Commercial craft #1: The mainstream peak of the electronic dance music era

The mainstream electronic dance music of the second half of the 90’s and early 2000’s is, despite its more than occasional awkwardness, something close to my heart due to nostalgia, and it being around that time I got musically interested to begin with. As a more or less socially retarded kid I spent a lot of time in front of the TV, and much of the time watching MTV, waiting for all the boy and girl groups to shut up for awhile to give room for the EDM around, or what’s popularly known as just techno. Not sure why this style of music held a particular appeal to me, but with it came a childish dream about having full access to any musical record of choice, having fun all day looking for beats/loops/samples etc in a large variety of musical styles and getting and endless stream of aesthetical experiences in the process. Had no idea this would actually pretty soon turn out to be the case.

But enough with the self-indulged nostalgia, where did the whole EDM craze come from to begin with, what was around those days and how well does it stand up to the test of time? The boom in the mid-90’s was really just the peak of a process that had been going on since the rise of electronic disco/new wave in the late 70’s, gradually generating subscenes with a more repetitive and ‘’futuristically de-humanized’’ sound, which apart from individual hits remained mostly an underground phenomena until the boom of rave and house music in the last breath of the 80’s. A large variety of EDM styles went from underground to mainstream, but the two most notable styles of era I’m referring to were

1) Eurodance, feather-light go-lucky pop songs with some structural and sonical foundations of techno. Famous examples are Aqua, Rednex and Venga Boys.

2) Big beat, anthemic, instrumentally/loop-oriented but straight forward and rather heavy sounding dance music. Famous examples are The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers

Both EDM styles had in their own way been polished throughout years to what appeared to be commercial perfection. In the case of eurodance they rode on the explosion of the prepubescent musical consumer group created pretty much entirely as a result of spice girls releasing their bouncy, colorful and ever so annoying Wannabee single, and took its childishness to the absolute maximum. Most eurodance acts were pure one-hit-per-album studio products created by painfully cynical producers, and the ‘’band members’’ were usually actors who did nothing but act childish/cartoony on music videos. However, despite all childishness it managed to attract a teenage audience by (1 hiding the catchy pop song behind electronic rhythm and sound production which would open up for the singles being played at dance parties and (2 just like in regular pop hiring photo-model looking singers/actors and make them spout sexuality in both music videos and lyrics, sometimes subtle and sometimes blatantly obvious (but of course they passed over the kids head anyway). One more golden rule of producing eurodance was to never, never change a concept that sells. Created a winning concept? Great, reuse it with minimal variation. And just use someone else’s if you can’t come up with one of your own.

As for big beat, you can in short say the style got popular for being EDMs equivalence to blockbusters. Unlike eurodance which tried to please everyone under 18, big beat tried to please insanely large mass of teens and young adults who had turned into electronic dance club enthusiasts at the time, and did just that by using top-notch production values to create big, dumb, anthemic breakbeats/loops which in the minds of the public easily outshine the more mellow forms of EDM (to much annoyance of pseudo-intellectual EDM fans). This ‘’cool’’ bravado also shined through in the genres music videos as demonstrated by the link above. But to be fair, big beat as a scene wasn’t a laboratory product of a team of slicked producers like eurodance. Instead it came out of individual DJs from underground rave scenes who had spent years trying to get noticed and acquiring ‘’the ear’’ necessary to understand what a really addictive beat consists of.

Also from the same era there was trip hop, which is down tempo (sometimes almost ambient) EDM with more experimental breakbeats. Despite being popular it remained mostly the mellow alternative to the even more popular and seemingly more commercially slick party-styled EDM. However (while not being as popular making today), trip hop is the only material from electronic dance music's commercial peak which most people still can listen to with a straight face, and which most popular tracks are still used in commercial contexts. Why is this? Let’s start off with what trip hop didn’t do, as in not shamelessly throwing itself into all of its times trendy aesthetical expressions (speaking both on a visual and musical plane), doomed to forever be associated with an outdated era. Stone death of once-really popular music is the norm. What trip hop did do, though probably unintentionally, was to create a style of music which goes perfectly hand in hand with high-tech products and ‘’mature, moody and serious’’ entertainment media. Perhaps the best example is Teardrop from 1998 by Massive Attack which among other things frequently serves as theme and background music for top-rated American drama shows, non-fiction documentary/news/debate shows and a seemingly endless stream of commercials. Eple by Royksopp is a similar example. These two tracks are just commercial atomic bombs for these clients; They’ve got a polished professional coldness which still has a very warm, welcoming touch which is very hard to achieve but is something trustworthy people feel comfortable around once it’s pulled off well , they put you at ease yet activates your attention at the same time, and perhaps most of all it’s their combination of style and simplicity.

