RICHARD FALK's REVIEWS
Sv-Sz
Sveriges Kommuner Och Landsting (Sweden): Mina Ögon (Kommun 2 K2-44, with poster, 2018)
Psychedelic
The band may be Swedish, but the feel is firmly Krautrock: these five acid-rock jams strongly recall Amon Düül II, complete with Chris Karrer-style violin, a Renate Knaup-like vocalist and even an authentic German intoning text à la Walter Wegmüller. The results are likely to delight anybody who enjoys early seventies Kraut jamming, or heavy psychedelic rock in general. The band had previously issued several albums with an all-male line-up. As a footnote, only 49 copies were pressed, with plain white labels; most have a plain back cover but a handful have a hand-painted design. GRADE: B–.
Courtney Swain (USA): Between Blood And Ocean (No label, CDR, with gatefold minisleeve, 2019)
Rock
Courtney Swain (lead vocals, keyboards)
This is the genesis of the fuzzy, big-beat electropop that dominated Bent Knee’s Frosting, taking Swain some distance from progressive rock – though this is certainly quite bold and experimental in its own way. Throw in a bit of autotune and a few more conventional singer/songwriter moments and the result is an odd little disc that doesn’t really sit anywhere stylistically but is a slightly more enjoyable listen than my description may suggest. GRADE: C+.
See also Bent Knee
Swamp Salad (Australia): On The Country Line (ATA/Calendar SR66-9899, 1971)
Blues/Rock/Psychedelic
Christine Barnett (lead vocals)
Put together by prolific session instrumentalists plus Christine Barnett fronting four cuts, this may well have been intended as a country/rock cash-in. However, the final result was nothing of the kind. Covers of ‘Witchita Lineman’ and ‘Ode To Billy Joe’ fit the ‘country’ tag well enough, but much of the rest is bluesy underground rock jamming covered in fuzz guitar and owing a heavy debt to Jimi Hendrix. The album is known with two different covers: one with a black-and-white band photograph and the other with a much more attractive full-colour psychedelic painting. It is not entirely clear which came first, although both versions are rare and sell for good (and similar) money. GRADE: C+.
Swan (Holland): From Swan With Love (No label SLP 198174, 1981)
Pop/Rock/Progressive
Joan Clauson (principal vocals)
Featuring Ayreon and Kayak vocalist Edward Reekers, this obscure Dutch band offers nice, if inconsequential, progressive pop and symphonic soft rock. However, the instrumental textures are decidedly better than the songwriting, and the album only really catches fire once (the instrumental coda to ‘Let Me Down Easy’). GRADE: C.
Sweet Communion (UK): Nothing Short Of Telling (Mint Special Products MSP2, with poster, 1976)
Folk/Pop
June Allen, Shirley Allen
Housed in a remarkably tacky sleeve, this Northern Irish Christian LP mainly consists of rather twee pop/rock songs with full electric arrangements and prominent strings. However, three tracks stand out. ‘The Tears That Fell’ is a hauntingly beautiful folk ballad, whilst ‘Esther’ and ‘Here To Stay’ are catchy fuzz guitar-driven pieces that would grace any Christian psychedelic album. Were the whole LP of this standard, it would be an extremely expensive collectors’ piece. GRADE: C.
Sweet Hostage (USA): Midnight Rider (Silver Star HRL 104-80, 1980)
Rock
Shannon Tabert (principal vocals)
From the sleeve and song titles (‘Sweet Hostage’, ‘We Gotta Play (Rock & Roll)’, ‘Rock & Roll Fever’) this is obviously AOR/hard rock. However, the almost ambient guitar soundscape that opens the album defies expectations before the mid-paced rock grooves begin. This isn’t mouldbreaking, original or distinctive, but it’s a good and enjoyable example of the style. GRADE: C+.
