Records I Have Loved #412: Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations "Whirlpool"
I blogged a few years back about Dr. Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations - I have no need to go over old ground - read the original post if you need background.
I do, however, feel the need to share their first album "Whirlpool" from 1991. I ripped the second album "Hypnotwister" off my old cassette copy and re-gnited an old love affair - I've since found a download of a better quality mp3, presumably ripped from a CD (thanks to Herod and his Pyschedelic Sauna blog for that). "Whirlpool" has proved elusive though, so I dug out my vinyl copy and ripped it.
Whirlpool is a much more languid affair than Hypnotwister, it has the vibe of a chill-out record borne of extended jamming rather than a band consciously writing a rock record. The songs build gradually from barely a whisper of distortion from a guitar amp and typically last for five minutes or more - the first vocal doesn't appear until 12 and a half minutes in. The lyrics are much simpler than those of Hypnotwister, short nursery rhyme stanzas of simple ideas repeated and circled by Howard King Jr's cavernous vocals - but then, who wants challenging lyrics in a smoking album?
Mr. Phantasy and Sugarblast are the only really tight, obviously authored songs that don't emerge from or lead to extended noodling - the former was edited into a radio-friendly format and featured on the b-side of the Hazy Lazy Hologram 7". Sugarblast was, I believe, the first release on Phibes own record label, 50 Seel St. This album bears the category number of "Seel 002 LP", I can only presume that the Sugarblast 12" was Seel 001.
You can't buy these records anywhere - as vinyl, CD or in any digital format, you might be able to find the song "Hazy Lazy Hologram" on a compilation record but that's it. There's some stuff available on YouTube, mostly courtesy of users fabianlabian and FishesEyes.
I've made a zip of the mp3 rips available to download. I hope somebody can (re)discover this record and wring as much joy from it as I have.
Dr. Phibes and The House Of Wax Equations - "Whirlpool" (mp3 format)
It's just two mp3 files - one for each side or the record, the songs generally bleed into each other, so it's tricky to insert break points, plus, I'm very lazy. The vinyl crackles remain, but they're only really noticeable during the first few seconds of each file - I kinda like them.
Whirlpool Tracklisting:
SIDE A:
1 - Eye Am Sky
2 - Marshmellow Madness
3 - Mr. Phantasy
4 - Mirrors
SIDE B:
1 - When Push Comes To Shove
2 - Dovetail
3 - Dreaming
4 - Insomnia
5 - Sugarblast
6 - Eye Am The Sky
Whirlpool credits:
HOWARD KING Jr.: Guitar & Vocals
LEE BELSHAM: Bass guitar
KEITH YORK: Drums
Sleeve Design by Andy Mitchell
Management: Andy Mitchell & Keith Curtis at Club Culture
Recorded at Woodbine Studio.
Distributed by: Revolver Distribution, Bristol
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