Free Radicals

We will leave immediately to that small friendly green planet: Gong. The ‘madness’ of the first Gong editions is still present on this final Gong CD. Unfortunately the Big Pot Head Pixie (Daevid Allen) died recently and the planet with all its peculiarities will only exist in our dreams.
The Stones were not averse to a trip was broadly reported in newspapers in the sixties; this only increased their popularity. This applies to a lesser extent to their only ‘psychedelic’ release: Their Satanic Majesties Request. It took some undertaking in which the gentlemen were seldom at the same time in the studio. ‘Sing along and just see what happens’. They did see, Beggars Banquet (the successor) was another ordinary Stones album.

For folk music we should go to our southern neighbours. Three ladies from Kalmthout form the band ‘Laïs’. They sing old but also self-written work solemnly together. You could call their approach liberal modern classical folk. They were the support act of Sting and they sang the credit titles of ‘Flikken’ although hardly anyone noticed that.
Pablo Padovani collected four excellent music-making ladies around him and with that line-up he formed the French band ‘Moodoïd’ with very dreamy music. The sleeve of the CD evokes something soft and sweet and with that the atmosphere is pretty much set.
Paul Desmond was the alto saxophone player of Dave (Take Five) Brubeck for years. His velvet tone was very much loved and can be found on many CDs. Surrounded by South American style guitars he softly blows leaves in the air on Outubro/October.

The Rotterdam ‘Half Way Station’ started as a joke but like many jokes it got out of hand. The band often performs in Paris and is very popular over there because of their self-willed approach. Every reason to record the next CD in Paris as well. We still have to wake up in the Netherlands but storm and doubt can contribute to it.
Kevin Ayers started at Soft Machine but his cheerful and a bit of lazy lifestyle didn’t fit and he started a solo career with the support of former Soft Machiners. His own Lady Rachel is a fairy princess on the swing. Little can happen to her but what is she dreaming about?

Our own Dutch Beatles, Nits, are still being grossly underrated despite an apparent popularity. Their ‘Sergeant Pepper’ is ‘Giant Normal Dwarf’; an album full of layers and ’many overdubs’ as Zappa would say. One of the absolute highlights in Dutch music history with music that tells about childhood memories and a fairy tale world. 

Just like Daevid Allen and Edgar Froese Demis Rousos recently died. The Volkskrant paid al lot of attention to it. Before he ended on the wrong musical path he had a band named Aphrodites Child, together with someone called Evangelos Papathanassiou. The latter is better known as  ‘Vangelis’. Their music was totally in the style of the end of the sixties; a bit experimental and sometimes bombastic with a lot of experiments of  Vangelis’ recent toy: the synthesizer. The Greek band stayed in England to avoid possible censorship of the Greek regime at the time. Vangelis never left his studio to prepare a new album and compose film music. So there was someone else on stage. The band didn’t score with the compelling ‘it is five o’clock’ in their host country; the song reached number 12 in the Top 40 in the Netherlands.
In 1967, just like many others, The Zombies ventured onto the ‘psychedelic’ path with their theme album Odessey & Oracle (1968). Maybe because of a misspelled title this magnum opus of the band became lost in the march of civilisation. In any case until the album was released under some pressure in America a year later and the single from Odessey, Time of the Season, was a true hit. The Zombies didn’t even exist anymore after the disappointment of the disaster! In 2004, many years later, the album was performed live during a kind of reunion for the first time with and for the terminally ill guitar player Paul Atkinson. He died that same year.
Melody Prochet’s project ‘Bee’s Garden’ was good enough to be the support act of Tame Impala. Kevin Parker (actually the Impala himself) offered to help Prochet with a new album. It was recorded at the garage studio of Parker in Perth as well as in the house of Prochet’s grandmother at sea in Southern France. The album was received well at some places but the echo chamber is still full of secrets for many people. Time to unveil them. This year her second album would be released.
‘Timeless, nostalgic and melancholic’ were the descriptions of the first album of the Allah-Las from Los Angeles. A little bit of that dreamy Californian sunshine feeling. It does work as a contemporary trip to earlier times and sounds.
Supersister. What can you add to that? Just this: flute player Sacha van Geest blows out this episode of the Lemon Tree in the appropriate way: quiet and dignified.
01.    Gong “Syllabub” (David Sturt/Daevid Allen)

cd: I See You –  Madfish  SMACCD1023.
02.    Rolling Stones “Sing This All Together (see what happens) ” (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)

cd: Their Satanic Majesties Request – ABCKO UICY/93026.
03.    Laïs “Doran” (Laïs)

cd: Dorothea – Virgin 7243 810171 0 4.
04.    Moodoïd “Les Chemins de Traverse” (Pablo Padovani & Assier)

cd: Le Monde Möö – Entreprise 888430978225.
05.    Paul Desmond “Outubro” (Fernando Brant/Milton Nascimento)

cd: From the Hot Afternoon – Verve by Request 543 467-2.
06.    Half Way Station “Storms and Doubt” (Half Way Station)

cd: Moonshine – Excelsior EXCEL 96297.
07.    Kevin Ayers “The Lady Rachel” (Kevin Ayers)
cd: Joy of a Toy – Harvest 724358277623.
08.    Nits “House of Sleeping Beauties” (Nits)

cd: Giant Normal Dwarf – CBS 467496 2.
09.    Aphrodites Child “It’s Five O’Clock” (Evangelos Papathanassiou/Richard Julian Francis)

cd: Sixties Top 100 – Vol. 2  – Universal 530 591-0.
10.    The Zombies “Care of Cell 44” (Rod Argent)

cd: Odessey & Miracle – the Mono album – Repertoire REP 5089.
11.    Melody’s Echo Chamber “Quand Vas Tu Rentrer? (Melody Prochet)

cd: Melody’s Echo Chamber – Weird World Record WEIRD019CD.
12.    Allah-Las “Ela Navega” (Allah-Las)
cd: Allah-Las – Innovative Leisure IL2007.
13.    Supersister “Higher” (Robert-Jan Stips)

cd: To the Highest Bidder – Esoteric Records ECLEC 2057.