Photo
- L-R: Adrian Shaw, Nick Saloman. Courtesy of Woronzow Records.Photo
- L-R: Adrian Shaw, Nick Saloman. Courtesy of Woronzow Records.
Update (as of June 2002):
Don't forget the Terrastock 5 music festival, October 11-13, 2002 in Cambridge, MA. Several Woronzow bands, as well as many of our other favorites will be performing. Check Ptolemaic Terrascope's site for details. See you there!
Since this feature page was launched in mid 2000, Woronzow/Rubric have continued to put out a steady supply of outstanding albums. The new Bevis Frond and Adrian Shaw CDs are covered on Free City's New Reviews page; the double-CD Woronzow artists' summit Acid Jam 2 and Tony Hill's Inexactness can be found on Free City's Review Archive page.
Woronzow/Rubric have also recently put out Snowflake And Fingerprint Machine by thebrotheregg from Portland, OR. This intriguing debut bears careful repeated listenings. Think Stephen Malkmus and Built To Spill in league with The Green Pajamas and Charles Mingus. I'm still wrapping my head around it all. With titles like "Billy Barty's Brains" and "Cauldrons Of Eyeball Soup", they can't miss. I'm doing an interview with Adam Goldman of thebrotheregg for an upcoming issue of The Broken Face. Other recent releases include the hard psychedelic Zero Zen by The Alchemysts (check out "The Achievement Song" in particular!) and the debut CD from Vic Conrad And The First Third. Conrad comes off sort of like an Australian Syd Barrett or Bob Pollard, with haunting piano and pedal steel parts in the arrangements. Flyte Reaction, headed by Mick Crossley (also of the more electronic Spooky HiFi) shows that noisy indie rock and smooth folk ballads can coexist in harmony on the new Sensilla album. Searing blues rock and hypnotic psychedelic epics make up Fed To Your Head by Scorched Earth. Listen to the album and guess which Woronzow all stars are posing as "Horse", "Snake" and "Prophet". As usual, all of the above are highly recommended.
New albums by Lucky Bishops, noted acoustic guitarist Keith Christmas, and Rustic Rod Goodway's Ethereal Counterbalance are expected soon. Rubric is also planning to reissue many of the essential early Bevis Frond albums including the first ever complete CD versions of Bevis Through The Looking Glass and the unabridged New River Head. Remastered versions of Miasma, Inner Mashland and Triptych (with lots of bonus tracks) have already been released.
Exclusive tracks by Woronzow artists The Bevis Frond, thebrotheregg, Lucky Bishops and Adrian Shaw can be found on the Free City benefit compilation The International League of Telepathic Explorers!
Original Feature Article (May 2000):
As the forces behind Walthamstow's Woronzow Records label, Nick Saloman (The Bevis Frond) and Adrian ("Ade") Shaw are at the heart of the English psychedelic movement. Nick founded Woronzow on his own; Ade came on board later to help run things as the label grew. They are both acclaimed recordings artists who also know how to pick talented bands for their roster. With the help of editor Phil McMullen, Nick publishes the essential psychedelic magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope. The clear leader in its subject area, the Terrascope is always a valuable resource for new music. The popular Terrastock Festivals bring together bands featured in the magazine and on accompanying compilation CDs.
Nick Saloman has got to be the foremost voice in contemporary psychedelic music. Over a long string of albums, his work has been consistently experimental yet accessible, challenging yet immediately entertaining. The Bevis Frond's sound carries the mark of an education in the rock classics used in the service of an original point of view. Nick's ability to balance his melodic sense with his visionary production and blistering guitar work creates his band's central tension and excitement. His strong vocal range and well-crafted lyrics touching on both everyday modern life and his own brand of English mythology complete the musical personality.
As far back as the lo-fi garage rock of the albums Miasma (1986) and Bevis Through The Looking Glass (1987), Nick has punctuated the heavy numbers, "Maybe", "Purtle Sline", and "Wild Mind", for example, with pop gems like "Splendid Isolation" and "Now You Know". Mind-blowing extended jams such as "1970 Home Improvements" have also been part of the Bevis Frond's albums from the beginning. The progressive concept album Inner Marshland showcased the versatility of Nick's atmospheric arrangements. The much covered "Lights Are Changing" appears on Triptych. The moving title track of London Stone illustrates the disastrous effects of modern urban planning on traditional English life.
Although I enjoy and endorse all of The Bevis Frond's releases, New River Head, from 1991, stands out as his mid-period masterpiece. This sprawling double album runs well over 100 minutes without a dull moment. The songs that would not fit on the CD version were paired with other worthwhile rarities on A Gathering Of Fronds. New River Head's notable tracks include the Fender Rhodes blues "Drowned", the charming ballads "Waving" and "He'd Be A Diamond", the super heavy rocker "She's Entitled To" and the meditative tape-reverse interlude "Cuvie". "Wild Jack Hammer", among other songs on the album, features the acrobatic guitar playing of Bari Watts.
The Bevis Frond's albums have continued to show Nick's development as both a songwriter and a musician. The 1995 release Superseeder, containing the live staple "Stoned Train Driver", is a good place to start investigating The Bevis Frond's more recent output. 1999's Vavona Burr might be The Bevis Frond's strongest studio album yet. In a world stripped of Mouseketeer payola, "Leave A Light On For Me" and "Virus" could be big hits. The Bevis Frond's latest CD Live At The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco presents a solid live set (with Ade on bass and Andy Ward on drums) along with the first recording of the blustery good humor of Nick Saloman's stage patter. A smoking ten-minute cover of Love's "Signed DC" closes the set. I especially enjoy this album as it documents the first Bevis Frond show I saw.
