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)

Various Artists - An Alternative Hendrix (1990)

I was listening to my New Fast Automatic Daffodils 'Peel Sessions' album the other day, and was reminded at just how great their take on 'Purple Haze' was, which in turn prompted memories of another couple of Hendrix covers by new wave/alternative bands that I'd always loved - 'All Along The Watchtower' by XTC and 'Foxy Lady' by The Cure. I wondered if there were any more punky versions of Hendrix's songs out there, and found that although there have been two tribute albums released, with 'Stone Free' in 1993 and 'If Six Was Nine' in 1990, they seemed to concentrate on more mainstream groups to contribute to them, and so I only had to borrow four songs from the latter to flesh out this collection of re-imaginings of Hendrix classics by some of my favourite new wave/alternative bands. 

Track listing

01 Purple Haze - New Fast Automatic Daffodils
02 Can You See Me - Thee Hypnotics
03 Stone Free - Supergrass
04 Are You Experienced - The Mock Turtles
05 Who Knows - Bevis Frond
06 Foxy Lady - The Cure
07 Love Or Confusion - The Screaming Trees
08 Hey Joe - Patti Smith
09 All Along The Watchtower - XTC
10 Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - The Membranes
11 Crosstown Traffic - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

The Mock Turtles - Somewhere In England (1992)

After The Mock Turtles were dropped from their record label they continued to write and record demos for a possible third album, and the first thing that strikes you when you hear them is how much they've beefed up their sound. Gone are the jangly indie-pop songs of the debut album and in come crunching guitars and a thumping rhythm section. Once I was over my initial surprise I found that I really liked this new sound, and so it's a shame that nothing ever came of them, with Martin Coogan keeping them under wraps until they appeared on the expanded edition of 'Turtle Soup'. If only they'd found another record company prepared to take a risk on them, their third album could have given them a whole new lease of life.   

Track listing

01 Johnny Seven
02 Angel
03 Golden Children
04 One Eyed Jack
05 Turn On
06 Up Here In Heaven
07 Casting Pearls
08 Harvey Don't Die
09 King For A Day
10 See Saw
11 Falling All Over
12 Wally's Dead
13 Somewhere In England
14 The Only One

The Mock Turtles - The Waning Moon (1994)

The Mock Turtles were led by former Judge Happiness singer Martin Coogan, older brother of actor/comedian Steve Coogan. The band began to pick up attention around 1990, with tracks such as 'Lay Me Down' and 'And Then She Smiles' on the Imaginary label, and they released the excellent 'Turtle Soup' album in 1990, which was full of superb indie rock songs, but it was 'Can You Dig It?' which gained them wider attention. Originally a b-side to 'Lay Me Down', the band's new record label, Siren, re-issued it with additional guitar work, and it breached the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. They released a second album 'Two Sides' in 1991, but they were unable to follow up their early success and were dropped by their label. In 2002 and 2003 Vodafone used 'Can You Dig It?' for an advertising campaign, which saw the band make a comeback, with Norman Cook doing a remix of the song which reached No. 19 in the UK chart. Most recently, 'And Then She Smiles' has been used as the theme song for the television programme 'Stella' on Sky1. Despite their short career they recorded a lot of extra tracks which were used for singles, or as contributions to tribute albums - sometimes both at the same time (their take on 'Are You Experienced?' is a revelation, and it's a shame it's only available as a vinyl rip). Add in a few b-sides and we have a fine collection of songs which shows what a massively under-rated band The Mock Turtles were.

Track listing

01 Watching The Waning Moon (from the 'Pomona' EP 1987)  
02 John O'War (from the 'Pomona' EP 1987)
03 Big Sky (from 'Shangri-La - A Tribute To The Kinks' 1989)
04 Bathing In Blue (from the 'Pomona' EP 1987)
05 No Good Trying (from 'Beyond The Wildwood - A Tribute To Syd Barrett' 1987) 
06 Calm Before The Storm (b-side of 'And Then She Smiles' 1989)
07 Shangri-La (from 'Shangri-La - A Tribute To The Kinks' 1989)
08 Fionnuala (b-side of 'Wicker Man' 12" 1989)
09 Time Bewteen / Why (from 'Time Between - A Tribute To The Byrds' 1989)
10 Croppies Lie Down (freebie single with Bucketfull Of Brains magazine 1989)
11 Magic Boomerang (single 1990)
12 Take Your Time (b-side of 'Magic Boomerang')
13 Are You Experienced? (single 1990)
14 She Told Me (b-side of 'Strings And Flowers' 1991)
15 Pale Blue Eyes (from 'Fifteen Minutes - A Tribute To The Velvet Underground' 1994)
16 Big Eyed Beans From Venus (from 'Fast 'n' Bulbous - A Tribute To Captain Beefheart' 1988)