Paul Roland "Masque" (Greek ed. Di Di Music) 1990🎃🎃🎃🎃

Halloween tonight, and there are a number of ways for someone to celebrate it: trick-or-treating obviously, or partying with friends in your Halloween costumes. At the very least one can sit home watching a horror movie: John Carpenter's Halloween maybe, or Friday The 13th. On occasion I've also posted reviews on Halloween-inspired albums like The Fuzztones' Monster A Go Go. If, however, you're less attracted to the camp side of the holiday, if you'd rather re-read Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley or Edgar Allan Poe instead of binge-watching The Walking Dead, Paul Roland might make for a more fitting Halloween musical accompaniment for you.

"Jack O' The Lantern and Will O' The Wisp/ The Devil's Legion rides out in the mist" - now isn't that an appropriate way to start my Halloween album review? These also happen to be the opening verses from Paul Roland's Masque LP. The song, "Dr Syn Is Riding Again", is a hard rock piece with a wild violin solo, and its subject is an 18th century smuggler known as "The Scarecrow". Pretty standard fare for Roland, whom Wikipedia describes as a "singer-songwriter, author, journalist and paranormal researcher". A veritable Renaissance man, one obsessed with the past and with stories of the occult and the macabre. As a musician, he's responsible for more than 30 albums, bringing to life a host of amazing characters: deviant artists, medieval knights, jesters and whores, Victorian murderers and alchemists, vampires, mad scientists, street urchins etc. His music is invariably described as psychedelic, neofolk, goth, progressive, you name it. In truth, although there are similarities to Syd Barrett, Donovan, Robyn Hitchcock, Marc Bolan and others, he's impossible to pigeonhole. His music is just the medium through which he delivers his stories. It's often semi-acoustic with some kind of orchestral backing, but I've also seen him play with a heavy rock band, and I've seen him accompanied only by a lady with a flute (on a beach festival at 2 in the morning, sandwiched between The Last Drive and garage rockers The Droogs). Masque followed on the heels of his hardest-rocking album, the Medieval-themed Duel, and presents us with a mixture of electric and acoustic stylings. There are upbeat rockers with loud drums, e.g. "Dr. Syn", "Mr Scratch" (in the words of Mr Scratch, a.k.a. Mephistopheles: "A fair exchange is no crime/What's a soul my friend for the guarantee of a hell of a time?") and "The Mind Of William Gaines". I always thought the latter (about scientists re-animating an abnormal brain to study its workings) was about a notorious murderer, but it turns out I had him confused with Ed Gein. William Gaines was just an editor of horror comics. It still has a very Halloween-ish, Hammer-horror type, vibe. But while the electric guitars and drums are present throughout the album, they mostly take a back seat to the violin and other strings, with a couple of songs ("Taxidermist", "Mr. Scratch") also featuring sax solos. "Pharaoh" (sung from the perspective of an ancient Egyptian royal mummy) is a slow Gothic tune with an oriental flute melody, while "Candy Says" is a catchy song about a child receding into her inner fantasy world and imaginary friends. "Triumphs Of A Taxidermist" is sung from the perspective of a serial killer who enjoys embalming and collecting victims (my favorite is the "salesman to whom I couldn't say no"). Grisly murder stories accompanied by tranquil violin melodies are after all a Roland specialty. "Grantchester Fields" paints an idyllic picture of the English countryside with, for once, no horrible implications (the "ghosts of summers past" are surely a figure of speech). Side 2 opens with "Masque", a melancholic piano ballad about an actor losing himself in the characters he portrays, while the slow orchestral "Cocoon" is about a scientific experiment gone awry, and "I Dreamt I Stood Upon The Scaffold" is a variation on the traditional Childs ballad "Gallows Pole", which was also covered by Led Zeppelin... only here, when the dreamer wakes from his nightmare, he finds himself in a prison cell with a priest and executioner standing above him. "Matty Groves" is another Childs ballad, mostly known from the Fairport Convention version although I first heard it here. And though Roland's voice can't compare to Sandy Denny's (few can, really), he paces the song well, and sings with the panache of a true storyteller: when I listen to him, I can feel Lord Donald's wrath before slaying his wife and her lover. The album then closes with a nice Celtic jig, appended to the end of "Matty Groves". That is, if you don't have the Greek edition of the album which adds a bonus EP with 4 more songs: "The Ratcatcher`s Daughter" is orchestral pop, probably inspired by the same-named 19th Century music hall number. "Sea Captain" is a nostalgic portrait of an old sea dog, the upbeat "Sporting Life" of a gambler and scoundrel, and "Baby Let's Play House" an unexpected Elvis Presley cover. The first 3 songs were later added to the album CD reissue, otherwise I'd urge you to seek this particular edition of the album - the bonus EP is that good.

