Valencia Record Stores

I only spent a short weekend in Valencia but it was nice to get away from the cold and rainy Dutch weather and enjoy some sun as well as the Valencian cuisine - first and foremost the famous paella. 

Eating Paella Valenciana at the beach

While most foreigners think of it as the typical Spanish dish, in Spain it is considered clearly Valencian - I was strictly warned during my first visit to Andalucia not to eat paella there because it wouldn't be the real thing. Likewise a visit to Valencia wouldn't be complete without a paella lunch. Locals never eat it for dinner, real paella restaurants -as opposed to tourist traps- are only open from 1 to around 4 in the afternoon. The name paella just means "frying pan" in the Valencian language, which is basically a form of Catalan. The current form of the dish evolved during the 18th century in the Albufera lagoon just south of the city, then famous for its rice fields and now as a national reserve with rich biodiversity. The original recipe (paella valenciana) contains chicken, rabbit, certain vegetables and, of course, rice. The seafood version (paella de marisco) is also considered authentic, but the more changes one makes the more one risks disapprovement. Adding chorizo (which actually sounds like a great idea) is tantamount to a culinary atrocity. No Valencian (or indeed any Spaniard) would commit such treason against a national treasure.

And, with food out of the way, we can talk about my other favorite occupation when in a new city: browsing for records and CD's at the local record shops. I knew from the beginning that would be interesting since Valencia is Spain's 3rd biggest city with a population of 1 million (or 2,5 mil. if you count the whole metropolitan area). There were bound to be some good record shops - and sure enough there were, though time restrictions meant I couldn't visit them all. Opening times vary, though -typically for Spain- all shops are closed during lunch/siesta time (roughly 2-5 P.M.). If you want to keep on record browsing during these hours there's always the local Fnac shop (vinyl LPs €18-25, many CD offers from €5). Don't bother with MediaMarkt or Corte Inglés. While these chains usually have a music department, the ones I visited in the city center didn't. Two of the best record stores in the city can be found right next to the city's bullfighting arena (Plaza Del Toros): Digital Records (Carrer de Castelló 5) has a nice vinyl selection. Spanish music, jazz, classical and alternative rock, both new (€5-25) and second hand (€20+). Harmony (at the passage, Dr. Serra 9) looks smaller but it's quite packed. Here you'll find a lot of rock (metal, psychedelia, oldies and alternative) both new and used. Used vinyl typically goes for €5-10 (€20 for rarer items), new for €12-30, typically just under €20. Used CD's between €4-9, new ones €8-18. Of course all prices are only current as of early 2020, but by making comparisons one can surmise which shops are relatively cheaper and present the best bargains. A short 5-minute away (Carrer de Pelai 12) you can find Acetato Discos, a must for fans of psychedelic rock, both Spanish and international. New LP's cost around €25, used ones typically €15 (€30 for collectibles). On the next street (Convent de Jerusalem 11) there's Discos Chachacha. It's not an especially well-ordered shop, there's just a lot of old vinyl lying around. In the front there are two stalls of random LP's (80's, classic rock, whatever). One is either €5 or €8, the other is a bit more expensive. Inside you'll also find many LP's for €2,5-3. I didn't stay long but I had the feeling that it's a good place for bargains. 

Moving a bit further south, you'll find yourself in the old Arabic neighborhood (Russafa) which is widely consider Valencia's new Soho, sporting a lot of tapas bars, restaurants etc. Here (Carrer de Russafa 41) can find Discocentro, a shop selling a lot of cheap (€2-5) used CD's and DVD's, and Ultrasound (Carrer de Cuba 49) which will be of interest for DJ's as it is the only shop I visited with a big variety of 12' singles, techno and electronic music. There's also a nice collection of used LP's (80's, some older jazz or rock for €5-20, but typically €10). Back in the city center (at the pedestrian street Carrer de la Mare de Déu de Gràcia 6) there's Discos Oldies. Here you'll find a lot of Spanish bands, psychedelia  and classic rock. CD's cost €2-7 (used) or €7-17 (new). LP's between €6-20 (used) or €15-20 (new). Often you'll find the same new LP €2 cheaper than other shops. There's also a big selection of 7' singles (a lot of them for 50 cents), worth a search for those collecting singles.

