Acid3

TAB 042

VARIOUS ARTISTS "The Worm Is Waltzing"

TRACKS: WEIRD SUMMER: The Hands Are Mine/Obvious. FREE LOVE SOCIETY: Egyptian Song. DAVE MUDGE & CAROL: Daisy. THE DISPOSSESSED: Circus Nights/The Waltz. WEIRD SUMMER: Get Going! DAVE MUDGE & CAROL: Fighter Of Our Time. FREE LOVE SOCIETY: Pandora's Box/The Mirror. THE DISPOSSESSED: Hide The Day.

This is a compilation of songs which don't appear on any other release. Both THE DISPOSSESSED and FREE LOVE SOCIETY were dark Goth bands from the USA; the lead vocalist of THE DISPOSSESSED subsequently committed suicide. Not overtly gothic nor does it descend into parody like so much of this music does. Both bands are moody and atmospheric, especially "Egyptian Song" and "Pandora's Box" by FREE LOVE SOCIETY. DAVE MUDGE & CAROL turn in two folk flavoured tunes with some great lead guitar of "Fighter of Our Time" contrasting with the pure female vocals of CAROL. The WEIRD SUMMER tracks are companions to the three already released on TAB 032 "The Toads Are Dancing" and are catchy, melodic pop tunes with a Byrdsian flavour.

TAB 043

THE JABBERWOCKIES "The Jabberwockies"

TRACKS: Nine Cats/Empty Room/The Only Hope Is You And Me/The Zip-Zap Song/Small Fish/See My Friend/Milky Way/The Joke Is On You/Theme From An Empty Room/Nine Cats Conclusion.

THE JABBERWOCKIES were born out of Alan Duffy's and Limo's heads to re-create the visions of Marc Bolan, Syd Barrett, the ISB and Arthur Lee. Alan's Lewis Carroll-esque lyrics and Limo's 'English psychedelia' combine to produce a tape of melodic songs which will stick in your mynd like Hunny to Pooh's paw. A collection of psychedelic gems which sparkle and shine. Some of these lyrics were later to be used on songs by Porcupine Tree and the songs here are similar to that band's more melodic material. Fans of FIT & LIMO and THE EYES OF FATE may be interested in this as well as it features both Limo and Repp (plus Mrs. Fit!!). If you're into Syd, Bolan and classic pop psychedelia this tape is for you.

TAB 044

THE CHEMISTRY SET "The Chemistry Set"

TRACKS: The Rainbow Song/The Dreams That I Saw Yesterday/ Under The Valley (Where Mushrooms Grow)/I Can See You/These Are Like Castles/Minas Tirith/Love Will Always Disappear/The Postman Rides His Bike/Sitting On Top Of The World/As Jane Arrived (Who Brought Us Here)/You Make Me Feel Like I'm Sublime.

This tape by THE CHEMISTRY SET caused quite a stir when it originally did the rounds and still contains some of their best material. Recorded on four track in a rush of inspiration the songs are all classic pop psychedelia with great melodies and hooklines and soaring harmonies. Mixing the flavours of Syd Barrett, The Beatles, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and others in a collection of songs most people would kill to have written. Unfortunately the band never did live up to their promise and next to their unreleased "Sounds Like Painting" this is probably their finest hour.

TAB 045

STORMCLOUDS "Raindrops"

TRACKS: The Creature From Galaxy X/To Tuesday/Look At Her Eyes/He's Trash/The Ungrateful Dead/Raindrops/It's Raining Still/ Hideaway/The 2 Dimensional Man/I Don't Know/Down To The Sea.

Imagine the pop sensibilities of Blondie welded on to the crushing guitars of the Jesus And Mary Chain. A sea of raw noise surfs into "The Creature From Galaxy X" with punk propelled rhythms and Sci-Fi effects, followed by "To Tuesday" which you'll hardly recognise from their first tape. re-recorded speeded up with thumping bass, fuzz guitars and a guitar hookline that would stand out even on a Windbreakers album. Just when you thought there was going to be fuzz from start to end there's "Look At Her Eyes", with a descending chord run that I've never heard before. "He's Trash" sounds like classic Blondie reinforced with churning serrated guitars and shades of the Byrds are evident on the countryfied "It's Raining Still". The tape closes with "Down To The Sea" with Louise singing over a wall of feedback with a nod to The Jesus And Mary Chain.

