RhoDeo 1250 Aetix

Hello,  Aetix delivers another rough diamond from the eighties who's been following his own brilliant path..

Following the dissolution of The Teardrop Explodes, Julian spent a period in seclusion recovering from the strain of the group’s final year and amassing a collection of vintage toys. Cope’s well-documented Teardrops-era LSD excesses, eccentric behaviour and subsequent retreat had led to him being labelled an "acid casualty" in the vein of Syd Barrett and Roky Erikson, an image which would take him several years to shake off. During this period, Cope befriended a teenage Drayton Bassett musician called Donald Ross Skinner, who would become his main musical foil for the next twelve years. Examples of which are here to ..  N'Joy

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In 1983, after numerous lineup changes and legendary feuds between Cope and Zoo Records figurehead Bill Drummond, the Teardrop finally Exploded.  By 1984, Cope's love of hallucinogenics -- as well as a toy car collection that occupied nearly an entire year of his life -- was at an all-time high. Despite his altered state, he released World Shut You Mouth, his solo debut on Mercury Records. An elegant collection of chamber pop and Teardrop-fueled electricity, the album divided critics and fans alike, especially upon the release of director David Bailey's macabre video for the first single, "Sunshine Playroom." Not to be deterred, Cope retreated to Cambridge and recorded the follow-up, Fried, a chilling chronicle of self-oblivion that included cover art of the artist in a sandbox wearing nothing but a gigantic turtle shell. It was a fitting image, as Cope -- despite getting married -- spent the following year in utter seclusion, half-heartedly laying down tracks of Syd Barrett-inspired acoustic lunacy for what would eventually become 1989's Skellington LP.

In 1986 Cope signed with Island Records and released his most successful record to date, Saint Julian. The album's crisp production and modern rock sensibilities brought the artist out of his shell -- so to speak -- resulting in an exhaustive tour and numerous television appearances, including a memorable gig on The Tonight Show that found the singer becoming quite intimate with his patented jungle-gym mike stand. My Nation Underground followed in 1988, resulting in three years of supplemental releases that included a collection of Teardrop Explodes B-sides, the aforementioned Skellington, and the highly collectible Droolian -- the latter was released in Austin, TX, as part of a campaign to release Thirteenth Floor Elevator Roky Erickson from jail.

In 1991 Cope released the ambitious double-LP Peggy Suicide. Inspired by a vision the artist had of Mother Earth throwing herself off a cliff to her death, the record came as a revelation to many. Gone were the slick arrangements of his previous Island releases, replaced here by the brooding funk, soul, folk, and cosmic garage rock that would follow him into the new millennium. His refusal to submit to more than one vocal take, the inclusion of Michael "Moon-Eye" Watts on guitar, and the raw production/organ/bass provided by longtime collaborator Donald Ross Skinner became the bedrock on which his subsequent work depended. Cope's obsessions with Krautrock and pagan history -- only briefly hinted at on Peggy Suicide -- were brought to the forefront on 1992's Jehovahkill, another creative triumph that unfortunately failed to connect with the public at large, resulting in his forced "departure" from the label.

He released his next two recordings, the angular and cautionary ecological rave-up Autogeddon (1994) and the fatherhood-inspired 20 Mothers (1995) on the Echo label in the U.K. and on American in the States. Cope spent a great deal of this period purging himself of his seemingly endless creative energy through side projects on his mail-order-only label Ma-Gog, a creative outlet that eventually morphed into the website/community/record label Head Heritage. He released Interpreter in 1996, a return to pop form that saw the self-described "Arch Drude" tackling both environmental and social issues with renewed vigor. His most recent project is Brain Donor, a four-piece, face-painted, triple double-neck guitar-playing garage rock-punk outfit that released its debut, Love, Peace & Fuck on Head Heritage in 2001, followed by Too Freud to Rock 'n' Roll, Too Jung to Die in 2003. Citizen Cain'd and Dark Orgasm, both of which relied on two discs of sonic fury and pop mayhem, were released in 2005, followed by You Gotta Problem with Me (no question mark) in 2007.

Cope had been compiling his memoirs into book form throughout the '90s; Head On, a chronicle of his life up to the demise of the Teardrop Explodes, was published in 1993, followed by its sequel, Repossessed, in 2000. He also trudged all over the country in search of stone circles while researching his exhaustive coffee table book, The Modern Antiquarian: A Pre-Millennial Odyssey Through Megalithic Britain, and wrote Krautrock Sampler, a critically acclaimed guide to German space rock. He has spoken at numerous festivals, museums, and universities on both topics.