Last but not least among the records I visited, also in the center, Devil Records. A nice little shop at a small pedestrian street (C/Cerrajeros 5) with all sorts of rock music (e.g. classic rock, psychedelic, punk, metal), it sells T-shirts, CD's (€7-15) and vinyl, both used (€5-20, many choices under €10) and new (€15-30). Cool logo, too! Due to time limitations I didn't get to visit any of the record stores north of the center, so I'll just post links and addresses here. These include: Discos Amsterdam (Av. de Pius XII, 2) at the Nuevo Centro neighborhood, and La Ragazza del Piper (de la Corona 35) taking its name from a legendary 60's Roman mod club. With a name like that, I'd expect some very interesting findings, I'm sorry to have missed it. Even further from the center there's Capra Records (Carrer d'Enric Navarro 30) which seems to specialize in reggae and V.P.R. Records (Plaza Rafael Atard, near the airport). "V.P.R." stands for Vomito Punk Rock, so I'll let you guess what kind of music it sells. To round it up, there are a couple of bars that also serve as record stores: Splendini Bar i Discos (Carrer de Sogorb 10) and Monterey (Carrer de Baix 46). They're supposed to be open on evenings, but they were closed when I swung by. Well, hopefully there'll be a next time. This visit to Valencia was enjoyable but short.

Devendra Banhart "Ma" 2019****

I recently saw Devendra play in Rotterdam's Annabel stage. In some respects he was quite different from the youth I remembered seeing at the AN Club in Athens, 15 years ago: the salt-and-pepper beard, the way he acted as the leader of his band instead of "just one of the guys". In other ways, he was the same: his openness and sweetly awkward demeanor, for example. An air of Peter Pan-ness and unworldliness that I guess only artists can afford. He mostly played songs from his last 3 albums (the ones I didn't own, though I fixed that deficiency on the spot). My girlfriend remarked that he was "more pop" this time while I was thinking "jazzier". I guess we were both right and that the songs, like the man, have evolved while retaining something singular.

Case in point, his latest album "Ma". Its luscious laid-back sound and judicious arrangements are certainly more mainstream than the psychedelic lo-fi folk of his early records. Where the Latin touches once seemed idiosyncratic, now they seem to be integrated in an easy listening approach. "Love Song" for example has that lounge feel, while "Ami"s mellow sax is pure 70's yacht rock. Thankfully the arrangements are always tasteful and clever, never overtly sentimental, while the laid-back guitar sound throughout the album is also quite enjoyable. It opens with him asking in his trembly Donovan/Bolan-esque voice "Is This Nice? Do You Like it?" as if he's really eager to please. Not what you expect from an "indie" artist, but it's true that the quirkiness of the music here never gets in the way of its listenability, making it one of his most accessible albums. "Kantori Ongaku" for example manages to mingle Latin and Japanese influences to produce a pleasantly light and breezy tune. Incredibly the album is at once pretty consistent in mood but also very varied in style: "Memorial" is reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, "Carolina" of Gilberto Gil, and "Abre las Manos" of Manu Chao. The latter expresses his concern and support for the people of his native Venezuela in the difficult times they are facing, always from a human perspective and without politicizing. "Now All Gone" is strange, featuring a slow trip-hop rhythm with a chorus reminiscent of Indian tribal chanting. "Taking a Page" has some trippy Asian parts, and "October 12" is another hushed bossanova ballad. "My Boyfriend's in the Band" is the closest he gets to his late '00's California rock style, while "The Lost Coast" is a hazy atmospheric piece. Closing ballad "Will I See You Tonight?" pairs him with 60's folk chanteuse Vashti Bunyan for a result that reminds me of certain Tindersticks duets from the 90's. Just like the music, the cover artwork (surely by Devendra himself as usual) makes a break with the past, replacing the intricate penwork of his previous albums (which I quite liked) with a striking and somewhat primitive oil painting of flowers. As for the album title, I've read two different explanations: one maintains that the album is a celebration of motherhood and the nurturing spirit, the other one suggests that it comes from the Japanese word "Ma" (間) which translates as "negative space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts". I'm inclined to go with the latter explanation, seeing as there is a strong Japanese air in the record (among the most obvious: "Kantori Ongaku" is a tribute to Yellow Magic Orchestra leader Haruomi Hosono and features a Japanese chorus). More probably the singer knew of both meanings and chose a term that is open for interpretation. Final thought: seeing as Devendra's manchild voice is a bit too cute anyway, wrapping it in a cloud of warm woodwinds and strings risks sounding too polished, as in missing an edge. Which this album doesn't always avoid, but that's not too important when it contains some of the most charming music I've heard this year. Even if you're a snubby intelectual who likes edgier stuff, you can't deny it makes for delicious ear candy.