TAB 048

VARIOUS ARTISTS "Garage Ghouls"

TRACKS: THE BEATPACK: Heartbreak Hotel/Thinking About Today/Chicago/She Gives Me Love/It's Gone/Girl No More/Go Away. THE ROUGH SITUATION: Cute/Spider Light/ Blackness/ Been here Too Long/You're Gonna Miss THE TYME ELIMENT: Me. Make Me Some Love/You're Running Me Down/ Strangelove.

THE BEATPACK kick of side one of this tape with a raw, blistering set of punk/r 'n' b/garage beat classics. Influences include Rolling Stones, Who, Kinks, Pretty Things, Small Faces, Seeds, Shadows Of Knight etc. This should give you some idea where they were coming from (apart from Hastings that is). Loud, young and snotty (to steal a phrase). THE TYME ELIMENT lost a vocalist to THE BEATPACK soon after these recordings. Another garage band with snarling vocals and a tight/powerful garage/rhythm and blues beat. THE ROUGH SITUATION were from Germany and their brand of garage rock was flavoured with a definite 80's feel of their own only reverting to pure garage fuzz on their cover of "you're Gonna Miss Me".

TAB 046

THE FAREWELL PARTY "The Farewell Party"

TRACKS: A Promise Of Rain/32 Views Of Emma/Here (Letter To America)/Girl On The Ledge/Hadrian's Wall/Waterland/Terez Batista (Home Between The Wars)/Things Behind The Sun/Complete True Citizens Of The World/Radio Ghosts/Such A Fragile Thing/ People Are Strange.

Musically THE FAREWELL PARTY are reminiscent of The Doors, The Verlaines, The Byrds and very early Talking Heads. In their music you often find rough, edgy harmonies and although at times everything sounds fragile there is always an invisible power in their music which drives it and holds it together. THE FAREWELL PARTY were Americans living and working in Germany.

TAB 047

VARIOUS ARTISTS "Under The Valley Where Mushrooms Grow"

TRACKS: THE CHEMISTRY SET: Under The Valley (Where Mushrooms Grow)/Acacia Gardens. FIT & LIMO: Wined And Dined. SIMPLE CIRCUS: Siren Of Love. THREE BOXES: Face The Future. THE FAREWELL PARTY: Runaway Horses. THE JABBERWOCKIES: The Only Hope Is You And Me. PURE LEUGE: Late Night. THREE BOXES: If Only She Knew/I Committed A Crime. THE FAREWELL PARTY: James. SIMPLE CIRCUS: You're A Kennedy. STORMCLOUDS: Down To The Sea.

The only song here which appears on another release is "The Only Hope Is You And Me" by THE JABBERWOCKIES, all the remaining tracks are exclusive to this tape. The two songs by THE CHEMISTRY SET, are 8 track versions of songs from their own release (TAB 044); "Wined and Dined" by FIT AND LIMO is an outtake from the Syd Barrett album "Songs From The Wildwood", (released by Alan Duffy on Imaginary Records), SIMPLE CIRCUS, who were a five piece progressive rock band from the USA, give us "You're A Kennedy" a song about the space shuttle disaster and "Siren Of Love"; "James" and "Runaway Horses" by THE FAREWELL PARTY are two more examples of their fragile, melodic pop; STORMCLOUDS' "Down to the Sea" is an acoustic version of the song which originally appeared on "Raindrops (TAB 045) and THREE BOXES contribute two rock songs similar in approach to SIMPLE CIRCUS. They were also from the USA.

