious)
Kenny Garrett - Beyond The Wall (Nonesuch)
Lisa Gerrard - The Silver Tree (Rubber)
Gigi - Gold And Wax (Palm)
Jose Gonzalez - Veneer (Imperial)
Jerry Goodman & Jan Hammer - Like Children [Reissue] (Wounded Bird)
Jan Hammer - Oh, Yeah? [Reissue] (Wounded Bird)
Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself (RCA)
Humcrush - Hornswoggle (Rune Grammafon)
Jake Ziah - These Days Do You No Justice (Red Parlor)
Bert Jansch - The Black Swan (Sanctuary)
Keith Jarrett - The Carnegie Hall Concert  (ECM)
Jet Set Mongolian - Beauty Came To Us In A Stone (Jazzland)
Nic Jones - Game Set Match (Topic)
Kaki King - …Until We Felt Red (Velour)
Nguyen Le Duos - Homescape (ACT)
Dougie MacLean - Inside The Thunder (Dunkeld)
John McLaughlin - Industrial Zen (Universal)
McLaughlin & Santana - With Loving Devotion To John Coltrane [Reissue] (Hand Made)
Juanna Molina - Son (Domino)
Kelly Joe Phelps - Tunesmith Retrofit (Rounder)
Robert Rich - Electric Ladder (Soundscape)
Ray Russell - Goodbye Svengali (Cuneiform)
Terje Rypdal - Vossabrygg (ECM)
Duncan Sheik - White Limousine (Zoe)
Paul Simon - Surprise (Warner Bros.)
Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Lontano (ECM)
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)
Ali Farka Toure - Savane ( Hannibal)
Tom Waits - Orphans (ANTI-)
Waterson:Carthy - Holy Heathens And The Old Green Man (Topic)
Robin Williamson - The Iron Stone (ECM)
Cassandra Wilson - Thunderbird
Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL)
Dhafer Youssef - Divine Shadows (Jazzland)
Frank Zappa - Trance-Fusion (Zappa)
John Zorn - Moonchild (Tzadik)
John Zorn - Astronome (Tzadik)

Jeff From Oxford's Top 10 of 2006

Buzzcocks – Flat-Pack Philosophy (Cooking Vinyl)

The band that refused to die, Buzzcocks are the only First Wave of British Punk bands still treading the boards and here they celebrate their 30^th anniversary with their eighth (and best) album. Pete Shelley, Steve Diggle and company are still as ballsy, in-your-face, gob-smacking as ever and the title track opens the set with their trademark buzzing guitars and anthemic, heart-pounding riffs that, in the immortal words of elder statesman, Mick Jagger could “make a dead man come!” “Wish I Never Loved You” is brimming with fist-shaking, power punk melodies that were always the band’s strongpoint and have kept them in the hearts and minds of punters three decades on from their “Spiral Scratch” EP, Britain’s first independently released punk EP on their own New Hormones imprint back in 1976.

Diggle can always be counted on for a new classic or two per album and he really comes out from behind Shelley’s shadow with several of his best compositions ever. “Sell You Everything” is as hard-driving and pogo-rific as any of his early classics like “Autonomy” and “Harmony In My Head” and “Big Brother Wheels” is a powerful pop/punk pounder that Paul Weller might be wise to add to his live repertoire and is yet another reason why “Flat-Pack Philosophy” is the ‘cocks’ most coherent and cohesive album to date.

“Reconciliation” demonstrates the band’s harmonies are as powerful as ever, and “Sole Survivor” is a 90-second adrenaline rush that’ll have you donning your leather jackets and spiked wristbands and reliving your 70’s glory days all over again! And wait’ll you get a load of the thundering barnstormer that should be the next single, “God What Have I Done?” that’ll have the walls rattling and the windows cracking for miles around when you crank this mother up to 12! They even toss in a few electronic bleeps and blips to let you know the 21^st century hasn’t completely passed them by, especially with the talking shopping cart that opens “Credit,” a vitriolic rant against consumerism that suggests Shelley’s DIY punk ethic is still firmly entrenched in the back of his mind. A thinly-veiled concept album about commercialism and the world’s spend, spend, spend attitude towards owning more, more, more, this is heart-rattling stuff that will stand the test of time and is surely one of the year’s finest releases.

Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country (Elefant / Merge)

I guarantee you that less than one minute into the heartstoppingly beautiful, album-opening single, “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” (an answer song to the question Lloyd Cole posed on his 1984 LP “Rattlesnakes”), you, too, will be heartbroken and ready to follow Traceyanne Campbell to the ends of the earth (or at least back to her flat in Glasgow)! With their third collection of heartwarming, melodic pop singalongs (they’ve also released about another album’s worth of songs across a half-dozen EPs and singles], it’s about time somebody went out on a limb and drew a line in the sand and shouted from the rooftops that this Glaswegian sextet may just be the greatest pop band in the world right now – and that somebody is me. And by the time you get through the classic girl-group grooves of “Tears For Affairs,” sounding like a cross between Nancy Sinatra and Leslie Gore, you may want to join me! I’m sure I heard Phil Spector drooling in the corner, “ Eureka ! They still do write them like I used to!” (Kudos to Swedish producer Jari Haapalainen, who helped make The Concretes a household name over here, for capturing Campbell ’s ennui without sacrificing her penchant for creating indelible hooks.)

