Great Psychedelic Pop By: The Essex Green - The Essex Green EP 1999 Vinyl 24/96 Flac & mp3

Bands of the Elephant 6 collective usually fall into two categories: those who function simply as rock historians recreating the sounds of the '60s (Of Montreal anyone?) and those who are able to extrapolate those influences into originality (the brilliant Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power).

From the first song on the EP, the effervescent "Fabulous Day," the Essex Green firmly place themselves into the second group. So while their pop is heavily indebted to the likes of the Kinks and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, they manage to measure in just enough originality to eclipse mimicry, making the Essex Green's music at once familiar and innovative, classic and fresh.

As with their full-length, The Essex Green is a consistent listen, with each of the five tracks possessing a definite hook and embodying a different variation on summer of love era pop.(allmusic.com)

Searched through my HDD's today and found some nice treasures. This is the first i ever heard by the Essex Green and it's nice to see allmusic.com have done a nice critic.

Enjoy
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Sorry but artwork is hard to find!

The Tomcats - Running At Shadows - The Spanish Recordings 1965-1966 (2016)

The Tomcats were a London-based quintet (originally named The Thoughts), who, in turn, were formed out of the remnants of a skiffle band called the Playboys. Among those passing through one early line-up of the Tomcats was John "Speedy" Keen, who played drums in the band. The group didn't have any significant success in England, but in 1966 they accepted an offer to perform in Spain with what proved to be their final line-up, which was drawn from a band called Second Thoughts. They were a hit in their live performances in Spain and suddenly found an eager audience for their music--the band charted four EPs of material that ranged from covers of contemporary hits ("Paint It Black" etc.) to Spanish language songs. The group returned to England in 1967, and, keeping the same line-up, altered their sound and their name to July. A 1997 CD called The Tomcats from the Essex label collects the best covers from their four Spanish EPs and fills it out with the contents of a 1964-vintage EP by the Second Thoughts.

Some days ago i posted here on the blog the psychedelic pop album by  July - July from 1968. This band here the Tomcats with the same line-up changed their name and voila...the psychedelic pop band July was born. The Tomcats sound is in a more garage kind of sound but also very well done.
Give it a try and listen. I will post the mp3 link tomorrow.
kind regards
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p.s.: Can someone help with the original RPM artwork?
p.p.s.: Take a look in the comments folks, Reader Jerry did an upgrade for the artwork.

The Thanes - Downbeat And Folked Up 2002 (Screaming Apple Records) Flac

2002 album of the Scottish beat legends the THANES, we can't hardly find the right words for it. The THANES have be around since 1987 and certainly belong to the very few really important bands of todays garage and beat scene. Hailing from Edinburgh, they have released tons of records on the coolest labels around, such as SUNDAZED, CORDUROY, MISTY LANE, LARSEN and DISTORTIONS to name but a few. The THANES of this ultra-modern age conjure up ever more new and always interesting twists and turns from their basic garage band vision. They are extending their collective antennae, reaching but further, sometimes bringing a new reaffirmation of a deeper folk-rock stance with evocative vocal harmonies and a jangling 12-string: to wit, there are covers by Bob Dylan, and The Beau Brummels, played out with true heart and soul.

A few choice examples of the group`s mega-fixation with groups that existed in Holland thirty-odd years ago have also been selected for inclusion. One of the best is their interpretation of "I`m A Fool" originally performed by The Sandy Coast. Stomping and gyrating is also encouraged with original beat-style creations such as "It Can Never Be", "The Next One", and the furious buzz of the LP opener "That`s The Story Of Your Life". No other current band is able to combine all these musical elements of the sixties in such a perfect way. "Downbeat & folked up" is masterpiece of modern beat music and will not just take the hearts of all the sixties-devotees by storm. One hell of an album! ( The Thanes LP review / Myspace)

This is a wonderful album full of jangle beat sounds. Great band!!! Don't miss it
Have fun
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Classic Power Pop: The Smithereens - Especially For You 1986 (1992 Capitol) Flac & mp3

The Smithereens' superb full-length debut Especially for You marries an unapologetically nostalgic affection for the melodic crunch of the British Invasion era with an equally unapologetic helping of postmodern melancholia.

 

In tandem with Don Dixon's moodily atmospheric production, Pat DiNizio's lovelorn lyrics and world-weary vocals reveal the dark underbelly of his otherwise crisply infectious songs, lending standout tracks like "Strangers When We Meet," "Behind the Wall of Sleep," and the minor hit "Blood and Roses," both a unique flavor and an immediate familiarity.

