Monday, January 8, 2007

Free Design - Kites Are Fun - `67




hey all :
here some great lite psych pop. some of the tightest harmonies around -- this stuff is super sweet , so be careful.
fans of true cali sunhsine pop will dig , enjoy ~


"In 1967, this sibling act was signed to Enoch Light's soft jazz label. Spearheaded by chief songwriter and arranger Chris, they produced six beautifully crafted albums of contemporary pop for the label. Though none of their albums sold many copies, they are now considered one the best groups to come out of the sunshine pop era along side groups like The Association and The 5th Dimension. In 2000, they reunited for the critically acclaimed album Cosmic Peekaboo. Acts such as Stereolab, Cornelius...

"Are they just a weird, clueless close-knit family of music nerds? Or are they clever, self-aware geniuses who saw a need for ridiculously gleeful "psychedelia lite"? Is this kitsch or is this camp? If it's camp, is it intentional camp, or is it perceived camp? And does it even matter??? It's fun, beautiful, innocent and soooo dated. I'm talking ironed hair, bell bottom polyester slacks and turtle necks with fringe vests dated. They seem so sincere and committed to all this desperate optimism - helps you understand why cults were so big in 1967. Three talented siblings singing relatively complex arrangements, living somewhere in between The Swingle Singers and The Brady Bunch. Sometimes they have a social conscience with groovy lingo ("The Proper Ornaments"), while sometimes they just trip out on things like a swarm of colorful umbrellas snarling traffic ("Umbrellas" - dig that drum solo!) I got this even though I already had 5 of these songs on their Best of... CD, and I'm glad I did - it reveals a more cohesive, relaxed and intimate group than I thought they were. I need bliss, man. Screw Uncle Bill - let's fly a kite." - [ Zeke - rateyourmusic.com ]

"blow your mind , but not completely - make the madness stop !"

  • Free Design - Kites Are Fun - `67 - 2003 reissue light in the attic records - 73 mb - 320 kbps
  • "ALL TRAX FROM WAX" - transferred by da` shaman - 2007
  • includes high rez front/back/inner scans

  • 1.) Kites Are Fun
  • 2.) Make the Madness Stop
  • 3.) When Love is Young
  • 4.) The Proper Ornaments
  • 5.) My Brother Woody
  • 6.) 59th Street Bridge Song
  • 7.) Don't Turn Away
  • 8.) Umbrellas
  • 9.) Michelle
  • 10.) Never Tell the World
  • 11.) A Man and a Woman
  • 12.) Stay Another Season

download -- here --

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic stuff. I highly recommend this and all of their work. The arrangements are outstanding. Highly influential. If you are a Stereolab fan you'll see what I mean. Some people find it to be too wimpy, but a large part of Free Designs charm lies in that fey quality. It is of a time and it evokes that time with great power. Get it!

Anonymous said...

You are right...THEY ARE GOOD!

They sort of sound like Original Caste (the group that had the one-hit wonder " one tin solider".

Anonymous said...

Along with Sopwith' first, that's quite a find for me! I've had only '69 album 'Heaven/Earth' & it's very strong on vocal part. I'll post it on my future blog.

They were a family affair, weren't they? Or at least pretended to be - 4 Dendricks 4!
Fully forgotten now, they don't deserve it.

Gigasize raves OK - file's down in 5 minutes!

Michael R

Bill S. said...

Lovely! Thanks for helping me expand my collection of The Free Design's music!

Anonymous said...

Stupid spammers, I hope you are not giving up on the blog Akashaman dude, these vinyl rips are excellent!

akashaman said...

what spammers ?

ha , thanks so much for the comments :
i am on hiatus.. i am moving & thats means transporting 2,500 LP`s , fun fun.
i should be back up & runnin by turkey day.
hang tough !

aka`

sappersteen said...

I think it was Coven, that had the hit with "One Tin Solider." Quite a juxtaposition from the carefree happiness and joy of FD.
That would make a helluvea double bill.
The Free Design & Coven :DDDDDD
Thanks for the great blog.

willytgekidkatt said...

So Amazing! Thanks so much for introducing me to this! Crazy Good!

Anonymous said...

Megaupload has bitten the dust. Could you redo the link please? There's a copy at http://www.mediafire.com/?dgei2un1i2x