The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)

journolud said:
  • The Magical Record of Blue Orchids



    I suppose I became a fan of the Fall a bit by chance. Although it’s possible I’d have found my way there anyway once they started releasing records and getting favourable reviews in Sounds and the NME. As it was though I saw them before they had a record out when I happened, and it’s a bit of a mystery how or why, to see them at the Deeply Vale free festival in 1978, playing second fiddle to Durutti Column



    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deeply_Vale_Festivals



    I was hooked the moment I heard them and saw them in some odd venues and of course bought everything they released as soon as it came out. A big part of the Fall’s early sound was the scratchy guitar of Martin Bramah. We all know about the Fall’s turnover and it wasn’t long before Bramah was out of the band and forming his own group, the Blue Orchids.



    The Blue Orchids didn’t disappoint and were responsible for one of my favourite songs ever, their second single Work. This is your bonus track…







    It has to be said Bramah attended the same school of singing as Mark E Smith although to be fair was marginally better.





    Times and tastes change, my interest in the Fall became less intense, the Blue Orchids split up (several times reading the history now) and in the days before the internet if you weren’t taking the weekly music papers, which by that time I probably wasn’t then it was pretty difficult to keep up with things.



    Work and some of the other early Blue Orchids tracks have always remained on my playlists and I have the compilation A Darker Bloom that covers their first few incarnations (up to at a reasonable guess 1995, released in 2002)



    The current iteration of the Blue Orchids have been around since around 2016, with the inevitable line up changes, and have been pretty prolific releasing a number of inconsistent but occasionally brilliant albums.



    In 2019, between albums, they released The Magical Record of Blue Orchids, a “covers concept album” featuring nine covers of obscure “Psych Garage” songs and one original which consisted of lyrics by Mark E Smith that had been scribbled in a notebook lent to him by Bramah. Bramah adds the music.



    You won’t find many reviews of the Blue Orchids online, I could find only one for this album and the reviewer, a big Orchids fan concluded that it was “infuriatingly… the best thing they’ve ever released”. Album wise I have to agree.



    Most of the tracks covered are by obscure 60s bands who may only have released one or two singles in their time although the opener and closer are from more contemporary bands the Growlers (I went off at a tangent listening to and reading about these. Great band, shame about the sex scandal that seems to have led to their demise) and the Crystal Stilts.



    I’ve not listened to all the original tracks that are covered here, I’ve not even checked to see if they are still currently available. I have listened to the originals of the Growlers “Pavement and the Boot” and the Crystal Stilts “Love is a Wave” and have to say the Orchids knock spots off both with their versions.





    The track list

  • Pavement and the Boot- The Growlers 2018
  • I’m a Living Sickness- The Calico Wall 1967
  • Meditation- The Cave Dwellers. 1968
  • Don’t Sell Your Mind- The Penny Saints 1967
  • Addicted to the Day- The Blue Orchids (words by ME Smith)
  • I’m Higher Than I’m Down- The Aardvarks 1966
  • Painted Air- The Remaining Few 1967
  • Optical Sound- The Human Expression 1967
  • The Third Eye-the Dovers 1966
  • Love is a Wave- The Crytsal Stilts 2009





I mentioned it was a covers concept album. So what is the concept besides getting together a collection of obscure psych garage tracks. Something to do with drugs no doubt and to be fair other methods of mind expanding frippery but I’ll let Bramah explain:



The album is- “A respectful nod to the American bands that we love but given a very English interpretation and perspective. It has polished up to be a most remarkable ensemble of songs, sounding both retro/modern and classy but with a vibe all its own..”



And “On this album we use other people’s words to tell a story not originally intended by the various writers. We weave a thread of our own intent through these disparate fragments binding them in a commonality of purpose to coax into coalescence a conception. This is the telling of a Faustian story as old as the soul of Man but told in the exalted language of psych/garage rock. This may in fact be the first covers concept album.”



I don’t know about all that, Bramah is fond of literary and classic allusions on the Blue Orchids albums. I do know this album of covers is a blast. I’ve checked and as far as I know this should be available on streaming services in America.



The Blue Orchids play Night&Day on 23rd September. Last time out they were superb. See you there!
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is there any tracks from here they released or is the most popular

also what are your top 3 off here ?
 
I'm getting early B-Movie.

Not really sure how to handle this album. It's very samey for a lot of it, the Hammond organ is a nice touch, but the blokes voice begins to grate after a few songs. It's not bad but nothing jumped out and grabbed me. I won't be buying it.

5/10
 
No idea what to make of this record.
Loved...Pavement and the boot...I'm a living sickness...Addicted to the day...The third eye.
The rest not so.
Love the easy guitar rifts and the Hammond organ but the slower records i found boring.The vocalist was not strong enough in these records.I have been trying to think who the vocalist reminds me of but to no avail.
I can hear the Mighty Lemon Drops in some of the 4 songs above.
Still i will investigate the Blue Orchids more especially their earlier stuff. 6/10.
 
journolud said:
Don’t think there were any singles from it. My top 3 would be Pavement and the Boot, I’m a Living Sickness and Addicted to the Day. These things are all subjective though
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Funnily enough, those 3 were my stand out tracks from this album too. Quite partial to the organ and guitar combination. I wasn't overly keen on his voice but didn't find it off-putting either.

Overall I quite enjoyed the album. Not something that I'd buy or even choose to listen to as a complete album but there were some strong tracks that I have added to one of my playlists and I look forward to hearing them again.

Not a band that I had heard of before so it was a good choice for me.

7/10.
 
not surprisingly it has a very sixties feel, as others have said quite a number of tracks are very ’Doorsy’.Unfortunately the lead singer doesn’t have Jim Morrison’s voice. I liked a few of the tracks but not enough to make it warrant more than a 5.
 
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