The Winter Garden Playtest

Joe Kane is a well kent face and voice from the Glasgow music scene through his work in bands like The Owsley Sunshine, Dr Cosmos Tape Lab and also with Them Beatles.

Kane introduced his new outfit The Radiophonic Tuckshop back in the summer  with an EP of psychedelic pop and he now returns with a 14-track Christmas album titled The Winter Garden Playtest. 

Playful melodies, humorous observational lyrics and upbeat vibes (most of the time) are spread throughout the album. 

The title track is lysergic instrumental that is rather gorgeous. Probably my favourite song on the album - little riffs and melodies collide or are layered quite beautifully. This is one of the most stunning pieces of music I have heard all year. Kane is capable of moments of genius - this is one of them.

The Summer That Never Was is another beauty. Humour is never far away, Secret Santa is rhymed with Gin and Fanta. 

The Guy In The Grotto gets better as it goes on, all about someone taking on a Christmas job and being thoroughly depressed - not only through his job but also losing his love.

Didn't I give you everything?

To throw it all away is such a sin

The imaginative and experimental side of Kane comes through on The Star Factory, it's quite beautiful, I love when he does this kind of thing. 

Quiet genius at work

Kane can create melodies with ease. They are liberally sprinkled across the album when they hit the mark, they really they hit the mark - like on Runaway Rudolph

Rudolph please come home

I didn't mean to make you feel alone

Santa's got a message for you

The subsequent flowing section with kind of choppy vocals is just brilliant. Kane knocks this kind of thing off in his sleep - he is a melodic genius.

Dubious origins has Joe taking the piss out of himself and it also questions the origins of Christmas. Head Frost is another winner - just so playful, imaginative and instantly likeable. 

The Festive Thought that closes proceedings in a kind of Scotch and Wry manner, highlighting that he wrote and recorded the album in 3-weeks and thanking everyone involved - himself! 

The Winter Garden Playtest is the sound of someone having fun creating music, melodies and lyrics. It is daft at times, very observational and it has those special moments that Kane has the talent to find and when he hits the sweet spot he really does hit the sweet spot.

You can stream the album on Spotify, download from iTunes and various other places or order a Ltd CD from Last Night From Glasgow's website.

Introducing - Radiophonic Tuckshop

Do you fancy discovering a band full of melodies, hook, humour, invention and a touch of psychedelia who sometimes record on an old Tascam Cassette Recorder? A band that are still evolving and haven't even played a handful of shows yet but have an EP coming out?

A band who describe themselves on Facebook as wonky pop, looney tunes and merry melodies, all swimming in nutty effects with a rich Beatleish undercurrent, clattering along like Supergrass doing Badfinger by way of an XTC Bond theme, all compressed vocals, ringing and lightly toasted guitars, stop/start riffs and a brilliant rhythm section. Extradordinary - slightly psychedelic and Super Furry super-tuneful!

I hope so!

Well look no further than Radiophonic Tuckshop, the new band formed by Joe Kane, the effervescent fizzbomb who has been in (and still is in) a number of other bands including my personal favourite Dr Cosmos Tape Lab. If you haven't read any of my previous blogs on them then check them out HERE Their Beyond The Silver Sea LP was my album of 2015.

Joe has recently contributed to the latest BMX Bandits album that you can read about in last months blogs, produced the Ette Homemade Lemonade album (and played on it and co-wrote the brilliant Heaven Knows) and still travels the world playing in Beatles tribute bands, including the famous Them Beatles - not a bad way to make a living and one that indicates his talent.

That talent has transferred to his recent project - Radiophonic Tuckshop who I caught at Nice n Sleazys back in April when they supported TeenCanteen. They played brilliantly and sounded superb and from a chat with Joe it all sounded very spontaneous and exciting - so I thought I would email him some questions to find out more.

You can read the interview below and look out for their debut EP coming out via Last Night From Glasgow in July with a launch show at the Hug and Pint. Excuse the cut and paste format, something went wrong when copying Joe's answers - hope you think it looks cool!