Campbell wears her influences (and encyclopedic knowledge of 60’s pop) proudly on her sleeve with “Dory Previn,” an alt.country stroller in the style of Mojave 3 that’s written for the songwriting icon who lost her husband (Andre) to Mia Farrow and later gained fame for several classic film songs, including “You’re Gonna Hear From Me” (from “Inside Daisy Clover”), “Theme from Valley of The Dolls,” “Come Saturday Morning” (from “The Sterile Cuckoo”), “A Second Chance” (from “Two For The Seesaw”), and “The Faraway Part of Town” (from “Pepe”), the last three garnering Academy Award nominations.

Like “Lloyd…,” the title track (and second single) takes up residence in your head and refuses to leave. “Country Mile” changes the pace for a syrupy, string-laden tearjerker that’ll have tears running down your breast and your heart melting in your chest, as Campbell sings, “I hope I’ll be seeing you in a little while/Not as long as this country mile.” But soon your dancing shoes will be back on your happy feet for the stomping, Motown-ish “If Looks Could Kill.” Like a 21^st century ABBA with gorgeous tunes, melodies, harmonies and good vibrations that’ll lift the spirits of even the most inconsolable broken hearts, this is the album of the year.

Pelle Carlberg – Everything. Now! (Twentyseven)

Uppsala native Carlberg leaves his five Edson bandmates (and their three albums) behind to take a stab at the solo route on this sensational new release from the small Florida lable, who are issuing his debut full length in the US , following several EPs on his native Labrador , one of the world’s most important pop music labels. His influences are too numerous to mention, but they look pretty much like the spitting image of my record collection, ranging from the essential Swedish new wavers, Gyllene tider to my favorite Aussie psych rockers The Church to the kings and queens of twee rock in The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura. Toss in Creedence Clearwater Revival, Neil Young, The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen and about 50 others and I’m taking Pelle with me next time I hit the record shops! Many of these inspirations come to bear on opener “Musikbyrån Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack,” a mopey tearjerker about the day Warren Zevon died that combines the melancholia of Morrissey and The Smiths with the low key pop of Steve Kilbey and The Church.

To my American ear, the lilting Swedish and Scottish tongues are not all that dissimilar, so it wouldn’t be too off the mark to suggest that Carlberg’s vocals will certainly enthrall fans of Stuart Murdoch and Belle and Sebastian, particularly after listening to the sad, swaying pop of “Bastards Don’t Blush.”  Carlberg is a huge fan of twee Glaswegian pop from the likes of B&S, Camera Obscura and Teenage Fan Club (and I’d recommend he – and you – check out The Poems as well), so his pop tunes are highly recommended to their fans. Other wonderfully unforgettable tunes include “Tasteless Offer,” which I think should be the first single – it’s got unbelievably infectious hooks and a magnificent, rolling, toe-tapping piano melody courtesy his Edson bandmate, Helena Söderman that melds Nick Drake and Neil Halstead (Mojave 3) into an indescribably delicious morsel of pop confection.

“Go To Hell, Miss Rydell” (the title of his debut EP) finds Carlberg stalking a critic who wrote a negative review of his music, and surely expresses something every musician has been tempted to write – but only Carlberg had the balls and temerity to put down on vinyl (or aluminum as the case may be)! He delivers his plea in such a sad, puppy dog voice that the listener can’t help but side with him. So here’s a great big “FUCK YOU” to the Miss Rydells of the world, of which, of course, I am one. But as long as Carlberg keeps churning out one unforgettable winner after another, we won’t be writing any negative comments any time soon.

Once the “doo-doo-doos” of “Riverbank” (the title track from his second EP) hit your ears, your soul and heart will melt accordingly and another of our favorite Glaswegian singer/songwriters, Al Stewart springs to mind. Imagine ABBA providing backing vocals to the “Year of the Cat” sessions and you’ll be in pure blissful pop heaven. The late night/early morning melancholia of Nick Drake drifts across “Oh No! It’s Happening Again” like the early morning fog swallowing the countryside.

The effervescent autobiography “Summer of 69” (the year Carlberg was born) is another floating, pop concoction with “hit single” written all over it. Henrik Nilsson’s glockenspiel and the backing vocals of young Ole Söderman Berlin ( Helena ’s son?) adds just the right nostalgic touch without becoming maudlin. Carlberg then fast-forwards his biography 16 years from his pre-birth memories in the womb (“In the Summer of 69/I was in my mother’s belly”) to “I Had A Guitar (Bjarton and I),” the tale of his first guitar and introduction into the music business. One of the year’s finest releases ends on the high note of the tender, introspective “Mind The Gap,” an original song that lifts its title lifted from fellow Swedes, Soundtrack of Our Lives. So if your record collection has anything in common with mine and Pelle’s, you owe it to yourself to pick up “Everything. Now!” – like, NOW! I have a feeling this will be taking up permanent residence in my year end Top 10.

The Concretes – In Colour (Astralwerks)

This Swedish octet may be the world’s largest pop group, but they’re also one of the best, as evidenced by their third album of softer-than-meringue pop. Even though they took the American music scene by storm courtesy their instant smash hit “Say Something New” (aided, in no small part, by its use as the advertising jingle for the national chain store, Target), it should be noted that the band have long paid their dues, having started as a female trio back in 1995. Astralwerks released a catch-up compilation of singles and EP tracks last year (“Layourbattleaxedown”) while the band recorded “In Colour,” which would turn out to be the last featuring founding member, lead vocalist and main lyricist Victoria Bergsman, who left earlier this year to pursue a solo career as Taken By Trees. Apparently the split was rather acrimonious, as all references and photos of Bergsman have already been excised from the band’s website. But that’s to be expected, I guess. Imagine how Roger, John, and Keith might have felt if Pete Townshend decided he was leaving The Who to start a solo career writing rock operas right after “Sell Out” was released? It remains to be heard how The Concretes will recover from this crushing, career-threatening blow, but let’s not write them off just yet, as there are a lot of talented musicians (seven of them to be exact) who contributed greatly to the album in hand.