So even though trip hop got silenced by it’s big, dumb brother and sister during it’s prime time, now almost ten years after the mainstream EDM era ended, you can be pretty sure that the most popular trip hop songs has been more financially successful than the most popular eurodance and big beat songs. Slow and steady wins the race after all.

Pop of innocence and cynism

Bubblegum pop is very light and simple mid 60s to mid 70s pop rock, aimed towards the children who wanted to be hip just like their older siblings listening to what's now called classic rock. To their misfortune the genre was simply met with a facepalms from everyone else, especially it's creators. More often than not the ‘’bands’’ were pure studio projects with random session musicians under a team of producers/songwriters, who usually didn’t want to waste time and energy on musical quality; as long as there was cartoon characters, animals or people in costumes mimicking to gibberish about candy and love on TV, it was a living. So even though these are my recommended songs on the genre, this is not really an entry consisted of particularly good musical material. Though there is always the inbuilt novelty of spending a few minutes getting to know a musical genre.

Enjoy

Lancelot Link And The Evolution Revolution - Sha-Na Love You
(02:33)

Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution is as archetypal bubblegum pop as it gets. They were the fictional band of 1970 – 1972 TV series Lancelot; Secret Chimp, with a cast consisting of dressed up, probably psychologically traumatized chimps. Sha-Na Love You is their most notable track, both being very catchy and the most cringe-worthy thing you've heard since Hanson Brothers MMMbop.

The Wombles - Remember You're A Womble
(03:16)

In the 70’s the Wombles was a popular UK live-action show about long-snounted furry animals cleaning up and reusing trash from inconsiderate humans. Remember You’re A Womble is their galloping, dance friendly declarance of superiority over the human race (which you’re not a part of, thankfully). The music on the show was written by now acclaimed but obnoxiously snobby songwriter Mike Batt (still paranoid about not being taken seriously because of this), who took the liberty of mixing together all sorts of instrumentation (this track includes saxophone, violin, horns etc) and satirizing different musical genres.

The Fun And Games - Elephant Candy
(02:15)

Bubblegum pop for real men, given that The Fun And Games unlike most of their musical associates were an actual band, and compared to the genres standards were pretty raw, hard-hitting and shouting. Elephant Candy, released in 1968, is the a perfect example of this, and has more than a little touch of insanity in it's vocal harmonies.

20 Years Later

This entry consists of my three favorite 80’s pop hits according to three different categories. First up is simply the greatest hit of the decade all in all, material that media almost guaranteed has spoonfed you with at least some time. Then I’ll mention a forgotten hit, which despite having been big in it’s time for one reason or another (double-digit hit, more regionally oriented etc) you just don’t hear anymore. Lastly I’ll focus on electronic dance, just because it’s a fraction of that decade’s mainstream music I really like. The reason to make categories like this is that when it comes to 80’s pop heading for mainstream popularity it usually really was the most famous songs which were the best, and overplayed to this day.

What’s maybe a bit hard to understand now was that early 80’s pop in general was both very rebellious and reactionary music at the same time, trying to distance itself as far away from the hippies as possible both musically with manufactured, slicked and (at the time) high production electronic music not seen before, aesthetically with excessive yuppyish-decadence, and even ideologically with most artists ignoring social issues entirely and often focusing on the excesses of capitalism in a more positive light.

Enjoy.


THE REMEMBERED
Kim Wilde - Kids In America
(03:29)

Who haven’t heard this rocking 1981 new wave track yet, in one form or another. The tense buildup and unforgettable anthemic chorus together with the lyrical content does not only scream of commercial perfection*, but the very beginning of a new era.

