01 March 2019

GARY LEE CONNER – Unicorn Curry 2019 (LP Vincebus Eruptum)

What a nice surprise from my friend/neighbor Davide from Italy! His 24^th Vincebus Eruptum release (VELP024) is the new album by the Microdot Gnome, Mr. Gary Lee Conner! Yes! That Conner! The Screaming Trees one! His Screaming Trees days are long gone and far away by now, and Gary is making music on his own and as he states: “inspired by Psychedelia from all ages and anything else I find along the way”…

“Unicorn Curry” (a rather unusual naming, don’t you think so?) consists of 10 original compositions performed under a Screaming Trees filter. Gary wrote all the songs and he also plays all the instruments. The album takes off with “Theodore’s Flying”, guitar-driven pop-rock with an intense British feeling. The same goes with the next one, “Mary’s English Garden”, but now there’s a late 60s Brit approach to the music. The rhythmic upbeat “Downer’s Row” follows while the sharp keys and the distinctive maracas of “Don’t You Look That Way” add a dirty British 60s R n’ B mood introducing a fine guitar wah-wah solo! “Flower Punk Girl” is a cool pop-sike tune with a lot going on in the background and a marvelous guitar-a-like-sitar sounding! On “Riding On A Dragonfly” the ’68 Beatles meet with ’69 Open Mind under a strong Attack atmosphere! “Neon Days” is another pop-sike tune kind of balladesque while “Kalliope” has a cool intoxicating keys section! Lots of 60s British Psych vibes are present on “Who Knows The Rain?”. The album closes with the most “psychedelic” tune, “It’s Only Revolution” it’s a colorful trip back to the wonderful “musical-social-political” revolution days of 1968, with a killer melancholic guitar sound and an organ literally drenched into that remarkable era… So, here’s an American composer, singer, songwriter that plays 60s British inspired music, in 2019!!! This needs further investigation, I think. Or maybe not? Let’s ask the Unicorn… (TimeLord Michalis)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Vincebus Eruptum Recordings

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl, 300 copies (with inner lyrics sheet)

Release Date: 31 Jan 2019

Tracklist

A1	Theodore’s Flying	3:39
A2	Mary’s English Garden	4:34
A3	Downer’s Row	4:15
A4	Don’t You Look That Way	3:47
A5	Flower Punk Girl	4:45
B1	Riding On A Dragonfly	3:34
B2	Neon Days	4:04
B3	Kalliope	3:30
B4	Who Knows The Rain?	3:33
B5	It’s Only Revolution	6:11