FANTASY SHIFT

I had the most amazing experience here the other day whilst listening to this album. Sometimes music can illustrate brief encounters like nothing else. No words are necessary and you feel as if your entire worldview is reduced to mere chords and sonic ambiance. I'll get back to that at the end of this little write-up, but safe to say that this album not only challenges what most on here would consider 'prog', it also tattooed itself on my brain in the most ingenious manner conceivable.

Here & Now is probably best known for being Daevid Allen's backing band for his punk prog release 'Floating Anarchy'. It's a sonic fingerprint they carried on with them on their subsequent debut album named 'Give and Take' that also quite wonderfully bridged the two seemingly odd bedfellows in punk and prog. I remember when I first heard that album. To say it was a revelation would be a small understatement. It literally blew my socks off!

In finally getting hold of their second album 'Fantasy Shift', I realised just how closely knitted the group was with the punk scene. Not that they continued the path of spikey riffs and floating psychedelic Gong like sections, but moreover in the way they blossomed into something that from a very early stage influenced the young punks: Reggae! No, I haven't lost my marbles ( not that many at least - I still have some in me back pocket), I'm merely trying to explain the close ties these two genres of music had back in the day. The folks who frequented the now infamous punk nightclub 'The Roxy' were obviously into the prevailing fad of 50s rock n roll tunes played at the speed of light, but what many nowadays seem to forget is what the soundtrack to those days mostly consisted of. Yep reggae. In between sets there'd be dj's spinning all kinds of exotic bouncy music emanating from the lands of Bob Marley and Yellowman. When you think about it, that's probably also where The Police got their white-boy ska vibes from..........and incidentally also where Here & Now got their inspiration for this marvellous little record from.

The Police is actually not that far off soundwise, if you're looking for an easy parallel. While coming off decisively more adventurous, 'Fantasy Shift' still reminds me of what The Police would have sounded like had they spent the better part of the 70s jamming alongside the likes of Daevid Allen. It's easy on the ears, filled to the brim with hooks, memorable choruses, fickle ska rhythms and that oh so persuasive bass boom that feels as if it was lifted directly from an underground reggae band in down-town Kingston.

I love everything about this album - even the cover of Bowie's 'Man who sold the World' is delightfully fresh with all it's stuttering ska beats and melodic saxophone toot. There's a youthful exuberance running through the heart of this record that continues to make my head bop and my feat stomp. It's also an album you can spin with other folks in the same room (!!!!).....oh yes, I've even had females dancing to this one, and I hadn't even spiked their drinks.

Going back to the start of my review, here the other day I was walking through the streets of 'lborg Denmark - just chilling to this album, then decided to go for a wee pint in one of the more obscure bars hidden far away from the high street. I sat there with my beer and noticed this middle-aged Afro- American man looking at me from across the room. He looked like he needed someone to talk to, and I was obviously right in my assessment as he then approached me with a big smile on his face and a cold beer in his hand:

"Hey! I'm the invisible black guy! *laughs*" "Why hello there! Gotta say, you're doing a pretty bad job at being invisible. I saw you the moment I stepped in the door."

He laughed again and offered me his beer - trying his best to start a conversation with me. Those who know me well also know that you don't need to do much in order to get me talking, so I instantly welcomed him and commenced one of the most memorable conversations I've had in a long while. At one point he was on about vibrations and how they effect the human body, which I in turn mischievously directed towards music. He started talking about Daniel Lanois and how he once took the studio out of the studio and placed it in old wooden homes to get that warm and sensuous feel to it. He obviously had no hope whatsoever that I knew about the cat, yet I did and proceeded to talk about his collaboration with both U2 and Bob Dylan, and that then lead to more music and we ended up talking about his favourite bands such as Yes, King Crimson and a lot of the more well-known acts featured on this very site. "Wow" I said.... I think he said the same. He was so happy that he'd finally met somebody with the same taste in music as himself - hell even his first love, jazz, is something I adore like the beach bathed in sunset.

After he'd given me a huge hug, I went on my way with my earplugs safely in place, and this album returned in the most magical way. The dreamy 'Secrets' invaded my ears with it's No Wave synths and pensive drum work, and as I proceeded to walk down the street with the sun going down behind me, the music suddenly blossomed into this beautiful middle section and I had goosebumps rolling through my body. I stopped and looked up at the baby night sky and saw one single star shining oh so brightly. Just one. I thought to myself: this must be a coincidence and immediately thought of the friendly encounter I'd just had. What a coincidence though.....and what an album!