*A claim that can be easily supported by the endless stream of consistently popping up covers by everything from alternative rock bands to cartoon shows.

THE FORGOTTEN
Moon Ray - Comanchero
(03:58)

Stomping Italo-pop which was a hit in the summer of 1985, or perhaps 1984, the sources are a bit conflicting; maybe it reached different countries at different time periods. Very kitschy track both intentionally with the spaghetti western-ish chants and unintentionally with it’s extremely 80’s music video, which has led to the song getting a minor non-commercial comeback on the internet.

THE.. ONE TO DANCE TO.
Trans X - Living On Video
(5:54)

Light beams, purple skies, computer fantasies… On video. Behold what the future sounded like in 1981, though the world just didn’t understand the quintessentially early techno until two years later when it became a huge international hit. The backbone of the song is its dark synth line repeated over and over again for the entirety of the song and rightfully so.

Happy Hardcore Compilation

The ''album art'' is a slightly modified snapshot from an Indonesian kids show. For own entertainment I'll throw in these these types of pictures from now on, meant to be descriptive of a musical genres stereotypical visual expression.

Happy hardcore is essentially fast, hard 4/4 beat electronic dance music with an upbeat attitude popular in the 90’s rave scene, eventually going in and out of mainstream popularity the same decade.

It's by many thought of as lame/gay, uncreative low quality trash falsefully proclaiming itself to be hardcore techno played by loudmouthed narcissistic DJs with broken English that only dumb, drugged out pubertal european wigger teens with dyed blonde hair listen to. As with all music that was really popular, the higher up it gets, the harder it falls. Still it's always moronic to judge music depending on how difficult it was to create or it's fanbase rather than the aesthetic experience it generates, or thinking that depth equals to wanting to sit alone and be angsty. In happy hardcores defense I think it has a depth in the sense that it's often the most intense and accurate musical expression of bliss and positive energy; That it can still the music of choice on big festive events and locations like carnies, despite being a dinosaur for the mainstream, shows the lasting strength of that expression the genre provides.

I'll let the tracks speak for themselves this time. Enjoy

Dj Dougal and Mickey Skeedale – Emerald
(03:54, from Happy Hardcore 5 CD 1)

Dj Paul Elstak – Pump This Party
(04:17, from Happy Hardcore 1 CD 1)

DJ Seduction – Samplemania
(03:33, from Hardcore Flashback 2)

Dj Dougal and Mickey Skeedale – Pump It Up
(06:23, from Hardcore Flashback 3)

TKM – Time Out
(04:48, from Bonkers 5: Anarchy In The Universe CD 3 (Dougals Mix)

Update:

Dj Vinylgroover & Dj Quatro - Calypso Summer
(03:38, from Bonkers CD 1 (Hixxys Mix)

Dougal & Gammer - Get Hype [Scott Brown Remix]
(03:53, from Hardcore Flashback 4)

Eruption feat Katherine Wood - Let the Music
(05:38, from Happy Hardcore 4 CD2)

Hixxy - I'm ready
(03:37, from Happy 2B Hardcore Vol. 7)

N.U.K.E - Nana
(03:12, from History of Dance 5: The Happy Hardcore Edition)

Some pre-second half of 19th century non-classical traditional Swedish music

Local church in Bredsättra, a village where I spent all my summers until very recently. Just thought it looked oldschool enough for the subject matter...

The title may seem like just an odd way of saying ‘Swedish folk’ , but where to draw the line between traditional folk of and other types of oldie music such as church songs and material in old lower-class entertainment performances aimed towards a wide audience, is often very blurry. When it comes to musical inspiration, songs from these various contexts were largely interconnected to each other, shamelessly stealing/’borrowing’ from each other all the time. So for the purposes of this blog entry and its imaginary reader’s entertainment, it’d be very unnecessary limiting it to just pure folk tunes. Also, that they (estimately) need to be at least from the mid-19th century is to avoid romanticist attempts to ’’recreate the sound of the past’’ which was very popular the later half of the century, and instead focus on the genuine material nostalgic aristocrats were crying and masturbating each other about later on.

