Ciccone Youth (aka Sonic Youth) - The Whitey Album. CD. (UMC - 9879792) The odd electronic pop album or a bastardisation of commercial music from NYC's ultra-cool noise auteurs? You decide. Features 'Into The Groovey' (the deadpan, drone-voiced take on Madonna's 2Into The Groove" that surprised a hundred indie dancefloors) 'Burnin Up' 'Addicted To Love' (yes, the Robert Palmer cover) and a bonus track- the "alt.mix" of 'Macbeth'- whatever that is!!

Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance. Hybrid SACD (stereo/stereo). (UMC - 9837706) The final release in this line of Moody Blues reissues (wot no 'EGBDF' or 'Sojourn' then? Boo hoo!!) that commemorate the fortieth anniversary (2006) of the band as a recording act (their pre-1966 R 'n B period with a different line-up notwithstanding). 'A Question Of Balance' was their fifth album since the inception of the Hayward/Lodge lineup, and was indeed more balanced than its dark and harshly cold sounding predecessor. As well as being the first Moodies album to be recorded entirely in stereo with no mono mix available, it also cut down on what bandmembers felt was the extraneous instrumentation that had maybe cluttered the sound of its predecessor, resulting in a more streamlined sound. Subsequently it spawned (albeit in an edited version) Hayward's "Question", the line-up's biggest UK hit single to date: other highlights were Thomas' romantic and heartfelt "And The Tide Rushes In" based on an argument with his wife (!): Lodge's galloping pomp-rocker "Tortoise And The Hare" which was often stretched out as an in-concert improv fave: Edge's otherworldly "Don't You Feel Small" (his first attempt at writing an actual sung song) Pinder's relentlessly morose "Melancholy Man" (often cited by rock writers as the most depressive song ever recorded!!) and closing track "The Balance" (a rare Thomas/Edge collaboration), which in direct contrast to the bleakness of the preceding song, ends on one of the most positive notes possible. Their biggest-selling album up to that point in both the UK and US: ironically, though, this was where the stability of the band slowly began to collapse. This SACD version has also been expanded and now includes 6 previously released alternate takes.

Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed. DbleHybrid SACD stereo/stereo. (UMC - 9832150) The Hayward-fronted lineup of the Moodies reaches its fortieth anniversary as a recording act in 2006. In conjunction, Freak Emporium is proud to present this double CD reissue of the album that started it all- by which of course we mean progressive rock in the UK!! Most of you out in Freakland will be familiar with this masterpiece already, and doubtless know the story of how Deram bankrolled what they thought was going to be a beat group version of Hvorzak's 'New World Symphony'- but the recently reconvened band, still smarting from the atrophy of their original R'n'B-based lineup after the departure of frontman Denny Laine- had other, bolder ideas. Left to their own devices for weeks in the company of the London Festival Orchestra conducted by Peter Knight, they came up with- almost contemporaneously to the Beatles' 'Sergeant Pepper' opus- the idea of a continous piece of music that stretched over two sides of vinyl, telling the story of a transient day in the life of everyman, divided into sections that could stand on their own as pop songs, composed and sung equally between the five bandmembers, linked by orchestration and poetry. It was a sensation, nothing like it had been released before in the UK (Joe Meek's "I Hear A New World" from 1960 is probably the first ever British concept album, but lacks the thematic unification of this work) Before you knew it there was a name for this sound- 'progressive music'- and the world exploded!! Although tracks like 'Peak Hour' 'Dawn Is A Feeling' (with Hayward's vocal somewhat redolent of Scott Walker) 'Tuesday Afternoon' Mike Pinder's Martin Denny-influenced 'The Sun Set' and Ray Thomas' menacing 'Twilight Time' (uncannily similar in melody to the Creation's "For All That I Am", but which came first?) all sound rather dated and quaint now, they still give the impression of a bold, brave band stepping into unchartered territory- from which there was no turning back. Most importantly of all though, the album gave us two key elements of the Moodies' ouvre- their first use of the Mellotron, which would define their sound for the next seven years, and of course that monumental hit single 'Nights In White Satin' which, although admittedly overplayed, still makes sense in the context of the album. To commemorate this special event, a second disc has now been added, featuring the A and B sides of the singles, previously unreleased alternate versions and BBC1 radio sessions from 1967 and 1968- and the whole package is available in Surround Sound!! Listen and learn.

Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord. DbleHybrid SACD stereo/stereo. (UMC - 9832147) Another superb reissue to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 'classic' lineup of this incredible band. Its predcessor 'Days Of Future Passed' may have set the course for experimentation and musical freedom, but 'In Search Of. . .' significantly upped the ante by removing the orchestration that had lushly coated its predecessor and plunging headlong into the world of sitars, mellotrons, loops, harmoniums and Esstern mysticism. There was still a commercial and beautifully melodic edge to tracks like 'Ride My See Saw' 'Voices In The Sky' and 'The Actor' but on the other hand, there were tracks like 'Legend Of A Mind' (with its infamous refrain of "Timothy Leary's dead, no, no, he's outside looking in") 'House Of Four Doors' 'Visons Of Paradise' 'The Best Way To Travel' 'Dr Livingstone I Presume' and 'Om' which leapt headlong into the unknown- and let's just say a few substances had been ingested here and there!! Again, definitely an album ''of its time' but still to these ears the ultimate exploration, alongside 'SF Sorrow' of English psychedelia. Now available with a second disc which adds demos, Radio 1 sessions and the single 'Simple Game' (later covered by the Four Tops) that was previously only available on the 'This Is. . .' comp.