***** for Candy Says, Matty Groves, The Sea Captain

**** for Dr Syn Is Riding Again, Pharaoh, Triumphs Of A Taxidermist, Grantchester Fields, Masque, The Mind Of William Gaines, I Dreamt I Stood Upon The Scaffold, The Ratcatcher`s Daughter, The Sporting Life  

*** for Meet Mr Scratch, Cocoon, Baby Let's Play House

Nightstalker "Just A Burn" 2004****

I was pleasantly surprised to read that Nightstalker would play in nearby Rotterdam. It must have been almost 20 years since I last saw them - during the 90's I saw them play many festivals as well as support foreign bands (Uriah Heep come to mind). At the time Argy was still singing from behind his drums set, and they were considered to be Greece's first grunge band along with Honeydive, the band of an old collegemate of mine which I will present in a future post. Having not seen them for so long, and having left Greece a decade ago, I didn't know what to expect from the concert: had the band retained their original energy, and had they managed to outgrow their cult status? Well, the fact that they're touring Europe should be answer enough, but the welcome they received in Rotterdam confirmed it: There was quite a large turnout, mainly Greek expats most of whom were unborn when the band formed. The audience was really enthusiastic, slam-dancing, stage-diving and singing the lyrics out loud. The band played with passion and confidence, Argy moving freely center-stage now that he has a permanent drummer. The grey hair and beard suit him well, giving him the look of a rugged sort of psychedelic prophet. The very good support group Playgrounded is also worth a mention. They're a bunch of Greek guys currently based in Rotterdam, and they have a modprogressive/dark wave/metal sound somewhat reminiscent of Tool.

Although they predated "stoner" as a musical term, Nightstalker are nowadays labeled as a stoner, instead of grunge, rock band, which is I think more accurate - not just musically but in terms of lyrics. Until them, drugs were referred to purely in negative terms in Greek Rock. Nobody would admit enjoying getting stoned. Even notorious junkie Pavlos Sidiropoulos wrote anti-drugs songs, I even remember seeing him play an anti-drugs concert about a week before he died from a heroin overdose. Argy, on the other hand, is apparently quite happy about his drugs intake. Check out the lyrics on this album's opener "All Around (Satanic Drugs From Outer Space)": "So come on, we’re lost in space"/So come on, let’s burn it all/Just like a kick, right in your face/So come on, let’s fuck the world". I'd say that's celebratory rather than apologetic, wouldn't you? Musically Nightstalker have settled in their sound: it's the kind of hard rock usually refered to as stoner of desert rock. I know they hate these labels, so let's just say they have a dirty rock'n'roll sound with a funky groove, metallic riffs, and distorted Hendrix-like solos. The Stooges and Black Sabbath seem to be important influences, while contemporary soundalikes include Monster Magnet and Soundgarden. They rarely deviate from their established sound, the biggest exception here being the slow and spacey with whispered vocal "Shadows". I guess it's supposed to play a role similar to "Planet Caravan" in Sabbath's Paranoid, but it doesn't stand as well on its own. "Explode" and "Voodoo U Do" are heavy blues, while "Staripper" is more Stooges-like and "All Around" introduces the album with some Judas Priest-like riffage. Other details elevating some songs above the rest are the playful bass riff on "Line" and anthemic choruses of "Just A Burn" and "Don't Blow My High". Just A Burn was the band's first self-produced album (with a little help from Last Drive's Alex K) and the last one featuring Argy on drums. It's also the last one I had heard before the recent concert. Apparently they've released 4 more albums during the decade I've been away, but songs like "Just A Burn" and "Line" still figure among the highlights of their live set, 15 years later. A great band, and a great CD for all fans of Heavy Rock'n'Roll.

