Jamendo : No Dream Is Good Dream

No Dream Is Good Dream

by Lonely Planet Boy 1969

rock songwriter china indie alternative ballad poprock folk space riff

9 tracks

36:37

1	Cellar Boy	3:28
2	Planet Earth's Midnight Creature Show	4:20
3	Narrenschiff(Ship of Fools)	5:00
4	Changeless	3:52
5	The Last Day On Earth	4:16
6	Lonely Planet Boy Theme Song	3:18
7	Loser	6:15
8	Me And Susie Are Still Friends	3:28
9	Home Is Not The Place To Kill Yourself	2:40

Describe your album

Planet Earth's Midnight Creature Show reviewed by steve gilmore

China, being the most populated country on the planet, should be absolutely awash with musicians but you wouldn't know it by checking out Soundclick would you? Search on China and you get a grand total of 165 artists, search on NanJing and you'll get four; one of which being self-acclaimed 'lonely planet boy' 1969. Is it that Chinese musicians don't know about Soundclick? As sure as shit there are thousands of young, energetic musicians there, that I know for a fact. China has an excellent musical scene and it would be nice to experience it more through Soundclick. OK, rant over, let's get to the music.

1969 is a one man band (you may also know him as blue zeppelin) who works in Alternative who does a very impressive job with echoes of early Bowie both in song construction and delivery. Hey, if you are going to influenced by anyone it might as well be someone good right? There again, I did notice that he cites Marc Bolan as an influence and I can hear some of that as well. The music, though, is much more complex than anything the pop pixie would have come up with - much more Bowie. What comes out the other end would come as a major surprise if you didn't know that the musician was Chinese.

Gor'blimey guv is about right.

It takes a while to get moving, you have to get past a sci-fi intro that is kinda rough soundwise, but once you get into the heart of the track you will forgive it anything. Especially if you like the musical references I cited above. Although, I think I would have to say I would have liked a cleaner sound but put up against the song and its arrangement, it's something I can definitely live with. There's definitely a 1970's feel to the track, 1969 probably spent ages putting it all together and - given the fullness of sound and instrumentation - it's come out of the process extremely well. Definitely a track I'm going to have hanging around for a while. Surprisingly enough, he also reminds me of Soundclick artist melv in sound and in presentation and that - believe it or not - is a high recommendation.

Life On Mars? Yep, we are being watched. Highly Recommended for 1970's rock freaks.

Cellar Boy - Steve Gilmore Review

If you mention names like Zep, Bolan, Barrett, Bowie, Zappa and many other rock luminaries are your influences, it's a sure bet you are going to find an avid listener in this reviewer. Provided you pay those giants whose shoulders you stand on, the respect their efforts deserve. See, I'm a REAL stickler about this particular aspect of this thing we do. I lived through some of the highlights of the past 40 years and it takes a lot to really challenge the likes of the above mentioned. However, here back on Earth (OK Soundclick then...) it's a slightly more egalitarian deal and I've heard hundreds of class tracks that do pay respect to their roots but still manage to sound fresh and up to date,

Give all of the above you would probably expect 1969 to be a Western musician but think again, Bluezz Wilde (aka 1969) comes from Nanjing, China and that's about as far as you can get from the roots of rock. Planet Earths Midnight Creature Show (June 2007) showed that distance means nothing as it delivered exactly what it promised and in the process gained a highly recommended from me. Not a bad start and Cellar Boy follows the pattern set by that track. Where the notable influences in that were Bowie et al, Bolan and Barrett are the influences at play in Cellar Boy, with a dash of Beatles arrangements just in case you get bored.

As if...

As someone steeped in this particular style of music I am bound to appreciate this and the amount of work, patience and skill that went into making it. While it is obvious that 1969 knows his subject matter and how to showcase his reverence for it, there will be people who turn their nose up at this. That would be a crying shame because they would be missing an amazing experience; Cellar Boy is a track to be cherished and listened to time and time again. If you still don't understand what that whole 1960's thing was about (especially later half), then get a fresh ear on the whole affair, because this is as close as you are going to get. Lovingly reproduced in glorious stereo, backwards guitars, da works.... Beautiful. After just a couple of plays I knew that I would be scoring this pretty highly but a couple of days with it soon changed my mind and I realised I had no choice.

MUST HAVE (atmosphere, song, arrangement top class)

Planet Earth's Midnight Creature Show reviewed by steve smith

Once in a while you hear a track which takes you back to a time in your life when everything was truly fabulous. In this case, it's like unearthing a rare or previously unreleased David Bowie track.

The production values are way better than Hunky Dory, but importantly the double tracked vocals and the inflection is uncannily like Bowie's early work.

So in a new-meets-old kinda way - this is the best of 1969 meets the best of 2007.

