The seminal Rabbits Hat album "Take Good Care" arrives in digital territory for the first time today. Here's a some reviews from it's original release ...
Take it from me, I'm definitely going to be doing an article on this band. If there's one thing I've learned over the years since I've been reviewing, it's that every now and then an album drops into the spinny tray, and everything stops, and the ears begin to work. That little bit of the brain that shouts "THIS IS PRETTY BLOODY GOOD" kicks in. As far as CD's go, this is The Rabbit's Hat's first, although they have one hell of an impressive back catalogue on cassette. There's twelve tracks in all, and the two major things that stick out are Martin Holder's superbly heart-felt guitar licks, and Tim Jones's vocals, which is an amalgam of Clapton, and that guy from Blood, Sweat And Tears. OK, so what's their style? - well, it's Rabbit's Hat; rock, reggae, soul, ballads and shit hot impressive stuff. Check out "More Than Ashes, More Than Dust". No faves, no crap, all brilliant, please, check this band out now. I know they won't appeal to everyone, but those of you who appreciate music for what it is, and not how much it can make, then here you have it. A fine album indeed.
Dave W.Hughes - The Modern Dance (UK)
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When a compact disc by The Rabbit's Hat arrived for review, I perused the lyrics before I played the music and the poet/lyricist Tony Morland (a name new to me), certainly can set down a pretty decent poem.
I settled down to review The Rabbit's Hat's "Take Good Care" C.D. not knowing what to expect but I was aware that they had some good lyrics to interpret. I found myself listening and trying to locate influences and there are many. Tim Jones often sounds like Joe Cocker, Tom Waits, and more often Jimmy Campbell, a folk singer who released a marvellous album "Half Baked" on the Vertigo label in the early 70's. "Changing The Guard", is the first track and could quite easily be sentiments for the discarding of Hong Kong. "Angels And Lucre" is a polemic study of the cash for questions fiasco, chasing money with truth to sell. "More Than Ashes" has esoteric lyrics and a great production with Martin Holder's electric guitar biting through the haze of sound and reverb to create a superb track. "Baffling The Sandmen" has an introduction of cackling witches. Morland has written a song of onomatopoeia and the end result is a track that would please Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull. People are selling dreams to the unsuspecting, trusting populace. "Watch My Sanity Dissolve" is as expected a song for madness. I particularly loved the vocal "growling" in the right channel. "The Gap" has Tim Jones in Tom Waits mood, love changes as time elapses. I loved the last verse which includes…"to see the paper reality slip, to know the heartbeat's skip, and the trembling lip" great stuff, and perfect under-statement too. "The Great And The Good" asks us just who there is left to believe, with plenty of echo on the vocal effects. Morland writes…"build your private ark, while the sharks around you teethe, doctors with no cures who cannot see the ill, driven by their devils who charge it to our bill"…sublime and clever. "Dancing With The Demonised" has a repetitious rhythm which works wonderfully. Tony Morland has used "Demonised" as "Demon Eyes" and I am sure that many people will recognise just how some people benefit from the sweat of others. "grow fat you hag worms, use me as fodder to feed your own lives". "Another Day, Another Hat" is Tim again sounding like Jimmy Campbell, a gentle bouncing song, a change is not really a change, just a change of skin. "Our Tabloid Friends" uses the group Steely Dan's "Showbiz Kids" on which to base the production, an aggressive song for "the sun spreading like a devil's grin". Get them by the balls and their hearts and minds will follow. More biting sentiment. "Ephemeral Fire" is a beautiful vocal from Terri-B. The drumming and guitar break are also excellent.