1. How did the Radiophonic Tuck Shop form?

I'd been toying with the idea of a new project for the best part of last year but wasn't keen on making it the ONLY JOE KANE solo ego-fest type thing again. I fancied more of a fake band ethos and Radiophonic Tuckshop was one of the names I had floating around that I was quite keen on. I started working on new songs and recordings at the end of last summer but was getting a bit fed up with me playing everything. It can get a bit hard to surprise yourself musically doing all the instruments.

The guys from Freckfest contacted me around March and asked if I fancied supporting BMX Bandits which I thought sounded fun but I didn't have a band and told them to leave it with me. I contacted a bunch of my longtime friends (who mostly happen to be musical) and luckily found a bands worth that were free and up for it. Sessions were easygoing and within 2-weeks we had a set. Everyone didn't hate it and seemed quite keen to carry on past the initial gig. Quite good!

2. Does this mean the end of Dr Cosmos Tape Lab, or is that a project you might return to in the future?

We're very together and in constant contact but just a bit busy with other things. I got a bit busy with being away for a long spell (or two) so we lost momentum but we have a full LP in the can awaiting release and we will record again in the near future. Side 2 is one long song suite/ghost story entitled Dead Man's Pyjamas and it's the best thing we've ever created. We recorded 4 albums plus a bunch of b-sides in two years so everyone deserves a rest!

3. You've got an EP coming out - tell us about the sounds and the songs on it

We knew we were going to do an album but had fresh arrangements of some older songs of mine that I thought had fallen by the wayside in the past so we decided to do them as their own little thing. The new live versions were all improvements so it seemed like a good idea to get them down. We decided to record the band live to the Tascam 424 mkiii 4-track cassette recorder (last used on Beyond The Silver Sea) at the room we rehearse in (Ian our drummers magical 'Bunker'). It took us one evening to record all of the backing tracks then another few weeks of drop in overdub sessions for vocals etc. 

Running Commentary is the most obvious poppy one and in a previous life it was a less rocking more ornate arrangement that didn't work quite as well. It's more power-pop now and it suits it. We had fun on the video (coming soon) wearing silly trousers and taking over a street for an afternoon.

Buried Alive is the oldest song on the EP and has never been released in any form. It originated around 2004 and existed only a a skeletal late night demo for a long time but I always enjoyed its spookiness and thought it had a bit of potential.

Rockingham Palace Revisited started out as a drone jam which I banked thinking later on it could be reversed and used as the basis for something and that's exactly what I did. I sat up until 5am the other week recording bird song out of the window and harmonising with myself through a pedal basically trying (and failing) to do Dennis Wilson. Bring It On Girl was recorded (with Marco Rea) a few years ago for a Shindig magazine cover CD that never actually happened so I suppose it's never been released. This new version was fun to do with the whole band. It's about accidentally getting married and trying to escape an island of misery (true story). My favourite one is maybe As Hard As I Feel which is a song that doesn't make much sense really but is more of a feel and sound piece (!) than a standard song. It's like 3 and a half minutes inside my head. I can see us going down more of this route sonically than the standard guitar pop direction in the future.

4. Do you have future plans for the band? Things have happened quite quickly to date

We are now officially in album writing and recording mode. It's very exciting and I think it will be a real mix of sounds. We have the full band to play with but I also like the idea of more electronic sessions and bringing in additional instrumentation. I feel like I've made variations of the same weird pop record for the last 15-years and want to push myself production wise and experiment a bit.

5. What kind of stuff are you listening to at the moment?

I enjoy lounge and exotica stuff, late 70's and early 80's groove stuff, especially the extended 12-inch versions of things. I love a lot of the Bollywood stuff from the 70's too and I think arrangement wise there's a lot of stuff I'd like to draw on from those genres. I obviously listen to all the usual good stuff as well and will probably f**k off all these exciting ideas and just re-write another 12 Beatles and Beach Boys songs. That's OK too!

6. You are well known for your love of The Beatles - what do you make of the Sgt Pepper 'makeover'?

It's mostly a worthwhile endeavour but there's a few things I wasn't so sure about, like panning the lowery organ part of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. What was all that about? When it becomes someone who has nothing to do with the original music creation and production taking liberties like that then I think they need to have a word with themselves. The 2 bonus CD's of outtakes is where it's at for me.

