Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

The opening song "Share It" sounds strangely familiar, even upon first hearing. This upbeat jaunty Jazz-Rock number is very reminiscent of both Caravan and Camel. There's no doubting that Hatfield & the North are an English band from Richard Sinclair's clear-cut vocals, which sound as English as fish & chips. The obscure lyrics are a riddle wrapped in an enigma though, but that only adds to the quaint English charm of this catchy tune . Here's a brief opening taster of the lyrics:- "Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear, Hey there! Rotter's Club! Explain the meaning of this song and share it" ..... The bizarre meaning of this particular song will perhaps forever remain shrouded in mystery, when even the singer sounds baffled by the abstruse lyrics. And now for a little instrumental lounge music with "Lounging There Trying", which sounds like the kind of sophisticated improvisational Jazz you might listen to whilst coolly sipping a gin and tonic in a trendy cocktail lounge. There's no clue as to what the strangely-titled "(Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw" might be all about, because it's a brief 43 second instrumental, and the slightly discordant music bears little relation to the bizarre song title. This leads us into the even shorter "Chaos at the Greasy Spoon", which does indeed sound chaotic and a bit of a tuneless mess to be absolutely honest, so it's something of a blessed relief that it's less than half-a-minute long. Next up is "The Yes No Interlude" which is not so much an interlude, but more of an extended 7-minute instrumental jam session, where the musicians throw caution to the wind with gay abandon and let loose with some wild and improvisational Canterbury Scene Jazz. We're back to more familiar territory with "Fitter Stoke Has A Bath", which sounds like a typical lively Jazz-Rock song that Caravan might have recorded, although the meaning of the weird song title and lyrics are just as obscure as Hatfield & the North's instrumental numbers. Here's a brief example of the totally nonsensical lyrics:- "Bing billy bong - silly song's going wrong, Ping pong ping, clong cling dong, Tie me up, turn me on, Bing billy bang, Desperate Dan, frying pan, Cling clong cling, Bong bing bang, Michael Miles, Bogey man," ..... Yes indeed! Song lyrics don't come much sillier than that! They sound like the kind of wacky lyrics you might have heard in a typical Eurovision Song Contest entry from the 1970's. There's a return to some kind of normality - or whatever passes for normal in the bizarre musical world of Hatfield & the North - with "Didn't Matter Anyway". This is a gentle Caravan-esque song floating on a mellow wave of flute and delicate keyboards. It's the most approachable and easy-to-listen-to song on the album. You can just relax and let the worries and cares of the day slip away listening to this gorgeous insouciant song, because whatever might have been troubling you, it probably "Didn't Matter Anyway".

It's time now to don a dinner jacket and order a dry martini - shaken not stirred - for the Side Two opener "Underdub", because it's another pleasant cocktail lounge diversion to while away four minutes of spare time whilst waiting for your dinner date to arrive for the evening. And finally, we arrive at the 20-minute long suite "Mumps" to close out the album. The music is divided into four parts with the kind of weird and crazy titles that we've come to expect by now:- 1. "Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Quiet)"; 2. "Lumps"; 3. "Prenut"; 4. "Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Loud)". The Jazzy Canterbury Scene music is just as eccentric and off-kilter as the titles suggest, featuring another wild excursion into uncharted realms, occasionally sounding atonal and disjointed, but always unexpected and totally unpredictable. It's an endlessly complex arrangement that deserves to be listened to several times to truly appreciate the musical diversity on offer here.

"The Rotters' Club" is undoubtedly an essential album for fans of the Canterbury Scene sound, but it's not so essential for Prog-Rock fans generally. The album won't be to everyone's taste, because this is wild and improvisational Canterbury Scene music that's nowhere near as approachable and easy to listen to as the more melodic and harmonious sound of Caravan and Camel for instance. If you've dipped your toes into the Canterbury Scene with Caravan, then Hatfield & the North by contrast are like jumping into the deep end. Their complex music veers more towards the Jazz Fusion end of the musical spectrum, than the more traditional British Jazz-Rock sound. On the other hand, if you're in the mood for some uninhibited and unrestrained Jazzy flights of fancy, then head on up the Great North Road to the sound of Hatfield & the North

The album opens in rousing and rollicking fashion with "It Wasn't for You", a lively saxophonic blast of good old-fashioned bluesy Jazz-Rock, very much in the style of those other fine purveyors of uplifting funky fusion, Ginger Baker's Airforce and the Graham Bond Organisation. The singer has the same kind of rough raucous voice as Graham Bond. In other words, they both sound like they eat gravel for breakfast in the morning, but that's no less than what we'd expect from the best of British blues singers. In fact, this is just the kind of energetic and spirited Jazz-Rock we could all do with listening to first thing in the morning to get us up out of bed and instil a spirit of vim and vigour and get-up-and-go energy to face the day ahead. Alternatively, you could listen to some gentle and relaxing New Age music and roll over and go back to sleep again. Now that Titus Groan have grabbed our attention with the lively opening number, it's time for the extended four-piece suite "Hall Of Bright Carvings". This epic song is a real musical tour de force, featuring flamboyant flutes, heavy guitar riffing, booming bass-lines and pounding percussion. The dynamic contrast between the gently melodic pastoral passages combined with sudden explosive outbursts of musical artillery fire are what really sets this music alight with power and passion. Titus Groan can really carve their names with pride for producing stunning Jazz-Rock like this.

