A
little something to blow your mind. Switzerland's one-man answer to
The Dukes Of Stratosphear.
Switzerland's
multi-instrumentalist Balduin has been making and honing his brand of
psychedelic pop music since 2001. On the strength of this debut LP
release for Sunstone Records perhaps now is the time he becomes more
widely known. All In A Dream is released at a time when '60s
psych influenced music is enjoying something of a renaissance. With
the likes of Temples and Jacco Gardner gaining popularity, and psych
festivals popping up everywhere from Tokyo to Liverpool, Austin to
Berlin, it seems that now is a great time for music that explores
inner head-space. And if it has a catchy poppy side too, well even
better. All In A Dream has this in spades. And then some.
Which Dreamed It,
Balduin's sitar-based opus is up there with any '60s pop royalty's
foray into eastern music. George Harrison and Brian Jones included.
Any notion of pastiche is eroded by the track's sheer playfulness.
With lilting time signatures, shifting quarter notes, modal scales
and melody, it's a true joy and highlight of the album. Though there
are many more delights to be enjoyed.
With an ever shifting
musical palette that contains echoes of Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson and
a thousand great but long-lost psych bands, Balduin covers much
musical ground. Father is a Lennon-esque piano ballad that Beatle
John himself would have been proud of. Autumn is an amicable meeting
between Merseybeat and folk-pop complete with baroque harpsichord.
It would be a fair to
assume that Balduin's record collection and favoured listening is mid
to late '60s British psych, in particular Donovan's purple patch of
Mickie Most produced albums. That said this album will resonate
nicely with fans of each subsequent psychedelic era, from XTC,
through the Coral and on towards today's neo-psych torch bearers such as Maston
and Jacco Gardner.
UK dates are planned
for later in the year and it will be interesting to see how this
man-of-many instruments translates these recordings into a live
setting. But in the meantime this LP offers more than enough
delights.
Click here for
Balduin's website.
Click here for the
Sunstone Records.
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