Sometimes a CD sleeve can fool you. Like this one. Looking at this American guy, Jeff Saphin, you would think that he'sheavily into sleaze or glamrock. And he sure isn't!! No, dreamy psychedelic pop is his style. His love for the early Bowie,Echo & the Bunnymen and the World Party is very obvious onthis CD. He even sometimes reminded me of Donovan in his "Hurdy Gurdy" days.Saphin is also very heavily into the Lord and many other shaktis, Babas and Sri Sris.
The songs on this CD are of a very high quality level. They all have a lovely relaxed sound. Saphin's vocals are a mix of the booming Bowie and the sobbing Ian McCullough. Especially the Bowie influences are big. The semi-acoustic "Bang!" is avery similar to "Space Odditty".
Dreamy pop with fuzz guitar and vibes and many spacey effects. The funky "Hand Me Down Lies" goes into the direction of the Blow Monkeys. The psychedelic popsong " The King Of Queens" is one of the many highlights on the CD with its tablas and gracious synthesziers. The same goes for the feathery relaxing " Mother My Love". Saphin is not affraid of a bombastic sound as well. So proves the epos " Pathos Symphonia". A great pop CD of multi instrumentalist Saphin with a little help from friends like Richard Barone (guitars), Paul Rainieri (bass), Lee Grayson (guitars) and Alex Sarkis (drums). |