**** for Is This Nice?, Kantori Ongaku, Ami, Memorial, Carolina, Love Song, Abre las Manos, My Boyfriend's in the Band, Will I See You Tonight?

*** for Now All Gone, Taking a Page, October 12

** for The Lost Coast

Dream Theater "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory" 1999****

I recently presented Dream Theater's Images And Words in this blog. Coincidentally that was only a couple of days after their appearance in nearby Amsterdam, during which they played  Metropolis Pt. 2 in its entirety (to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary). Friends who went to the concert had a lot of praise for the band's performance. Apparently the album was meticulously recreated onstage despite the absence of original drummer Mike Portnoy - not an easy feat, but perhaps the only way to listen to it: you don't want to mess too much with a concept album such as the one I am about to present. 

Compared to Images And Words there is a direct connection but I also see an improvement in the following sectors: a) the concept album format makes the long instrumental passages and abrupt changes within the same song seem more palatable, as the songs aren't necessarily meant to stand on their own. Their lyrics, which I used to find indifferent, are now in the service of the story and therefore more meaningful b) La Brie doesn't constantly sing in the high register which allows him to interpret the various roles and display more sentiment c) The band seem to have added Pink Floyd to their list of influences, with Petrucci often trying a Gilmour-inspired psychedelic guitar style, in addition to his usual pyrotechnics d) the compositions seem to me to be better, no more over-reliance on generic metal riffs e) not that there was anything wrong with the previous guys, but new member Jordan Rudess on keys proves to be a perfect fit - and indeed has become their longest-standing keyboardist (currently in the band for 20 years). To return to the connection of Metropolis Pt.2 to Images And Words, that album contained a track named "Metropolis Pt. 1" that turned out to be very popular. The "Part 1" of the title was added playfully as an afterthought but fans took it seriously and kept asking for the sequel. So the band sat down to write "Part 2", and they had to devise a story to make sense of "Part 1"'s cryptic lyrics, which is how they ended up with a whole album of material. As it turns out, the story is about a person ("Nicholas") who has troubled dreams brought about by memories of a previous life (I know! let's just accept it, shall we?). So he goes to hypnotherapist who puts him under ("Scene One: Regression"). The album opens with the hypnotists' instructions followed by a short acoustic piece that sounds like a snippet ripped out from Pink Floyd's The Wall. The same can be said of two excellent ballads we encounter later ("Scene Five: Through Her Eyes" and "Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On"), especially regarding Petrucci's guitarwork (emotive rather than bombastic) and female backing vocals. "Scene Two: I. Overture 1928" is an instrumental with fancy guitar solos, while hard rocker "Scene Two: II. Strange Deja Vu" takes us back to 1928 where where our story begins: Nicholas learns that in another life he was a woman named Victoria. From here on, Victoria's story unfolds song after song: She was part of a love triangle with two brothers, until she and one of the brothers (I won't say who because I don't want to spoil the crime aspect of the story for you) was murdered. The murder was never properly resolved, which is why she keeps reappearing in Nicholas' dreams. "Scene Three: I. Through My Words" is a short piano interlude, while "Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy" starts off as a power ballad before getting overrun by heavy riffing. "Beyond This Life" is an 11-minute song with many changes, mostly heavy but with some nice slow segments. Ballad "Through Her Eyes" closes "Act I" of the album, and at that point I can say I'm satisfied, not only by the band's trademark excellent musicianship but also by the member I consider the weak link: singer La Brie delivers an histrionic-free performance, and even sporadically manages to put in some humanity and feeling in his singing. "Act II", which reveals another perspective to the story, opens with "Home", a marathon metal tune introduced by a playful oriental melody, followed by complex prog instrumental "The Dance of Eternity". "One Last Time" is a hard rock power ballad, slightly marred by a somewhat exaggerated vocal performance. After an excellent ballad "The Spirit Carries On", the album concludes with "Scene Nine: Finally Free". My final thoughts are that "Metropolis Pt. 2" stands out not only as Dream Theater's crowning achievement, but probably as the best showcase for the whole "progressive metal" genre. The band's playing is as dazzling as ever in its virtuosity and the storyline intricately structured. Then why not give it 5* you ask? The reason is that, despite the complex arrangements and time changes, I still find the compositions rather mundane at heart and melodies forgettable. It is nevertheless an essential album for any metal or modern prog fan.

