Customer Reviews

Real Life Permanent Dreams: Cornucopia of British

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm somewhat proud (and embarrassed :)) to have amassed almost 100 compilations on British beat/freakbeat/pop/sike/popsike, alone. These prized discs represent years of feckless and self-indulgent preoccupation (as it undoubtedly appears to the wife) in hunting down these imported hen's teeth which seem to go out of print as fast as they are released. So...to actually find something new that doesn't cover the same soggy, trodden ground and/or presents a fresh perspective with new tracks and artists is a rare and welcome discovery. This collection seems to do that very thing. Yes, it has a few familiar faces and some big names sprinkled in, but they are generally overlooked album cuts or b-sides that lend credence to the period and flow of ideas being passed around musically, like a joint. Not everyone who will buy this box set may be as sophisticated as some of us "chronically obsessive types", but they should enjoy this interesting assemblage on listen-ability alone. On the surface it is reminiscent (albeit much less obvious) of The British Nuggets II box and is divided onto four discs, "Sowing The Seeds", "Plant A Flower Today", Happydaystoytown" and Circus Days Are Here Again" which dance almost chronologically up through the years '65-'70. It comes with a nice glossy booklet that follows track for track, giving one some sense of history, the players and their trajectories. A worthy addition from one of the only big name labels, Castle/Sanctuary, who seem to think it important to continue to invest energy and pounds in this historical genre.

The 99 tracks on Real Life Permanent Dreams run the range from Pop to Freakbeat to early Prog. Some are from famous artists (The Kinks, Donovan, Jethro Tull). But, most are obscure although a few appear on similar compilations like Mojo's Acid Drops, Nuggets II and Paisley Pop.

There are a few covers here as well. The Fleur De Lys' Circles is very close to The Who's original. Julie Driscoll's Season Of The Witch is a little different than Donovan's. The covers show how these bands influenced and were influenced by each other.

If you can't get enough authentic sixties Popsike, this set's for you.

[DW]

A lot of this is music I wouldn't be caught straight listening to when it was new. Now however it has an enormous amount of entertainment value to myself. The songs tend towards the commercial & Tenny-Bopper side of the chart; as opposed say to the Velvet Underground, Doors, Midnight Rambler side of the 60's.

This means the style is more groomed & packaged. Few of these tunes actually charted in the States (Pictures of Matchstick Men is a representative example of those that did Hit). There's a great deal of variety to my ears, though some may think the same list represents too narrow a groove. I'm happily enchanted with all these hard-to-find tracks; there's a Arthur Brown version of "Fire' w/o the horns (WOW).

I find I now enjoy the fluffy, over-cheerful. plastic representation of the 60's presented here. This is music of outsiders peering into the scary belly of the Psychedelic Underground & pronouncing that all is beautiful in Love Land. There is a sprinkling of more popular acts who were real insiders in the music scene; Jethro Tull & Donavon for instance.

The freedom of the 60's is what the world needs most today & will not likely experience en masse any time soon. Too bad for the brain-locked slaves in their material poverty.

I don't find any especially poor tracks on casual or closer listening. The sound quality is more then acceptable to my finicky ears, I'm not expecting Sheffield Demonstration Disc sonics out of these tracks, but nothing here is sonically offensive. The booklet is a pure wonder w. a paragraph or 2 + Picture on every single track. If you like this depends on your enjoyment of archival Rock & Pop. Personally I'm really happy I didn't overlook this collection.

GROOVEEEY!

Shelling out big bucks for a psych comp is a risky move. I don't particularly object to the song collection or packaging (although there is more duplication than I would like) but the sound quality on the my CD's is horrible in my opinion. Virtually nothing is remastered that I can tell and everything is low and scratchy and there's reverb everywhere. In fact, I don't look forward to listening to this collection at all. If I got a bad batch of discs please let me know but based upon what I received, my cash would have been better spent elsewhere. The new "Insane Times" comp, while containing one fourth of the tracks, is far more enjoyable.