What can i say about this classic? I think ...highly recommend!

Have fun
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Finest Californian Pop Rock/Power Pop With A Dash Americana: The Popravinas - California Sonic (2017 Zesty Smile Records) Wav & mp3

The Popravinas is a band from California formed in 2003 by bassist, vocalist and songwriter Eddie Sill.
Since 2006 other members are producer and guitarist John Adair and guitarist Dean Lyons. Current man on the drums is David Rodgers.
The first album ''Nobody Fault But Ours'' was released in 2008 and received very good reviews and a lot of airplay in the media. I must confess that i don't know the first album and can't say anything about it. So i come to their latest album release from this year called ''California Sonic''.
The first song 'She's Going South' shows in what direction the album will go: Powerful Pop Rock/Power Pop with a good dash Americana. The Song is also together with 'I Gotta Hope' the first single of the new album. Both songs very strong melodic pop rock songs. I prefer 'I Gotta Hope', that song remembers me very much to the Stones in the eighties.

From now on the album become stronger and stronger. 'Wow' is a fine uptempo ballad in the style of 'Waiting on a friend' to stay a moment at the Stones comparison. Very good and tasteful guitar work here. 'Alone ain't so bad' starts with a nice rhythm variation of the second guitar. The song works with country elements here and have a charming americana feel. A modern country song is 'Great Western Fiasco' with little parts of impressive guitar work. It suits me how the band put these parts into the song(s). ''Top of the heartache' is a song which Jagger/Richards can't better do in their high times. 'California' is a very atmospheric number. 'Sent Callin'' finished the album with a relaxed pop rock number.

 My favourite songs on the album: I gotta hope, Wow, Santa Monica Moon, Alone ain't so bad, Top of the heartache, California.

'California Sonic' to me is a very american sounding pop rock album. The strengths of the album is the fantastic guitar work and the interplay of the both guitarists. The vocals are fantastic and give the songs the last missing piece (beside the fantastic lyrics) to make them complete. Some may say that it sounds like Jagger and sure the Stones come in mind if you listen to the band. But a band is more than just a similar voice. And if you listen to the Popravinas you will always hear the difference. And the difference makes the Popravinas.

 My rating for 'California Sonic' is: 4 Pilzköpfe out of possible 5 Pilzköpfe! (means 4 stars out of possible 5 stars for the album). :-)

Enjoy
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If you want to buy the album you find it here & here  & here  & here     

The Lemon Twigs - Do Hollywood (2016) Flac & mp3

Channeling the baroque rock of the '60s, Long Island brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario started the Lemon Twigs while they were still teenagers. Like their father, Ronnie D'Addario, the siblings played multiple instruments, counting guitar, keyboards, drums, horns, and strings on their list of proficiencies. In addition to Harry Nilsson, Todd Rundgren, Big Star, and Brian Wilson, the D'Addarios counted the Beatles, Wings, and the Zombies as major influences. Hints of contemporary artists like Sunflower Bean, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Methyl Ethel also come through on their debut single, "These Words" b/w "As Long as We're Together." The Lemon Twigs signed with 4AD in 2015 and released their debut, Do Hollywood, the following year. Produced by Foxygen's Jonathan Rado, Do Hollywood was supported by a tour that included Danny Ayala on keyboards and Megan Zeankowski on bass.(allmusic.com)

 This is highly recommend if you're really interested in a band full of ideas and a sound that surprised in every tone they play/create. It's by far not enough to say they use the baroque rock and popsounds of the sixties. Because they sound quite modern. As modern as a band can sound in 2017. To me the most innovative album in 2017 so far. They do no gimmicks they make music.
I highly recommend this album!

Have fun
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Susanna Hoffs - Susanna Hoffs 1996 (Polydor KK Japan) Flac & mp3

Delivered five years after her botched solo debut, Susanna Hoffs' eponymous second album is a remarkably accomplished and catchy collection of mature jangle-pop, power-pop and ballads. Combining originals with well-chosen covers like the Lightning Seeds' "All I Want," the album is an infectious and engaging set of melodic pop that also happens to be Hoffs' most introspective and personal record to date. The combination of sweet melodies and reflective songwriting makes Susanna Hoffs a remarkable artistic comeback from a performer that many would have thought was past her prime.(allmusic)

Susanna Hoffs was never the egyptian barbie girl. She is a great performer and musician with a special voice and yes she's looking very good. All things and skills an artist need (maybe except good lookin' but it could make some things easier) if he want to have success. And hard working. And Susanna Hoffs is a hard worker. All that are also the requirements to make an album like this. With very good songs. With catchy songs. With all the things a good pop album needs. And that is this album. Fine jangly Pop/Power Pop music.