TAB 049

JAMES T. RAO "Electric Fish Life Pt 1"

TRACKS: Forever Greenhouse/Evergreen Daydream/In A Summer Haze Of Rain/In The Glass Garden Where Turquoise Plays/ Vegetable Daze/You Don't Have To Be On drugs To Be Insane/ Transparent Epiphany 1/See Through Eyes/Transparent Epiphany 2/Wish/In A Summer Haze Of Rain 2/A Tearful Of Clouds/For Evergreen House.

JAMES T. RAO is one guy in his bedroom, but what a strange bedroom. You can hear the sound of a waterfall; slow strummed chords like "Colours For Susan" and occasional picked notes like a John Fahey dream of taking minimalism further, where an acoustic guitar note suddenly holds on when it should decay and shimmers against all expectations. A sound full of open spaces, a sparse landscape where the mountains of Marc and Syd are the only trig points. Listen to the drifting fishes hum and lose yourself in the strange, melancholic world of JAMES T. RAO.

TAB 050

VARIOUS ARTISTS "Heroes Everyday"

TRACKS: THE YOUTHFUL WARDS: Heroes Everyday. REEFUS MOONS: Jingle Jive/Grooving With The Vicar. JAMES T. RAO: I Scream Mantra. CHILDE ROLAND: Dunwich Town. ADRIAN SHAW: No Place To Go. STORMCLOUDS: Jellyclouds. KEN FLYNN: Without You. THE CUTTING EDGE: September. THE CHEMISTRY SET: Sitting On Top Of The World. CHILDE ROLAND: New Love. 'RUSTIC' ROD GOODWAY: Control. DIE GRUNDER: Turn Your Tables Around. STORMCLOUDS: The Last Song.

A compilation to celebrate our 50th release. We have here a selection of songs that, with a few exceptions, don't appear on any other release, though most of the artists will be familiar to you. Both ADRIAN SHAW and ROD GOODWAY contribute a solo song, both of which are unavailable anywhere else; "Sitting On Top Of The World" by THE CHEMISTRY SET is a different version to that on their own release (TAB 044); THE CUTTING EDGE were a Calne band (and this probably their finest three minutes) and KEN FLYNN is a member of STORMCLOUDS: both their songs are exclusives. As are the tracks by Germany's DIE GRUNDER, STORMCLOUDS ("Jellymonsters") and THE YOUTHFUL WARDS, who kick off the tape with an introductory ditty. The remaining songs by REEFUS MOONS, CHILDE ROLAND and STORMCLOUDS ("The Last Song") all appear on their respective releases.

TAB 051

CHILDE ROLAND - "Discover An Evil Fetish"

TRACKS: Into The Night/Tomorrow Morning/Cuban Missiles/ The Dunwich Horror/Sacrifice/The Breakers/Evil Fetish/Guardian Angels/Welcome/Ten Of Swords/New Love/Midnight.

The spirit of Marc Bolan is alive and well and evident throughout this collection by talented multi-instrumentalist CHILDE ROLAND. A rhythm of acoustic guitars and bongos (with 'The Little Big Man' as Peregrine Took), overlaid with scorching lead guitar work and mystical Bolanesque vocals evoking the "Beard Of Stars' period Tyrannosaurus Rex but with a slightly sinister edge. This is no mere imitation though and CHILDE ROLAND infuses the whole work with his own unique style and vision. Flavours of Lovecraft ("Dunwich Town"), the occult ("Ten Of Swords", "Evil Fetish") and stunning lead guitar work make this a must for lovers of strong songs, decent melodies and soaring guitar playing. CHILDE ROLAND comes from the city of Bath in the UK.

TAB 052

REEFUS MOONS - "World In A Droplet"

TRACKS: Ring The Chime Of A Merry Murder/Islington/ Footsteps In The Sky/The Pirate/Shadow Man/Ivanhoe/The Reptile House/The Pharoah/Living In An Animal Skull/World In A Droplet.

