Lobby Loyde - Obsecration (1976) (2006)

Lobby Loyde: “We recorded Obsecration towards the end of 1975, but we only recorded on full moons over a period of three months”. “See, originally we were gonna call that album Full Moon Fever, but then we thought, ‘oh, it sounds a bit like mountain music, y’know, Kentucky moonshine music’. So then I came up with the title Obsecration.” sort of intense.”

After the unpleasant and, indeed, ill-fated break-up of the Coloured Balls at the end of 1974, Loyde cooled his heels, and by mid-year with a couple of allies in drummer Jimmy Thompson and sax player Paul Dixon was ready to hit the studio again. A solo single ‘Do You Believe in Magic / Love Lost on Dream-Tides’ was released on the the Bootleg label. Loyde, suitably revitalised and re-energised was ready to proceed. For his new band, dubbed Southern Electric, the guitarist eventually added two of his old Coloured Balls companions, rhythm guitarist Andrew Fordham and bass player Janis Miglans before rounding out the line-up with keyboardist John Dey and singer M?ndu.

features an incredibly eclectic and diverse assortment of music, all up a magnificent album of guitar explorations and textures, a thematic collection of riffs, runs, rhythms and timing shifts taking the listener through a wide range of moods and styles. If anything, it lacked a commercial focus but as we’ve seen Loyde was well and truly beyond working within commercial considerations at the time. One thing is certain: his beautiful, at times heavy yet always unique psych-rock guitar work is the main feature throughout.

The album was released in May 1976, on the Rainbird label. When Richard Branson heard Obsecration he wanted to release it on Virgin. Branson sent the company a few notes, saying he wanted the master tapes. What Lobby (who had moved to the UK ) didn’t know at the time, was that Rainbird had gone into liquidation. Despite that set-back, Loyde was able to take Southern Electric into Surrey Sound Studios with producer Nigel Gray in order to record tracks for a proposed EP release (previously unreleased, they have been added as bonus tracks to this reissue).