Ken Brooks - Art Beat Reader (UK)
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The big progressive/psychedelic sound of The Rabbit's Hat, not to mention more of that superb quality musicianship that seems to be a hallmark of all things Stone Premonitions! The Rabbit's Hat have a totally pro sound, you can hear the years of experience. The music is a modern variation on the progressive psychedelia of the late 60s/70s, mainly. The Association meets Jefferson Airplane but with production ideals and standards that were not really possible at that time. Vocals come from the excellent Terri B (reminiscent at times of Sade, Sonja Kristina and Alison Moyet) and Tim Jones who has a Gabrielesque twist to his voice. Nice fusion of electrix and acoustix, bright psychfolk elements in with the rockier sound that crops up here and there. Intelligent lyrics, Mothers Of Invention quirkiness breaks out… then they go back to the mature sound again. A sensibly long album, needed to show off all the facets of this multi talented band. Folk driven mid tempo rock, Clapton style lead work even, progressive touches of vintage Genesis and there's even elements of classic Bowie in there somewhere. Soft psychedelic jazz, classic Floyd lead guitar and they definitely have that Fleetwood Mac sense of harmony. An accomplished album indeed.
Mick Magic - Music & Elsewhere (UK).
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I have this double LP sampler "Bumpers", which presents the Island label roster 1971/72, including bands/musicians like Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Jethro Tull, Jimmy Cliff, Dave Mason, Fairport Convention, Renaissance, Fotheringay and more… When I put on "Take good care", I immediately thought - that's exactly this sound in an up to date context. Intelligent song structures, mostly based on acoustic sounding instruments, voices melodic and gentle.The songs are not that easy to get into because they don't follow an easy ABACAB etc. basic. The longer I listened, the more I discovered …like suddenly I realised a whole big part of american West Coast flavour ... CSN&Y, The Association, Bread and because there is this wonderful voice of Terri B. , Rabbit's Hat sometimes gets a Spanky & Our Gang flavour (who's LP "Anything You Choose" is still one of my all time fave releases) ... so, all in all, the more I listened, the more I was completely lost in the music ... timeless 100% quality!! Is there a better way to praise a release??? Stone Premonitons believe in a co-operative and collective style of working .... Stone Premonitions are a label that refuse to put profitability before creativity and constantly endeavor to produce songwriting and music of an extremely high standard. I think it's best to get in touch with this truly outstanding label, ask for more information and order some of the most wonderful music existing at the moment!!
Lord Litter - Tapedepartement Radioshow (Berlin)
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Stone Premonitions is a label which was set up in 1994 by singer/guitarist Tim Jones, vocalist Terri-B and keyboard player Steve Ellis. Joined by Martin Holder (guitar), Rob Kirtley (bass) and Rabbit (drums), they formed The Rabbit's Hat. They brought out various self produced demos, and the same year, Dave Anderson (ex-Hawkwind, Groundhogs, Amon Duul) released the album "In Optic Mansion" and now they are launching as their label's first C.D. the present disc "Take Good Care".
The group is essentially a psychedelic band, but very individual, more like 70's West Coast than the new English psych-bands, with the focus of attention on the voices of Tim Jones (which has a resemblance to Roger Chapman) and Terri-B, with acoustic folksy support, mixed with superb Hillagesque guitar by Holder. The group's approach can be strange at times and startling. "Angels And Lucre" brings in reggae, "Watch My Sanity Dissolve", "Changing The Guard" or "Dancing With The Demonised" are not uncommercial in a favourable sense, having straightforward catchy tunes. "Take Good Care" and "EpemeralFire" could be described as Sade on acid! "The Gap", as John Lee Hooker meets Family/Streetwalkers!! "Another Day, Another Hat", "Baffling The Sandmen" and "The Great And The Good" are pure Crosby, Stills and Nash. All this without omitting to brig in traditional elements of head music: hippy folk songs, female voice, wonderful vocal harmonies, spacey blues guitar or West Country feel.
The Rabbit's Hat do not fit into any specific period or place, but they have turner out a well made record, perhaps somewhat unorthodox at times if considered psychedelic rock, but that's one of it's attractions, conjuring for the listener echoes of a long era of music; music of all time, even.
Julio J. Iglesias - Atropos (Spain).