Let’s start with Ulrik Karlsson, whose piano motif on opener “On The Radio” is eerily reminiscent of The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” even as Bergsman’s little-girl vocals grab your heartstrings and hold on for dear life. On “Sunbeams,” Bergsman emulates the squeaky qualities of her Scandinavian sister, Bjork. The first eight bars of “Change In The Weather” had barely escaped my speakers when I began humming Denim’s “Job Centre” (from 1996’s “Denim On Ice”). “Chosen One” is a fitting title, as it’s my choice for the album’s debut single (and, not surprisingly, the band’s as well!) and it’s flowing, toe-tapping melody is as ear-catchingly brilliant as “Say Something New,” with Daniel Värjö’s 12-string guitar serpentining around female drummer Lisa Milberg’s galloping backbeat, all bolstering the band’s secret weapon: the gorgeous harmonies of the original trio of front women, Bergsman, Milberg and guitarist Maria Eriksson.

Bergsman and Milberg combine for one of the year’s cleverest lyrics in “Fiction,” which likens a relationship to a novel: “You misbehave in almost every chapter…Your own book could use a better plotline,” with Per Norstrom’s organ and Karlsson’s trumpet keeping things moving at a lively pace, all the while adding a touch of psychedelia to the proceedings. As mentioned, a band this size (and talented) can accommodate horn embellishments, and Ludvig Rylander’s clarinet, flute, and sax work unobtrusively mingles with Karlsson’s trumpet, providing a fuller sound on many tracks, with the memorable “Tomorrow” checking in as a first among equals.

Our third leading lovely, Eriksson grabs center stage on “Grey Days,” and her and Värjö’s dueling acoustic guitars provide a walking melody line that’s perfect for a stroll in the park on said gloomy days. Milberg’s lyrics are rather cryptic, but I can listen to Eriksson read the phone book and be enthralled and, as usual, the gals’ impeccable harmonies can make an obituary sound cheerful. Bergsman’s vocals (of the three) are the breathiest and sexiest, but also bear the heaviest Swedish accent (listen to her spoken-word segment on “A Way Of Live”), adding more of an international flair to the majority of the tracks. Milberg and Eriksson’s vocals are more polished, so it’s even more amazing listening to them when you realize that English is their second language. I’ve got kids in the neighborhood who don’t speak as well as they do!

Rylander and Karlsson’s clarinet and trumpet send “Ooh La La” on a magical whirlwind, carrying the melody through the air like sweet perfume on a summer’s breeze. Finally, the band swells to twice its size (yes, that’s 16 musicians – I counted!) on the rousing closer “Song For The Songs.” With eight voices, a pedal steel, viola, violin, cello, French horns and tubas all assaulting the ears in perfect eight-part harmony, you’d think the melody would get lost somewhere in all the ruckus, but The Concretes’ skill lies in the fact that they could drag half of Stockholm into the studio and still emerge with a melody you’ll be humming for days. An unforgettable collection that equals and may even surpass the enjoyment you had listening to their self-titled 2004 album, “In Colour” is one of the year’s best releases and a fitting sendoff for it’s founder and former leader, Bergsman. We wish her well and look forward to the all important next album from the remaining members.

The Memory Band – Apron Strings (DiCristina Stair Builders/Peacefrog)

The Memory Band is the traditional English folk project of ex-Badly Drawn Boy bassist Stephen Cracknell (presumably no relation to dreamy Saint Etienne vocalist, Sarah), who’s also released electronic music under the name Gorodisch and founded Trunk Records, famous for releasing the much-desired soundtrack to the original “Wicker Man.” The band has expanded to a sextet for their sophomore effort, with as many as ten musicans contributing to the recording. Things get off to a rousing and unusual start with a violin-driven interpretation of the traditional favorite “Blackwaterside,” featuring new recruit Jennymay Logan (of Elysian Quartet) on violin. “Come Write Me Down” is as light and airy as a summer breeze, with a free-flowing melody reminiscent of Bert Jansch. Nancy Wallace shares vocal duties with Cracknell, and her lislting rendition of the swaying Irish folk tale “Green Grows The Laurel” is one of the album’s highlights, with more than a passing resemblance to our beloved Sandy Denny.

Elsewhere, there’s a childlike, virginal innocense to Wallace’s impassioned pleas on the traditional “I Wish I Wish,” which culminates in a crescendoing string jam between Logan, viola player Rob Spriggs and guest Al Doyle (from Hot Chip) on I2 Strings (not sure what they are?) It’s sure to be a live favorite and could well become the band’s signature song, as indelibly etched in the British folk fan’s psyche as Fairport Convention’s “Sailor’s Song” or “Tam Lin.”

The album is fairly evenly split between vocal and instrumental tracks, and the band’s musical chops are impeccable. Luckily, Cracknell’s arrangements leave plenty of room for free form jamming, and you may find yourself dancing, swaying, nodding and making an all-around spectacle of yourself, which is exactly the sort of good time that Cracknell & Co. planned.

