JAN DUKES DE GREY

This is one of the greatest acid folk albums ever. Always compared to another milestone of the genre (First Utterance by Comus), this album reveals all the desire by Noy and Bairstow for experimentation and improvisation. It is an extremely innovative, not easily accessible to all (so it might not appeal to many), but in my opinion it is a masterpiece, in fact there are no weak points at all, and the quality of the music never falls from the first note to finish.

The music is direct, totally devoid of frills and pomposity. The first two songs are basically built from folk guitar riffs and then arranged in a clearly minimalistic way, mainly with the addition of winds and percussion. The first song, the amazing epic Sun Symphonica, is embellished by a string section; nevertheless, nothing is redundant or excessive. The song, which is over 18 minutes, is a milestone of acid folk, very well built, in my opinion more than any piece of Comus.

Call Of The Wild has a fairly soft start, characterized by soft vocal harmonies and a delicate use of flute. Soon, however, the initial calm is replaced by haunting and distorted guitar riffs, and the song becomes totally experimental.

The third piece, Mice And Rats In The Loft, has more electric sound, it is a real psychedelic trip and is the most aggressive song of the album. Derek Noy is the protagonist, his voice is warm and the tone is recitative, his interpretation extremely theatrical. The remarkable final is enriched by wind instruments.

Among the underground albums of its time, "Mice And Rats In The Loft" can only have a prominent place alongside other works of bands like Black Widow, High Tide, Comus, Tea And Symphony, Tudor Lodge and Family. This album is the clear demonstration of how even the most simple and minimalist music can be incredibly "progressive". Not for everyone, but in my opinion, a masterpiece.

Final rating: 9/10. Well-deserved five stars.

Best song: Sun Symphonica

VanVanVan compares them to Tull jamming with Christian Vander; I'd be more inclined to suggest a collaboration between Fairport Convention and Can, but whoever you compare these guys to, it's clear that this is a bizarre little album which, along with rodents upstairs, has more than a few bats in its belfry too.

The album begins with "Sun Symphonica," a massive 19 minute track which itself begins with a fantastic folky theme accompanied by some eccentric vocals and a perhaps surprisingly groovy bass part. It's a very cheery motif, but the smiling veneer shows some cracks with a jangly, atonal guitar part, and it isn't long before the track loses it completely. Scarcely two minutes pass before the sunny (no pun intended) disposition of "Sun Symphonica" gives way to a frenetic, dark, acid-folk freak-out that almost reminds the listener of Magma. Folky undertones continue to show through, however, especially during an extremely intense acoustic guitar solo that sounds like it may have destroyed the guitar in the process. Another drastic style change follows, with a pastoral, Tull-ish vocal theme appearing briefly before another acid-drenched instrumental section. It's at this point (around the six minute mark) that symphonic elements begin to appear as well, with some awesome string parts that really add to the sound. Vocals don't reappear until about 9 minutes in, but when they do, they're fraught with enough Comus-esque dread to make the listener forget how cheerily the song began. The lyrics, too, are nothing short of chilling, with obscure descriptions of blood running and all sorts of other arcane topics. The pseudo-zeuhl sound returns after this, and if the vocals were somewhat droning before they positively turn into wails in the track's final third. The track ends with what can only be described as a rhythmic, psychedelic freak out, with all kinds of instruments and sounds layering on top of one another over a repetitive bass groove. "Sun Symphonica" is truly one of the overlooked epics from the early days of progressive rock, and boy is it a killer one.

"Call of The Wild" begins with significantly less insanity, making use of a very Tull-esque (Tull-ish? Tullian?) sound as well as some excellent vocal harmonies to craft a folky soundscape that ends up being quite pretty. Fret not, however, that the track will be too vanilla next to "Sun Symphonica," however, as the band includes multiple intervals of frenetic chanting and of course a variety of insane guitar solos that range from standard, acoustic folky fare to darkly bleak walls of sound. In fact, a good portion of the middle of the track features an instrumental section that sounds like it was performed on a single guitar, and it's impressive how much sound the band is able to wrench from one (or at most two) instruments playing unaccompanied. Like the first track, however, it's the last few minutes that really shine if you're looking for psychedelic freak-outs: darkly frenetic guitar strumming leads the way, but all kinds of instruments pop up in this ending section. The final minute even features some guitar playing that actually sounds surprisingly similar to some of the playing that would come to exist in Opeth's quieter moments (though, given the title of My Arms, Your Hearse it may not be too great a stretch to imagine that Mikael Akerfeldt has heard this album). "Call of the Wild" may not be the masterful epic that "Sun Symphonica" was, but it's still a killer acid-folk trip.

The title track that concludes the album is by far the darkest and weirdest. Beginning with a high pitched siren noise but quickly delving into a weirdly rhythmic groove, "Mice In The Raft" contains some of the most ominous vocals this side of First Utterance and one of the weirdest instrumental sections this side of Amon Düül II. The lyrics as well are excellent, with dark and creepy imagery used to great effect and put together subtly enough that it doesn't sound corny. "Mice And Rats In The Loft" is by far the most simply constructed song on the album (though it's still the farthest thing from straightforward), but it's probably also the most visceral and intense track of the three on the album.

