ewe2
21-02-2006, 03:37 AM
Brainiacs Daughter
Made me a suit of bricks and mortar
And a matching stove pipe hat, oh yes
Brainiacs Daughter
Took me on a sleigh ride underwater
And I'm crazy for girls like that
Oh yes Sir, yes Sir
Three bags full Sir -- Braniac's Daughter
The Dukes of Stratosphear were no ordinary band: this compliation of two albums 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot display a range and command of '60s psychadelia almost unheard of. There are many influences here, not least the Electric Prunes, Beach Boys, Beatles, Yardbirds among others. The rather oddly-named Sir John Johns and someone calling themselves the Red Curtain appear to be mostly responsible for the compositions, ably assisted by E.I.E.I. Owen and Lord Cornelius Plum. Noone knows where they came from or where they disappeared to...
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/8/8/3/2/articles_25oclock_thumb.jpgOk, so the Dukes aren't exactly real. They were in fact pseudonyms for the remarkable XTC who decided to get some of their psychadelia out in 1985 for 25 O'Clock, and were surprised by the enthusiastic response into making Psonic Psunspot in 1987. Given that Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons were released after Dukes albums it is no stretch to say the Dukes were a formative influence on mid-period XTC. The major difference between the two albums was the range of applicable psychadelic trickery; from the 7th song on is Psonic Psunspot territory and is more poppy than the first 6, the most dense work.
But forget about influences and XTC, this album is funny with the emphasis on fun! Frequently silly (Bike Ride To The Moon), lushly ambient (Little Lighthouse) and demented (My Love Explodes), the songs are amazingly catchy as they are painstaking homages: you will find yourself helplessly singing along to the Lennon & MacCarnety pastiches of Collideascope (Andy Partridge does the scariest Lennon impersonation ever) and Brainiac's Daughter; rock out West Coast style to You're My Drug, and space out to the gorgeous head trips of What In The World and The Mole from the Ministry, for which headphones are required to get the full trippy effect. Vanishing Girl is perfect pop, Pale and Precious simply heavenly, and even the more obscure ones like Have You Seen Jackie and Shiny Cage have their aural gems.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/8/8/3/2/PsonicPsunspot_thumb.jpgOther fun can be had from the odd snippets here and there between songs: at the end of My Love Explodes can be heard an excerpt from the side-splitting Go Fuck Yourself With An Atom Bomb (http://xtc4u.org/drunken/tuli.mp3) by the decidedly odd Tuli Kupferberg; the beginning of The Aflliated snatches part of the BBC announcement of the D-Day invasion (it can be heard at the BBC's new sound archives), and all the way through the Psonic Psunspot songs winds a latterday Alice in Wonderland and her adventures with some great drugs.
So, spot the influence, or just groove out to outstanding pop goodies, it's up to you. Don't pass this one by, if you have any passing regard for acid-drenched pop or even just the slightly weird Britishness of it all. The only real down side of Fireball is that it lacks the wonderful artwork of the albums. Ohhhh shiny cage....
Made me a suit of bricks and mortar
And a matching stove pipe hat, oh yes
Brainiacs Daughter
Took me on a sleigh ride underwater
And I'm crazy for girls like that
Oh yes Sir, yes Sir
Three bags full Sir -- Braniac's Daughter
The Dukes of Stratosphear were no ordinary band: this compliation of two albums 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot display a range and command of '60s psychadelia almost unheard of. There are many influences here, not least the Electric Prunes, Beach Boys, Beatles, Yardbirds among others. The rather oddly-named Sir John Johns and someone calling themselves the Red Curtain appear to be mostly responsible for the compositions, ably assisted by E.I.E.I. Owen and Lord Cornelius Plum. Noone knows where they came from or where they disappeared to...
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/8/8/3/2/articles_25oclock_thumb.jpgOk, so the Dukes aren't exactly real. They were in fact pseudonyms for the remarkable XTC who decided to get some of their psychadelia out in 1985 for 25 O'Clock, and were surprised by the enthusiastic response into making Psonic Psunspot in 1987. Given that Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons were released after Dukes albums it is no stretch to say the Dukes were a formative influence on mid-period XTC. The major difference between the two albums was the range of applicable psychadelic trickery; from the 7th song on is Psonic Psunspot territory and is more poppy than the first 6, the most dense work.
But forget about influences and XTC, this album is funny with the emphasis on fun! Frequently silly (Bike Ride To The Moon), lushly ambient (Little Lighthouse) and demented (My Love Explodes), the songs are amazingly catchy as they are painstaking homages: you will find yourself helplessly singing along to the Lennon & MacCarnety pastiches of Collideascope (Andy Partridge does the scariest Lennon impersonation ever) and Brainiac's Daughter; rock out West Coast style to You're My Drug, and space out to the gorgeous head trips of What In The World and The Mole from the Ministry, for which headphones are required to get the full trippy effect. Vanishing Girl is perfect pop, Pale and Precious simply heavenly, and even the more obscure ones like Have You Seen Jackie and Shiny Cage have their aural gems.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/8/8/3/2/PsonicPsunspot_thumb.jpgOther fun can be had from the odd snippets here and there between songs: at the end of My Love Explodes can be heard an excerpt from the side-splitting Go Fuck Yourself With An Atom Bomb (http://xtc4u.org/drunken/tuli.mp3) by the decidedly odd Tuli Kupferberg; the beginning of The Aflliated snatches part of the BBC announcement of the D-Day invasion (it can be heard at the BBC's new sound archives), and all the way through the Psonic Psunspot songs winds a latterday Alice in Wonderland and her adventures with some great drugs.
So, spot the influence, or just groove out to outstanding pop goodies, it's up to you. Don't pass this one by, if you have any passing regard for acid-drenched pop or even just the slightly weird Britishness of it all. The only real down side of Fireball is that it lacks the wonderful artwork of the albums. Ohhhh shiny cage....