Bevis Frond "Miasma" 1986***

Bands formed in 1968 include Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Black Sabbath, King Crimson and Rush. Yet, for some obsessives (can't be more than a dozen, but they exist) 1968 will forever be the year that 15-year old Nick Saloman founded his first band, The Bevis Frond Museum. Imagine him, a chubby kid in his London bedroom, trying out different sounds with his guitar. Picture a news reel playing on the wall to indicate the passing of time: Woodstock, The Beatles break up, Watergate, The Vietnam War ends, Ziggy Stardast and glam rock, disco, punk, MTV, Thatcher and Reagan, the war in the Falklands, Mikhael Gorbachev elected as the last leader of the USSR...then the movie ends abruptly with a nasty motorcycle accident. Only this is not the end, this is the beginning. Saloman uses the compensation he gets for his accident to buy a 4-track studio and, while recuperating, records an album at his home where he plays all instruments himself. It is "Miasma", the first ever Bevis Frond album after all these years. An incredible 30 or so albums would follow in as many years, establishing Saloman as a cult figure of the English alternative/neo-psychedelic scene. His songwriting combines a reverence for Jimi Hendrix and Arthur Lee with the very English psych sounds of The Blossom Toes, Syd Barret and Tomorrow. On the other hand his excessive use of feedback and multi-tracked distorted guitars, especially in his early albums, poses him as the missing link between Sonic Youth, The Wipers, Dinosaur Jr and the shoegaze generation. This overload of distorted electric guitar is all you notice at first, but Saloman is also an expressive singer and fine classic rock songwriter with a knack for melody. This first album alternates guitar freakouts with concrete songs and curious snippets ranging from the noisy "Garden Gate " and "Wild Afterthought" to the Elisabethan folk of "The Earl of Walthanstowe". My own favourites are the songs where the melting psychedelic guitar is combined with groovy 60's keyboards as in "Ride the Train of Thought" and "She's in Love With Time". "Wild Mind" and "The Newgate Wind" could have been The Stooges and Neil Young respectively, if they weren't buried under a lo-fi mountain of guitar noise. On the other hand "Splendid Isolation" is a sunny slice of power pop that could have been a 90's Lemonheads indie hit and "Maybe" a driving garage rocker while "Confusion Days" used to end the original LP with another burst of fuzz and distortion.

This CD version, however, is augmented by a smattering of tracks from the double album "Bevis Through the Looking Glass" a collection of previously unreleased home recordings predating "Miasma". These are of marginal interest e.g. "1970 Home Improvements" is 14 minutes of guitar noodling strewn together from different sessions while "Mudman" and "Now You Know" are similar but of inferior quality to his later stuff. At least "In Another Year" provides us with a welcome acoustic intermission and "Rat in a Waistcoat" with some nice Hendrix-style hard psych. All in all "Miasma" was an impressive, if belated, debut but Bevis (Or Saloman, the two are interchangable) had more in store for us. Retaining his edge, he toned down the noise and improved his songwriting, releasing album after album of high quality music to rival his psychedelic 60's idols. We'll be presenting some of them here...

**** for She's In Love With Time, Splendid Isolation, Maybe, Ride The Train Of Thought, In Another Year

*** for Wild Mind, The Earl Of Walthamstowe, The Newgate Wind, Confusion Days,Rat In A Waistcoat, Mudman, Now You Know  

** for Garden Gate, Wild After Thought, Release Yourself, 1970 Home Improvements

Brainiac 5 "When Silence Was Sound 1977-1980" 2014 (comp)****

Still in Greece and posting previously written entries from my drafts folder. Love the sea and sun, but I'm starting to miss my record collection. Sure, I have internet in my hotel and when I feel like listening to a particular album I can usually find it on youtube, but I'm not at all fond of listening to music on the laptop. I've left the island of Ios behind, by the way, and continue my vacation in Antiparos, an old favourite of mine. Antiparos lived in the shadow of its famous neighbour Paros for so long that it retained its traditional fishing village character well into the 90's. Around that time it was established as an alternative holiday destination, popular with freaks but also families prepared to overlook the lack of amenities in order to have a cheap vacation in a relaxed and quiet surrounding. The Antiparos camping and nearby nudist beach, rock bars like Doors and Lucky Luke and after-midnight disco La Luna have become the stuff of legend. These still exist, although the island lost a lot of its hippie character when Hollywood star Tom Hanks bought a villa here. Pretty soon all kinds of celebrities came and went, and along with them a wave of socialites who normally wouldn't venture away from Mykonos or Santorini. Rock bars gave way to lounges, tequila shots and beer to fancy cocktails and traditional taverns to gourmet restaurants. Prices, of course, skyrocketed. The old Antiparos crowd mourned and swore off the island forever. Yet, vacationing in the island again a few years after its so-called destruction, I find myself just as relaxed and at ease as before.