From the somber Eastern resonance of "These Dark Days" (Any Gas Faster) to the Fall-like new wave of "Repressor" (The Auntie Winnie Album), The Bevis Frond keeps you interested. From the soulful R & B of "Stay At Home Girl" (North Circular) to the synthesized chamber waltz of "Bulldozer" (Vavona Burr), Nick Saloman is committed to redefining and expanding his art form. If you have any interest in psychedelic music, you can't go wrong with a Bevis Frond album. A handful of rare 45s ("Sister John" and "Summer Holiday" among them) and a good number of compilation tracks (including covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Who Knows?" on If Six Were Nine and the traditional "Cold Rain And Snow" on Freakbeat's Psychedelic Psauna) make The Bevis Frond a real collector's challenge.
In addition to his solo band
work, Nick released an album in a more beat, roots style as the
Fred Bison Five (appropriately enough entitled Beatroots).
He played bass and keyboards in an early line up of Bari Watts'
Outskirts of Infinity and continued to write songs for them. He
was a member of the second incarnation of Magic Muscle. He played
on the legendary Acid Jam album as well as Acid Jam
II. He collaborated with the band Dr. Brown on the LP Dr.
Frond, with Country Joe McDonald on Eat Flowers and Kiss
Babies (also featuring Adrian Shaw on bass), and with drummer
Twink (a.k.a. John Adler, formerly of The Pretty Things/The Electric
Banana) on the sought-after Magic Eye. Nick has also appeared
on recordings by Todd Dillingham, Tom Rapp (of Pearls Before Swine),
Adrian Shaw and Mick Wills, among others.
Adrian Shaw is a veteran of the British rock scene, whose bass-playing
credits include stints with J.P. Sunshine, The Crazy World of
Arthur Brown, Rustic Hinge, Hawkwind, Magic Muscle and the multi-person
version of The Bevis Frond. Ade began his career as a solo recording
artist fairly well into the game. After contributing a number
of tracks to various compilation records, he released Tea For
The Hydra in 1996. The first album features the eerie "Son
Of Sam" and the epic "Red And Grey". Ade's son
Aaron Shaw plays a technically phenomenal guitar solo on "Roger's
In A Home". "Stalking Horse", with its tricky keyboard
arpeggios, and the tuneful anthem "One Last Drink For The
Band" are highlights of the follow up Displaced Person.
On his most recent CD Head Cleaner, Ade sounds like a one-man
Crosby, Stills and Nash using layered harmonies on "Staring
At The Sun" and "All In The Mind". "Symbiosis"
merges electronic music with Simon House's violin to unusual effect.
Ade's pleasantly laid-back delivery stands in contrast to his
innovative style of production. Each of his CDs provides a wealth
of lessons for aspiring digital producers.
As if their solo output were not enough of a contribution to psychedelic
music, Nick and Ade have released a number of great albums by
other bands on the Woronzow label. Last year's sampler Like
It? It's Yours provides a survey of the label's diverse acts.
The literate gothic pop of Seattle's Green Pajamas came to Woronzow
with the release of Seven Fathoms Down and Falling. A striking
self-titled collaboration between West Country power trio The
Alchemysts and eccentric oscillator/keyboard guru Simeon Coxe
of The Silver Apples is another current album on the label. The
Alchemysts' own CD will be out soon.
Not even counting titles by Nick and Ade, two of my favorite psychedelic CDs of all time were released on Woronzow. The first is the amazing debut by Coventry acid metal gods Wall Of Sleep, led by guitarist/producer Simon Baker. Wall Of Sleep includes the ultimate aggro-stoner manifesto "Double Dragon" along with other powerful tracks such as "Bottom Of The Sea" and "Hexmark". This monolithic album easily blows away anything by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Soundgarden. It would be really cool to hear something else from Wall Of Sleep.
My other favorite Woronzow
discovery is the Lucky Bishops CD. Dorset's Lucky Bishops
sound like a popular major-label band of the highest caliber,
not out of place alongside Kula Shaker or Blur. Their fresh presence,
melodic songwriting and complex harmonies deposit the listener
at the very moment when acid rock turned into progressive. The
Beatles, The Pretty Things, (pre-Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman) Yes,
the Beach Boys and Pink Floyd are among the bands referenced in
the Lucky Bishops' world. Songs like "Stratosphere",
"I'm Convinced" and "Ashtralia" are so genuinely
catchy that their tunes reverberate around your mind for hours
after you hear them. Rich Murphy (guitar), Al Strawbridge (bass),
Tom Hughes (vintage Hammond organ) and Luke Adams (drums) ably
share the songwriting and lead vocals. This is band with a bright
artistic future. See also Free CIty's Lucky
Bishops feature page.
Solo career late bloomers Nick and Ade defy the stereotype of
rock musicians peaking by their early thirties and then spending
the rest of their lives rehashing the same basic formula. In their
late forties and early fifties respectively, these two musical
friends are in no danger of stagnating or losing sight of what
makes them good. They have been inspirational to me and they were
graciously helpful with advice regarding the recording of my own
albums. A U.S. licensing agreement with New York's up and coming
Rubric Records promises to bring Woronzow artists to a much larger
audience. Audio of live performances by The Alchmysts, The Bevis
Frond, and Lucky Bishops from January 2000's Tinystock Festival
at the Standard in Walthamstow can be heard at rnsd.com/music.html.
Article (c) 2000 by Nick Bensen
Woronzow Records
75 Melville Road
Walthamstow,
London E17 6QT
England
Rubric Records
75 Leonard Street
New York, NY 10013
USA
Ptolemaic Terrascope Magazine
37 Sandridge Road
Melksham,
Wiltshire SN12 7BQ
England