The first of three REEFUS MOONS tapes on the label, after which he went on to releasing vinyl and CDs on his own Insect Eye Label. Of the three tapes this was the first to be released and the last to be recorded. Confused?.... REEFUS MOONS' music has a definite Robin Hitchcock influence with some Syd and Bolan thrown in, not to mention The Beatles. Another one-man show with Reefus playing all instruments, singing and writing the songs (which hatch, like eggs, inside his head). This is English psychedelia without the sometimes laboured feel of Hitchcock, and these songs will stay in your head for weeks. Classic melodies and some inspired instrumentation make this a must for any fan of English psychedelia.

TAB 053

THE HONEYSMUGGLERS - "The Honeysmugglers"

TRACKS: Blind/You Are The Sun/Protean 82/Smokey Ice-cream/ Flamethrower/Anybody But You/Blind/Way/Need.

This is a collection of 8 and 16 tracks demos (plus a few live songs thrown in for good measure) from the now defunct London based HONEYSMUGGLERS. Their sound was psychedelic music with a definite 90's feel and they were a live band well worth seeing.

TAB 054

VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Daydreams & Nightmares"

TRACKS: THE HONEYSMUGGLERS: You Are The Sun. EFFERVESCENT ELEPHANTS: It's Raining. TROPICANA FISHTANK: Mad About Mung Beans. THE CHEMISTRY SET: Mr Soul. JAMES T. RAO: Evergreen Daydream. REEFUS MOONS: Newt Head. THE BEVIS FROND: Once Torn, Twice Forgotten. STORMCLOUDS: Heart Of Stone. DARK STAR: Wishful Thinking/Technicians. CHILDE ROLAND: Welcome. STORMCLOUDS: Shadowqueen. REEFUS MOONS: Hypnoteyes. KEN FLYNN: Remember. TROPICANA FISH TANK: Exorcism. THE CUTTING EDGE: Eyes Of Fire.

Songs which are exclusive to this release are "Mr Soul", a spirited cover of the old Buffalo Springfield song by THE CHEMISTRY SET; "Once Torn, Twice Forgotten" by THE BEVIS FROND, which he described as "a bit of an experiment in so far as I was jamming with myself for the most part of it."; "Wishful Thinking: and "Technicians" by Swedish space-rock combo DARXTAR: "Remember" by KEN FLYNN (although a different version did turn up on the STORMCLOUDS album "Nightmares In The Sky" as Ken is a member of that band) and "Eyes Of Fire" by a long defunct Calne pop band THE CUTTING EDGE. All the other songs appear on their respective band's own album length releases on the label.

TAB 055

STORMCLOUDS - "Lost In Space"

TRACKS: Lost In Space/Let's Talk About Love/Heart Of Stone/ Shadowqueen/Get Lost/Sandman/Honey Honey/Candy/Satellite Baby/Junk/20th Century Girl/The Last Song.

STORMCLOUDS on this tape are Steve Lines (music) and Louise Allen (Vocals). Right from the opening track the sound, as well as the songs, leap out at you with an impossible combination of catchiness and power. "Lost In Space" is full of steals from the TV series, which is just as if the cast had reassembled to help record this. The songs here are the best collection they've written and should be singles, should be on the radio. These songs are primarily pop songs, in that they could be hummed by anyone. The playing is basically fuzzed guitars, playing with a rush that sweeps the words along. There's two acoustic tracks "Heart Of Stone" and "Junk" in amongst the fuzzed pop. Shades of Transvision Vamp, Primitives, Ramones, Jesus And Mary Chain, Opal and Blondie combine in a collection of great pop songs.

TAB 056

REEFUS MOONS - "Moondust"

TRACKS: A Porkupine On Heat/The Praying Mantis/Hedgehog And The Speed-King/Fossilised Love/Newt-head/Hypnoteyes/Give God An Axe/Train Times/A Black And Greasy World.