Side Two opens with "I Can't Change", which ironically, is a song full of constant change. It's a resonant flute-driven refrain that draws obvious comparisons with Jethro Tull, although the song takes a very unexpected turn midway through with a pleasant Country Rock diversion, before a return to more familiar fluty Jazz-Rock pastures. Either way, it's a great song that barrels along relentlessly and features enough sudden tempo changes to delight devotees of Jazzy Prog-Rock. The next song "It's All Up with Us" is very commercially appealing, which would have made it an ideal choice for release as a single. The impassioned silver-toned singer is positively bursting with optimism here and the heart-warming music sounds as bright and uplifting as a radiant sunburst of rainbow colours after a summer shower. This is timeless evergreen music where all the brightly-coloured flowers in the garden are blooming. And talking of flowers, along comes "Fuschia" (a misspelling perhaps?), which is sadly the final song on the album, although all good things must come to an end, unless of course you're lucky enough to possess the CD reissue with three bonus tracks included. "Fuschia" refers to Miss *Fuchsia* Groan from the Titus Groan novel. The music is another flawless funky fusion of pounding Jazz-Rock energy, which is altogether upbeat, up-tempo and uplifting.

Titus Groan have delivered a memorable timeless Jazz-Rock classic with their one and only album release. This energetic evergreen album sounds just as good today fifty years on as it ever did back in the halcyon days of the proggy 1970's.

It's a jolly good opening to the album with the title track "Kaleidoscope", a jolly-sounding 2-minute burst of Sunshine-Pop that's positively bounding along with joyous optimism. It's a good all-round late-1960's Pop tune with a bright and sunny disposition, where all the birds are singing and the fluorescent flowers are blooming in the psychedelic garden of earthly delights. The curiously-titled "Please Excuse My Face" follows next. It's a gorgeous acoustic guitar arrangement where the lovelorn singer is in full romantic balladeer mode and pining away forlornly over his lost love. This beautiful ballad sounds as charmingly English as afternoon tea and crumpets whilst watching a game of cricket on the village green. Howzat! We're taking a psychedelic trip back in time now as we "Dive Into Yesterday", a song that's awash with colourful acid-tinged guitar vibes. It's a catchy tune that's very reminiscent of the Beatles at their most psychedelic, with influences from the West Coast sound of sunny California. This joyfully sunny music sounds as bright and bubbly as a glass of sparkling lemonade. And now we come to the curious tale of "Mr. Small, The Watch Repairer Man", the kind of cheerfully light-hearted Pop song that could only come from England in the late 1960's. It's a carefree and playful little number that doesn't take itself too seriously and it's representative of the Best of British Psychedelic Pop. We're travelling to distant foreign lands now with "Flight from Ashiya", only this appears to be a doomed flight as the constant refrain in this song is "Nobody Knows Where We Are" ..... Oh dear! It seems that despite the pleasant sunshine sound of this jangling and exotic Byrds-like psychedelia, the flight has gone down in the middle of nowhere. The dark mood continues with "The Murder Of Lewis Tollani", which closes Side One on a sombre note, although don't get too down-hearted because it's really a great Sunshine Pop song despite the solemn message in the lyrics.

The strangely-titled "(Further Reflections) In The Room Of Percussion" opens Side Two. It's a typically cheerful 1960's Pop tune but who knows what the song's about as the convoluted lyrics are like a riddle wrapped inside an enigma on a psychedelic acid trip. One thing's for sure, "In the Room of Percussion" is nothing to do with a drummer doing a sound-check in the recording studio. We're meeting the charming "Dear Nellie Goodrich" next, which turns out to be a short but sweet jingly- jangly sunshine burst of lovely English Pop music, featuring some delightful sugar-coated harmonising. This very agreeable tune is as sweet as a jar of honey. It's time to pack our bags now because we're off to the seaside for "Holidaymaker", a happy- go-lucky Pop song that's just as bright and sunny as the song title implies. Don't forget to pack the suntan lotion because this summer song is positively bursting with sunshine. We're in the King's court for "A Lesson Perhaps", although he's not a progressive Crimson King. No, this is a traditional Folky King in a quaint pastoral setting. This gentle melodic madrigal represents a charming acoustic spoken-word diversion in an album that's positively glowing and overflowing with radiantly cheerful Pop songs. And now we arrive at the magnificent highlight of the album, "The Sky Children", in a classic example of saving the best song till last. This marvellous closing song has instantly transformed what could have been a very good four-star album into a five-star masterpiece. It's eight minutes of pure unadulterated pleasure. The music is similar in style to the Byrds classic "Eight Miles High" - only better! The "Poptastic" lyrics are simply sensational. Take a look for yourselves:- "A million white flowers in a field in the sky, Seemed to spell out a greeting as the children flew by, A guard in a chariot of silver and gold, Gave the children all tickets, then the story he told, Of a time in the future that was sunshine and flowers, And the children grew sleepy in the sky's white towers, They dreamed of the story that the guard had displayed, They saw all the wonders, tiny minds were amazed, They saw candy forests and dragons that breathed fire, On all that was evil in the misty mire." ..... And that's just the first verse! There are six more incredible verses to come!! This beautiful music does indeed sound like "A million white flowers in a field in the sky." It's heavenly!