Sweet Linda Divine (USA): Sweet Linda Divine (Columbia CS 9771, 1969)
Soul/Rock/Psychedelic
Linda Tillery (lead vocals, percussion)
This venture by the former Loading Zone vocalist can be summed up in a single word: Joplinesque. That said, this recalls Maggie Bell as much as it does I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Mama, and like solo Bell she doesn’t write, so this consists entirely of cover versions. There are two instrumentals, on which I assume Tillery contributes only percussion (if anything), further blurring the issue of whether this is a band project or solo album. At its best, this approaches Joplin in terms of atmosphere and period charm (though never in terms of edginess or sheer energy) but Tillery’s excellent vocals and the band’s tight performances are undercut by the overbearing orchestrations, which add a slight showbiz edge to the record. As a curious footnote, this marked the first appearance on vinyl of prolicic drummer Denny Carmassi, later of Heart. GRADE: C+.
See also Loading Zone, Linda Tillery
Sweet Pain (UK): Sweet Pain (Mercury 20146 SMCL, 1969)
Blues/Rock/Psychedelic
Annette Brox (joint lead vocals)
This is one of the best white blues albums of the late sixties, with a decidedly psychedelic edge to some of the guitar work. Almost sounding like an imaginary hybrid of Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack and Jimi Hendrix, it’s a period classic, with an unusual production that sees instruments wandering woozily across the stereo soundstage. GRADE: B.
See also Annette & Victor Brox
Sweet Salvation (USA): Sweet Salvation (Elektra EKS 75045, 1972)
Soul/Blues/Funk/Rock
DeEtta Little (joint lead vocals)
Funky, soulful and bluesy rock from a mixed-race, mixed-gender band. They’re not in the same league as their obvious idols Sly & The Family Stone, but this is a solid album and bound to please anyone liking the genre. The energetic closer ‘Rock Steady’, running for eight-and-a-half minutes, is by far the best thing on offer. GRADE: C+.
Sweetwater (USA): Sweetwater (Reprise RS 6313, 1968)
Folk/Progressive/Psychedelic
Nancy Nevins (lead vocals)
The album opens startlingly, with the standard ‘Motherless Child’ reinterpreted as a soft, dreamy piece of organ and flute-led progressive rock. Most of the remaining cuts are self-penned, and all are shorter, but the same gentle, folky style is maintained throughout (apart from the hard-edged, psychedelic ‘My Crystal Spider’). The result is not particularly varied, but it’s all beautifully melodic and they have a distinctive and successful style. GRADE: B–.
Sweetwater (USA): Just For You (Reprise RS 6417, with insert, 1970)
Jazz/Funk/Progressive
Nancy Nevins (lead vocals, guitar)
Quite different to their debut, their second album takes many of its influences from jazz and funk, with plentiful hand percussion on most cuts. I’ve always loathed the term ‘folk-funk’, coined by record dealers to entice hip DJs into buying a wide range of albums (mostly unremarkable obscure singer/songwriter efforts), but it fits the bill here. Overall, the album is more adventurous and progressive than their first (especially on the remarkable eight-and-a-half minute title track), but not quite as mellifluous. It is, however, another excellent outing from a genuinely bold and innovative band. GRADE: B–.
Sweetwater (USA): Melon (Reprise RS 6473, 1971)
Jazz/Funk
Nancy Nevins (lead vocals, guitar)
Their last album was definitely their least, suggesting that they called it a day at the right time. That’s not to say I don’t like it – its languid, funky grooves are quite beguiling – but it’s much less consistent than their first and far less adventurous than their second. In particular, Nancy Nevins’s sole composition sounds rather out of place, whilst elsewhere they’re beginning to repeat themselves. GRADE: C+.
See also Nancy Nevins
Swindlefolk (UK): Swindled! (Deroy DER-111, 1969)
Folk
June Carney (joint lead vocals), Christine Daley (joint lead vocals), Carol Dixon (joint lead vocals), Lesley Duffy (joint lead vocals), Joyce Edisbury (joint lead vocals), Anne Johnstone (joint lead vocals), Bessie Long (joint lead vocals), Pamela McWilliam (joint lead vocals), Sandra Power (joint lead vocals), Barbara White (joint lead vocals)
This schoolgirl folk album has its moments – ‘May Morning’ is haunting and beautiful – but is mostly pleasant rather than exceptional, with simple acoustic guitar backing. A few more uptempo tracks like ‘Hava Nagila’, ’Viva!’ and ‘Marco Polo’ don’t work so well, having a sort of jolly Girl Guide campfire singalong mood. Surprisingly, this got a major label reissue the following year (Ace Of Clubs ACL. 1273) with completely different artwork and a rejigged running order. GRADE: C.
