Elevator Suite - The Wheel / Eleanor Rigby (Pure Mint Recordings)
UK release date: 3 December 2007
The Wheel, the first single to be released from Elevator Suite's eponymous second album, is a near-perfect slice of laid-back, stoner rock which, in some of the six versions available, electronics itself up just far enough that it'll just get you swaying gently enough that you won't quite be standing still.
On others, the beats are so languid you won't be able to bring yourself to do anything more than lie back and breathe (if you can just about remember how) while you melt into the furniture and watch the ceiling float by.
It's an amazing return from a band who last got it together enough to record an album a century ago (okay, pedants, 1999) and the different versions, of which Phil (Orbital) Hartnoll's Long Range Mix is the pick of the bunch, are varied enough to be worth having all of them.
Of course, we're not going to let the review go without giving an honourable mention to their cover of Eleanor Rigby, which also finds a home on this beautiful package. Imagine the conversation:
"What d'yer think The Beatles would've sounded like if they were more stoned than they actually were when they recorded Revolver?"
"Dunno man. Shall we have a go at findin' out?"
There's a band you could get behind. Better than Yoga and Southern Comfort all rolled into one.
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