Patterns Of Reality by Andy Robinson (Vinyl record album review)

Record basics

• Album name: Patterns Of Reality
• Artist name: Andy Robinson
• Year: 1968
• Number of discs: one
• Label: Philips
• Collection: Brenner / Gessner
• Distinguishing characteristics: “Brenner” written on lower right of album cover, indicating that my mother owned it
• Buy the CD on Amazon: $27.42

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I am not familiar at all with Andy Robinson or with this record.

What I expected

Folk rock.

What it was actually like

One of the things that I sometimes dislike about some folk and folk rock music is that it can be a real drag to listen to it, partly because of its lyrical self-importance and also partly because music is supposed to be fun, and a lot of times it just isn’t (that’s often what I mean when I describe something as slow and boring). Fortunately, this record wasn’t like that for the most part, with just a couple of exceptions: Time For Decision, which might have been more boring than the rest, but still not bad, and the title track Patterns Of Reality, which had the most sad violin and piano.

Mostly, though, this was lively and interesting folk rock, often with an organ, that did not run from extensive percussion when necessary, and occasionally used an echo effect on the vocals that reminded me of Pearls Before Swine. This is the sort of music that I might have thought my father would have preferred; I was at least a little bit impressed that my mother owned it^[1].

Much of the record walked a line between sounding partly earnest and even naive in that early to mid 1960s way (like The Monkees, a little), and also partly psychedelic and transgressive in that late 1960s way. To Tell You The Truth was a good example of both in one song, but a lot of songs sounded like that.

I was also fond of the organ in The Exhibition and Absolutely The End, that helped to put a psychedelic twist on the folk sound. Are You Sleeping? also had an extensive organ (or keyboard) solo.

Ballad Of A Summer Girl was the only song that sounded a little bit country, with a subtle country-sounding rhythm guitar, but I thought it was great.

Grade

4/5: would listen again