The Foreign Films - The Record Collector

I was an early adopter of Bill Majoros and his magnificent Foreign Films adventures. So as I catch up on the pile of reviews that I'm behind with, it seems most fitting to start with the masterpiece that is The Record Collector.

It's been a long time in the making, previewed over that period by the excellent Record Collector Side releases and Majoros's superb additions to Steve Eggers's releases with The Nines. The culmination is this Triple album in all it's intended glory. It's Pop, but not as we necessarily know it, a journey into all things of that ilk.






This has certainly been worth the wait. The album veers off into all directions, but keeps everything melodic, inventive and so damn catchy. Just listening to Side 1 alone, Pop Rock, Prog and Orchestral Rock are taken in and the journey just gets better and better. Shadow In The Light could be Bolan, Junior Astronomer's Club could be Orgone Box and the beauty of the weeping She Reveals Her Heart cannot be over emphasised.

Kori Pop's vocals add a great deal to Side 2. Her joint vocals on Teardrop Town, which you can imagine Nick Cave writing and her lead vocal on Land Of A 1,000 Goodbyes which is all Lisa Mychols and benefits from Pop's Piano playing.  Broken Dreams is great 80's Power Pop, State of The Art is so Jon Auer Posies. Lucky is all jangly Psych Pop.

Side 3 is particularly Beatlesesque, notably Lennon. the exception being the haunting, A Foolish Symphony on which Kori Pop takes lead vocal duties on a wonderful arrangement. Side 4 is much slower, more moody and I'm reminded of great Singer Songwriters such as John Howard and Colin Blunstone.






On Side 5, the arrangements are varied, but very 60's Bacharach, Emily'd Dream is a cracking slab of Psych featuring Dialogue from Steve and Chantel Eggers. Summer Fades is a fine closer. Side 6 closes this extraordinary affair with the almost 13 minutes of Fall Of The Summer Heart.

Fall Of The Summer Heart is Psych Wonderment. Overall there is a lot of music here. It feels very much like one of those great Singer Songwriter albums of the 70's when Budget wasn't a problem. However, the variance never lets the album become boring. I must also mention the superb  Arrangements of Wim Oudijk, a man I miss greatly and who lit up my Psych Pop world with his chats and recommendations.






You can listen to and buy the album here. You can also buy the triple vinyl format from the same link. That's how I listened to it and if ever an album should be heard on Vinyl, it's this one. The album will also be released on CD by Ray at Kool Kat om Monday. You can order that here.

I've picked my favourite songs today here, but they change and this is an album that everyone will find a different favourite on.