***** for The Spirit Carries On

**** for Regression, Strange Deja Vu, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy, Beyond This Life, Through Her Eyes , Finally Free

*** for Overture 1928, The Dance of Eternity, One Last Time

Toprot ‎"Straight Outta Moerwijk" 2019***

I've said it before, I like all anarcho-punk bands, so Toprot couldn't be an exception. Granted, these young guys from The Hague got their name from a disease affecting cannabis plants and identify themselves as "drunk punk" rather than anarcho-punk, probably to avoid sounding too serious, but they're also closely tied to an anarchist squat in Den Haag Moerwijk called De Samenscholing, and engage in political activities (playing benefits in support of refugees etc). The 7' EP Straight Outta Moerwijk seems to be their first release, at least according to discogs. They sing in both English and Dutch but there is no lyrics sheet included, so I'll be damned if I know what about - other than their apparent disdain for yuppies, hippies and hipsters. I personally find the anti-hippie sentiment too 1977, even punk guru Jello Biafra now agrees that the hippie movement left an overal positive legacy. Hipsters yes, they are a modern plague. As for yuppies, before coming to The Netherlands I'd say that they were an 80's thing. In Greece wearing a suit and tie at work is like wearing a Burger King uniform, you can't wait to get rid of them. In Holland, though, young people wear their suits and ties proudly even when they're not obliged to, and actually study "finance" and "business management" by choice, not just because they suck at everything requiring a modicum of ability. Back to the album at hand, the music is your typical fast-and-furious hardcore punk: 6 songs within 10 minutes, roughly recorded and played with an amateurs' enthusiasm though not amateurishly. If you like 80's punk like Black Flag, Exploited or GBH this may be something for you - the closing tune "Shiver For Ma Livah" even has a bit of oi!-like chorus thing going. If you'd like to know more about the band, check their facebook site

*** for Against Hippies, Vies Pijn En Dronken, A.B.A.B, Vuiluh Hipsters, Die Yuppie Die, Shiver For Ma Livah

Bob Dylan "World Gone Wrong" 1993***

Sometimes I wonder whether winning a Nobel Prize for literature is a sign that you're finished as an artist. It'd be good to go back and see if any Nobel laureate has ever published a major work after receiving the prestigious award. Bob Dylan became the first singer/songwriter to win a Nobel for literature in 2016 and, while he's been releasing records as often as ever, these are mostly archival recordings. Of the 4 new albums released in the last decade, 3 are collections of covers (from 2009's Christmas in the Heart to 2017's Triplicate) - a curious choice for someone who is (much more) celebrated for his songwriting rather than his singing abilities. 

That said, there is a precedent: Dylan followed one of the lowpoints of his career (Under the Red Sky, 1990) with a couple of back-to-back cover albums: Good as I Been to You (1992) and World Gone Wrong (1993). Both, especially the latter, were well received - much better than his latest attempts at covering the classics. But then, they weren't Christmas songs or Sinatra covers like his latest work, they were the kind of traditional material that young Dylan had originally made his name with playing at The Village cafes. Both the material choice here and the instrumentation (just voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica) are a throwback to his eponymous first album, recorded at the age of 20. It starts with a gentle acoustic blues "World Gone Wrong", followed by "Love Henry" (an Appalachian variant of Child ballad no.68) which sounded immediately familiar to me - but that''s probably because it provided the inspiration for "Henry Lee", a Nick Cave/P.J. Harvey duet from Murder Ballads (1996). The rest of (the vinyl's) side 1 are acoustic 30's blues: Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine" is somewhat upbeat, followed by slower ballads "Ragged & Dirty" and "Blood in My Eyes". The latter is one of two songs (next to "World Gone Wrong") originally done by guitar/fiddle duo The Mississippi Sheiks - both are among the record's highlights. Side 2 opens with a couple of traditional murder ballads inspired by true stories. "Delia", also often attributed to Blind Willie McTell, is the story of a 14-year old girl shot dead by her teenage boyfriend in 1901. She was buried in an unmarked grave, so the song is all that's left to remind of her. "Stack a Lee", sometimes also known as "Stagger Lee", takes us even further in time to 1895, when infamous St. Louis pimp "Stag" Lee Shelton shot one Billy Lyons in a bar brawl for taking his Stetson hat. Depending on who you listen to, the fight was originally about a woman, or gambling, or political in nature. Coincidentally (or not) this is the second song from this album that later found its way to Nick Cave's Murder Ballads, even if Cave's version is very loosely based on the traditional song. Exactly why these specific crimes were immortalized in song out of thousands of similar stories is something that escapes me, but there are a lot of similarities between them: both happened on Christmas day, and in both cases victim and murderer were black but the song makes no mention of their race, which is quite rare for its time. "Two Soldiers" is a Civil War ballad while "Jack-A-Roe" (a.k.a. "Jack Monroe") is an English or Scottish 19th Century mid-tempo song about a young girl and her sailor lover who goes to war. The closing "Lone Pilgrim" is a hymn about dying and joining God in Heaven - lest we had forgotten that Dylan is now a Christian. Which makes 5 out of 10 songs where one of the heroes dies, while in another 4 out of 10 a lover is spurned and mistreated. Miraculously, the girl who sails to her embattled lover finds him on death's doorstep but manages to save him and marry him. But even with a happy ending like that, a song that features flying cannonballs and piles of corpses isn't exactly cheerful. The choice of lesser-known and darker songs, combined with Dylan's affinity for traditional material and his, often underrated, mastery of the acoustic guitar has made this one a cult favorite. Recommended if you like traditional folk and blues, not necessarily recommended for fans of Dylan the Nobel-laureate wordsmith.

