DRUG FREE YOUTH – The Avocado Index
2012 (LP/CD Nowhere Street Music)
This
is the follow-up to 2006’s debut album “A Message From Now”. Hard to believe
that this is a one-man-band and the visions that this Psyche-Head (George F.)
is generously offering to us (listeners). So, George went to the nearby forest
picked up a couple of native mushroom varieties, then he closeted himself in
his room with a bunch of analog (mostly) gear and wrote, played, recorded and
mixed 19 tracks (varied from 0:40sec to 3:36min). He named the whole venture
“The Avocado Index” and released it as an LP/CD/Free mp3 Download
through his close friend George Markou's Nowhere Street Music label. The LP is
full of inspired 60s music with an attitude to experiment in various and scarce
musical forms – from neo-psych and modern-punk-pop to sci-fi music and avant
garde! Album starts with the instrumental “Pulsating Yellow Heart”, John Cage’s
mind meets Mimis Plessas melodies while Rick Wakeman shares keyboards
with Joseph
Byrd!
“Faces From The Past” is a happy Ska/Rocksteady computerized sunny effected
anthem inspired by the “Golden” age of the new –wave 80s (I swear I heard Ian’s
voice calling “…This is the way Step Inside…”) The experimental and full of
weird sounds “Miniature Ninjas” follows. “The Mysteries Of Life: Ms Abigeil Doe”
is an aggressive acid garage punky 2min dynamite. “Bonus Beats” with its spacey
effects and the sharp fuzzy guitars comes next while “The Broken Circle” is
another keyboard dominated experimental instrumental with lots of effects. Back
to normal with “Patterns”, a song that moves into a psychedelic vein with
vocals coming straight from the bottom of a well. The experimental “Thieves Of
Forgotten Dreams” with its whispered vocals moves in a sci-fi spacey vein. “Σύννεφα Από Καραμέλα” (Caramel Clouds) is a mushroom inspired psyched
garage song with Greek lyrics… Picture yourself in a boat on a
river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies… Side A closes with
“Doppelganger Love” – a garage punker with a sick-poppy atmosphere (cool!!!)
Side B opens with the garagy “Time”, a guitar&farfisa driven song with a
west-coast fuzzy feeling. “A Cat” is another instro moving into a psych-garage
style while “Sans Marker” welcomes sunshine west-coast psychedelia with lots of
experimentation going all the way, this one could easily fit in “The Beat Of
The Earth” album. “Veronique” is a pop-psych song reminding Neighb'rhood
Childr'n or Music Emporium. More experimentation on “A Voice Repeats”. “Εργοτάξιο” (Construction Site) has Greek lyrics (worth
mentioning that the last verse is written by Yorgos Romanos who released the
ultra rare psychedelic masterpiece back in 1970 “Two Small Blue Horses”) and is
a cocktail-sound of guitars, keyboards, spacey effects, really an explosive
one. “Surveillance Alphabet” with its sci-fi atmosphere and the synth effects
makes me sure that somewhere there in George’s room was the ghost of Iannis
Xenakis (but I still wonder what the seagulls are doing there). “Tomorrow” is a
fast organ dominated new-ager with a psych feel. Album closes with the
nostalgic neo-psych futuristic “The Future”. The Avocado Index is a record
destined to be “Cult” from its very first day of release. TimeLord Michalis
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