If there is one warning to be issued about this album, it's that you shouldn't let the opening strains of the album fool you, because if you go into it expecting cheer and frivolity you will be bitterly disappointed (and probably slightly terrified). "Mice And Rats In the Loft" is an excellently weird, weirdly excellent masterpiece of an album, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who can't get enough of Comus or wants to hear what Jethro Tull would sound like if they dropped acid and jammed with Christian Vander.

5/5

"Sun Symphonica" (10/10) has the feel of a combination of and extended version of The Moody Blues' "(I'm) Just a Singer in a Rock'n'Roll Band" and The Doors "The End." It is an awesome song!

"Call of the Wild" (9/10) starts with more of a Jethro Tull feel, despite the multiple voices. Again, I wish the guitar pickups had been able to pick up a cleaner sound--though perhaps the band was going for the ROBERT JOHNSON sound effect? At 2:25 begins an odd vocal section over the unclean RJ almost-dobro sounding guitar. At 5 minute mark there is another shift, announced with some drums and culminating in a prolonged strumming guitar solo--a bit like Jimmy Page's mandolin on "The Battle of Evermore". At 8:40 the song really kicks in with full- band and sax sounding a bit Soft Machine-ish. Sax and guitar play off each other really nicely.

The title song (8/10) is the shortest, last, and, IMO, the weakest song--but it's still good! Just a bit drawn out. Distorted guitars and eery vocal again conjure up a feeling of the theatrics of Jim Morrison and his mates in The Doors. I like the use of the woodwinds and the treated/distorted mystery instrument solo starting at 5:05

A very enjoyable listen that I can't quite give 5 stars to, but so close! 4.5 for sure.

Beginning off in almost Jethro Tull '72 manner, this record takes more twists and turns than you could wave a sword at. I guess it's an British thing, we seem to be good at schizo music, unlike Americans, where it seems forced. Although in saying that, the French were very good at it too.

'Mice and Rats in the Loft' is however, one freaky recording which holds itself together effortlessly. Usually these type of recordings fall flat on their face - trying so hard to be strange they more often than not end up sounding stupid. Not this one.

There's a lot of nice interplay with stringed instruments which give this album an important and well produced feel throughout. What really makes 'Mice and Rats in the Loft' worthwhile, are the crazy lyrics sung by the very capable Derek Noy.

The highlight of the album is certainly the last track, where Noy sings among other monstrosities 'The priest tore him open and thrust his hand inside... the still beating heart' is ripped out from his dying body' ... What the??!

This, aligned with a repetitive but scary guitar scraping and John Carpenter keyboards out of the blue makes for very uncomfortable listening

Similarities can only be found in the equally, if not stranger but quieter 'Tea and Symphony'

Such a pity they only made the one album in the 70's. These were guys who could have gone places.

This is an album that more of the prog community can get behind, not that SORCERERS is bad (in fact, I think it's great), but MICE AND RATS definitely has more of a prog sound, there's more electric instrumentation from Derek Noy and the fact that there is an actual drummer here. Plus, you can't disregard the epicly lengthy tracks like the nearly 20 minute ''Sun Symphonica''.

The band does a stellar job at making these long pieces work considering their one previous album. Don't blast the title track out in public; the sax wail at the beginning will make people around think an ambulance is nearby. Add that with the near possessed singing, the eerieness of the track and the warbling wah-fed guitars and this censored is scary. ''Call of the Wild'' almost sounds like a rite-of-passage song for the band as the first half could fit on the debut with little argument, but then the band expands into a jazz-processed jam with more instrumental development than SORCERERS could dream of.

''Sun Symphonica'' is the typical highlight for most prog fans, probably for epic length but also for the string symphony underscoring some of the themes here. I actually find this epic to be the reason why I don't give a perfect five for MICE AND RATS; the themes are all nice and well-drawn-out and the drumming is spectacular, but the segues between the themes are too choppy to the point where it doesn't flow precisely well. It's still one of the better sidelong epics in the prog rock world.

If you need some prog folk in your collection not named Jethro Tull, this will do nicely. The epic length and well-developed themes should keep prog fans busy for forty minutes.

The idea of Derek Noy singing and playing a 12-string doesn't initially sound impressive, but he executes it so well (probably a byproduct of his writing) that I feel the whimsy and the charm he's trying to convey. Throw in Michael Bairstow on woodwinds for effect as well as organs, percussions and even an odd bass solo in the middle of the last track (a bit of a question mark) makes this an out-of-the-ordinary folk album. There is something to be said about the playfulness of this album making it stand out a bit. However, at eighteen tracks, we are in for overhaul in that there will be inevitably a few weak points.

One other problem is that highlights here are pretty much a subjective thing (should be a given in music but here even more so). The melodies encompassing the first third of the album are spine-tingling, particularly ''28th June, Village Song''. SORCERERS tends to weaken over the course of its length but manages to pull some great stuff later on like ''Texas'', ''Trust Me Now'', ''City After 3:00 AM'' and ''Turkish Time'', the longest cut and one of the more inventive tracks here, bass solo excluded.

I say SORCERERS is as important to a prog rock collection as the follow-up, even if it is more of a folk album. Enthusiasts of the genre might not want to pass this one up.

Still, if you can't obtain anything of Jan Dukes de Grey, this is the album you've been waiting for.