**** for World Gone Wrong, Love Henry, Blood in My Eyes, Delia, Jack-A-Roe

*** for Ragged & Dirty, Broke Down Engine, Stack a Lee, Two Soldiers, Lone Pilgrim

Dream Theater "Images And Words" 1992****

By rights Dream Theater should be among my favorite bands, as I love all progressive rock - except maybe the most experimental kind. Knowing that, friends suggested Dream Theater to me early on: their music was supposedly intricate yet accessible, and the musicians were all top-notch. My first approach was, as usual, through a compilation. This one was called GreateSt Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs). I'll present it in detail in another post, but the gist of it is that it was good and yet not particularly interesting. The playing was as good as advertised but, although one can find no fault with the compositions, my impression was that they were too commercial, too safe - certainly not what one thinks of as progressive. But that actually seems to be the general conclusion i.e. that the compilation is not indicative of the band's true style, so I tried again - this time with the band's original album series box set, containing 5 of their classic albums. I will present them one at a time, starting with Images And Words, the oldest album here and widely considered to be among their best.

The first 3 songs here were already familiar from the GreateSt Hit comp. "Pull Me Under" is the band's hit, as referred to in that title. It opens with an atmospheric intro followed by a barrage of metallic riffs, and evolves into an epic rocker which is often reminiscent of Rainbow. James LaBrie is an operatically trained vocalist with a typically "metal" high pitched voice - as opposed to most "rock" singers. It's a bit of an acquired taste, but at least it fits the song perfectly. Combined with the heavy riffing, virtuosic solos and catchy chorus, the song has all the elements needed to endear it to all hard rock fans. "Another Day" is your typical Reo Speedwagon-style power ballad. Some fans are appalled by the mellow saxophone, but I liked it as it reminded me of the saxes on Supertramp and Pink Floyd albums. "Take the Time" is introduced with metallic riffing followed by some funkier lines and by LaBrie displaying his vocal range hitting some high notes. After the 4-minute mark it becomes more diverse with proggy keyboards and fast guitar solos of the Steve Vai/ Joe Satriani school. "Surrounded" is a softer, melodic, tune that's pure 80's AOR. Which brings us to fan favorite "Metropolis—Part I". It's evident that the band intended this as their showcase: an epic song derailed by long instrumental passages of ridiculously difficult solos accompanied by very busy and complex drumming. "Under a Glass Moon" has all the hallmarks of generic metal: Metallica (riffs) Iron Maiden (vocals) and Van Halen (solos) come to mind. Maybe for that reason, it's the most indifferent to me, as well as likely to win pure metalheads over. It's followed by my favorite tune here: "Wait for Sleep" is a short beautiful piano piece with genuinely emotive, histrionic-free, vocals. It serves as intro to the most progressive composition, the 11:30 minute "Learning to Live" - basically a patchwork of mini-songs, charming melodies, and guitar/keyboard solos that lacks cohesiveness but takes you on a musical journey akin to sitting on the window seat of a train enjoying the constantly changing scenery. Images and Words remains the band's best selling album to date. It defined their sound and served as a blueprint for prog metal in general. It displays considerable complexity and versatility for a Metal album - which is of course akin to describing an animal as considerably graceful for a rhinoceros. On the other hand, if you like 70's prog and have no metal background you may find it unnecessarily bombastic and lacking in finesse. Sure, the extended solos and unexpected time changes bring it into prog territory but the compositions are rather pedestrian compared to the classics of the genre. It nevertheless warrants 4* just on the basis of the excellent musicianship involved: Petrucci and Portnoy are obviously masters of their respective instruments, Moore's keyboards add that classical element, and Myung's bass solo on "Metropolis Part 1" is among the most impressive I've ever heard. LaBrie on the other hand is a technically capable singer whose style fits well with the band but he's difficult for me to warm up to - at least in this record. Anyway the latest careful listen of Images and Words still didn't convince me to let Dream Theater in among my favorite bands, but it made me appreciate them a bit better than I originally did. Time to give the other 4 CD's in this box set a good listen, and maybe even give Octavarium another chance if I still have it - I remember putting it aside after a couple of listens many years ago, unimpressed. It didn't turn up when I cataloged my collection, and it isn't in the right genre/alphabetical position, so I may or may not have sold it or given it away at some point. In any case we'll return to Dream Theater later.

