HOW SUITE IT IS posted by O.W.

The Peddlers: This Strange Affair + I Have Seen
From Suite London (Phillips/Odeon, 1972)

If you've noticed, my posting rate's picked up of late - god bless winter break. We'll see how long I can keep this up but personally, it's been fun knocking out these posts because it means revisiting a slew of songs that have been in queue and are just now getting some shine.

Case in point: I've had this Suite London album since before I moved to L.A. but it's taken me this long to get around to it despite it being one of those albums that I'm constantly amazed by. It is, by any accounts, a very special performance, pairing the UK's '60s rock group, The Peddlers, with the London Philharmonic. You might think that's yawn-worthy but think of it like the best jazz-meets-rock-meets-funk-meets-symphonic collaboration David Axelrod never sat in on. It's a completely mesmerizing album, filled with these strikingly beautiful vocal and musical passages with unexpectedly sophisticated polyrhythmic passages. Way ahead of its time and an album you can pretty much needle-drop onto, leave alone and enjoy. The two tracks I pulled out are both slow burners - let them build and you can watch how masterfully they come together.

The original vinyl versions of this album - on either label - are scarce but luckily, the group has enough of a fanbase that they've been able to reissue this on CD (which is probably an easier way to enjoy the whole thing as a suite.