Kaleidoscope (UK)
Tangerine Dream

LA RECENSIONE

“A young and eclectic band, moreover capable of writing excellent original material... it's no small feat” read the succinct press release from Fontana Records that accompanied, in December '67, the release of “Tangerine Dream”, the debut album of the London-based Kaleidoscope, often marked with the acronym UK, to avoid confusion with their American counterparts. The band, first under the acronym The Sidekicks and then The Keys, cut their teeth playing rhythm and blues in the clubs of the British capital since 1964; "of course we preferred the Beatles, but imitating the Stones was easier" they would later say of that period. But the winds of change began to blow violently, the season of love flooded the world with color, and psychedelia took shape in the minds of many artists... and even the prolific Daltrey-Pumer duo began to soften their productions, smoothing and expanding their melodies and filling the stories with crazy characters, sometimes funny, sometimes bizarre... or often, simply magical. Their proposal is a formidable blend of styles, where the liquid folk of “Dear Nelle Goodrich” transforms into the more amphetamine-driven folk of “(Further Reflections) In The Room Of Percussions”, right into the Barrett-infused childishness of the ballad “Please Excuse My Face”. The tracks that showcase the band's more lysergic side are dazzling, such as the perfect psychedelic pop of “Dive Into Yesterday” and “The Murder Of Lewis Tollani”, which slightly acidify the sophisticated “Flight From Ashiya”, the rambling “Mr. Small The Watch Reapairer Man”, or the more radio-friendly “Holidaymaker”. But they achieve perfection with the dreamy fairy tale “The Sky Children”, where Daltrey's voice gently rests upon a soft spring cloud and is carried by a light breeze through the moving eight minutes of the track. Tear-inducing.

"The collective subject of our songs is simple: life and people. We wrote our songs about you. Happy people, sad people, lovable people, and some confused people. We've written about children, the king and his queen, and we've also included a few words about ourselves, our lives, and our dreams"

Peter Daltrey