Have a listen

Till Österland Vill Jag Fara
(To The Land In The East I Will Fare)

Rather moody all-male vocal church choir song which I couldn’t find a studio recording of, so it’s just recorded from a regular church performance. It’s about traveling to the holy land/Israel before death arrives. The song has nine verses, but only two of them are preformed here. The melody is taken from a church song titled På Dig o Herre Kära found in a psalm book from 1695. The lyrics can interestingly enough be traced back to text fragments by a regular sailor named Anders Flöija from the mid 1700’s.

To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree

I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
Where the trees are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly
Where the tress are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly

När Som Jag Var På Mitt Artonde År
(When I Was On My Eighteenth Year)

Slow-paced, somewhat eerie vocal-only folk song from the perspective (and here preformed by) a young woman remembering a love interest who cheated on her, but who she still loves and longs for. Much of the songs charm unfortunately gets lost in translation and not only in the usual sense with pacing and rhymes getting all screwed up, but because it relies heavily on poetical wordplay and grammar-twisting in very old fashioned Swedish.

There isn’t much information available on the internet about this one, but it’s featured in a book from 1907 among other authorless traditional Swedish folksongs. To able to establish such status, a qualified guess is that it’s at the very least from the mid 1800’s. My first thought when hearing this was that it was probably a romantic early 1900’s/ late 1800’s composition dreaming of an ancient Scandinavian musical tradition, but seeing there is no author to be found, it might just have it’s origins in that really, really old reality.

When I was on my eighteenth year
There was beautiful boy who fell out in my yard
I thought of owning it forever
But this my thought soon disappeared
There was another girl who got laid down in his arms
He compares it with a blooming flower
Though I’ve held father and mother in high love
And sisters and friends who’ve loved me here
This love goes beyond it all
Thanks for having been my only comfort
And thanks for all the moments I’ve rested on your chest
In heaven we shall again be united

Ack Värmeland Du Sköna
(O Värmeland You Beautiful)

Dramatic song number about a Swedish province whose lyrics is originally written for a 1822 sångspel, which was a theatrical musical act of significally lower budget than opera aimed towards a broad mass, often relying on traditional melodies rather than originally written material. You know the score with these types of songs: Just change the area to any other with a decent nature and it works just as well. Actually, that’s the foundation of this very song: Pretty much the same lyrics and melody was used earler for a folk song about Swedish province Östra Götaland, which in its turn is suspiciously similar to dutch 1500’s folk song O, Nederland! Let op u saeck. Nevertheless Ack Värmeland remains the most polished and proudest version of the tune both lyrically and melodically, and the performance by one of the most skilled operatic tenors of all time Jussi Björling (1911 –1960) posted here is the strongest version of the song recorded.

O Väremland, you beautiful, you magnificent land
You crown jewel among Sweden's provinces
And if ever I should reach the Promised Land
I would still return to my beloved Värmland

For there I want to live, there I want to die
If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.

If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.

In Värmeland – yes, there I want to settle down and live
With the simplest joy to be satisfied with
It’s valleys and forests gives me the calm of silence
And the air is fresh on it’s heights

And the streams sings their lovely song
By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.

By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.

Meeting us halfway

A while ago now (which is a surprise, considering our similarly faltering lifestyles), Simon and I were discussing the essence of experimental music, or something like that. Now, while i've always been fascinated by experimentation as an idea, I think we both safely came to one conclusion: in this climate of music, it's just all too easy to get bored. This could be chalked down to a number of reasons, because as of late 'experimental' has meant music that drones, repeats and, most annoyingly of all, moves ever-forward to a climax that never comes.

So while this pure experimentation may just get old (i've worn my copy of Boris' Flood to dust), these two bloggers (actually just me) present the stuff that wavers somewhere inbetween -- that is, the stuff that doesn't quite know whether to be pop music or 'experimental' music, but it's hard to care either way. To conclude, INDIE STUFF I LIKE.