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Retreating to his hometown of Tamworth, Cope produced his first solo effort with help from producer Steve Lovell on guitar and fellow Teardrop Gary Dwyer on drums. The result is a surprisingly vibrant, rich album that shows Cope easily moving on from his group days while retaining his unique powerful and natural gifts for singing and songwriting. If there's something about the sound of World that suggests its early-'80s recording dates -- Dwyer's drums sound like Steve Lillywhite's been after them at points! -- Cope's own particular, heavily psych-into-pop-inspired goals aren't lost in it. Some of his songs are so inspired that one just has to wonder how in the world they didn't end up as hits somewhere. "An Elegant Chaos" is a great example, an at-once cryptic and fascinating lyric peppered with just enough knowing irony ("Here comes the part where I break down and cry") and a synth-string-touched crunch given a breezy pace. Top it off with Cope's singing and the result is simply genius. Throughout World, Cope demonstrates why he's one of the best, most unaffected singers in rock around, his vocals carrying sweep and passion without sounding like he's trying to impress himself or others.

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth (flac 346mb)

01 Bandy's First Jump 2:50
02 Metranil Vanin 3:00
03 Strasbourg 2:25
04 An Elegant Chaos 4:03
05 Quizmaster 2:56
06 Kolly Kibber's Birthday 5:14
07 Sunshine Playroom 2:55
08 Head Hang Low 5:04
09 Pussyface 4:11
10 Greatness And Perfection 3:16
11 Lunatic And Fire-Pistol 4:30
12 Wreck My Car 2:31
13 High Class Butcher 3:56
14 Eat The Poor 4:25
 
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In contrast to the crisp, clean sound of World, Fried often sounds rougher, a bit more shut in. Combine that with Cope's generally successful attempts to project an image of barely stable sanity, helped in large part by the notorious wearing-nothing-but-a-turtle-shell cover photos, and the idea of Fried as his album of crazed musical collapse understandably is a strong one. However, World producer Steve Lovell once again handles things here, along with playing guitar, while even more importantly, key Cope collaborator Donald Ross Skinner, a young musician from Cope's hometown, makes his debut. Kate St. John again contributes cor anglais throughout, adding a haunting atmosphere on many cuts. If anything, the album shows that Cope may be completely musical tripping out as he chooses but he knows exactly what he's doing throughout.  In all, Fried shows Cope at his dramatic best -- he's not disintegrating by inches, but he knows how to project that impression with vigor and skill, all while sounding like himself most of all. .

Julian Cope - Fried + Bonus (flac 469mb)

01 Reynard The Fox 6:14
02 Bill Drummond Said 2:28
03 Laughing Boy 5:47
04 Me Singing 3:33
05 Sunspots 5:14
06 The Bloody Assizes 3:17
07 Search Party 3:56
08 O King Of Chaos 2:36
09 Holy Love 3:21
10 Torpedo 4:01
Bonus
01 Land Of Fear 5:06
02 Christmas Morning (Janice Long Session 12/12/1984) 2:55
03 Disaster (Janice Long Session 12/12/1984) 2:12
04 Mic Mak Mok 4:46
05 Pulsar (Janice Long Session 12/12/1984) 3:33
06 Sunspots (John Peel Session 29/05/1984) 2:56
07 Me Singing (John Peel Session 29/05/1984) 3:32
08 Search Party (John Peel Session 29/05/1984) 3:32
09 Crazy Farm Animal (Janice Long Session 12/12/1984) 3:05
10 I Went On A Chourney 2:22
11 Hobby (John Peel Session 29/05/1984) 1:12

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Recruiting another key sideman, percussionist Rooster Cosby, Cope approached an album that, by the end of recording, he was on the verge of disowning. Inspired moments aside, one can understand why: My Nation Underground has just about everything going for it (good sound, neat cover, some sharp songs) except for Cope's own vision. That he rebounded from this with three far more individual efforts -- the semi-official Skellington and Droolian, and the masterful Peggy Suicide -- makes all that much more sense when giving My Nation Underground an ear. Most of the time, Cope, Skinner, DeHarrison, and company sound like they're fulfilling a record company brief to make a saleable commercial alternative album, late-'80s style.

Julian Cope - My Nation Underground (  flac 260mb)

01 5 O'Clock World 3:45
02 Vegetation 3:55
03 Charlotte Anne 4:55
04 My Nation Underground 7:13
05 China Doll 4:12
06 Someone Like Me 2:12
07 Easter Everywhere 2:39
08 I'm Not Losing Sleep 4:35
09 The Great White Hoax 6:10

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