Take it from me, I'm definitely going to be doing an article on this band. If there's one thing I've learned over the years since I've been reviewing, it's that every now and then an album drops into the spinny tray, and everything stops, and the ears begin to work. That little bit of the brain that shouts "THIS IS PRETTY BLOODY GOOD" kicks in. As far as CD's go, this is The Rabbit's Hat's first, although they have one hell of an impressive back catalogue on cassette. There's twelve tracks in all, and the two major things that stick out are Martin Holder's superbly heart-felt guitar licks, and Tim Jones's vocals, which is an amalgam of Clapton, and that guy from Blood, Sweat And Tears. OK, so what's their style? - well, it's Rabbit's Hat; rock, reggae, soul, ballads and shit hot impressive stuff. Check out "More Than Ashes, More Than Dust". No faves, no crap, all brilliant, please, check this band out now. I know they won't appeal to everyone, but those of you who appreciate music for what it is, and not how much it can make, then here you have it. A fine album indeed.
Dave W.Hughes - The Modern Dance (UK)
----------------------------------------------------------------
When a compact disc by The Rabbit's Hat arrived for review, I perused the lyrics before I played the music and the poet/lyricist Tony Morland (a name new to me), certainly can set down a pretty decent poem.
I settled down to review The Rabbit's Hat's "Take Good Care" C.D. not knowing what to expect but I was aware that they had some good lyrics to interpret. I found myself listening and trying to locate influences and there are many. Tim Jones often sounds like Joe Cocker, Tom Waits, and more often Jimmy Campbell, a folk singer who released a marvellous album "Half Baked" on the Vertigo label in the early 70's. "Changing The Guard", is the first track and could quite easily be sentiments for the discarding of Hong Kong. "Angels And Lucre" is a polemic study of the cash for questions fiasco, chasing money with truth to sell. "More Than Ashes" has esoteric lyrics and a great production with Martin Holder's electric guitar biting through the haze of sound and reverb to create a superb track. "Baffling The Sandmen" has an introduction of cackling witches. Morland has written a song of onomatopoeia and the end result is a track that would please Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull. People are selling dreams to the unsuspecting, trusting populace. "Watch My Sanity Dissolve" is as expected a song for madness. I particularly loved the vocal "growling" in the right channel. "The Gap" has Tim Jones in Tom Waits mood, love changes as time elapses. I loved the last verse which includes…"to see the paper reality slip, to know the heartbeat's skip, and the trembling lip" great stuff, and perfect under-statement too. "The Great And The Good" asks us just who there is left to believe, with plenty of echo on the vocal effects. Morland writes…"build your private ark, while the sharks around you teethe, doctors with no cures who cannot see the ill, driven by their devils who charge it to our bill"…sublime and clever. "Dancing With The Demonised" has a repetitious rhythm which works wonderfully. Tony Morland has used "Demonised" as "Demon Eyes" and I am sure that many people will recognise just how some people benefit from the sweat of others. "grow fat you hag worms, use me as fodder to feed your own lives". "Another Day, Another Hat" is Tim again sounding like Jimmy Campbell, a gentle bouncing song, a change is not really a change, just a change of skin. "Our Tabloid Friends" uses the group Steely Dan's "Showbiz Kids" on which to base the production, an aggressive song for "the sun spreading like a devil's grin". Get them by the balls and their hearts and minds will follow. More biting sentiment. "Ephemeral Fire" is a beautiful vocal from Terri-B. The drumming and guitar break are also excellent.