Wilco - Misunderstood (1996)

Jeff Tweedy's country children are probably the most unlikely band to even associate with the bunch of words I just used, but early on in their career came what is probably their weirdest song. While the live version eclipses Tweedy's probable insanity slightly less, what originally was put onto their opus Being There is odd enough; a folksy, country ballad beginningg with a minute of noisy drum kit destruction, a lyrical verse stretching the next three, all finished off by a collaboration of the two layered under Tweedy's loud outburst. It's the kind of track that repeats itself just long enough to repeat itself some more - the verse is repetitive, the chorus is repetitive - but much like all the greats (Lou Reed, Mark Kozelek, those guys), the lyrics go ever-changed through and through for a good six extended minutes.

The Velvet Underground - Heroin (1967)

Like all good songs about drugs, the aforementioned Lou Reed wrote one much like a trainwreck to the listener: it's so horribly frightening, but impossible to turn from. One verse, over and over and over again, but for whatever lyrical twist and turn, Reed always returns to the same lyrical focus (I guess that I just don't know). Most of you have probably heard it though.

The Flaming Lips - Riding To Work In The Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (1997)

With Zaireeka, Wayne Coyne and co. wrote the biggest musical oxymoron I have ever heard. The whole philosophy of the 4-disc album is to have each playing in sync at whatever blend you want, allowing the listener to meddle with their settings and create a mix however loud or noisy they want. But stripping it down to one disc, half the fun's gone; "Riding To Work In The Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)" was mind-bending when I finally got the discs up and running, with bass blasting from one side of the room and the synth apocalypse from elsewhere. Still, it'll give you the idea - Flaming Lips' typical pantomime sound gone one further.

Sufjan Stevens - You Are The Blood (2009)

This track is done for a 4OD project headed by frontman of The National, in charity against AIDs. So, good causes aside, this may be the biggest stretch in Stevens' career thus far, with a ten minute track extracting any sound either mechanical or classical. It's his most brooding and scary song, but where his longer tracks on Michigan such as "Vito's Ordination Song" would build and build and build, he sort of just plummets into nothingness for a good minute and reprises the entire song for the rest of the proceeds. Excellent piano playing and all that, shame it disconnects the song's segments. Still, Stevens is stil

The Ascent Of Everest - If I Could Move Mountains (2008)

A piece so in tribute to Efrim Manuck's Godspeed You! Black Emperor that I actually googled "Storm" in search of album artwork. Segmented into three parts (Storm is in five, but no way near as engaging), the track has a lot going for it, speedy guitar with even more impressive slow and steady interludes. With this track, The Ascent Of Everest disguise themselves with a lot of pretentious tendencies no one will actually care about.

Sun City Girls - Esoterica Of Abyssynia (1990)

Sun City Girls are kings of probably the most colossal discography I ever have witnessed, and this album marks their most well known release in the foray of world music et al. And this is a personal favourite.

only six tracks
ENJOY

Almost as underrated pop masterpieces from the psychedelic era

Thought there was enough material to make another entry on the subject, after this I'll go on with other stuff.

Songlist:
The Marmalade – I See The Rain (1967)
Timebox - Gone Is The Sad Man (1968)
The Fox – Mr. Carpenter (1968)
Ramases And Selket – Mind’s Eye (1968)
Gentle soul – See My love (Song For Greg) (1968)
Listen to them here

The Marmalade – I See The Rain (1967)

I See The Rain is The Marmalades flagship song which managed to become a hit in Holland, but not really anywhere else. Hendrix was apparently a big fan of this one, which isn't very strange considering the unusually heavy guitar tuning for it’s time, sounding more like something out of a grunge song. However it only serves to create a warm, comfortable sound together with the songs light hearted melancholy and slower-side-of-mid-pace.

Timebox - Gone Is The Sad Man (1968)

This blog has already a great summary. Might as well just quote:

‘Gone Is the Sad Man’ appeared as the b-side to ‘Girl Don’t Make Me Wait’ in 1968. ‘Gone is the Sad Man’, co written by Patto and Halsall is just about a perfect example of UK psyche. It balances a dreamy texture (Halsall’s vibes help this a lot) with a biting guitar lead, a classic melody and vocal harmonies with enough phasing for the heads in the room. The influence of the Beatles is strong (as it was in probably 80% of all pop records in 1968). The tune manages to be sunny without resorting to treacle and psychedelic without wearing its “far-out-ness” on its sleeve.

