CLYDE AND THE NIGHTSWINGERS
The Enormous Midnight and Nine Other Nocturnes
[engl] Clyde and the Nightswingers came together to record the Theme song for a 1967 “Art Film.” If LSD ingested during a gathering of members of the U.S. Air Force and delinquent girls is your idea of an Art Film, then the only way to see it is to close your eyes and let The Enormous Midnight seep into your brain. The film is lost, but Nightswinger sounds are found on this Arcania International LP. Sounds kind of psychedelic, yes. But there’s more to the story and indeed a story it is. For the most part we hear a Garage band that seems to have been dropped into a vat of acid, then coming out as if totally Psyched! So – experimentation! That adds to a lost, M.I.A. quality, with a folkie (Clyde) trying his best to conjure up “lyrics as art” while singing/screaming them across this entire album. Yes, this tells a story, but despite death wish words and a long night of the soul, it ends happily. Because it’s just a (fuzzy/feedback/explosive/electrical) dream. But not music to go to sleep to.