Banging Colours: Hallucinogenic Treasures from the Convolution of an Imaginative Brain

The year was 1967, the ‘summer of love’ and there was an incredible experimentation in music that was taking shape led by The Beatles’ iconic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That year there was a seemingly endless stream of new music with new albums by The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Traffic, Cream, Grateful Dead…and the list goes on. What an amazing wealth of unbridled talent and creativity and never has the music scene reached those dizzying heights as it did in those early years. There was another band making its way through London’s underground music scene, a band that has been virtually unknown….but wait, might this be a hoax, a pure creation during modern times. I for one am not sure so let’s just look at what we got.

The album is titled Hallucinogenic Treasures from the Convolution of an Imaginative Brain from the band Banging Colours. This has to be one of my favourite album titles I have seen in an awfully long time. The music is spread over two discs, the first titled The Studio Recordings consisting of tracks taken from 1967 to 1969. It opens with “The Love and Fun Brigade�, a jaunty upbeat piece of psychedelic pop. I love the background textural guitar and psychedelic effects. If these guys are not from the ‘60s, they certainly are students of the genre, creating fabulous sounding retro psychedelic pop rock. Definitely some Beatles’ trickery here and you got to dig the slightly accented lead vocals. “Evaporation of Linearity� is filled with interesting guitar work and a general weirdness that recalls early Pink Floyd. “If God’s a Fly� is another slice of ‘60s psych with noodle-like background organ and bluesy guitar work. The guitar and organ interplay in the purely psychedelic “Tapestry Puzzle� is another album highlight.

The second disc titled Live Jam and Radio Sessions consists of nine improvs with the band’s weirdness is on full display. From bursts of guitar to sporadic drumming to jarring and completely off the wall improvisations, this is some strange stuff indeed. I really appreciate the band’s use of organ and violin throughout the sessions as the band have that hippy tripped out jam sound perfected.

Whether these recordings are from the late ‘60s, or not, this is some fine psychedelic rock and pop music that needs to be heard. Highly recommended.

Band members:
Manny Wolfe (organ, piano, vocals)
Keith Friedell (violin, mandolin, musical saw)
Pekka Jokinen (bass)
Young Patel (acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin)
Bas Ricken (drums and percussion)

Track Listing:
Disc 1: The Studio Recordings
1. The Love and Fun Brigade (Full Stereo) (6:27)
2. Evaporation of Linearity (9:04)
3. If God’s a Fly (10:42)
4. Tapestry Puzzle (4:49)
5. Primrose Hill (5:38)
6. Ivica (5:41)
7. Waves (6:30)
8. The Letter (5:25)
9. Toward the Great Oneness (5:40)
10. Magic Theatre (6:35)
11. The Love and Fun Brigade (Mono Single) (2:55)

Disc 2: Live Jams and Radio Sessions
The Gustav Metzger Sessions
1. Gustav Metzger Improv I (1:36)
2. Gustav Metzger Improv II (1:28)
3. Gustav Metzger Improv III (3:08)
4. Gustav Metzger Improv IV (1:14)
5. Gustav Metzger Improv V (2:23)
BBC Radio Sessions
6. Radio Session Improv I (5:01)
7. Radio Session Improv II (4:45)
8. Radio Session Improv III (6:29)
Live Studio Session
9. Fool’s Parsley in Pills (19:23)

Added: October 5th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 686
Language: english

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