A flawed Masterpiece: elegant and passionate power pop.
10/02/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Darryl Mather, power pop genius, has taken eight years to finally release some sort of follow up to the rich and expressive Someloves one and only album, "Something Or Other".Combining the talents of Ken Stringfellow from the Posies, legendary producer Mitch Easter and an entourage of fine Australian talent from all fields of music, the album has class and guts.This is an album for those people who appreciate the punch and freshness of pure power pop (check out 'Fanclub requiem' and 'It doesn't matter'), the ease and charm of modern intelligent country ('Apple green slice cut (Oh Dwight)') and the introspective and sophisticated ballad ('Spindizzy' and 'Cherrytime').This is to my mind a labour of love. No fancy video, no promotional tour, no charismatic front man barnstorming the media, no fanclub, just music: pure and simple.Music like this restores my faith in music for its own sake and not music as a fashion statement.Listen, love and learn."
Great album!!! Should have been huge!!!
05/03/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Orange Humble Band's _Assorted Creams_ is a great power pop album chock-full of songs that would be hits if someone could successfully expose them to a mass audience.I really don't know much about this band other than that their songs are good. It appears that this band may be a one off project because one of the members is a famous record producer and another is already involved in another band that has released a few albums since this one was released. Songwriter guitarist Darryl Mather appears to be the head man in this group because he wrote or co-wrote every song. Former REM producer Mitch Easter co-produced the album with Mather and also plays guitar. Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, who is a fine songwriter in his own right, doesn't contribute any songs, but does a fine job of singing lead vocals on these great Darryl Mather compositions. The jangly _Down In Your Dreams_ is a fine song that would be at home on the Beatles _Rubber Soul_ album or beside the Byrds _Mr. Tambourine Man.The dreamy _Spindizzy_ is kind of reminiscent of Big Star's _Kangaroo_.On _Little Picture Story Book_; the song, its arrangement, and even Ken Stringfellow's voice bring back memories of big rock ballads by Freddie Mercury and Queen._Cherrytime_ looks back longingly on the Mather's youth.This is a great pop band whose style is kind of like if you mixed equal parts Beatles, Big Star, and Queen, and then added a little touch of the 60s Motown girl group sound for extra seasoning.I mentioned my very favorite songs, but all of them are good! I hope this group manages to resurface again with another album. If not, I hope that Darryl Mather manages to write as good of an album with the next band he's with. Power pop fans should search low and high until they find this album! It might be one of the top ten or fifteen that the genre has ever produced!"
Leanardo Da Vinci
05/03/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A work of art. But there is more to follow, new album to be released at the end of the year."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1