Swindlefolk (UK): Arovin’ (Deroy ADM LP 521, 1970)
Folk
Dy Swindlehurst (joint lead vocals, guitar, cello), Joyce Edisbury (joint lead vocals, percussion), Sandra Power (joint lead vocals, percussion), Bessie Long (joint lead vocals), Carol Dixon (joint lead vocals), June Carney (joint lead vocals), Anne Johnstone (joint lead vocals), Pam McWilliam (joint lead vocals), Barbara White (joint lead vocals)
The standout this time round is a beautiful version of ‘Come All Ye Fair And Tender Maidens’, hinting at the direction some members would later take in Ruffwood Arts. The usually reliable ‘Bruton Town’ is also excellent, with an acid-folk flavour, ‘Sally Free And Easy’ is rather eerie, with accompaniment only from bongos, and ‘All My Trials’ is ideally suited to their style. Most of the rest is rather average semi-choral folk, like their debut, but this is overall a slight step up. GRADE: C+.
Swindlefolk (UK): Dusk To Dawn (No label, 1971?)
Folk
Dy Swindlehurst (joint lead vocals, guitar), June Carney (joint lead vocals), Carol Dixon (joint lead vocals), Joyce Edisbury (joint lead vocals), Bessie Long (joint lead vocals), Pam McWilliam (joint lead vocals), Sandra Power (joint lead vocals)
Once again, the solo voice songs are the best, particularly the delicate ‘Affair On 8th Avenue’, whilst the Pentangle instrumental ‘Sweet Potato’ is handled very skilfully. That said, any schoolgirl folk fan should get something out of the purity of their massed voices on ‘Sanctus’, ‘The Sparrow’ and ‘Parcel Of Rogues’. However, this is by far the most choral and classical of their LPs. Several members subsequently joined Ruffwood Arts, which released a much superior, and much rarer, album. GRADE: C.
See also Ruffwood Arts
Swing Wings (UK): Swing Wings In Orbit (Hollick & Taylor HT/LPS 1406, 1973)
Lounge
Linda Sancaster (flute), Jane Scotney (clarinet)
The handmade foldover sleeve of this private album, with a silver embossed satellite on a matt black background, is among the most beautiful I have ever encountered. Sadly, the music is instrumental thirties-style brass-rock covers of a bizarre range of material by a school band. GRADE: E.
Swordedge (UK): Swordedge (Swordedge SW001, with poster, 1980)
Folk
Sue Fenwick (joint lead vocals, bodhrán, psaltery)
Consisting of early seventies-style traditional folk, this sells for huge sums of money. The black sleeve with a dramatic silver crest suggests a heavy metal album, and the LP long had a reputation for being Spriguns-style electric folk, but it’s a delicate acoustic LP in the manner of Tickawinda and frequently exquisitely beautiful. GRADE: C+.
Sycomore (USA): Sycomore (Celebration VES 752S, 1976)
Rock
Debby Larsen (joint lead vocals)
This is slick Christian soft rock with jazz/funk edges, sounding a few years later than its release date. They display a few minor prog pretensions, but otherwise the only noteworthy features are the occasionally poignant lyrics and the rather handsome textured sleeve. GRADE: D+.
Sydenham School (UK): A New Life (No label, 1966?)
Folk/Rock
Marion Brooks (joint lead vocals), Lorna Richardson (occasional vocals), Hazelle Eastman (occasional vocals), Frankye Atkins (occasional vocals), Diane McNamara (occasional vocals), Anthea Lowder (occasional vocals), Susan Humphries (occasional vocals)
This collection of songs from a musical staged at a girls’ school is interesting for two reasons. First, it’s the earliest private pressing of its kind that I’ve encountered (the record is undated but the sleevenotes refer to performances on 7th and 8th July 1966) and secondly the musical backing is from the London Jazz Four. The music is rather sedate and piano-based, with tuned percussion adding the expecting jazz and lounge edges, and the vocals are as pure and charming as you would imagine. GRADE: C+.