**** for All Around (Satanic Drugs From Outer Space), Just A Burn, Don't Blow My High, Line

*** for Voodoo U Do, Iron, Silver Shark, Explode, Staripper, Give It All, Shadows

Hot Pants "Loco Mosquito" 1986 (2000 reissue)****

Previous month's UNCUT magazine had a whole page's review and whole back cover ad to promote the reissue of Manu Chao's Clandestino. Which wouldn't be that strange if they weren't presenting it as if it was an unknown new album or a "buried treasure" case. Yes, seriously! Clandestino, the world-wide hit that 20 years ago was inescapable (at least in Europe): you couldn't spend a whole day without hearing it, unless you lived in a cabin without radio up in the mountains. Moby's Play was a distant second. What were the Brits listening to at that time? Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls, and Oasis, what else? So while the world is wondering "where the hell is Manu Chao?" (the man hasn't made a record for more than a decade) the Brits are wondering "who the hell is Mano Chao?" And that's now! Imagine how cut off they will be after Brexit!

Not that there aren't discoveries to be made in Europe about Chao's musical past. Familiar as everybody is with his solo hits, and past as the bona fide leader of Mano Negra, how many of us have heard his albums with Los Carayos or Hot Pants? Well I have, and will present them in this blog. Apparently The Hot Pants were Chao's first group circa 1980-81, and settled in this name and composition (Manu guitar/vocals, his cousin Santi drums, Pascal guitar & Jean-Marc bass) in '84. A first single named "So many nites" was released in '85, followed by this LP in '86. The music is a mixture of rockabilly, punk, ska and latin. They have their own distinct style, but one can recognize them as Mano Negra's progenitors, especially in the 3 Latin songs: The Gypsy-Kings-Go-Punk Chunguitos cover "Ay Que Dolor", original garage-salsa "Ya Llego" and "Rosamaria" - the latter is a cover, but sounds nothing like the original and exactly like Mano Negra would sound later. Then you have a few classic rock tunes reminiscent of the early raw Rolling Stones ("Come On", Chuck Berry cover "Ma Dear"), garage funk "Junky Beat", psychobilly "Gipsy", "Ball And Chain", and "Chicken Chat". Opener "African Witch" somewhat reminds me Elvis Costello in his rocking-est, while there are also some unexpected echoes of swing ("Crawdaddy") and Dixieland ("Lazy Pal"). 

It would have been nice if this 2000 reissue (just in time to profit from Clandestino's almost-worldwide success) included the aforementioned single or the original version of "Mala Vida" which was later re-recorded by Mano Negra and remained a live staple throughout Chao's career. As it is, one has to search for the original 7' single and Romances 85 compilation to get these. But we do get a nice, previously unreleased, rocker called "Can't Let It Down". Soon after the album's release, Manu and Santi would leave Hot Pants to form Mano Negra with Manu's brother, Tonio, a band in which they expanded on the Latin-tinged songs of the album by mixing their beloved Clash with their Spanish heritage - although born and bred in France, they all descended from Spanish activists on the run from Franco's dictatorship. At the same time, Manu and Tonio also joined other French alternative music heroes in the supergroup Los Carayos. More about them later.

