HR117 - Various Artists - England/United Kingdom- C60 — 1989
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
The next in the Harsh Reality ‘Country’ series is artists from England/United Kingdom. Harsh Reality label captain Chris Phinney embarked on a postcard call-to-participate campaign and for this compilation received contributions from English bands plus one from Scotland.
I’ve been a Webcore fan for years and was pleased to see two songs from them. They were headed up by Paul Chousmer, who was also involved in other UK psychedelic/Free Fest bands like Another Green World, Thunderdogs, and Spannerman. ‘Prayer For Clarity’ is a tribally grooving, psychedelically spellbinding, electronically gyrating tune. And ‘So Be It’ is an energetically rocking slab of hypnotic rave party psych.
Factor X was the solo project of Shaun Robert. He contributes two tracks, both untitled. The first consists of rickety dance floor electronica with cut-up experimental bits. And the second descends even further into totally drugged, tape dragging collage fun.
Osiris are a bit different. ‘Starlight Scorpio’ is a searing space-goth rocker with spiraling oscillations, menacing guitar, and pleasantly contrasting female vocals. And ‘Dragon Slayer’ is a more straightforward prog fantasy infused rock song.
Discogs.com identifies Peace & Freedom as a quartet that included Andi Xport, a prolific rocker, singer-songwriter and networker who I was a big fan of. Their ‘Flying Minds’ is a like an LSD dosed children’s song, with strange vocals, oddly intricate music, and a gentle sense of drift.
Scotland’s premier 1980s space rock band Sponge weigh in with two songs. ‘Inside Down’ is a lo-fi space-punk-jazz rocker. And ‘Felt The Fish’ is a molten slab of space rock that sounds like a darkly threatening blend of Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles.
Michael Sefton offers up one untitled track that sounds like Throbbing Gristle at their most rhythmic, consisting of clanging groove laden intensity that dovetails with sonic animal howls, spoken word, and sputtering effects.
Schuster is a solo project of Tim Bayes, whose Assumption cassette album was released just a few catalog entries prior to this compilation (HR111). His ‘Kahunas’ is similar to the sounds on that album, being a rumbling space-noise, soundscapes, effects, and sound collage excursion.
Finally, Smell & Quim’s one entry is humorously titled ‘Shaft Of A Goad/Lurve’. It’s a cut-up collage of voices, some deranged and other downright goofy, ear piercing squalls, robot rhythms, and more. My favorite parts are the dancey segments where a voice repeats, “Luuuuv… Bullshit…. Luuuuv… Bullshit”.
The next in the Harsh Reality ‘Country’ series is artists from England/United Kingdom. Harsh Reality label captain Chris Phinney embarked on a postcard call-to-participate campaign and for this compilation received contributions from English bands plus one from Scotland.
I’ve been a Webcore fan for years and was pleased to see two songs from them. They were headed up by Paul Chousmer, who was also involved in other UK psychedelic/Free Fest bands like Another Green World, Thunderdogs, and Spannerman. ‘Prayer For Clarity’ is a tribally grooving, psychedelically spellbinding, electronically gyrating tune. And ‘So Be It’ is an energetically rocking slab of hypnotic rave party psych.
Factor X was the solo project of Shaun Robert. He contributes two tracks, both untitled. The first consists of rickety dance floor electronica with cut-up experimental bits. And the second descends even further into totally drugged, tape dragging collage fun.
Osiris are a bit different. ‘Starlight Scorpio’ is a searing space-goth rocker with spiraling oscillations, menacing guitar, and pleasantly contrasting female vocals. And ‘Dragon Slayer’ is a more straightforward prog fantasy infused rock song.
Discogs.com identifies Peace & Freedom as a quartet that included Andi Xport, a prolific rocker, singer-songwriter and networker who I was a big fan of. Their ‘Flying Minds’ is a like an LSD dosed children’s song, with strange vocals, oddly intricate music, and a gentle sense of drift.
Scotland’s premier 1980s space rock band Sponge weigh in with two songs. ‘Inside Down’ is a lo-fi space-punk-jazz rocker. And ‘Felt The Fish’ is a molten slab of space rock that sounds like a darkly threatening blend of Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles.
Michael Sefton offers up one untitled track that sounds like Throbbing Gristle at their most rhythmic, consisting of clanging groove laden intensity that dovetails with sonic animal howls, spoken word, and sputtering effects.
Schuster is a solo project of Tim Bayes, whose Assumption cassette album was released just a few catalog entries prior to this compilation (HR111). His ‘Kahunas’ is similar to the sounds on that album, being a rumbling space-noise, soundscapes, effects, and sound collage excursion.
Finally, Smell & Quim’s one entry is humorously titled ‘Shaft Of A Goad/Lurve’. It’s a cut-up collage of voices, some deranged and other downright goofy, ear piercing squalls, robot rhythms, and more. My favorite parts are the dancey segments where a voice repeats, “Luuuuv… Bullshit…. Luuuuv… Bullshit”.