Wednesday, August 19, 2009

THE SEA NYMPHS-S/T, CD, 1992, UK



Next to Spratleys Japs, The Sea Nymphs were the primary offshoot vehicle for Cardiacs' principal Tim Smith, here alongside fellow Cardiacs members Sarah Smith and William D. Drake. I stated in one of my previous posts of their tape material that I wanted to have Smith's baby, which should clue you to the degree of reverence I afford these cats (now horrifyingly laid low after he suffered a tragic and incapacitating stroke/heart attack combo last year). Alas, The Sea Nymphs received zilch in the way of distribution on this side of the pond and if anyone's madness deserves a wider airing, it's these resolute oddniks. All the Cardiacs' operatives, whether in solo mode or in these offshoot ensembles are deeply encoded with the DNA of the mothership, and The Sea Nymphs are no different. As was the case with Spratleys Japs, they dial back the histrionic stop/start cartoon pop/prog/punk aggression of The Cardiacs proper, though where Spratleys Japs light out for more structurally expansive and mellotron laden pastures, this is more off the compressed eccentric song form tip of Smith and Co.'s collective aesthetic, allowing the brilliance of his sui generis psychedelic song constructions to clearly reveal themselves, with sprightly sing song pop psych whimsy lacquered in a patina of syrupy grandiosity a mile deep and shot through with the visionary structural (il)logic that is the signature of this extended musical family.

Get it via Rapidshare here

***NOTE: THERE'S A MIRRORED MEDIAFIRE LINK IN THE COMMENT FIELD*** 

9 comments:

  1. Words can't express how much I love Cardiacs. Tim Smith is a true genius - I hope he is on the mend. I've heard most of his output, but not Spratley's Japs. Please post it if possible. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, thanks! And I'd very much love to hear Spratley's Japs as well, looked forever for that one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. shannon and pope-oscillator-Spratley's Japs is still available from Aquarius Records, so that one won't be being shared here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. http://www.myspace.com/seanymphs

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great band and to think I missed them first time round. Where was I!?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks a lot for this rare and fine stuff. I'm kind of rediscovering them Cardiacs during the last weeks and it makes me so happy I can't explain.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Byooiful. Thank you for posting.

    ReplyDelete