Syn (USA): Cast The First Stone (Cheap Plastic, with inner, 1980)
Rock
Gloria Giarrusso (lead vocals, guitar)
The opening synthesiser solo suggests this is going to be sympho-prog, but in fact it’s AOR in a style similar to early Heart. The band definitely had some progressive ambitions (as indeed did early Heart), throwing in three instrumentals and some nifty guitar, keyboard and flute breaks; with good songwriting and musicianship, they were unlucky not to gain a major label deal. GRADE: C+.
Syndone (Italy): Eros & Thanatos (Falling FAD-021, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2016)
Progressive
Marta Caldara (keyboards, vibraphone)
Syndone’s sixth album (and first with a female member) offers an odd (but very pleasing) grab-bag of Italian and European prog styles. There’s everything here from dynamic King Crimson-like rock to rich symphonic passages to a couple of numbers with vocoder which vaguely hint towards Queen, with the album never really settling into any particular style yet always remaining consistently interesting. GRADE: B–.
Syndone (Italy): Mysoginia (Ma.Ra.Cash MRC074, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2018)
Progressive
Marta Caldara (percussion)
Even more so than its predecessor, Mysoginia is a quirky and sometimes perplexing album. One clearly can’t classify Syndone as anything other than prog, with plenty of tempo changes and unexpected diversions, but their style is broadly song-based and they have a clear fondness for epic ballads – very Italian, very sensual and very close to crossing over into MOR. Nonetheless their music is inventive and intriguing and whilst borrowing from plenty of other bands, they achieve that rarity for a modern prog outfit – they ultimately sound only like themselves. GRADE: B–.
Syndone (Italy): Kāma Sūtra (Ma.Ra.Cash MRC102, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2021)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Marta Caldara (percussion)
The slight Queen influence I noted on Eros & Thanatos becomes much more obvious here: Kāma Sūtra mixes seventies-style heavy pomp-rock, ethnic elements, prominent strings and lugubrious ballads to decidedly unusual effect. Whether this bizarre pot-pourri works is debatable; what is unarguable is that parts of the album work very well while others don’t, making this rather difficult to grade. GRADE: C+.
Syndone (Italy): DirtyThirty 1992-2022 (Ma.Ra.Cash MRC125, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2022)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Marta Caldara (keyboards, percussion)
As the subtitle makes clear, this comprises re-recordings and reworkings of songs from across Syndone’s 30-year career. The operative word there is ‘songs’ and as such, this contains some fine instrumental breaks but is still a C+ as Syndone – like many modern prog bands – are better composers than they are songwriters and this is often too bombastic or whimsical or lugubrious for its own good. GRADE: C+.
SynKoke (Norway): Hokjønn (AIMSoundCIty AIMCD133, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and insert, 2009)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Ellen Andrea Wang (occasional vocals, bass)
SynKoke may have shared a bassist with White Willow, but there’s no musical resemblance. This is crazy RIO with free jazz and punkish edges, sounding decidedly more French than Norwegian and in particular recalling Étron Fou Leloublan. Always creative, sometimes thrilling, occasionally ponderous, this is a fine example of its genre. As a bonus, the shocking pink, black and gold textured cover is as striking as the music within. GRADE: B–.
SynKoke (Norway): The Ideologist (Kokeplate, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, 2001)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Ellen Andrea Wang (bass)
This is simultaneously similar to and different from its predecessor. The Étron Fou or Les I free jazz edges are still present, but elsewhere this has a more seventies sound, including some intense rock passages recalling King Crimson. Almost entirely instrumental, the album feels a bit slight at around 35 minutes, but still includes a few ponderous passages where nothing much happens. Nonetheless, when it’s good it’s absolutely stunning. GRADE: B–.
