Hapshash And The Coloured Coat - Western Flier 1969

Hapshash & the Coloured Coat's second and final album was a much more conventional and organized affair than the relatively anarchic, free-form (read songless) structure of their debut. Because of that, some listeners might be inclined to dismiss it as a sellout of sorts. Most listeners, however, will find it far easier to bear than its predecessor, even if it does sound more like a collection of tracks by a few different bands rather than a unified work. That doesn't mean, however, that it's a psychedelic album of note. In fact, it's kind of second-rate and boring, handicapped by rambling, repetitive songs in a mild hard rock British psychedelic end-of-the-'60s style, often handicapped by artlessly strained vocals. Much of the record's filled with stormily discordant blends of rock with Cajun, old-time folk, and ragtime music that sound as if they were arranged and recorded on the spot. In better news, "Chicken Run" isn't bad doom-clouded psychedelia (other than those terrible lead vocals), with some really weird haunting female chants in the background. And you should try to get that on a compilation tape instead of laying out full dollar for this cacophonous, messy relic of the psychedelic age. AMG.

listen here

Hapshash And The Coloured Coat - Featuring The Human Host And The Heavy Metal Kids 1967

 

Hapshash And The Coloured Coat was the name adopted by graphic artists Michael English and Nigel Weymouth. They met in London, England, in 1966, collaborating on the Love Festival poster that showed the joint influence of Man Ray and US pop artist Tom Wesselman. Their work defined the romanticism of the English Underground movement and included posters promoting the Soft Machine, Tomorrow, Jimi Hendrix, and Arthur Brown, as well as concerts held at the UFO Club and Brian Epstein’s Saville Theatre, both located in London. Having become acquainted with producer/svengali Guy Stevens, English and Weymouth recorded their debut album. Hapshash And The Coloured Coat featured lengthy, semi-improvised pieces fused to hard, repetitive riffs and chanted vocals. The accompaniment was supplied by Stevens’ protégés Art. Housed in a de rigueur psychedelic sleeve and pressed on red vinyl, the album became a lynchpin release of the English ‘underground’ movement. However, with Stevens now in absentia and English preferring art to music, it was largely left to Weymouth to record Western Flyer. Groundhogs’ guitarist Tony McPhee and future Wombles producer/songwriter Mike Batt assisted on a set encompassing pop, progressive, and Cajun styles, all delivered in a suitably quirky manner. English and Weymouth sundered their partnership soon afterward. AMG.

listen here