ARCHIVE VOL. 1

Sanguine Hum is one of those bands that are for the large part, ignored by not only the general public, but also by the people that should be paying attention to them. For those that don't know who they are, they are from Oxford, UK and began as a collaboration of friends that met at school and had a woefully short stint as an excellent band known as 'Antique Seeking Nuns', a band that released 3 amazing EP's, and then called it quits. Fortunately, Joff Winks and Matt Baber got back together when people started noticing their music as their first incarnation, and re-formed the quartet by adding a more rock element to their Canterbury Prog style under the moniker 'Sanguine Hum'. Their music is quite quirky, and when you listen to it, you can pick up hints of 'Tortoise' (but with more emphasis on melody), Frank Zappa and 'The Flaming Lips'. Add those bands together, and you will understand what to expect with their high quality sound, bright, cheery and even humorous music that is very satisfying.

It's not very often that I find an album full of archival recordings that I would consider essential, but this collection called 'Archive ' Vol. 1' released in May of 2020 is one of those that I can't help but give a glowing 5-star rating for. This album is mostly made up of demos, but they are all so well recorded that, if you didn't know, you would think they were originals. Fans of both 'Antique Seeking Nuns' and 'Sanguine Hum' will recognize most of these tracks, and will also be excited as to how well these alternative versions sound. But the great thing about this collection is, for the newcomer to their music, this is a perfect sampling of their music.

Most of the tracks are instrumental, except for 3 of them; an original demo of 'Tonic for the Snoring' with Joff and Matt playing all of the parts, an excellent acoustic version of 'Cartoon Friends', and a stripped down version of 'Chat Show' with only Joff on guitar and vocals and Matt on keys. Seven out of the twelve tracks are performed by the full band, a few of them that you are used to hearing with vocals are instrumental only, yet still hold up very well. There is also 'Marimba Jam' which comes from a jam session in 2008 and not based on any previously released track. There is a nice solo version (Joff only on acoustic guitar) of 'Apple Pie'. On top of this, there are 2 'Antique Seeking Nuns' demos that sound just as great as the originals, but with a different feel, both 'The Foulness! The Stench!' in an original demo with everything performed by Matt, and 'Double Egg', a classic favorite done as an instrumental by the quartet, the very first session they played. It's hard to believe they sounded so great even then, but that was what got the attention of what are so many fans now.

This is an excellent 'front door' to the band's music, but also something that the big-time fans would be happy to own. As a fan myself, I find this album quite essential with an excellent selection of songs that are hard to believe are demos. This collection will give the listener a great variety of the band's music and none of it lacks in any way. I highly recommend this to beginners and die-hard fans alike. The great thing is, this is title 'Volume 1' so apparently there is more of this out there. If future volumes have music as great as this on it, we are all in for a treasure trove of hidden gems from the band.