Enjoy
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Mark Wirtz - Lost Pets 2 (2011 PoppyDisc/Rev-Ola Records) Flac &mp3

"Easy listening" isn't really an appropriate classification for Mark Wirtz; "instrumental pop" may suit him better. An EMI staff producer in the late '60s, Wirtz's most enduring contributions to contemporary music were as producer of Tomorrow, one of the finest overlooked British psychedelic groups (featuring guitarist Steve Howe in his pre-Yes days). (It's also been reported that Wirtz turned down a chance to work with Pink Floyd in the Syd Barrett days.) Wirtz also made some "mood music" albums on his own, the most ambitious of which was a "Teenage Opera" song cycle of sorts that he began working on in 1967. Tomorrow lead singer Keith West was enlisted as lyricist, and one piece developed into West's 1967 "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera" single. A grandiose, multi-part orchestrated narrative, it became an unexpectedly huge (number two) hit in Britain in the summer of 1967.

This led to reports that an entire "Teenage Opera" was in the works, and indeed West did record a marginally successful follow-up ("Sam") in the same vein. The entire opera, however, never appeared, partly because West wasn't entirely keen on the project, and was far more eager to continue playing underground psychedelic rock with Tomorrow (which would break up in 1968 anyway) than to sing far more pop-oriented material as a solo act. Wirtz continued to work as a producer and issue more rock-influenced easy listening albums; dribs and drabs of songs that may have been earmarked for the "Teenage Opera" project would appear under the names of both himself and non-entities like Sweetshop and Zion de Gallier. While the "Teenage Opera" and "Sam" singles sound as much like kiddie rock as grand concepts in the making, it's possible that their suite-like construction influenced the Who's Tommy and the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow, both of which are usually referred to as the first full-blown rock concept albums that followed a storyline. In 1996, a mock-up of what the "Teenage Opera" album may have sounded like was built from tracks by Wirtz, West, Tomorrow, and others, and issued on the RPM label.(allmusic.com)

That's just the story until 1997. However, Lost Pets 2 is as far as i know the latest album by Mark Wirtz and it's a really strong one. A lot of different kind of pop songs and not one weak track in my opinion. I got my copy today around two hours ago and ripped it immediately. And it was only the second time i heard the album. I had it only heard once before by a friend. Believe me it's a real strong album by Mark Wirtz. Beatlesque melodies, Bubblegum, psychedelic things and always this particular sixties feel that i always hear in his music. To me this man is in a row with Brian Wilson, George Martin, Phil Spector of the great pop producers. As entire album this is the best work he have delivered in the last 30 years. In parts there is only ''The Fantastic Story Of Mark Wirtz...from year 2001 on this level.

Enjoy it
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The Rationals - Think Rational - I added the new mp3 links in the post.

Hello folks, the corrected mp3 links are also now added to The Rationals - Think Rational post.
Sorry for the inconvenience

Kind regards
                    Frank

July - July 1968 + Four Bonus Tracks (2008 Rev-Ola Remaster ) Flac & mp3

July has come to be highly prized, mainly for the presence of "My Clown," which is considered to be one of the great psychedelic singles of all time. Tom Newman, who went on to glory as the engineer of choice for Mike Oldfield, handles the vocals for the majority of the album (the exception being Chris Jackson's "Crying Is for Writers"), as well as the majority of the songwriting. Tony Duhig, who later moved on to start Jade Warrior and Assagai, provides guitars and a strong sense of Indian music, although the greater part of his participation is via warbling and groaning guitars, and a fortunately blazing solo in the midst of the otherwise painful "Crying Is for Writers."

Very good psychedelia, for the most part, but a bit dated in places and heavily influenced by much of the music coming from the direction of San Francisco at that time. The first six cuts are perhaps the most essential, going by the original vinyl release: "My Clown" and "Dandelion Seeds" are delightful, while "Jolly Mary" is simply good fun.

