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Blue Orchids' archival releases certainly make clear two explicit points. One, they were certainly a much better band than their obscurity allows. They also prove that there were good bands from Manchester back in the early 1980s who weren't on Factory. A Darker Bloom, which contains most of their singles, as well as most of their lone LP, The Greatest Hit, still stands as the best document of this long-lost group, and it does make a case for post-mortem praise. Thankfully, LTM organized a trip through the Blue Orchids' vault, and in so doing returned a cache of Peel Sessions, a few live tracks, and an entire unreleased album.
The Sleeper contains their second album as well as their two singles from the early 1990s. Their second album was recorded in 1993, but nobody was interested enough in the Blue Orchids to bother releasing it. It's difficult to understand why, for this album is indeed good. Bramah and company were in excellent form, and the recording is top-notch. Unfortunatly, it's also somewhat understandable why they failed to raise any interest; England was quite wrapped-up in the throes of Britpop, and while The Sleeper was as smart as those who were in the charts, by this time in their career, the Blue Orchids were old, thirteen years, to be exact.
Let's be fair, though. The Sleeper is far from a bad album. Bramah's voice is strong and clear, and he sounds like Marc Almond fronting Shriekback. "Diamond Age" was a wonderful little number, with plenty of Inspiral Carptes-esque keyboards (which, really, should be the "Blue Orchids-inspired" Inspiral Carpets, by the way) and wonderfully upbeat lyrics, too. The best track here, though, would have to be the could-have-been great single, "Lover Of Nothing." It's really sad to think that this song, and album, was unloved and unappreciated at the time. But, that's the record industry for you...
From Severe To Serene, however, fills in the gaps of the first part of their career, and it helps to paint a picture of who they originally were. It's a surprising transformation; imagine, if you will, listening to Warsaw demos and then Respect. Would you guess the two were the same? This collection gathers up two of their Peel sessions; some portions of live shows from 1981, and, rather oddly, Riding The Times, a post-breakup EP Bramah recorded with other ex-Fall members in 1987, under the name of Thirst.
The Peel sessions actually serve Blue Orchids better; their studio recordings at this time were quick and somewhat sloppy; with the benefit of time spent on the road performing these songs live, these songs are much better than the album/single versions. They're tighter; they're more intense, and they're certainly better sounding. As for me, I'm partial to the utterly wonderful "Bad Education" and the lovely "Sun Connection." In fact, their whole second Peel Session is utterly wonderful, which makes the fact that they just..failed..to make a connection with anyone really, really sad. The live sessions, from 1981, are of bootleg quality (come on, there really wasn't anyone bothering to document such a small, unknown band), but the magic of the band in the Peel sessions shines through the tape hiss and the audience noise.
The Thirst EP is the most interesting part of From Severe To Serene, because Bramah sounds like through out all of the ideas he had with the Blue Orchids, because they hadn't really worked out. Indeed, "The Unknown," is a rawer, harder and darker number; Bramah's croon finally had a tough edge, and he sounds a bit like Saint Ian. On "Let Go" and "Riding The Times," they sound like a precursor to what was about to happen with Madchester and the Happy Mondays.
If there's anything to be said about Bramah's career, it's that he had already stepped two steps away from being in the right place at the right time. Blue Orchids missed out on the new-wave era, and broke up at the exact time that their music had really grown into maturation. Thirst missed out on the scene that would soon arive, and the reunited Blue Orchids missed the boat on the first Britpop wave. They never collaborated with Nico (which could have been magical, considering the influence she had on them), and Bramah turned down an offer to front the Inspiral Carpets. You almost have to feel bad for Bramah and company, because their music was always as good as anything that was being made at the time, if not better.
While the archiving of the Blue Orchids is not yet complete (LTM is currently working on a reissue of The Greatest Hit), it's also worth noting that Bramal may yet have a third Blue Orchids album to release this year. I'd hate to think that the unfair obscurity that befell Bramal meant that the world has been denied an excellent, and unlucky, writer's work.
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