7. Do you have a favourite Beatles album? Is it possible to choose just one?

I love different albums for different reasons! Love them all. White Album has probably been the most influential though as it was a favourite for a long time as it made it OK to put out a whole bunch of wildly varied stuff on an LP. It's like a catalogue of brilliant production sounds.

8. How do you write your own songs?

When I write songs I either start on a piano, guitar, ukulele or even a Casiotone and just feel about to see if anything's there. Usually not. Sometimes things can write themselves quite quickly or you just get a wee bit that you can bank for later. I'll hear a section in my head when I'm out occasionally and just whistle it on to my phone and pick it up when I get home. That's quite good. A lot of the time I just start working on a piece of music for fun and the song comes over it later and it ends up the finished thing. It's good to not have one way of doing things and to try out different methods from time to time.

9. Is there anyone you would like to write with?

Always Stu Kidd. We always come up with something. That will happen again. Same with Nic Denholm my old writing partner from The Owsley Sunshine. We always come up with something even though he is in LA now. Duglas and Marco I'm also a fan of and enjoy working with them too so more of that would be good. Aside from people I've worked with before though I'd love to write with the Radiophonic Tuckshop guys. There's a lot of scope there and I hope they all contribute to new material and it's not just my hackneyed old ideas! I really enjoy collaboration and I'll write with anyone if it's fun and fruitful. It usually is.

10. What can we expect from your live shows?

Silly trousers and weird loud pop songs. We want to become a bit electronic so we'll gradually ass new songs and instruments. We'd like to do more festivals and have our own dancing troupe. It might happen. We're having fun creating and we hope we can entertain people with it. If no-one likes it and we still have fun that's the main thing.

Radiophonic Tuckshop play the Hug and Pint on 30th July to celebrate the release of their Running Commentary EP via Last Night From Glasgow on 28th July. Tickets and ltd edition physical EP HERE

Homemade Lemonade by Ette

Homemade Lemonade is the debut album by Ette, the solo project of Carla J Easton (my sister) from TeenCanteen. It has just been released on lovely bubblegum pink vinyl via Olive Grove Records. My daughter Zoe (Carla's niece) features on the cover.

It seems to be hitting a mark; the band had a 6Music session with Marc Riley on Monday night, host a launch party at the Old Hairdressers on Thursday and then have another session with Vic Galloway on BBC Radio Scotland the following week.

You can listen back to the Marc Riley session (for the next few weeks) HERE

Naturally, I'm a big fan, but also Carla's fiercest critic. Thankfully she never really gives me any cause to do that....at least not with her music!

I'm not the only fan of the album. The Skinny have described Homemade Lemonade as 'FAN. FUCKING. TASTIC; rage pop, exhilarating psychedelia and a treasure trove of sonic surprises', while Scots Whay Hae have described it as 'pop music at its very best' and Last Years Girl have talked of 'sunny melodies being put through a psychedelic meat grinder.'

Written and recorded in the summer and autumn of 2015, it is a rich, raw, diverse, clever and beautiful album. Carla recorded the songs with Joe Kane from Dr Cosmos Tape Lab at his garage studio - it was a chance for them to explore, experiment and have fun with the songs that Carla brought to the table. The album was recorded in only 5-days.

Joe produced the album, plays on every song (multi-instruments) and also co-wrote the disco groove summer tune Heaven Knows. The two hit it off - big time!

Lead single Attack of the Glam Soul Cheerleaders (Parts 1 and 2) opens the album and in 2 minutes 45 seconds we are introduced to the Ette sound (which varies from song to song but is definitely POP). Handclaps, motown-esque beats, backing vocals, urgency, hooks, choruses and a brilliant false ending/slight return.

A boy said to me L O V E

That is a word that sounds new to me

Hey little sister, spell it to the mister

L O V E means empathy

There were no rules and experimentation was encouraged by both parties. At this point it was all about recording - no thoughts of an album or band. Carla remembers arriving at Joe's studios in glorious sunshine to hear him experimenting with dub reggae beats and grooves and asking if Carla might have anything to go with them. Bonfires is experimental dub reggae pop psychedelia and it is brilliant. An inspired raga rap by Leroy 'Shines' Moncrieffe gives the song an extra edge.

The studio set up - synths, keys and effects!

