Ergo Phizmiz - The Peacock

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 29 / 7 / 2014

Label: Care in the Community Recordings
Format: CD

intro

Offbeat and eccentric but immediately appealing rare studio album from under-rated singer-songwriter, Ergo Phizmiz

While he is overproductive in terms of conducting Bavarian, North-Rhineland and Westfalia radio plays from his South West Country coastal resort, to no apparent end releasing free internet albums and setting up art exhibition soundscapes, 'The Peacock' , however, is Ergo Phizmiz's only third official LP to aspire, in well over a decade, to an entry in the BBC Albums Top 40. It is his most immediately appealing collection of wacky waltzes todate, 'The Peacock' swiftly but smoothly melts jangling nu-folk pop with avant garde doo wop kitsch. To my sincere astonishment the QI elves in their cosy BBC Office still don't know of Phizmiz. Ten years after John Peel's passing, the Beeb is nothing but a dire broadcasting company. in today's standards, the music of Ergo Phizmiz remains un-Radio 1, perhaps a bit Radio3-ish. Imagination and originality are, however, qualities we can't allow on daytime radio. 'The Tinker Song' can be considered something of a naughty move. Whilst delivered in typical R. Stevie Moore fashion, in one go though it connects 1920s vaudeville Europe to silly, prudish Britain of the 1930s. 'Open Artery Surgery' perhaps then best shows the direction Ergo Phizmiz might choose: "Open artery surgery/It will tame you to the very end of your experience/For it will money all my honey." His take on Godley and Creme in 'The Light Behind You' melts the finest of XTC and 10CC in one single song, whereas 'The Peacock' spreads his wings whilst appearing to close them on anything beautiful. Gone forever it seems is the tarnished heftiness heard on his 'Eleven Songs' LP. On 'The Peacock' , Ergo Phizmiz's vocals appear much more focused. While still yet nasal, they portray comfort plus a sense of reconciliation. As one of England's finest and brightest geniuses, Ergo Phizmiz unwantonly follows the course set by Leonard Cohen's 'Songs of Love and Death' - putting his peacock amidst a crowd of unexpecting chickens. The twangy organ ramshackle on 'Consequences' - let alone the superb snare picking - hints at the stature resounding from 'The Peacock'. Over-talented perhaps, at least Señor Phizmiz has few friends in Münich and Cologne. Over the years to come 'The Peacock' may prove to be another masterpiece.

Track Listing:-

1 The Peacock
2 The Tinker Song
3 Smiles of a Summer Night
4 Mandrake
5 Open Artery Surgery
6 Consequences
7 Hyenas in the Hallway
8 All Fall Down
9 The Light Behind You
10 The Flying House

Band Links:-

https://ergophizmizmusic.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/ergophizmiz
https://www.instagram.com/ergophizmizplc

Label Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/careinthecommunityrecordings
http://www.careinthe.com/
https://twitter.com/careinthecom
http://www.last.fm/label/care+in+the+community+recordings
https://www.youtube.com/user/careinthecommunityAV