Rich Beale formed a band called Apache Dropout after Head broke up, and recorded an album for Postcard Records in 1993, but it went unreleased. Abandoning both his commercial aspirations and his sanity, Beale rejoined Gareth Sager in a new band called Pregnant, and they produced a 1997 album called Unusual Lover. Jonathan Seal ("the sixth Head") was a member of Pregnant, as was Dave Hunter.
"I've been very unwell," Beale confesses, "in the rock and roll sense of the word." Head's lyrics had mostly been written by Sager; but in Pregnant, Beale indulged his gift for loony lyrical improvisation. He rambles about John Cooper Powys, Biggie Smalls, and Gary U.S. Bonds, and begs Bono to "leave Eno alone".
One reviewer wrote that listening to Beale is "like being locked up in a padded cell with someone who can mimic the voices of a thousand rock stars." Another wrote, "Explaining the charms of Pregnant would be rather like explaining a magic trick -- it can only cheapen it." Pregnant delivered a wide-ranging repetoire of rock, reggae, funk and suave R&B balladry. The influence of sea shanties is once again evident in "O'Cassey's Minibar".
The last three songs are from Rich Beale's group Apache Dropout, his trip-hop duo Receiver (1996-2001), and the band Applecraft (2000-2004). Beale adopted the alias Don Mandarin in Applecraft, and released a Don Mandarin solo album in 2000 called This Was Quo Country. Sager soldiered on post-partum with a new group of comrades.
tracklist –
Refuel at Hamburg
The Romance of Rock
Higher Type of Mind
O'Cassey's Minibar
Wicked Tongue
Moodmaster
Rock of Rice Scum
Fallen for Bowey
Red West Coast Sunsets
Electric God
Bono Leave Eno Alone
Bewigged Unmarried Bizarre Car
It's Time for the Plants to Talk
God's Chosen Language
Francis (by Apache Dropout)
O'Driscoll's Curse (by Receiver)
The Benefactor (by Applecraft)
Enjoy,
jonder
FOOTNOTES: Some of today's compilation comes from two Bristol Archive collections of demos: "Pregnant Go Poofing On Venus" (tracks 9 and 14) and "Subject Technica (I Must Be Firm Like A Ripe Banana)" (tracks 3, 4, 11-13). Mr. Sager does not appear on tracks 15-17.
ReplyDeleteThe art that accompanies the mp3's is adapted from one of Rich Beale's collages. See more of them here: apachedropout.co.uk/gallery/
Witness the evolution of Rich Beale's hairstyles:
youtu.be/6bVBYn1WrJI (Apache Dropout "Snake In The Grass" video)
youtu.be/OJ-Ydmtbcmk (Pregnant "Moodmaster" video)
youtu.be/tuc_mb9i_dI (Receiver "Santa Maria" video)
,,, and a brand new Pop Group album was released last week!
I've been listening to it on heavy rotation. I'm liking it a lot (being a Mark S fan). What's your opinion?
ReplyDeleteI think it is the equal of Citizen Zombie. The single (Zipperface) isn't my favorite song on the album. I've only listened a few times but the standout tracks (to me) are on "side one": City Of Eyes, Michael 13, and War Inc. Maybe my attention span wanes -- next time I I will listen to it back to front.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think it is perhaps better than Citizen Zombie. Granted, Mad Truth & S.O.P.H.I.A. are truly great gems, but Immaculate Deception??? I think the section you reference, City through War Inc, is fantastic & Zipperface is definitely not one of my favorite tracks. I love the start of "side one" Instant Halo. The song Little Town is one of my faves also, but War Inc is right up there with some of the great Pop Group songs of yore.
DeleteI am happy to see bands reunite for a "victory lap" around the festival circuit, but very few of them make new music that adds to their legacy rather than embarrassing themselves. Wire, the Pop Group, Mission of Burma, and Swervedriver all come to mind as bands that have made great records since they got back together. Pixies, Greg Ginn and the Gang of Four, on the other hand, cheapened their reputation (as did the Stooges -- but only on record and certainly not through their live shows).
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I haven't listened to all of the new material that Go4 and Pixies have released; but that seems to be the general consensus. One thing they have in common is that their members didn't got along well before they broke up. I don't know which side Dinosaur Jr falls on, because (again) I haven't listened to their newer albums. Or that Bad Brains album.