Record: I Hear A New World
Label: Triumph/RPM Records
Released: 1960/1991
Sounds like: Space Rock, Psychedelic, Electronic Music, Art Rock, Experimental
England
Joe Meek is with no doubt the best and most important music producer that the UK gave us in the XX Century, his procedures and techniques are still applied by engineers and producers all around the world these days. His tragic figure and his amazing shadow behind several British bands during the 60's, make him an authentic ghost in the machine to this day.
The Blue Men were Meek's Fellas,they were also known as ''The West Five'', a skiffle [1] band led by Rod Freeman, those that few time later were known as Rodd, Ken and the Cavaliers (Whom were also produced by Meek) they work as ''the group'' that will perform Joe Meek's ideas and take them to a physical point, well...more or less.
The record reflects Meek's obsessions for the space age when it was at its peak, it's a bunch of retroactive sounds that float all around and try to submerge you into a Sputnik/Laika sensation, the ''interstellar cowboy'' imagery that Meek always used is present here also, as well as some other Joe's well known props: the sped up tape reel, delayed ratios between sequence and sequence and very distorted vocals in some themes. The album was originally conceived as a test recording that didn't see and official release until 1991, it turned into one of the most coveted recordings/master tapes of the proto Electronic music, regarded as a cornerstone of the Genre.
Does it Work?
Hugo Menanth: It's Hard For me to be objective being that this is one of my favorite records ever, it is so playful and you can feel its consequences to this day, I think it is one of the freer records in the history of modern music, nothing in it feels fake, totally the opposite, the more you get into its atmosphere, the more you understand how simple the idea is. It can catch you off-guard, but, if you love sci fi or listening to soundtracks rather than a plain record, then you will definitely enjoy this gem of sound exploration and noise perversion...
Rate: Imprescindible
Regina:I first met this record when I purchased a boxset that included several of its tracks, it was a collection of rarities from British projects in the 50/60's, and I must say that it didn't work for me back then, I felt like I was listening to Alvin and the chipmunks or something, I quit it and felt it wasn't my thing, then I revisited it again (older and wiser) and saw it as a museum of noise, truly, if you try it like that, you totally will love it, do not listen to it expecting something to happen like you usually would do with some other pop record, if you really wanna enjoy something like this, you should feel like you are in a sort of haunted house and then you'll pay attention to each sound and will taste it and process it...and you may love it.
Rate: Imprescindible
[1] (in the US) a style of 1920s and 1930s jazz deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, using both improvised and conventional instruments. (source Wikipedia)