Bird In The Sky has a glorious free flowng melody, all kinds of instruments combine to create a beautiful psychedelic euphoria.

Carla's ability to create a melody from nowhere combines with her clever use of humour and reflection on I Hate You Song. It's a ferocious stomper, the music matching the fire and anger in the lyrics and vocals.

Did you know I have got all night

If you feel up to a fight

Stars

Although they seem so far

It's where I want to go

I hate you but I hate that I once loved you even more

I've got a score to settle

Fireworks is the oldest song on the album, originally written away back in 2011 and BMX Bandits recorded and released the song on their In Space album. Duglas from BMX Bandits is a tremendous friend to Carla and an amazing supporter of her songwriting.

Carla revisits the song on Homemade Lemonade and produces a beautiful version complete with a trombone solo that melts the heart.

If Carla was going through a tough time and reflecting on I Hate You Song, then the heady rush of falling in love is perfectly captured on Heaven Knows. I fell in love with it from the moment I heard the first raw version that Carla sent me. I hope the piano, Harrison-esque guitar/synth, the strings, melody, lyrics, disco beat, hooks, chorus, outdo (very Jackson 5) and the stunning vocals will win you over too. This was a real highlight when they played live at Oran Mor in June. The song has space to breath, it flows, soars and is full of fun, love and urgency.

The way you make me feel

Is so unreal, it’s so unreal

The way you make me feel

When I’m with you, when I’m with you

Joe Kane and Carla are a pop match made in heaven. Joe's musical and production skills are incredible, check his work with Dr Cosmos Tape Lab; Beyond The Silver Seas was my album of 2015.

Joe and Carla 

The vast majority of this album was written in a very short space of time; there is anger, reflection, love and memories.

I guess that when you're hurt then your Mum is someone you naturally turn to. My Mother Said has Carla singing her heart about phoning her (our) Mum and her telling her to come home and stay with her. She did and subsequently wrote this album and moved on.

My Mother said 'Carla when you go to bed, you will wake in the morning feeling rosie'

My Mother said 'Darling when you go to bed, you will wake in the morning feeling good'

The homemade psychedelic pop feel to the album comes across on Birthdays. A playful melody and more reflection.

I love the whole album but if I was asked to choose one highlight then I would go for Bones. Carla's voice is beautiful, the production again allows the song to breath, the melody flows superbly, the harmonies are glorious and the experimental music and performance is sublime. The lyrics are clever, stream of consciousness,

I only want to see the best in you

But you only give me all the rest of you

You're a constellation that I'll never know

Cause you're missing each and every star that glows

Spending Every Christmas Day With My Boy is another reflective song....this time it's not about a boy....but a cat!  Joe and Carla go into full on Spector mode with the beats, bells and jingles

I hear jingle bells when I think of you

And my heart is full of joy

Knowing I'm spending every Christmas Day with my boy

Homemade Lemonade is an inventive and eclectic album with loads to offer. It has led to Carla and Joe forming a band and I really hope it leads them back to the studio again.

Ette - with Marc Riley from 6Music

Ette at Oran Mor

Last night saw the debut performance of Ette, the solo project by my sister Carla J Easton, also of TeenCanteen.

2015 was an extremely productive year for Carla, with loads of new songs written for the forthcoming TeenCanteen album and then a fresh batch written over a couple of months in the summer that Carla didn’t want to sit on. Instead she hooked up with Joe Kane from Dr Cosmos Tape Lab and recorded an album in just  5-days in his garage studio. Joe produced and played guitar and drums on the album and they co-wrote the sublime disco summer pop song Heaven Knows.

Joe Kane and Carla Easton had never met until last summer

The fresh and quick approach to writing and recording has resulted in a beautiful, psychedelic pop album titled Homemade Lemonade that will be released on Olive Grove Records on 22nd July. They have already found a fan in Marc Riley from BBC 6 Music who played opening track Attack of the Glam Soul Cheerleaders on his show a couple of weeks ago and promptly invited them for a session.

The songs seems to have a habit of finding fans instantly. Within days of finishing the album, Carla sent them on to Lloyd at Olive Grove Records who immediately declared that he would love to release the album in the summer of 2016.

And here we are....

