the BEAUTIFUL LOSERS
"Nobody Knows the Heaven"
To set the scene: it’s 1974,
it’s Paris, two young guys in their bed-sit (one of
whom is French music maven/famous producer Jay Alanski) are
dreaming of counter-culture, and their internal versions of
California and New York. The result is this album, a child
begotten of Marc Bolan, Baudelaire, and Lautréamont;
a fascinating record, subtle and engaging as it is scarce;
the re-creation of a parallel pop universe which one Michael
Moorcock wouldn’t have renounced. Somehow, the duo get
their record out into the world on Monde Melody’s one-off
"Silk" imprint (a tribute to Marc Bolan). And what twisted
songs (in English) they managed to squeeze into a fifty-minute
slab of vinyl. The music drips with deep nostalgia for the
decadent "beautiful people" who lived and breathed and then
found a home in the songs of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen, pervaded
throughout with a kind of psychedelic sadness. All of this
is expressed by means of long jagged acid guitar runs (or
in acoustic strums) supported by Moroccan percussion (bongos?)
and heavy bass lines from Christophe J. A post-quaalude album,
as band leader Jay Alanski has said. If the LP had been released
in 1971, everyone would point to T-Rex as an influence, and
call it "glam folk"; fast forward to today and it’s
hard not to think "loner," and draw comparisons with the music
of Devendra Banhart, albeit recorded 35 years ago! We’re
now several decades further on in the world’s slow self-destruction,
but this sole recording by the Beautiful Losers has lost nothing
of its freshness and superb arrogance. Blessed be the listener
who is going to discover such a hidden treasure!
Track listing:
1. Welcome (0:16)
2. Oxford 1825 (2:08)
3. Spanish Woman (3:19)
4. You Are Free (2:59)
5. Nobody Knows the Heaven (3:33)
6. Rendez-Vous (6:31)
7. I Wonder Why You Cry Today (2:36)
8. All Is Gone (6:02); 9. Like An Old General
(1:46)
10. African Queen (5:55)
11. Something To Do (1:57)
12. The Shining Car (2:21)
13. Suicide/Inside Out (0:44)
14. All Is Going So Slow (8:59)
15. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! (2:14)
16. There Is A Blow (1:12)
Bonus Tracks:
17. Nobody Knows the Heaven (alternate version)
(4:48)
Catalogue number: LION 622 (MOP002)
UPC: 778578062224