[Originally released in 1968, July was reissued on an import-only Japanese CD in 2005. The 2008 CD reissue on Rev-Ola adds four bonus tracks, including the non-LP 1968 single "Hello, Who's There?" and the 45 versions of three songs from the album, "My Clown," "Dandelion Seeds," and "The Way." It also has lengthy historical liner notes from British psychedelia expert David Wells.]

I got this Rev-Ola release some days ago and i thought it could be a good idea to post it here, also because the four bonus tracks and Rev-Ola had done a great job here again. Very nice artwork with great liner notes. To talk about this fantastic popsike album is ''wie Eulen nach Athen tragen''. (it's a german figure of speech and means in this case and sense 'to talk about something what everybody anyway knows') I love the album since my first listen. For all the people here that never heard it i highly recommend it.

Have fun
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Evan Dando - Baby I'm Bored 2003 Flac & mp3

After the Lemonheads' Car Button Cloth, Evan Dando disbanded the group and took a long, long break, sobering up and marrying, slowly resurfacing after over five years of inactivity. First, he played some gigs, commemorated on the U.K.-only live album Live at the Brattle Theatre, before he finally released his first official solo album, Baby I'm Bored, in the spring of 2003, a full seven years after the last Lemonheads album. It's unmistakably a Dando album -- lots of low-key, three-chord songs, sung in his achingly lovely voice, and lasting not a second more than need be -- not much different than a Lemonheads album, apart from the lack of fast songs, loud electric guitars, and a general sense of maturity that permeates the album.

So, there are no surprises, but that's a comfort, really, because Dando sounds comfortable and relaxed, lending Baby I'm Bored a cohesion unheard on his records since It's a Shame About Ray. While the schizophrenia, marked by unexpected noise detours, aren't missed, this cohesion does mean that he doesn't hit dazzling heights, so there isn't anything as immediately indelible as "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You" or even "The Outdoor Life." That said, there is something to be said for consistency.

Even if it seems unassuming and underwhelming upon its first listen, Baby I'm Bored with each spin reveals the uniform strength of the songs and the sweet, understated charms of Dando as a performer, since he makes the covers -- several of which are written by Ben Lee -- sound of piece with his own work. Make no mistake, this is a laid-back affair and it's a grower, which may lead some listeners to dismiss it out of hand, but anybody that has longed for Dando to finally return to music will surely find much to enjoy here.(allmusic.com)

Evan Dando and his music was and is always loved by me. He can write songs with all what a pop song need. His distinctive kind to emphasize the words in his songs and only put things in the songs who are needed makes a lot of his magic that works to me. This album catched me immediately as i heard it the first time. 5 big stars out of 6. This year a deluxe reissue will be released with 24 songs on the 2nd of june 2017. All infos and where you can buy (and get the best price) here.
If you like what you hear from Evan please support the artist.

Enjoy it
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The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Volume Two: Break Through 1967 (Sundazed 2001) Flac & mp3

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, no strangers to weirdness on their prior 1967 album Part One, had still often stuck to relatively straightforward, concise, and pop-flavored songs on that LP. Here they stretched out into less structured, more avowedly psychedelic (and indeed experimental) territory, with mixed results. "Smell of Incense" (covered for a small hit by Southwest FOB) was sublime psych-pop.

Yet "Suppose They Give a War and No One Comes" was just some fool -- actually the band's chief investor, lyricist, and tambourine player, Bob Markley -- grafting silly, self-consciously freaky recitation of a vintage 1936 Franklin Roosevelt speech onto an ominous fuzz guitar backup. Other cuts like "In the Arena" and "Overture -- WCPAEB Part II" were free-form psychedelic creepiness without the strong content of, say, likely influence Frank Zappa. Yet some of the strangest efforts exert their own strange charm, like "Buddha," with its unfathomable delineation of a garden of delights set against chimes, tinkles, and gongs. Interspersed with all this was some generic country-folk-rock (although the wavering backup bagpipes on "Delicate Fawn" give even that a weird sheen), fair harmony soft rock ("Queen Nymphet"), and unhinged garage-psych-fuzz madness.

There's half a decent (if screwy) psychedelic album here, and half incoherence, particularly when so many disparate tracks and styles are slung against each other. The CD reissue on Sundazed adds mono single mixes of "Smell of Incense" and "Unfree Child."(allmusic.com)

As i promised here comes more by TWCPAEB. Attention: This is Volume 2 not Part Two. I note this because the band have both used for different albums in their career. Okay Folks, more albums of the band will follow.

Enjoy
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