The Fox - Mr. Carpenter (1968)

Bouncy, up-and-go rock song which insanely catchy (or annoying, you decide) riffing will probably cause a sleepless night or two. It really is up there with I Can’t Get No Satisfaction and Rebel Rebel, only much more enjoyable since it hasn’t been overplayed to dirt.

Ramases And Selket – Mind’s Eye (1968)

Psychedelic love song with cinematic, eastern-exoticism instrumentation and a wonderfully hypnotic romantic violin riff. The instrumental track is pretty sharply contrasted by an echoing, not-all-too-skilled vocal performance by mentally unstable Martin Raphael (he started to go under the name Ramases after a revelation about him being the reincarnation of the Egyptian pharaoh) with probably sincere yet laughable lyrics ("we found ourself in outer space, to propagate the human race, there was another planet there, we lived alone with time to spare"), but these quirks doesn’t ruin the romantic side of the song and rather just add a "far out" feel to it’s wholeness. The "In my mind’s eye, mind’s eye, mind’s eye… In my mind’s eye" chorus is at least as snappy as the epic violin riff.

Gentle soul – See My love (Song For Greg) (1968)

Gentle soul was a one-album folk rock duo with psychedelic elements lead by Pamela Polland and Rick Stanley, who both sung and wrote most material as a duo. Interestingly enough this one track written and sung by Polland alone is the definite the standout, perhaps because of the artistic and egmotional lack of restraint working alone offers. See My Love is a soft folk tribute her husband and is a very skillful marriage between lyrics, melody and sound. At the center of it all is Pollans beautifully airy, somehow fragile and strong voice, harmonized by harp, piano, guitar among other instruments to create a flowing, dreamy atmosphere, with the lyrics mostly dealing with how aesthetic and mystical her husband is… Remember, this was when the "free spirited poet" still was hot shit.

P.S Think of a guy you really like while listening ;'D

Underrated pop masterpieces from the psychedelic era

Hello, my name is Simon. Robin and I had this idea that it’d be a mighty combo attack if we fused our music blogs, but it ended up with me just posting on his old one like a foreign sidekick. I’ll mostly do recommendations/lists/compilations on various musical styles here, starting with five songs in the subject just mentioned, in chronological order.

Sagittarius - My World Fell Down (1967)

Listen

Superior psychedelic sunshine pop cover of the pop trio The Ivy Leagues original featuring possibly the best multi-harmonic vocals in the genre, and a prime example of how sunshine pop sounds best when it’s melancholic yet unsentimental. It’s pretty much a laboratory product by producer Gary Usher who previously had written songs for the Beach Boys and here seem to have been inspired by Brian Wilson's ballad works on Pet Sounds and the experimentation of the Good Vibrations single. The altogether atmosphere of the song is very interesting and similar to that beginning to move on from the death of a near and dear, with sadness always dwelling at the bottom but not really bursting out directly. Even the explosive and rather upbeat first part of the chorus still manages to keep the songs melancholic feel intact. As a warning there is a completely unnecessary bridge of awkward stock sounds lasting for twenty seconds. Perhaps to represent ‘’the world falling down’’ or just to appear more psychedelic, remember, this is the 60’s after all. But it’s forgiven when the second bridge interrupts with it’s cold, eerie chant which Usher wrote himself and may be the best part of the song.

The Fairytale – Lovely People (1967)

Listen

Gentle, base driven song about rainbow colored people washing each other which sung in death sincerity. Supposedly the band attempted to catch the spirit of the times and hoped for this to become a hit as a hippie anthem, though Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco took that spot and Lovely People has fallen into obscurity. But the fact that all the greatest melody slings the band ever produced compressed into this single song shows that it was a real ambition.

The Smoke – My Friend Jack (1968)

Listen

Cool blues-rocking freakbeat with the wall-of-sound qualities that made the British psychedelic scene unique. Unlike most of even the most critically acclaimed pop hits there is not a single weak moment here, no filling out just to deliver some single awesome riff or chorus the song centers around. It’s pure compositional perfection, and would probably be appearing on Rolling Stone lists, be used as one of those stock song on TV shows whenever someone get’s high and what not had it been recorded by a more famous band.