The fishing boats on the harbour and low whitewashed houses in the village are the same as ever, and armyrikia (tamarix) trees  provide enough shade for those who don't want to pay exuberant prices for a sunbed and umbrella. Among the "arty" boutiques and trendy bars and restaurants, there are still simple traditional taverns and normal pubs and cafes for those who want it - so don't write Antiparos off yet, unless you're a reverse snob who refuses to buy his cheese-pie from the neighbourhood bakery just because Madonna is also a customer. Here's some suggestions for visitors: Swim at Psaraliki beach or the one near the camping (calm & beautiful beach attracting lots of nudists, so no photos). These are really close to the village, so you won't need to rent a car or motorbike. When you visit the other beaches (Ag.Georgios, Soros etc) take food and water with you. There are some taverns with good food nearby but they're quite expensive. For traditional, reasonably-priced Greek food, I'd suggest Statheros at the harbour or Damis near the village centre. Go to Sifneikos Gyalos beach (short walk from town center) to enjoy the island's most beautyful sunset. The bars around the small village square will provide ample entertainment for all tastes at least till 3 A.M., but after that you'll want to take the dark road leading out of the village to the discos Remember and La Luna. Another must-do is the open air cinema, playing classic movies every night - best of all, paying is optional. Last but not least, don't forget to visit the Cave. The stalactites form amazing shapes, not to mention that it's the coolest place you can be in during the scorching-hot Greek summer. Now, if you were patiently waiting to see how all this connects to Brainiac 5, that means you're not a frequent reader of my blog. Next time you'll know better to just skip the red letters and get straight to the review itself.

How many can say they've been Brainiac 5 fans since their teens? Not many outside of their home country of Cornwall, I'll bet... They were a brief sensation in the Cornish pub circuit from '77 to '79, played a few well-received gigs in London and promptly broke up without releasing an LP. Then in '88 a collection of their recordings named World Inside appeared on the indie Restless label and I bought it on a whim. I liked the album cover, I had recently hit gold with Restless buying a couple of Bevis Frond LP's, and they had a song about...Trotsky? Interesting!  I listened to their album a lot that year, firstly because it's freaking great and secondly because I couldn't figure them out. I hadn't heard anyone else combining two of my favourite musical styles: West Coast psychedelia and post-punk. I thought it just wasn't possible. During the next 25 years of reading music books and magazines and browsing record shops, I don't think I ever came across the band name again - until a recent trip to London and visit to the Restless record store (home, I believe, to the same-named label). The whole shop was overrun by Braniac 5 material: apparently not only was there a "career retrospective" CD out (this one), they had actually reformed and released a new album! The compilation at hand opens with "Waiting For The Woman", a chugging boogie with punky vocals that reminds me of Hawkwind - not surprising, as Hawkwind drummer Martin Griffin produced most of Brainiac 5 recordings. "Endless River" is more complicated: a soft psychedelic intro is followed by an aggressive post-punk middle section and burning Q.M.S.-style solos. "Move Up Trotsky" is, as it turns out, unrelated to the Russian revolutionary. A tale of unrequited love in a slow dub tempo with 60's psych backing vocals and guitars, it's the longest track here (almost 7 minutes). "Monkeys and Degenerates" reggae/new wave hybrid and punky lead single "Working" are much more of their time. "Power" sports a ska beat, indie rock guitars and strong chorus. "Vegetable" and "Addicted" kick off like a Sex Pistols song, while "Woman Inside" incorporates early Pink Floyd influences and Yardbirds-like Gregorian chants. "Pictures Of You" contains some bluesy harmonica while "Time" and the live "Night Games" are slow psychedelic pieces. The CD closes with a nervy live version of "Working". Re-listening to these tracks reaffirmed my initial opinion on Brainiac 5: Not only they were one of the most original bands of their time, but their songs had great hooks and sound as good today as they ever did. Hope this time the world is ready for them..

***** for Move Up Trotsky, Working, Power 

**** for Waiting For The Woman, Endless River, Monkeys and Degenerates, Vegetable, Woman Inside, Pictures Of You, Addicted

*** for Feel, Primal Screaming, I Tried, New Dark Ages, Time, Night Games (Live), Working(Live)