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Thursday 5 August 2021

The Berries - Throne of Ivory (Singles and B-Sides)

 


The Berries is actually Matt Berry, no not that one, this one is from Los Angeles. The first two albums were very different affairs and this collection may confuse listeners even more. It is wonderfully varied and a truly splendid listen, but it is increasingly hard to pin down what Matt is best at.

The description is also a bit misleading. Throne Of Ivory is more of a stand alone album in its own right. Essentially a stop gap to his third album, only the first half of these 12 songs were actually singles and all were recorded in the Summer Of 2000. The other six songs are reworked songs that were originally written for his second hand album, Berryland, or for that upcoming third album.



The second half of the album is largely in Screamadelica territory heading towards Brit Pop. When it isn't, the feel is more West Coast 70s on Jewel On The West. The stand out here is the gobsmacking Burning Sun/Eve, an absolute Psych Masterpiece.

On the first side (the album is also available on Cassette), Saturday Music is all Glasgow Jangle whilst Ancient Steel is great gentle Psych Pop. High Noon On The Gold Coast is very Blue Oyster Cult, yet Mantra Of Strength is very 60's hippy trippy far out man.



The two gems are Sci-Fi Racer with its Pop Rock riffs and guitar solo, a bit Glammy, a bit Space Rock, in fact a bit of everything, all of it dripping with melody. Then there is A Hymn That Only I Know which is a bit Jarvis Cocker does Toytown. A crackerjack of a song.

I told you this is a varied album. There are so many ideas, maybe too many, that it makes it hard to describe. This doesn't sound like a collection, it sounds more like an album of the year. It is stunning in its scope and all I can say is listen to it and buy the thing. Highly Recommended!



You can listen to and buy the album here.


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