New Radiant Storm King - The Steady Hand (Darla)

Storm”ing back after a five year absence, this Northampton, MA quartet’s seventh album opens with the swirling, cinematic instrumental anthem, “Overture,” as core members Peyton Pinkerton and Matt Hunter welcome their new rhythm section of Caleb Wettmore (bass) and Patrick Berkerey (drums) for a snappy, catchy baker’s dozen indie pop tunes, like the refreshingly melodic “Winding Staircase” that demonstrate the band still have what it takes 15 years on to catch your ears with well-crafted pop songs with a quirky, 90s college radio bent. There’s a shoegazey Brit pop vibe a la Ride and Teenage Fanclub (the band most often soundchecked throughout) trickling through “Accountant of the Year” and “Scuttled” is so damn infectious, it could be the best new song of 2006!

The sleepy Beckisms of “View of A Wedding Part II” are saved by longtime producer Mark Alan Miller’s wall of sound production that sounds like Phil Spector helming the latest Wilco effort and features some of the band’s best harmonies to date. Fans of the poppier Beach Boy elements of the recently reformed Olivia Tremor Control will also enjoy the bands ventures into orchestral pop. However, old timers who prefer their garagey past are also rewarded with the vibrant stab at Guided By Voices-styled pop on “Anthymn” and the Teenage Fannies penchant for crafting perfect punk/pop platters is captured on “Fighting Off The Pricks” which, like most of this album, could have sat comfortably alongside the “Bandwagonesque” and “Thirteen” B-sides.

There’s even a tinge of Nick Laird-Clowes’ nostalgic romanticism from his old Dream Academy days whispering through the complex “From A Roof.” Another pleasant surprise is the dreamy psychedelia of the short and sweet “Yardsale Legacy” and the heady floater “Sunset Provisions,” which fondly recalls the high flying days of The Warlocks, a la “Left and Right of The Moon.” With a scheduled February 14 street date, this is a bright valentine for your ears and the best release of the year so far.

The Poems – Young America (Minty Fresh)

The lush, twee pop on this Glaswegian quintet’s debut album features the angelic sighs of Kerry Polwart and Amy Ogletree (daughter of Simple Minds drummer Mike Ogletree) espousing the existential philosophy of songwriter (and ex-Bluebells frontman) Robert (Roger?) Hodgens’ tales that are as melodious as they are melancholic. Comparisons with Scotland ’s finest pop export Camera Obscura are inevitable, but The Poems’ arrangements are fuller and the twin vocal attack of Polwart and Ogletree doubles your listening pleasure by sounding like we have a double-tracked Traceyanne Campbell coming out of our speakers! (Traceyanne’s unrelated namesake from Belle & Sebastian, Isobel Campbell guests on a couple of tracks, so you also get a dose of the kings of Scottish twee pop sprinkled liberally throughout this engaging record.) I’d also toss in the wonderful Swedish pop of The Concretes, Raymond and Maria and Acid House Kings for, perhaps, a more apt sonic benchmark.

Opening with the bouncy pop alliteration of “Sometime Somewhere Someone Should Say Something” (say that three times fast!), the album consistently delivers high-quality melancholic pop with lush orchestrations and crystalline vocals from our dynamic duo that is custom designed for listening on a bleak, rainy day with grey skies overhead and blue moods within. The syrupy teardrops of the pop symphony “Ballad of A Bitter End” would break even the most jaded of hearts and wears its Bacharach and David influence on its sleeve so much so that 35 years ago it could have been a number one hit for Dionne Warwick. “I Am A Believer,” on the other hand, has such rich melodic harmonies that it suggests Brian Wilson in his heyday arranging one of Traceyanne’s Camera Obscura pop confections. The rousing sing-along “No Sign Of Life” is destined for my Top Ten Songs of the Year list and the loungey, cocktail jazz of closer “Lost and Found” is yet another reason why, coupled with CamOb’s album-of-the-year contender, “Let’s Get Out Of This Country,” The Poems’ “Young America” illustrates that this years finest pop music wears a Scottish brogue.

The Sems - Any Day Ago (Recordhead & Whiggs)

There are so many solo artists hiding behind the anonymity of a band name that it almost seems pointless for anyone to release a solo album anymore. Jumping onto the de rigueur nom de band-wagon, we have the sophomore effort from Brooklynite Pete Bogolub. I don’t know who or what ol’ Pete is trying to avoid (or just exactly what a “Sems” is to begin with, but his songs are pleasant twee pop ditties along the lines of Orange Cake Mix (whose bubbly synth pop is fondly recalled on the energetic bit of good cheer, “Broken Ships”), Witch Hazel Sound and High Llamas that deserve to be heard and will be appreciated by anyone with a Beach Boys, Association, or Free Design soft spot in their heart for lightweight, flowing orch-pop. “Leaving Is Easy” bops, floats and sways its way along a light and airy breath of fresh air, while the meandering synth strains and hushed, whispered vocals of “Away” dreamily lead us…”away” to Never Never Land! My only complaint at this stage is that the songs are too short (under 2:00) to develop a personality and seem more like snippets of works-in-progress than completed compositions.

The beautiful, piano-driven melody of “I Don’t Believe” combine Bogolub’s trademark hushed vocals with an ethereal wisp of a melody that will stick in your head long after the disk is back in its jewel case. By the time we reach the Belle & Sebastian-esque “The Last Noise,” I’m beginning to wonder if Bogolub can ever work up a sweat, as these laid-back pop dreameries are beginning to form the perfect soundtrack for a lazy Sunday afternoon hanging out in the hammock in the backyard, slipping a cool drink and enjoying a lovely summer sky. Perhaps too effete for some, this is the perfect elixir for chilling out after a hard day at the office. I’d like to hear a little more perspiration next time out, as on the uplifting, pop-tastic “Should I Stay” and the swaying-in-the-breeze loveliness of the perfectly-titled “Float In Space,” both of which will strike a nostalgic chord in the hearts of fans of the much-under appreciated Brit pop/psychsters The High (cf 1990’s “Somewhere Soon”) and Patrick Porter’s brief incarnation in Phineas Gage (check out their 2000 Camera Obscura release “Reconsidered”). This may be hard to find, but is definitely worth seeking out and will surely be one of my favorite releases that I will return to again and again throughout the coming year.

