Phantasmagoria
by Curved Air
Artist:
Curved Air
Label:
Warner Bros. Records
Catalog#:
BS 2628
Format:
Vinyl
Country:
United States
Released:
1972
| Tracklist | |||
| A1 | Marie Antoinette | 6:20 | |
| Notes: |
Drums - Florian Pilkington-Miksa |
||
| A2 | Melinda (More Or Less) | 3:25 | |
| Notes: |
Bass Guitar - Mike Wedgwood |
||
| A3 | Not Quite The Same | 3:44 | |
| Notes: |
Bass Guitar - Mike Wedgwood |
||
| A4 | Cheetah | 3:35 | |
| Notes: |
Bass Guitar - Mike Wedgwood |
||
| A5 | Ultra-Vivaldi | 2:22 | |
| B1 | Phantasmagoria | 3:15 | |
| Notes: |
Drums - Florian Pilkington-Miksa |
||
| B2 | Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway? | 3:24 | |
| Notes: |
Edited By [Final Tapes Edited And Prepared For Performance By] - Francis Monkman |
||
| B3 | Over And Above | 8:36 | |
| Notes: |
Drums - Florian Pilkington-Miksa |
||
| B4 | Once A Ghost Always A Ghost | 4:25 | |
| Notes: |
Drums, Percussion [Assorted] - Florian Pilkington-Miksa |
||
Credits
Art Direction - Richard Rockwood
Design [Illustration] - John Gorham
Engineer - Colin Caldwell
Producer - Colin Caldwell
Producer - Curved Air
Notes
Recorded at Advision Studios (London), March 1972 (except where otherwise stated).
"Ulta-Vivadi"
Recorded at E.M.S. (London); Sequenced on a Synthi 100 Synthesizer.
"Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway?"
Recorded at E.M.S. (London) by kind permission of Peter Zinovieff. This track consists entirely of tapes of Sonja's voice analysed and processed by a PDP 8/L computer and Synthi 100 Synthesizer.
Green label, includes Lyric/Credit sheet.
On back cover: ℗©1972 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Strawberry Bricks Entry:
Released in April 1972, Curved Air’s Phantasmagoria took its title from a Lewis Carroll poem. Like the previous album, it again saw its sides split between composers, Darryl Way and Francis Monkman. A non-lp single, “Sarah’s Concern” b/w “Phantasmagoria,” was issued in March, but failed to chart. Florian Pilkington-Miksa returned, while bassist Mike Wedgwood was new. His bass immediately lends substance to the wonderful “Marie Antoinette.” Hard-rocking with a sexy swing, one wonders why this wasn’t issued as the single! Sonja Kristina’s “Melinda (More or Less)” follows; a gentle, folksy ballad that shines with her vocal. Way’s “Not Quite the Same” and Monkman’s “Over and Above” continue to refine Curved Air’s classical sound, here with added horn arrangements. The instrumental “Cheetah” reveals the fury of the band, with Way’s solo violin, of course, to the fore. “Ultra-Vivaldi” and “Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway” both utilize the talents of Peter Zinovieff and the EMS Synthi 100, with the latter even processing Kristina’s voice; lest we not forget, Curved Air were never shy to experiment. However, the faux-Caribbean shuffle of “Once a Ghost Always a Ghost” tries a little too hard. Nevertheless, the album remains their most realized to date, again charting in the UK, albeit only reaching No. 20. It would be the last album with both Way and Monkman, as the band would soon undergo massive personnel changes.
