MALCOLM MORLEY
''ALIENS''
2001
46:15
1. Mighty Sisters 4:55
2. The Shade 5:57
3. The Burning Frame 4:30
4. The Clone 5:27
5. Future City 2:38
6. Venus Rising 4:02
7. The Crucifixion Area 7:58
8. X File 301 5:49
9. Sands 5:01
Album Notes
by cdbaby
Malcolm Morley's solo album ALIENS, could be described in many ways.For those who have been waiting for the return of Malcolm Morley as a songwriter since 1974 the words "stunning" and "brilliant" come to mind upon first listen.Unless you were a fan of 70's cult favourites, HELP YOURSELF and MAN, the name Malcolm Morley might not carry the same weight as it does in certain circles.
Briefly: The story of HELP YOURSELF is a mysterious and convoluted tale.Will Birch in his book 'No sleep till Canvey Island, has shed some light on the subject.An in-depth interview with all the participants can be found on the PTOLEMAIC TERRASCOPE website (www.terrascope.org/helps.html). The Helps were part of a stable of artists signed to U.A. Records in London, which included BRINSLEY SCHWARZ, MAN, HAWKWIND,and GYPSY. Many of the colourful characters from this scene later emerged as leaders of the U.K. Pub Rock movement, which sowed the seeds of the Punk explosion in 1976. After releasing four albums the Helps disbanded and Malcolm and bassist Ken Whaley joined up with Welsh legends MAN for their first American tour and appeared on their Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics album.
Morley then seemed to disappear from the music scene.You might have spotted him on tour or recording with the likes of WRECKLESS ERIC and KIRSTY MC COLL. A solo album was recorded and then abandoned. Some years down the line Malc re-emerged playing some solo gigs and recording with Soma Records' ENVOY for the track "Saxman." Knowing all that, however, could not prepare you for the album you hold in your hands.From the first notes of MIGHTY SISTERS,it is clear this is no nostalgic look to the past.The powerful anthem of Mighty Sisters shows that after such a long absence from the spotlight Malcolm has hit the ground running.
THE SHADE and THE BURNING FRAME help set the story of ALIENS, and the world it is set in.It's the song THE CLONE that takes you deep inside the mind that has lived these songs. "I have a heart that beats, a mind that wanders dimensions unknown, i saw somebody that looked like me but i am quite alone." If this could be called a "song cycle" the inspiration is more PHILLIP.K.DICK than MEHER BABA.Musically The Clone is one of two songs which may strike a chord with long time fans.
FUTURE CITY explores the landscape of this new world.
VENUS RISING could have easily appeared on a Help Yourself Album with its driving guitar and persistent drumming, and leads us to the most mysterious track on the album: THE CRUCIFIXION AREA.
Ex Helps guitarist Richard Treece makes a guest appearance as Jack 'Bunny' Lightup, the paranoid E.T. hunter, on X-FILE301, sounding like WILLIAM BURROUGHS on helium.An auspicious acting debut. SANDS leaves you standing at the edge of time, and ready to go back to the beginning once again.
RON SANCHEZ. Bozeman, Montana. 2001.
BIOGRAPHY
by Richie Unterberger
Malcolm Morley was a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist in the British band Help Yourself, who put out four albums in the early 1970s. When Help Yourself disbanded, Morley put in brief stints with Man and Bees Make Honey, also playing as a sideman to Deke Leonard, Wreckless Eric, and Kirsty McColl before leaving the music business in the early 1980s. In 1976 he recorded a journeyman singer-songwriter album, backed by Ian Gomm and Plummet Airlines, in which he sometimes sounded like a low-key, blander Paul McCartney. Unreleased at the time, the master tapes for that record were thought lost, but found 25 years later, and issued as Lost and Found in 2002. In 2001, Morley released the solo album Aliens, and was reported to be working on completing a fifth Help Yourself album.
''ALIENS''
2001
46:15
1. Mighty Sisters 4:55
2. The Shade 5:57
3. The Burning Frame 4:30
4. The Clone 5:27
5. Future City 2:38
6. Venus Rising 4:02
7. The Crucifixion Area 7:58
8. X File 301 5:49
9. Sands 5:01
Album Notes
by cdbaby
Malcolm Morley's solo album ALIENS, could be described in many ways.For those who have been waiting for the return of Malcolm Morley as a songwriter since 1974 the words "stunning" and "brilliant" come to mind upon first listen.Unless you were a fan of 70's cult favourites, HELP YOURSELF and MAN, the name Malcolm Morley might not carry the same weight as it does in certain circles.
Briefly: The story of HELP YOURSELF is a mysterious and convoluted tale.Will Birch in his book 'No sleep till Canvey Island, has shed some light on the subject.An in-depth interview with all the participants can be found on the PTOLEMAIC TERRASCOPE website (www.terrascope.org/helps.html). The Helps were part of a stable of artists signed to U.A. Records in London, which included BRINSLEY SCHWARZ, MAN, HAWKWIND,and GYPSY. Many of the colourful characters from this scene later emerged as leaders of the U.K. Pub Rock movement, which sowed the seeds of the Punk explosion in 1976. After releasing four albums the Helps disbanded and Malcolm and bassist Ken Whaley joined up with Welsh legends MAN for their first American tour and appeared on their Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics album.
Morley then seemed to disappear from the music scene.You might have spotted him on tour or recording with the likes of WRECKLESS ERIC and KIRSTY MC COLL. A solo album was recorded and then abandoned. Some years down the line Malc re-emerged playing some solo gigs and recording with Soma Records' ENVOY for the track "Saxman." Knowing all that, however, could not prepare you for the album you hold in your hands.From the first notes of MIGHTY SISTERS,it is clear this is no nostalgic look to the past.The powerful anthem of Mighty Sisters shows that after such a long absence from the spotlight Malcolm has hit the ground running.
THE SHADE and THE BURNING FRAME help set the story of ALIENS, and the world it is set in.It's the song THE CLONE that takes you deep inside the mind that has lived these songs. "I have a heart that beats, a mind that wanders dimensions unknown, i saw somebody that looked like me but i am quite alone." If this could be called a "song cycle" the inspiration is more PHILLIP.K.DICK than MEHER BABA.Musically The Clone is one of two songs which may strike a chord with long time fans.
FUTURE CITY explores the landscape of this new world.
VENUS RISING could have easily appeared on a Help Yourself Album with its driving guitar and persistent drumming, and leads us to the most mysterious track on the album: THE CRUCIFIXION AREA.
Ex Helps guitarist Richard Treece makes a guest appearance as Jack 'Bunny' Lightup, the paranoid E.T. hunter, on X-FILE301, sounding like WILLIAM BURROUGHS on helium.An auspicious acting debut. SANDS leaves you standing at the edge of time, and ready to go back to the beginning once again.
RON SANCHEZ. Bozeman, Montana. 2001.
BIOGRAPHY
by Richie Unterberger
Malcolm Morley was a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist in the British band Help Yourself, who put out four albums in the early 1970s. When Help Yourself disbanded, Morley put in brief stints with Man and Bees Make Honey, also playing as a sideman to Deke Leonard, Wreckless Eric, and Kirsty McColl before leaving the music business in the early 1980s. In 1976 he recorded a journeyman singer-songwriter album, backed by Ian Gomm and Plummet Airlines, in which he sometimes sounded like a low-key, blander Paul McCartney. Unreleased at the time, the master tapes for that record were thought lost, but found 25 years later, and issued as Lost and Found in 2002. In 2001, Morley released the solo album Aliens, and was reported to be working on completing a fifth Help Yourself album.
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