Monk - Monk (1971) **UPGRADE TO THE UPGRADE**

I've recently discovered that the de-clicker I use to try to improve old crackly 45's has a Super-scan facility, and so the first album I wanted to try it out on was this old acetate by the mysterious band Monk. I thought the best thing would be to start right from the beginning, so I downloaded a fresh copy of it, and when splitting out the tracks I found that I'd split the third track in half, as it had a fade in the middle which made it sound like it had finished, and so from then on all the track titles were incorrect for side one. As well as correcting that, I've also tried to remove some of the louder clunks, in particular on 'Fantasy 2: The Beast', and so this upgrade is not only for the sound quality, but also to correct the track listing. When I tracked this down again there had been a recent comment added that a record label was looking to remaster this album and release it officially, but we've all heard that before, so if it doesn't happen then at least we have this copy to listen to. 

Speaking of an official release, Soulseeker Johntest has informed me that this did in fact happen in 2023, when Bright Carvings released a limited edition pressing of 227 copies of the fully remastered album, but as they are now long gone, I'm replacing my improved copy with a vinyl rip of one of the 227 copies from Youtube, and all I've had to do this time is split out the tracks and tidy up some fades. And I must admit that the more I listen to this, especially in this new, cleaned-up version, the more I think that this really is a lost classic of progressive rock.   

Track listing

01 Fantasy 1: The Journey
02 Sit Back, Relax
03 House In The Country
04 Lazy Day
05 A Light In The Window
06 Fantasy 2: The Beast
07 Jesu 
08 Lover
09 And So To Bed
10 Intermezzo
11 Don't Talk About Me
12 Through An Electric Glass Darkly

Monk - Monk (1971)

I stumbled on this incredibly rare acetate of an early 70's progressive rock album the other day on Youtube, and felt that it was a perfect candidate for the blog. I'm just reprinting the comments from undercoverwoo, who found and posted it, as there isn't really much more to add. 

This is an absurdly obscure psych / prog acetate which I found most unexpectedly in 2005 in a charity shop in Camberwell, London. It was hidden away in the cover of a highly generic poptastic sleeve for The Mike Morton Congregation's not particularly sought after 'Non Stop Hits – Volume 4'. The only reason I looked at it was because the contents felt a bit chunkier than usual – and I'm pleased I did. I'm not sure Mike's LPs are great sellers in charityland, so in all likelihood, if I hadn't found it, this music would likely be lying underground in about 5000 jagged shards beneath a tip somewhere on the outskirts of the capital. It was priced at £1 but I think (to my eternal shame) I managed to acquire the record for 50p, as I pointed out to the cashier it was scratched. If you listen to it all the way through, you'll hear that it was an incredible bargain, as I probably got £1000 rather than 50p worth of scratches for my small change. Plus more skips than your average primary school playground on lunchbreak. The record bears an IBC studios label, which is not insignificant. IBC (International Broadcasting Company) studios were used by a succession of A-list sixties musos, including such luminaries as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, mod gods The Action and a lesser group known as The Beatles. As such – and given there are some interesting production flourishes on the record – it'd be very interesting to learn about the talent involved, and why the record doesn't appear to have been released.

Content-wise, the LP is pleasingly eclectic. It ranges from flirtations with pastoral folkism - 'House In The Country' through trippy sound collage – 'Fantasy 2' – to ballsy rock – 'Lover' – and the pulsing reverberations of 'And So To Bed' '. 'Don't Talk To Me' is transcendent heavy cosmic prog. Datewise, I'm guessing this was recorded 1968-73? Given the name of the artist, and track titles like 'The Beast' and 'Jesu', I suspect that this might be a concept album too, and that the group could be of a religious inclination – but there's nothing else to evidence this. I'd be delighted to learn more about the music and the group – who from the evidence herein were a talented bunch and invested a lot of effort in this.
Apologies for the more than occasional pops / skips / jumps – and the irritating grinding background noise throughout side 2. Sadly the record has suffered some audible abuse! But the band plays on ...
So, through a audio haze of sizzling bacon, here's what is likely to be the premiere release of this curio. 

All I've done to it is split out the tracks, run it through my de-clicking programme (and, boy, what a difference that made), and put together a suitably enigmatic cover for it. I've given it a year of recording of 1971 as that what it sounds like to me, and as mentioned above, if anyone knows anything at all about this band then please let us all know.

Track listing

01 Fantasy 1: The Journey
02 Sit Back, Relax
03 House In The Country
04 Lazy Day
05 A Light In The Window
06 Fantasy 2: The Beast
07 Jesu 
08 Lover
09 And So To Bed
10 Intermezzo
11 Don't Talk About Me
12 Through An Electric Glass Darkly