See also White Willow
System (USA): System (PD, 1978)
Rock
Barb Arnold (joint lead vocals, percussion)
From the back cover, the eight-piece band looks like a Christian folk/rock outfit, and there are elements of that sound in their vocal approach. However, the lyrics are firmly secular and the music is rooted in West Coast rock. Overall, they sound a little like T-Kail with a loungier edge or a poppier, slicker twist on the Mainstream label sound; though had this been recorded in the late sixties or early seventies it wouldn’t have suffered from the syrupy strings that swamp nearly half the cuts. At least it ends on its best track: the superb folk/rocker ‘Mighty Rough Road’. The album comes in a thin, glossy silkscreened black-and-white cover and appears to be a very small pressing. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): System 7 (Virgin DIXCD102, CD, UK, 1991)
Pop/Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy
Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy’s post-Gong, post-solo band offers pleasant enough pop/dance grooves, mixing songs and instrumentals, and it's interesting to hear Hillage’s distinctive guitar playing in this distinctly different setting. But whilst this avoids most of the worst clichés of electronic dance music, going from the majesty and complexity of You and Fish Rising to this feels more like a devolution than an evolution, let alone a revolution. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): 777 (Big Life/Weird & Unconventional BF LCD 1, CD, UK, 1993)
Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy (keyboards, programming)
For better and worse, 777 drops its predecessor’s songs – whilst they weren’t exactly the highpoint of the debut, they added some much needed variety. What’s left is a trip without a destination: an arid tundra of endless, interchangeable (though not necessarily displeasing) synthesised keyboard grooves over which Hillage occasionally lets rip with a cavalcade of spacy guitar effects. As always, I love his guitar, but this would have been so much better with a real band – and it’s so much worse when he isn’t playing. GRADE: C.
System 7 (UK/France): Point 3 – Fire Album (Butterfly/Big Life BFLCA11, CD, 1994)
Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy (keyboards)
The big question I find myself asking is whether anybody actually listens to music like this. That’s not as pejorative as it sounds: I find this perfectly pleasant and it provided a mellow enough soundtrack whilst I completed my VAT return. But apart from the final two tracks, which demonstrate a marked improvement, could it ever inspire close attention or function as anything more than background ambience? There’s nothing to grab onto: no riffs or melodies or instrumental fireworks, as each track arrives, hangs around unobtrusively for a bit and then disappears, just like my cash when I completed my return. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): Point 3 – Water Album (Butterfly/Big Life BFLCB11, CD, 1994)
Dance/Psychedelic/New Age
Miquette Giraudy (keyboards)
This collection of alternate mixes of Point 3 material – mostly without the programmed percussion – has a different feel from the Fire Album, with more of a new age orientation. It’s tranquil, hypnotic stuff but as the yin to its yang can be summed up in a single word: uneventful. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): Power Of Seven7 (Butterfly BFLCD 16, CD, 1996)
Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy (synthesiser, programming)
For better or worse, this is livelier than either version of Point 3, which with music like this means you mainly hear a prominent drum machine going through its paces. The most interesting moment, relatively speaking, is when they sample Neu! on the opening ‘Interstate’. Actually, a cynic might say that it’s the only interesting moment. GRADE: C.
System 7 (UK/France): System Express (Butterfly BFLCD21X, double CD, 1996)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
This collection of remixes – segued together on the long first disc and two standalone numbers on the short second one – is beatier and livelier than most of System 7’s output. The mixes also make the material even more minimalist, so this sounds like a collection of backing tracks awaiting songs or melodies or solos, and there isn’t even any of Hillage’s trademark guitar. GRADE: E.
System 7 (UK/France): Golden Section (Butterfly BFLCD27, CD, with digipak, 1997)
Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy
On the plus side, this is more involved and intricate than the remix album – it even includes samples of vocals and trumpet, as well as some trademark Hillage guitar. But everything is relative, and whilst this is pleasant enough not much happens compared to almost any album in any other genre. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): Seventh Wave (A-Wave AAWCD007, CD, 2001)
Dance/Psychedelic
Miquette Giraudy
As System 7 albums go, this one is fair-to-middling: like the remix set, it’s beaty and repetitious but like Golden Section a few things actually happen to lift the mood. Well, lift it a little anyway. GRADE: C.
