Review: Be With are busy reissuing a number of Nucleus albums and Alleycat sure is one of their best. It is packed with stone cold rhythms as well as having a red hot sleeve. The band put it out in 197 and it was their last for the Vertigo label, all meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman. It's as good as any of their work with its funk fusions of prog, jazz and rock all ageing brilliantly well. There are big riff-laden tunes, cop-funk chases and more lush and laidback pieces that will have you deep in the groove. It has all been remastered from original tapes so sounds as good as ever.
Speaking For Myself, Personally, In My Own Opinion, I Think (6:43)
Persephone's Jive (2:13)
Review: Headed up by the revered trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr, Nucleus have penned many a seminal album and Elastic Rock certainly is one of them. It was a real milestone for the jazz-rock fusion scene and marked a stunning debut in 1970 that has been hard to find ever since. Saxophonist Brian Smith, guitarist Chris Spedding - who wouold later go on to produce the Sex Pistols' first recordings - drummer John Marshall, bassist Jeff Clyne and sax, oboe and pianist Karl Jenkins all brought energy and invention in equal measure on this one with cuts like the title track offer lovely electric blues, '1916' featuring heavy drums and melancholic horns and 'Striation' being more serene. Be With have remastered this reissue from the original tapes.
Review: Not to be confused with the US electro outfit of the same name, Nucleus was - as many readers will know - a pioneering British jazz-rock outfit helmed by Ian Carr, whose releases frequently drew on a wide palette of influences (think funk, soul, pyschedelic and progressive rock). They made a lot of great albums during the 1970s, though few are quite as inspired as 'We'll Talk About It Later', a wonderfully laidback and atmospheric 1971 set that has now been given the reissue treatment by the consistently impressive Be With Records. The many highlights include - but are in no way limited to - the bluesy, slow-motion shuffle of 'We'll Talk About It Later', the wah-wah guitar sporting summer bliss of 'Sun Child', the gently unfurling brilliance of 'Oasis' and the pleasingly heavy jazz-rock pulse of 'Ballad of Joe Pimp'.
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