rare 2007 2 lp gatefold cover set with 20 psyche pop tunes compiled by bevis frond mastermind nick salomon, still sealed, mint condition

The idea of this compilation is to present obscure British recordings from the late '60s that had a definite psychedelic feel, but also had a lot of harmony pop influence at work as well. Often this led to a particularly precious branch of psychedelia dubbed (long after the fact) by some collectors as "toytown" music, in part because of a preoccupation with British character sketches, childhood nostalgia, and fantasy that was largely absent from American psychedelic rock. There's some of that here, but fortunately this largely steers clear of excessively precious and twee material, though some of it does have the good-time bounce that leaked down to so many bands from the circa-1967 Beatles and Kinks. None of these were hits or anything close to it, of course, but some general '60s collectors might actually recognize some of the musicians, particularly the Searchers (represented by a fairly respectable, and seldom anthologized, late-'60s 45, "Umbrella Man"); Jackie Lomax, as leader of the Lomax Alliance; Los Bravos, of "Black Is Black" fame (here heard covering the Easybeats' song "Bring a Little Lovin'"); Ian Matthews, heard on the Pyramid's breezy "Summer of Last Year," recorded shortly before he joined Fairport Convention; and Hedgehoppers Anonymous and the Roulettes, both of whom had a little U.K. success on record in the '60s. What's most impressive about this compilation, however, is that there's a fair amount of variety in the selections, encompassing an obscure Troggs cover (Barry Benson's "Cousin Jane"), almost raw folk-rock (Hedgehoppers Anonymous' "Daytime"), sub-Walker Brothers balladeering (the Virgil Brothers' "Look Away"), and nearly baroque moodiness with influence from both classical music and Beach Boys harmonies (Fred Lloyd's "Kissed Him," Dreams' "A Boy Needs a Girl," and Dave Christie's "Penelope Breedlove"). If you want more singsongy sugary stuff, that's here, too, but not so much so that listening to the CD gets to be an overly sickly sweet experience. It's definitely an anthology for deep U.K. psych specialists, but likely one of the better ones in this subgenre to ever be compiled.

Pyramid, The –	Summer Of Last Year	3:08
Los Bravos –	Bring A Little Lovin'	2:26
Fred Lloyd (2) –	You Kissed Him	2:04
Lomax Alliance, The –	See The People	2:15
Barry Benson (2) –	Cousin Jane	2:35
Dreams (2) –	A Boy Needs A Girl	2:28
Grisby Dyke –	Mary Ann She	2:57
San Francisco Earthquake –	Fairy Tales Can Come True (Have You Heard About Lucy)	2:30
Gallagher-Lyle* –	Trees	2:29
Searchers, The –	Umbrella Man	2:58
Dave Christie* –	Penelope Breedlove	2:37
Promise (5) –	Nine To Five	2:11
Peppermint Circus –	Keeping My Head Above Water	2:36
Virgil Brothers, The –	Look Away	2:39
Snappers, The –	Upside Down Inside Out	2:51
Katch 22 (2) –	Pumpkin Mini	2:32
Brian Connell & Roundsound, The –	Just Another Wedding Day	2:47
Darlings –	Saturday Town	1:55
Hedgehoppers Anonymous –	Daytime	2:29
Roulettes, The –	Help Me To Help Myself	2:40