Sweet People et les Oieseaux Chantaient
(Polydor Records, 1978)

So I’ve got a huge stack of new singles to review, swiftly becoming old, plus a few really great records that people have been nice enough to send me recently… and yet here we go with a write-up of this nifty little number my friend Pete bought in Greenwich /music & Video Exchange for 10p, cross-posted with Pete’s bird-watching blog;

I’m no expert on vintage easy listening music, but in purely practical terms this gem of a charity shop disc gets my vote as the ‘best easy listening record ever’. I wish I had a USB turntable so that we could share it with you.

Both sides sound exactly like the music that would play in a sun-dazed, California set ‘70s movie, during a scene in which a dude hangs out with his girl on the beach as the sun sets, and they have a special time together that he will think back on fondly when he’s stuck in a foxhole in Vietnam, or is busted smuggling cocaine across the Mexican border, or shot in the back by Warren Oates, or whatever.

One side is accompanied by birdsong, whilst the other is built around the sound of waves crashing against the shore. Each track consists of a few simple, pleasing musical phrases, which are established at the outset and repeated continuously with only slight developments and changes in instrumentation along the way. The ‘Ocean side’ features some marvellously subtle, miraculously un-irritating harmonica playing, a strummy guitar sound and a distantly evocative melody, all faintly reminiscent of something off Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’, perhaps? The ‘Bird side’ is a touch more jazzy, in a hazy sort of way, gentle electric organ tones perhaps seeking communication with our avian friends.

Both sides boast a rich, deep, relaxing mixture of tones, tailor-made by experts to make human ears happy. An archetypal senile old grandmother could nod her head along with this, and remark how nice and relaxing it is. And no archetypal sneering punk-ass record nerds would dare to tell her otherwise, because SHE IS RIGHT. It is very nice and relaxing, and that’s all there is to it.

Remarkably, the instrument tones and other sounds on this record sound equally natural whether played at 33 or 45 rpm, and the overall pace and feeling of the compositions doesn’t seem to change much either way. Given the choice, I’d probably play it at 33 so that it’s a bit longer and more tripped out, but granny may prefer to stick to 45, as the label recommends.

It is no exaggeration to say that 10p has never been better spent.

Labels: birds, charity shop finds, easy listening, singles reviews, Sweet People