Bevis Frond - Bevis Through The Looking Glass 1987
The Bevis Frond is an English rock band formed in 1986 in Walthamstow, London, England. The band is fronted by Nick Saloman and has recorded many singles and albums on various independent labels.
Saloman was originally in a band known as the Bevis Frond Museum in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s, whilst at college, he played guitar with a duo called Oddsocks. They released one album, Men of the Moment. In 1979 he formed a band called the Von Trap Family, who released the first single on his own Woronzow Records label. The early Von Trap Family recordings, comprising three sessions, were released on the Bevis Frond Bandcamp site for the first time in May 2010.
The next release on Woronzow was in 1982, a 12" single by Room 13 with Saloman on guitar and future Bevis Frond drummer Martin Crowley. After Room 13 reached the end of its natural life, Nick Saloman had a bad motorbike accident that left him with a constriction of movement in his left arm. True to form, he had the arm set so that he could continue playing guitar. With the proceeds from a damages claim he bought a 4 track recorder and recorded some music which he decided to press as a limited release of 250 albums, more for the sake of just releasing an album than anything else.
He was very surprised when Funhouse records in Kent phoned him up and asked for a couple of hundred copies as they had been selling the album quite briskly. Saloman's desire was to "record the kind of music I'd like to listen to… I wanted a Hendrix/Wipers/Byrds sound but with a distinctly British feel.
" Subsequent albums were also recorded in a home studio and released on Woronzow until 1988, when he signed a deal with Reckless Records for the UK and USA. All the early albums were finally re-released on CD and Reckless financed the recording and release of his sixth album, Any Gas Faster, using a professional studio for the first time, reuniting him with Drummer Martin Crowley. This is also the point that he began touring. Another 1990 album, Magic Eye, was a collaboration with Twink of the Pink Fairies.
In 1990, he returned to the studio to record his next album, New River Head, which featured guest musicians including Barry Dransfield and David Tibet. The next year he recorded London Stone, but Reckless were less than happy with the album, and in the ensuing friction, Saloman decided to release the album on Woronzow again. All his subsequent albums have appeared on Woronzow.
[ AllMusic Review by Stewart Mason
Although the Bevis Frond only appeared on disc with 1987's Miasma, Nick Saloman had in fact been a struggling musician for a good two decades before that breakthrough. (Indeed, the final track here, the paisley pop "Alistair Jones," was recorded in 1967, when Saloman was all of 14 years old.)
Originally released in a signed limited-edition record of 500 copies, then reissued as a double-LP set on Reckless (with all of the tracks eventually showing up as filler on Reckless' CD releases of the Bevis Frond's first several albums), Bevis Through the Looking Glass is a strictly historical collection of tracks that are primarily for the complete Bevis Frond devotee.
Surely the average listener will find the 14-minute noodlefest "1970 Home Improvements" a tiresome slog, much less the side-long murk of "The Shrine." The more concise tracks on disc two are much better, with "Rat in a Waistcoat" being among Saloman's most biting early pop songs.
Notes
Originally released 1987 as a limited edition of 500 double-LP's with home-made sleeves, then in 1988 as another limited edition of double-LP's.
This is the first CD release, which includes new liner notes by Saloman and a reprinting of his spoof record-collecting catalog that came with the original release.
The Bevis Frond – Bevis Through The Looking Glass
Label: Rubric Records – RUB 21
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 2005
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock
Originally released: 1987
TRAXS
01. Intro 0:33
02. 1970 Home Improvements 13:50
03. Now You Know 3:14
04. The Shrine 19:39
05. Rat In A Waistcoat 5:22
06. In Another Year 2:40
07. Express Man 2:17
08. Mudman 5:23
09. Song For The Sky 3:35
10. Purtle Sline 8:16
11. I Can't Get Into Your Scene 3:20
12. Soot 3:19
13. Die Is Cast 3:04
Bevis Frond: Triptych 1988
The Bevis Frond's third album -- like the previous two, essentially a solo affair -- finds Nick Saloman again exploring things his way, recording what he likes how he darn well likes it. The recording quality is audibly cleaner even only two official albums on from his debut with Miasma, but he loses nothing of his own individual approach to making the music.
Some of his brightest, best hooks appear here -- it's no stretch to say that Roger McGuinn and company could have happily placed their own stamp on "Lights Are Changing," and Saloman delivers both music and lyrics with a warm, delightful air. Other comparatively calm but no less fascinating cuts include "Old Man Blank" and the (self-)conversational descending chime of "Hurt Goes On.
" The opening "Into the Cryptic Mist" is actually one of his most interesting, individual pieces, with a lovely central guitar part at the core, changing slightly as it goes while he adds everything from extra electric filigrees to keyboard solos over it. It's a good demonstration of his skills when not at full overdrive, though he does conclude the piece with one of his more expected nuclear-strength workouts.
The second side, meanwhile, contains one of his monsters -- "Tangerine Infringement Beak," a nearly 20-minute-long number. A multi-part song that covers everything from expected full Frond fun to way cool keyboard solos over minimal grooves and back to chiming bells along with the feedback and more, it's a worthy treat.
There's one delightful diversion early on -- "Debbie's New Song for Drums," which consists of the young person mentioned in the title having a quick little bash on things. It's a fun, unself-conscious move from someone comfortable in what he does and doesn't worry about always having to seem cool -- a very good sign.]
Personnel
The Bevis Frond is essentially Nick Saloman, who does vocals and plays guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. He is also the producer.The recording and touring band has included at various times:
Adrian Shaw (bass guitar)
Bari Watts (guitar)
Ric Gunther (drums)
Paul Simmons (guitar)
Rod Goodway (guitar, vocals)
Andy Ward (drums)
Jules Fenton (drums)
Martin Crowley (drums)
Debbie Saloman (vocals)
Dave Pearce (drums)
The Bevis Frond – Triptych
Label: Rubric Records – rub 20
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country:US
Released: 2001
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock
Originally released: 1988
TRAXS
01. Into The Cryptic Mist 4:25
02. Debbie's New Song For Drums 0:25
03. Lights Are Changing 4:55
04. Gemini Machine 4:05
05. Phil Exorcises The Daemons 1:40
06. Old Man Blank 3:45
07. The Daily Round 3:05
08. Hurt Goes On 4:25
09. Corinthian 3:13
10. Nowhere Fast 2:41
11. Tangerine Infringement Beak 19:17
12. Hey Joe 1:28
Extra Tracks
13. Time To Change 3:58
14. You're Trying To Get Me High Again 2:55
15. Still Couldn't See Her 2:40
16. The Pilgrim's Way 5:22
17. Through And Through 3:59
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