gullbuy music review

May 5, 2006

John Cale

various artists
label:: Radioactive Records

In 1974 Fear was released. It was John Cale's second solo album after his career in Velvet Underground. It followed up Vintage Violence.

John Cale's third record, Slow Dazzle, was released in 1975. The record featured a towering, scary, cover of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. In Cale's hands the song changes from a lonely lament to a harrowing torment.

The Cowsills

title:: Painting The Day
label:: Cherry Red / El

The Cowsills were the local inspiration behind the tv show The Partridge Family, and were in fact a real family group from Newport, RI filled with brothers, sisters, and their mother, singing and playing their own music.

This CD collects together the entire II x II album from 1970 - that has never been reissued on cd before - with their hits, and a few other select tracks. It's a must for those who love the sunshine and harmony pop from the 1960s, though it should be noted that II x II is from after their heyday of hits.

Painting the Time : New Rubble Volume 6

various artists
label:: Radioactive Records

Painting The Time: New Rubble Volume 6 was compiled by Bevis Frond frontman Nick Saloman and this time centers attention on UK psychedelic pop.

It's a fun compilation, though not nearly as consistent as some other New Rubble compilations.

Pink Floyd

title:: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
label:: Capitol

Lysergic yet lucid – that's what Syd Barrett was for a brief window of time in 1966 and 1967. 

Piper at the Gates of Dawn documents Barrett at the height of his staggering creative powers.