THE SEVEN MILE JOURNEY – THE JOURNEY STUDIES (Fono’Gram)

This post-rock quartet from Aalborg, Denmark open their sophomore effort (and major label debut) with a throbbing heartbeat, not unlike my own excited ticker, on ‘Through the Alter Ego Justifications,’ which immediately rekindled my initial enthusiasm over the band’s self-released 2002 self-titled demo. With its slowly emerging, emotional onslaught, the individual band members stroll into the studio, pick up their instruments, plug in, and join the fray. Imagine a musical tag-team match between Spacious Mind and Explosions in the Sky and, as Lou Reed so pointedly said, “you’ll be beginning to see the light.” The opening bassline to the 15-minute epic ‘Passenger’s Log, the Unity Fractions’ seems to have been lifted from The Jam’s Motown tribute, ‘Town Called Malice.’ This riff is immediately mirrored by the two guitarists (sorry, only unattributed first names are listed in the credits – hey, guys, come out, come out whoever you are), who float in on the back of dark, ominous storm clouds. Pounding drums and cymbal crashes soon replace that lump in your throat with your racing heartbeat. Comparisons to Swans similarly-structured ‘Helpless Child’ may be redundant, but are not unwarranted. After seven minutes of heart-racing terror, a tearful, cascading, trilling guitar interjects the loveliest little bazouki-like melody into the proceedings and I wondered, could this be Godspeed! You Black Emperor tackling one of Mikis Theodorakis’ classic film scores (‘Z,’ ‘State of Siege ,’ et. al.)? The beating heart linking device opens the relatively short (i.e., four minute) ‘Theme for the Oddmory Philosophies,’ which showcases the keyboardist’s classical training, as the strains of his heartmeltingly-sad piano riff wafts down the hall, taking up residence in the nostalgic canyons of your mind

Next, imagine that cake melting somewhere out in the rain in MacArthur’s Park or the Wicked Witch of the West melting under Dorothy’s bucket of water, and you will begin to get a sense of the emotional blackmail stemming from the album’s 15-minute closer, ‘The Murderer/Victim Monologues’ as it shakes your being to its inner core and tears, like raindrops or Charles Foster Kane’s dying “Rosebud” utterance trickle out of your body. I’d have to go all the way back to The Cure’s ‘Disintegration’ or The Chameleon’s ‘Script of the Bridge’ for the last time I had such an emotionally draining experience that had me literally breaking down into a crumbling mass of gelatin.

TALKING TREES - DELUSIONLAND (Wildshine)

Talking Trees is essentially the solo project of one Sean Robert Chambers, who sings and plays all the instruments with occasional vocal assistance from Stephen O’Sullivan and the odd Hammond organ and piano flourish from Steve Tucker. Chambers’ reedy vocals (reminiscent of In Gowan Ring’s B’eirth) float atop the jingle-jangle Byrdsian guitar folk rock of ‘Praying To St. Jude,’ with O’Sullivan’s harmonies completing the mental picture of a Byrds reunion happening right before our ears. Chambers’ fuzz solos and lively organ fills inject an aggressive adrenalin rush into ‘William,’ and you can amuse and amaze your friends playing “Name That Tune” with ‘Willow.’ Although unsuccessful, I think I’ve correctly narrowed it down to a Beatles’ song.

Gorgeous harmonies are again the order of the day on ‘Song For A Someone,’ with Chambers’ Rickenbacker 12-string once again ringing out to the heavens. Chambers whips out his harpsichord(!) for the brief, medieval-flavoured musical aperitiv ‘Samarkhan,’ which paves the way for the marching pop of ‘Mammon Mandarin.’ Chambers again sprinkles the harpsichord throughout their eponymous theme song, a folky rumination of jangly guitars and O’Sullivan’s harmonies that leaves a pleasant Simon & Garfunkle-meets-The Byrds aura ringing in my ears. There’s also an air of Tears for Fears (ca. ‘Mad World’ and ‘The Hurting’) hovering over ‘Wake Up World.’

So if you’re in the mood to follow some jingle-jangle melodies home, and Simon & Garfunkle/Crosby, Stills & Nash-ish harmonies are your cup of tea, then you’ll keep returning to this wonderful album that will also appeal to fans of (the UK) Kaleidoscope, to whom they’ve been favourably (and rightly) compared, as well as fans of purveyors of post-Byrdsian pop and folk rock, such as R.E.M. (Chambers sites ‘Murmur’ as a particular influence) and The Green Pajamas.

