The Mojo Box Set Presents the Cream of Late 60's UK Psychedelia featuring 72 Tracks Over Four CD'S. There Are Dozens of Rare and Collectable Gems Within this Beautifully Packaged Box. Bands Featured Include the Kinks, the Small Faces and the Who. The 16-page Booklet Includes an In-depth Essay by Jon Savage, Band Biographies and Scores of Rare Photos. Each of the 72 Tracks Has Been Hand Picked by the Team Behind the World's Finest Music Magazine. (The Guardian)
Just when you thought the mine of obscure 60's British psychedlia had been stripped, MOJO magazine's merry music geeks have gleefully assembled one of the best collections of the genre. (No, I don't work for them!) Amazingly, only a relative handful of selections cross over with Rhino's recent and similar "Nuggets II" box--so if you're a hardcore collector, it won't be too over-spendy to scoop up both. Fascinating liner notes in the companion booklet are a nice bonus (you'll be surprised at how many of these no-hit wonders, with hilarious names like Mandrake Paddle Steamer, actually represent the fledgling appearances of later-to-be-famous rock stars.) There are very few "duds" here (I could have done without some of the more silly "novelty" tunes, but that's a subjective quibble, as some might call the whole collection a "novelty"!) Sound quality is as good as you can expect, keeping in mind that 1) you are dealing with 1960's studio technology, and 2) many of these songs are so obscure that the only existing copies are probably on vinyl sources! Wisely, MOJO does mix in some Who, Kinks, Animals, Yardbirds, etc., giving the collection a nice historical balance and context for the more casual music fan. A winner! (Shindig)
Although perhaps a little too similar to volume two of the highly regarded Nuggets series, Acid Drops, Spacedust, & Flying Saucers, compiled by the fine folks at Britain's (in fact, the world's) finest music magazine, Mojo, is the perfect introduction to the rise and fall of British psychedelia. Rather than chart the influence of British music on its surroundings and colonies (as done by Nuggets) Acid Drops takes an easier route. The Nuggets collection focused on all manner and strains of the old empire's R&B, freakbeat, mod, and psychedelic scenes, whilst Acid Drops dissects and inspects the solely British mutation from beat/pop (signified by the Kinks' quasi-raga "See My Friends") into full-blown psychedelia (from the most commercial to most underground of guises). For the hardened collector and avid fanatic, Space Dust will bring few surprises. There's a hefty weight of British hits and a delve through the type of major-label material that missed the mark at the time but has since become legendary through contributor Phil Smee's '80s psychedelic compilation series, Rubbles, that anyone bitten by the bug will be familiar with. What will make purchase of this -- it must be said, rather cheaply packaged box -- essential is the superior sound quality (all tracks have been remastered at Abbey Road) and the interesting liner booklet, which if not a little skimpy, features a superb essay in which Jon Savage chronicles the evolution and devolution of British music's most quirky, imaginative, and brief of genres.
Alongside the short running time (why the hell have EMI held back to only 18 tracks per CD, whilst Rhino made the effort to fill their Nuggets set to spilling point?) and minor quips, like the edited beginning of the Smoke's tremolo-infused classic "My Friend Jack" and the inclusion of the pretty much non-psychedelic "Granny Takes a Trip" by jug band the Purple Gang, this is still a very decent set which takes into account the different sides of U.K. psych. And as said, although rather preliminary for those seeking new thrills, this holds the very essence of the cause and effect the genre had on the changing face of the British music scene from 1965-1969. Practically none of this music has aged badly, and for some reason, however pompous and ridiculous a lot is, it still sounds as invigorating as the day it was recorded. Timeless. (Jon "Mojo" Mills, Allmusic)
INFO: http://www.amazon.com/Mojo-Presents-Psychedelic-Confectionery-Underground/dp/B00005NHHF
trax disc 1:
1. So Much In Love - McGough & McGear 2. 10,000 Words In A Cardboard Box - Aquarian Age 3. Flower Ring of Flies - The Nice 4. Dream On My Mind - Rupert's People 5. Reputation - Shy Limbs 6. Vacuum Cleaner - Tintern Abbey 7. Light Of Your Mind - The David 8. I Can Take You To The Sun - The Misunderstood 9. Dear Delilah - Grapefruit 10. Shine On Brightly - Procol Harum 11. The Fox Has Gone To Ground - Bamboo Shoot 12. Armenia City In The Sky - The Who 13. 10,000 Years Behind My Mind - Focus Three 14. Gone Is The Sad Man - Timebox 15. Peter's Birthday - World Of Oz 16. Subway (Smokey Pokey World) - The Tickle 17. Meditations Felius - Andromeda 18. Nite Is A-Comin' - Warm Sounds
trax disc 2:
1. Flight from Ashiya - Kaleidoscope 2. The Way - July 3. Witches Hat - Incredible String Band 4. Celeste - Donovan 5. Mind's Eye - Rameses & Selket 6. Shades Of Orange - The End 7. Love - Virgin Sleep 8. Pools Of Blue - Barclay James Harvest 9. Monday Morning - Tales Of Justine 10. Girl From New York - Billy Nicholls 11. Red Sky At Night - The Accent 12. Am I The Red One - Mick Softley 13. Laura's Garden - Orange Bicycle 14. Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad - Caleb 15. Magician - Amazing Friendly Apple 16. We Are The Moles, Part 1 - The Moles 17. Michael Angelo - The 23rd Turnoff 18. Screams In The Ears - Bill Fay
trax disc 3:
1. Granny Takes A Trip - Purple Gang 2. My Friend Jack - Smoke 3. Impostors Of Life's Magazine - Idle Race 4. Talkin' About The Good Times - Pretty Things 5. Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan 6. Time Seller - The Spencer Davis Group 7. Say You Don't Mind - Denny Laine 8. I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move 9. See My Friends - The Kinks 10. The L. S. Bumble Bee - Peter Cook & Dudley Moore 11. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago - The Yardbirds 12. Green Circles - The Small Faces 13. King Midas In Reverse - The Hollies 14. The Days Of Pearly Spencer - David McWilliams 15. From The Underworld - The Herd 16. Sky Pilot - Eric Burdon & The Animals 17. Paper Sun - Traffic 18. Kites - Simon Dupree & The Big Sound
trax disc 4:
1. Colour Of My Mind - The Attack 2. Searchin' In The Wilderness - Allen Pound's Get Rich 3. Father's Name Is Dad - Fire 4. Dr. Crippen's Waiting Room - The Orange Machine 5. Model Village - Penny Peeps 6. Run And Hide - The Fairytale 7. Strange Walking Man - Mandrake Paddle Steamer 8. When My Mind Is Not Live - The Status Quo 9. In Your Tower - The Poets 10. Listen To The Sky - The Sands 11. Octopus - Syd Barrett 12. The Other Side - The Apple 13. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone - The Flies 14. Machines - Herbal Mixture 15. Revolution (Phased Version) - Tomorrow 16. You've Got What I Want - The Sorrows 17. Royston Rose - The Koobas 18. Escalator - Sam Gopal
...served by Gyro1966...
... Muck: Technically Muck & The Mires have been around since 2001. That was the year that home demos I titled All Mucked Up - the Best of Muck & The Mires were released in Canada and in Europe as a CD and LP. I'm pretty sure that we are the first band to ever have a greatest hits record out before we even played a note together. - by Brian Mosher
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