Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Syd Barrett (2022)

In the second half of 1967 and through to early 1968, while still part of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett's behaviour became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, with reports of him on stage with the group during this period strumming on one chord through an entire concert or not playing at all. Following an increasingly difficult US tour with him in 1967, and with David Gilmour drafted in to help out with live dates, the rest of the band decided that they couldn't work with Barrett any more, and on 6 April 1968 they officially announced that he was no longer a member of Pink Floyd. After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Peter Jenner and Andrew King, from the band's management, followed suit, feeling that as Barrett was the creative centre of the band, they would rather represent him than Pink Floyd. In May Jenner led Barrett into EMI Studios to record some solo material, but this was only partially successful, with most tracks having no vocals. Recording resumed in June and July, with better progress being made this time, but shortly after the July dates, Barrett abruptly stopped recording, breaking up with girlfriend Lindsay Corner, and then going off on a drive around Britain in his Mini, at the end of which he ended up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. 

By the start of 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett decided to return to his musical career and revisit the Jenner-produced recordings, and so in April 1969 he began working on newer material, while reworking the 1968 recordings. After some months of work on the songs, Barrett told his flatmate that he was going off "for an afternoon drive", but instead followed Pink Floyd out to Ibiza, and during the trip, he asked David Gilmour for his help on the album, and so at the end of May, Malcolm Jones abandoned his production responsibilities and Gilmour and Waters took over. Although they were in the process of completing Pink Floyd's 'Ummagumma' album, they took time out and helped Barrett finish his album, managing to record a number of his songs during a June session, and then coming back to complete the project after taking a temporary break to mix 'Ummagumma' and undertake a tour of the Netherlands. After several months of intermittent recording, the album was finally deemed complete, and once the final recording sessions for the album had been completed, Gilmour and Waters mixed not just the tracks they had produced, but also the previously recorded songs with Malcolm Jones, in a matter of two days. 

'Octopus' was released as a single in November 1969, and 'The Madcap Laughs' followed on 2 January 1970, with both records appearing on the Harvest Records label. The album was fairly well-reviewed by music critics, and has since become something of a classic of the psychedelic music genre, and so the songs are ripe for interpretation by other bands with the same midset. Marc And The Mambas deliver a great take on 'Terrapin', and Slowdive's version of 'Golden Hair' is pretty much exactly as you would expect it to sound. REM have covered 'Dark Globe', and The Shamen and The Mock Turtles have both provided superb takes of a couple of songs from the record for official tribute albums to Barrett, while two of my personal favourite bands finally appear together, with The Green Pajamas and The Cleaners From Venus both giving it their best. I'll have to admit that this is one of the most idiosyncratic collections in this series, but every artist on here shows an obvious love for the source material, and so in the end it makes for an intriguing and enjoyable listen. 

Track listing

01 Terrapin (Marc And The Mambas 1982) 
02 No Good Trying (The Mock Turtles 1987)
03 Love You (The Besnard Lakes 2010)
04 No Man's Land (Race Horses 2010)
05 Dark Globe (REM 1989)  
06 Here I Go (The Balters 2022)
07 Octopus (Carnival Art 1990)
08 Golden Hair (Slowdive 1991)
09 Long Gone (The Shamen 1987)
10 She Took A Long Cold Look (The Green Pajamas 2000)
11 Feel (Marinus Pee 2015)
12 If It's In You (Jennifer Gentle 2010)
13 Late Night (The Cleaners From Venus 1985)

Slowdive - I Saw The Sun (1992)

Slowdive was formed in October 1989 in Reading, England, by Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell, who had been friends since they were six years old, and who both sang and played guitar. Their first band together was the indie-pop group The Pumpkin Fairies, where they were joined by bassist Mike Cottle and drummer Adrian Sell, but when The Pumpkin Fairies disbanded the group evolved into Slowdive, named after the single by one of their favourite bands Siouxsie And The Banshees, where they were assisted by drummer Adrian Sell and Sell's friend, bassist Nick Chaplin. A third guitarist named Christian Savill, previously of the band Eternal, joined when he became the only person to answer an advert from the band, and although the ad called for a female guitarist, Savill wanted the gig so badly that he offered to wear a dress, and was subsequently recruited. The band quickly recorded a demo, and several months later played a show with the band Five Thirty, where head of A&R at EMI Steve Walters saw them, and requested one of their demos. The band signed to Creation Records shortly after, but Sell felt things were progressing too fast and left for university after being in the band for about six months. Their self-titled EP was released in November 1990 and received praise from music critics, even thought the songs on it were from their original demo, as the band preferred the older recordings after feeling disillusioned with their studio craft. Drummer Neil Carter joined from fellow Reading band the Colour Mary in time to play on the 'Morningrise EP', but left prior to its release in February 1991, and Simon Scott took over on drums after his previous group The Charlottes broke up. The 'Holding Our Breath EP' followed in June 1991, reaching No. 52 in the UK Albums Chart, while the single 'Catch the Breeze' topped the UK Indie Chart, and by mid-1991 Slowdive were at the forefront of the newest indie sub-genre, "shoegazing", led by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, with their abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals, and penchant for playing with their gaze firmly fixed on the floor. Production on their debut album commenced shortly after Halstead convinced Creation's head honcho Alan McGee that they had enough songs written for a full-length album, which was not actually true. They hurriedly started writing songs in the studio, experimenting with drug-inspired sounds, while Halstead drew lyrical inspiration from the abstract nature of the music. 'Just For A Day' was released in September 1991 and hit the top 10 of the UK Indie Chart, gaining a positive review along the way from the NME, although most of the other music press were engaged in a backlash against shoegazers, following the release of My Bloody Valentine's disappointing 'Loveless', and so were less complimentary.

A tour of the UK followed in autumn 1991, and after that the band made their first visit to the United States, touring with Blur. In 1992 they began writing songs for a follow-up album, but the negative coverage they'd received in the press affected their songwriting, and although approximately 40 songs were recorded and re-recorded, the group were very self-conscious of their writing and how it might be received. McGee listened to the new material, and subsequently dismissed it, so they band discarded it all and started over. During this time they wrote to ambient visionary Brian Eno and requested he produce their second album, but when he responded he told them he liked their music, but wanted to collaborate rather than produce, and the two songs that they recorded together later appeared on their second album. Creation Records wanted Slowdive to produce a commercial sounding album, and Halstead agreed that he wanted to make a 'pop' record, but it took a while to record, and at one point he left for a break in a Welsh cottage, leaving Savill, Chaplin and Scott in the recording studio, where they recorded some "joke songs". To their misfortune, McGee acquired them and became despondent at the new direction of the band, but Halstead soon returned with new music, including 'Dagger' and '40 Days', and 'Souvlaki' was released in May 1993, alongside the 'Outside Your Room EP'. Although critical reaction was once again generally negative, it's been re-evaluated over the years, and is now considered their defining moment. But would that have been the case if they hadn't scrapped those earlier 1992 recordings and had released them as their second album? Well we can now decide for ourselves, as this post collects together the best of them for what could have been the follow-up to 'Just For A Day', and while there's no doubt that 'Souvlaki' is now considered a classic shoegaze album, these songs aren't that bad, and I'm sure fans of the band will enjoy hearing what might have been. 

 
Track listing

01 Summer Day
02 Bleed
03 Sleep
04 Silver Screen
05 Dagger
06 I Saw The Sun
07 Hide Yer Eyes
08 Joy
09 I Believe
10 Richard
11 Ending