Felt "Me and a Monkey on the Moon" (1989)

Me and a Monkey on the Moon
release date: Nov. 13, 1989
format: vinyl (acme 24) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Adrian Borland
label: él Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Can't Make Love to You Anymore" 4 / 5) - 2. "Mobile Shack" - 3. "Free" - 4. "Budgie Jacket" (4 / 5) - 5. "Cartoon Sky" (4 / 5) - 7. "Down an August Path" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Never Let You Go" - 10. "Get Out of My Mirror"

10th and final studio album by Felt, originally released on él, sub-label of Cherry Red, who reissued the album on cd in 2003. The album appears as the proclaimed final album by Felt, fulfilling an idea of releasing a total of 10 studio albums as stated by front-man Lawrence at the foundation of the band. The album is produced by The Sound lead guitarist, singer and composer, Adrian Borland, who manages to establish a new sound to the band, which feels wider and more vivid without losing the special tone of the band. Yet, it's not the band's best - it does contain new fine songs unlike its two predecessors, but it also contain several fillers. The characteristic Duffy organ is almost gone, and the sound is build on guitars and drums putting it close to the style of Lloyd Cole, and as a whole, and after two lesser albums, this is a fine last release by Felt.
[ allmusic.com, Sounds 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item 'near mint' - from ~ €60,- ]

Felt "The Pictorial Jackson Review" (1988)

The Pictorial Jackson Review
release date: Mar. 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: Joe Foster
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Apple Boutique" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Ivory Past" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Until the Fools Get Wise" - 4. "Bitter End" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Christopher Street" - 8. "Don't Die on My Doorstep"

8th studio album by Felt, now with a new producer. The album mostly shows the band continuing its style with something that feels like the addition of sophist-pop. The original vinyl release contains 8 tracks on the A-side, all composed by Lawrence, and in the usual jangle pop style, whereas the B-side contains only two tracks, both entirely played and composed by keyboardist Martin Duffy. The first of these is the 12 min. "Sending Lady Load", and both tracks are solely piano instrumental jazz compositions, and as such in a different style, which makes it an odd release. Not that it's bad, the last two tracks just seem completely out of sync with the other (usual Felt tracks). The whole album is not bad, it does feel like Felt (except for the aforementioned tracks), it's just without great tunes, really. It's a bit like a band going through its usual repertoire, which is kind of sad.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Felt "Forever Breathes the Lonely Word" (1986)

Forever Breathes the Lonely Word
release date: Sep. 1986
format: cd (CRECD 011)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: John A. Rivers
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Rain of Crystal Spires" (4 / 5) - 2. "Down But Not Yet Out" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "September Lady" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Grey Streets" (4 / 5) - 5. "All the People I Like Are Those That Are Dead" (4 / 5) - 6. "Gather Up Your Wings and Fly" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "A Wave Crashed on Rocks" - 8. "Hours of Darkness Have Changed My Mind"

6th studio album by Felt re-introduce John A. Rivers, and this time he is credited as producer. The album is released only three months after Let the Snakes Crinkle, which was the band's first with keyboardist Martin Duffy (who feature on the album cover). In hindsight it makes perfect sense. Where Let the Snakes Crinkle... was like a first draft, yet exclusively instrumental, with Duffy adding a new sound to the band, this is the fulfilment of that experiment or reorganisation within a band going from guitar-driven jangle-pop to a more complex style. This is the first Felt album without a single instrumental only, and to me, the album showcases everything good about Felt: the sparse instrumentation, yet wide simple sound, Duffy's beautiful Hammond Organ and on top of it all, the signature of Lawrence's guitar and voice. This is not over-produced, like I feel Ignite the Seven Cannons tends to be - this is so much more genuine. This is the band's finest hour, imho.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Record Mirror 5 / 5 stars ]

Felt "Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death" (1986)

Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death
release date: Jun. 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,75]
producer: Felt (recorded by)
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Song for William S. Harvey" (5 / 5) - 2. "Ancient City Where I Lived" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Seventeenth Century" (4 / 5) - 4. "The Palace" - 5. "Indian Scriptures" - 6. "The Nazca Plain" (4 / 5) - 7. "Jewel Sky" - 8. "Viking Dress" - 9. "Voyage to Illumination" (4 / 5) - 10. "Sapphire Mansions"

5th studio album by Felt and the first to be released on Creation Records after leaving Cherry Red. Most likely the album production was handled by the band, but no producer credits were filed. It wasn't the first album, I heard with the band, but it's one of my all time favorites of the mid 1980s. The downside is the short playing time of a total of only 19 min. It was released as the first album on the new label but is hardly more than an ep. The band's previous release Ignite the Seven Cannons (1985) was another great album but with a very different style. Throughout their career and spanning the 10 albums (band leader) Lawrence had declared they would release in all - no more, no less [!] - the band may be associated with jangle pop. The style is more linked with the 1960s folk rock and country rock artists closely related to The Byrds 12-string guitar sound than to the more contemporary post-punk bands evolving from / influenced by punk rock and new wave. However, the '85 release was their most dream pop ("over"-)produced album to date. One reason was that it was produced by Cocteau Twins founder Robin Guthrie, which is quite evident, and also features that bands' lead vocalist, Elizabeth Fraser on several tracks, only adding to the dream pop sound, but Felt also worked with the band's lead guitarist, Maurice Deebank for the last time. His guitar sound helped shaping their sound on their first 4 albums, and now with Deebank gone the band understood to keep their special jangle pop sound but simultaneously focusing much more on the keyboardist, Martin Duffy's Hammond organ. Although, this album only lasts 19 min., it still contains 10 tracks like any conventional pop album, but the single tracks only last from 1:00 to 2:49 min. and they are all instrumental tracks. Despite my interest in listening to energetic power pop and dark post-punk in the mid 1980s, I simply loved this album for its serene simplicity. I remember having found the album at the library and copied it to a cassette. A few years later, on a warm and wonderful summer of '90, I rode on my bicycle 300 km to visit my older brother and I had handpicked a bunch of cassettes to play on my walk-man for the ride. I had this album on the same cassette as their '85 album Ignite... and great '86 album Forever Breathes the Lonely Word and that was one of the most played cassettes on that trip along with Love Is Hell by Kitchens of Distinctions. Whenever I listen to Let the Snakes... today, I always get the feel of the sun shining bright on a clear blue sky, a scent of summer with warm breezes and images of a beautiful landscape just to pass through, which in the end, makes it hard not to like.
[ allmusic.com reviewer Greg Adams didn''t like it and hands it 3 / 5 stars ]

Felt "Ignite the Seven Cannons" (1985)

Ignite the Seven Cannons
release date: Sep. 20, 1985
format: vinyl (2018 remaster - FLT 183) / cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Robin Guthrie
label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "My Darkest Light Will Shine" (4 / 5) - 2. "The Day the Rain Came Down" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Scarlet Servants" (4 / 5) - 4. "I Don't Know Which Way to Turn" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Primitive Painters" (5 / 5) - 6. "Textile Ranch" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Black Ship in the Harbour" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Elegance of an Only Dream" (4 / 5) - 9. "Serpent Shade" (4 / 5) - 10. "Caspian See" (3 / 5) - 11. "Southern State Tapestry" (3,5 / 5)