Ette’s debut album will be released on 22nd July

The West End Festival had kindly given Olive Grove Records a showcase at the beautiful Oran Mor, situated at the top of Byres Road. It was a fantastic opportunity for the boutique DIY label to highlight their taste and style. Call To Mind and The Moth and the Mirror are established acts on the label, however the two headline acts were playing their first ever performances!

The Royal Male (excellent name) is the solo project of Ali from Woodenbox. Ali wrote a batch of songs that were centred around the piano. His 4-piece band also had an excellent drummer, a trumpet player and a violinist. The 4 conjured up some rather beautiful songs, gaining confidence the longer the set went on and ending with (for me) their best song; one that allowed Ali to open up on vocals to display real strength and soul in his voice. The musicianship was first class throughout.

On to Ette. They absolutely smashed it out the park!

Carla had recruited a quite incredible band to back her up; John Nicol from Hidden Masters on drums, Deborah Smith from TeenCanteen on harmonies, percussion and effects, Paul Kelly from How To Swim on synths and bass, Reggie House (still don’t know what his real name is!) from BooHooHoo on synths, with Joe on guitar and Carla also on synths and keys.

They romped through opener Attack Of The Glam Soul Cheerleaders (Parts 1 and 2) with real confidence, getting the crowd on their side from the off. People came down from the bar and in from the sides, always a good sign!

The band looked the part from the off, creating a wall of sound that was aided by the superb Oran Mor sound system. Joe would turn and raise his guitar to John on drums, driving him on. They were brilliant to watch.

Bones was a highlight for me, the flowing melody is simply stunning. I Hate You Song was another favourite, delivered with humour and venom.

I hate you but I hate that I once loved you even more

Bonfires turned dub raga with the pop hooks remaining, Bird In The Sky was psychedelic pop bliss before the set closed with the stunning disco pop of Heaven Knows - the sound of summer.

This band was really put together specifically for this show, but given the response from the crowd and the fun they had on stage, I hope they’ll continue for a while to come.

Ette - Christmas Day With My Boy

Ette is the solo music project by my sister - Carla J Easton, who is also in TeenCanteen. Carla has worked with Joe Kane from Dr Cosmos Tape Lab to record an album of material that will come out on Olive Grove Records next year.

Before then there is the small matter of a debut single, that just so happens to be a Christmas song that is coming out on a limited edition heart shaped Ette Christmas bauble with a download code. They may well be sold out by the time you read this so check quickly if interested. Fear not, you can download Spending Every Christmas Day With My Boy and the AA-side Birthdays (single version).

Spending Every Christmas Day With My Boy is melodic, funny, sweet and definitely influenced by Phil Spector with bells, all kinds of percussion and lovely warm acoustic guitars.

The melody is catchy, the vocals are strong and true and as the cover may help to suggest, the boy in question was my sisters cat who she always looked forward to coming home to during the Christmas holidays.

We will light a fair, we will warm our toes

We've got Christmas presents and mistletoe

We've got family, we've got fairly lights

We've had Santa Claus visit in the night

And my heart is full of joy

Knowing that I'm spending Christmas Day with my boy

The AA-side Birthdays (single version) has a lovely playful ukulele rhythm backing it and the vocals are strong again, there is a real looseness to them. The lyrics and melody are as playful as the A-side.

I wear pink when I feel blue

Cause cherry bombs turn out not to
Mean anything at all to you no more

Carla and Joe have clearly hit it off and I can't wait for the album to come out.

Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab return to save summer

Summer 2015 in Glasgow/Scotland....it hasn't been great, has it?

Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab agree and decided to do something about it; Coconut Summer Drop-In 432 was recorded in 3-weeks in July 2015 at the bands home studio in a rain drenched Glasgow. It was released on Friday (August 14th), has it been a co-incidence that the sun has been shining ever since?

The bands sense of melody and  humour is all over the album alongside their thirst for sonic adventures.

Ready Steady Beach is tongue in cheek humour with a couple of Beatles samples thrown in for good measure; just to make sure you understand their influences.

Saltcoats Paradise is a dreamy ditty; beautiful and inventive, arriving 4-songs in. The fact that Dr Cosmo's record on to a 4-track is something I have to pinch myself to remember.