I am totally gobsmacked by this track. Do yourself a favour, flake out on the beanbag, fire up the lava lamp, run your toes through the shag pile carpet, and recall the days when a smiley was a lapel badge, or a sticker, and not an emoticon.

Break out the tupperware and the fondue set on the laminex tabletop and enjoy the fact that everything old is new again.

Thankfully.

Big Wheel Reviewery - 'The Last Day on Earth' by 1969

First of all, let me say that 1969 is a great name for a band. It was an amazing year - moon landings, the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination, and most amazing of all, I was born. Cherry on the cake.

Ahem. Anywedge....

Reading your words, your idea to make what might best be described as an Indie-Prog album could easily be as good an idea as it is bad - the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, or in this case, in the listening. So here I go, open wide, and big bite.

The beginning of this track has an electro-folk feel - a steady filtered drone overlaid with very indie guitars. The overall mood of the tune is one of laid back psychedelia - I have no reference to compare it to - I'd say it was a bit Magic Numbers if I'd ever listened to them, but I haven't. The End by the Doorspopped into my head briefly, but very briefly so I don't suppose it counts.

What strikes me the most about this track is that there are a number of good elements, but they don't gel as well as they perhaps could - the instruments aren't quite in tune with the vocals (or vice versa) all the way through the track, and there are definitely one or two bum notes in there. Hang on, I'll try and pinpoint one or two.... there - 0 mins 56secs, 2mins 04secs, and 3 mins 36. I'm notsure this discordance is intentional, but I'm afraid I don't like it.

I'm not sure how the vocals have been processed, but the tone is interesting - a chorus effect praps? Anyhoo it works well with the lazy vocals, though I suspect it might be nicer EQd a little more towards the treble to lift it away from the guitars, which occupy a similar tonal range. There are no obvious dynamic peaks and troughs in this track, and this constancy begs to be left alone - by which I mean that the track works fine without the distorted guitar chordage - keeping this track as bare and simple as possible would do it some good.

In all, not an unpleasant track. Not my thing really, so you've done well enough to have me listen to it four times without getting bored, though each time I hit the discordant sections it pisses me off.

Somehow, my scoring system has become lost in the post, so until I get it back, I'm going to give this track a

WHOOOAAH MELLOW award, because it's Whooooah mellow. Trippy man.

Also, make the album - it will be interesting. Indie-prog. New genre.

Steve Gilmore Reviews: 1969 - The Last Day On Earth

I would be willing to bet there aren't too many blue zeppelins in China, and the one I have found turns out to be one of the most enjoyable artists I have come across in a good while. Part of that has to come down to 1969's (aka Blue Zeppelin) oft stated love for the sounds of the 1960's, a period that continues to influence artists worldwide, 40 years after the event. Back when a song spoke to us as if it were out best friend (which it often was for a great many of us). For me, personally, having grown up during that fine musical period, anybody who professes an interest in the period is going to find a friend in me, as 1969 has found out. Out of the two tracks of his I've reviewed so far, he has recieved on Highly Recommended and a Must Have, and that ain't too shabby at all.

So, what's next...?

The Last Day On Earth has all the ingredients of the two previous tracks but - for my money - it doesn't have anything like the impact those tracks contained. There is a lightness about the track which, although intentional, tends to give it a kind of throwaway feel. Having said that, like all of 1969's tracks so far, it plays slavish adherence to the tone and sound of early 1970's rock - although in this case with a whimsical, almost folk-rock to it. That might also be the catalyst for my mixed feelings about the track because its the one area of rock I've never had a lot of time for - even when it was popular.

There's a flavour of early Pink Floyd in the vocal and presentation of the lyrics, which helps the time to pass and again I am amazed about how a Chinese musician can deliver such an authentic feel. If you like what I have described so far, then you may well get more out of this track I am seeming to; at least through the first two or three minutes. There's a couple of distinctly odd sections where things don't meld as well as they should and a particularly strange guitar section that probably should be re-thought. While I was over at 1969s site I also listened to a couple of Neil Young covers he's done and I think I prefer them. All this isn't to say that 1969 has turned in a bad peice, for those who like the period and the style will find much to like. It just didn't have the same impact on me his more rockier outings have had.

Recommended Classic rock nonetheless.

Reviews

fasadeulven

Simply Amazing

19/11/07

I've been listening to this album for last couple of days, and it is just getting better and better.. Already on my first listening, the opening track 'Cellar Boy' hit me straight in my heart.. It is a weird indie tune, low and depressive, and I sense some asian folk music in it as well... Then the second track starts...A lot louder, David Bowie vocals... Just wicked!

A couple of the songs are not as good as the rest(I am not gonna name them..), but overall this album is one of the best I have heard in ages.. I really hope to hear more from this one-man-band from China... 8)