**** for Pull Me Under, Another Day, Take the Time, Metropolis Part I 'The Miracle and the Sleeper', Wait for Sleep, Learning to Live

*** for Surrounded, Under a Glass Moon

Bonzo Dog Doo/Dah Band "Gorilla" 1967*****

I have two versions of this LP (the second one was a gift with the express instruction to use for the blog). One is credited to Bonzo Dog Doo/Dah Band and the other to Bonzo Dog Band. This musical collective actually started as The Bonzo Dog Dada Band but they got tired of explaining Dada to people and changed it to the nonsensical "Doo/Dah" before dropping it altogether. In the meantime they had released their debut Gorilla which in subsequent reissues is released under both name variants. The result is a very English mix of comedy, jazz, music hall, pop, and everything else you can think of. It is upbeat, timeless, and good-naturedly funny - it never fails to make me laugh because it's all about the delivery, not just the jokes. It starts off with a short trad jazz hymn to "Cool Britannia", followed by one of the more conventional numbers: "The Equestrian Statue" sounds like that whimsical psychedelic pop of The Kinks and Beatles circa '66-'67. Next we get a cover of a 1929 novelty song called "Jollity Farm" and a parody of crooner classic "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". The band displays their ability in different styles by including a comedic calypso number ("Look Out, There's a Monster Coming"), trad jazz ("Jazz Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold") and rockabilly ("Death-cab for Cutie") - the latter song being one of their most famous, as it was included in the contemporary Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. The Beatles were friends and fans of the group, they even endorsed a Beatles parody film featuring assorted Bonzos and Monty Pythons (Neil Innes played John Lennon's counterpart, Ron Nasty). So many different styles, and that's just Side 1 of the LP! Side 2 opens with "The Intro and the Outro", presenting the "members of the band" playing increasingly exotic musical instruments - apparently these bandmembers include Adolf Hitler, John Wayne and "Quasimodo, on bells". The multitude of instruments was such the studio didn't have enough channels to fit them all playing at the same time, so each instrument fades out after a few seconds to make way for the next. 30's cartoon tune "Mickey's Son and Daughter" is followed by jazz-noir parody "Big Shot". "Music for the Head Ballet" sounds like classical music played by one of those mechanical street organs still used here in the Netherlands. "Piggy Bank Love" is a Beach Boys-turn-psychedelic pastiche, and "I'm Bored" another manic music hall number. The album closes with "The Sound of Music" disparaging Hollywood musicals. While none of the abovementioned songs brought anything new musically, this particular melange, combined with the band's anarchic humor (The Monty Python connection should be indication enough) made it sound at once quaintly old fashioned and fresh. It sounds just as fresh (or timeless) 50 years later, especially the more joyful upbeat numbers. Perfect remedy for a bad day: if one listen to "Jollity Farm" doesn't improve your mood, nothing will.

**** for Cool Britannia, The Equestrian Statue, Jollity Farm, Look Out, There's a Monster Coming, Jazz (Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold), Death-cab for Cutie, The Intro and the Outro, Mickey's Son and Daughter, Big Shot, Piggy Bank Love, I'm Bored

** for I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Narcissus, Music for the Head Ballet, The Sound of Music