High Inside (The Lost Frontier) is a standout, pure Beach Boys Smile/Pet Sounds - inventive and poetic lyrics, lysergic soaked vocals, melodies and harmonies.

Stuart Kidd and Joe Kane have talent pouring out of them, this is their 3rd album, a mere 14-months after the release of their debut and upon emailing Joe he confirmed that their 4th is recorded and will be released early in 2016, but they didn't want to wait until then to get something new out!

The prolific duo have plenty to offer listeners; But I May Be Right is short and sweet at only 1-minute and 6 seconds in length, but Kidd and Kane just pull you in and wish they had kept things going rather than fade out.

Hoping To Heal is just over 30-seconds of dreamy gorgeousness, sounding like someone recorded it on a phone, but just sounding beautiful. I hope they revisit it.

Dr Cosmo's have the talent and ability to brighten any day, with Coconut Summer Drop-In 432 there are moments of madcap craziness (check the closer Giuseppe e Franca), loads of humour, melodies to die for and a few moments of genius. I look forward to album number 4.

You can buy all 3 Dr Cosmo's albums to date by visiting their BANDCAMP page.

These guys are different, their talent stands out a mile, they just want to record and release. Long may that continue.

Beyond The Silver Sea

Disappointing Todd Rundgren gigs, Tascam 4 track cassette recorders, animal oddities, 

The Monkees, cider, children's TV shows from the 80's and sci-fi movies (good and bad)

 are all ingredients to the sounds of Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab.

Jeez - if that description doesn't encourage you to step inside Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab then I don't know what will, maybe this blog will help!

The bands debut album Ever Evolving Lounge was a favourite of mine last year; jam packed with McCartney style melodies, a lysergic take on guitar pop, a nod to the Beta Band and a glorious feeling of 'we couldn't give one flying f**k what other people are doing - this is the kind of music we love and create.'

Needless to say I have been looking forward to their follow up for a while...it doesn't disappoint.

Beyond The Silver Sea is available on silver (naturally) vinyl via Sugarbush Records and comes with artwork, a badge and also immediate download. You can also get it on CD or just opt for boring old download.

Anyway, on to the album....

It builds on everything I enjoyed about Ever Evolving Lounge and adds a little more; each song is proceeded by a narrative about our hero Max in a kind of Small Faces Odgen's Nut Gone Flake way - done in a nice nutty Glaswegian manner.

The songs are exceptional; Joe Kane and Stuart Kidd are extremely talented musicians creating some majestic moments, particularly on The Mirror's Reflection and The Star's My Destination and the closing trilogy. If their debut was perhaps a collection of songs by friends seeing what they could do, this is definitely an album.

We are introduced to Max before harmonies, beat, walking bass and a sense of urgency bring in City and the Stars that closes with classic Beatles-y backing vocals and a raucous guitar solo followed by a glorious breakdown.


The Mirror's Reflection is absolutely stunning melodic pop rock; The Beatles and Macca are in there for sure, the songwriting, playing, vocals, structure and production are exquisite. This is currently my favourite song of 2015 - genius.

The twist towards the end of Face Of Another is pure Exile Stones, raw harmonies with a country twang.

You can cry in the heart of the morning

You can cry 'til your eyes are blue

You can cry in the middle of nowhere, my dear

You can't stand tears not falling over you

The way Time Enough For Love develops and then flows beautifully is a joy, as is the dinky piano solo, while the guitar solo on The Painted Birds positively fizzles.

Meanwhile, in the narratives, Max has found a time-machine and travelled back in time to Camden in 1966; Pie, Mash and Liquor is a mash (pardon the pun) of Chas n Dave, Blur, Lovely Rita and Gorillaz.

Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab come up with eccentric ideas for songs and then use them as platforms to show off their outrageous musical talent; Storehouse Of Fools being a prime example with some superb electric guitar lifted straight from 1966.

If a love of the Small Faces influences the narration between songs, then it is also displayed on songs like Dr Chester's Pleasure; total power pop.

Meanwhile The Star's My Destination sets controls for outer space and in under 4-minutes it takes you on a trip you won't want to end, just float away, feel alright......

