And now this. If Pete's recording dates are to be believed, then the man was genuine psychedelic pioneer, home-taping these sparky pieces of acid-tinged rock as early as July 1966. That's apparently when he recorded "Knit Me A Kiss", which not only has the line, "I know you spiked my cup of tea", but also cascades from vocal phasing into a processed guitar solo altogether stranger than anything else heard on these shores before "Strawberry Fields".

Clearly Pete was on a mind excursion of his own Iong before the summer of love, and "Sheer Lunacy", "I Am Seldom Twenty One" and "Paranoia" are all fully-formed gems of psychedelia - to the point where you wouldn't believe the recording info if it came on a bootleg.

Limited only by the compression of the original tape source, "Homage To Catatonia" is a remarkable collection of work -all the more impressive because it occupies a musical space of its own, rather than slipping easily into the "son of Beatles/Stones/Dylan' category. (PD)

Judging by some of the quirky, inventive and just plain WEIRD sounds on this collection, Miller had been watching Meek closely during his Jaywalkers days, (though he'd have to have been doing so furtively as Joe was secretive to the point of paranoia about his sound techniques). In his home studio in Norwich -"sur-rounded by lava lamps and Hindi visuals" - Miller and his musician friends spent most of 1966-69 conjur-ing up bizarre feats of pop and psychedelia, utilizing some of the echo and compression techniques he'd observed at Meek's studio along with many of his own electronic innovations. Fourteen of these songs make their first public showing on Homage To Catatonia, amply displayed in a magnificent gatefold sleeve complete with lyrics and all-telling liner notes.

Combine a razor-sharp studio instinct, simple but superior '60s recording technology, madcap psycho-pop songsmithing ala (maybe) Roy Wood/Jeff Lynne with p'raps a little Edward Lear-esque nonsensical wordplay thrown in, and you may - just may - have same idea what you'll find on songs like "Knit Me A Kiss" or "A Dog Called Doug"-but it still won't begin to explain the impossible-to-pigeonhole (and amazing) "I Am Seldom 21", "Chinaman" or 'The Procession." Miller's tapes truly are a very unique secret horde of English psychedelia, and, incredibly, several of these recordings pre-date even the Beatles "Revolver", let alone the subsequent psychedelic stampede.

Perhaps the strangest but most strangely satisfying set since I Hear A New World. A grower. I recommended. (MS)

Un singolare seduttivo viaggio nel microcosmo della psychedelia popedelica - in questo senso sono davvero fantastiche le per-formances del secondo lato di "Catatonia" - con ammalianti sorvoli su visionari prati di marzapane multicolore che evocano panorami sonori nella nota vena creativa di Syd Barrett, Blossom Toes, "Sgt. Pepper" e "Satanic Majesties" (ascoltate le lysergide-scenti soiuzioni di "Paranoia", "Music Crea-ted By Dust", "A Dog Called Doug", "The Procession" o "The Candleman" senza uso di sostanze allucinogene, come raccomanda un avviso evidenziato sul retrocopertina!).

Ultimo divertimento, la lettura dell'avventuroso racconto sulle peripezie esistenziali di Pete Miller, dai primi passi R&R con gli Offbeals alle esperienze anni 60 quale membro del Jaywalkers - gruppo che andava regolarmente in tour con Beatles, Ani-mals, Rolling Stones e Kinks - al nostri gtorni

Altre contemporanee emissioni Tenth Planet sono le versioni CD di "Timespan" (con cinque bonus tracce non contenute nell'edizione LP, ovvero un'intera John Peel 'Top Gear session' del 1968) del Mike Stuart Span a "Chariot Rising" degli straordinari Dantalian's Chariot di Zoot Money.