Supreme Monster General Bong Pot's Psychedelic Psunday

While inspecting North Korea's border fortifications, Bong Pot sets off security gate alarms in Seoul airport, such is the awesomeness of his medal array. His hat has been used as a helicopter landing pad by Dear Leader Kim Jong Un, for which he was awarded the Mighty Splendor Of Hat Girth And Strength Medal, and an expenses paid stay in military hospital.

But few of his grateful goose-stepping underlings know he is a keen collector of "neo-psych" albums. He contacted FMF© recently to rectify this lack of appreciation.

Salt Lake City's finest, 2017

"False Memory Foam© the choose blog of North Korea Massed Military Force," he said via Google Translate. "It heart wish and direct order more neo-psych albums that feature. For good example, please look to recording of Pansy Band and also The Green Seagulls. Both offer respectfulness to psych tradition. We very enjoy!"

Swingin' That London, 2018

I'm sure his choices will please the Four Or Five Guys, and welcome more contributions from totalitarian states!

These are never going to replace Electric Music For The Mind And Body in my - or probably your - heart, but they're entertaining and stylistically adroit enough for a few listens.

Thomas Jefferson - Airplane

As an interim post, to ease us slowly back into the giddy swing of facetiousness that has been the hallmark of the FalseMemoryFoam© experience, here's the great Thomas Jefferson Kaye (born Kontos) from the obscure '72 non-Wiki'd White Cloud album, through his two solo albums for ABC from the next year, and his last album Not Alone, recorded two years before his death in 1994.

Of all his considerable career achievements, singing an emotional Becker-Fagen original is the most surprising. American Lovers, from First Grade, is that rare thing, a Steely Dan song without a trace of irony - which is maybe why they didn't record it themselves (although they performed it live in 2011). It was covered in 1980 by Blaise Tosti [me neither - Ed.], and is, as they say, a belting good tune.

A pharmaceuticals enthusiast from the moment he touched down in California, he eventually died from overdosing on the painkillers he took to ease the pain of overdosing on all the other drugs he took. Hey ho. But he left a brilliant body of work, both as musician and producer.

Tommy Kontos, top right, wit' Th' Ideals, Noo Joizy, '59

Away From My Desk - Memo

Real life - or a version of it - has kicked in - with steel toe-caps - and I will return to Th' House O'Foam© around Christmas/New Year.

A Foam-Filled Festivus to th' Four or Five Guys!

Quick memo: Your good wishes are more appreciated than you know - thank you very much. I'm fine, but occupied with my Dad for a while.

The Comfy Brothers Album Du Jour

Photo: courtesy Archie Valparaiso

Knitwear enthusiasts The Comfy Brothers [pictured at home, left - Ed.] have a secret passion. Can you guess what it is, readers? No, not that. Everyone knows about that. Give up? It's French chansonniers [Fr. shirt-makers - Ed.] - from France! Let Monty Comfy [seated - Ed.] take up the story:

"Well! It all started on a holiday in la belle France. Neddy [standing - Ed.] and I were scouring the Auvergne for antiquities when we heard the most divine music emanating from a window. Naturally we had to investigate! So-"

That's enough of their shit, I think. Here's a swell collection of Francis Cabrel's swellest tuneage. He's been Foamfeatured© antecedently to rapturous applause from you sophisticates drinking chilled Chablonnais from longstemmed glasses, and this is more of the same excellence in song artistry. I fucking hate this guy. He lived my life. He had the brooding handsomeness, the talent, the savoir fesse that were rightfully mine. The sultry French tomates teetering in and out of his apartment on the fashionable Rive Gaucho. Ahh, fuck him and his fucking Frenchness.

Anyways, this is a swell three disc set called L'Essentiel, which is like French for essential. Which is what it is. The shrillness of sound in the first track is unique to that, so don't worry.

Francis Fucking Cabrel. Bastard.

Brilliant.

Old Rope

"Say! I gots a swell idea! Let's string th' guys up for the album cover! A real necktie party!" Well, someone must have said it. And someone else must have said yes. Crazy guys, crazy times, crazy marketing stragedy. Crazy Horse Roads. What can they all have been thinking? Rhetorical question. This was San Jose, '68.

This deeply disturbing (or hilarious, depending on how stoned you are) cover hides an entertaining pop-rock album by Stained Glass that shoulda-orta but didn't. I wonder why? Allmusic sniffily notes that the "material is ordinary", but what can they mean by that? Rhetorical question. This is the extry tracks version - yay!

Our other rope trick today is the kneetremblingly exquisite Tones by The Gordian Knot. The swell idea behind this cover shoot was, uh, "let's tie dese pussies up and drag'em behind my ride-on lawnmower." Or something. Visually, it kinda works - it's a simple, memorable image. But meaningless (we hope).

Again from '68, this is a kind of grail album for sunshine pop enthusiasts. Japanese fans have been known to wind their bowels out on a stick rather than face life without an original vinyl copy. It really is that good. The Gordian Knot make Harpers Bizarre sound like Slayer. They make Vashti Bunyan sound like Etta James. They make - oh, you get the point. Hey - this is worth copy-pasting:

"The group caught their biggest break after they appeared at a party thrown by Nancy Sinatra, who apparently liked them so much that she asked them to accompany her on a USO trip to Vietnam." 

Their biggest break? Let's hope their bone spurs kicked in.