In addition to the foregoing, I also highly recommend checking out my following list of The Best Reissues of 2006:

Dawnwind – Looking Back On The Future (Sunbeam)

The lone album from this Hereford (UK)-based duo, Jon Harflett and John Perkins was originally released (in a limited pressing of 500) on the tiny Amron imprint in 1976, although the couple originally began playing together nearly a decade earlier. The enigmatic opener, “Don’t Look Now, Karen’s Gone To The Moon” establishes a warm, comfortable folky vibe that is maintained throughout. Will Thomas contributes mandolin to “Concrete Circles,” giving the track an uplifting Kingston Trio groove. “Man of Stars” tries yet another approach, that of a delicate whisp of a romantic love song. The short “The Derelict” is another gorgeous Simon & Garfunkle-styled harmony duet, and the pair even borrow a page out of the “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” approach by singing different verses in tandem. Their version of John Prine’s “Sam Stone” is a little faster than the original, giving a bit of a strolling minstral vibe to this classic, anti-war tune. And their own anti-war slogan, “Dogs Of War” is, sadly, as poignant and applicable as when they wrote it over 35 years ago.

MARK FRY – DREAMING WITH ALICE (Sunbeam)

This legendary folk/psych masterpiece finally gets an official airing on CD, complete with a couple of contemporary bonus tracks and lovingly detailed liner notes from Fry himself. Recorded in a house in Rome with a bunch of Scottish musicians whose names Fry admits he was “too stoned to remember,” ‘Dreaming With Alice’ has been whispered about in reverential tones in collector circles almost since its original release (in Italy only!) on the RCA subsidiary, IT Dischi in 1972. The title track is actually a nine-verse poem recounting Fry’s surreal and increasingly bizarre encounter with Lewis Carroll’s favorite heroine interspersed amongst gorgeous, whimsical folkedelia. Whispered, heavily echoed, druggy vocals and psychedelic flourishes such as wah wah fuzz guitars, backwards tapes, lutes, sitars, tablas, mandolins, yea, a veritable smorgasbord of headswirling doohickies snuggle up cozily somewhere between Bobby Callender, Donovan and Syd Barrett. Tracks like ‘The Witch’ evolve into swirling, Eastern-styled ragas. By the time you dig your head out of the mushroom cloud you’ve been living in for the past 5½ minutes, you’ll recognize the riff from The Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’ swirling in between your ears.

The double tracked vocals of ‘Song For Wilde’ form warm, gooey headphones while the tabla click-clacks its way across the back of your mind. Elsewhere, the soothing, chanting, rather haunting backing vocals on the heavy, earthy, deep grooving ‘A Norman Soldier’ contrasts quite nicely with the swaying, lightweight pop of ‘Lute & Flute,’ where Fry wears his Donovan influences so heavily on his sleeve that his knuckles are practically scraping the ground. And by the time we reach the delirious final track, ‘Mandolin Man,’ whatever brain cells you have left will be refried to oblivion by the searing solos, incredibly powerful, chunky jamming reminiscent of the contemporary work of famed Krautrockers Amon Düül.

Personally, I would have preferred if he brought all the verses together to end the album with a complete, contiguous version of the title track/poem instead of the gimmicky and rather silly backwards version of ‘Song For Wilde.’ But otherwise, we must cherish this neglected, too-long forgotten masterpiece, which Sunbeam have lovingly restored with two bonus tracks recorded in 1975. The nasal, Dylanesque ‘You Make It Easy’ seems influenced by Pink Floyd’s acoustic pop soundtrack work on ‘La Valee Obscured By Clouds’ and the breezy, soft pop of ‘Doesn’t Matter To Me If It Rains’ wouldn’t have been out of place on a Seals & Crofts, England Dan & John Ford Coley or America album. It also might have made some decent noise in the pop chart if released as a single and given any label support at all. So, ultimately, we have the year’s finest reissue and an essential purchase for fans of acid/folk and pop/psych from the likes of Donovan, Kaleidoscope, Dave Mason-era Traffic and West Coast “head”hunters, Country Joe & The Fish.

WIZZ JONES - THE LEGENDARY ME (Sunbeam)

It’s not arrogant to tout your genius if fans and critics alike have pinned that label on you, so the title of Jones’ sophomore effort (originally released on Village Thing in 1970) is not cause for alarm, merely a statement of fact. (Another legend, BBC DJ John Peel tabbed it as one of the year’s best releases, praising its “really good songs and simple, clean performances.”) Jones confesses in the liner notes that he was hesitant about using the title, which “has haunted me ever since!” (“If people didn’t listen to the words, I thought it might be misconstrued”), but label head Ian Anderson (the current editor of Froots magazine, not the Jethro Tull frontman) insisted he go with it. While eight of the nine originals were penned by Jones’s former musical partner Alan Tunbridge (the duo met in the late 50’s and remained close friends throughout the 60’s), it’s Jones’ arrangements that are on display throughout. Nevertheless, Jones today insists that “I always thought [Alan] played his songs the best. I was never able fully to capture the subtleties and intricate time changes of his tunes, but I hope I projected them to a wider audience by championing them throughout the 1960s folk boom.”

Listen to his open tuning arrangement of the traditional tale “Willie Moore” that he learned off of one of Harry Smith’s Folkways anthologies, where he adapted the original’s banjo and fiddle for his guitar to get a sense of his skills at breathing life into musty old tunes. On the controversial title track, Jones (vicariously speaking for Tunbridge) tongue-in-cheekily reflects a similar sentiment that Nick Drake posed in “Fruit Tree” on his “Five Leaves Left” debut released the same year. Marvel at Jones’ dexterity as his fingers stroll up and down the guitar neck during the song’s solo and you will agree with Anderson’s insistance on using the song for the album’s title.

