Acnalbasac
Noom
by Slaphappy
ReR Megacorp, Thornton Heath, Surrey UK
and Denver, CO USA, 2005
Audio CD. £ 11.50 UK
Distributors website: http://www.rermegacorp.com;
http://www.rerusa.com
Reviewed by Michael R. (Mike) Mosher
Saginaw Valley State University
mosher@svsu.edu
The band Slaphappy consisted of Dagmar
Krause's clear voice, Peter Blegvad's
guitar and good ideas, and Anthony Moore's
keyboard and guitar. Sometimes they were
supplemented by members of Faust, Jean
Henri Peron (on bass and drums) and Gunther
Wusleff (sax). Their songs were recorded
at Wumme, West Germany in 1973 and put
out as a vinyl record album, with four
later tracks added to this CD.
There is a theatricality to Slaphappy,
for "Casablanca Moon" (spell it backwards
for the album's title) could be a song
heard on the radio show "Prairie Home
Companion", and "Me and Paravati" could
be a quirkily-worded show tune from the
"Rocky Horror Picture Show". "Michelangelo"
is a specimen whimsy of the 1970s, while
"Mr. Rainbow" sounds like Pink Floyd music
with Procol Harum lyrics. "Slow Moon's
Rose" exemplifies the contemplative absurdity
of their wordplay: "I watched the evening
wither/With a jewel at the end of my nose/Tell-tale
snails leave their trails/Running from
hunters' black blunderbus under the sun"
(© Moore, Blackhill Music). The words
to "The Secret" suggest Joni Mitchell
or Carole King, while "A Little Something"
has that slightly bossa nova beat that
Joni Mitchell often employed. Its lyrics
appear in the CD's booklet in the wrong
order.
"The Drum" features Seventies rock guitar
that would be at home on Eno's "Taking
Tiger Mountain", like that of Phil Manzanera
of Roxy Music, or even solo Paul McCartney
hits of the era. There is distinctly Beatlesque
guitar in "Half Way There" and "Charlie
'n Charlie" too. The bonus cuts added
to this CD show the Slaphappy principals'
further evolution and attentiveness to
the musical zeitgeist. "Everybody's Slimmin'"
was a bouncy diet-friendly single on HalfCat
Records. Like M's "Pop Music", it's a
gem of the slickest production heard at
the dawn of the Big Eighties, Reaganesquely
rich in background voices and syn-drums.
"Blue Eyed William" layers voices--not
just Krause's--into a choir, "Karen" is
a Blegvad solo project that showcases
his voice reminiscent of John Lee Hooker,
while "Messaage" is solo Krause, swaying
to the same beat as "Karen". One ponders
Blegvad and Krause as the creative relationship
Lou Reed and Nico should've had throughout
the 1960s. These later cuts even suggest
Nico's final tracks, shortly before her
1988 bicycling death. Slaphappy could
have written a song about that.