System 7 (UK/France): Live Transmissions (A-Wave AAWCDP010, CD, 2003)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
Going to a System 7 gig (not that I could imagine doing such a thing) and discovering that Steve Hillage is solely playing synthesiser and not guitar must be like opening your Christmas prresents and finding all the boxes empty. This recording of a Tokyo gig isn’t as disappointing, but I can’t imagine myself playing it again any time soon. GRADE: C.
System 7 (UK/France): Encantado (A-Wave AAWCD009, CD, 2004)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
This has some Steve Hillage guitar and some samples, so it’s a definite step up from the live set (not to mention the remix album). But the real questions are how big a step up and how likely I would be to play these languid grooves repeatedly – and my answers are ‘does it really matter?’ and ‘little to no chance’ respectively. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): Phoenix (A-Wave AAWCD012, CD, 2008)
Psychedelic/Dance
Miquette Giraudy
System 7’s best album to date is decidedly psychedelic, with lots of swirling synthesisers and hypnotic rhythms recalling Gong’s You plus plenty of guitar work from Hillage. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it rather good. However, it could have been rather great with real band backing instead of the purely electronic textures. GRADE: C+.
System 7 (UK/France): Up (A-Wave AAWCD014, CD, withj digipak and booklet, 2011)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
This is one of System 7’s livelier and beatier sets. It also has a reasonable amount of guitar from Hillage. However, to these ears at least, it’s not particularly exciting and a significant step down from Phoenix. GRADE: C.
Rovo & System 7 (Japan/UK/France): Phoenix Rising (A-Wave AAGWCD0004, CD, with digipak and booklet, UK, 2013)
Psychedelic/Dance
Miquette Giraudy (synthesiser)
Wnilst this collaboration with Japanese space-rock outfit Rovo is System 7’s best work by quite some margin, hearing them with electric band backing isn’t quite as revelatory as I had anticipated. For sure, much of this offers excellent jamming, but unlike You, which clearly inspired them, System 7’s actual rhythms often sound mechanical rather than fluid, even when they’re not performed by machines.
GRADE: C+.
System 7 & Mirror System (UK/France): N + X (A-Wave AAGWCD017, CD, with digipak, UK, 2015)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
This stopgap release combines remixes and bits-and-pieces from System 7’s X-Port and Mirror System’s N-Port, despite having a catalogue number that precedes both of them; lacking a deep understanding of the nuances of electronic dance music, I can’t really hear how the group’s two incarnations differ. With Hillage and Giraudy back to a duo, I’ll have to fall back on my stock System 7 review: this is perfectly acceptable background music but it’s just a series of grooves that don’t go anywhere. GRADE: C.
System 7 (UK/France): X-Port (A-Wave AAGWCD019, CD, with digipak, UK, 2015)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
This is beatier and more assertive than its Mirror System counterpart N-Port, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Some spacy Hillage guitar lifts the mood occasionally, but for the most part this offers a profusion of so-called repetitive beats – and they’re not the only thing to be repetitive. GRADE: C–.
System 7 & Mirror System (UK/France): Café Seven (A-Wave AAGWCD020, CD, with digipak, UK, 2015)
Dance
Miquette Giraudy
Thankfully this is one of their more varied outings, from straightforward dance grooves to full-blown space-rock and Rainbow Dome Musick-style ambient interludes. As such, there’s some decent music here, though also quite a few moments that fail to excite (me at least).
GRADE: C.
Syzygy (UK): Lady In Grey (Taptag TAG 3, 1985)
Folk/Rock
Pat Sykes (principal vocals, guitar, percussion, recorder)
Released in a numbered edition of 1000 copies to commemorate Wolverhampton’s millennium, this is as much an EP as an album, offering six songs in 22 minutes. Musically it’s electric folk with pleasant original material and a rather dated eighties production, though the quality of the songwriting and performances mostly shines through. GRADE: C+.