This is REEFUS MOON'S second release on the label (though it was recorded before "World In A Droplet") and was recorded at home on 4 track. More REEFUS MOONS magic with another collection of English psych which is as good as anything out there. This man should be a star. "Give God An Axe" is an animal rights song; "A Porkupine On Heat" is about a frustrated lover and starts off like one of Kevin Ayres, Caribbean rhythms; "Praying Mantis", a song about not getting eaten, is more Syd Barrett; "Hypnoteyes" has a beat which combines with the acoustic guitar to recall the glorious Small Faces from around "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" album; "Train Times" imitates a train whistle and a sense of puzzlement (rightfully so) as he sings "I wonder why this train's on time?" and "Newt Head" is about somebody who is always drunk.

TAB 057

TROPICANA FISHTANK "Gentlemen.... Raise Your Eyebrows"

TRACKS: Police Academy/Bricks & Trees, Fish Eye View/Go Go Don’t Go, Carve It In Wood, Old Potato/All I Cab Do/Rabid Henry/Mother Night/Mad About Mung Beans/The Umbrella Man/Exorcism/Senility Blues.

Culled from hours of recordings this tape presents two sides of TROPICANA FISHTANK. Side one features home demos and rehearsals and side two is a selection of studio demos. Flavourings of Syd and Hytchcock with a seasoning of English quirkiness here but with “Mother Night” the band prove they can knock out a serious stone cold classic as well.

TAB 060

REEFUS MOONS - "The Art Of Slow Travelling"

TRACKS: Jingle Jive/Grooving With The Vicar/Monkey Man/ The Very Last Astronaut/Sleeploop/Spiders Can Fly/The Perfumed Dandy Fish/The Aquarium/The Intergalactic Rat.

The third release from REEFUS MOONS, with another fine selection of classic pop/psyche which to my mind, although inspired by Hitchcock, is better. REEFUS MOON'S is naturally this way and his lyrics, which deal with insects, animals and all manner of strange situations and characters, never sound forced. There is a strange world inside his head and you can have a peek in, just buy this tape. "The Aquarium" is gentle acoustic", "The Very last Astronaut" and "Spiders Can Fly" are fuzz laden psych classics, "Monkey Man" is a nursery rhyme dream and "The Intergalactic Rat" a strange bedtime story.

TAB 058

JAMES T RAO - "Electric Fish Life pt 2"

TRACKS: Fading Colors/I Scream Mantra/Ancient Sky Remains Book About Man Ray 1/Gem/Book About Man Ray 2/River Mystic Flow/Song For Syd/You Take The Dark Out Of The Night/Arthur Lee/Watching The Moonrise/Glass Tears/What Are We Living For?

This is the second part of the "Electric Fish Life" cycle, and, as you'd expect, is similar in style to the first release (TAB 049). Guitars shimmer and echo like crystals in a cave and vocal mantras and delicate melodies interweave like seaweed in the waves of your imagination

TAB 059

THE LIMEYS - "The Limeys"

TRACKS: Distance/Loneliest Daze/Rising/Dreamscape/Love Was./ Don't Let Me Down/Sun Kissed Eyes/Love Was Weird/Play The Night.

THE LIMEYS were from Lincoln in the U.K. and were the brainchild of Gary Ross who handled all the vocals, guitars, keyboards etc, with help from Simon Short on bass and vocals and Roland on drums. This is swirling psychedelia with guitars and keyboards weaving together to create dreamscapes for the mynd. Long passages of music with waves of guitar washing at the shores of consciousness and vocals which blend with the ocean of sound to create lysergic heaven.

TAB 041

ALIEN PLANETSCAPES "Stop Light Pollution"

TRACKS: Six spontaneous compositions, no overdubs.

You've got to pull out some real old albums to find anything remotely similar to these landscapes. Get out your rock 'n' roll historian head and set in into (interstellar) overdrive back to the mid 70's and the heyday of Gong and Tangerine Dream. The music is performed live on analog synths with no overdubs and recorded at Space Station Studio. Anyone into psychedelic, ambient space-rock improvisations should love this album. It has the kind of unexpected and sombre beauty that you find in those unlikely moments in old science fiction movies when somebody puts a lovely melody alongside a slow pan of the monster planet.