CELLULOID

When Mellotron albums are talked about, we talk about the obvious ones like the Moody Blues, Yes, King Crimson, Tangerine Dream (and solo Edgar Froese), and Genesis, and the less obvious ones, but equally important and well loved, like Spring, Beggars Opera (Waters of Change, that is), Anglagard, Anekdoten, Museo Rosenbach, Celeste, Earth & Fire, Barclay James Harvest (mainly the 1974 Live album as most of their albums features much more real strings, and less tron than you imagine), and too many others. One artist completely missing is Chuck Minuto and his Celluloid project from the 1980s, not exactly tron friendly times. Mercury was the debut, and while it does feature some Mellotron, it mainly credits a computer, which was supposedly actually a rented Synclavier II. It's the next album Neptune that's a completely different story, and the reason it's barely discussed amongst tron lovers is because the album is very rare and hard to fine, and the only reissue is a dodgy 2-for-1 that includes Mercury. Neptune is created entirely on the Mellotron, and it truly is a Mellotron tour-de-force if there ever was one. I find it hard to believe he used only one tron, as it's clear he's using tons of tron FX as well as the tron standards like strings, flute, and choir. Also, where is he getting those synth sounds? Unless they were included as custom tron tapes, I simply believe he was using a synth that was hanging around his home. Regardless you'll never hear so much tron in your life. The music is often ambient and experiment, with all sorts of sound effects to stuff inspired by "Revolution 9", King Crimson, and Genesis. He does use a lot of reverb and echo boxes as well. It's clear this is a home-made affair so you're not getting a full professional production, but it's surprisingly well-down given Chuck Minuto was still a teenager. Hard to believe this was 1983. This was at a time when Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, The Thompson Twins, and even Talk Talk (they were still a New Wave synth pop act then) were on the airwaves, with MTV airing their videos, and hair metal was just starting to hit the scene with Quiet Riot, the now-makeup-free KISS, and Def Leppard going that direction with Pyromania. Neptune sounds more like an album that belongs in the previous decade, and in this case, all for the better. The original LP is naturally rare and expensive, but it's really worth it for all tron nuts out there!

Highly collectable obscure Electronic releases from the 80's.Celluloid was actually a moniker created by a young American teenager named Chuck Minuto.Reputedly he performed his music only armed with a mellotron.His first effort saw the light in 1982, a long Electronic suite entitled ''Mercury'', privately pressed for Wax Museum.

Side A includes the first part of the ''Mercury'' suite, split in three moves.The first one ''The Formation Of Space, Land, And Sea'' is pure dark Electronic ambiences, hard to believe the sound comes out of a mellotron,it is more like long monotonous analog synth music,the second one being ''The Melting Of Stars'', yes, this is mellotron here along with sound effects, really more interesting than the boring move 1.The closing move ''The Arrival Of Man'' flows in the same style, mellotron-drenched electronic soundscapes with sampled spacey choirs and bells, which gets more into electronic soundscapes towards the end.Really sinister stuff.

Side B consists of the second and last part of ''Mercury'', the 15-min. ''The Civilization Of Planets''.Big surprise here,Minuto's mellotron (really sounds like organ here) is supported by his vocals, a good combination of haunting Electronic stuff with spacey vocals and choirs until the middle.I definitely hear some loops afterwards and surpsingly again Minuto delivers some sort of brass section, much in THE BEATLES' mood (!), before the 3-min. spacey outro.

For a one-man effort this album is decent enough, but no that decent to spend three or four digit-bucks to purchase the original LP.It is somewhat far from the essentials of the genre,still if you like muddy mellotron-drenched and dark Electronic/Ambient stuff, ''Mercury'' deserves some hunting at a reasonable price...2.5 stars.