Various: Looking at the Pictures in the Sky-The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1968

What does it sound like?:

The latest in David Wells’ Cherry Red anthologies of U.K. psychedelia, and a follow up to the more evocative sounding 1967 collection from last year, this is a very enjoyable 3 disc set of the commercial pop 45 aspects of the genre, with nary a track outstaying three minutes. In truth, if you were going to put together an ultimate list of later psychedelia you would need some bigger or proggier groups than here, but that would miss the train spotting obscurity fun of this sort of exercise. Many of these tracks, however elusive, have been catalogued before in one bootleg form or another ( e.g. The Graded Grains, The Focal Points ‘Sycamore Syd,’ The Factory’s peerless trip soundtrack ‘Path Through The Forest’ ) but there is a care to the sound quality and presentation here that is appreciable. I do wonder though about the licensing that goes on behind the scenes for a project like this: many of the tracks seem to come from the Pye/ MGM/ President records stable, which has always been readily available for recent reissues, whereas some obvious 1968 candidates from other labels ( e.g. Nirvana, July, or EMI related bands like Idle Race) are missing. Oh well, there’s still The Pretty Things marvelous ’Talkin’ about the Good Times’ and The Move’s ‘Omnibus’ alongside The Klub’s ‘ Midnight Love Cycle’ and Boeing Duveen and the Beautiful Soup.

What does it all *mean*?

That bands didn’t know when to call time on the Summer of Love, or that the fashion to blur mod pop and soul into new fun shapes was stronger than the urge to get back to roots. Some of the ‘toy town’ genre is bit too twee for its own good. Boeing Duveen was the future Hank Wangford aka Syd Barrett’s doctor, by the way.

Goes well with…

The Family, Music From A Doll’s House or A Saucerful of Secrets ( neither included here)

Release Date:

Might suit people who like…

Rubble, Nuggets, Bevis Frond compilations, ‘Lets Go Down And Blow Our Mind(the sound of 1967)’, Brit psych pop archivists ( and is there really any buried treasure left by now?); People who like the really early Staus Quo the best.

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