OFFTOP: more Sundial.....

[Carl E. Anderson]

> On the topic of Sundial, which started six weeks or so ago....after reading
> some of these posts, and coming across one of their discs in a used CD shop a
> few weeks ago ('Reflector'), I decided to try them out.  Anyway, the music
> is pretty decent, but not a must have, IMHO.  Other albums may be more
> exciting....I remember Return Journey being touted as their best, I think.

        _Reflector_, while not actually *bad*, is probably their weakest
release.  It was the middle of a rather "mainstream pop" period for them.
_Libertine_ suffers from some of this, but is actually a pretty damn cool
album.  The new one _Acid Yantra_ is a return to form for Sundial, and
while not reaching the chaotic excesses of _Return Journey_, does more or
less rule :)
        _Other Way Out_ is not dissimilar to _Return Journey_.

        Needless to say, I have yet to physically meet a person in the UK
who has heard of this band.

> But the real reason I'm posting is that their sound seems very similar to
> another band that I quite liked....'Levitation'.  And yes, I took a chance on
> buying their debut album partly because of the band's name, and also the cover
> made it look like something I might like.  The band featured (past tense
> because I think they are now defunct) Terry Bickers, who came from 'House of
> Love' (a band I've *never* heard a single track by).  Their first album,
> 'Coterie' is sort of Hawkwindish in that some of the tracks are live, and some
> are studio recordings.  But the writing is real strong, and there's a
> psychedelic touch to some of it.  And as I said, there is a strong resemblance
> to Sundial's style as well, so I'd recommend 'Coterie' to Sundial fans.
> Levitation's follow-up, called 'Need for Not', should've just been called
> 'Not', as it was a huge disappointment, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

        Seems worth checking out--anyone else familiar with this?
        Another Sundialish band I understand are 'Czar', some late-70s
fuzzed out, flanged up, mellotroning British stoners :)  though I haven't
actually heard their (apparently only) album.  It's supposed to be
pretty cool.

Cheers,
Carl