4th studio album by Felt with the full title: Ignite the Seven Cannons and Set Sail for the Sun introduce Robin Guthrie as producer, which may be heard. It's a sort of transitional album, introducing a new style by the band. It's the last studio release for Cherry Red and the first with new bassist Marco Thomas and keyboardist Martin Duffy, who are partly responsible for a more complex style. Another important change is the role of Robin Guthrie, who has incorporated a more ambient and dream pop feel - not far from the sound of his own project-band Cocteau Twins. This stylistic change gave the album some hard reviews, basically, from people who couldn't see the benefits from Guthrie as belonging to this kind of band, however, I find that the album is one of the band's best, and it features their perhaps most legendary (or: pop-styled) single ever: "Primitive Painters" featuring Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) on vocals. The whole album is cleverly produced with keyboards, guitars, lead vocal and backing vocals nicely sown together, and it's evident that the band has come along way since the sound and style of the first three albums. A familiar thing that is continued from their previous albums is the inclusion of instrumental tracks, which on their previous albums often seemed like strange fragments, or strange pauses, now are strong songs with Duffy's Hammond organ and Deebank's electrical guitars combined, so the missing vocal is no longer a downside at all 'cause compositional complexity through verse and chorus is there.
EDIT 2019: I purchased the 2018 remaster of the album, which has been remixed by songwriter Lawrence and original recording engineer Kevin Metcalfe, and the new sound is quite phenomenal; however, instead of just re-issueing the album, they have ommitted "Serpent Shade", so that the album now comes with 5 tracks on each side.

org. vinyl cover
On the back it reads:
"and Set Sails for the Sun"

2018 remastered
vinyl issue,
Cherry Red

Felt "Primitive Painters" (1985) (single)

Primitive Painters, 12'' single
release date: Aug. 1985
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5] [4 / 5]
producer: Robin Guthrie / John Leckie
label: Cherry red Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Primitive Painters" (5 / 5) - 2. "Cathedral" (3 / 5)

Single taken from the forthcoming album Ignite the Seven Cannons.  Track 1 is produced by Robin Guthrie whereas the second is taken from the '82 debut album and it's produced by John Leckie (originally recorded by John A. Rivers). "Primitive Painters" features Elizabeth Fraser on vocals, and it remains the band's perhaps best pop song.

Felt "The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories" (1984)

The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories
release date: Oct. 26, 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]
producer: John Leckie
label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Roman Litter" - 3. "Spanish House" - 5. "Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow" - 6. "Vasco Da Gama" - 9. "Crystal Ball"

3rd studio album by Felt is released only eight months after The Splendour of Fear, which had John A. Rivers in the recording seat, but with John Leckie as producer both sound and style are almost identical to its predecessor. Some tracks are dominated by jangle pop guitars by Lawrence and Maurice Deebank and/or by Lawrence's characteristic vocal and others are more experimental instrumental tracks with classical or art rock inspiration. The predominant style is jangle pop kept in a narrow soundscape held together with two guitars (acoustic and electric jazz guitar), bass and drums. It's not their best nor their worst album. Mostly, I just find it less interesting.

Felt "The Splendour of Fear" (1984)

The Splendour of Fear
release date: Feb. 1984
format: vinyl (M RED 57) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,35]
producer: John A. Rivers [recording engineer]
label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Red Indians" - 2. "The World Is as Soft as Lace" (4 / 5) (excerpt from 'Big Blue') - 3. "The Optimist and the Poet" (4 / 5) - 4. "Mexican Bandits" - 5. "The Stagnant Pool" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "A Preacher in New England" (3,5 / 5)

2nd studio album by Felt following two years after Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty (Feb. 1982) feels like an improvement to an interesting debut. Like was the issue with the debut, the credits omits an actual producer. John A. Rivers is credited as recording engineer. As with the band's first four albums, this is also dominated by lead guitarist Maurice Deebank's meandering and reverbing guitar together with vocalist and guitarist Lawrence's jangle pop sound. Felt notoriously make rather short albums, playing time-wise, and half of the tracks here are almost entirely instrumental compositions. They are more complex than the music on the debut, but other than that, the two albums are closely related. The guitar jangle pop element dominate more on this. The cover art was taken from the poster for Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey's experimental art movie "Chelsea Girls".
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Sounds 5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item - from ~ €60,- ]

Felt "Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty" (1982)

Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty [debut]
release date: Feb. 27, 1982
format: cd (2003 reissue - CDMRED 25)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,10]
producer: John A. Rivers [recording engineer]
label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Evergreen Dazed" - 2. "Fortune" - 3. "Birdmen" - 4. "Cathedral" - 5. "I Worship the Sun" - 6. "Templeroy"