Moody Blues - On The Threshold Of A Dream. Hybrid SACD (stereo/stereo). (UMC - 9832153) The Moodies' third album proper, whilst not acknowledged as a classic like its predecessors, continues their upward spiral of progression, and moves away from the Eastern modal scales of 'In Search Of The Lost Chord' toward a sweeping European classical influence. This is most amply demonstrated on Mike Pinder's closing triarchy of 'Have You Heard Pt 1' /'The Voyage' /'Have You Heard Pt 2' where he lets rip on grand piano and harmonium as well as his trademark Mellotron, and on Hayward & Thomas's beautiful 'Are You Sitting Comfortably', but is prevalent throughout the album in the melodies and the immense amounts of instrumentation used. By now, the bandmembers' roles were established: Hayward the romantic pop writer with beat combo roots ('Never Comes The Day' being the best example), Lodge the rocker ( as shown on 'To Share Our Love' the band's most forthright song at that point) Thomas the whimsical humourist ('Lazy Day' 'Dear Diary') Edge the dark poet, and Pinder the mystic (although he also weighs in with the pounding 'So Deep Within You', a psych dancefloor classic). 'Sixth member' Tony Clarke's production was even more adaventurous than before, with robot voices, wind machines and all sorts of unidentifiable whistlings entering the melange, and it was obvious from this point on that the Moodies were a fact of life like the Beatles, the Stones and the Who had been before them. This hybrid SACD has been expanded and now features 9 previously unreleased alternate versions and BBC Radio 1 Sessions.

Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children. DbleHybrid SACD stereo/stereo. (UMC - 9832156) The Moodies' darkest, bleakest, coldest and most 'out there' release ever. Spawning no hit singles in the UK, nor many staples of their live set (largely due to the sound being so processed and layered that it was nigh on impossible to reproduce on stage), it nevertheless stands, as do all their classic albums from 1967 to 1973, as a complete work from start to finish. By now, the template is established- the lyrics full of cosmic philosophy and thinly veiled drug references (you should have seen the fan mail they used to get), the instrumentation dense, textured and coated in slabs of chilling Mellotron, the vocals a harmonious baritone, the tracks blending into one another seamlessly- the trick was how much one could twist and fuck around with it. Aside from the whimsical and throwaway 'Floating' (actually a single) the feel throughout is cavernous, eerie and foreboding. Thus, the vocals on Lodge's 'Eyes Of A Child' and Thomas' 'Eternity Road' sound as if they were recorded on a different planet to the rest of the music (to the songs' credit): Edge's first actual musical compositions (as opposed to poems) 'Higher And Higher' and 'Beyond' sound respectively like the screams of the tormented in hell being run over by a 747 and a car chase through a lunar landscape: Pinder's 'Out And In' and 'Sun Is Still Shining' are shot through with the eerie, mystic yet lethargic beauty one feels as the trip is wearing off, and Hayward's 'Gypsy Of A Strange And Distant Time' lyrically conveys a sense of loneliness, displacement and terror far removed from the pastoral dreamscapes of his earlier compositions. But most importantly, this was the album that gave the world the song that Moodies fanatics often cite in polls as their all time favourite: the joint (pun intended) Hayward/Thomas composition 'Watching And Waiting', which can truly stand alonsgide any of the finest in the history of rock music. Ironically, though, tis was the poorest-selling of any of their classic era albums!! Now a second disc has been added to the original album and features eleven previously unreleased alternate versions and BBC Radio 1 Sessions.

Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth. CD. (UMC - 9879791) The debut EP from 1982, the recording that introduced the term 'no wave' to New York. Originally a five track EP released on the Neutral label- now didgitally remastered and expanded with five bonus tracks.

The Trip Created By Jarvis Cocker - Various. CD. (UMC - 9832862) An amazing journey through power pop, expansive soundtracks, blues, alternative cover versions, junk shop breaks and genuinely unexpected musical nuggets.

Thurston Moore - Psychic Hearts. CD. (UMC - 9879793) Originally released in 1995 on Geffen, this was an even more experimental release than Sonic Youth's effort from that year, "Washing Machine" , and features the 20 minute epic 'Elegy For All The Dead Rock Stars'. Believe you we, if you think you've heard drone noise, you haven't heard this!! Great stuff from a true free thinker of rock.

© Delerium Music 2008. Web Site written and maintained by Matt Platts for Paragon Digital. Please see www.vatloophole.co.uk for information on why we closed down.