Originally issued on vinyl in the early '80s and reissued in the mid-'90s (with the addition of an entirely new third volume), The Perfumed Garden series presents compilations of excruciatingly rare mid- to late-'60s British psychedelia, usually from obscure singles. The Groundhogs, Birds, Deviants, and Poets are the most well-known acts included, to give you some idea of the kind of minutiae we're dealing with here. Some very good hard mod pop and trippy Brit-psych, sometimes very imitative of gods like The Who and the Move, but sometimes so good that they're none the worse for that. Some of the hard rock cuts are a bit plodding and turgid, but those who like their psychedelia with whimsy and/or power chords will find a lot to latch onto, although it's a notch below Freak Beat Phantoms and Electric Sugar Cube Flashbacks, the best compilations of this type.
VA - A Perfumed Garden Vol.1 [2001]
This volume of truly rare British singles of the psychedelic and mod eras contains 17 cuts that are so hard to find that some music historians of the era have never seen or heard them. This is the third time this volume -- first of the original two -- has been released; it initially appeared on vinyl only in the early '80s, and was released on CD in 1991 -- also when Vol. 3 first appeared. No, it's not Children of Nuggets, nor is it Electric Sugar Cube Flashbacks, but there is some great stuff here -- all of it is at least worth hearing: Vamp's "Floatin'," Open Mind's "Magic Potion," and Nimrod's "The Bird" are just three examples of a slew of psychedelic and mod tunes to be found here.
Tracks:
1 The Factory - Try A Little Sunshine (U.K.)
2 The Eyes - You're Too Much (U.K.)
3 The Syn - Grounded (U.K.)
4 Nimrod - The Bird (U.K.)
5 The Smoke - Sydney Gill (U.K.)
6 The Birds - No Good Without You (U.K.)
7 Shy Limbs - Reputation (U.K.)
8 The Game - It's Shocking What They Call Me (U.K.)
9 The Frame - Doctor Doctor (U.K.)
10 The Mandrake Paddle Steamer - Strange Walking Man (U.K.)
11 The French Revolution - Nine Til Five (Canada)
12 Vamp - Floatin' (U.K.)
13 The Syndicats - Crawdaddy Simone (U.K.)
14 Sands - Listen To The Sky (U.K.)
15 Tintern Abbey - Vacuum Cleaner (U.K.)
16 The Craig - I Must Be Mad (U.K.)
17 The Open Mind - Magic Potion (U.K.)
VA - A Perfumed Garden Vol.2 [2001]
Vol. 2 of this celebrated and hard to find collection of psychedelic singles rarities from Great Britain was originally released with Vol. 1 on LP in the 1980s and on CD in 1991, when Vol. 3 was first released to round out the series. The second of the Perfumed Garden series contains some better-known (in terms of obscurities, anyway) psych, mod, hard rock, and garage rock singles from the period. For starters, there's the first Deviants A-side, "I'm Coming Home," Les Goths' "Turn Over," and the Eyes masterpiece "When the Night Falls." Other, lesser-known cuts, such as Les Fleur de Lys' "Mud in Your Eye," Drag Set's "Day & Night," and Gary Leeds & Rain's "Francis" are also here, making this perhaps the most satisfying volume in the series.
Tracks:
1 The Kult - No Home Today (U.K.)
2 The Eyes - When The Night Falls (U.K.)
3 The Poets - Baby Don't You Do It (U.K.)
4 The Ace Kefford Stand - For Your Love (U.K.)
5 Rupert's People - Reflections Of Charles Brown (U.K.)
6 Thane Russal & Three - Security (U.K.)
7 The Deviants - I'm Coming Home (U.K.)
8 Les Fleur De Lys - You're Just A Liar (U.K.)
9 The Kult - Mister Number One (U.K.)
10 The 'N Betweens - You Better Run (U.K.)
11 The Ugly's - I've Seen The Light (U.K.)
12 Glenn Athens & The Trojans - Let Me Show You How (U.K.)
13 Gary Walker & Rain - Francis (U.K.)
14 Les Goths - Turn Over (France)
15 The Drag Set - Day And Night (U.K.)
16 Les Fleur De Lys - Mud In Your Eye (U.K.)
17 The Accent - Red Sky At Night (U.K.)
VA - A Perfumed Garden Vol.3 [2002]
By Vol. 3, the famed Perfumed Garden series -- this one is an entirely new collection issued first in the 1990s, whereas the previous pair were released on vinyl first in the early '80s -- had gone deep enough to begin getting to acts that some people had actually heard of. To be fair, collectors of rare British psychedelic, hard rock, and mod pop had been looking for many of these singles for ages. Included among the many obscurities are the Groundhogs' "Sad Go Round," Barry Mason's "Over the Hills," and the Longboatmen's "Take Her Anytime." The rest is up to par with the first two volumes, rounding out a collection of rare '60s tunes that is essential for those who consider themselves connoisseurs of the era.
Tracks:
1 The Longboatmen - Take Her Anytime (Sweden)
2 Miller - Baby I Got News For You (U.K.)
3 Les Goths - Out Of The Sun (France)
4 Shyster - Tick Tock (U.K.)
5 Majority One - Get Back Home (U.K.)
6 The Groundhogs - Sad Go Round (U.K.)
7 Herbal Mixture - Please Leave My Mind (U.K.)
8 Pete Sully & The Orchard - Evil Woman
9 Adam's Recital - There's No Place For Lonely People (Belgium)
10 The Cedars - For Your Information (Lebanon)
11 The Wolves - Lust For Life (U.K.)
12 The Actress - It's What You Give (U.K.)
13 Reign - Line Of Least Resistance (U.K.)
14 Barry Mason - Over The Hills And Far Away (U.K.)
15 Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup - Which Dreamed It? (U.K.)
16 Andwella's Dream - Felix (Ireland)
17 Serendipity - Through With You (U.K.)
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