The Always Blue Society Compilation Vol. 2

Here's my second compilation. The tracklist goes something like this:

1. Got A Feelin - Comets On Fire
2. Rimbaud Blues - Comets On Fire
3. Drowned My Life In Fear - Leaf Hound
4. All These Years - Lazy Smoke
5. Try a Little Sunshine - The Factory
6. Mr. Grey - Stone Circus
7. In My Dream - The Action
8. Deboraarobed - Tyrannosaurus Rex
9. Stamping Machine - July
10. Bike Ride To The Moon - The Dukes of Stratosphear
11. The Good Mr. Square - The Pretty Things
12. She Was Tall, She Was High - The Pretty Things
13. Uncle Jack - Spirit
14. Cinema Olympia - Gal Costa
15. Questions (Did You Know - Will We Be Alive) - Ithaca
16. A Mind Blown Is A Mind Shown - Hapshash & The Coloured Coat

Download The Always Blue Society Compilation Vol. 2

Tyrannosaurus Rex - Prophets Seers & Sages: The Angels Of The Ages (1968)

This is the second album from the British folk duo consisting of Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took that would later transform into the famous glam rock group T. Rex. Although Bolan's vocal style is similarly flamboyant in both Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex, the overall sound is entirely different. Prophets Seers & Sages: The Angels Of The Ages combines Bolan's acoustic guitar and vocals with Took's impressive, fast-paced bongo playing. The songs are all excellent as is Bolan's voice. The lyrical content is apparently packed with references to Lord of the Rings, but none of this really registers with me since I'm vehemently opposed to all of that mystical bullshit...just kidding, sort of. The only outwardly psychedelic moment in the album is in the first track, "Deboraarobed." The first half of the song segues into the same song played backwards, which was pretty unheard of at the time. Backwards recording had certainly been used at this point, but not nearly as blatantly. By the way, I don't know what the deal is with the song, "Our Wonderful Brownskin Man."

Stand-Out Tracks:
"Deboraarobed"
"Stacey Grove"
"Wind Quartets"
"Consuela"
"Salamanda Palaganda"

"Deboraarobed"


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Pitchfork reviews the reissue of the Blossom Toe's We Are Ever So Clean

Weird. Pitchfork did another review of an album I have on here and gave another 8.6 rating. I found this quote from the article very interesting: "In the new reissue's liner notes, the Toes claim their songs were all written by the time somebody played them an acetate of Sgt. Pepper's in the studio." I mainly find this interesting because it backs up a point I made in my post about We Are Ever So Clean.

Read the Pitchfork review here
Read my entry on We Are Ever So Clean

Pitchfork reviews the reissue of White Noise's An Electric Storm

Overall, it's a favorable review, but I think this one deserves at least a 9/10.
Read the Pitchfork review here
Read my entry on An Electric Storm

The Action - Rolled Gold (1967-68)

The Action were a British band originally involved in the mod scene. They were discovered by the Beatles' producer George Martin, who signed the group to his EMI-based AIR Productions in 1965. They began to grow out of their mod roots and develop a more emotional, mildly psychedelic sound. Despite being signed and having successful club shows, the Action never managed to chart a hit. Their bad luck would continue to follow when EMI rejected the Rolled Gold demos and eventually dropped them from the label. Line-up changes ensued and led to the group transforming into Mighty Baby. The Action are still regarded as one of the greatest bands of the 60s to never catch a break and Rolled Gold proves this to be true. It's packed with sophisticated guitar pop that is consistently engaging. It's a downright shame that it never saw the light of day in the 60s.

"In My Dream"


Download Rolled Gold

Pretty sweet news

This morning I got an email informing me that this poster I designed will be printed at a whopping 4'X8' and exhibited at Lollapalooza in Grant Park. Not only that, but I get a copy of the print and I get two free three-day passes to Lollapalooza. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about the news. I've never had my work printed at a size even close to this, so that's one of the best things about it. The poster is promoting three fictional, psychedelic bands called the Melting Strawberries, the Wandering Eyeballs and the Polished Suitcase. Also, the email said that my image "was chosen by the producers of
Lollapalooza and Perry Farrel." I really hope that Perry Farrel actually played a role in choosing my image.

I'll get back to posting albums sooner or later. Just decided to give it a little break for a while.

Pitchfork Festival/Delicious Design League

Arthur Lee Benefit Poster by Delicious Design League

I just got back from my weekend at the Pitchfork Festival here in Chicago. Overall it was pretty great. I was an idiot and waited too long to get tickets for the Sonic Youth/GZA/Slint show but Saturday and Sunday were still good and well worth it. My favorite acts were Clipse, Deerhunter, Stephen Malkmus and De La Soul. Grizzly Bear, Fujiya and Miyagi, Menomena and Junior Boys were also good. Anyhow, they had some amazing concert posters in one part of the park and I managed to get the last copy of the Arthur Lee Benefit poster. It was extra weird because I had an image of this exact poster saved on my computer because I liked it so much. It was printed by an excellent design group from Chicago called Delicious Design League. Be sure to check out their site because I'm really, really impressed by all of their work.