Joe Kane and Stu Kidd - the genius talent behind Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab

I love the raw soulful feel that Dr Cosmo's can conjure; there is a pureness that a lot of modern bands could never obtain due to over production and the use of too many programmed instruments - including drums. And also due to the fact they just aren't as talented as Kane and Kidd.

The Long Sleep soon leads into Space Dream and it doesn't get much more dreamy; the harmonies are lush and we flow to the closer and title track Beyond The Silver Sea.

Another day is gone

And you're still holding on

To a dream tomorrow just won't bring

Beyond the silver sea

Dreams don't come for free

Don't it take much time

For your dreams to fall in line

It might cost you half your mind

We can try to find

Things we want to be

Beyond the silver sea (be yourself through everything)

Ever Evolving Lounge by Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab

Word of mouth. Remember that? People making recommendations over a beer, or playing you a song at their flat/house or in their car.

Well I am still very fond of word of mouth. Give me that over Twitter, Facebook or the Blogosphere any day of the week. Actual conversations with people you know and trust.

Two people I know and trust with their musical taste recommended that I check out Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab; knowing that I like a lot of bands beginning with 'B' - Beatles, Beach Boys and Byrds to name a few.

So I ordered the album via the bands Bandcamp site and a few days later it popped through my door. I really enjoyed it and had a good few listens, then put it to the side and got on with life - as you do.

Then today I decided to stick my iPod on shuffle, a few tracks were played, a few were skipped and then I settled into listening to whatever came on.

A song came on that I couldn't place. What Beach Boys album was it on? Who was singing it? Was it Brian? Mike?

None of the above; the song in question was Trading Time by Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab. Time for a blog review of this album!

Let's start with this song, a lovely slow intro eases us in; a banjo, harmonica and glorious percussion. Then the vocals - ah the vocals - absolutely beautiful, soaked in lysergic Beach Boy influences. The outro is even more beautiful than the intro.

Think that's good? Well check out The Secret Of The Tibetan Grapefruit Is...? which is Revolver crossed with the Beta Band - yeah that is as good as it sounds.

It's all across the ocean

It's all across the world

Backwards guitar, funky beats, some nice phasing and noodling on some kind of organ/synth. I have yet to listen to this track once in isolation. I need to play it again and again.

This album was recorded on old fashioned 4-track - quite remarkable when you listen to the quality. Warm and refreshing at the same time.

(Return To) Nineteen Canteen is ripe with melodies and flows superbly - very McCartney-esque. Macca has been known to cut up songs and stick them together and Dr Cosmo's do this superbly on this song. I love the section;

The weekend is over too quickly these days

The rat race is run from the cot to the grave

And it's true

It's happening to you

And the bit 3 minutes and 8 seconds in;

The sun came up

With golden rays

And chased the blues oh so far away

How long will it last?

No-one can say

But for now everything is OK

We may be right

We can't be wrong

For all we know it's been here all along

It may be that we

We just couldn't see

But for now everything is OK

Total gem of a song. The Beatles references should be no surprise to anyone who knows either of the Tape Lab - Stu Kidd (The Wellgreen, BMX Bandits and loads more) and Joe Kane (in the increasingly popular Them Beatles tribute band).

These guys can write, sing and play and they show it in full effect throughout this album. You can also clearly tell how much they enjoyed themselves when making it; the evidence is all over tracks like A Sting In The Tale and Adopt A Rabbit that open the album. Animal Man steps away from the 'B' bands. Well, it maybe puts one foot into Kinks territory!

Joe Kane and Stu Kidd, Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab

It is the second half of the album that is my favourite. Well 6/10ths of the album, beginning with the instrumental Little Curly (Travel Gravel). The duo really explore their full range of talent and capabilities with their musicianship, instruments, vocals and songwriting. It is a really joyful listen and I find something new every time I check it out.

I've mentioned Trading Time, (Return To) Nineteen Canteen and ....Tibetan Grapefruit..

Broken Star is country tinged heartbreak on the highways and the byways of romance.

The closing number Alphabetter Boogie is another song I enjoy. The duo have great ears for melodies  and harmonies and are not afraid to experiment with them - adding humour at times, bringing in all kinds of instruments at others.

All in all this is an incredible album that is available for only £6. You can't go wrong with it - honest.