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Don't Touch The Catapilla Man!

Don't Touch The Catapilla Man!

How weird are Catapilla? They have a myspace page with an All Music Guide review of their album and friends that appear to be other albums, and an official site that’s in Italian - web.tiscali.it/catapilla. We at Lost Tunes are loving that. And loving their unique brand of surreal funky jazz rock, all topped with Robert Calvert’s sax and the scary vocals of Anna Meek, who the All Music Guide compare to “a bad tempered Sonja Kristina”. The Prog Archives, that weighty website of musical integrity revals that there are six or maybe seven members of Catapilla, which is the kind of hazy vibe they give off, all echoplex and experimental sound clashes, pinned together with some funky guitar chops and stoner rhythms. If there was a soundtrack to the long forgotten head shops that cropped up across the country selling tie-dyed granddad shorts and rolling papers, Catapilla’s spacey sounds are it. And Lost Tunes has two of their albums exclusively. Tune in, turn on and… you know the rest. Catapilla - Catapilla Catapilla - Changes

The Other Side Of Notting Hill

Today, Notting Hill’s last remaining second hand record shops are disappearing, bringing to an end a glorious period for the region – that’s the real region, not the Hugh Grant approved bookshop-friendly version. In underground terms it’s all coming to an end which is a tragedy for an area where the fusion of immigrant West Indians and the plethora of cheap housing ensured that the mid ‘60s Notting Hill was home to much counter-culture activity. Long before Joe Strummer squatted there and just after Colin McInnes’ racial unrest in Absolute Beginners, W10 was home to everyone from The Pink Fairies and The Edgar Broughton Band to The Pink Fairies and Quintessence who penned the anthemic Notting Hill Gate to celebrate the venue of this musical upheaval. With International Times and Oz for sale in the corner newsagent, this was the time to stick it to the man and stand up against unjust foreign wars, recession and (hang on, this all sounds a bit too familiar)… Quintessence’s anthem, a mystical blend of sitar, tabla and flute, celebrates the culture successfully rhyming things being “great” in “Notting Hill Gate” in a dreamy web of psyche pop. But for all the celebration of this emerging culture they hadn’t foreseen Julia Roberts’ inability to remove herself, by acting, from a paper bag, or indeed Rhys Ifans’ underpants. Quintessence - In Blissful Company Quintessence - Quintessence

Illusion - Illusion

A second album from the former Renaissance members came at a time when their original band was charting with Northern Lights.

Illusion - Illusion

A second album from the former Renaissance members came at a time when their original band was charting with Northern Lights. Illusion’s lot was less commercial and even though the interplay between Jane Relf and Jim McCarty’s vocal is a magnificent thing they would never attain the same kind of success nor indeed would the similarly skewed classical-structured folk prog of Renaissance. That said, this 1978 album is well worth rediscovering for its clever arrangements on some great songs. Illusion - Illusion