Sendelica describes their latest album as “a door of perception into the jamming delights of Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and The Byrds at the heights of their improvisational prowess.” If they had also added Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Nik Turner and VDGG they may just have nailed it, as this instrumental quintet is definitely bringing back the late Sixties, with jam-driven psychedelic workouts where bass, drums, and synths normally take the back seat to the strident electric guitar and sax. Sendelica have of course been producing great music in Wales for more than a decade now, and during this period they have also been incredibly productive – I note that on Bandcamp if one wishes to get their complete digital discography that amounts to 34 releases!
Here we have three extended workouts, all allowing the guys to flex their musical wings, with Peter Bingham (guitar, electronics) and Lee Relfe (saxophone) taking the lead, ably supported by Glenda Pescado (bass), Meurig Griffiths (drums) and Lord Armstrong Sealand (Theremin & synths). The last guys tend to provide the supporting role which allows the others to go off and take flight, creating new themes and constantly revisiting old ones, all locked in as one. Psychedelic, progressive, exciting, invigorating and full of space this is music that captures a band at home with each other, playing in a live environment. No need for retakes or fancy overdubbing, this is about getting a band in their natural environment and capturing that vibrancy and immediacy for the world to hear.
Although it is available both digitally and on CD, of course, the only way to really hear this is by getting the double vinyl release from Fruits de Mer, where the fourth blank side has been overprinted in UV full-color, a new technique offered by the Record Industry pressing plant (not so much a picture disc, more a disc with a picture on it…). Superb. 8/10
this was a long-lost number from Billy and the boys.
Overall this is a great little release, but it is let down somewhat by the drum production which is far too much to the fore. When the cymbals are louder than the guitars then one can say there is an issue. But fans of the band will undoubtedly lap this up and it certainly has me intrigued to hear more from them.
Starting with some rather dated keyboards this number soon turns into the melodic progressive music I have come to expect from Potter’s Daughter, this time aided and abetted by none other than the wonderful Annie Haslam whose voice is still as pure and wonderful as it ever has been. Here she combines with Dyanne Potter Voegtlin to create something quite special indeed. Amit allows himself to turn his amplifier up a little and come more to the fore with his solo, turning this song into far more of a progressive rocker than those on the album. This single combines two versions of the same song, but it is interesting not only to hear how the band is moving in their musical journey but also that they have already been accepted by one of the scene’s most treasured singers.
I thought I had managed to clear all my Christmas-released reviewing and then this arrived just before Christmas itself. Here we have five songs from L.A. Guns, the first of which starts with a somewhat rambling monologue from none other than William Shatner! I must admit, it is funny hearing him asking the band to play “Sex Action”. This then leads into “The Bills/Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You” (Billy Squier cover) which is followed by a down and dirty treatment of “Merry Xmas Everybody” which features harmony vocals, and a band obviously having fun. (Slade cover). “Dreidel” is just 9 seconds long and leads into “There Ain’t No Sanity Clause” (The Damned cover) before we finish up with “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” (Ramones cover). 13 minutes of mayhem which actually comes off really well, as there is the impression that the guys just wanted to have a blast and that they certainly achieved.
Paul Kirkpatrick, under his pseudonym Paul K, is a British composer, producer, musician and songwriter who is also known for being one half of the electro-rock duo Glitch Code. Here he is combining electronic music with strings, samples, fretless bass, electric and acoustic guitars and even uses real drums! The Fermi paradox, named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extra-terrestrial civilizations and estimates for their probability. Paul says the album itself “explores themes of isolation, whether that be digital isolation through omnipresent social media on planet earth, or further afield into the surrounding unknown”. In addition to the music he has also sourced some audio files, “So I have Joe Silk and Mario Livio, the famous Oxford Professors, discussing the Fermi Paradox based on Enrico Fermi’s famous quote “So where is everybody?”, in relation to alien life and I have Frank Drake from SETI (Search for extra-terrestrial Intelligence ) talking about the Drake Equation which he developed in the 1960s to determine how many intelligent civilizations there should be in just our universe.” If that isn’t enough he also has a reading of a poem by the famous holocaust poet Abraham Sutzkever.
This may lead one to think that this is a difficult album to listen to, filled with complex theories and discussions, but nothing could be further from the truth as it is so easy to listen to and get involved with. I can imagine this would be the perfect music to listen to when down at Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve (google it), laid back in the hammocks and letting the light from the stars fall into our eyes and minds. The famous quote from Kennedy comes in (“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”) and fades out so we hear the Apollo lift off in the background. But instead of being music for a film track, it is the words and speeches here which give the support to the music, assisting us in finding the path as we travel along the journey being described for us by Paul.
Reminiscent at times of both Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, this music has more electric guitar than either, while the bass is probably the single most important instrument in terms of grounding the music. This is not an album to just dip in and out of, and certainly not one to shuffle (for which there is never any excuse by the way), as it builds through its course. It is an album to be played at night, a good spirit or pinot noir to hand, and just let the music take you to places far beyond your ken. Superb.
’m guessing it must be 20 years since I last reviewed an album by Paul, but here he is with his 20th album in a forty-year musical career. Somewhat strangely this was actually completed as long ago as 2016 but was shelved at the time by the record label, but he recently revisited it and removed four songs and replaced them with four home demos of newer material. Munster’s buffs will, of course, recognize the address as being the home of Herman, Lily and their family, and Paul said he used the address as for him it is so reminiscent of the Sixties which is the feel he was trying to get with this album. I must say that for the most part he absolutely nails it, although there are times when he also veers into Rocky Horror territory which was slightly later, given that was also looking back in time perhaps he can be forgiven.
We have pop, psychedelia, Beatles, garage punk and surf all mixed together with Paul’s somewhat twisted and dark sense of humor, and the only thing to do is to sit down and settle in for what will undoubtedly be an incredibly interesting ride. I am sure the Clash frontman would be smiling if he could hear “Joe Strummer Said”, while my favorite has to be “Won’t Go Surfin’ No More” which has strummed acoustic guitar and picked electric guitar in a way very similar to many songs from the surf genre. Although his punk style sneering vocals are more Joey Ramone than Brian Wilson, and I am sure the Beach Boys never had a song as bleak as this. Here we have 13 songs which are a solid slab of Sixties nostalgia, but the far dirtier and menacing side. His use of organ as opposed to synthesizers along with over-driven and distorted guitars makes this a garage classic which should have been released more than 50 years ago. Paul released his first album as long ago as 1980 and is showing no sign whatsoever of slowing down, and for fans of the genre, this is well worth investigating.
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