Ralph McTell’s electric guitar adds an uplifting folk-rock vibe to “When I Cease To Care,” whose rolling melody is not too far removed from McTell’s classic, “Streets of London” written the year before. (And to bring Jones’ far-reaching influence up-to-date, compare this with Pat Orchard’s “Shabby Road” to hear how today’s folk artists are incorporating Jones’ dexterity and open tunings and rolling guitar lines into their own work.) Elsewhere, you can almost see the spittle dripping from Jones’ beard as he punctuates “Alan’s usual cynical humour” on “Nobody Told You So.” “Beggarman” is another amazing duet, this time with Pete Berryman, who would eventually work with another of Jones’ collaborators, Clive Palmer in his Famous Jug Band.

Open-minded Hot Tuna fans will enjoy comparing Jones’ arrangement of the old spiritual “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning” that he learned from Rev. Gary Davis’ “Gospel, Blues & Street Songs” album (Riverside, 1961) with Jorma’s showcase. Jones’ version is a bit livelier than Jorma’s, thanks to what he calls “the old Big Bill Broonzy thump-thump well to the fore.” Tunbridge’s “Dazzling Stranger” is perhaps my favorite track on the album. Jones originally recorded this on his self-titled debut on United Artists the year before, but McTell’s harmonium “imbues the track with a certain ecclesiastical atmosphere” that adds a nice variety to the album that prevents it from descending into another stodgy folk album that everyone praises, but no one seems to play more than once.

While Jones criticizes his lone composition “If Only I’d Known” as “one of my early, typically gloomy efforts at songwriting,” it adds a naïve pleasure to the album, set alongside Tunbridge’s more polished efforts. Reanna James brings another dimension to the album with her marvelous piano accompaniment to “Slow Down To My Speed,” and the original album concludes on an upbeat note with a live rendition of “Stick A Little Label On It,” recorded at the Bristol Troubador. Three additional live bonus tracks from his 1971 German tour (including a cautiously restrained version of another legend, Leonard Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy,” to the fancy fretwork of his rollicking, ragtimey take on “Glory of Love,” through to his tearful, pindrop rendition of his acknowledged student, Bert Jansch’s “Neecdle of Death”) make this already essential release all the more inviting, and demonstrate that Jones was able to successfully recreate his studio arrangements on stage.

Mighty Baby – A Jug of Love (Sunbeam)

The wonderful British reissue label, Sunbeam, continues their excellent track record with this 35^th anniversary remastering of Mighty Baby’s second and final album. A spiritual lifestyle adjustment resulted in an even mellower outing than their brilliant self-titled debut from two years earlier. (Drugs and booze were out and all except guitarist Alan King had adopted Sufism and joined the Dervish order – lead guitarist Martin Stone explains this was the inspiration for the album’s title – a common Sufi metaphor for divine love.) If the cover photo of the quintet sitting crosslegged on overlapping Persian rugs or the enigmatic quote from the 13^th century Persian mystical poet, Jalalu’ddin Rumi on the back cover didn’t prepare fans for the music within, one drop of the needle onto the opening, title track would surely convince them that the up tempo psychedelia of the debut would be shuffled aside in favor of a greater concentration on country, bluegrass and West Coast acid rock. Bassist Mike Evans says, “Seeing The Byrds with Gram Parsons just amazed us, as did hearing those first two Band albums.” Keyboardist Ian Whiteman confirms that “Seeing The Byrds with Gram Parsons playing [legendary London underground club] Middle Earth had a huge impact on us all.” Drummer Roger Powell recalls the band’s support slot for The Byrds in London , claiming “we began to get very interested in country-rock as well as the laid-back West Coast stuff and we were already into, like The Grateful Dead.” Finally, Stone relates that “we were listening to a lot of bluegrass and country – Dillard & Clark [and Gram Parsons work with] The Byrds (“Sweetheart of The Rodeo”) and Flying Burrito Brothers as well as more traditional stuff, so I think that had its effect.” The deeper you get into the album’s six lengthy tracks, the more you realise that there are certainly segments that suggest The Dead covering “Sweetheart…”.

“The Happiest Man In The Carnival” (featuring Zahara’s glistening flute work) is a light (but by no means lightweight) jam, with CSNY-style harmonies soaring heavenward, all anchored once again by Stone’s brilliant fingerpicking, Whiteman’s rolling piano and Powell’s rat-a-tat, trainlike drum fills. Side One ends with the lengthy, bluegrassy jam, “Keep On Jugging,” whose similarity (in both title and vibe) to the Dead’s contemporary “Truckin’” is surely no coincidence. Just close your eyes and listen to Stone’s tasty solo and you’ll be convinced you’re enjoying a private performance from the Fat Man. Also, it should be noted that the band appeared alongside the Dead on the soundtrack album from the second Glastonbury Fayre festival (“Revelations”), performing the sidelong epic “Blanket In My Muesli”… at 5am, no less! The track would enter into the annals of Might Baby folklore and, although it was never recorded in the studio, the band did record “A Jug of Love” a mere month after Glastonbury . Stone also admits in the liner’s interview with all the band members that much of the album was worked out on the road, so the vibe was no doubt still coursing through their veins.

“Tasting the Life” is a big, fat, chunky hunk of country rock centered around Stone’s mesmerizing, bluesy solos and occasionally reminds me of Garcia’s work on his self-titled solo debut. Four bonus tracks are on hand to entice the listener, including both sides of the pre-LP single, “Devil’s Whisper,” featuring slide guitar, Evans’ rolling bass line, their friend John Weider (from Family)’s fiddle and group harmonies which were harbingers of the more countrified direction the band would follow), and a slightly abbreviated rendition of the Side Two opener “Virgin Spring,” which Stone says “was closer to what we were doing onstage” and is not unlike Stephen Stills solo recordings from a year earlier. Completists will froth at the mouth over the two Guy Stevens-produced previously unreleased tracks from 1969 that wrap up the reissue. “Messages” is a high energy rocker that is surprisingly out of step with the material on the album, but “Ancient Traveller” is a real beauty that reminds me of early Pink Floyd.