Travel back in time to the flower-power sounds of the late-1960's Summer of Love with this charmingly English album of glorious Sunshine Pop songs that's positively overflowing with cheerful exuberance and ebullient optimism. It's a psychedelic Kaleidoscope of glowing rainbow colours wrapped inside a beautiful Tangerine Dream!

The first song "Hawk The Hawker" is a country-tinged tune, which is probably not surprising, considering it's the only song on the album to feature the sound of a steel guitar. There's also a harmonica to be heard too, giving the song the feel of a typical Folk-Rock song that Bob Dylan might have recorded back in his heyday. It's a jolly good bright and happy twangy tune to open the album in buoyant optimistic style. Blossoming into view next is "Bluebell", a pretty Psych-Folk song in the psychedelic garden of earthly delights. The acoustic guitar sounds somewhat akin to a jangling Greek bouzouki, conjuring up images of a traditional plate-smashing spree in a Greek restaurant, although the restaurant owner might be none too pleased. Serf's Up now for "The Midnight Hanging Of A Runaway Serf", a pleasant Folk song that jollies merrily along despite the dark and dismal subject matter of the song. Maybe all the serf wanted to do was runaway and listen to some feudal serf music down at the beach. The next piece of music is dedicated "To Julie", whoever the mysterious Julie is, because it's a jingly-jangly acoustic guitar instrumental. "Gypsy Girl & Rambleway" is next, so you can expect to hear a lively burst of traditional Romany gypsy dance music, and that's exactly what you get. It's a liberating orgy of free-spirited music for cavorting and carousing around the campfire together in a slightly drunken and hedonistic fashion. This chirpy charming tune represents freedom, passion and playfulness.

It's time to put the brolly up now for the Side Two opener: "Do Not Walk In The Rain", a lively piano number that sounds just like a train trundling rhythmically down the tracks, which seems fitting, as the lyrics reveal the song is all about  getting on the train to avoid the rain:- "So I'm gonna take you down to the station, And put you upon a train. So please, Do not walk in the rain." ..... All aboard! We're getting all Shakespearian now for "Much Ado About Nothing", which turns out to be a pleasant little ditty, featuring what sounds very much like a plucky mandolin, although a mandolin's not mentioned in the album credits, so maybe it's an electric harpsichord, which IS mentioned in the credits. Anyway, it's an insouciant song that's as blithe and carefree as the song title implies. There are creepy goings-on in the "Graveyard" now, a song that sounds pleasantly pastoral despite the bats in the belfry doom and gloom message contained within the lyrics:- "In a graveyard I have been, A body I have seen, From the sharp burn I have dreamed, That body was me." ..... Oh well, not to worry, it's nowhere near as scary as the dark and disturbing music of Comus, so there's no need to sleep with the lights on tonight. Let us pray for the harvest now, because the next brief tune "Famine Song" is an a capella devotional call to prayer, very much in the style of that well-known dirge "Gaudete" by Steeleye Span. Yes, it really IS that depressing. Never mind though, because the final 6-minute- long "Autumn Childhood" is a lovely sing-along song (despite the dismal lyrics), so rattle those tambourines, shake those tassels, and ring them bells!

This fairly traditional Psych-Folk album is unlikely to appeal to Prog-Rock fans generally because it's not in the remotest bit proggy and it's not rock either, but if you're a fan of the Incredible String Band and other acoustic English Folk bands of that ilk, then this might be just the album for you. "Full Circle" is just one album in a whole Forest of Psych-Folk albums, and there's really nothing new or original on offer here that you haven't heard before. It's not an outstanding album by any means, as there are no stand-out songs on the album. It's just a pleasantly pastoral acoustic Folk diversion to while away an afternoon. "Full Circle" is altogether easy-on-the-ears and it's a good solid three-star album, but no more than that. It's the kind of very agreeable easy listening Folk album that you could buy your dear old auntie for Christmas, safe in the knowledge that nothing's going to jump out of the album and give her a fright like a Comus album undoubtedly would.