Ken Brooks - Art Beat Reader (UK)
----------------------------------------------------------------
The big progressive/psychedelic sound of The Rabbit's Hat, not to mention more of that superb quality musicianship that seems to be a hallmark of all things Stone Premonitions! The Rabbit's Hat have a totally pro sound, you can hear the years of experience. The music is a modern variation on the progressive psychedelia of the late 60s/70s, mainly. The Association meets Jefferson Airplane but with production ideals and standards that were not really possible at that time. Vocals come from the excellent Terri B (reminiscent at times of Sade, Sonja Kristina and Alison Moyet) and Tim Jones who has a Gabrielesque twist to his voice. Nice fusion of electrix and acoustix, bright psychfolk elements in with the rockier sound that crops up here and there. Intelligent lyrics, Mothers Of Invention quirkiness breaks out… then they go back to the mature sound again. A sensibly long album, needed to show off all the facets of this multi talented band. Folk driven mid tempo rock, Clapton style lead work even, progressive touches of vintage Genesis and there's even elements of classic Bowie in there somewhere. Soft psychedelic jazz, classic Floyd lead guitar and they definitely have that Fleetwood Mac sense of harmony. An accomplished album indeed.
Mick Magic - Music & Elsewhere (UK).
----------------------------------------------------------------
I have this double LP sampler "Bumpers", which presents the Island label roster 1971/72, including bands/musicians like Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Jethro Tull, Jimmy Cliff, Dave Mason, Fairport Convention, Renaissance, Fotheringay and more… When I put on "Take good care", I immediately thought - that's exactly this sound in an up to date context. Intelligent song structures, mostly based on acoustic sounding instruments, voices melodic and gentle.The songs are not that easy to get into because they don't follow an easy ABACAB etc. basic. The longer I listened, the more I discovered …like suddenly I realised a whole big part of american West Coast flavour ... CSN&Y, The Association, Bread and because there is this wonderful voice of Terri B. , Rabbit's Hat sometimes gets a Spanky & Our Gang flavour (who's LP "Anything You Choose" is still one of my all time fave releases) ... so, all in all, the more I listened, the more I was completely lost in the music ... timeless 100% quality!! Is there a better way to praise a release??? Stone Premonitons believe in a co-operative and collective style of working .... Stone Premonitions are a label that refuse to put profitability before creativity and constantly endeavor to produce songwriting and music of an extremely high standard. I think it's best to get in touch with this truly outstanding label, ask for more information and order some of the most wonderful music existing at the moment!!
Lord Litter - Tapedepartement Radioshow (Berlin)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Stone Premonitions is a label which was set up in 1994 by singer/guitarist Tim Jones, vocalist Terri-B and keyboard player Steve Ellis. Joined by Martin Holder (guitar), Rob Kirtley (bass) and Rabbit (drums), they formed The Rabbit's Hat. They brought out various self produced demos, and the same year, Dave Anderson (ex-Hawkwind, Groundhogs, Amon Duul) released the album "In Optic Mansion" and now they are launching as their label's first C.D. the present disc "Take Good Care".
The group is essentially a psychedelic band, but very individual, more like 70's West Coast than the new English psych-bands, with the focus of attention on the voices of Tim Jones (which has a resemblance to Roger Chapman) and Terri-B, with acoustic folksy support, mixed with superb Hillagesque guitar by Holder. The group's approach can be strange at times and startling. "Angels And Lucre" brings in reggae, "Watch My Sanity Dissolve", "Changing The Guard" or "Dancing With The Demonised" are not uncommercial in a favourable sense, having straightforward catchy tunes. "Take Good Care" and "EpemeralFire" could be described as Sade on acid! "The Gap", as John Lee Hooker meets Family/Streetwalkers!! "Another Day, Another Hat", "Baffling The Sandmen" and "The Great And The Good" are pure Crosby, Stills and Nash. All this without omitting to brig in traditional elements of head music: hippy folk songs, female voice, wonderful vocal harmonies, spacey blues guitar or West Country feel.
The Rabbit's Hat do not fit into any specific period or place, but they have turner out a well made record, perhaps somewhat unorthodox at times if considered psychedelic rock, but that's one of it's attractions, conjuring for the listener echoes of a long era of music; music of all time, even.
Julio J. Iglesias - Atropos (Spain).
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