**** for Ay Que Dolor, Ball And Chain, Rosa Maria , Gipsy, Come On, Ya Llego, Junky Beat, Can't Let It Down

*** for African Witch, Chicken Chat, Craw-Daddy, Lazy Pal, Ma Dear

The Morticians "Freak Out With..." 1987 (1998 reissue)***

There is a certain kind of music associated with the 80's: synthesizers, big snare drums, above all clean, sterile sound. You see as MTV overtook radio, groups acted as TV salesmen of their own records adjusting their image and sound accordingly. But that's only part of the story: There was also a diverse alternative music scene catering to underground musico-cultural tribes. One of the most obsessive was the neo-psychedelic movement, intent on reproducing the sounds created by a score of semi-forgotten bands circa 1965-1968. Central to that was the reissue mania that started with Lenny Kaye's compilation Nuggets and continued with Pebbles, Back From The Grave, and many many others. These 60's revival bands favored a raw live sound and shunned all the modern studio techniques that producers of the era were so proud of, and which make 80's productions sound so lifeless and artificial nowadays. For some reason, while that garage punk renaissance flowered in the U.S. and continental Europe, the U.K. produced few worthwhile examples. Most, like The Prisoners and Headcoats, had a distinct English flavor which drew inspirations from the 60's without reproducing the Nuggets/Pebbles 60's sound as American bands of this kind did. The Morticians took the middle road, by covering the classic garage rock songbook while giving it their own spin: lots of distorted guitars, reverb-heavy production, psychedelic effects. Their sole LP is even split between a punk and a psych side to accommodate both directions. The punk side opens with band original "Now She's Gone", featuring groovy organ and fuzzed-out guitars, followed by intense -and fairly faithful- covers of the genre classics: "Action Woman" (The Litter), "Don't Need Your Lovin'" and "Sweet Young Thing" (Chocolate Watch Band), "Blackout Of Gretely" (The Gonn)," E.S.P." (Beaver Patrol), and "I Need You There" (The Chessmen). The psych side has a heavier jam-like feel, influenced by West Coast acid rock and the Pink Fairies. "Spiral Bat" incorporates a bit of "Who Do You Love", the Bo Diddley rocker as played by Quicksilver Messenger Service. "Carolyn", all swirling organ and fuzzy guitars, is probably a reference to Carolyn Jones, the original TV Morticia Adams, who inspired the band's name. A couple more covers follow, "Song Of A Baker" (Small Faces) and a freaked out version of  Country Joe & The Fish's "Section 43" (named "Section 44"). The album cover is obviously a tribute to Frank Zappa & The Mothers' 1966 debut, and was issued in two different colours: pink or green. 10 years later it was re-released on  CD with 2 bonus tracks: garage-punk "I Don't Care" and a cover of Donovan's "Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)". For some, the overabundance of covers would immediately relegate this band to rock's 2nd Division. I, personally, am not bothered by it. It's like the blues: there's a songbook of maybe 100 songs which every band goes back to. Even when they don't succeed to put their own spin on them, if they play well and put their heart in it, it makes for good listening. That's all I need in order to dig the Morticians!

**** for Now She's Gone, I Need You There, Sweet Young Thing

*** for Action Woman, Don't Need Your Lovin', Blackout Out Of Gretely, E.S.P., Spiral Bat, Carolyn, Song Of A Baker, Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)

** for Section 44, I Don't Care

Sky Sunlight Saxon "The King Of Garage Rock" 2008***

"King of Garage Rock" sounds like a ridiculous term. I mean if there's one genre that's democratic as hell, it's garage rock: it's low budget, there are no instrumental chops necessary, and one just has to play loud and put his heart in it. Selling millions of records and filling stadiums is never an option. Yet if there ever was a royal figure in garage rock, it would have been Sky Saxon. From young rocker to flower child to cult member to the psychedelic wizard-like figure of his last days, he always had the attitude. True, his post-Seeds output is mediocre and repetitive (the Seeds were also repetitive, but never mediocre) but if you buy into the legend you'll always find something to like. This particular album, recorded just one year before his death, turned out to be his last. From the beginning, it all smacks of exploitation: the cover art, liner notes, and song selection ("greatest hits of the sixties")... they all remind me of those old budget vinyl albums where nameless studio hacks would churn out relatively faithful covers of the hits of the day... you know which ones, they usually had pretty girls on the cover. This one doesn't - well, not on the front cover anyway, although the back cover chick might easily have come from one of those TOTP compilations.

The band certainly deliver competent but mostly perfunctory versions of the old garage rock standards, while the production is clean but bland and lacking depth. Which begs the question: why the hell would you want to hear yet another version of "Gloria"? The answer is, of course, because of Sky. Despite his 70 years he sings in the same unmistakable voice, and with the same passion and conviction as 30 or 40 years ago. The new versions of his old Seeds hits ("Pushin' Too Hard", "Can't Seem to Make You Mine", "Mr. Farmer") are therefore naturally great, if unnecessary. "Satisfaction" shows why young Saxon was briefly considered to be the American Mick Jagger, but the Beatles covers ("Love Me Do", "Come Together") fall flat. An anemic version of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is saved by Sky's vocal, which exchanges the original's rabid delivery with passionate psychedelic incantations. It's his voice that also keeps the umpteenth covers of "Have Love Will Travel" and "Steppin' Stone" interesting, while "Wild Thing" and "My Little Red Book" are pleasant but otherwise unremarkable. Although it's sometimes fun to listen to Sky tackle these classics, this CD is ultimately just a karaoke exercise, which makes it hard for me to recommend.

**** for Pushin' Too Hard (The Seeds), Mr. Farmer (The Seeds), Have Love Will Travel (R.Berry/ The Sonics), (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (The Monkees)

*** for Gloria (Them/Van Morrison), (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Rolling Stones), I Wanna Be Your Dog (The Stooges), I Can't Seem to Make You Mine (The Seeds), My Little Red Book (Burt Bacharach/Love), Wild Thing (The Troggs)

** for Love Me Do (The Beatles), Come Together (The Beatles)