The Open Mind - The Open Mind (Sunbeam)

Originally formed as The Apaches in 1965, a personnel change a year later brought about the new name The Drag Set, who enjoyed a solid reputation and a modicum of success on the London blues circuit throughout 1966, backing such visiting luminaries as Wilson Pickett and John Lee Hooker. In 1967, they laid down some tracks with a “very enthusiastic and encouraging” Joe Meek, but his suicide less than a week later quashed any potential release. In March, the CBS subsidiary Go released their debut single, the Mod-inflected “Day and Night” b/w “Get Out of My Way.” Despite favorable reviews in Record Mirror and NME, the single sank without a trace (although the band would rework the A-side in the future – more about that in a moment). About this time, the band’s management were, um, muscled out of the picture by well-known boxing promoter Benny Huntman, who installed his son Roger as manager. By now, “a lot of bluesy bands were starting to go psychedelic, and we were no exception,” exclaims bassist Tim du Feu, who “thought up the name The Open Mind to reflect our attitude towards life.” Armed with a new moniker and wardrobe (“At the same time we got leather suits made, which were very unusual for the period. You could say we started the look that people like Iron Maiden took up a few years later”), The Open Mind became staples on London’s psychedelic scene, playing at legendary venues like Middle East, the UFO Club, the Electric Garden (supporting Pink Floyd on opening night!), and The Marquee (opening for The Electric Prunes), and enjoying the company of such burgeoning talents as Jimi Hendrix, the Soft Machine, Joe Cocker, Arthur Brown and Jon Anderson. The latter, then ensconced as lead vocalist with The Syn was actually offered the lead vocal spot in The Open Mind to allow lead guitarist Mike Brancaccio to concentrate on his six string, but, as du Feu tells us, “Mike’s refusal to be sidelined put paid to that….” Anderson, of course, later enjoyed the spotlight that seemed to eternally fail to shine on The Open Mind when The Syn evolved into Yes.

All of this perfunctory material is included in Sunbeam’s typically informative liner notes to their reissue of what many consider one of the lost gems of the UK psychedelic era. Recorded in the spring of 1969 by Johnny Franz (enjoying his current success with Scott Walker and Dusty Springfield), du Feu relates that it was actually engineer Fritz Fryer who was “far more interested in helping us find the right sound, as well as experimenting with double tracking, echo and so on.” Rhythm guitarist and lead singer Terry Martin (nee Schindler) agrees, adding “Franz was probably the wrong producer for us, but he did an OK job all things considered. Fritz was far more engaged, constantly making suggestions and trying different things out.”

Opening with the storming, blues of “Dear Louise” the album is chock full of Brancaccio’s punchy pop/psych gems, all brimming with vitality, lovely harmonies (featuring Kiki Dee and Madeleine Bell), searing guitar breaks, du Feu’s throbbing bass lines and manic drummer Philip Fox’s shuddering fills that rival Keith Moon in their ribald intensity (listen to The Who-like aggression of “Try Another Day”). Add Martin’s strident wail and you’ve got the makings of an essential item that belongs in any psychedelic music fan’s collection. Dig Martin’s pants-shredding squeal on “I Feel The Same Way Too” as it floats effortlessly over Brancaccio’s Townshend-esque riffage that reminded me quite favorably of “I Can See For Miles” until that heavy metal middle eight takes over, predating Deep Purple’s similar sounding “Smoke On The Water” by several years!

Side two opens with both sides of the band’s debut single, “Horses and Chariots” – sort of a pop/psych rendition of the tale of the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse – and the syrupy, sludgy blues of “Before My Time,” which sounds like a fertile cross-pollination of Black Sabbath and The Doors. Brancaccio’s razor-sharp solos inject a double-shot adrenaline rush into “Free As The Breeze,” which again features the band’s falsetto harmonies throughout the chorus and his guitar pyrotechnics takes center stage on “Girl I’m So Alone,” a reworking of the aforementioned Drag Set single, “Day and Night.”

The band’s classic, post-LP single, “Magic Potion” c/w “Cast A Spell” make up the first two bonus tracks. Frequently cited by psych aficionados as one of the ten greatest singles of the UK 60’s psychedelic era, the A-side comes across like Steppenwolf on steroids, with Brancaccio and Martin’s guitars blazing away behind Martin’s suitably psychedelic lyrics, “Take a drink from my magic potion/Soon you’re going to really feel fine/One sip and you’ll see things you never saw before….” The track immediately became a favorite on John Peel’s legendary BBC 1 radio program. The short flip is like an answer song, with a slightly poppier sheen, but still sounds like a ballsier Who retread (in a good way). But what really makes this the definitive reissue of The Open Mind’s material (easily supplanting Tenth Planet’s vinyl reissue from a few years back.) is the inclusion of both sides of the Drag Set 45. “Day and Night” is a kick-ass, Mod-inflected barnstormer, clearly showing the influence of The Who, while the softer, melodic pop of “Get Out of My Way” is even better, and might have been a hit if it were flipped over to the A-side. Think Peter & Gordon with a Dave Clark 5 chaser! So what we have here is an essential reissue that you need to own…NOW!

These and many other of Jeff's favorite releases from 2006 will be featured on upcoming editions of The Perfumed Garden.

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