Argosy – Imagine (1969)

Listen

Roger Hodgson who would later become vocalist and key songwriter for Supertramp is the singer and writer of the orchestral flower power piece Imagine, another flawless pop composition which echoes The Logical Song he’d write ten years later both melodically and lyrically, only that here we find him still refusing to leave the magic of childhood and urging others to find back to it, rather than being sentimental about the loss of it. This was the B-side of the only single Argosy released (Mr.Boyd/Imagine) with the A-side featuring Elton John and some of his studio musicians.

Time Machine – Turn Back Time _ Bird In The Wind (1971)

Listen

French song which borders nightmare fuel. Deals with the subject of turning back time to ask H.G Wells how to turn back time, if turning back time was possible, which the singer don’t believe. The actual music is separated into two parts, the first featuring song with a strong feeling of wondering accompanied by reversed rhythmic, interesting use of violins, pan-flutes and a thumping beat. The second half of the song is all reversed except for the vocals and a dark piano melody.

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Tracklist:

Count Five - Psychotic Reaction (1966)
The Electric Prunes - I had too mutch to dream last night (1966)
Sagittarius - My World Fell Down (1967)
Living Daylights - Lets live for today (1967)
The Fairytale - Lovely People (1967)
Blues Magoos - Tobacco Road (1967)
Mark Wirtz - Here's our dear old weatherman (1967)
The Smoke - My Friend Jack (1967)
Californians - Golden Apples (1967)
The Marmalade - I See The Rain (1967)
See My Love - Gentle Soul (1968)
Staccatos - Butchers And Bakers (1968)
Spencer Davis- After tea (1968)
The Status Quo - Pictures Of Matchstick Men (1968)
John's Children - A Midsummer's Night Scene (1968)
Ramases And Selket -Mind's Eye (1968)
Timebox - Gone Is The Sad Man (1968)
Fox - Hey Mr Carpenter (1968)
Turquoise - Woodstock (1969)
The French Revolution - Shoo-Doo-Bee-Do (1969)
Kevin Ayers - Girl On A Swing (1969)
Argosy - Imagine (1969)
We All Together - It's A Sin To Go Away (1970)
Time Machine - Turn Back Time _ Bird In The Wind (1971)

Some tracks can hardly be considered ''lost'' really, just not played to death like White Rabbit, My Green Tambourine, Incense and Peppermints etc. But enjoy nevertheless.

Guided By Voices - Devil Between My Toes

Mulling over Robert Pollard's perplexing one-thousand-plus discography of sing alongs, it becomes apparent that any argument lives and dies by personal preference. With six albums pinned down for 2009, his mind couldn't stretch to an expansive limit. This sort of becomes a problem for fans; Pollard, now extended limit to limitless, cares more about releasing than writing. And this is a problem to anyone that can see through new projects such as the drunk haze of Boston Spaceships or the copious, ever present solo work. With Guided By Voices, the split came for exactly this reason - his 'tiring' of being a ringleader. Unfortunately, any fan of that deranged lo-fi era of indie icon albums (Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under The Bushes Under The Stars), a 'personal preference' equates to wanting the old way back. Those days when a drunken fool would stumble around the stage and chant 'HEY KIDS!', as opposed to the drunken fool who stumbles in and out of a studio.

It'd be useless to ask for a reunion, since the questions would be trivial: Which lineup is he gonna call? Where's Tobin Sprout? What will they play? Still, as he keeps on expanding and keeps never diversifying, it's important to remember old habits. The oldest, of course, are no better than the newest; Devil Between My Toes is the debut album from the Ohio group, with the oldest of lineups chanting songs that sound more R.E.M. than Murmur ever could. Tracks such as "Discussing Wallice Chambers" almost idolise the group, Pollard's vocals more a tribute than anything else. It's an underrated, silly 'n' tickled fan-album, but it shares some distinct qualities with anything up until the band's final release: pop off-the-wall and overly revealing lyricism that ends hollow and fun. Above all, it has all that indiosyncraticy - so who cares who they're ripping off.

Listen?