Some people consider these guys to be the precursor to much of the electronic music made in the 70's and 80's, but I always saw them as mostly a psychedelic act. They did use some of the early synthesizers on a few tracks though, like "Machines."
Looks like they found the process of artistic creation a deeply joyous experience.
Well, that was the Sixties. It wasn't really about the art, it was more about trying to get in as much drugs and sex as possible before you got drafted.
They did use some of the early synthesizers on a few tracks though, like "Machines."
"Machines"! I love that song! I always thought it was a 'Plan 9' song. The only version I ever heard previous to your post was from the 'Plan 9' album "Keep Your Cool and Read the Rules" (title track). That's some pretty good psychedelic pop right there. I'm gonna have to pull that CD out of the rack and set it aside and wind it up tomorrow.
Thanks so much for posting that.... now I gotta track down that album to add to my collection.
There is so much better stuff available now! I developed into this music from The Beatles, Rolling Stones etc, whist at the same time getting into the blues, West Coast, Soul and Stax etc. In those days music was much less pigeon-holed and you'd enjoy and listen to all styles. Listening to the album above actually reminded me IMO how bad some of the music of this era could be. Some tracks just go on and on, but others are much better - there was much less consistency of quality. The sound quality on the above double CD is so poor. From a British perspective start with someone like Yes
Electric Banana was a pseudonymous 1967 album of The Pretty Things. The band recorded this album and two subsequent ones for the De Wolfe Music Library. De Wolfe provided stock music for film soundtracks. The Electric Banana music wound up on various horror and soft-porn films of the late 1960s, such as What's Good for the Goose (1969). When the album was released, the stage name The Electric Banana was used to hide the band's identity. Wiki
- An album that in moments matches the brilliance of S.F. Sorrow.
No sophomore jinx here: on their second album, Gracious truly hits its stride. The first half of the album is a four-part suite, "Super Nova." After its Floydian opening instrumental, the band launches into the bleak "Blood Red Sun"; with a dystopic narrative of environmental holocaust and its martial drumbeat, it's an ideal complement to King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." Strange, then, that this should lead to "Say Goodbye to Love," an effectively weepy guitar ballad of lost romance and tear-jerking harmonies. It's on the second half of the album, though, that Gracious hits escape velocity. On "C.B.S." the band shifts effortlessly from a groovy clavinet jam to a bouncing barrelhouse piano in the verse. "Blue Skies and Alibis" is a prime example of Martin Kitcat's Mellotron technique; powered along by Cowderoy's graceful guitar, smoky vocals, and a lush piano progression worthy of Joe Jackson, it's one of their most enduring tracks. A truly undervalued gem, This Is... Gracious! sat on the shelves for two years after completion before being issued; it's a shame that it was to be last anyone heard from the band for the next two decades.
-Allmusic.
@Brighternow - sorry to take so long to reply to your query over 2 weeks ago - I haven't looked at this thread lately. Yes it is the same Nice. I really liked them at the time, but I think my tastes have moved on a bit since. The CD above was live recordings, many from the BBC. The sound quality was poor, almost as though someone had recorded onto a cassette off the radio or at gigs, although historically it is a superb collection of many of their better known works. Forty years on, IMO, there is much better music to listen to now. Groups, as we then called them, like Nice were quite self indulgent in their playing, probably high on something. But certainly this is of value as a historical item, documenting the music many of us were listening to and enjoying at that time. I'm planning to see if I can access any of their studio work easily to check whether my memory has been distorted by the poor quality of this recording
@ Greg,
I'm not sure that I agree with you that there's much better music now than 30-40 years ago. many of the "groups" I've posted here has the same value to me now as they had way back when. The Nice is certainly one of them, - and Country Joe, Steve Miller, Quicksilver M.S., Jefferson Airplane, Pretty Things and many more, are others.
- This is why I enjoy posting here.
- However, the vararity of genres, the number of brilliant and inspired artists/composers. . . Well, what can I say ? - has never been better.
- And the possibilities for music distribution . . . Phiew ! - Is breathtaking. - And here we are sitting right in the middle of of it, "The Music Land of Milk and Honey". . . Jay ! ! !
@brighternow - I'm not suggesting that there wasn't good music 40 years ago. I still play a lot of stuff from that era. My point is that there is more quality music, recorded to a high standard available now. You just need to look at the range we play on emusers. And it is so much easier to access this music now than it was when I was a teenager in the 1960s.
And it is so much easier to access this music now than it was when I was a teenager in the 1960s.
Let me say that it is easier now then when I was a teenager in the 80's and a 20 something in the 90's. At least for me, over the past 15 years the Internet has made so much more possible that it boggles my mind when I sit back and think about it.
Totally agree elwoodicious, along with the fact that with my ipod I can carry an enormous amount of music around with me to choose at will. I just wonder what it will be like when my granddaughters are my age!
I actually think it's noticeably easier for me now than 5 years ago. Hard to remember some days how new a lot of the current services are. It's only about a decade since the size of the hard drive on my main home computer was about a fiftieth of the size of my current MP3 collection, and my internet connection was too slow to realistically stream music.
[Edit]Oh dear. Now that I read that it looks like an "I can go one better" turn in one of those escalation conversations. All I really meant to convey is my wonder when I actually think about how much what I do now I couldn't do as well in the very, very recent past.
Came across this in my perusals - have not had time to investigate, and though I am deeply suspicious, similar to finding a burning brown paper bag on my doorstep, it is only $4.40 for 232 minutes - link - so I figured I'd hurl it at the wall.
Comments
Denmark - 1976
Rejsen Hjem pt. 1 - Rejsen Hjem pt. 2
Denmark - 1969
Thanks so much for posting that.... now I gotta track down that album to add to my collection.
to me it's just badly done garage rock without the kind of character or vibe that makes the Back To Peru or Roots of Chicha series so cool.
Youtube
Borrowed this from my local library today, As the sleeve notes point out, The Nice were part of the end of pyschodelia and the start of prog rock
AFAIK nothing else of interest came from this group of musicians, but this record was and still is a masterpiece.
- An album that in moments matches the brilliance of S.F. Sorrow.
- Maybe not so psychedellic, but a damn good song. . .
Blue Skies and Alibis
I'm not sure that I agree with you that there's much better music now than 30-40 years ago. many of the "groups" I've posted here has the same value to me now as they had way back when. The Nice is certainly one of them, - and Country Joe, Steve Miller, Quicksilver M.S., Jefferson Airplane, Pretty Things and many more, are others.
- This is why I enjoy posting here.
- However, the vararity of genres, the number of brilliant and inspired artists/composers. . . Well, what can I say ? - has never been better.
- And the possibilities for music distribution . . . Phiew ! - Is breathtaking. - And here we are sitting right in the middle of of it, "The Music Land of Milk and Honey". . . Jay ! ! !
Back to Nostalgia:
[Edit]Oh dear. Now that I read that it looks like an "I can go one better" turn in one of those escalation conversations. All I really meant to convey is my wonder when I actually think about how much what I do now I couldn't do as well in the very, very recent past.