I'm sorry for the incredible dirth of movement on my blogs. Really, people like me shouldn't even have blogs...
But in the meantime, I've heard a lot of music. (I'll be posting more on that in a bit.)
And a few days ago, I heard The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Five stars.
It's certainly crazy. It even forms a vague concept to start with. Only the concept is something to do with a man in a nightmare and Hell - in the classical sense...
Sounds weird, and the music and Arthur Brown's manic, sometimes high, shrieking delivery accent it perfectly. One thing's sure: he's a unique artist.
The CD includes the mono mixes of the first five songs, which are put in before the proper record starts. Listening back to back, they aren't all that similar, so if you really like the CD, go back for the repeats, by all means.
Prelude - Nightmare opens with stately chamber music and raspy breathing before going to bouncy rock and Arthur's voice (which has great range) starts a well-nigh incomprehensibe description of something weird. Punctuated with shrieks. This song reprises a few times down the road, so stay alert.
Next is Fanfare - Fire Poem, which starts with a trumpet fanfare before leaping into another bouncy rock tune. Arthur describes a visit to Hell, and though he starts calmly, he quickly dissolves to maddened hysteria (he's very good at that) and it ends as fast as it began at only two minutes long.
Fire (noticing the concept?) is pretty fun, though it's really odd. Going back and forth between a chipper chorus and gentle verses, not to mention the total mania it descends into as it goes. This is one weird show.
Come and Buy moves more slowly (which is good for a breather). Like Fire, it seems to be told by the Devil, only he's trying to barter in this episode. It almost verges on silliness, with a superfast delivery at points. Good cello. Arthur just has a perfect voice for this sort of stuff.
Time/Confusion is a dark, dreamy, waltzing tune, so I love it. I'm not sure what it's about, but it's a great mood piece. Creepy to boot.
After that, concept is dropped for a ton of odds and ends. A moody rendition of I Put a Spell on You. Great job of it, I think.
Spontaneous Apple Creation is totally silly. Comes close to whimsy, but Arthur is just too disturbing to pull that off without adding weird things to the mix.
Rest Cure actually does pull it off. It sounds really nice and oddly comforting. Provided this isn't actually the Devil talking. He sings this one differently and I like it a lot.
I've Got Money is a James Brown cover. I didn't realise, because Arthur squawks like a deranged parrot throughout, putting his own stamp on a funk tune. Bizarre.
Child of My Kingdom settles down the record. It's the longest song here, and holds a good deal of interest, as everything has.
You know, I don't think I've ever heard a person who could sing in such a nice, woody baritone and then start shrieking like a female mental patient at the drop of a hat. And apparantly this guy had a really incredible stage persona, so in a way he was the forerunner to all the over-the-top acts that came in the early seventies. Reason enough to have him around. I'm glad we do, because he's great in his own right. Weird and wrong, totally out there and deranged, but also really cool.
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