Studio debut album by Felt reissued in 2003 also on Cherry Red. The album credits only mention John A. Rivers as recording engineer but (producer) John Leckie also worked with the band in the studio, however, he is uncredited, and the role of a producer remains a bit of a mystery. The cover feature the founder and musical leader of the band, who was always only credited as simply Lawrence [aka Lawrence Hayward, birth name]. Somehow, everywhere you look for a style characterization of this album you meet the tag post-punk. I find this very difficult as the style is much more folk rock-based but with a brand new approach. That could then be referred to as jangle pop, which tracks this back to origins in the 1960s folk pop AND a mix with a certified fascination / inspiration in music by the American art rock art punk band Television as heard on Marquee (1977). Also, the band name Felt apparently derives from the song "Venus" from that specific album and upon listening to this song it's quite striking how close the music by Felt (on later albums) comes to the style of that particular song, or at least "Cathedral". The band is, however, far from just a copy of another band. Felt has a unique style of its very own, and here, as on their first three albums, they produce very simple, light, and repetitious compositions without much focus on lyrical framework. The album is perhaps mostly for fans and completionists but it truly signals the start of a very original journey led by Lawrence.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Felt

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Felt is a British band formed in the 1979 in Birmingham, England, UK, and it was founded almost single-handedly by Lawrence Hayward (vocals, guitar), who initiated the band as a solo-project, and around 1980 established it as a proper band with Maurice Deebank (guitar) and Nick Gilbert (drums). The initial style was heavily based on Deebank's guitar sound with a clear inspiration in The Byrds jangle folk rock and Lawrence's maybe biggest lyrical source of inspiration: Television / Tom Verlaine (the name Felt apparently comes from the song "Venus" by Television and written by Tom Verlaine). Gilbert switched to handle the bass as the band had Gary Ainge playing drums, and this was the members list when they signed with Cherry Red Records and recorded their first single in '81, and also for the debut album Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty (1982). Shortly after the first full album, Gilbert was replaced by bassist Mick Lloyd, and with this line-up they released the following two albums The Splendour of Fear (Feb. '84), and The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories (Oct. '84). Before recording their fourth studio and last album for Cherry Red, Ignite the Seven Cannons (1985), Lloyd was replaced by Marco Thomas and keyboardist Martin Duffy became a new member. His role soon became central, as his Hammond organ would characterize the band's sound for the next three albums to follow. After their '85 album, Deebank left the band, which only made even more room for Duffy's keyboard but also meant a turn to a new and more simple style within their jangle pop and in '86 they signed with Creation Records and released the instrumental fifth album Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death (Jun. '86) and the longer and more traditional jangle pop, pop / rock album Forever Breathes the Lonely Word (Sep. '86), which is their perhaps best received album ever. In '87 they released the ep Poem of the River, and the following year the eigth album The Pictorial Jackson Review (Mar. '88), which is a somewhat special mix of styles. On the A-side of the album, one will find a bunch of recognizable Felt tracks with uptempo pop / rock and jangle pop and the B-side is dominated by an ambient jazz pop instrumental style, which really tell much of the story of this band: on one hand you have a band playing harmonic jangle pop that may appeal to a broader audience but at the same time, they also embrace a certain experimental ascetic originality that one may find in artists like David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and early Everything but the Girl. The ninth album Train Above the City (Jul. '88) is the only Felt album not to include band leader Lawrence on the musical part, as he only titled the tracks composed and played by Duffy and Ainge only, which makes it difficult to accept as a Felt album. The following year, Lawrence declared that the band would only release one more album to fulfill his [original?] idea of releasing a total of 10 albums and 10 singles in the span of a 10 year period [which may or may not be correct depending on how one counts their releases]. After the release of Me and a Monkey on the Moon (Nov. '89) on the indie label él (sub-label of Cherry Red) followed by a short tour, Felt disbanded. Lawrence continued in his glam rock [!] project-band Denim [releasing two full albums], which led him to a collaboration work with Terry Miles. When Denim was shelved in '99, the two formed the band Go-Kart Mozart.

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